An Introduction to Judaism
An Overview of Judaism
One very recent estimate puts the worldwide population of Jews at about 14 million. Of these, about 5.5 million live in Israel, and 5.2 million, in the United States. No other country has a Jewish population approaching one million. And with the exception of Morocco, there are virtually no Jews remaining in the Arabic Middle East.
Judaism is considered by some scholars to be a religion built around a three-way relationship among God, a chosen people and a sacred land (Israel). Its major concerns are narrative (aggadah) and law (halakha), two concepts that for Jews are inextricably linked. At the heart of the Jewish narrative is the notion of exile and return. This concept is double edged. It means literal geographical exile and return, but also refers to a form of spiritual exile that separates us from God and others, and keeps us from being “where we ought to be.” Jews build their ethical practice not only around the Ten Commandments which they share with Christians, but also with 613 mitzvot or regulations which are divided into positive commandments and negative proscriptions.
For Jews in the United States who belong to a synagogue there are three major expressions of Judaism: Orthodox (about 21%), Conservative (33 %) and Reform (39%). However, a majority of American Jews do not belong to a synagogue.
“Being Jewish” is unusual in that one can be religiously Jewish, ethnically Jewish, or both. Jews are drawn from a variety of geographical locations. Ashkenazi Jews trace their ancestry to Eastern Europe and Germany. Sephardic Jews are of Spanish or Arabic descent. There are even African Jews from Ethiopia.
Some Key Practices in Judaism
One key observance for Jews is keeping the Sabbath. For Jews, the period from before sunset on Friday until just after sunset on Saturday is a time devoted to spiritual activities during which work should be avoided. Jewish congregations typically hold their weekly religious services on Friday night and Saturday morning, reenacting God’s rest on the seventh day after creating the universe. Synagogues also hold religious services during the week.
Significant attention is devoted in Jewish practice to life cycle rituals marking birth, adulthood, marriage and death. These include brit milah for boys (circumcision), a naming ceremony for newborn girls, bar and bat mitzvah marking the coming of age for boys and girls (respectively). Jewish mourning ceremonies for deceased loved ones include “sitting shiva” for seven days with the family of the deceased, offering Kaddish prayers for the dead, and a remembrance called yahrzeit marking the anniversary each year of the loved one’s death.
A central practice in Jewish spiritual life is study of Torah, including a selection of sacred scripture referred to as the weekly “Torah portion.” One recent development in Jewish spiritual practice is the meeting of havurot, small groups of Jews who meet periodically for prayer, community, and study.
Jewish Scriptures and Sources for Further Information
The key sacred text for Jews is the Torah, which literally refers to the five books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy), but can also be used to mean the entire Hebrew Bible, or the full body of Jewish wisdom. Another key text is the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a word that is an acronym for the three major parts of the bible: Torah, Neviim (prophets such as Isaiah and Amos) and Ketuvim (writings that include Psalms, Proverbs, Job and Song of Songs). Other core texts include commentaries such as the Mishnah and the Talmud (which comprise more than 2.5 million words of wisdom and commentary). The Talmud was completed in the sixth century CE. For more information visit http://www.jewfaq.org/index.htm.
Selected Jewish Holidays
The Jewish “High Holy Days” fall in the autumn and include Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). The key holy days include Shavuot (Pentecost) which commemorates the giving of the Torah to the Hebrews on Mt. Sinai, and Sukkot (Tabernacles), a Thanksgiving festival which commemorates God’s protection while wandering for 40 years in the wilderness. Passover falls in the spring of the year and celebrates the liberation from Egyptian bondage. Hanukah, which falls in December, is not a major Jewish holiday, but is known often to non-Jewish people because it falls in December and involves gift-giving. Another Jewish minor holiday is Purim, a raucous celebration that reenacts the Book of Esther, in which a Jewish heroine defeats a villain who is trying to destroy all of the Jews in the Persian Empire.