Judaism

Brief Overview

Pogroms: brief timeline

Pogroms = large-scale, targeted, repeated anti-Semitic rioting

Pre-19th century:• 38 - anti-Semitic riots under Roman

rule• 2nd c. - communal violence against Jews

& Christians who refused to accept Roman rule over Israel

• 1095–1291 - massive violent attacks against Jews date during Crusades

Pre-19th century pogroms cont.

• 11thc. - Muslim pogroms against Jews in Spain.

• 1348 - Because of hysteria surrounding the black plague, Jews were massacred throughout Europe. Many surviving Jews fled to Poland.

• 1543 - On the Jews and Their Lies (Martin Luther), treatise advocating harsh persecution of Jewish people.

• 1648-1654 - Jews & Roman Catholics massacred by Ukrainian Cossacks.

19th Century Pogroms in Russia

• 1881-84 - large-scale wave of anti-Jewish riots swept through Russia. Jews were blamed for the assassination of Tsar Alexander II.– Thousands of Jewish homes destroyed,

many families were reduced to poverty, large numbers of men, women, & children were injured in 166 towns in today’s Ukraine.

– Many Russian Jews reassessed their status in Russian Empire & emigrated to the US.

– Boosted the early Zionist movement.

20th Century Pogroms in Russia

• 1903-06 – Bloody wave of pogroms, leaving an estimated 2,000 Jews dead & many more wounded.

• 1917 Russian revolution & Civil War – 887 mass pogroms– 70,000 to 250,000 Jews killed– Over 300,000 Jewish orphans– about 40% of pogroms perpetuated by

Ukrainian forces

20th Century Pogroms outside Russia

• 1918 – pogroms in Poland

• 1919 – a pogrom in Argentina

• 1927 – pogroms in Romania

• 1945 - pogroms in Libya & Iraq: led to massive emigration from Arab countries to Israel

Holocaust-era pogroms

• Nazis encouraged pogroms before larger mass killings began.

• Deadly pogroms occurred at the hands of non-Germans (Ukraine & Lithuania).

• Romania = 13,266 Jews were killed by Romanian citizens, police & military.

• After WWII = isolated pogroms, i.e. Polish pogrom of 1946.

Influence of Pogroms worldwide outcry

mass Jewish emigration2,000,000 Jews fled the Russian

Empire between 1880 & 1914, many going to the UK & the US.

Jews became politically active The General Jewish Labor Union. Participation in Bolshevik

movements. Jewish self-defense leagues. Zionism.

Reform Judaism• 1800s in Germany• Largest Jewish movement in North

America, more than 900 congregations & 1.5 million people

• Western Europe began to tolerate Jews: granted citizenship & civil rights

• Process of social & political liberalization extended to Judaism

• Emphasized aspects consistent with rationality & modern thought

• Rejected ancient rules & beliefs: dietary laws (kosher); use of spoken languages in place of Hebrew; seating segregation by gender

4 Movements of Judaism

Conservative Judaism

• Distinctly US American branch

• Some adaptation of Jewish law to contemporary life

• Not as far as Reform Jews in updating ancient tradition

• Ex. Ordination of Conservative women rabbis is still controversial

Orthodox Judaism• Torah was literally bestowed by God on Moses &

the Jewish people• Torah is sacred and beyond challenge

Ultra-orthodox Hasidic Judaism• 1700’s in Poland• mystical Judaism that finds divine presence in all

places• rabbis are charismatic leaders with special powers

to perform miracles• Jews lived in segregated ghettos, shtetls

Origins

• God established covenant with Abraham– Divine promise to Abraham that his

descendants would enjoy God’s blessing

– In turn, they were obligated to obey the divine word

• Hebrews embraced Judaism– Monotheism– Ethical behavior

• Torah = 1st 5 books of the Hebrew Bible received by Moses– Core sacred text of Judaism from about 3,500

years ago– Essence of a way of life: devotion to God, life-

long learning, reason, wisdom, ethical conduct– Talmud – 60 books of rabbis’ thinking &

decisions between 300 and 500

• Rome conquered Middle East– Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed– Ancient Jewish state of Israel became a province

of the Roman Empire

• Jewish Diaspora = dispersion of Jewish communities throughout W. & E. Europe, N. Africa, & E. Mediterranean

Some Core Beliefs

• Flexibility in belief = no hierarchical religious authority codifies & enforces religious precepts

• Rabbi interpretations of sacred texts

• Ethical practice & moral action = more important than conformity to abstract theological or ritual rules

• People are created in God’s image & are uniquely capable of performing good deeds: mitzvah (righteous acts)

• God’s creation is an unending process, always unfolding in the virtuous actions of people

• Land of Israel = God commanded Abraham to settle in Israel– Returning to the Promised Land = coming

of the messiah, ending 2000 yrs. of exile– 1948 = modern state of Israel– Longing for the homeland expressed in

prayers

• “chosen people” = covenant placed responsibilities on Jewish people to demonstrate by their own actions the universal truth of God’s commandments– Jews were to guide others in living morally &

ethically– NOT an ethnocentric sense of superiority or

entitlement

• Human nature = people are self-determining: can choose to act righteously or sinfully

• Judaism Focuses on this world

– Heaven & hell vaguely mentioned in Jewish writings: not distinct places where divinity dispenses rewards & punishments for behavior on earth

– Heaven & hell are experienced in this life as rewards & punishments for human actions