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Jun 15, 2023 · From Reconstructionism to ultra-Orthodoxy, Judaism is richly diverse. MendyHechtman/iStock via Getty ImagesAs a scholar of modern Jewish history, religion and politics, I am often asked to explain the differences between Judaism’s major denominations. Here is a very brief overview: Rabbinic roots Two thousand years ago, Jews were divided between competing sects all based on the Jewish ...
Conservative Judaism Today. Smaller but more committed, the movement is seeing vibrant, sometimes divisive debate as it navigates between tradition and change. Denominations. The Jewish Denominations. A quick look at Reform, Conservative, Orthodox and Reconstructionist Judaism — and at other Jewish streams.
Different groups of Jews believe different things. Judaism has three main denominations — Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform— though many other subgroups and philosophies exist within and beyond these (including Reconstructionism, Hasidim, Jewish Renewal, and others).
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The three main beliefs at the center of Judaism are Monotheism, Identity, and covenant(an agreement between God and God's people). The most important teaching of Judaism is that there is one God, who wants people to do what is just and compassionate. Judaism teaches that a person serves God by learning the holy books and doing what they teach. Thes...
Jews believe that to know what God wants them to do, they must studythe books of Torah and its laws and do what they teach. These include both laws about how to behave to other people and how to serve God. The two most important groups of books in Judaism are the Bible and the Talmud. The beliefs and actions of Judaism come from these books. Jewish...
Kashrut: Jewish food laws
Jews who follow the religious rules called "kashrut" only eat some types of food that are prepared by special rules. Food that a Jew can eat is called kosherfood. Traditional Jews are very careful about kashrut. They usually cannot eat many foods in non-kosher restaurants or in the home of someone who does not keep kosher. Sometimes, this makes it hard to visit people or to do business. People help avoid this problem by choosing to dine with Traditional Jews in a kosher restaurant or serve th...
Shabbat
One of the commandments is to keep the Jewish Sabbath, or Shabbat. Shabbat starts every Friday at sunset and ends on Saturday at nightfall. Shabbat is a day of rest to thank God for making the universe. The tradition of resting on Shabbat comes from the Torah. According to the Torah, God created the world in six days and on the seventh day, Shabbat, He rested. Many Jews go to their temple or synagogueto pray on Shabbat. Religious Jews follow special rules on Shabbat. These rules require Jews...
BirthBrit Milah (for boys) a circumcision ceremony when a boy is 8 days old. It includes naming the baby. Some non-Orthodox Jews practice Brit Shalom, a baby naming ceremony for Jewish boys without circ...For a very long time, most Jews in Europe believed the same basic things about Judaism. Jews in other lands had different beliefs and customs than European Jews. About 200 years ago, a small group of Jews in Germany decided to stop believing in many parts of Judaism and try to become more "modern" and more similar to Germans. Those Jews were called...
Names are very important in Judaism. Many Jews believe that a name not only tells you who someone is, but also tells you something about them. Names of God are very special in Judaism, so Jews do not write them or speak them fully but use other words instead. That is why some Jews write G-d, with a "-" instead of an "o." HaShemMeans "The Name". It ...
Three types of Jewish mysticism; Main lines of development. Early stages to the 6th century ce; Sefer yetzira; The Arabic-Islamic influence (7th–13th century) The making of Kabbala (c. 1150–1250) Sefer ha-bahir; School of Isaac the Blind; The 10 sefirot. School of Gerona (Catalonia) Sefer ha-temuna; Medieval German (Ashkenazic) Hasidism
Oct 12, 2022 · Judaism, religious culture of the Jews (also known as the people of Israel); one of the world’s oldest continuing religious traditions. The terms Judaism and religion do not exist in premodern Hebrew. The Jews spoke of Torah, God’s revealed instruction to Israel, which mandated both a worldview and a way of life—see Halakah.
Tractate Gittin. My Jewish Learning is a not-for-profit and relies on your help. Donate. The following working paper was written in 2008 for the Bronfman Vision Forum’s Judaism as Civilizations: Belonging in Age of Multiple Identities, a project of The Samuel Bronfman Foundation. The paper was part of a panel discussion on “Between ...
