Judaism

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Judaism
יַהֲדוּת‎
Yahăḏūṯ
Collection of Judaica (clockwise from top):
Candlesticks for Shabbat, a cup for ritual handwashing, a Chumash and a Tanakh, a Torah pointer, a shofar, and an etrog box.
TypeEthnic religion
ClassificationAbrahamic
ScriptureTanakh, Talmud, Midrash
TheologyMonotheistic
RegionPredominant religion in Israel and widespread worldwide as minorities
LanguageBiblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic
FounderAbraham and Moses (according to tradition)[1][2]
Originc. 6th century BCE
Judah
Separated fromYahwism
SeparationsSamaritanism
Mandaeism
Christianity[a]
Number of followersc. 15.2 million (referred to as Jews)
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Judaism
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Judaism (Hebrew: יַהֲדוּת‎, romanized: Yahăḏūṯ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people.[8][9][10] Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant, which was established between God and the Israelites, their ancestors.[11] The religion is considered one of the earliest monotheistic religions in the world.

Jewish religious doctrine encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Among Judaism's core texts is the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, a collection of ancient Hebrew scriptures. The Tanakh, known in English as the Hebrew Bible, has the same contents as the Old Testament in Christianity. In addition to the original written scripture, the supplemental Oral Torah is represented by later texts, such as the Midrash and the Talmud. The Hebrew-language word torah can mean "teaching", "law", or "instruction",[12] although "Torah" can also be used as a general term that refers to any Jewish text that expands or elaborates on the original Five Books of Moses. Representing the core of the Jewish spiritual and religious tradition, the Torah is a term and a set of teachings that are explicitly self-positioned as encompassing at least seventy, and potentially infinite, facets and interpretations.[13] Judaism's texts, traditions, and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam.[14][15] Hebraism, like Hellenism, played a seminal role in the formation of Western civilization through its impact as a core background element of Early Christianity.[16]

Within Judaism, there are a variety of religious movements, most of which emerged from Rabbinic Judaism,[17][18][19] which holds that God revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah.[20] Historically, all or part of this assertion was challenged by various groups such as the Sadducees and Hellenistic Judaism during the Second Temple period;[21][18][22] the Karaites during the early and later medieval period; and among segments of the modern non-Orthodox denominations.[23] Some modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be considered secular or nontheistic.[24][25][26][27] Today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism (Haredi and Modern Orthodox), Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between these groups are their approaches to halakha (Jewish law), the authority of the rabbinic tradition, and the significance of the State of Israel.[28][29][30][1] Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and halakha are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, and that they should be strictly followed.[31][32][33][34] Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditionalist interpretation of Judaism's requirements than Reform Judaism.[35][36][37][38] A typical Reform position is that halakha 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.[39][40][41][42][43] Historically, special courts enforced halakha; today, these courts still exist but the practice of Judaism is mostly voluntary.[44] Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, but in the sacred texts and the rabbis and scholars who interpret them.

Jews are an ethnoreligious group[45] including those born Jewish (or "ethnic Jews"), in addition to converts to Judaism. In 2021, the world Jewish population was estimated at 15.2 million, or roughly 0.195% of the total world population, although religious observance varies from strict to none.[46][47] In 2021, about 45.6% of all Jews resided in Israel and another 42.1% resided in the United States and Canada, with most of the remainder living in Europe, and other groups spread throughout Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Australia.[48]

  1. ^ a b Mendes-Flohr 2005.
  2. ^ Levenson 2012, p. 3.
  3. ^ Ehrman, Bart D. (2005) [2003]. "At Polar Ends of the Spectrum: Early Christian Ebionites and Marcionites". Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 95–112. doi:10.1017/s0009640700110273. ISBN 978-0-19-518249-1. ISSN 0009-6407. LCCN 2003053097. S2CID 152458823. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  4. ^ Hurtado, Larry W. (2005). "How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Approaches to Jesus-Devotion in Earliest Christianity". How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus. Grand Rapids, Michigan and Cambridge, UK: Wm. B. Eerdmans. pp. 13–55. ISBN 978-0-8028-2861-3. Retrieved 20 July 2021.
  5. ^ Freeman, Charles (2010). "Breaking Away: The First Christianities". A New History of Early Christianity. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 31–46. doi:10.12987/9780300166583. ISBN 978-0-300-12581-8. JSTOR j.ctt1nq44w. LCCN 2009012009. S2CID 170124789. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  6. ^ Wilken, Robert Louis (2013). "Beginning in Jerusalem". The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity. New Haven and London: Yale University Press. pp. 6–16. ISBN 978-0-300-11884-1. JSTOR j.ctt32bd7m. LCCN 2012021755. S2CID 160590164. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
  7. ^ Lietaert Peerbolte, Bert Jan (2013). "How Antichrist Defeated Death: The Development of Christian Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Early Church". In Krans, Jan; Lietaert Peerbolte, L. J.; Smit, Peter-Ben; Zwiep, Arie W. (eds.). Paul, John, and Apocalyptic Eschatology: Studies in Honour of Martinus C. de Boer. Novum Testamentum: Supplements. Vol. 149. Leiden: Brill Publishers. pp. 238–255. doi:10.1163/9789004250369_016. ISBN 978-90-04-25026-0. ISSN 0167-9732. S2CID 191738355. Retrieved 13 February 2021.
  8. ^  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Kohler, Kaufmann (1901–1906). "Judaism". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
  9. ^ Jacobs 2007, p. 511 quote: "Judaism, the religion, philosophy, and way of life of the Jews.".
  10. ^ Schiffman 2003, p. 3.
  11. ^ Cite error: The named reference Knowledge Resources: Judaism was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  12. ^ Fried, Yerachmiel (18 August 2011). "What is Torah?". Aish. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  13. ^ "Bamidbar Rabah". sefaria.org. sefaria. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference Islam, Judaism, and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference The Historical Muhammad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cambridge University Historical Series, An Essay on Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects, p.40: Hebraism, like Hellenism, has been an all-important factor in the development of Western Civilization; Judaism, as the precursor of Christianity, has indirectly had had much to do with shaping the ideals and morality of western nations since the christian era.
  17. ^ Neusner & Avery-Peck 2003, pp. 78–92.
  18. ^ a b Schiffman 2003.
  19. ^ "Rabbinic Judaism". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference What is the oral Torah? was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Neusner & Avery-Peck 2003, pp. 58–77.
  22. ^ "Sadducee". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  23. ^ Cite error: The named reference JEkaraites was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  24. ^ Mendes-Flohr, Paul (2003) [2000]. "Secular Forms of Jewishness". In Neusner, Jacob; Avery-Peck, Alan J. (eds.). The Blackwell Companion to Judaism (Reprint ed.). Malden, Mass: Blackwell Publ. pp. 461–476. ISBN 1-57718-058-5. Archived from the original on 10 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  25. ^ Karesh & Hurvitz 2005, p. 221, "Humanistic Judaism".
  26. ^ Ackerman, Ari (May 2010). "Eliezer Schweid on the Religious Dimension of a Secular Jewish Renewal". Modern Judaism. 30 (2): 209–228. doi:10.1093/mj/kjq005. ISSN 0276-1114. JSTOR 40604707. S2CID 143106665.
  27. ^ Troen, Ilan (April 2016). Secular Judaism in Israel Archived 31 July 2023 at the Wayback Machine, Society, Vol. 53, Issue 2.
  28. ^ Rudavsky 1979.
  29. ^ Raphael 1984.
  30. ^ Jacobs 2007.
  31. ^ Rudavsky 1979, pp. 218–270, 367–402.
  32. ^ Raphael 1984, pp. 125–176.
  33. ^ Neusner & Avery-Peck 2003, pp. 311–333.
  34. ^ Jacobs 2003, "Orthodox Judaism".
  35. ^ Rudavsky 1979, pp. 317–346.
  36. ^ Raphael 1984, pp. 79–124.
  37. ^ Neusner & Avery-Peck 2003, pp. 334–353.
  38. ^ Jacobs 2003, "Conservative Judaism".
  39. ^ Rudavsky 1979, pp. 156–185, 285–316.
  40. ^ Raphael 1984, pp. 1–78.
  41. ^ Neusner & Avery-Peck 2003, pp. 291–310.
  42. ^ Jacobs 2003, "Reform Judaism".
  43. ^ Karesh & Hurvitz 2005, pp. 419–422, "Reform Judaism".
  44. ^ Cite error: The named reference Britannica Online Encyclopedia: Bet Din was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  45. ^ Cite error: The named reference Ethnoreligious was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  46. ^ Dashefsky, Arnold; Della-Pergola, Sergio; Sheskin, Ira, eds. (2021). World Jewish Population (PDF) (Report). Berman Jewish DataBank. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 September 2023. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  47. ^ Ernest Krausz; Gitta Tulea (1997). Jewish Survival: The Identity Problem at the Close of the Twentieth Century; [... International Workshop at Bar-Ilan University on the 18th and 19th of March, 1997]. Transaction Publishers. pp. 90–. ISBN 978-1-4128-2689-1. "A person born Jewish who refutes Judaism may continue to assert a Jewish identity, and if he or she does not convert to another religion, even religious Jews will recognize the person as a Jew"
  48. ^ "Jewish Population by Country 2023". worldpopulationreview.com. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 24 January 2023.


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