Judaism: History and Basic Beliefs
History
The Judaism of today is not exactly the Judaism of the Old Testament. Around 200 B.C. Judaism began to shift towards a more rabbinical Judaism as the Pharisees began to rise in power.
These Pharisees, referred to as the “separated ones” were one of four main Jewish sects during the time of Christ. The other three were the Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes.
After the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in A. D. 70, the Pharisees were able to attain almost complete dominance over the Jewish religion.
Today, there are three main branches of Judaism
Orthodox Judaism is the most conservative. They believe that the Old Testament was inspired by God, that the Torah was given to Moses, and that the Talmud is authoritative for interpreting the Torah, which is given higher importance than the Writings and the Prophets. They strictly observe the practices of Judaism that have been held for centuries.
Reformed Judaism is the liberal branch of Judaism. It arose in Germany in the 19th century under its founder, Abraham Geiger, who emphasized reason and science over belief. Reformed Jews reject most of the beliefs of the Jews but still practice some of its ethical teachings.
Conservative Judaism serves as an intermediary between Reformed and Orthodox Judaism. It started in Germany in the 19th century in part as a reaction to the more liberal tendencies of Reformed Judaism. It seeks to avoid a literal understanding of Jewish belief by balancing traditional rabbinic thought and modern scholarship (e.g., they believe the Torah was not given by Moses but arose from multiple sources.) They try to adapt some of the traditional practices to the modern culture.
Basic Beliefs
Because of the different branches of Judaism, it is impossible to state what every adherent believes. The following beliefs would fall more in line with the Orthodox and Conservative branches, since the Reformed branch is mostly about the ethical teaching.
Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, or Maimonides, was the greatest medieval Jewish scholar. He provided 13 beliefs that all he believed all Jews should believe (though some of these 13 have even been disputed)
- “G-d exists
- G-d is one and unique
- G-d is incorporeal
- G-d is eternal
- Prayer is to be directed to G-d alone and to no other
- The words of the prophets are true
- Moses’ prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the prophets
- The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings now contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses
- There will be no other Torah
- G-d knows the thoughts and deeds of men
- G-d will reward the good and punish the wicked
- The Messiah will come
- The dead will be resurrected” (jewfaq.org)
God
One of the most fundamental teachings in Judaism is the belief in one God without division. Thus, they reject the teaching of the Trinity
If a person believes in Jesus, he cannot be a Jew according to Judaism.
Scripture
The Orthodox and Conservative Jews believe that the Old Testament, or the Tanakh is inspired by God. It consists of:
The Torah (the Law, or the first five books of the Bible)
The Nevi’im (Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Minor Prophets)
Ketuvim (Writings: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Daniel, Ezra and Nehemiah, and 1 and 2 Chronicles).
The Jews also place priority on the Talmud, or what is often called the Oral Torah.
Jews believe that Moses received the Written Torah, or the Pentateuch, at Mt. Sinai and wrote it down. It has been preserved since that time.
Moses also received the Oral Torah, which was passed down orally until A. D. 200 when, in order to preserve it, it was compiled in the Mishnah. The Mishnah makes up the first part of the Talmud and contains legal ruling and explanations relating to the Written Torah.
The second part of the Talmud is the Gemara, which contains discussion relating to the Mishnah and was written around A. D. 550.
In order to properly understand the Torah one must understand the Talmud. Thus, in practice, the Jews rarely read or deal with most the Old Testament and rather focus on the Talmud.
Halakhah: Jewish Law
“Judaism is not just a set of beliefs about G-d, man and the universe. Judaism is a comprehensive way of life, filled with rules and practices that affect every aspect of life: what you do when you wake up in the morning, what you can and cannot eat, what you can and cannot wear, how to groom yourself, how to conduct business, who you can marry, how to observe the holidays and Shabbat, and perhaps most important, how to treat G-d, other people, and animals. This set of rules and practices is known as halakhah.” (jewfaq.org)
There are two sources for Jewish Law
Commandments from the Torah.
These commands come from explicit statements in the Law, implicit statements, or deductive reasoning.
There are 613 commandments in the Torah. Though the specific commands in the list may differ slightly, everyone agrees on this number. It comes from the numeric value of the word Torah (Tav is 400, Vav is 6, Resh is 200, and Hei is 5. Two more are added for the prior commands of serving God and not having other gods.)
There are 248 positive commands (one for each bone and organ of the male body, according to the Talmud) and 365 negative (one for each day of the year).
Since many of the commands are related to living in the land and/or temple sacrifices, there are about 77 positive and 194 negative that can be followed outside of Israel today.
Commandments from the Rabbis
These are further broken into 3 sub-categories:
Rules that set a fence around the Torah. E.g., since Jews are not allowed to do certain work on the Sabbath, the rabbis forbade them from holding an instrument of work on the Sabbath (pencil, hammer) so they would not forget and do work.
Rules created for public welfare but not related to the Torah. E.g., public Torah readings on Mondays and Thursdays.
Long-standing customs that have become religiously binding. E.g., many of the holidays have an extra day, originally added to ensure that the day was not missed on accident.
Non-Jews
Though some Jews view themselves as a privileged people of God, many today view being a Jew as a burden that has been given to them by God. They are no better than other people, and other people will be a part of the World to Come as well.
Non-Jews are not bound to keep the Jewish Law, but must keep the 7 laws given to Noah (Noahide Commandments)
1) to establish courts of justice; 2) not to commit blasphemy; 3) not to commit idolatry; 4) not to commit incest and adultery; 5) not to commit bloodshed; 6) not to commit robbery; and 7) not to eat flesh cut from a living animal
These 7 laws have been broken down by some into 66 sub-laws, out of the 613 in the Torah.
Conversion to Judaism is a long process, and is not necessarily encouraged by many. In fact, the Talmud tells Rabbis to only allow conversion after 3 times of trying to dissuade the seeker.
If a person is still committed to becoming a Jew, he must begin to study Jewish law and customs. This usually takes about a year.
After a year, he appears before a rabbinical court that will determine whether or not the person can become a Jew.
Man
Man is made in the image of God, and is put on earth to serve Him.
Man is not inherently evil. Man has both good and evil inclinations, but has a free will that allows him to choose between the two.
The Torah helps man to know what he must do to serve God.
Atonement
Jews do not technically believe in salvation, because they see no need to be “saved.”
However, there is a need to atone for sins. The ideal way to deal with sin is through repentance and animal sacrifice. However, since the destruction of the Temple it is no longer possible to perform animal sacrifice.
Today, prayer and repentance are sufficient to atone for sins, though fasting and charity may also be substituted for animal sacrifice.
Coming Messiah
Jews believe that the Messiah will come and establish unity and peace on the earth.
The Messiah will be a son of David, and will not be God.
Afterlife
Though there is no consensus on the reality or nature of heaven and hell, most Jews believe that God will somehow enact final justice that was no meted out in this life.