These slides are prepared by Julie Arliss of Richard Huish College, Taunton, England to assist teachers in to introduce Judaism to young people. They are not to be regarded as comprehensive and should be supplemented by appropriate reading.

JUDAISM

Seeing Judaism ‘correctly’• It is important to avoid seeing Judaism

through Christian eyes.. This is particularly the case with the Scriptures. The Christian ’Old Testament’ - now generally referred to as the ‘Hebrew Scriptures’ – is regarded differently by Jews, and seen as revelation of a living Testament, not an ‘Old’ Testament.

• Equally the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) are by far the most important and it is these that form the TORAH which is so central to Judaism. The Prophets are used and so are stories such as the book of Esther, associated with the feast of PURIM, but they are much less significant.

Seeing Judaism through Jewish Eyes

• A rabbi tells the story of his childhood when he attended a Christian school. The teacher was teaching a class on Judaism. “YAHWEH”, said the teacher, “IS THE NAME JEWS GIVE TO GOD”.

• ‘Please Miss’, said the future Rabbi, ‘It isn’t’. However he was told to keep quiet and went home and asked his father. His father had never heard of Yahweh, nor had his mother.

• When they were next in the synagogue they asked the Rabbi if he had heard of YAHWEH. He laughed:

• “Oh yes!” He said, “Yahweh is the name Christians say Jews give to God.”

• It is important to try to see Judaism as far as possible from a Jewish perspective. To do otherwise ‘does violence’ as Levinas would say

RABBINIC REFLECTION• Rabbis over the centuries have• reflected on The Torah and

sought to gain inspiration and guidance from it – but they have always realised the central importance of interpretation.

• They consider that God has given the Torah not just to be obeyed but also to be interpreted in the light of new situations – and this interpretation is a human activity which takes into account previous interpretations and uses reason to grapple with new situations.

Jews do not expect to agree on interpretations!• The Torah is considered so holy that it is not

touched – instead a pointer is used called a ‘Yad’

TORAH• The Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,

Deuteronomy) is central to Judaism.• It contains much legal material. 613 laws of which

248 are positive injunctions and 365 are prohibitions. According to tradition they were given by Moses.

• It also traces the story of the Jewish people beginning with the creation of the whole world, and then focusing on God’s election of Abraham who became the father of the Jewish people by covenant promise. The descendents of Abraham are traced, but the next major figure is Moses, considered the author of the Pentateuch. Moses formed the people into a nation through the experience of the Exodus, and the Sinai covenant. He then led the people to the threshold of the Promised Land, where he died.

HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF

ISRAEL

Salvation History• The Hebrew scriptures do not offer a simple

historical account of the History of Israel. They offer an interpretation of what the events mean to the people of Israel. Through the events God is seen to be acting to save Israel.

• The Torah begins with the stories of creation in Genesis. In this account of pre-history God is presented as the God of the whole world, and has dealings with the whole world. This is given in Chapters 1-11 of Genesis and according to the Hebrew Scriptures is a disaster. Mankind fails to obey the creator and fails to understand the nature of obedience and faith.

• The election of Abraham in Genesis 12 is a new start. Abram was called by God to go from his home in the town of Ur to become a wandering nomad. He obeyed this call.Obedience is central to the notion of leading a good Jewish life. He became separate from others: HOLY. Israel is called to be like God; a Holy people.

• God made a one sided covenant with Abraham in which He promised that Abraham would have many descendants who would be given the land of Israel to live in. The concept of Israel being a chosen people is crucial to their self-understanding.

• Abram and his wife were infertile. Both Abraham and Sara lacked faith. Abraham had a child (ISHMAEL) with Sara’s slave, HAGAR.Abraham was 100 years old and Sara 90 when the time for fulfilment came.

• The son of Abraham and Sarah was ISAAC. The greatest test of Abraham’s faith was the command to sacrifice Isaac, in Genesis 21. He obeyed, only to find that it was a test. The outcome of the test:

• ‘All nations of the world will be blessed by your descendants because you listened to my voice’ Gen 22:18

• Israel believes she, as a people, is chosen for a purpose.

• In Hebrew the same verb means ‘to listen’ and ‘to obey’

Abraham and key aspects of Judaism

Abraham an archetypal JewWhen God shared with Abraham his intention to

destroy Sodom and Gomorrah Abraham asked, ‘Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?’ Gen 18:25. Abraham recognised the righteousness of God and challenged Him to live up to this aspect of His nature.

• Israel is commanded to pursue righteousness as a people (Deut 16:20) a word which can be a synonym of justice.

• Righteousness goes beyond that which is purely just, and includes concern for those who have no particular claim to justice.

• He is a symbol for what it is to be a good Jew: to be chosen by God, to be Holy, to live in faith and obedience to the word of God.

• Abraham was not perfect: he became a wandering nomad, and this is a symbol of the journey of faith that he and all Jews have to make.

Abraham a spiritual father• Abraham is considered to be the genetic

father and spiritual father of the Jewish people.

• According to Genesis 17 the sign of the covenant with Abraham was circumcision. This is a tradition still practised.

• He is a key figure for Jews in understanding their identity.They are the chosen people of God and the descendants of Abraham.

• Three world religions claim Abraham as their spiritual ancestor, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The accounts of his dealings with God are fundamental to understanding the requirement of faith and trust in God demanded by these three world faiths.

The Descendents of Abraham• Abraham and his descendents are not presented

as perfect people! They are the chosen people by the grace of God, not by merit. In the Hebrew Scriptures God chooses who He wills and His ways are a mystery to mankind. A major theme of the stories in the Pentatuech is that God is Lord of history, and His choice of Israel has a divine purpose that will have a universal impact.

• Jews in the early Hebrew Scriptures are Monotheists; having faith in a single God. This, in itself, marked them out from all the tribes of the surrounding area who believed in many gods.

• This exclusive relationship with one God led to a total rejection of idol worship and to a strong sense of the unique identity of the people of Israel.

From Abraham to Moses• The book of Genesis traces the movement

of the Jewish people from Abraham to the appearance of the Hebrews in Egypt:

• Isaac• Jacob• Joseph• This ends the book of Genesis. The second

book of the Torah, Exodus, opens with the story of Moses.

• Yahweh reveals himself throughout the Moses narratives as a saviour, epitomised in the epic story of deliverance from Egypt.

The formation of Israel• On Mt Sinai a two sided covenant is sealed. This

is a unique moment and crucial for understanding Jewish attitude to the Laws in the Torah.

• Exodus 19:5,’IF YOU WILL OBEY MY VOICE AND KEEP MY COVENANT, YOU SHALL BE MY OWN POSSESSION AMONG ALL PEOPLES; FOR ALL THE WORLD IS MINE, AND YOU SHALL BE TO ME A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS AND A HOLY NATION’

• Israel agrees to this and becomes Yahweh's people. But the covenant is understood as conditional on obedience to the laws of the covenant.

• Abraham was obedient to the word of God, but now the word of God is written down and fixed, for all generations.

• These events made the Jews into a people with a unique identity, bound to each other, to God and to Torah.

The Law and a right Relationship with God

• Much of the legal material in the Hebrew scriptures concerns how to follow the rules given in the Decalogue, how to be a Holy people, how to be righteous.

• The laws in Exodus and Leviticus are all encompassing and instruct on how to behave both towards God, other people, animals and the land.There are both Casuistic and Apodictic laws.

• Throughout, the emphasis is on the nature of God as a jealous God, demanding exclusive allegiance.

• The consequence of failure to honour the laws and to follow one God is made clear in the farewell speech of Moses in Deuteronomy. He outlines a series of curses for failure and blessings for obedience.Failure to obey will result in disaster, punishment, loss of the promises of the covenant. In short, God with withdraw his favour. He is just and takes vengeance upon the wicked, and shows mercy to the good.

Choose Life• Deuteronomy 30:19-20

• ‘‘I call heaven and earth to witness against I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse: therefore and death, blessing and curse: therefore choose life, that you and your descendants choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God. Obeying may live, loving the Lord your God. Obeying his voice, and cleaving to him: for that his voice, and cleaving to him: for that means life to you and length of days, that you means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.’ Jacob.’

Conquest and Kingship• Moses lead the newly formed people to the

promised land, but did not enter with them. The land was by no means vacant. The Canaanites lived there and the Philistines were soon to establish themselves along the coastline. It had to be fought for over a period of some years.

• The conquest was lead by Joshua, and began with the fall of Jericho.

• Once in the land Israel was ruled, according to the texts, by Judges. Judges were not an established institution. They usually appeared in a period of crisis, brought on by the disobedience of the people, to save the people from their enemies. Stories include those of Deborah, Samson, Gideon.They were charismatic leaders believed to have been sent by God.

From Conquest to Kingship• Theologically these events are important because

they show that;• 1. God keeps his promises. He promised Abraham

that he would be the father of a great nation and that he would give them the land of Israel to live in.

• 2. Failure to obey the laws of the covenant result in the people being threatened by their enemies.

• 3. When the people turned to God, he acted to SAVE them, by sending a judge. History is understood in simple terms of cause and effect.

• 4. The identity of Israel becomes bound up not only with descent from Abraham, a common commitment to God and obedience to the Torah, but also to the LAND.

• Possession of the land is a sign that they are in a right relationship with God, because this was a covenant promise.

The Monarchy• Whilst Saul was the first king of Israel, David is far

more significant.• The decision to elect a king signposts the end of

the period of the judges and the end of the period of charismatic leadership. It is clear from the texts that there was division among the people about the decision. For some it revealed lack of faith in God to save them from their enemies, and too much of a desire to be like their neighbours.

• These objections are based in the demands of the covenant to have complete faith in God’s power to save, and the command to be a holy people, not conforming to the standards of other people but to the standards of God.

• It is, however, clear from the text that the pro-monarchy party won the argument and both Saul and David are blessed with a special gift of the Spirit.

The Monarchy and the Messiah

• The appointment of a king was not viewed at a secular act. The first two kings were chosen by the prophet/judge/priest, Samuel.

• The election of a king was sealed with the act of anointing. Messiah means ‘The anointed one.’ (In Greek this is Christ). It was accompanied with a special gift of the spirit which signposted that God had chosen this person.

• The King became the protector and saviour of the people in God’s stead.

• In a coronation Psalm the king is called, ‘My begotten son.’ the king was an adopted son of God.

• The monarchy of David was sealed by a covenant (2 Sam 7:26), ‘THE HOUSE OF MY SERVANT DAVID SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOR EVER’

The Monarchy• The lineage of David did not last for ever. The

hope for a Messiah, a king like David, in fulfilment of the Davidic covenant endures.

• David established a very large kingdom and the extent of the Davidic kingdom is the geographical area claimed as ‘Israel’.

• The identity of Israel as a people became bound up with the idea of monarchy. The king was a symbol of divine grace and favour.

• Political independence also became a part of what defined Israel as a people during the period of the monarchy.

• During this period (1000 BCE – 597 BCE) the great Israelite prophets came on to the scene to act very often as the conscience of the king and people. The greatest of these was Elijah.

Solomon’s Temple• David bought the site for the Temple to be built on

but it was his son, Solomon who built it.• It is evident that there were dissenting voices to

the building of a Temple on a fixed site. The Tabernacle, which had contained the ark of the covenant, was a tent-like structure which could be moved around.

• The central room, the Holy of Holies was a room for the ark, but otherwise empty.

• When Solomon, acting as a priest, dedicated the Temple it is evident that God approved of the Temple as, ’A CLOUD FILLED THE HOUSE OF THE LORD…FOR THE GLORY OF THE LORD FILLED THE HOUSE OF THE LORD’ 1 Kings 8:11.

• The Temple became a symbol of the gracious presence of God in the midst of the people. A sign of His grace.

What makes the people of God?1. Being a descendant of Abraham. Circumcision.2. Being the recipient of divine covenants,

Abraham, Moses and David.The Abraham covenant included the promise of the

land of Canaan and descendants.The Mosaic covenant meant acceptance of the Law.

The call to be HOLY and RIGHTEOUS.The Davidic covenant was the promise of an

everlasting king.OUTWARD SIGNS THAT THESE CLAIMS ARE TRUE:1. Living in the Land of promise.2. The Temple. This was a sign that God dwelt in

their midst and found their worship acceptable.3. Having a Davidic king, and political

independence.4. Circumcision and the possession of the Law.

The Divided kingdoms• After the death of Solomon David’s kingdom split

into two, the Northern kingdom, Ephraim, and the southern Kingdom, Judah.

• In 721 BCE the Northern Kingdom was destroyed and captured by Assyria.

• In 597-596 BCE the Southern kingdom was destroyed by Babylon. Jerusalem was in the southern kingdom.Her destruction meant the destruction of the Temple, (the end of sacrificial worship), and the end of the Davidic monarchy.

• The leading inhabitants of the country were carried off into exile where they were allowed to trade and live freely.

BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY‘By the waters of Babylon we sat down and

wept…’• The exile of Babylon was central to the consciousness of the people of Israel. Exile from the ‘promised land’ was almost impossible to tolerate and they made sense of this by seeing it as a punishment sent by God and, indeed, prophesied by God through the prophet JEREMIAH

• The modern pop song ‘By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept’ is based on

songs sung at this time.

Exile• Theologically this was a very productive time. The

prophet Ezekiel had a number of visions.In one of them (Ezekiel 1) he had a vision of creatures with wheels and wings and eyes who went wherever the spirit moved them. This was followed with a vision of God.

• This persuaded Ezekiel that God was not limited in his activity to the land of Israel. He was with them in exile. God had tremendous power of movement and could see all things.Such revelations lead to pure monotheism, the belief that there IS only one God.

• It also lead to a belief that the covenant promises were not tied up necessarily with land Temple and king, but with the spiritual life of the people. Obedience to the Law and righteousness was what God required.

• In practical terms the Jewish people responded by developing synagogue worship, and writing many of the scriptures in the form in which they are now found.

Exile• Many outward signs of the covenant

disappeared. But the Jewish people lived in hope that they would be replaced. The exile was a period of hope.

• The hope for a new king, like David, who would be a saviour of the people and deal with them justly and righteously.

• The hope for a return to Jerusalem.• The hope for a new covenant.• The hope for redemption, and restoration of the

outward signs that they were the chosen people, (to be sign posted to the world by their glorious return to Jerusalem.)

• The hope for political independence. This never disappeared, although their survival as a people with a clear identity was secured in the exile without this.

A CONQUERED LAND – But a fiercely independent people

• Eventually the exiles in Israel were given permission to return. Many stayed behind, having established a good life for themselves in Babylon. Those who returned to Jerusalem began rebuilding the walls of the city and the Temple.

They did not have the power to be independent. They were continually occupied by

foreign powers but their beliefs had been refined in the period of exile and this was not such a problem.

Post exilic Judaism• Between 536-520 BCE was the return from exile• Israel was under Persian rule.• Zerubbabel, Nehemiah and Ezra acted as leaders,

and co-operated with Persian authorities. No Jewish king.

• Israel enjoyed a great deal of religious and civic freedom.

• 516 BCE the building of the second Temple completed under Zerubbabel. Jewish priesthood resumed offerings.

• 444 BCE Nehemiah returned from Persia with permission to re-build the walls of Jerusalem.

• Nehemiah enforced Sabbath observation, and forbade mixed marriage.

• Ezra confirmed Nehemiah’s rulings, and made men dismiss their foreign wives. (Ezra 10.)

• Religious purity, observation of laws became the focus of what it meant to be a true Jew.

The Maccabees• 331 BCE Alexander the Great conquered the

Persians.• The pressure of Greek culture under the rule of

the Seleucids encouraged some Jews to abandon some aspects of their religious life.

• A Greek Gymnasium was built in Jerusalem with the permission of the High Priest, Jason.Without a king the High Priests became political activists, and the ruling classes.

• Problems over the election of the High Priest led Antiochus Epiphanes to enforce Greek culture upon Jerusalem in 168 BCE.

• He forbade all practices which made the Jews distinctive; observation of festivals, sacrifices,(an altar to Zeus was put up in the Temple), circumcision, reading of the law.

Antiochus Epiphanes• Copies of the Law were destroyed. • Anyone who refused to worship at the altar to Zeus

and to eat pigs flesh were put to death.(2 Macc 6:18)• Women circumcising their baby boys were put to

death.• Judas Maccabee lead a rebellion against this tyranny. • 164 BCE the Temple was recovered and re-dedicated.

This is celebrated at the festival of Hanukkah. Some called for political independence. A treaty with Rome was made to secure independence from the Seleucids.

• The book of Daniel was written during this period by someone who disagreed with an antagonistic approach to foreign masters. Obedience to the law and obedience to foreign powers were not incompatible. God would bring salvation and establish his Kingdom in his own good time. What was required of the people to bring this about was obedience to the law and holiness in a spiritual sense, rather than political independence.

Divisions within Judaism• This period high lights the propensity of Judaism for

divisions. • The return from exile saw a division between those who

had been through the process of exile and those left on the land. Some thought those left behind no longer qualified as Jews because they had not been through the experience.

• Some returned because the ‘homeland’ was part of who they were, others no longer considered it important.

• Some looked for political independence, others thought as a people they were a spiritual community, not a political state.

• Some thought there was no contradiction accommodating Greek culture within Judaism, others thought it wrong.

• Some hoped for another King of the line of David, others thought the kingdom of God would come with a superhuman ‘son of man’ pictured in apocalyptic language.

Divisions• Some had come to believe in life after death, and

believed that obedience to the letter of the law would be rewarded in the afterlife. Others did not believe in life after death.

• Some believed that the mission of Judaism meant living with gentiles and in that way bringing them to believe in the one true God. Others believed that the call to be HOLY meant withdrawing from society to focus on obedience to the laws. Such a community was at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.

• Some believed that the Temple and sacrifice were at the heart of Judaism and a sign of God’s blessing: others experienced God without the need for sacrifice, in the Synagogue.

• The belief that they were a people with a mission from God, called to be HOLY and RIGHTEOUS and to live in OBEDIENCE to the law not questioned, but what this meant and how to do it was widely debated.

First century Palestine

• In the first century CE the Romans occupied Palestine. They tolerated Jewish religious practices,and worked hard to compromise with the Jewish people throughout the empire to maintain peace. They even allowed the Jews to have a king… although he was a puppet king. Such was king Herod.

• Herod was in many ways a remarkable king. Many of his building projects still exist. The expansion and rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem was one of his most impressive achievements. Rome insisted on having a fortress at one corner. He was however a violent man and killed all whom he perceived as a threat.

• On his death Rome split the rule of Israel into local provinces and sent a Roman procurator or governor to control Jerusalem. Roman soldiers patrolled the streets.

• Many Jews found the presence of the Romans totally unacceptable and the ZEALOTS were dedicated to throwing out the Romans and making Israel independent once more – as in the great days under King David. When Florus, the Roman procurator and successor to Pontius Pilate, took money from the Temple, this provoked a riot. The people of Jersualem, always proud, attacked Roman soldiers and gained control of the Temple Mount.

• The Romans initially retained control of the Antonia fortress but soon lost this to the Israelites. Other Hebrews, seeing the success of those in Jerusalem, attacked Roman garrisons and drove them out.

• Rome could not accept this and an army of 60000 under Vespasian march into Galilee and conquered most of it.

JERUSALEM AND MASADA• Vespasian returned to Rome to become Emperor

and his son, Titus, took charge of a five month siege of Jerusalem. Eventually the Romans broke through and in CE 70 raised the whole city to the ground. All that was left was the western wall.

• The Jews still held two fortresses – Machaerus and Masada (on the East and West of the Dead sea). Masada, built as a fortress by Herod the Great was a formidable mountain stronghold and the Jews held out there for three years. Eventually the Roman tenth legion built a ramp to gain access and when they did so they found that the 960 defenders – men, woman and children – had all killed themselves rather than be taken by Rome.

• This marked the end, until recent times, of the Jewish occupation of Israel, of Temple, priests and king.

DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE• The Temple was seen by many as the heart of

Jewish worship. Its destruction many would have thought a mortal blow to Judaism. However there were many Jews for whom Jerusalem was not crucial to being a Jew. There were Jews all over the Roman world, who might have visited Jerusalem once in a lifetime, if at all. For these Jews Judaism rested on synagogue worship and obedience to the Law.

• After CE 70 Jerusalem, Israel, a King and Temple as part of Jewish identity went out of focus. As in the Babylonian exile obedience to scriptures became paramount.

• Those who viewed Righteousness, obedience to the Law and Holiness as central to Jewish life survived. Such were the Pharisees.

JERUSALEM OR TORAH• During the siege of Jerusalem, Rabbi Yohanan

ben Zakkai is held to have had himself smuggled out without detection by the Jewish Zealot guards by hiding in a coffin. He went to Vespasian and obtain permission to move the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish body, to the village of Yavneh.

• At Yavneh, the Jewish scriptures were established, commentaries on Torah recorded and a Jewish calendar laid down so that wherever Jews scattered to, they could still celebrate the sacred festivals at the same time.

• There is a story that Rabbi Yohanan said that if Vespasian had given him the choice of preserving Jerusalem or Yavneh, he would have chosen Yavneh. This is important as it illustrates that the Torah and teaching of the Jews was more important than the city of Jerusalem.

Different periods• Nina Rosenstand points out that

Judaism has gone through four eras:– Nina Rosenstand ‘The Moral of the Story’ - an introduction to Ethics p.

417

•The Biblical period,•The Talmudic period (from the Talmud, the body of Jewish civil and religious law)

•The medieval period, and•The modern period

JEWISH RELIGIOUS TEXTS• The Hebrew Scriptures are central to Judaism.

Some parts of Hebrew scripture are more authoritative for some Jews than others. The TORAH – the first five books, which came into their final form during the Babylonian captivity stands as the most authoritative. Since the rise of critical Biblical study in the nineteenth century the Bible is no longer read by many Jews as a sufficient or reliable guide to ancient history or as an infallible account of God. The authority of the Bible has been fatally undermined, although some suppose that it is the scholars that are in error.This debate between propositional and non-propositional attitudes to the Bible provides grounds for division within Judaism today.

• The reading of Biblical books is inseparable from their interpretation. This tradition of interpretation is embodied in a large mass of writings going back to antiquity.

Interpretative Texts• TARGUM is the name given to translations of

Hebrew scripture into Aramaic. All are both a translation and an interpretation and at points include mini-sermons to help the public understand the Hebrew words.

• MIDRASH – a collection of commentaries on Torah, by rabbis, compiled between the third and eleventh centuries. In the sixteenth century the Midrash-rabbah was published, presenting midrashic compilations on each of the books of Torah, and five other scrolls of scriptures. These have acquired an almost canonical status for many Jews, although they have no explicit religious authority.

• TALMUD is the foundation text of rabbinic Judaism. It is a huge document written in a mixture of Aramaic and Hebrew, making it very difficult to read for most Jews. It has a great deal of authority for many Jews, although this is not unchallenged.

Talmud• The reform movement does not consider many of

the laws and regulations binding, although it is still studied in Reform rabbinical colleges.

• The Talmud consists of two intertwined texts, the Mishnah and the Gemara.

• The Mishnah is a relatively short work composed in Hebrew in Israel. The Gemara is a longer work composed in Aramaic. It consists largely of detailed discussion on the meaning and validity of laws and rules in the Mishnah and the Bible.

• Talmud and the Bible are Jewish sources of HALAKHAH – Jewish practice. However they cannot be applied today without the subsequent traditions that have refined them and adjusted then to changing conditions. Much of this tradition was produced in the middle ages. The Shulhan Arukh, first published in 1565 is the most authoritative interpretations of the Talmud, used by all main branches of Judaism.

THE TALMUD• The Talmud says that Jews are required to care for

Gentiles just as much as other Jews because “the tender mercies of God are over all his world”. In ‘Great Traditions of Religion’, Cecil Roth speculates that a Jewish man in the Middle ages might write something on the following lines to his son as representing the ethical rules of life: Psalm 145. 9

• “My son! Make a point of visiting a sick man, for thus his suffering is eased. But do not fatigue him by staying too long, for his illness is enough for him to bear.... Be considerate for the feelings of a poor man, by giving him alms in secret, and on no account before others. For this reason, give him also food and drink in your own house - but do not watch him while he is eating. Do not overwhelm a poor many with words, for God will fight his cause.”

The Zohar• The Zohar (radiance) is the classical text of the

mystical tradition within Judaism, the Kabbalah. It was probably written by Moses de Leon (1250-1305).

• In Judaism esoteric knowledge is found through the Kabbalah tradition. Behind the world we experience is a hidden world of forces representing a higher form of uncorrupted being. The goal of the Kabbalist is mystical union with God, achieved through secret rituals.

• The Zohar was written in late thirteenth century Spain in an artificial Aramaic. It has the form of a commentary on the Torah, and outwardly resembles the Midrash. In fact it is a vehicle for communicating the main ideas of kabbalah.

• It is regarded by many as a sacred book. It is influential among the Hasidic movement, that arose in Poland in the eighteenth century. It is said that the founder of the movement, BAAL SHEM TOV always carried a copy around with him.

• MOSES BEN MAIMON

• (MAIMONIDES)

Moses Maimonides• Moses ben Maimon (1135 - 1204), the great • Jewish philosopher, lived at a time when Islam

was spreading into Spain and Northern Africa - the areas where he spent most of his life. He was a Jewish Aristotelian whose book ‘The Guide to the Perplexed’ is regarded as the masterpiece of medieval Jewish Religious thought, recognised by Muslims and Christians. Its aim is to reconcile Jewish beliefs with the rational arguments about physics and metaphysics of Aristotle and his followers.

• Moses ben Maimon was condemned by Rabbis at the time for his use of Aristotle’s ethics but his influence has been profound.

• The Yigdal, the 13 articles of Jewish faith, came from Maimonides – and have become an unofficial Jewish creed found in the prayer book.

YIGDAL (13 articles of Jewish faith)• “We praise the living God,• For ever praise His name,• Who was and is and is to

be• For e’er the same;• The One eternal God• Before our world appears,• And there can be no end of

time• Beyond His years.• Without a form is He• Nor can we comprehend• The measure of his love for

us –• Without an end.• For he is Lord of all,• Creation speaks his praise.

• The human race and all that grows

• His will obeys.• He knows our every

thought,• Our birth and death

ordains;• He understand sour

fervent dreams,• Our hopes and our pains.• Eternal life has He• Implanted in our soul,• We dedicate our life to

Him –• His way, our goal!”

ETHICAL MONOTHEISM• Ethical Monotheism has four components:• 1) God’s laws are binding on everyone in society, no 1) God’s laws are binding on everyone in society, no

matter what their station in life,matter what their station in life,• 2) God’s laws protect the underprivileged in society2) God’s laws protect the underprivileged in society• 3) The moral standards apply to everyone, including 3) The moral standards apply to everyone, including

GodGod• 4) Human freedom and personal integrity are of the 4) Human freedom and personal integrity are of the

highest importance.highest importance.• Moses ben Maimon wrote out of this context. Virtue

is not of value in itself - it is a means towards becoming a complete person and, for ben Maimon, this meant a person capable of understanding religious truths.

• Wisdom, he considered, is part of morality but there is more to morality than wisdom alone - it is, after all, possible to be wise in the ways a person sets about doing evil.

Maimonides - personal growth• Moses Ben Maimon considered there were

four ways of achieving personal growth:• 1) The first level of perfection is when The first level of perfection is when

human beings have learnt to understand human beings have learnt to understand what everyday life consists ofwhat everyday life consists of. Every day life consists of possessions - people owning and possessing things. This level of perfection has no inner bearing on a person’s life. Human beings are merely externally related to their possessions.

• 2) The second level of perfection consist of The second level of perfection consist of being physically fitbeing physically fit - however if we are merely physically fit we are no different from animals and although this affects us

as persons, it is only at a superficial level.

Personal Growth contd.• 3) The third level of perfection has to do The third level of perfection has to do

with the individual’s self becoming with the individual’s self becoming morally virtuous.morally virtuous. Aristotle was a major influence on Moses Ben Maimon here. Ben Maimon did not consider moral virtues to be an end in themselves - rather they are concerned with human inter-action. For Aristotle, extreme humility or total avoidance of anger were to be avoided - Ben Maimon also regarded the middle path as being virtuous. BUT whereas for Aristotle the path of virtue was the highest path, for Moses Ben Maimon there was a higher one....

Personal Growth contd.• 4) The fourth level involves involves perfecting the The fourth level involves involves perfecting the

rational virtues.rational virtues. It is through these virtues that an individual becomes truly human and an individual. This level of perfection can only be reached by knowing and understanding God. This is true wisdom.

• True wisdom will come about only by cultivating acts of love, compassion, judgement and righteousness. Within Jewish tradition, these acts of loving kindness were considered to be of utmost importance. Charity is vitally important and one central rule of such charity is that good deeds are rendered of little account or value if the person doing the good deed lets their actions be known - they must be done in secret.

• Jesus, as a Jew, recognised this when he said that when giving to charity one’s left hand should not know what one’s right hand is doing. Nina Rosenstand ‘The Moral of the Story’ p. 418

Modern Jewish thought• The modern era of Jewish religious

thought was inaugurated by Baruch Spinoza (1632-77), expelled from his community for his radical thoughts. He influenced more orthodox Jewish thinkers such as Moses Mendelssohn (1729- 96). Spinoza saw God and the world as one – but seen under different aspects.

• In the nineteenth and twentieth century important works were written mainly by German Jews: Hermann Cohen, Franz Rosenzweig and Martin Buber.

• English is now the main language of Jewish thought.

MARTIN BUBER• Martin Buber (1878 - 1965), the great Jewish

philosopher, devoted his life to the study of Hasidism. He held that the world can be brought to holiness by a few holy men (the Zaddik).

• God is personal and is the ultimate THOU and is addressed as ‘Thou’ in prayer. Only by an ‘I-THOU’ relationship to God people become fully human. Human beings must approach each other as ‘Thou’ – in other words as a person valued in their own right. They must never be an ‘it; - ‘I-It’ relationships tend to dehumanise.

• For Buber, the relationship to the personal God is central. This preoccupied him throughout his life as the following makes clear. In 1932, Buber was staying on a great German estate and early in the morning he met a ‘noble old thinker’ as Buber describes him. Buber read, at his request, the proof of his new book out loud. The old man replied with great vehemence…

The old man’s challenge to Buber..

• “How can you bring yourself to say ‘God’ time after time? How can you expect your readers will take the word in the sense that you wish it to be taken? What you mean by the name God is something beyond all human grasp and comprehension, but in speaking about it you have lowered it to human conceptualisation. What word of all human speech is so misused, so defiled, so desecrated as this! All the innocent blood that it has been used to cover has effaced its features. When I hear ‘God’ it sometimes seems blasphemous.”

• Buber says he sat silently. Then he says he felt as if a power from on high came into him and he says he replied something on the following lines:

• “Yes, it is the most heavy-laden of all human words. None has become so soiled, so mutilated. Just for this reason I may not abandon it. Generations of men have laid the burden of their anxious lives on this world and weighed it to the ground: it lies in the dust and bears their whole burden. The races of men with their religious factions have torn the word to pieces; they have killed for it and died for it, and it bears their finger marks and their blood. Where might I find a word like it to describe the highest? If I took the purest, most sparkling concept from the treasure chambers of the philosophers, I could only capture thereby an unbinding product of thought. I could not capture the presence of Him whom the generations of men honoured and degraded with their awesome living and dying.

• I do indeed mean Him whom the hell-tormented and heaven storming generations of men means. Certainly the draw caricatures and write ‘God’ underneath; they murder one another and say in ‘God’s’ name. But when all madness and delusion fall to dust, when they stand over against Him in the loneliest darkness and no longer say ‘He, He’ but rather sigh ‘Thou’, shout ‘Thou’, all of them with one word, and they they then add ‘God’ is it not the real God whom they implore, the One living God, the God of the children of man? Is it not he who hears them? And just for this reason, is not the word ‘God’ the word of appeal, a word which has become a name, consecrated in all tongues for all times?.. We cannot cleanse the word God and we cannot make it whole; but, defiled and mutilated as it is, we can raise it from the ground and set it over an hour of great care.” (cf Peter Vardy’s ‘God of our Fathers’ DLT 1987, p. 1 & 2)

Relationship

• Martin Buber is a good example of a modern Jewish writer who emphasises the importance of relationships based on an ‘I-Thou’ model - we must always relate to others at a personal rather than an impersonal level. Every human being must be treated as someone worthy of concern and respect.

• However for Buber this is a product of the ‘I-Thou’ relationship with God.

LEVINAS• Emmanuel LevinasEmmanuel Levinas is also in this

tradition, although he would go further than Buber - when we encounter the ‘Other’ in another human being, we need to recognise the Other’s needs as more important than our own.

• We should also not seek to judge ‘The Other’ on our own terms as by doing this we do violence to them as we do not see them as they are but as we want to see them.

• For Levinas, the willingness to put the interests of The Other before our own is the ultimate act of religious faith.

MODERN BRANCHES

OF JUDAISM

MODERN BRANCHES OF JUDAISM• All major world religions have various branches.

Tensions between these branches can be greater than between one world religion and another – just as rows within a family are sometimes fiercer than rows between comparative strangers.

• Still there is a recognition that within a family, all are bound together by something that transcends the rows and disagreements – the same applies in all the great world religions and certainly this is the case in Judaism.

• There may be great mutual suspicion between different branches of Jews, but all recognise the other as being Jews. This is particularly the case in Judaism where being a Jew is as much a matter of descent (traced through the female line) as of religious practice. A Jew who is an atheist, is still very much a Jew. The differences focus on dress, forms of worship, the role of women and the status of the Torah and Talmud.

Non-religious Jews According to Scriptures Abraham, the father of the

Jewish nation, was chosen. His response to this was faith in the God who had so graciously chosen him. The Hebrew people under Moses were chosen and saved from the bondage of slavery. The response to this call was obedience to the Laws given on Mount Sinai and faith in God their saviour.

• In Modern day Judaism national identity as a chosen people and religious belief do not always go together. According to the Mishnah an individual is counted among the Jewish people if their mother is Jewish.Jewish belief and observance is not important for Jewish identity. There are many who inter-marry, do not belong to synagogue and make little effort to educate their children as Jews. Even in the state of Israel many citizens are non-religious. BIRTH is what makes a Jew a Jew in the modern world.

Non-Religious Jews• This is not, however, a specifically modern trend. In the

period of Antiochus Epiphanes many were happy to cast off their traditional practises and take on Greek culture.

• Secular Jews today have chosen to abandon belief in God, but do not reject their Jewish identity. They are to be found among the strongest supporters of Jewish causes.The majority of the Jewish settlers in Palestine before the Second World War were atheists.Some of the prominent ideologists of Zionism, such as Ahad Ha’am, reject Jewish religion as outmoded and call for a spiritual revival, which incorporates European culture. Many secular Jews are to be found in the former Russian Empire, and it is these Jews who comprise the significant majority of immigrants to Israel.

• Secular Jews find it hard to define their ideology, they tend to see themselves in terms of what they are not.

ORTHODOX JUDAISM• Among religious Jews the great divide is between the

Orthodox and the non-orthodox.• The Orthodox have a propositional view of scripture,

and maintain that the torah is the absolute word of God.

• The Orthodox define themselves as those who remain true to the doctrine that the Torah is from Heaven. In practical terms this means that they follow the Torah to the letter, and also the details of the Talmud. They must walk to synagogue, woman and men do not sit together in the synagogue. Men will wear prayer shawls and hats. The service is in Hebrew.

• Hostility to Zionism was deeply rooted in all Jewish Orthodoxy, but they now play a prominent part in Israeli politics.

• Birth control is frowned upon and men and women have clearly demarcated roles. Children attend Jewish schools, where boys and girls are educated separately.

Orthodox Judaism• The Orthodox were not initially in favour of

Zionism (the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine) but since this was formed in 1948 they have supported it.

• In Israel, Orthodox Judaism has influence far beyond their numerical strength, because they have control of the religious establishment in the State of Israel. Their views are uncompromising.

• Among the Orthodox are the Strictly Orthodox, the Neo-Orthodox, and the Hasidim. The Neo-Orthodox, under the leadership of Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-88) believe that it is possible to remain an orthodox Jew while being fully conversant with modern culture. They wear western clothes, and children are educated together. Girls may have a career and control the number of children they have.

HASIDIC JUDAISM• The Hasidim,( ‘pious ones’) first emerged as a

group in the post exilic period. Those at Qumran may have been part of this group. In common with all ORTHODOX groups thy are committed to live pure and HOLY lives in accordance with Torah. They seek to maintain Judaism in the most ancient form. Purity, the Hasidim consider, brings joy.

• The founder of Hasidic Judaism was Israel ben Eliezer, known as the BAAL SHEM TOV,’The Master of the Good Name’ (1700 – 1760).

• The Baal Shem stressed personal piety and mystical worship. In Europe it centered around the courts of various spiritual leaders, the tsaddikim, who were believed to have extraordinary powers. When a tsaddik died he was succeeded by his most prominent disciple, although it soon became a hereditary post.

Hasidic Judaism• The Hasidim are immediately recognizable. The men

are bearded and wear side curls which are twisted and tucked behind the ears. They usually wear black with a large black hat worn over the small skull cap. Their shirts are usually white, buttoned to the neck but worn with no tie. From the waistband of the trousers are ritual fringes attached to their undergarments. Females dress discreetly and wear wigs. According to the law once a woman is married she must conceal her hair so that she is no longer a temptation to men. It is traditional for woman to cut off their hair before marriage and to cover the head with a wig.

• There has been a great deal of tension between Hasidic Judaism and more traditional Orthodox Judaism. Today they are united in their abhorrence of more liberal interpretations of Judaism.

CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM• Conservative Judaism originated in the United States

and is the largest influence in the USA. It arose in reaction to the Reform movement. It stands mid way between the certainties of Orthodoxy and the liberties of Reform and aims to preserve traditional practice while embracing the liberalism and pluralism of the Reform movement.

• They accept the results of modern scholarship, they regard the Torah as non- propositional: inspired by God, but not dictated by God to Moses. The Halakhah is important but needs to respond to changing times and changing needs.

• The founders of Conservative Judaism recognised that Judaism had changed, even during the Biblical period and that therefore the ultimate source of authority must be the Jewish people themselves. Some aspects of the tradition are permanent, but others change.

Conservative Judaism• On many aspects of practice conservative and

orthodox will agree. However Conservative are more open to change, having a different view of revelation. One significant way in which they are visibly different is in their attitude to women in worship; they have mixed seating, women can read from Torah, and count among the number needed to make up a congregation for public worship. In the 1980’s women were accepted for rabbinic al training.

• ZIONISM (the movement to establish the state of Israel as a Jewish homeland) has always been important.

• Kosher food is important, worship will be in Hebrew, men wear head coverings (kippot or yarmulkes) and Sabbat is strictly observed as well as Jewish holidays.

REFORM JUDAISM• In terms of religious beliefs and practise the most

radical reforms began in Germany under the influence of the Enlightenment. In the early nineteenth century the early issues were prayers in the vernacular, introduction of sermons and music to services, and the shortening of services.

• The first Reform congregation was set up in Hamburg in 1817. The reforms included choral and organ music prayers and a sermon in German. The liturgy was abbreviated.

• There was much debate about how far the reforms should go. Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-88) was conservative in his ideas, but others, such as Abraham Geiger (1810-74 were extremely liberal. Hirsch accepted the authority and inspiration of scripture, whilst Geiger did not.

• Today it is a movement particularly associated with the United States.

Reform Judaism• In America there was no assumption in favour of

tradition, and many European Jews were emigrating there, with no rabbinic authority, and with the feeling that the past had to be left behind.

• Under the influence Isaac Meyer Wise and David Einhorn a conference of rabbis in Pittsburgh formally adopted a kind of creed. In the ‘Pittsburg platform’ (1855) the Rabbis said that the Torah was only binding in its moral teachings. Rabbinic teachings on diet, ceremonial purity and dress were not considered binding in the modern world. Any hope of a return to Palestine was also abandoned although reform Judaism has supported the state of Israel since its formation.

• Reform services are in English, males are not required to wear hats, women are not separated and women can become rabbis, as can gays and lesbians. Jewish identity is considered to be by maternal or paternal line.

•JEWISH FESTIVALS

Calendar of Jewish FestivalsNew Year TISHRI end of the summer.

Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement TISHRI

Feast of Tabernacles- SUKKOT TISHRI

Hanukkah KISLEV + TEVET

Purim ADAR

Passover - PESAH NISAN spring festival.

Holocaust remembrance day NISAN

Israeli Independence day IYYAR

Pentecost - SHAVUOT SIVAN

Jewish festivals - Sabbath• The Jewish day begins at sunset, and all festivals

and Sabbaths are marked by the lighting of candles or oil lamps in the home a little before sunset.

• Each week is marked by the celebration of the Sabbath.This is celebrated in remembrance of the creation of the world, but is also an act of obedience – Exodus 20:9-10 commands Sabbath day observance.It is essentially a day of rest.

• Friday is a day of preparation for the Sabbath. The home is cleaned and tidied, Sabbath meals are prepared the table is laid for the evening meal and set with a clean white table cloth and the best tableware, candlesticks and a wine goblet. Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday and lasts until Sunset on Saturday.

• The arrival of Sabbath is greeted with joy, not just because it marks the end to work, but because the Sabbath is a gift from God and to observe it is a pleasure and a mark of obedience.

Sabbath• For those who observe the rules stringently the

Sabbath is a time when the following are not done; writing, handling money, switching on electric lights or electrical appliances, driving or riding in a motor vehicle.

• Conservative Jews will switch on lights and drive to the synagogue.

• Reform Jews are more permissive still.• The aim of Sabbath is to make the whole day

HOLY. The kabbalists imagine that in welcoming the Sabbath they are welcoming the shekhinah, the presence of God.

• The Hasidim take the Sabbath particularly seriously and purify themselves before the day with ritual washing and have special cloths.

• The end of the Sabbath, when three stars appear in the sky is marked by lighting of candles and drinking of wine and singing.

Passover• The Passover is an ancient Jewish festival which has

its roots in the events of the Exodus under Moses. • Instructions for its observation are found in the

Torah, Ex 12 and 13. No leaven is to be left in the home. The house is cleaned thoroughly, and especially the kitchen.

• Traditionally all members of the family should prepare themselves by having their hair cut and washing. Technically the first born sons should fast on the day before the Passover in remembrance of the deliverance of all Hebrew first born sons.

• The evening of the Passover marks what is possibly the largest feast of the year. Symbolic foods adorn the table: three pieces of unleaven bread; bitter herbs; a lamb shank bone; a roasted egg;green leaves; salt water and a reddish brown paste.

• Each person is to drink four glasses of wine and an extra goblet is placed on the table for Elijah.

Passover• The Haggadah contains the words of scripture and

the prayers to be said at the meal. • It begins with questions asked by the youngest child;• Why is this night different from all other nights?• On all other nights we ea t either leavened or

unleavened bread: why tonight do we only eat unleavened bread?

• On all other nights we eat all kinds of herbs: why tonight do we eat bitter herbs?

• On all other nights we do not dip our herbs even once; why tonight do we dip them twice?

• On all other nights we eat either sitting or reclining; why tonight do we all recline?

• This is followed with a lengthy reply including details of the exodus from the torah. The evening ends with songs and games.

Pentecost• Seven weeks after Passover is the

festival of Pentecost. This is a festival which celebrates the giving of the law on Mount Sinai.

• There are no specific rituals in the home, but it is customary for some to decorate the home with greenery and flowers and to serve dairy products such as cheese cake or cheese pancakes.

• All work is forbidden.• The book of Ruth is read.

New Year and Yom Kippur• The New Year festival is 9 days before Yom

Kippur.These are the most solemn days of the year.It is a time for serious reflection. Penitential prayers are said and families visit the graves of the deceased.It is recommended to seek forgiveness from all those one may have wronged during the year just elapsed to be able to concentrate all ones efforts on atoning for sins against God.

• This is the last opportunity to make amends for acts of omission or sins of commission before Yom Kippur; The Day of Atonement. What ever is not repented of by this day will be answered for on the day of judgement.

• Yom Kippur is a very ancient holy day now observed exclusively in the synagogue. It is a 25 hour fast day. Eating and drinking, washing, the use of ungents, wearing leather shoes and sexual relations are forbidden.

The Festival of Tabernacles• Five days after Yom Kippur the festival of

tabernacles begins.• This festival has its roots in the Exodus events

where the people lived in impermanent dwellings during the years of wilderness wandering. Its observance is commanded in Leviticus 23:42-5.

• Sukkah, a simple structure, roofed with thin greenery, is built out of doors.

• Technically all meals are to be eaten in the Sukkah and it should be slept in for the seven nights of the festival.

• Traditionally guests are invited, especially Holy guests such as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and Moses.

• The festival ends with a rejoicing in the Torah at the synagogue where the scrolls are kept. Ecclesiastes is read on the Sabbath of the week.

Hanukkah• An eight day festival in mid winter.• It commemorates the rededication of the Temple by

the Maccabees after it had been desecrated by Antiochus Epiphanes, the Seleucid king.

• The Maccabees cleansed the Temple, before performing a rededication (`hanukka)(`hanukka) on 25th Kislev 165 BCE, three years to the day from its defilement.

• The Talmud records that there was only one small cruse of holy oil to light the Temple with, but it lasted eight days and this was seen as a sign from heaven.The main way Hanukkah is observed is by lighting oil lamps or candles, one on the first evening, two on the second until eight lights are lit. Special lamps or candle holders, Menorah’s are used and placed in a window to shine out into the darkness.

• It is a minor festival, there is no feasting and work continues.

Purim• This festival takes place in February or

March, the month of Adar.It is always a month before Passover.

• It is a minor festival celebrating deliverance from persecution.

• Traditionally there is a fast the day before the festival, a feast on the day of the festival, charitable acts and taking food to friends or relatives.

• Jews are encouraged to drink, wear masks and create a carnival atmosphere.Children act out the story of Queen Esther and the book of Esther will be read aloud in the synagogue from the actual scroll.

JEWISH PERSECUTION

JEWS, MUSLIMS AND CHRISTIANS• Since CE330 Jews have lived in countries controlled

by Muslims and Christians. • Christians believe that Jesus fulfils all Jewish hopes.

Jesus is the Messiah, of the line of David, and in himself is the Shekinah of God. There is therefore no need for temple or cult.His death brought a New Covenant in which believers are justified by faith, as was Abraham, and not by obedience to the Law. According to the Gospel narratives the Jews were responsible for the death of Jesus, and in their rejection of him are no longer the People of God. Instead all who believe in Jesus are the People of God. Christian persecution of Jews was common.

• Generally Muslims tolerated Jews more readily than Christians. Muhammed (590-632 CE) had hoped to convert the Jews to Islam, but the Jews were not prepared to recognise Muhammed as a prophet.Muhammed expelled the Jews from Medina.

1144 The Jews of Norwich were accused of using the blood of Christian children in the Passover.

1290 All Jews were expelled from Britain.

1292-4 All Jews were expelled from crown lands in France.

1298 In Germany 150 Jewish settlements were destroyed.

1492 Ferdinand and Isabella exiled the Jewish community from Spain

1818-1904 Wilhelm Marr, a German journalist. The first to publish anti-semitic literature. For the first time this was not persecution on religious grounds, but hatred of an ethnic group. However assimilated, however Christianized the Jew was still regarded as a foreigner, a cancer of the nation. This kind of prejudice resulted in the Holocaust.

Jewish Persecution

It is impossible in the 20th century to ignore the fact of the holocaust on the Jewish psyche.

The attempt at the total extermination of the whole

Jewish people in the Nazi ‘FINAL SOLUTION’ is so horrendous that it effects all Jews. It is a part of understanding Judaism today.

In the face of the In the face of the obscenity of the obscenity of the

holocaust – part of a holocaust – part of a long catalogue of Jewish long catalogue of Jewish

persecution over the persecution over the centuries – the concern centuries – the concern of Jews for the state of of Jews for the state of Israel and security is Israel and security is

understandable.understandable.

The State of Israel• The United Nations gave the land comprising the State

of Israel to the Jewish nation in 1948. However Arabs were already living there and these were, effectively, drive out – to their understandable resentment.

• The Arabs, when all attempts at negotiation failed, tried using armed force to drive out the State of Israel whose existence they did not accept.

• However The Israelite forces were very effective and in a number of wars they conquered the West Bank, The Sinai and the whole of Jerusalem which did not form part of the state of Israel. The Sinai was handed back to Egypt, but the state of Israel continues to occupy the West Bank and the whole of Jerusalem against U.N. resolutions.