the way of torah “judaism”. who are the people known as “jews”? hebrews israelites jews

THE WAY OF TORAH

“JUDAISM”

Who are the people known as “Jews”?

• HEBREWS

• ISRAELITES

• JEWS


HEBREWS: ‘apiru, ‘ibri’• a floating social stratum of rootless, wandering

peoples that were outsiders because they lacked citizenship in the more established societies of the Ancient Near East

• They lived on the fringe of the city-states as migrant workers, guerrilla bands, mercenaries, sometimes conscripted as forced laborers


HEBREWS• The Patriarch Abraham and his

descendants (c. 1800 BCE)• Receives a “call” to start a new ‘nation’:

“Now the Lord said to Abram, ‘Go from you country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing… So Abram went.” (Gen 12:1-3)


ISRAELITES

• Abraham’s grandson Jacob “wrestles” with a messenger of God and receives the name “Isra –el,” “He who struggles with El (God) and wins.”

• According to the tradition, Jacob (Israel) has 12 sons who become the patriarchs of the “12 Tribes of Israel.”


ISRAELITES

• At the end of Genesis, Jacob and his sons and their families end up in Egypt

• When the story picks up in Exodus several hundred years later, the “Israelites” have been enslaved by Pharaoh [Ramses II, c. 1290-1224 BCE] for his building projects


ISRAELITES

• Sometime after 1300 BCE, an Israelite man who had been raised in Pharaoh’s household kills an Egyptian construction boss who was mistreating his people. He fled to the desert, joined a shepherd’s family and married his daughter.


ISRAELITES

• One day he encounters a mysterious burning bush where a voice summons him to return to Egypt to free his people

• The voice identifies itself as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

• When Moses presses him for a name, the voice says, “I am who I am.” [YHWH]


ISRAELITES• After a lengthy and dramatic struggle,

YHWH defeats Pharaoh and his forces and leads the Israelites into the desert

• Moses and the people enter into a treaty [Torah] relationship with YHWH [Exodus 20:1-18]

• YHWH promises them a homeland land of their own, “flowing with milk and honey”


ISRAELITES• Between 1200 and 1000 BCE, the

Israelites conquer and settle the land of Canaan

• They struggle externally with powerful enemies and internally with the temptation to forsake their treaty with YHWH and worship other “gods” (baals, “lords,” esp. fertility gods) powers of natural world)


ISRAELITES

• They ask their leader, YHWH’s spokesman Samuel, to make them a king even though they are warned that the king will make them slaves again

• Saul 1021-1000

• David 1000-961 (establishes dynasty)

• Solomon 961-922


ISRAELITES• Solomon establishes an impressive

kingdom, centralizes government and builds a temple in Jerusalem to centralize worship

• Upon his death, the kingdom splits intoISRAEL (10 Northern tribes)JUDAH (2 Southern Tribes)


ISRAELITES• The two kingdoms struggle and compete with

each other and their neighbors until the North (Israel) is destroyed in 721 BCE by the Assyrians

• In the meantime, YHWH continues to remind the people of Israel and Judah of the Treaty/Covenant that is the basis of their identity and nationhood.

• YHWH’s spokesmen are called “Prophets”. They especially challenge the rich and powerful


JEWS• The people of Judah (the “Jews”=i.e., Judeans)

survive until conquered by the Babylonians (c. 586 BCE)

• The Babylonian destroy the Jewish capital and Temple of Solomon and deport the people to Babylon (The Exile]

• In 538 BCE, the conquering Persian king allows the Jews to return from exile to their homeland


• During the Exile, the traditional oral and written heritage of Israel and Judah was compiled into books: Torah “Law”, Nebiim “Prophets,” and Kethubim “Writings”=Tanak

• In the “postexilic period”, the Jews rebuild the temple in Jerusalem, managed by the Levitical Priesthood, with an effort to maintain true worship


• Another group known as “rabbis” (“teachers”) or Pharisees develops to study the Torah and ensure its proper observance among ordinary people

• Hence what is known as “Post-exilic Rabbinic Judaism”


• In 336 BCE, The Jews are conquered by the Greeks

• In 168 BCE The Jews gain independence

• In 63 BCE, The Jews are conquered by the Romans

• In 70 CE, during the Jewish-Roman War (66-74), the Romans destroy Jerusalem and the Second Temple.


DIASPORA JUDAISM• Over the centuries, beginning with the 8th

C. defeat of Israel, the people were (“dispersed”) all over the various empires

• the Judaism of the rabbis spread widely during and after the Babylonia Exile (6th C)

• This “Diaspora” Judaism centered on “assemblies” for prayer and study of the Torah (Hebrew: kahal; Greek: Synagoge)


• Late in the first century, the rabbis established the list of holy books

• With the Temple gone, they focused on careful observance of the Torah

• Over subsequent centuries they collected the rabbinic commentaries on Torah dating as far back as the Exile (Mishnah)


• Later Mishnah was added to interpretive writing which adapted and applied the Torah to every aspect of life: Gemara

• When Mishnah and Gemara were combined, they became Talmud

• Talmud developed in Babylon and in Palestine

• Talmud includes legal material (Halachah) and narrative (Haggadah)

WHAT DO JEWS DO?

Observance of the Torah

• According to the Talmud, there are 613 Mitzvah (“commandment”)

• 248 positive responsibilities (to do)

• 356 prohibitions (not to do)

• Interpretation and application of Mitzvah is complex and often accompanied by lively debate

WHAT DO JEWS DO?

• Shabbat (Sabbath) A day of rest and celebration of Creation commemorating God’s rest after completing his work. An old saying: “It is not that the Jews have kept the Sabbath but that the Sabbath has kept the Jews.” (Friday sundown to Saturday sundown)

Celebrated especially among family and close friends with a special meal. Shabbat also celebrates the freedom from slavery that YHWH gave them in Exodus

WHAT DO JEWS DO?

• Pesach (Passover) celebrated in the Spring, Passover commemorates the liberation of the people from slavery in Egypt and the gift of the Covenant with YHWH as his special (chosen) people

WHAT DO JEWS DO?

• Shavuot (Weeks) Fifty days after Pesach

(May-June) celebrates YHWH’s gift of the Torah (Covenant Law) on Mt. Sinai

• Rosh Hashanah (New Year)

Celebrates the first days of Creation and includes a preparatory period of penance.

(Sept.-Oct)

WHAT DO JEWS DO?

• Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) A day of prayer for forgiveness and reconciliation before Rosh Hashana.

• Sukkot (Feast of Booths or Tabernacles)

Five days after Yom Kippur, commemorates the Exodus, wandering in the desert and living in makeshift huts (sukkot).

WHAT DO JEWS DO?

• Chanukah (Rededication) of the Temple)(Nov-Dec) celebrates the miraculous lasting of lights during

the Jewish revolt against the Syrian Greeks (165 BCE) when the Temple was recovered and rededicated after profanation by Greek oppressors. In U.S., stressed be-cause of its proximity to Christmas.

• Purim (Feast of Lots) A joyful feast that commemorates Esther, a Jewish heroine who saved her people from massacre during the Persian period. Called “lots” because of the way the plotters picked the day of the massacre.

WHAT DO JEWS DO?

• Bar Mitzvah (Son of the Commandment)When a boy reaches 13, he can serve to

constitute a minyan (“quorum” of 10 adult men) in the synagogue. He makes his debut by reading and speaking in synagogue. The celebration is probably in part a 14th C. response to Christian Confirmation. Some modern Jews also use Bat Mitzvah (Daughter of…)

WHAT DO JEWS DO?

• Kosher (kashrut = “fitness,” “fit”) Jewish dietary laws for dealing with food from the flesh and/or the products of living creatures (animals). Includes animals that are fit for eating and those that are not, as well as their preparation of and combination. Based mainly on rules in Lev 11 and Deut 14 and the interpretation and application by the rabbis over time. Adaptations continue.

Various reasons are given. The most compelling is that these are divine ordinances, part of the covenant with YHWH.

JEWISH VARIATIONS

• Variations within the Israelite covenant tradition go back to the beginnings of the settlement of tribal territories

• Despite efforts at standardization in practice and worship by kings from Solomon onward, important differences continued between the Northern and Southern kingdoms, evidenced by the differences in the sources of Pentateuchal (Torah) literature

JEWISH VARIATIONS

• With Diaspora came further variants. In the post-exilic period, the increased focus on written Torah and other books helped develop common practice.

• By the first century CE, distinct parties of belief and practice were evident (NB: Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots)

• Significant difference developed between Palestinian and Hellenistic Jews

• After the destruction of the Temple (70 CE) and the loss in the Jewish-Roman War (66-74 CE), the rabbis firmed up focus on the scriptures

JEWISH VARIATIONS

• Ashkenazim During the Middle Ages, central and eastern European Jews developed distinctive cultural and linguistic (Yiddish) traditions based on interaction with German, Polish, Russian, Romanian peoples. The majority of U.S. Jews are Ashkenazi.

JEWISH VARIATIONS

• Sephardim Jews descending from families in Spain and Portugal spoke Ladino, based on medieval Spanish. After the expulsion in 1492, they settled in North Africa and the Middle East. Sephardic traditions influenced Spanish America.

JEWISH VARIATIONS

• Kabbalah Jewish mysticism. Rooted perhaps in aspects of prophetic visionary experiences (cf. Isaiah, Ezekiel), attention to esoteric and exotic experience grew up in the early centuries of the Christian era, perhaps with Hellenistic and Gnostic influence. It underwent significant synthesis and development in the 12th and 13th Centuries. (Cf. Sefer Ha-Zohar)

JEWISH VARIATIONS

• Hasidim (“The pious ones”)

A popular devotional mystical movement beginning in 18th C. Ukraine, spreading throughout eastern Europe. Small ascetic groups grew into a major social movement. Stessed detachment from worldly pleasures in order to find mystical union with God

JEWISH VARIATIONS

• A certain diversity has always existed in the tradition, its interpretation and practice

• Modern Jewish variations continue this • Reform Beginning in 18th C. Europe as a

response to the Protestant Reformation and the Enlightenment. Stresses adap-tation to one’s birth country, limiting practices of separatism (e.g., language, diet, dress)

JEWISH VARIATIONS

• Orthodox A reassertion of traditional forms in response to Reform Judaism. Accepts Torah in its entirety as given by God and its strict observance as essential to Jewish identity. This includes adherence to the tradition of rabbinic interpretation. Involvement in the non-Jewish world should be limited. Not uniform in practice.

JEWISH VARIATIONS

• Conservative A modern (late 19th) Jewish movement that attempts to moderate between tradition and change. Also called “Historical Judaism.” Stresses the ongoing, developing collective awareness of the Jewish people in dialogue with the times and culture. Strives to rejuvenate key practices of Torah.

JEWISH VARIATIONS

• Zionism A modern political movement seeking restoration of the Jewish homeland (“Zion”). Rooted in the ancient hope for return from Diaspora. Various factions have represented various motives and visions of what this could mean. Culminated in the modern state of Israel in 1948.

the way of torah “judaism”. who are the people known as “jews”? hebrews israelites jews

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