Key Concepts in Judaism

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Key Concepts in Judaism

• Mr. Salem
• AP World History
• LSW Social Studies

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Key Concepts in Judaism

• God
• In the beginning God created the heavens and the
  earth. The earth was unformed and void, and
  darkness was upon the face of the deep. And God
  said Let there be lightAnd God said Let us
  make man in our image, after our likeness, and
  let them have domination over the fish of the
  sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the
  cattle, and over all the earth, and every
  creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.
  (Genesis 1.1-2.1)
• Thus says the Lord I am the first and I am the
  last. And beside Me there is no God. (Isaiah
  44.6)
• That they may know from the rising of the sun,
  and from the west, that there is none beside Me
  I am the Lord and there is none else. I form
  light and create darkness, I make peace and
  create evil, I the Lord do all these things.
  (Isaiah 45.6, 7)
• Covenant People
• For you are a holy people unto the Lord your God
  and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for
  His own treasure out of all the peoples that are
  on the face of the earth. (Deuteronomy 14.2)
• Now therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep
  my covenant, you shall be my own treasure among
  all peoples for all the earth is Mine, and you
  shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy
  nation. (Exodus 19.5, 6)
• Land
• And the Lord your God will bring you into the
  land which your fathers possessed, and you shall
  possess it. (Deuteronomy 30.5)
• So Joshua spoke to the leaders of the people. Go
  through all the places where the people live, he
  said. Tell them to get food ready for a journey.
  In three days or less, you will cross the river
  Jordan to begin to take the land for yourselves.
  This is the land that the Lord, your God, is
  giving to you, Joshua said. (Joshua 1.10, 11)
• Whoever lives in the land of Israel lives a
  sinless lifeWhoever is buried in the land of
  Israel is considered as though he were buried
  beneath the altarWhoever walks a distance of
  four cubits in the land of Israel is assured a
  place in the world to comeLiving in the land of
  Israel equals in import the performance of all
  the commandments of the Torah. (Sifrei, Reh
  Midrash on books of Numbers and Deuteronomy)
• Law
• You taught your people the Torah and
  commandments. You instructed them in its
  statuettes and its judgments. O our God, when we
  lie down as when we are awake, we shall always
  think and speak of Your ordinances, and rejoice
  in the Torah and its commandments. It is your
  Torah that sustains us throughout life on its
  teachings will we meditate day and night. (Jewish
  Daily Prayer Book)

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Timeline

• c. 2000-2600 bce - The Patriarchal Period
  Abraham, his son Isaac and grandson Jacob are
  known as the Patriarchs. Their wives Sarah,
  Rebecca, Leah, and Rachel are the Matriarchs.
  This period ended when Jacob followed his son to
  Egypt during a time of famine.
• c. 1260 bce - Moses, the Exodus, and Sinai During
  their journey in the desert, the tribes were
  united into the people of Israel at Mount Sinai,
  the traditional site of Gods revelation of the
  Torah.
• c. 961-922 bce - First Temple was built by King
  Solomon (King Davids son) in Jerusalem unifying
  Israelite religious life.
• 722 bce - The northern kingdom was conquered by
  the Assyrians and its population deported. These
  are said to be the ten lost tribes of Jewish
  history.
• 586 bce - The Babylonian Exile The Babylonians
  conquered the kingdom of Judah based in
  Jerusalem, destroyed its Temple, and exiled the
  monarchic and priestly leadership for nearly 50
  years.
• 164 bce - The Maccabean Revolt A Jewish group
  called the Maccabees rebelled against the Syrian
  Hellenists and rededicated the Temple
  commemorated in the festival Hanukkah.

• 70 ce - Destruction of the Second Temple by the
  Romans. With the destruction of the Temple, the
  Biblically-ordained sacrificial cult ended
  endangering the very survival of Judaism.
  Rabbinic Judaism begins to emerge as a new way to
  observe the law. Three years later Jewish Zealots
  made their last stand at the mountain fortress of
  Masada.
• c. 280 ce - Completion of the Mishnah
• c. 500 ce - Completion of the Talmud
• 1290 ce - Jews Expelled from England
• 1492 ce - Jews Expelled from Spain
• 1516 ce - Ghetto of Venice This became the
  prototype of a series of Jewish quarters
  established throughout central Europe segregating
  Jews from the majority population and culture.
• 1700-1760 ce - The Baal Shem Tov and Hasidism
  Within the Kabbalistic movement Hasidism was
  founded by Israel ben Eliezer known as the Baal
  Shem Tov.
• 1810 ce - First Reform Temple

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Timeline

• 1879 ce - Term Anti-Semitism coined
• 1881 ce - Jewish Resettlement in Russia
• 1933-1945 ce - The Holocaust (Hebrew Shoah) One
  third of the worlds Jewish population was
  systematically murdered. This catastrophe has
  come to be known as the central event in modern
  Jewish consciousness.
• 1948 ce - Establishment of the modern State of
  Israel

• 1967 ce - Six-Day War Israels victory in June of
  1967 led many American Jews back to an
  identification with Israel and Jewish survival.
• 1972 ce - First Women Rabbis Ordained
• 1995 ce - Rabin Assassination

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Branches Within Judaism

• Orthodox
• Orthodox Judaism is a term first used in 1795 in
  response to the emerging Reform movement.
  Concerned with what was believed to be the
  compromise of religious values, Orthodox rabbis
  warned Jews to anchor themselves to traditional
  interpretations, understandings, ways and values.
  The question was one of identity would Jews lose
  their spiritual heritage by adapting to
  modernity? Orthodox judaism would answer yes.
  Thus at the heart of this movement is the tenet
  that the letter of the law in the Torah must
  remain unchanged. Orthodox Judaism does not
  ordain women rabbis. About 40 of the Jewish
  population is Orthodox.
• Reform
• Reform Judaism Early 1800 interpretation of
  Judaism through modern life. The question of
  identity has always been one of the great
  challenges facing the Jewish faith. By the 19th
  century some Jews were taking a closer look at
  the prospect of the coming Messiah and its
  relevance to a diverse and sometimes hostile
  world. Abraham Geiger, who founded Reform
  Judaism, felt that instead of being a personal
  Saviour, the Messiah would absorb all religions
  and peoples. Still it was the duty of the Jewish
  people to set the groundwork for the coming age.
  The Reform movement helped Jews ease into the
  mainstream of society by encouraging
  practitioners to be involved citizens while
  remaining religiously observant. A willingness to
  adapt Jewish law to fit the needs of historical
  change is at the heart of the Reform movement.
  Reform Judaism ordains women rabbis. About 30 of
  the Jewish population is Reform.

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Branches Within Judaism

• Conservative
• Resting between the extremes of Reform and
  Orthodox Judaism is the mid-19th century
  Conservative movement. While Conservative agree
  that Jewish law must adapt to contemporary life,
  they also feel that the Jewish traditions must
  not be compromised. Judaism must be restored as a
  living tradition. Conservative Judaism ordains
  women rabbis. About 30 of the Jewish population
  is Conservative.
• Reconstructionist
• A 1935 movement established by Mordecai Kaplan
  abandoning Jewish theism and supporting Judaism
  as evolving. The Reconstructionist Prayer Book
  avoids all notions of a personal messiah, the
  chosenness of the Jews or the specific revelation
  of god to Moses. Reconstructionist Judaism
  ordains women rabbis. A very small percentage of
  the Jewish population is Reconstructionist.