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Judaism

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                                                                   Judaism

                                                                   Judaism

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   Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. It is one of the first
   recorded monotheistic faiths, and it is one of the oldest religious
   traditions still practiced today. The values and history of the Jewish
   people are a major part of the foundation of other Abrahamic religions
   such as Christianity, Islam, as well as Samaritanism and the Bahá'í
   Faith. As of 2006, adherents of Judaism numbered around 14 million
   followers, making it the world's eleventh-largest organized religion.

   Judaism has seldom, if ever, been monolithic in practice (although it
   has always been monotheistic in theology), and differs from many
   religions in that its central authority is not vested in any person or
   group but rather in its writings and traditions. Despite this, Judaism
   in all its variations has remained tightly bound to a number of
   religious principles, the most important of which is the belief that
   there is a single, omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, transcendent
   God, who created the universe and continues to be involved in its
   governance. According to traditional Jewish belief, the God who created
   the world established a covenant with the Jewish people, and revealed
   his laws and commandments to them in the form of the Torah. The
   practice of Judaism is devoted to the study and observance of these
   laws and commandments, as written in the Torah.

Traditional view of the development of Judaism

   Scenes from the Book of Esther, part of the Ketuvim portion of the
   Tanakh, decorate the Dura-Europos synagogue dating from 244 CE
   Enlarge
   Scenes from the Book of Esther, part of the Ketuvim portion of the
   Tanakh, decorate the Dura-Europos synagogue dating from 244 CE

   The subject of the Hebrew Bible is an account of the Israelites' (a
   branch of Hebrews) relationship with God as reflected in their history
   from the beginning of time until the building of the Second Temple (c.
   350 BCE). This relationship is often portrayed as contentious, as
   Hebrews struggle between their faith in God and their attraction for
   other gods, and as some Hebrews, such as Abraham; (most notably and
   directly), Jacob, the father of all Israelites — later known as Israel;
   and Moses struggle with God.

   According to Orthodox Judaism and most religious Jews, the Biblical
   patriarch Abraham was the first Hebrew. Rabbinic literature records
   that he was the first since the generation of Noah to publicly reject
   idolatry and preach monotheism. As a result, God promised he would have
   children: "Look now toward heaven and count the stars/So shall be your
   progeny." ( Genesis 15:5) Abraham's first child was Ishmael and his
   second son was Isaac, whom God said would continue Abraham's work and
   inherit the Land of Israel (then called Canaan), after having been
   exiled and redeemed. God sent the patriarch Jacob and his children to
   Egypt, where after many generations they became enslaved. Then God sent
   Moses to redeem the Israelites from slavery, and after the Exodus from
   Egypt, God led the Israelites to Mount Sinai in 1313BCE (Jewish Year
   2448) and gave them the Torah, eventually bringing them to the land of
   Israel.

   God designated the descendants of Aaron, Moses' brother, to be a
   priestly class within the Israelite community. They first officiated in
   the tabernacle (a portable house of worship), and later their
   descendants were in charge of worship in the Temple in Jerusalem.

   Once the Israelites had settled in the land of Israel, the tabernacle
   was planted in the city of Shiloh for over 300 years during which time
   God provided great men, and occasionally women, to rally the nation
   against attacking enemies, some of which were sent by God as a
   punishment for the sins of the people. This is described in the Book of
   Joshua and the Book of Judges. As time went on, the spiritual level of
   the nation declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines to
   capture the tabernacle in Shiloh.

   The people of Israel then told Samuel the prophet that they had reached
   the point where they needed to be governed by a permanent king, as were
   other nations, as described in the Books of Samuel. Samuel grudgingly
   acceded to this request and appointed Saul, a great but very humble
   man, to be their King. When the people pressured Saul into going
   against a command conveyed to him by Samuel, God told Samuel to appoint
   David in his stead.

   Once King David was established, he told the prophet Nathan that he
   would like to build a permanent temple, and as a reward for his
   actions, God promised David that he would allow his son to build the
   temple and the throne would never depart from his children (David
   himself was not allowed to build the temple because he had been
   involved in many wars, making it inappropriate for him to build a
   temple representing peace). As a result, it was David's son Solomon who
   built the first permanent temple according to God's will, in Jerusalem,
   as described in the Books of Kings.
   The Western Wall in Jerusalem is a remnant of the Second Temple. The
   Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.
   Enlarge
   The Western Wall in Jerusalem is a remnant of the Second Temple. The
   Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.

   After Solomon's death, his Kingdom was split into the two kingdoms of
   Israel and Judah. After several hundred years, because of rampant
   idolatry, God allowed Assyria to conquer Israel and exile its people.
   The southern Kingdom of Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem, home of the
   Temple, remained under the rule of the House of David, however, as in
   the north, idolatry increased to the point that God allowed Babylonia
   to conquer the Kingdom, destroy the Temple which had stood for 410
   years, and exile its people to Babylonia, with the promise that they
   would be redeemed after seventy years. These events are recorded in the
   Book of Isaiah and the Book of Jeremiah.

   After seventy years the Judahites were allowed back into Judaea under
   the leadership of Ezra, and the Temple was rebuilt, as recorded in the
   Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah. The Second Temple stood for 420
   years, after which it was destroyed by the Roman general (later
   emperor) Titus. The Israelite temple is to remain in ruins until a
   descendant of David arises to restore the glory of Israel and rebuild
   the Temple in Jerusalem.

   The Torah, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy; given
   on Mount Sinai was summarized in the five books of Moses. Together with
   the books of the prophets it is called the Written Torah.

   The details and interpretation of the law, which are called the Oral
   Torah or oral law were originally an unwritten tradition based upon
   what God told Moses on Mount Sinai that was not the written aspect of
   the law but all the codes of the Mishna as well as other holy books.

   However, as the persecutions of the Jews increased and the details were
   in danger of being forgotten, rabbinic tradition holds that these oral
   laws were recorded by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi (Rabbi Judah the Prince) and
   recorded in the Mishnah. The Talmud was a compilation of both the
   Mishna & the Gemara (Aramaic for the word Tradition). The Babylonian
   Talmud is a recording of the inquiry of how to apply the Mishna
   legally, recorded from discussions in the houses of study by the
   scholars Ravina I, Ravina II, and Rav Ashi over an era.

   Common editions of the Talmud today have the Mishna followed by its
   associated Gemara commentary. Then, the next Mishna, often only a few
   lines or short paragraph, followed by the commentary relevant to that
   Mishna which may be pages long, and so on until that particular
   tractate of Mishna is completed. There may be many chapters of Mishna
   in any given tractate (Ma'sechta in Hebrew).

Critical historical view of the development of Judaism

   Although monotheism and Torah are fundamental to Rabbinic Judaism, many
   critical Bible scholars claim that certain verses in the Torah imply
   that the early Israelites accepted the existence of other gods, while
   viewing their God as the sole Creator, whose worship is obligated (a
   henotheistic point of view). Another way of putting this is that the
   Israelite, Yahwistic religion that preceded Rabbinic Judaism, as
   represented by the early prophets, demanded monolatry: worship of a
   single, "jealous" God. Interestingly, the biblical text that is
   considered to be the core of Judaism (Deut. 6,4: "Hear, O Israel, Yhwh
   is our God, Yhwh is One" (in Hebrew, "Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu
   Adonai Echad", with "Adonai" standing in for YHWH), represents this
   God's apparent intolerance of accepting the worship of other gods
   besides Himself. As YHWH Himself was originally a War-God ("YHWH of the
   hosts"), the worship of fertility gods such as Baal (or the Baalim) was
   attractive once the Israelites had settled down. In this view, it was
   only by the Hellenic period that most Jews came to believe that their
   God was the only God (and thus, the God of everyone), and that the
   record of His revelation (the Torah) contained within it universal
   truths. This attitude reflected a growing Gentile interest in Judaism
   (some Greeks and Romans considered the Jews a most "philosophical"
   people because of their belief in a God that cannot be represented
   visually), and growing Jewish interest in Greek philosophy, which
   sought to establish universal truths, thus leading - potentially - to
   the idea of monotheism, at least in the sense that "all gods are One".

   According to this theory, Jews began to grapple with the tension
   between their claims of particularism (that only Jews were required to
   obey the Torah), and universalism (that the Torah contained universal
   truths). The supposed result is a set of beliefs and practices
   concerning identity, ethics, and the relationships between man and
   nature and man and God that examine and privilege "differences" — for
   example the difference between Jews and non-Jews; the local differences
   in the practice of Judaism; a close attention, when interpreting texts,
   to difference in the meanings of three words; attempts to preserve and
   encode different points of view within texts, and a relative avoidance
   of creed and dogma.

   In contrast to the Orthodox religious view of the Hebrew Bible,
   critical biblical scholars also suggest that the Torah consists of a
   variety of inconsistent texts that were edited together in a way that
   calls attention to divergent accounts (see Documentary hypothesis).

Religious doctrine and Principles of Faith

   Historically, Judaism has considered belief in the divine revelation
   and acceptance of the Written and Oral Torah as its fundamental core
   belief. This gave rise to many different formulations as to the
   specific theological beliefs inherent in the Torah and Talmud. While
   individual rabbis have at times agreed upon a firm formulation,
   generally other rabbis have disagreed, many criticizing any such
   attempt as minimizing acceptance of the entire Torah (Rabbi S. of
   Montpelier, Yad Rama, Y. Alfacher, Rosh Amanah). 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 suggesting the requirements for conversion to Judaism
   included circumcision and adherence to traditional customs. Notably, in
   the Talmud some principles of faith (e.g., the Divine origin of the
   Torah) are considered important enough that rejection of them can put
   one in the category of "apikoros" ( heretic).

   Over the centuries, a number of clear formulations of Jewish principles
   of faith have appeared, and though they differ with respect to certain
   details, they demonstrate a commonality of core ideology. Of these, the
   one most widely considered authoritative is Maimonides' thirteen
   principles of faith, which assert the following:
    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,
       is not a 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 works 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 of those who preceded him and of 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.
    9. I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be changed,
       and that there will never be any other Law 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 said: “[He] that fashioned the hearts of them all, [He] that
       comprehends all their actions.”
   11. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, blessed be His Name,
       rewards those that 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, with all this 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 exalted be His Name for ever and ever.

   Importantly, Maimonides, while enumerating the above, added the
   following caveat "There is no difference between [the Biblical
   statement] "his wife was Mehithabel" (Genesis 10,6) on the one hand
   (i.e. an "unimportant" verse), and "Hear, O Israel" on the other (i.e.
   an "important" verse)...anyone who denies even such verses thereby
   denies God and shows contempt for his teachings more than any other
   skeptic, because he holds that the Torah can be divided into essential
   and non-essential parts..." The specialness of the thirteen fundamental
   beliefs was that even a rejection out of ignorance placed one outside
   Judaism, whereas the rejection of the rest of Torah must be a conscious
   act to stamp one as an unbeliever. Some, such as Rabbi Joseph Albo and
   the Raavad, criticized Maimonides' list as containing too many items
   that, while true, were not fundamentals of the faith, and thus placed
   too many Jews in the category of "heretic", rather than those who were
   simply in error. Many others criticized any such formulation as
   minimizing acceptance of the entire Torah (see above). As noted
   however, neither Maimonides nor his contemporaries viewed these
   principles as encompassing all of Jewish belief, but rather as the core
   theological underpinnings of the acceptance of Judaism.

Jewish literature

Rabbinic literature

   A Torah scroll, the Torah contains the five books of Moses, which are
   the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.
   Enlarge
   A Torah scroll, the Torah contains the five books of Moses, which are
   the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.

   Jews are often called a "People of the Book," and Judaism has an
   age-old intellectual tradition focusing on text-based Torah study. The
   following is a basic, structured list of the central works of Jewish
   practice and thought. For more detail, see Rabbinic literature.
     * The Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible) and Jewish bible study, which include:
          + Mesorah
          + Targum
          + Jewish Biblical exegesis (also see Midrash below)
     * Works of the Talmudic Era (classic rabbinic literature)
          + The Mishnah and its commentaries
          + The Tosefta and the minor tractates
          + The Talmud:
               o The Jerusalem Talmud and its commentaries
               o The Babylonian Talmud and its commentaries
     * Midrashic literature:
          + Halakhic Midrash
          + Aggadic Midrash
     * Halakhic literature
          + The Major Codes of Jewish Law and Custom
               o The Mishneh Torah and its commentaries
               o The Tur and its commentaries
               o The Shulchan Aruch and its commentaries
          + Other books on Jewish law and custom
          + The Responsa literature
     * Jewish Thought and Ethics
          + Jewish philosophy
          + Kabbalah
          + Hasidic works
          + Jewish ethics and the Mussar Movement
     * The Siddur and Jewish liturgy
     * Piyyut (Classical Jewish poetry)

Legal literature

   The basis of Jewish law and tradition ("halakha") is the Torah (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 those who practice
   farming within the land of Israel. Many laws were only applicable when
   the Temple in Jerusalem existed, and fewer than 300 of these
   commandments are still applicable today.

   While there have been Jewish groups which claimed to be based on the
   written text of the Torah alone (e.g., the Sadducees, and the
   Karaites), most Jews believed in what they call the oral law. These
   oral traditions were transmitted by the Pharisee sect of ancient
   Judaism, and were later recorded in written form and expanded upon by
   the rabbis.

   Rabbinic Judaism has always held that the books of the Tanakh (called
   the written law) have always been transmitted in parallel with an oral
   tradition. To justify this viewpoint, Jews point to the text of the
   Torah, where many words are left undefined, and many procedures
   mentioned without explanation or instructions; this, they argue, means
   that the reader is assumed to be familiar with the details from other,
   i.e., oral, sources. This parallel set of material was originally
   transmitted orally, and came to be known as "the oral law".

   By the time of Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi (200 CE), after the destruction of
   Jerusalem, much of this material was edited together into the Mishnah.
   Over the next four centuries this law underwent discussion and debate
   in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and
   Babylonia), and the commentaries on the Mishnah from each of these
   communities eventually came to be edited together into compilations
   known as the two Talmuds. These have been expounded by commentaries of
   various Torah scholars during the ages.

   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 Shulkhan Arukh, largely
   determines Jewish religious practice up to 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, Maimonides, and Gersonides. Major
   changes occurred in response to the Enlightenment (late 1700s to early
   1800s) 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 Soloveitchik, and Yitzchok Hutner. Well-known
   non-Orthodox Jewish philosophers include Martin Buber, Franz
   Rosenzweig, Mordecai Kaplan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, and Emmanuel
   Levinas.

   Related Topics
     * Torah databases (electronic versions of the Traditional Jewish
       Bookshelf)
     * List of Jewish Prayers and Blessings

Jewish identity

Distinction between Jews and Judaism

   According to Daniel Boyarin, the underlying distinction between
   religion and race is foreign to Judaism itself, and is one form of the
   dualism between spirit and flesh that has its origin in Platonic
   philosophy and that permeated Hellenistic Judaism. Consequently, in his
   view, Judaism does not fit easily into conventional Western categories,
   such as religion, ethnicity, or culture. Boyarin suggests that this in
   part reflects the fact that most of Judaism's 4,000-year history
   predates the rise of Western culture and occurred outside the West.
   During this time, Jews have experienced slavery, anarchic and
   theocratic self-government, conquest, occupation, and exile; in the
   Diasporas they have been in contact with, and have been influenced by
   ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenic cultures, as well
   as modern movements such as the Enlightenment (see Haskalah) and the
   rise of nationalism, which would bear fruit in the form of a Jewish
   state in the Levant. They also saw an elite convert to Judaism (the
   Khazars), only to disappear as the centers of power in the lands once
   occupied by that elite fell to the people of Rus and then the Mongols.
   Thus, Boyarin has argued that "Jewishness disrupts the very categories
   of identity, because it is not national, not genealogical, not
   religious, but all of these, in dialectical tension."

What makes a person Jewish?

   According to traditional Jewish Law, someone is considered to be a Jew
   if he or she was born of a Jewish mother or converted in accord with
   Jewish Law. American Reform Judaism and British Liberal Judaism accept
   the child of one Jewish parent (father or mother) as Jewish if the
   parents raise the child as a Jew by Progressive standards. All
   mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere converts.

   Judaism maintains that one born Jewish or one who converted to Judaism,
   retains their status as a Jew forever. Rather, one who converts to
   another religion or is an atheist is considered to be a Jew not in good
   religious standing. How religious one is, in this sense, is only
   important in one's status in Jewish law. For example, a person denying
   the Jewish principles of faith may be considered a heretic, while still
   considered Jewish.

   The question of what determines Jewish identity was given new impetus
   when, in the 1950s, David ben Gurion requested opinions on mihu Yehudi
   ("who is a Jew") from Jewish religious authorities and intellectuals
   worldwide. The question is far from settled, and occasionally
   resurfaces in Israeli politics.

Jewish demographics

   The number of Jews in the world is hotly contested and any estimate
   given may or may not be a truthful one. According to the Jewish Year
   Book (1901), the number of Jews in 1900 was around 11 million. The
   latest estimates available are from the World Jewish Population Survey
   of 2002, and the Jewish Year Calendar, (2005). The former states that
   in 2002 there were a total of 13.3 million Jews in the world, while the
   latter states a total of 14.6 million. Jewish population growth is
   currently almost zero percent, with a 0.3% growth from 2000 to 2001.
   The number of converts as well as the birthrate of Jews in Israel and
   the revival of interest in Jewish practice in other countries suggest
   that Judaism will steadily grow during the twenty-first century.

Jewish denominations

   Over the past two centuries the Jewish community has divided into a
   number of Jewish denominations; each has a different understanding of
   what principles of belief a Jew should hold, and how one should live as
   a Jew. To some degree, these doctrinal differences have created schisms
   between the Jewish denominations. Nonetheless, there is some level of
   Jewish unity. For example, it would not be unusual for a Conservative
   Jew to attend either an Orthodox or Reform synagogue. The article on
   Relationships between Jewish religious movements discusses how
   different Jewish denominations view each other.
   Hasidic Jews are one part of the Haredi community, the most
   theologically conservative form of Judaism. Pictured here, Hasidic
   Rebbes.
   Enlarge
   Hasidic Jews are one part of the Haredi community, the most
   theologically conservative form of Judaism. Pictured here, Hasidic
   Rebbes.
     * Orthodox Judaism holds that both the Written and Oral Torah were
       divinely revealed to Moses, and that the laws within it are binding
       and unchanging. Orthodox Jews generally consider the Shulkhan
       Arukh, to be the definitive codification of Jewish law, and assert
       a continuity between the Judaism of the Temple in Jerusalem,
       pre-Enlightenment Rabbinic Judaism. and modern-day Orthodox
       Judaism. Most of Orthodox Judaism holds to one particular form of
       Jewish theology, based on Maimonides' 13 principles of Jewish
       faith. Orthodox Judaism broadly (and informally) shades into two
       main styles, Modern Orthodox Judaism and Haredi Judaism. The
       philosophical distinction is generally around accommodation to
       modernity and weight placed on non-Jewish disciplines, though in
       practical terms the differences are often reflected in styles of
       dress and rigor in practice. According to most Orthodox Jews,
       Jewish people who do not keep the laws of Shabbat and Yom Tov (the
       holidays), Kashrut, and family purity are considered non-religious.
       Any Jew who keeps at least those laws would be considered observant
       and religious.
          + Modern Orthodox is a common traditional form of Judaism, which
            has a broad adherence to historic traditions, and practices,
            and worship and belief in traditional form.
          + Traditional Orthodox or Haredi Judaism is a very conservative
            form of Judaism. It is sometimes called Ultra-Orthodox
            Judaism, but this term is widely considered to be offensive.
            Though there are a number of Haredi Jewish groups who, like
            Modern Orthodoxy, accept modernization (including followers of
            Torah im Derech Eretz and perhaps most notably Lubavitch
            Hassidism), the modern culture is seen as a means to worship
            God instead of an end unto itself. Many Orthodox Jews do not
            look at one's professed denomination alone as the principal
            way of evaluating religious level; instead they view Jews by
            how closely their beliefs and practices accord with Orthodox
            ones.
          + Hasidic Judaism is a form of Orthodox Judaism based on the
            teachings of Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (the 'Baal Shem Tov').
            Hassidic philosophy is rooted in the Kabbalah, and Hassidic
            Jews accept the Kabbalah as sacred scripture. They are
            distinguished both by a variety of special customs and
            practices including reliance on a Rebbe or supreme religious
            leader, and for a special dress code particular to each
            Hassidic group.

     * Conservative Judaism, known as Masorti Judaism outside of the
       United States and Canada, developed in Europe and the United States
       in the 1800s, as Jews reacted to the changes brought about by the
       Enlightenment and Jewish emancipation. It is characterized by a
       commitment to following traditional Jewish laws and customs,
       including observance of Shabbat and Kashrut; a deliberately
       non-fundamentalist teaching of Jewish principles of faith; a
       positive attitude toward modern culture; an acceptance of both
       traditional rabbinic modes of study and modern scholarship and
       critical text study when considering Jewish religious texts.
          + It teaches that Jewish law was not static, but rather has
            always developed in response to changing conditions.
          + It holds that the Torah is a divine document written by
            prophets inspired by God, but rejects the Orthodox position
            that it was dictated by God to Moses. Similarly, Conservative
            Judaism holds that Judaism's oral law is divine and normative,
            but rejects some Orthodox interpretations of the oral law.
          + Accordingly, Conservative Judaism holds that both the Written
            and Oral Law may be interpreted by the Rabbinnate to reflect
            modern sensibilities and suit modern conditions, although
            great caution should be exercised in doing so.
     * Progressive Judaism is composed of multiple movements in several
       countries.

          + Reform Judaism, called Liberal or Progressive in many
            countries, originally formed in Germany in response to the
            Enlightenment. (Note that in the United Kingdom, there are two
            distinct congregational unions, Reform and Liberal. The former
            is significantly more traditional than the latter, but both
            hold to essentially the same theoretical position.) Its
            defining characteristic with respect to the other movements is
            its rejection of the binding nature of Jewish ceremonial law
            as such and instead believing that individual Jews should
            exercise an informed autonomy about what to observe. Reform
            Judaism initially defined Judaism as a religion, rather than
            as a race or culture; rejected most of the ritual ceremonial
            laws of the Torah while observing moral laws; and emphasized
            the ethical call of the Prophets. Reform Judaism developed a
            prayer service in the vernacular (along with Hebrew in most
            cases) and emphasized personal connection to Jewish tradition
            over specific forms of observance. Today, many Reform
            congregations encourage the study of Hebrew and traditional
            observances.

   In Reform Judaism, prayer is often conducted in the vernacular and men
   and women have equal roles in religious observance.
   Enlarge
   In Reform Judaism, prayer is often conducted in the vernacular and men
   and women have equal roles in religious observance.

          + Reconstructionist Judaism started as a stream of philosophy by
            Mordechai Kaplan, a Conservative rabbi, and later became an
            independent movement emphasizing reinterpreting Judaism for
            modern times. Like Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism
            does hold not that Jewish law, as such, requires observance,
            but unlike Reform, Reconstructionist thought emphasizes the
            role of the community in deciding what observances to follow.
          + Jewish Renewal, a recent North American movement, was begun by
            Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi, a Hassidic rabbi, in the
            1960's. Jewish Renewal focuses on spirtuality and social
            justice, but does not address issues of Jewish law. Men and
            women participate equally in prayer.

     * Humanistic Judaism. A small nontheistic movement that emphasizes
       Jewish culture and history as the sources of Jewish identity.
       Founded by Rabbi Sherwin Wine, it is centered in North America and
       Israel but also has affiliated groups in Europe and Latin America.

Jewish denominations in Israel

   Even though all of these denominations exist in Israel, Israelis tend
   to classify Jewish identity in ways that are different than diaspora
   Jewry. Most Jewish Israelis classify themselves as "secular" (hiloni),
   "traditional" (masorti), "religious" (dati) or Haredi. The term
   "secular" is more popular as a self-description among Israeli families
   of western (European) origin, whose Jewish identity may be a very
   powerful force in their lives, but who see it as largely independent of
   traditional religious belief and practice. This portion of the
   population largely ignores organized religious life, be it of the
   official Israeli rabbinate (Orthodox) or of the liberal movements
   common to diaspora Judaism (Reform, Conservative).

   The term "traditional" (masorti) is most common as a self-description
   among Israeli families of "eastern" origin (i.e., the Middle East,
   Central Asia, and North Africa). This term, as commonly used, has
   nothing to do with the official Masorti (Conservative) movement.

   There is a great deal of ambiguity in the ways "secular" and
   "traditional" are used in Israel. They often overlap, and they cover an
   extremely wide range in terms of ideology and religious observance.

   The term "Orthodox" (Ortodoxi) is unpopular in Israeli discourse (among
   both "secular" and "religious" alike). Nevertheless, the spectrum
   covered by "Orthodox" in the diaspora exists in Israel, again with some
   important variations. The "Orthodox" spectrum in Israel is a far
   greater percentage of the Jewish population in Israel than in the
   diaspora, though how much greater is hotly debated. Various ways of
   measuring this percentage, each with its pros and cons, include the
   proportion of religiously observant Knesset members, the proportion of
   Jewish children enrolled in religious schools, and statistical studies
   on "identity".

   What would be called "Orthodox" in the diaspora includes what is
   commonly called dati (religious) or haredi (ultra-Orthodox) in Israel.
   The former term includes what is called "Religious Zionism" or the
   "National Religious" community, as well as what has become known over
   the past decade or so as haredi-leumi ( nationalist haredi), or
   "Hardal," which combines a largely haredi lifestyle with nationalist
   ideology.

   Haredi applies to a populace that can be roughly divided into three
   separate groups along both ethnic and ideological lines: (1)
   "Lithuanian" (non-hasidic) haredim of Ashkenazic origin; (2) Hasidic
   haredim of Ashkenazic origin; and (3) Sephardic haredim. The third
   group is the largest, and has been the most politically active since
   the early 1990s.

Alternative Judaism

   Other expressions of Jewish identity fall outside of this
   conservative-liberal continuum.

   Unlike the above denominations, which were ideological reactions that
   resulted from the exposure of traditional rabbinic Judaism to the
   radical changes of modern times, Karaite Judaism did not begin as a
   modern Jewish movement. The followers of Karaism believe they are the
   remnants of the non-Rabbinic Jewish sects of the Second Temple period,
   such as the Sadducees, though others contend they are a sect started in
   the 8th and 9th centuries. The Karaites, or "Scripturalists," accept
   only the Hebrew Bible and what they view as the Peshat: "Plain or
   Simple Meaning"; and do not accept non-biblical writings as
   authoritative. Some European Karaites do not see themselves as part of
   the Jewish community, while most do. It is interesting to note that the
   Nazis often did not associate Karaites with Jews, and therefore several
   Karaite communities were spared in WWII and exist to this day even in
   places such as Lithuania where Jewish communities were completely
   devastated. In other areas, such as Greece, the Nazis deemed Karaites
   as belonging to a greater Jewish tradition and abused them accordingly.

   Another historical division among ethnic Jews are the Samaritans, who
   maintain a distinct cultural and religious identity from mainstream
   Judaism, and are located entirely in Holon, Israel and around Mount
   Gerizim.

   Jewish views of religious pluralism describes how Judaism views other
   religions; it also describes how members of each of the Jewish
   religious denominations view the other denominations.

Jewish observances

Prayers

   A Yemeni Jew wearing a kippah skullcap prays with a tallit shawl. The
   prayer box strapped to his forehead and arm are tefillin. His uncut
   side-curls are payot.
   Enlarge
   A Yemeni Jew wearing a kippah skullcap prays with a tallit shawl. The
   prayer box strapped to his forehead and arm are tefillin. His uncut
   side-curls are payot.

   There are three main daily prayer services, named Shacharit, Mincha
   (literally: "flour-offering") and Maariv or Arvit. All services include
   a number of benedictions called the Amidah or the Shemoneh Esrei
   ("eighteen"), which on weekdays consists of nineteen blessings (one was
   added in the time of the Mishna, but the name remains). Another key
   prayer in many services is the declaration of faith, the Shema which is
   recited at shacharit and maariv. The shema states, "Shema Yisrael
   Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad," or "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God,
   the Lord is One." Most of the prayers in a traditional Jewish service
   can be said in solitary prayer. However, in order to have an actual
   service, you are required to have ten people. This is called a minyan
   (prayer quorum). There are also prayers and benedictions recited
   throughout the day, such as those before eating ("Hamotzi" for bread,
   "Mezonot" for pastry, etc) or drinking ("Hagaffen" for grape juice or
   wine, "Shehakol" for water, etc). There are a number of common Jewish
   religious objects used in prayer. The tallit is a Jewish prayer shawl.
   A kippah or yarmulke—pronounced ya-ma-ka (skullcap) is a head covering
   worn during prayer by most Jewish men, and at all times by more
   orthodox Jewish men — especially Ashkenazim. Phylacteries or tefillin,
   boxes containing the portions of the Torah mandating them, are also
   worn by religious Jews during weekday morning services.

   The Jewish approach to prayer differs among the various branches of
   Judaism. While all use the same set of prayers and texts, the frequency
   of prayer, the number of prayers recited at various religious events,
   and whether one prays in a particular liturgical language or the
   vernacular differs from denomination to denomination, with Conservative
   and Orthodox congregations using more traditional services, and Reform
   and Reconstructionist synagogues more likely to incorporate
   translations, contemporary writings, and abbreviated services.

Jewish holy days

   On Yom Kippur, according to some the most important Jewish holy day,
   Jews fast and pray in atonement for their sins, communal as well as
   individual, from an 1878 painting.
   Enlarge
   On Yom Kippur, according to some the most important Jewish holy day,
   Jews fast and pray in atonement for their sins, communal as well as
   individual, from an 1878 painting.

   Jewish holy days celebrate central themes in the relationship between
   God and the world, such as creation, revelation, and redemption.

Shabbat

   Shabbat, the weekly day of rest lasting from shortly before sundown on
   Friday night to shortly after sundown Saturday night, commemorates
   God's day of rest upon the completion of creation as well as the Exodus
   from Egypt. It plays an important role in Jewish practice and is the
   subject of a large body of religious law. At the beginning of Shabbat,
   it is usual for the woman of the house to light a pair of candles and
   say a blessing praising God. The evening meal begins with a
   sanctification of Shabbat made over a cup of wine, and a blessing said
   over two loaves of bread. During Shabbat, Jews are forbidden to engage
   in any activity that falls under 39 categories of work. For example,
   writing, carrying items in public, and lighting fires are considered to
   be work. Driving is traditionally forbidden (as burning fuel comes
   under the prohibition of lighting a fire), so many Jews walk to
   synagogue to participate in Shabbat services.

Three pilgrim festivals

   Jewish holidays, mostly festivals (haggim), celebrate revelation by
   commemorating different events in the passage of the Children of Israel
   out of slavery in Egypt to their return to the Land of Israel. They are
   also timed to coincide with important agricultural seasons. They are
   also pilgrimage holidays, for which the Children of Israel would
   journey to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to God in His Temple.
     * Passover (Pesach) is a week-long holiday beginning on the evening
       of the 14th day of Nisan (the first month in the Hebrew calendar),
       that commemorates the Exodus from Egypt, and coincides with the
       barley harvest. It is the only holiday that centers on
       home-service, the Seder. Leavened products are removed from the
       house prior to the holiday, and are not consumed during the
       holiday. Instead, one eats Matzah, or unleavened bread. Traditional
       food symbols include the shank bone (not eaten by Ashkenazim, only
       displayed), the bitter herb, and the parsley (or another
       vegetable).
     * Shavuot ("Pentecost" or "Feast of Weeks") celebrates the
       anniversary of the revelation of the Torah to the Israelites on
       Mount Sinai, and marks the transition from the barley harvest to
       the wheat harvest.
     * Sukkot ("Tabernacles" or "The Festival of Booths") commemorates the
       wandering of the Children of Israel through the desert. It is
       celebrated through the construction of temporary booths called
       Sukkahs that represent the temporary shelters of the Children of
       Israel during their wandering. It coincides with the fruit harvest,
       and marks the end of the agricultural cycle. During Sukkot, Jews
       are commanded to create their own sukkah, a simple hut. They
       decorate it with fruit and vegetables. The roof is made of pine
       tree branches so that you can see the stars through the ceiling.
       Jews all around the world eat and sleep in this Sukkah for 7 days
       and nights. Sukkot concludes with Shemini Atzeret, where Jews begin
       to pray for rain and Simchat Torah, the holiday in which Jews
       finish reading the Torah and start over at the beginning. Jews read
       the end of the Torah, have a huge session of singing and dancing,
       then read the beginning of the Torah.

High Holy Days

   The High Holidays (Yamim Noraim or "Days of Awe") celebrate judgment
   and forgiveness.
     * Rosh Hashanah ("[Jewish] New Year" or Yom Ha-Zikkaron - "Day of
       Remembrance," or Yom Teruah - "Day of the Sounding of the Shofar").
       Although Rosh Hashanah means "new year" (literally, the "head [of]
       the year") it falls on the first day of the seventh month of the
       Hebrew calendar, Tishri. It is called the Jewish New Year because
       it celebrates the day that the world was created; it also marks the
       beginning of the atonement period that ends ten days later with Yom
       Kippur. During these ten days, one is required to apologize to
       everyone whom one has wronged, and the aggrieved should forgive.
     * Yom Kippur, ("Day of Atonement") is centered on redemption; a day
       of atonement and fasting for sins committed individually and
       communally during the previous year. Many consider this the most
       important Jewish holiday. Yom Kippur is both a solemn day marked by
       self-scrutiny, when Jews should "afflict" themselves (by fasting),
       and a celebratory day, as Jews reflect on God's mercy.

Other holidays

   Hanukkah

   Hanukkah, חנוכה, also known as the Festival of Lights or Festival of
   Dedication, is an eight day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day
   of Kislev (Hebrew calendar). The festival is observed in Jewish homes
   by the kindling of lights on each of the festival's eight nights, one
   on the first night, two on the second night and so on.

   The holiday was called Hanukkah meaning "dedication" because it marks
   the re-dedication of the Temple after its desecration under Antiochus
   IV. Spiritually, Hanukkah commemorates the "Miracle of the Oil".
   According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication of the Temple in
   Jerusalem following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid
   Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal
   flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight
   days - which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and
   consecrate new oil.

   Hanukkah was originally a minor holiday within Judaism but in modern
   times became one of the most celebrated and extravagant within the
   Jewish community.

   Purim

   Purim (Hebrew: פורים Pûrîm English: "Lots") is a joyous Jewish holiday
   that commemorates the deliverance of Persian Jews from the plot of the
   evil Haman to exterminate them, as recorded in the biblical Book of
   Esther. It is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther,
   giving mutual gifts of food and drink, giving charity to the poor, and
   a celebratory meal (Esther 9:22); other customs include drinking
   alcohol, wearing of masks and costumes, and huge joyus and sometimes
   wild parties.

   Purim is celebrated annually on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar.

Torah readings

   The core of festival and Sabbath prayer services is the public reading
   of the Torah, along with connected readings from the other books of the
   Jewish Bible, called Haftarah. During the course of a year, the full
   Torah is read, and the cycle begins again every autumn during Simhat
   Torah (“rejoicing in the Torah”).

Synagogues and Jewish buildings

   Interior of the Esnoga synagogue in Amsterdam. The tebáh (reader’s
   platform) in the foreground, and the Hekhál (Ark) is in the background.
   Enlarge
   Interior of the Esnoga synagogue in Amsterdam. The tebáh (reader’s
   platform) in the foreground, and the Hekhál (Ark) is in the background.

   Synagogues are Jewish houses of prayer and study, they usually contain
   separate rooms for prayer (the main sanctuary), smaller rooms for
   study, and often an area for community or educational use. There is no
   set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior
   designs of synagogues vary greatly, so a synagogue may contain any (or
   none) of these features:
     * an ark (called aron ha-kodesh by Ashkenazim and hekhal by
       Sephardim) where the Torah scrolls are kept (the ark is often
       closed with an ornate curtain (parokhet) outside or inside the ark
       doors);
     * a large elevated reader's platform (called bimah by Ashkenazim and
       tebah by Sephardim), where the Torah is read (and from where the
       services are conducted in Sephardi synagogues);
     * an Eternal Light (ner tamid), a continually-lit lamp or lantern
       used as a reminder of the constantly lit menorah of the Temple in
       Jerusalem; and,
     * (mainly in Ashkenazi synagogues) a pulpit facing the congregation
       to preach from and a pulpit or amud (Hebrew for "post" or "column")
       facing the Ark for the Hazzan (reader) to lead the prayers from.

   In addition to synagogues, other buildings of significance in Judaism
   include yeshivas, or institutions of Jewish learning, and mikvahs,
   which are ritual baths.

Dietary laws: Kashrut

   The laws of kashrut ("keeping kosher") are the Jewish dietary laws.
   Food in accord with Jewish law is termed kosher, and food not in accord
   with Jewish law is termed treifah or treif. From the context of the
   laws in the book of Leviticus, the purpose of kashrut is related to
   ritual purity and holiness, as well as health. Kashrut involves the
   abstention from consuming animals that eat other animals, and that roam
   the sea floor eating the excretions of other animals, therefore
   excluding birds/beasts of prey and seafood (other than fish),
   respectively. Also, mixing meat and milk is not allowed, as this is
   viewed as cooking the child in its mother's milk.

   Although sometimes rationalized by reference to hygiene, its stated
   purpose is perhaps better understood as providing certainty that food
   eaten is prepared and partaken only from sources which are confirmed to
   have been spiritually appropriate and which avoided spiritual
   "negatives" such as pain, sickness, unclean animals or abusive
   practices in its preparation.

Family purity

   The laws of niddah ("menstruant", often referred to euphemistically as
   "family purity") and various other laws regulating the interaction
   between men and women (e.g., tzeniut, modesty in dress) are perceived,
   especially by Orthodox Jews, as vital factors in Jewish life, though
   they are rarely followed by Reform or Conservative Jews. The laws of
   niddah dictate that sexual intercourse cannot take place while the
   woman is having a menstrual flow, and she has to count seven "clean"
   days and immerse in a mikvah (ritual bath) following menstruation.

Life-cycle events

   Life-cycle events, or rites of passage, occur throughout a Jew's life
   that serve to strengthen Jewish identity and bind him/her to the entire
   community.
     * Brit milah - Welcoming male babies into the covenant through the
       rite of circumcision on their eighth day of life. The baby boy is
       also given his Hebrew name in the ceremony. A naming ceremony
       intended as a parallel ritual for girls, named zeved habat, enjoys
       limited popularity.
     * Bar mitzvah and Bat mitzvah (B'nai mitzvah) - This passage from
       childhood to adulthood takes place when a female Jew is 12 and a
       male Jew is 13 years old among Orthodox and some Conservative
       congregations. In the Reform movement, both girls and boys have
       their bat/bar mitzvah at age 13. This is often commemorated by
       having the new adults, male only in the Orthodox tradition, lead
       the congregation in prayer and publicly read a 'portion' of the
       Torah.
     * Marriage - Marriage is an extremely important lifecycle event. A
       wedding takes place under a chupah, or wedding canopy, which
       symbolizes a happy house. At the end of the ceremony, the groom
       breaks a glass with his foot, symbolizing the continuous mourning
       for the destruction of the Temple, and the scattering of the Jewish
       people.
     * Death and Mourning - Judaism has a multi-staged mourning practice.
       The first stage is called the Shiv'ah (literally "seven", observed
       for one week) during which it is traditional to sit at home and be
       comforted by friends and family, the second is the shloshim
       (observed for one month) and for those who have lost one of their
       parents, there is a third stage, avelut yud bet chodesh, which is
       observed for eleven months.

Religious clothing

   A kippah (Hebrew: כִּפָּה, also kipah, kipa, kippa, plural kippot;
   Yiddish: יאַרמלקע, yarmlke, yarmulke, yarmulka, yarmelke, less commonly
   called kapel) is a thin, usually slightly-rounded cloth skullcap worn
   by observant Jews (usually men, but not always; see below). Kipot range
   in size from four inches to 9.5 inches (100 mm to 240 mm) or larger in
   diameter.

   Tzitzit ( Ashkenazi pronunciation: tzitzis) are fringes or tassles
   (Hebrew: ציצת (Biblical), ציצית (Mishnaic)) found on a tallit worn by
   observant Jews as part of practicing Judaism. In Orthodox Judaism it is
   only worn by males.

   A kittel, a white approximately knee-length belted overgarment
   resembling a lab coat, is worn by observent Jews on the High Holidays
   and by service leaders on certain other occaisons. Both the tallit and
   kittel form part of the tachrichim, the burial garments.

Community leadership

Classical priesthood

   Judaism does not have a clergy, in the sense of full-time specialists
   required for religious services. Technically, the last time Judaism had
   a clergy was prior to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE,
   when priests attended to the Temple and sacrifices. The priesthood is
   an inherited position, and although priests no longer have any but
   vestigial clerical duties, they are still honored in many Jewish
   communities. Many Orthodox Jewish communities believe that they will be
   needed again for a future Third Temple and need to remain in readiness
   for future duty.
     * Kohen (priest) - patrilineal descendant of Aaron, brother of Moses.
       In the Temple, the kohanim were charged with performing the
       sacrifices. Today, a Kohen is the first one called up at the
       reading of the Torah, performs the Priestly Blessing, as well as
       complying with other unique laws and ceremonies, including the
       ceremony of redemption of the first-born.
     * Levi (Levite) - Patrilineal descendant of Levi the son of Jacob. In
       the Temple in Jerusalem, the levites sang Psalms, performed
       construction, maintenance, janitorial, and guard duties, assisted
       the priests, and sometimes interpreted the law and Temple ritual to
       the public. Today, a Levite is called up second to the reading of
       the Torah. Levites also have a number of other minor duties in
       traditional synagogues, including washing the hands of the Kohanim
       (priests) before they say the priestly blessing.

Prayer leaders

   From the time of the Mishna and Talmud to the present, Judaism has
   required specialists or authorities for the practice of very few
   rituals or ceremonies. A Jew can fulfill most requirements for prayer
   by himself. Some activities — reading the Torah and haftarah (a
   supplementary portion from the Prophets or Writings); the prayer for
   mourners; the blessings for bridegroom and bride; the complete grace
   after meals — require a minyan, the presence of ten adults (Orthodox
   Jews and some Conservative Jews require ten adult men; some
   Conservative Jews and Reform Jews include women in the minyan).

   The most common professional clergy in a synagogue are:
     * Rabbi of a congregation - Jewish scholar who is charged with
       answering the legal questions of a congregation. This role requires
       ordination by the congregation's preferred authority (i.e. from a
       respected Orthodox rabbi or, if the congregation is Conservative or
       Reform, from academic seminaries). A congregation does not
       necessarily require a rabbi. Some congregations have a rabbi but
       also allow members of the congregation to act as shatz or baal
       kriyah (see below).
          + Hassidic Rebbe - rabbi who is the head of a Hasidic dynasty.
     * Chazzan (note: the "ch" denotes voiceless pharyngeal fricative)
       (cantor) - a trained vocalist who acts as shatz. Chosen for a good
       voice, knowledge of traditional tunes, understanding of the meaning
       of the prayers and sincerity in reciting them. A congregation does
       not need to have a dedicated chazzan.

   Jewish prayer services do involve two specified roles, which are
   sometimes, but not always, filled by a rabbi and/or hazzan in many
   congregations. In other congregations these roles are filled on an
   ad-hoc basis by members of the congregation who lead portions of
   services on a rotating basis:
     * Shaliach tzibur or Shatz (leader — literally "agent" or
       "representative" — of the congregation) leads those assembled in
       prayer, and sometimes prays on behalf of the community. When a
       shatz recites a prayer on behalf of the congregation, he is not
       acting as an intermediary but rather as a facilitator. The entire
       congregation participates in the recital of such prayers by saying
       amen at their conclusion; it is with this act that the shatz's
       prayer becomes the prayer of the congregation. Any adult capable of
       speaking Hebrew clearly may act as shatz (Orthodox Jews and some
       Conservative Jews allow only men to act as shatz; some Conservative
       Jews and Reform Jews allow women to act as shatz as well).
     * Baal kriyah (master of the reading) reads the weekly Torah portion.
       The requirements for acting as a baal kriyah are the same as those
       for the shatz. Additionally, in many congregations, the baal kriyah
       is known as the baal koreh, although this is grammatically
       incorrect.

   Note that these roles are not mutually exclusive. The same person is
   often qualified to fill more than one role, and often does. Often there
   are several people capable of filling these roles and different
   services (or parts of services) will be led by each.

   Many congregations, especially larger ones, also rely on a:
     * Gabbai (sexton) - Calls people up to the Torah, appoints the shatz
       for each prayer session if there is no standard shatz, and makes
       certain that the synagogue is kept clean and supplied.

   The three preceding positions are usually voluntary and considered an
   honour. Since the Enlightenment large synagogues have often adopted the
   practice of hiring rabbis and hazzans to act as shatz and baal kriyah,
   and this is still typically the case in many Conservative and Reform
   congregations. However, in most Orthodox synagogues these positions are
   filled by laypeople on a rotating or ad-hoc basis. Although most
   congregations hire one or more Rabbis, the use of a professional hazzan
   is generally declining in American congregations, and the use of
   professionals for other offices is rarer still.

Specialized religious roles

     * Dayan (judge) - expert in Jewish law who sits on a beth din
       (rabbinical court) for either monetary matters or for overseeing
       the giving of a bill of divorce ( get). A dayan always requires
       semicha.
     * Mohel - performs the brit milah (circumcision). An expert in the
       laws of circumcision who has received training from a qualified
       mohel.
     * Shochet (ritual slaughterer) - slaughters all kosher meat. In order
       for meat to be kosher, it must be slaughtered by a shochet who is
       expert in the laws and has received training from another shochet,
       as well as having regular contact with a rabbi and revising the
       relevant guidelines on a regular basis.
     * Sofer (scribe) - Torah scrolls, tefillin (phylacteries), mezuzot
       (scrolls put on doorposts), and gittin (bills of divorce) must be
       written by a sofer who is an expert in the laws of writing.
     * Rosh yeshivah - head of a yeshiva. Somebody who is an expert in
       delving into the depths of the Talmud, and lectures the highest
       class in a yeshiva.
     * Mashgiach of a yeshiva - expert in mussar (ethics). Oversees the
       emotional and spiritual welfare of the students in a yeshiva, and
       gives lectures on mussar.
     * Mashgiach over kosher products - supervises merchants and
       manufacturers of kosher food to ensure that the food is kosher.
       Either an expert in the laws of kashrut, or (generally) under the
       supervision of a rabbi who is expert in those laws.

Jewish religious history

   As Judaism is an old religion with a long tradition of documentation,
   Jewish history is an extensive topic; this section will cover the
   elements of Jewish history of most importance to the Jewish religion
   and the development of Jewish denominations.

Ancient Jewish religious history

   Jews trace their religious lineage to the biblical patriarch Abraham,
   who established a covenant with God and moved to Canaan with his
   followers around 1800 BCE according to the Bible, through Isaac and
   Jacob, and they consider Abraham to be the starter of Judaism. Around
   1600 BCE, as a result of famine, many Israelites migrated to Egypt,
   after a few hundred years of living freely in Egypt they were
   eventually held in slavery until the 13th century BCE, when Moses led
   the Israelites out of Egypt and established a covenant with God around
   1280 BCE, starting the religious tradition of Judaism. After the Exodus
   from Egypt, the Jews came back to Canaan around 1200 BCE, and settled
   the land. A kingdom was established under Saul and continued under King
   David and Solomon with its capital in Jerusalem. After Solomon's reign
   the nation split into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel (in the
   north) and the Kingdom of Judah (in the south). The Kingdom of Israel
   was conquered by the Assyrian ruler Sargon II in the late 8th century
   BCE with many people from the capital Samaria being taken captive to
   Media and the Habor valley. The Kingdom of Judah continued as an
   independent state until it was conquered by a Babylonian army in the
   early 6th century BCE, destroying the First Temple that was at the
   centre of ancient Jewish worship. The Judean elite were exiled to
   Babylonia and this is regarded as the first Jewish Diaspora. During
   this captivity the Jews in Babylon wrote what is known as the
   "Babylonian Talmud" while the remaining Jews in Judea wrote what is
   called the "Palestinian Talmud". These are the first written forms of
   the Torah and the Babylonian Talmud is the Talmud used to this day.
   Later many of them returned to their homeland after the subsequent
   conquest of Babylonia by the Persians seventy years later, a period
   known as the Babylonian Captivity. A new Second Temple was constructed,
   and old religious practices were resumed.

   During the early years of the Second Temple, the highest religious
   authority was a council known as the Great Assembly, led by Ezra of the
   Book of Ezra. Among other accomplishments of the Great Assembly, the
   last books of the Bible were written at this time and the canon sealed.

   After a Jewish revolt against Roman rule in 66 CE, the Romans all but
   destroyed Jerusalem; only a single " Western Wall" of the Second Temple
   remained (as well as the Herodian vaults, known as Solomon's Stables,
   under the Temple plaza . Also, other parts of the compound may have
   survived). Following a second revolt, Jews were not allowed to enter
   the city of Jerusalem and most Jewish worship was forbidden by Rome.
   Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews,
   Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple,
   prayer took the place of sacrifice, and worship was rebuilt around
   rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities (see
   Jewish diaspora).

Historical Jewish groupings (to 1700)

   Around the first century CE there were several small Jewish sects: the
   Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Essenes, and Christians. After the
   destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, these sects vanished.
   Christianity survived, but by breaking with Judaism and becoming a
   separate religion; the Pharisees survived but in the form of Rabbinic
   Judaism (today, known simply as "Judaism"). The Sadducees rejected the
   divine inspiration of the Prophets and the Writings, relying only on
   the Torah as divinely inspired. Consequently, a number of other core
   tenets of the Pharisees' belief system (which became the basis for
   modern Judaism), were also dismissed by the Sadducees.

   Like the Sadducees who relied only on the Torah, some Jews in the 8th
   and 9th centuries rejected the authority and divine inspiration of the
   oral law of the Pharisees/rabbis, as recorded in the Mishnah (and
   developed by later rabbis in the two Talmuds), relying instead only
   upon the Tanakh. These included the Isunians, the Yudganites, the
   Malikites, and others. They soon developed oral traditions of their
   own, which differed from the rabbinic traditions, and eventually formed
   the Karaite sect. Karaites exist in small numbers today, mostly living
   in Israel. Rabbinical and Karaite Jews each hold that the others are
   Jews, but that the other faith is erroneous.

   Over time Jews developed into distinct ethnic groups — amongst others,
   the Ashkenazi Jews (of Central and Eastern Europe with Russia); the
   Sephardi Jews (of Spain, Portugal, and North Africa), the Beta Israel
   of Ethiopia and the Yemenite Jews, from the southern tip of the Arabian
   peninsula. This split is cultural, and is not based on any doctrinal
   dispute, although the distance did result in minor differences in
   practice and prayers.

Persecutions

   Antisemitism arose during the Middle Ages, in the form of persecutions,
   pogroms, forced conversion, expulsions, social restrictions and
   ghettoization.

   This was different in quality to any repressions of Jews in ancient
   times. Ancient repression was politically motivated and Jews were
   treated no differently than any other ethnic group would have been.
   With the rise of the Churches, attacks on Jews became motivated instead
   by theological considerations specifically deriving from Christian
   views about Jews and Judaism. (See also Racial antisemitism)

Hasidism

   Hasidic Judaism was founded by Israel ben Eliezer (1700-1760), also
   known as the Ba'al Shem Tov (or Besht). It originated in a time of
   persecution of the Jewish people, when European Jews had turned inward
   to Talmud study; many felt that most expressions of Jewish life had
   become too "academic", and that they no longer had any emphasis on
   spirituality or joy. His disciples attracted many followers; they
   themselves established numerous Hasidic sects across Europe. Hasidic
   Judaism eventually became the way of life for many Jews in Europe.
   Waves of Jewish immigration in the 1880s carried it to the United
   States.

   Early on, there was a serious schism between Hasidic and non-Hasidic
   Jews. European Jews who rejected the Hasidic movement were dubbed by
   the Hasidim as mitnagdim, (lit. "opponents"). Some of the reasons for
   the rejection of Hasidic Judaism were the overwhelming exuberance of
   Hasidic worship; their untraditional ascriptions of infallibility and
   alleged miracle-working to their leaders, and the concern that it might
   become a messianic sect. Since then differences between the Hasidim and
   their opponents have slowly diminished and both groups are now
   considered part of Haredi Judaism.

The Enlightenment and Reform Judaism

   In the late 18th century CE Europe was swept by a group of
   intellectual, social and political movements known as the
   Enlightenment. The Enlightenment led to reductions in the European laws
   that prohibited Jews to interact with the wider secular world, thus
   allowing Jews access to secular education and experience. A parallel
   Jewish movement, Haskalah or the "Jewish Enlightenment," began,
   especially in Central Europe, in response to both the Enlightenment and
   these new freedoms. It placed an emphasis on integration with secular
   society and a pursuit of non-religious knowledge. The thrust and
   counter-thrust between supporters of Haskalah and more traditional
   Jewish concepts eventually led to the formation of a number of
   different branches of Judaism: Haskalah supporters founded Reform
   Judaism and Liberal Judaism, while traditionalists founded what is
   called Orthodox Judaism, and Jews seeking a balance between the two
   sides founded Conservative Judaism. A number of smaller groups came
   into being as well.

The Holocaust

   While the Holocaust, the genocide of millions of Jews under Nazi
   Germany in World War II, did not directly affect Jewish denominations,
   the discrimination, moves to flee the Nazis, and great loss of life it
   caused resulted in a radical demographic shift, ultimately transforming
   the makeup of organized Judaism into the way it is today. (For example,
   various Hasidic rebbes and their central followers moved to the United
   States, settling in New York City and other urban centers.) A Jewish
   day of mourning, Yom HaShoah, was inserted into the Hebrew calendar
   commemorating the Holocaust.

The present situation

   In most Western nations, such as the United States of America, Israel,
   Canada, United Kingdom, Argentina and South Africa, a wide variety of
   Jewish practices exist, along with a growing plurality of secular and
   non-practicing Jews. For example, in the world's second largest Jewish
   community, the United States, according to the 2001 edition of the
   National Jewish Population Survey, 4.3 million out of 5.1 million Jews
   had some sort of connection to the religion. Of that population of
   connected Jews, 80% participated in some sort of Jewish religious
   observance, but only 48% belonged to a synagogue.

   Religious (and secular) Jewish movements in the USA and Canada perceive
   this as a crisis situation, and have grave concern over rising rates of
   intermarriage and assimilation in the Jewish community. Since American
   Jews are marrying at a later time in their life than they used to, and
   are having fewer children than they used to, the birth rate for
   American Jews has dropped from over 2.0 down to 1.7 (the replacement
   rate is 2.1). (This is My Beloved, This is My Friend: A Rabbinic Letter
   on Intimate relations, p. 27, Elliot N. Dorff, The Rabbinical Assembly,
   1996). Intermarriage rates range from 40-50% in the US, and only about
   a third of children of intermarried couples are raised Jewish. Due to
   intermarriage and low birth rates, the Jewish population in the US
   shrank from 5.5 million in 1990 to 5.1 million in 2001. This is
   indicative of the general population trends among the Jewish community
   in the Diaspora, but a focus on population masks the diversity of
   current Jewish religious practice, as well as growth trends among some
   communities, like haredi Jews.

   In the last 50 years there has been a general increase in interest in
   religion among many segments of the Jewish population. All of the major
   Jewish denominations have experienced a resurgence in popularity, with
   increasing numbers of younger Jews participating in Jewish education,
   joining synagogues, and becoming (to varying degrees) more observant.
   Complementing the increased popularity of the major denominations has
   been a number of new approaches to Jewish worship, including feminist
   approaches to Judaism and Jewish renewal movements. There is a separate
   article on the Baal teshuva movement, the movement of Jews returning to
   observant Judaism. Though this gain has not offset the general
   demographic loss due to intermarriage and acculturation, many Jewish
   communities and movements are growing.

Judaism and other religions

Christianity and Judaism

   Since the Holocaust, there has been much to note in the way of
   reconciliation between some Christian groups and the Jewish people; the
   article on Christian-Jewish reconciliation studies this issue.

Islam and Judaism

   Under Islamic rule, Judaism has been practiced for almost 1500 years
   and this has led to an interplay between the two religions which has
   been positive as well as negative at times. The period around 900 to
   1200 in Moorish Spain came to be known as the Golden age of Jewish
   culture in Spain.

   The 20th century animosity of Muslim leaders towards Zionism, the
   political movement of Jewish self-determination, has led to a renewed
   interest in the relationship between Judaism and Islam.

Syncretic beliefs incorporating Judaism

   There are some religious beliefs that combine elements of Judaism with
   those of other religions. The most well-known of these is the Messianic
   Judaism movement (closely related to Hebrew Christianity), groups of
   ethnic Jews and gentiles who believe that Jesus is the Messiah. These
   groups typically combine Christian theology and Christology with Jewish
   religious practices. The most controversial of these groups is the
   American Jews for Jesus. The Jew-to-Gentile ratio of adherents is
   unknown and can vary widely between bodies of believers.

   Other syncretic beliefs include Judeo-Paganism, a loosely-organized set
   of Jews who incorporate pagan or Wiccan beliefs; Jewish Buddhists,
   another loosely-organized group that incorporates elements of Asian
   spirituality in their faith; and Jewish Renewal, an organized
   spiritualist approach to Judaism, loosely based on Kabbalah and New Age
   principles, with around 50 congregations worldwide.

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