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Judaism From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Judaism (originally from Hebrew יהודה , Yehudah, "Judah";[1][2]

via Latin and Greek) is an ancient monotheistic Abrahamic religion with the Torah as its foundational text.[3] It encompasses the religion, philosophy and culture of the Jewish people.[4] Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenant that God established with the Children of Israel.[5] Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. The Torah is part of the larger text known as the Tanakh or the Hebrew Bible, and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the Midrash and the Talmud. With between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide,[6] Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world.

Within Judaism there are a variety of movements, most of which emerged from Rabbinic Judaism, which holds that God revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah.[7] Historically, this assertion was challenged by various groups such as the Sadducees and Hellenistic Judaism during the Second Temple period; the Karaites and Sabbateans during the early and later medieval period;[8] and among segments of the modern non-Orthodox denominations. Modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be nontheistic.[9] Today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism (Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodox Judaism), Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between these groups are their approaches to Jewish law, the authority of the Rabbinic tradition, and the significance of the State of Israel.[10] Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, and that they should be strictly followed. Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more "traditional" interpretation of Judaism's requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of general guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews.[11][12] Historically, special courts enforced Jewish law; today, these courts still exist but the practice of Judaism is mostly voluntary.[13] Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, but in the sacred texts and rabbis and scholars who interpret them.[14]

The history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years.[15] Judaism has its roots as a structured religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age.[16] Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions.[17][18] The Hebrews and Israelites were already referred to as "Jews" in later books of the Tanakh such as the Book of Esther, with the term Jews replacing the title "Children of Israel".[19] Judaism's texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity, Islam and the Baha'i Faith.[20][21] Many aspects of Judaism have also directly or

indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law.[22] Hebraism is just as important a factor in the

Judaica (clockwise from top): Shabbat candlesticks, handwashing cup, Chumash and Tanakh, Torah pointer, shofar and etrog box

Silver case containing a handwritten Torah (Museum of Jewish Art and History, Paris)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Judah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosaic_covenant
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_in_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_Israel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Major_religious_groups#Religious_demographics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbinic_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_Mitzvot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Mount_Sinai
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_Torah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadducees#General
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellenistic_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple_period
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaite_Judaism#Karaite_interpretations_of_the_Torah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbateans
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humanistic_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nontheistic
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_religious_movements
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orthodox_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haredi_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Orthodox_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halakha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbinic_tradition
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/State_of_Israel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beth_din
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bronze_Age
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrews
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Esther
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abrahamic_religions
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islam
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baha%27i_Faith
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Judaica.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaica
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shabbat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ritual_washing_in_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chumash_(Judaism)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefer_Torah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yad
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shofar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etrog
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coffre_et_rouleau_de_Torah_ayant_appartenu_%C3%A0_Abraham_de_Camondo_chef_de_la_communaut%C3%A9_juive_de_Constantinople_1860_-_Mus%C3%A9e_d%27Art_et_d%27Histoire_du_Juda%C3%AFsme.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sefer_Torah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_d%27Art_et_d%27Histoire_du_Juda%C3%AFsme
indirectly influenced secular Western ethics and civil law.[22] Hebraism is just as important a factor in the development of Western civilization as Hellenism, and Judaism, as the mother religion of Christianity, has considerably shaped Western ideals and morality since the Christian Era.[23]

Jews are an ethnoreligious group[24] and include those born Jewish and converts to Judaism. In 2015, the world Jewish population was estimated at about 14.3 million, or roughly 0.2% of the total world population.[25] About 43% of all Jews reside in Israel and another 43% reside in the United States and Canada, with most of the remainder living in Europe, and other minority groups spread throughout South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia.[25]

Contents

1 Defining characteristics and principles of faith 1.1 Defining characteristics 1.2 Core tenets

2 Jewish religious texts 2.1 Jewish legal literature 2.2 Jewish philosophy 2.3 Rabbinic hermeneutics

3 Jewish identity 3.1 Origin of the term "Judaism" 3.2 Distinction between Jews as a people and Judaism 3.3 Who is a Jew? 3.4 Jewish demographics

4 Jewish religious movements 4.1 Rabbinic Judaism

4.1.1 Jewish movements in Israel 4.2 Karaites and Samaritans

5 Jewish observances 5.1 Jewish ethics 5.2 Prayers 5.3 Religious clothing 5.4 Jewish holidays

5.4.1 Shabbat 5.4.2 Three pilgrimage festivals 5.4.3 High Holy Days 5.4.4 Purim 5.4.5 Hanukkah 5.4.6 Fast days 5.4.7 Israeli holidays

5.5 Torah readings 5.6 Synagogues and religious buildings 5.7 Dietary laws: kashrut 5.8 Laws of ritual purity

5.8.1 Family purity 5.9 Life-cycle events

6 Community leadership 6.1 Classical priesthood 6.2 Prayer leaders 6.3 Specialized religious roles

7 History 7.1 Origins 7.2 Antiquity 7.3 Historical Jewish groupings (to 1700) 7.4 Persecutions

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebraism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_civilization
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Hellenism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnoreligious_group
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Converts_to_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population_by_country
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel
7.5 Hasidism 7.6 The Enlightenment and new religious movements 7.7 Spectrum of observance

8 Judaism and other religions 8.1 Christianity and Judaism 8.2 Islam and Judaism 8.3 Syncretic movements incorporating Judaism

9 See also 10 References 11 Bibliography 12 External links

Defining characteristics and principles of faith

Defining characteristics

Unlike other ancient Near Eastern gods, the Hebrew God is portrayed as unitary and solitary; consequently, the Hebrew God's principal relationships are not with other gods, but with the world, and more specifically, with the people he created.[26] Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism: the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of mankind.[27] According to the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation.[28] Many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God; that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate God's concern for the world.[29] He also commanded the Jewish people to love one another; that is, Jews are to imitate God's love for people.[30] These commandments are but two of a large corpus of commandments and laws that constitute this covenant, which is the substance of Judaism.

Thus, although there is an esoteric tradition in Judaism (Kabbalah), Rabbinic scholar Max Kadushin has characterized normative Judaism as "normal mysticism", because it involves everyday personal experiences of God through ways or modes that are common to all Jews.[31] This is played out through the observance of the Halakha (Jewish law) and given verbal expression in the Birkat Ha-Mizvot, the short blessings that are spoken every time a positive commandment is to be fulfilled.

The ordinary, familiar, everyday things and occurrences we have, constitute occasions for the experience of God. Such things as one's daily sustenance, the very day itself, are felt as manifestations of God's loving-kindness, calling for the Berakhot. Kedushah, holiness, which is nothing else than the imitation of God, is concerned with daily conduct, with being gracious and merciful, with keeping oneself from defilement by idolatry, adultery, and the shedding of blood. The Birkat Ha-Mitzwot evokes the consciousness of holiness at a rabbinic rite, but the objects employed in the majority of these rites are non-holy and of general character, while the several holy objects are non- theurgic. And not only do ordinary things and occurrences bring with them the experience of God. Everything that happens to a man evokes that experience, evil as well as good, for a Berakah is said also at evil tidings. Hence, although the experience of God is like none other, the occasions for experiencing Him, for having a consciousness of Him, are manifold, even if we consider only those that call for Berakot.[32]

Glass platter inscribed with the Hebrew word zokhreinu – (god) remember us

A 19th-century silver Macedonian Hanukkah menorah

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israelites
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_mitzvot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halakha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant_(biblical)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Kadushin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halakha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Jewish_prayers_and_blessings
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theurgy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:5492_-_Venezia_-_Ghetto_Nuovo_-_Negozio_ebraico_-_Foto_Giovanni_Dall%27Orto,_1-Aug-2008.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:%D0%9C%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B5%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BD%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%B0_%D1%85%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%83%D0%BA%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0_-_%D7%9E%D7%A7%D7%93%D7%95%D7%A0%D7%99_%D7%97%D7%A0%D7%95%D7%9B%D7%99%D7%99%D7%94_-_Macedonian_Hanukkah_menorah.jpg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republic_of_Macedonia
Whereas Jewish philosophers often debate whether God is immanent or transcendent, and whether people have free will or their lives are determined, Halakha is a system through which any Jew acts to bring God into the world.

Ethical monotheism is central in all sacred or normative texts of Judaism. However, monotheism has not always been followed in practice. The Jewish Bible (Tanakh) records and repeatedly condemns the widespread worship of other gods in ancient Israel.[33] In the Greco-Roman era, many different interpretations of monotheism existed in Judaism, including the interpretations that gave rise to Christianity.[34]

Moreover, some have argued that Judaism is a non-creedal religion that does not require one to believe in God. For some, observance of Jewish law is more important than belief in God per se.[35] In modern times, some liberal Jewish movements do not accept the existence of a personified deity active in history.[36][37] The debate about whether one can speak of authentic or normative Judaism is not only a debate among religious Jews but also among historians.[38]

Core tenets

Scholars throughout Jewish history have proposed numerous formulations of Judaism's core tenets, all of which have met with criticism.[39] The most popular formulation is Maimonides' thirteen principles of faith, developed in the 12th century. According to Maimonides, any Jew who rejects even one of these principles would be considered an apostate and a heretic.[40][41] Jewish scholars have held points of view diverging in various ways from Maimonides' principles.[42][43]

In Maimonides' time, his list of tenets was criticized by Hasdai Crescas and Joseph Albo. Albo and the Raavad argued that Maimonides' principles contained too many items that, while true, were not fundamentals of the faith.

Along these lines, the ancient historian Josephus emphasized practices and observances rather than religious beliefs, associating apostasy with a failure to observe Jewish law and maintaining that the requirements for conversion to Judaism included circumcision and adherence to traditional customs. Maimonides' principles were largely ignored over the next few centuries.[44] Later, two poetic restatements of these principles ("Ani Ma'amin" and "Yigdal") became integrated into many Jewish liturgies,[45] leading to their eventual near-universal acceptance.[46][47]

In modern times, Judaism lacks a centralized authority that would dictate an exact religious dogma.[14][48] Because of this, many different variations on the basic beliefs are considered within the scope of Judaism.[42] Even so, all Jewish religious movements are, to a greater or lesser extent, based on the principles of the Hebrew Bible and various commentaries such as the Talmud and Midrash. Judaism also universally recognizes the Biblical Covenant between God and the Patriarch Abraham as well as the additional aspects of the Covenant revealed to Moses, who is considered Judaism's greatest prophet.[42][49][50][51][52] In the Mishnah, a core text of Rabbinic Judaism, acceptance of the

13 Principles of Faith:

1. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the Creator and Guide of everything that has been created; He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.

2. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is One, and that there is no unity in any manner like His, and that He alone is our God, who was, and is, and will be.

3. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, has no body, and that He is free from all the properties of matter, and that there can be no (physical) comparison to Him whatsoever.

4. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the first and the last.

5. I believe with perfect faith that to the Creator, Blessed be His Name, and to Him alone, it is right to pray, and that it is not right to pray to any being besides Him.

6. I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the prophets are true.

7. I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, was true, and that he was the chief of the prophets, both those who preceded him and those who followed him.

8. I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that is now in our possession is the same that was given to Moses our teacher, peace be upon him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_philosophy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Immanence
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendence_(religion)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halakha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Israel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_history
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maimonides
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_principles_of_faith
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasdai_Crescas
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Albo
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_ben_David
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apostasy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumcision
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ani_Ma%27amin
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yigdal
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_religious_movements
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Covenant_(biblical)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patriarchs_(Bible)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moses
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishnah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbinic_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorifics_for_the_dead_in_Judaism#Peace_be_upon_him.2Fher
—Maimonides

Divine origins of this covenant is considered an essential aspect of Judaism and those who reject the Covenant forfeit their share in the World to Come.[53]

Establishing the core tenets of Judaism in the modern era is even more difficult, given the number and diversity of the contemporary Jewish denominations. Even if to restrict the problem to the most influential intellectual trends of the nineteenth and twentieth century, the matter remains complicated. Thus for instance, Joseph Soloveitchik's (associated with the Modern Orthodox movement) answer to modernity is constituted upon the identification of Judaism with following the halakha whereas its ultimate goal is to bring the holiness down to the world. Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of the Reconstructionist Judaism, abandons the idea of religion for the sake of identifying Judaism with civilization and by means of the latter term and secular translation of the core ideas, he tries to embrace as many Jewish denominations as possible. In turn, Solomon Schechter's Conservative Judaism was identical with the tradition understood as the interpretation of Torah, in itself being the history of the constant updates and adjustment of the Law performed by means of the creative interpretation. Finally, David Philipson draws the outlines of the Reform movement in Judaism by opposing it to the strict and traditional rabbinical approach and thus comes to the conclusions similar to that of the Conservative movement.[54]

Jewish religious texts

The following is a basic, structured list of the central works of Jewish practice and thought.

Tanakh[55] (Hebrew Bible) and Rabbinic literature Mesorah Targum Jewish Biblical exegesis (also see Midrash below)

Works of the Talmudic Era (classic rabbinic literature) Mishnah and commentaries Tosefta and the minor tractates Talmud:

The Babylonian Talmud and commentaries Jerusalem Talmud and commentaries

Midrashic literature: Halakhic Midrash Aggadic Midrash

Halakhic literature Major Codes of Jewish Law and Custom

Mishneh Torah and commentaries Tur and commentaries Shulchan Aruch and commentaries

Responsa literature Jewish Thought and Ethics

Jewish philosophy Musar literature and other works of Jewish ethics Kabbalah Hasidic works

Siddur and Jewish liturgy Piyyut (Classical Jewish poetry)

9. I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be exchanged, and that there will never be any other Torah from the Creator, Blessed be His Name.

10. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, knows all the deeds of human beings and all their thoughts, as it is written, "Who fashioned the hearts of them all, Who comprehends all their actions" (Psalms 33:15).

11. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, rewards those who keep His commandments and punishes those that transgress them.

12. I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah; and even though he may tarry, nonetheless, I wait every day for his coming.

13. I believe with perfect faith that there will be a revival of the dead at the time when it shall please the Creator, Blessed be His name, and His mention shall be exalted for ever and ever.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maimonides
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_to_Come
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_religious_movements
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_B._Soloveitchik
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Orthodox_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halakha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Kaplan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructionist_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilization
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_Schechter
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservative_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Philipson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reform_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tanakh
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_Bible
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbinic_literature
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masoretic_Text
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Targum
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exegesis
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishnah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tosefta
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minor_tractates
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerusalem_Talmud
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash_Halakha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash#Aggadic_midrashim
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halakha
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishneh_Torah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arba%27ah_Turim
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shulchan_Aruch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_philosophy
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Musar_literature
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_ethics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasidic_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddur
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_services
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piyyut
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psalms
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_messianism
Many traditional Jewish texts are available online in various Torah databases (electronic versions of the Traditional Jewish Bookshelf). Many of these have advanced search options available.

Jewish legal literature

The basis of Jewish law and tradition (halakha) is the Torah (also known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition, there are 613 commandments in the Torah. Some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups, the Kohanim and Leviyim (members of the tribe of Levi), some only to farmers within the Land of Israel. Many laws were only applicable when the Temple in Jerusalem existed, and only 369 of these commandments are still applicable today.[56]

While there have been Jewish groups whose beliefs were based on the written text of the Torah alone (e.g., the Sadducees, and the Karaites), most Jews believe in the oral law. These oral traditions were transmitted by the Pharisee school of thought of ancient Judaism, and were later recorded in written form and expanded upon by the rabbis.

According to Rabbinical Jewish tradition, God gave both the Written Law (the Torah) and the Oral law to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Oral law is the oral tradition as relayed by God to Moses and from him, transmitted and taught to the sages (rabbinic leaders) of each subsequent generation.

For centuries, the Torah appeared only as a written text transmitted in parallel with the oral tradition. Fearing that the oral teachings might be forgotten, Rabbi Judah haNasi undertook the mission of consolidating the various opinions into one body of law which became known as the Mishnah.[57]

The Mishnah consists of 63 tractates codifying Jewish law, which are the basis of the Talmud. According to Abraham ben David, the Mishnah was compiled by Rabbi Judah haNasi after the destruction of Jerusalem, in anno mundi 3949, which corresponds to 189 CE.[58]

Over the next four centuries, the Mishnah underwent discussion and debate in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and Babylonia). The commentaries from each of these communities were eventually compiled into the two Talmuds, the Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi) and the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli). These have been further expounded by commentaries of various Torah scholars during the ages.

In the text of the Torah, many words are left undefined and many procedures are mentioned without explanation or instructions. Such phenomena are sometimes offered to validate the viewpoint that the Written Law has always been transmitted with a parallel oral tradition, illustrating the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the details from other, i.e., oral, sources.[59]

Halakha, the rabbinic Jewish way of life, then, is based on a combined reading of the Torah, and the oral tradition—the Mishnah, the halakhic Midrash, the Talmud and its commentaries. The Halakha has developed slowly, through a precedent-based system. The literature of questions to rabbis, and their considered answers, is referred to as responsa (in Hebrew, Sheelot U-Teshuvot.) Over time, as practices develop, codes of Jewish law are written that are based on the responsa; the most important code, the Shulchan Aruch, largely determines Orthodox religious practice today.

Jewish philosophy

Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology. Major Jewish philosophers include Solomon ibn Gabirol, Saadia Gaon, Judah Halevi, Maimonides, and Gersonides. Major changes occurred in response to the Enlightenment (late 18th to early 19th century) leading to the post- Enlightenment Jewish philosophers. Modern Jewish philosophy consists of both Orthodox and non-Orthodox oriented philosophy. Notable among Orthodox Jewish philosophers are Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, Joseph B. Soloveitchik, and Yitzchok Hutner. Well-known non-Orthodox Jewish philosophers include Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Mordecai Kaplan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Will Herberg, and Emmanuel Lévinas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah_database
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentateuch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/613_mitzvot
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohen
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levite
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_of_Israel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_in_Jerusalem
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sadducees
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karaite_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_law#Oral_law_in_Judaism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pharisees
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_law
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biblical_Mount_Sinai
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rabbi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_haNasi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_ben_David
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishnah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_the_Prince
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anno_mundi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Iraq
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talmud
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midrash
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Responsa
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shulchan_Aruch
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solomon_ibn_Gabirol
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saadia_Gaon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judah_Halevi
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maimonides
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gersonides
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Enlightenment
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliyahu_Eliezer_Dessler
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_B._Soloveitchik
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yitzchok_Hutner
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Buber
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franz_Rosenzweig
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordecai_Kaplan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Joshua_Heschel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Will_Herberg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emmanuel_L%C3%A9vinas
Rabbinic hermeneutics

Orthodox and many other Jews do not believe that the revealed Torah consists solely of its written contents, but of its interpretations as well. The study of Torah (in its widest sense, to include both poetry, narrative, and law, and both the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud) is in Judaism itself a sacred act of central importance. For the sages of the Mishnah and Talmud, and for their successors today, the study of Torah was therefore not merely a means to learn the contents of God's revelation, but an end in itself. According to the Talmud,

These are the things for which a person enjoys the dividends in this world while the principal remains for the person to enjoy in the world to come; they are: honoring parents, loving deeds of kindness, and making peace between one person and another. But the study of the Torah is equal to them all. (Talmud Shabbat 127a).

In Judaism, "the study of Torah can be a means of experiencing God".[61] Reflecting on the contribution of the Amoraim and Tanaim to contemporary Judaism, Professor Jacob Neusner observed:

The rabbi's logical and rational inquiry is not mere logic- chopping. It is a most serious and substantive effort to locate in trivialities the fundamental principles of the revealed will of God to guide and sanctify the most specific and concrete actions in the workaday world .... Here is the mystery of Talmudic Judaism: the alien and remote conviction that the intellect is an instrument not of unbelief and desacralization but of sanctification."[62]

To study the Written Torah and the Oral Torah in light of each other is thus also to study how to study the word of God.

In the study of Torah, the sages formulated and followed various logical and hermeneutical principles. According to David Stern, all Rabbinic hermeneutics rest on two basic axioms:

first, the belief in the omnisignificance of Scripture, in the meaningfulness of its every word, letter, even (according to one famous report) scribal flourish; second, the claim of the essential unity of Scripture as the expression of the single divine will.[63]

These two principles make possible a great variety of interpretations. According to the Talmud,

A single verse has several meanings, but no two verses hold the same meaning. It was taught in the school of R. Ishmael: 'Behold, My word is like fire—declares the Lord —and like a hammer that shatters rock' (Jer 23:29). Just as this hammer produces many sparks (when it strikes the rock), so a single verse has several meanings." (Talmud Sanhedrin 34a).