Judaism

World Religions

Chapter 12

God is of no importance unless He is of supreme importance.

- Abraham Heschel

We are God’s stake in human history. We are the dawn and

the dusk, the challenge and the test. How strange to be a Jew

and to go astray on God’s perilous errands. We have been offered as a pattern of worship

and as a prey for scorn, but there is more still in our

destiny. We carry the gold of God in our souls to forge the

gate of the kingdom.

The time for the kingdom may be far off, but the task is plain: to retain our share in God

in spite of peril and contempt. There is a war to wage against the vulgar, against the glorification of the absurd, a war that is

incessant, universal. Loyal to the presence of the ultimate in the common, we may be able to make it clear that man is more than

man, that in doing the finite he may perceive the infinite.

- Abraham Heschel

Judaism is a covenant between God and the people.

The covenant is an agreement established long ago between God and the ancient Israelites.

God promised Moses that the Israelites would be

God’s “treasured possession,” and a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6, Tanakh)

The Covenant is between God and the people

Not between God and an individual, and so for Judaism the group identity is very important.

God’s revelation to the Chosen People is recorded in the Hebrew Bible and in the

writings of the rabbisThis revelation is called the

Torah.

Observant Jews honor God so deeply that they avoid pronouncing the divine name.

The name is written in the Hebrew letters YHWH.

When reading the Bible, observant Jews will say “the Lord” instead of saying the divine

name.

God has a personal name,

And God is a personal being.

Jews pray the Shema:

“ Hear, O Israel! The LORD, our God, the LORD is one.”

Deuteronomy 6:4

This basic affirmation of monotheism seems commonplace today

But the ancient Israelites were surrounded by polytheists, and their declaration that God was one, and that God was interested in and committed to the destiny of humans was (and arguably still is) a profoundly revolutionary statement.

Why – what is revolutionary about believing in one God who is active in history?

Judaism’s belief in God speaks a resounding no to the possibilities that reality is prosaic, chaotic, amoral or hostile. (Huston Smith, 273 – 275)

While other deities were distinct forces of nature

In Judaism, nature and creation were expressions of the will of the One God.

Judaism personalizes God

Out of the conviction that “in the final analysis ultimate reality is more like a person than a thing, more like a mind than a machine.” (Smith, 273)

The ultimate reality of the universe is purposeful, meaningful, contains the best of what it means to be human and extends it.

In the midst of polytheism, where each power of nature was a distinct and

sometimes opposing godThe insight of Judaism changes

the focus of human life.

Instead of dividing loyalties

Life is meant to be whole. God is One, and it is possible to bring all of life together into a sacred wholeness, a sacred unity.

But is ultimate reality amoral, or even hostile to humans?

While the Greek and Roman gods were off chasing and seducing beautiful women, the God of Israel is watching over widows and orphans.

While the other deities were aloof and disinterested

The God of Israel “speaks the name of Abraham, listing his people out of slavery, and… seeks out the lonely, heartsick Jewish exiles in Babylon.” (Smith, 275)

So while Jews experience chaos and suffering

They refuse to surrender meaning to these things.

Judaism is a religion that believes all of life is suffused with meaning.

History matters because history is where we meet God. It is in acting in the world that we are able to keep our covenant with God.

Belief in a meaningful existence elicits a creative response to the world and its

troubles.If the universe is really meaningless, truly arbitrary, then why act? What

good is it to do good?

And so the Jewish perspective gives dignity and importance to

Nature

The poor

Sexuality

The world – physical matter which in other traditions is seen as something to be freed from (Greek philosophy, Hinduism)

It is in countries that have been impacted by Jewish monotheism that the great social

movements have comeEven Karl Marx and Sigmund

Freud (both Jews, both atheists) found the motives for their thought in the history of Israel.

The revelation to the Jewish people begins with Abraham

God calls Abraham and promises him a land for him and his people.

The Israelites eventually end up as slaves in Egypt

And God calls Moses to lead his people out of slavery.

On Mount Sinai, God reveals to Moses

The Torah – the instructions, God’s law for the people.

The Written Torah

The Hebrew Bible contains three sections:– Torah

– Prophets

– Writings

– This is sometimes referred to as the Tanakh – from the first letter of each of these in the Hebrew.

The Torah contains the first five books of the Bible

• Genesis• Exodus• Leviticus• Numbers• Deuteronomy

The Torah is forever the central code of holiness in Judaism

Traditionally it contains 613 specific laws, the most famous being the ten commandments.

The Ten Commandments

Exodus 20:2-20:17

1) I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery;

2) you shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, punishing children for the iniquity of parents, to the third and the fourth generation of those who reject me, 6but showing steadfast love to the thousandth generation of those who love me and keep my commandments.

3) You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.

4) Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. 9For six days you shall labour and do all your work. 10But the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your livestock, or the alien resident in your towns. 11For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but rested the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and consecrated it.

5) Honor your father and your mother, so that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

6) You shall not murder. 7) You shall not commit adultery. 8) You shall not steal. 9) You shall not bear false witness against your

neighbor. 10) You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you

shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

The Ten Commandments are unique in ancient moral codes

Because they don’t simply lay out a case / law situation, but declare what human beings should be like. They present what it means to be good.

The Prophets

The prophets comprise books about the history of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah, and also record the proclamations of the prophets who spoke God’s will to the leaders and the people.

The prophets were called to speak for God

And their voices for justice and fidelity have never been surpassed in history.

Some important prophets were:

IsaiahJeremiahEzekiel

“He will judge between the nations        and will settle disputes for many peoples.        They will beat their swords into plowshares        and their spears into pruning hooks.        Nation will not take up sword against nation,        nor will they train for war anymore.”

Isaiah 2:4

The Writings are the final section of the Hebrew Bible

This is a diverse collection of wisdom sayings, short historical accounts, and poetry.

The Psalms

Are a collection of Hebrew prayers in poetry. The Psalms are the prayers of real people, people who are filled with joy, with despair, with fear, with hate, with love, with gratitude.

There is a further tradition of Torah that is called the “Oral Torah”

This is the tradition of teachings of the rabbis that commented and interpreted the Bible.

This has been gathered into two collections:

The MishnahThe Talmud

The Mishnah was written down about 200 CE

And contains the teachings of rabbis handed down the previous 400 years.

The Talmud

Is based on the Mishnah, and is a massive work of interpretation of God’s will, spanning thousands of pages.

A Brief History of JudaismThe major Biblical periods:1) The Patriarchs – (2000 – 1500 B.C.E.)

The era of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

Exodus and Revelation (1290 B.C.E.)

The time of the most important events in Israelite history – the Exodus from Egypt and the revelation on Mt. Sinai

Monarchy of David and Solomon

1004 to 928 B.C.E.David led the Israelite monarchy to the

height of its power. The kingship of David holds special significance for Judaism. He has always been regarded as the prototype of the Messiah, who will restore peace and justice to the world.

His son, Solomon, builds the first temple in Jerusalem.

Babylonian Exile (587 – 538 B.C.E.)

At the end of Solomon’s reign, the kingdom is divided into two – Judah in the south and Israel in the north.

Israel is conquered in 721, and Judah endures until 587, when it is conquered by the Babylonians, who destroy the Temple, and carry of many citizens to Babylon.

They are allowed to return in 538 to Judea (as Judah had become known).

In 515, they rebuild the Temple.

Greek Conquest of Palestine (332 B.C.E)

Alexander the Great conquers the region, and spreads Hellenistic culture and language throughout the region.

Some Jews embrace this new culture, and some reject it.

Judaism develops differing interpretations of how to live

• Sadducees• Essenes• Pharisees• Zealots

Destruction of the Second Temple (70 C.E.)

In 66 C.E. there was a Jewish revolt against the Roman rule in the region. Rome crushes it, and destroys the temple.

The Classical Period of JudaismThe destruction of the temple is a catastrophe for Jews.

The Temple was the center of Jewish worship and ritual.

The Pharisees, who had stressed study of the Torah

Rather than Temple worship, became the major influence that would shape Judaism.

Worship would become Torah focused because the temple was gone, and in 135, a second revolt ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and Jews were forbidden to live in their ancestral lands.

Jews were now technically in exile from their homeland.

They began to look back at how their ancestors had lived during the exile in Babylon, and this instilled in them a longing to return.

It also taught them how to survive in exile without losing

their identity as Jews.

The Diaspora (or Dispersion) continued throughout history, and most Jews who have lived since the classical period have lived in the Diaspora.

Medieval JudaismFor the most part, Jews lived under Muslim rule in

Africa and Christian rule in Spain.Jews tended to fair better under Muslim rule, and

built a large and successful middle class.

Christian rule varied greatly,

and Jews were persecuted for being “sons of the crucifiers”. Mass expulsions of Jews occurred in France, England, and Spain.

To escape persecution, many Jews moved east,

And especially in Poland Jews made remarkable religious and intellectual achievements.

Moses Maimonides (1135 – 1204)

Was the greatest Jewish medieval philosopher. Living in Muslim Spain, Maimonides applied Plato and Aristotle to the Biblical tradition, creating and shaping a new Jewish theology.

Maimonides articulated Thirteen Articles of Jewish faith:

• Belief in the existence of the Creator, be He Blessed, who is perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that exists.

• The belief in G-d's absolute and unparalleled unity. • The belief in G-d's noncorporeality, nor that He will be affected by any

physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling. • The belief in G-d's eternity. • The imperative to worship Him exclusively and no foreign false gods. • The belief that G-d communicates with man through prophecy. • The belief that the prophecy of Moses our teacher has priority. • The belief in the divine origin of the Torah. • The belief in the immutability of the Torah. • The belief in divine omniscience and providence. • The belief in divine reward and retribution. • The belief in the arrival of the Messiah and the messianic era. • The belief in the resurrection of the dead.

Modern Judaism

• HasidismFrom the Hebrew hasid meaning

pious, Hasidism was a tradition that arose in the 18th century in Eastern Europe. It focused on sincere, intense, and joyful prayer as a way to connect with God.

It was founded by the Ba’al Shem Tov, who taught that a mystical connection to God was possible for everyone.

Zionism

Originally referred to the movement arising in the late 19th century for the re-establishment of a Jewish homeland.

(Zionism now refers to support for the state of Israel.)

The HolocaustAn estimated 6 million Jews were killed by German

Nazis from 1933 to 1945.

Sometimes called the Shoah – meaning the mass destruction –

This was an event of which it is almost impossible to make religious sense.

How could God have allowed almost 1/3 of the Jewish people to be murdered?

Jews have responded in different ways,

Some see it as punishment for abandoning to traditional ways of Judaism.

Others see in it that God has broken the covenant.

Others have turned their grief and anger into support for Israel.

After World War I, many Jews begin to move to Palestine while it

is under British control.

During the Holocaust many more flee there.

Arabs living in Palestine begin to grow angry about the growing Jewish presence there.

In 1947 the U.N. divides Palestine into Jewish and Arab areas.

In 1948 the British withdraw, and the state of Israel declares its independence.

Egypt, Jordan,

Syria, Iraq, and Lebanon

attack Israel, but Israel pushes them back and takes more land.

Many Palestinians flee to Jordan, Lebanon, and other Arab countries.A series of wars are

fought from the 1950’s to the 1980’s.

A group called the PLO

The Palestinian Liberation Organization begins to fight against Israel.

During the wars

Israel took over two pieces of land called the West Bank and the Gaza strip.

These pieces of land have caused much conflict in the region.

Jews and Palestinians alike both put forth religious arguments for their right

to the land.It is not easy to share a land charged with such sacred

significance.

Modern Institutional Divisions

There are three main divisions in North American Judaism today.

1) Reform

2) Orthodox

3) Conservative

Reform JudaismHolds that it is entirely possible to live a modern life and be Jewish.

Liturgy is mainly in English, and observations of ritual law are fairly relaxed.

Orthodox Judaism

Maintains that life must always conform to Torah. This is a deeply traditional way of life, and Orthodox Jews often live in separate communities to be able to maintain their traditional way of life.

Conservative Judaism

Occupies a middle ground between the two. It is somewhat open to change, but is strict in observing traditional Jewish practices. Prayer is always in Hebrew, and dietary laws are closely followed.