Judaism

Judaism is the religion, philosophy, and culture of the Jewish people. This entry presents the basic beliefs and practices of the Jewish religion, its adaptation to exile, its relationships with other religions, its Ashkenaz and Sepharad components, and the role of rabbis; then, following emancipation, new religious and secular developments; and, in conclusion, contemporary challenges.

Judaism is the first monotheistic religion. It appeared with the Hebrew Patriarchs—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—and the Matriarchs—Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah—some 3,500 years ago. Judaism crystallized with Moses, with emphasis on the exodus from Egypt, freedom from bondage, and the revelation of the Ten Commandments. In Judaism, God is transcendent—beyond representation—omnipotent, benevolent. He created the world, revealed himself, and will lead to redemption. The covenant between God and Abraham, renewed at Mount Sinai between God and the Children of Israel, is an eternal one: Jews exist as a representative of the deity (kingdom of priests, holy people: Exodus 19:5–6), God exists because Jews proclaim Him. Basic monotheistic beliefs are embodied in the commandments: 248 positive and 365 prohibitive or negative, for a total of 613. Gentiles, to share the world to come, must keep the Seven Noahide Laws (prohibition of idolatry, blasphemy, bloodshed, sexual sins, theft, and eating of flesh from a living animal and establishment of a fair legal system). From the conquest of Canaan, the establishment of a Jewish sovereignty, until the destruction of the Second Temple by Titus in 70 CE, Judaism is the religion of a specific people with a specific belief, monotheism.

This explains the savagery of the war between Rome and Jerusalem. The Roman Empire, to impose its rule on a defeated people, mandated that Caesar be worshipped as divine. Judeans could not accept a god other than the Only One. Wars continued for close to a century; Jerusalem was captured; the Temple destroyed; and the very name of the country, Judea, replaced by Palestine to erase any memory of a people and a religion so different from that of Rome.

Faced with a new situation, disappearance of its political and religious institutions, exile, and minority status, Judaism had no other choice but to adapt. The first innovation was to write down what had been until then the Oral Law, explanations and comments on the Written Law, Deuteronomy (the fifth book of the Torah, the Hebrew Bible). This massive effort gave birth to the Talmud, which would become the authoritative interpretation of [Page 1364]Judaism, its source of jurisprudence and education. The only group of Jews who had no knowledge of the Talmud was the group in Ethiopia. The second innovation was an increased value accorded to religion as compensation for lost sovereignty. Such reliance on religion has been the mark of other oppressed peoples (Poles, Irish, Thai, etc.).

Exilic Judaism, with its synagogues as substitutes for the Temple of Jerusalem and the Talmud as its basic source of knowledge, dominated the following 2,000 years. Halacha, Jewish Law, was the core of Judaism, a code of laws, practices, and observances. Based on the Pentateuch, Talmud, and the decisions of sages and rabbis until contemporary times, Halacha is binding for the Orthodox, though not for other groups within Judaism.

...