Judaism - Main Page

Judaism is one of the world's oldest continuing religious traditions. Judaism was founded C. 2000 B.C. stemming from the descendants of Judah: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and has 18 million followers. The word Judaism comes from the Hebrew word Yehudah that which means the " Praised." Yehudah, or Judah, was a tribe leader and his name became the name of the tribe. From the name of a tribe it became the name of a kingdom and finally the name of a new state and religion.

Later the word Judaism began to describe not simply a religion but the union of a God, a people (Israel), and a country (the Holy Land). In fact, it is impossible to separate the three elements from one another; the story of Judaism is the story of the Jews' relationship with God and the Holy Land. It is a story that goes back nearly four thousand years.

Judaism has become a universal religion, and belief in its God, more than any other, has reached the ends of the earth. For the God of Israel is also the God of Christendom and the God of Islam; and Judaism is the source of these other two great religions. Judaism espouses belief in a monotheistic God, who is creator of the universe and who leads His people, the Jews, by speaking through His prophets. His word is revealed in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament), especially in that part known as the Torah.

The Torah also contains, according to rabbinic tradition, a total of 613 biblical commandments, including the Ten Commandments, which are explicated in the Talmud. Jews believe that the human condition can be improved, that the letter and the spirit of the Torah must be followed, and that a Messiah will eventually bring the world to a state of paradise, with Jerusalem and Israel as the center.

Judaism promotes community among all people of Jewish faith, dedication to a synagogue or temple (the basic social unit of a group of Jews, led by a rabbi), and the importance of family life. Religious observance takes place both at home and in temple.

Judaism is divided into three main groups who vary in their interpretation of those parts of the Torah that deal with personal, communal, international, and religious activities; the Orthodox community, which views the Torah as derived from God, and therefore absolutely binding; the Reform movement, which follows primarily its ethical content; and the Conservative Jews, who follow most of the observances set out in the Torah but allow for change in the face of modern life. A fourth group, Reconstructionist Jews, rejects the concept of the Jews as God's chosen people, yet maintains rituals as part of the Judaic cultural heritage.

The Jews spoke of Torah, God's revealed instruction to Israel in the Torah, mandated both a world view and a way of life "Halakhah." Halakhah derives from the Hebrew word "to go" and has come to mean the "way" or "path." It encompasses Jewish law, custom, and practice.

Premodern Judaism, in all its historical forms, thus constituted (and traditional Judaism today constitutes) an integrated cultural system encompassing the totality of individual and communal existence. It is a system of sanctification in which all is to be subsumed under God's rule that is, under divinely revealed models of cosmic order and lawfulness.

Jewish communities have existed at one time or another in almost all parts of the world, a result of both voluntary migrations of Jews and forced exile or expulsions.

IN THIS SECTION