Judaism- An Introduction Read online

  Judaism

  In gratitude to Joy Sharman and in memory of June Stein

  Teach®

  Yourself

  Judaism

  C M Hoffman

  Consultant

  Jonathan Gorsky

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  British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data: a catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: on file.

  First published in UK 1995 by Hodder Education, part of Hachette UK, 338 Euston Road, London, NW1 3BH.

  First published in US 1995 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.

  This edition published 2010.

  Previously published as Teach Yourself Judaism.

  The Teach Yourself name is a registered trade mark of Hodder Headline.

  Copyright © 1995, 2000, 2003, 2008, 2010 C.M. Hoffman

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  The publisher has used its best endeavours to ensure that the URLs for external websites referred to in this book are correct and active at the time of going to press. However, the publisher and the author have no responsibility for the websites and can make no guarantee that a site will remain live or that the content will remain relevant, decent or appropriate.

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  Impression number

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  Year

  2014 2013 2012 2011 2010

  Acknowledgements

  I am indebted to Jonathan Gorsky for all his help and advice. A more generous consultant would be very hard to imagine. He is not responsible for any personal viewpoint expressed or for any remaining inaccuracies, which I would be glad to have pointed out to me for correction.

  Most biblical quotations are from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, Oxford University Press, 1989. Most quotations from the Mishnah are from the translation by Herbert Danby, Oxford University Press, 1933.

  There are numerous references to the Talmud which is a body of rabbinic literature. A page of the Talmud is called a folio, of which the recto side is designated ‘a’ and the verso ‘b’. References are to the names of particular volumes of the Talmud and to the page numbers printed according to the folios (e.g. Shabbat 31a). The Soncino English translation is available in scholarly libraries.

  Every effort has been made to trace and acknowledge ownership of copyright. The publishers would be glad to make suitable arrangements with any copyright holders whom it has not been possible to contact.

  All photographs are reproduced by kind permission of C.M. Hoffman.

  Contents

  Meet the author

  Only got a minute?

  Only got five minutes?

  Only got ten minutes?

  1 Approaching Judaism

  Judaism and Jewishness

  Difficulties in treating Judaism as a religion

  Judaism as a religion

  Faith and history

  The essence of Judaism

  2 The roots of belief and practice – the Bible

  A people’s history and its significance

  The structure of the Jewish Bible

  The content of the Torah

  The content of the Neviim

  The content of the Ketuvim

  Interpreting the Bible

  Transmitting and translating the Bible

  3 The chain of tradition – the Talmud

  The written and the oral Torah

  The varieties of Second Temple Judaism

  Living as a holy people without the Temple

  Discussing the Mishnah – the Talmud

  Legal traditions (halakhah) and narrative traditions (aggadah)

  4 Orthodox Judaism

  Orthodoxy and belief

  Continuity and discontinuity

  Orthodox Judaism and the Bible

  Ultra-Orthodoxy

  Orthodox affiliation today

  5 Non-Orthodox Judaism

  Reform Judaism and points of departure

  Determining the role of women in Judaism

  Conservative Judaism

  Liberal Judaism

  6 Food laws

  The source and purpose of the food laws

  Deciding what is kosher

  Levels of observance

  7 Life and death matters

  Expressions of belief

  The importance of having children

  The sanctity of human life

  Grief and hope

  8 Jewish education

  The importance of education

  In the synagogue

  In school

  In higher education (academy, seminary, and college)

  9 Marriage

  Sex and marriage in Judaism

  A Jewish wedding

  Marriages between Jews and non-Jews

  The religious court (Bet Din) and the laws of status

  A Jewish divorce

  10 Prayer

  The point of praying

  Times of prayer

  Blessing God

  Communal prayers – ancient and modern

  Prayer books

  Physical reminders

  11 The Synagogue

  Terms and functions

  Reading the Torah

  Language and music

  Religious leadership

  12 The Sabbath

  A sense of time out

  Resting from work in the Bible, the Talmud, and Orthodox Judaism

  Redefining ‘rest’

  Observing Shabbat in home and synagogue

  13 The rhythm of the year – festivals and fasts

  A sense of time

  The lunar calendar

  The n
ew moon

  The festivals of Hanukah and Purim

  Other festivals

  Fasts

  14 The pilgrim festivals

  Passover – the festival of unleavened bread

  Freedom – then and now

  Counting the days

  Freedom to obey – Shavuot

  Where true security lies – Sukkot

  The four plants

  The obligation to rejoice

  15 The New Year and the Day of Atonement

  The importance of The High Holy Days

  Creating the atmosphere

  Returning

  Fasting

  Atonement

  16 The Holocaust

  Questioning

  Remembering

  A radical answer

  A traditional response

  Survival and beyond

  17 Israel

  A focal point for Jews

  The development of Zionism

  Religious responses to Zionism

  Identity in a Jewish State

  Peace with justice and security

  Afterword

  Glossary

  Taking it further

  Index

  Credits

  Front cover: © Creatas/Comstock/photolibrary.com

  Back cover: © Jakub Semeniuk/iStockphoto.com, © Royalty-Free/Corbis, © agencyby/iStockphoto.com, © Andy Cook/iStockphoto.com, © Christopher Ewing/iStockphoto.com, © zebicho – Fotolia.com, © Geoffrey Holman/iStockphoto.com, © Photodisc/Getty Images, © James C. Pruitt/iStockphoto.com, © Mohamed Saber – Fotolia.com

  Meet the author

  Welcome to Judaism – An Introduction!

  My purpose in writing this volume is to convey something of the richness of Judaism as a living faith. The book is intended for both Jews and non-Jews, aiming to encourage an appreciation of Judaism’s contribution to the world. I have tried to combine accuracy with openness and to discuss in each chapter both Judaism’s historical origins and development and its main expressions today.

  My aim is to be clear and accessible, not presupposing any previous knowledge of Judaism. From my extensive teaching experience, I know the areas that students find difficult to grasp and have paid particular attention to explaining them. A committed member of my own faith community, I also have long been involved in interfaith dialogue. From this I sense the need for exploring what gives Judaism its dynamism, rather than taking a quick look at festivals and foods.

  There are sophisticated systems of transliterating Hebrew words into English. In keeping with the purpose of this volume, a simple system has been adopted which, it is hoped, is generally consistent but which also allows for common usage. Many words beginning (or ending) with ‘h’ are often spelt with ‘ch’ (e.g. Hanukah or Chanukah) suggesting a sound rather like the ‘ch’ of the Scottish word ‘loch’. ‘H’ has been adopted here as it is less misleading to pronunciation.

  The theologically neutral BCE (Before the Common Era) and CE (Common Era) are used here instead of BC and AD.

  I have avoided complicated footnotes and bibliography. The list of books suggested to further the reader’s interest is deliberately brief. Instead, within this volume, I have included details of specialist literature and, what should be particularly useful for the self-learner, many extracts from primary sources. Additional material, other than a Bible, should not be required with this self-contained presentation as you teach yourself Judaism.

  C.M. Hoffman, 2010

  1: Only got a minute?

  Judaism centres around three components: God, the Torah, and the Jewish people. Its roots lie in the Hebrew Bible, followed by the Rabbinic writings of the Mishnah and the Gemara, which together form the Talmud. Until the modern period, the dominant form of Judaism rested on the authority of the written and oral Torah. In response to modernity, different movements broke away from Orthodoxy. The names of these non-Orthodox branches of Judaism vary and there is continuing movement within many of the different branches, sometimes towards more traditional and sometimes towards more radical practice. Non-Orthodox traditions believe that ritual laws (as distinct from the eternally binding moral laws) are open to reassessment. All traditions accept that these laws are intended to set Jews apart as a holy people.

  Many Jewish rituals are expressions of belief in the sanctity of human life. Circumcision symbolizes a male’s membership of the covenant people; marriage is a sacred relationship. The various forms of Jewish prayer bring all human life under God’s scrutiny and guidance, and prayer books contain prayers for both home and synagogue. In the synagogue, or shul, Jews gather for study, prayer, celebrations, and social occasions.

  In Judaism, there is a strong sense of the passage of time and its significance. The weekly festival of Shabbat remembers God as creator by resting from creative work. The pilgrim festivals of Pesah, Shavuot, and Sukkot are annual celebrations of God’s activity in history. The other two major festivals are Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Each festival has its particular liturgy and rituals, connecting today’s Jews with their history. In the twentieth century the Holocaust and the establishment of the State of Israel had a major impact on Jewish self-understanding.

  5: Only got five minutes?

  Judaism centres around three components: God, the Torah, and the Jewish people. It has been defined as the historical religious experience of the Jewish people and it is the religious significance of their history that constitutes its importance for Jews.

  The Bible offers the story of the covenant between God and his people and an interpretation of its significance. The Torah comprises the first five books of the Bible, but it can also mean the entire Hebrew Bible or the whole of Jewish teaching based on the Bible notably the Talmud.

  Until the modern period, the dominant form of Judaism rested on the authority of the written and oral Torah. ‘Orthodoxy’ maintains its commitment to the authority of the Bible and the binding nature of halakhah. The label of ‘Modern Orthodoxy’ is sometimes used to denote a position that combines Jewish learning with the secular world and culture. Similarly, ‘Ultra-Orthodox’ is sometimes applied to a Judaism that finds the two areas incompatible.

  The Reform Movement in Europe began in the late 1700s and early 1800s as an attempt to modernize Judaism. While Orthodoxy retained a traditional notion of divine revelation and the centrality of all halakhah, Reform Jews could no longer believe in an unbroken chain of tradition, beginning with Moses on Sinai. Reform Jews believe that, while moral laws are binding, ritual laws may need to be adapted or even discarded in modern circumstances.

  Jewish laws about food are known as kashrut, from the Hebrew word kasher/kosher, meaning ‘fit’ (to be eaten). These food laws determine that certain fish, poultry, and meat, and their by-products, are not permitted. The laws are meant to set Jews apart as a holy people at the basic level of eating.

  Rites of passage are significant expressions of the Jewish belief in the sanctity of human life. Circumcision symbolizes membership of the covenant people. In Orthodox Judaism, a boy becomes Bar Mitzvah, taking on the obligations of his religion, at 13. A girl becomes Bat Mitzvah at 12. In Reform Judaism, boys and girls are equal in terms of age and obligations of religious majority. Judaism emphasizes the value of sex within the sacred relationship of marriage, and Orthodox Jewish women practise laws of ritual purity as an expression of this value. A Bet Din handles laws of Jewish religious status such as adoption, conversion, and divorce.

  The various forms of prayer are ways to bring all human life under God’s scrutiny and guidance. Jewish prayer books contain prayers for the synagogue and the home. The main functions of a synagogue today are as a house of assembly, of study, and of prayer. Judaism’s main religious leader is the rabbi, his role being to teach and interpret the Torah.

  The word ‘Sabbath’ translates the Hebrew Shabbat from the verb ‘to cease’. From ancient times, the characteristic way of marking Shabbat was to refrain from creative work. Beginning on Friday evening
and ending on Saturday evening, Shabbat includes celebrations designed to set the day apart from the rest of the week.

  In Judaism, there is a strong sense of the passage of time and of its significance, with festivals giving the year a religious rhythm. The five major festivals are Pesah, Shavuot, and Sukkot – all designed to commemorate and recreate the historical religious experience of the Jew – and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

  For Jews, the Holocaust raises immense questions about their belief in an all-powerful, all-loving God. Theologians have made attempts to address these questions. The sense of peoplehood is vital to what it means to be Jewish and a focal point of this is the land of Israel.

  10: Only got ten minutes?

  Judaism centres around three components: God, the Torah, and the Jewish people. The term ‘Judaism’ first became widely used in the 1880s to differentiate the religion of newly emancipated Jews from other faiths. Judaism has been defined as the historical religious experience of the Jewish people and it is the religious significance of their history that constitutes its importance for Jews.

  The Bible offers both the story of the covenant between God and his people and an interpretation of its significance. The Torah comprises the first five books of the Bible, but it can also mean the entire Hebrew Bible or the whole of Jewish teaching based on the Bible. The Neviim are the prophetic books of the Bible. They evaluate the historical experience of the Jewish people in terms of God’s activity. The Ketuvim (‘Writings’) comprise the third and last section of the Hebrew Bible or Tenakh.

  The Talmud has two parts: Mishnah and Gemara. Originally rabbinic discussion of the Mishnah, the Gemara came to be written down but it is only ever printed alongside the Mishnah. The Mishnah has six orders, each covering a principal area of life showing how holiness can be expressed in Jewish daily living.

  Until the modern period, the dominant form of Judaism rested on the authority of the written and oral Torah. What is often referred to as ‘Orthodoxy’ maintains its commitment to the authority of the Bible and the binding nature of halakhah. The label of ‘Modern Orthodoxy’ is sometimes used by those outside the religion to denote a position that combines Jewish learning with the secular world and culture. Similarly, ‘Ultra-Orthodox’ is sometimes applied to a Judaism that finds the two areas incompatible. Beginning as a revivalist movement in the eighteenth century, Hasidism stresses intimacy with the divine presence and other ideas that are an essential part of kabbalistic (mystical) thought.