The Talmud

Rosh Hashanah Shana Tova Jew Jewish jewish New Year

What Is Judaism?

What Is Judaism? Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. While far from monolithic in practice and having no centralized authority or binding dogma, Judaism has remained strongly united around several religious principles, the most important of which is the belief in a single, omniscient, transcendent God that created the universe. According to Jewish thought, God established...

Jesus In the Talmud

Jesus In The Talmud

Jesus In The Talmud There are several passages in the Talmud which are believed by some scholars to be references to Jesus. The name used in the Talmud is “Yeshu”, the Aramaic vocalization (though not spelling) of the Hebrew name Yeshua. The identification of Yeshu as Jesus is problematic. For example, the Talmud...

Position in which a Jewish kohen places his hands and fingers during the Priestly Blessing, detail of a mozaic in the Synagoge of Enschede, Netherlands- Judaism

Outline Of Judaism

Outline Of Judaism The following outline (Outline of Judaism) is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Judaism. Judaism (יהודה, Yehudah, “Judah”) is the religion of the Jewish people. It is an ancient, monotheistic, Abrahamic religion with the Torah as its foundational text. It encompasses the religion, philosophy, and...

Egyptian depiction of the visit of Western Asiatics in colorful garments, labeled as Aamu. The painting is from the tomb of a 12th dynasty official Khnumhotep II at Beni Hasan, and dated to c. 1900 BCE. Their nearest Biblical contemporaries were the earliest of Hebrews, such as Abraham and Joseph.

Jews

Jews Jews (יְהוּדִים‎ ISO 259-2 Yehudim) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and a nation originating from the Israelites and Hebrews of historical Israel and Judah. Jewish ethnicity, nationhood, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the ethnic religion of the Jewish people, while its observance varies from strict observance to complete nonobservance. Jews originated as an ethnic...

Chabad differed from mainstream Hasidism in its preparation for prayer by intellectual contemplation of Hasidic philosophy.

Chabad

Chabad Chabad, also known as Lubavitch, Habad, and Chabad-Lubavitch (חב”ד), is an Orthodox Jewish Hasidic movement. Chabad is one of the world’s best-known Hasidic movements, particularly for its outreach activities. It is one of the largest Hasidic groups and Jewish religious organizations in the world. Founded in 1775 by Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, the name “Chabad” (חב״ד) is...

A Controversy Whatsoever on Talmud

Musar Movement

Musar Movement The Musar movement which was Developed by Rabbi Yisrael Salanter (also Mussar movement) is a Jewish ethical, educational and cultural movement that developed in 19th century Lithuania, particularly among Orthodox Lithuanian Jews. The Hebrew term Musar (מוּסַר), is from the Book of Proverbs (1:2) describing moral conduct, instruction or discipline, educating oneself...

Torah scrolls are escorted into a new synagogue in Kfar Maimon, Israel, 2006

Sefer Torah

Sefer Torah Sefer Torah (ספר תורה; “Book of Torah”; plural: ספרי תורה Sifrei Torah), is a handwritten copy of the Torah, meaning: of the Pentateuch, or the five books of Moses (the first books of the Hebrew Bible). It must meet extremely strict standards of production. The Torah scroll is...

A letter from the Elephantine papyri, requesting the rebuilding of a Jewish temple at Elephantine.

Composition Of the Torah

Composition Of the Torah The composition of the Torah (or Pentateuch, the first five books of the bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) was a process that involved multiple authors over an extended period of time. While Jewish tradition holds that all five books were originally written by Moses sometime...

A handwritten copy of the Torah.

Torah In Islam

Torah In Islam Within an Islamic context, Tawrat (also Tawrah or Taurat; توراة‎) refers to the Torah, which Muslims believe to be a holy book of Islam given by God to Musa (Moses). When referring to traditions from Tawrat, Muslims did not only identify it with the Pentateuch, but also with the other books of the Old...

[De Rouwdagen] De treurdagen (The mourning days) by Jan Voerman, ca 1884

613 Commandments

613 Commandments The Jewish tradition that there are 613 commandments (תרי״ג מצוות‎, romanized: taryag mitzvot) or mitzvot in the Torah (also known as the Law of Moses) began in the 3rd century CE, when Rabbi Simlai mentioned it in a sermon that is recorded in Talmud Makkot 23b. Although there have been a lot of attempts...

Maurycy Gottlieb - Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur (יוֹם כִּיפּוּר, or יום הכיפורים), also known as the Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with an approximate 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of...

Jewish ethnic divisions map

Jewish Ethnic Divisions

Jewish Ethnic Divisions Jewish ethnic divisions refer to a number of distinctive communities within the world’s ethnically Jewish population. Although considered one single self-identifying ethnicity, there are distinctive ethnic subdivisions among Jews, most of which are primarily the result of geographic branching from an originating Israelite population, mixing with local...

Review of the Complete Jewish Bible, New Testament, and Commentary by David Stern and Hendrickson Publishers

Jewish Commentaries On The Bible

Jewish Commentaries On The Bible Jewish commentaries on the Bible are biblical commentaries of the Hebrew Bible (the Tanakh) from a Jewish perspective. Translations into Aramaic and English, and some universally accepted Jewish commentaries with notes on their method of approach and modern translations into English with notes are listed. Earliest printing The complete Tanakh...

Codex Valmadonna 1 of Leviticus, photo from the Museum of the Bible website.

Targum

Targum The targum (targumim, תרגום; interpretation, translation, version) were originally spoken translations of the Jewish scriptures (also called the Tanakh) that a meturgeman (professional interpreter) would give in the common language of the listeners when that was not Hebrew. This had become necessary near the end of the 1st century BCE, as the...

A Lag BaOmer parade in front of Chabad headquarters at 770 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York, in 1987

Chabad Messianism

Chabad Messianism Chabad messianism, or Lubavitch messianism, generally refers to the passion among adherents of the Chabad movement regarding the coming of the mashiach or Moshiach (Messiah), and their goal to raise awareness that his arrival is imminent. In addition, the term also refers more specifically to the belief that Menachem Mendel Schneerson, Chabad’s seventh leader, is the...

Mishneh Torah, a code of Jewish law by Maimonides, a Sephardic Jew

Sephardic Judaism

Sephardic Judaism Sephardic law and customs are the practice of Judaism by the Sephardim, the descendants of the historic Jewish community of the Iberian Peninsula. Some definitions of “Sephardic” also include Mizrahi Jews, many of whom follow the same traditions of worship but have different ethno-cultural traditions. Sephardi Rite is not...

MSamaritan Mezuzah, Mount Gerizim

Samaritanism

Samaritanism The Samaritan religion, also known as Samaritanism, is the national religion of the Samaritans. The Samaritans adhere to the Samaritan Torah, which they believe is the original, unchanged Torah, as opposed to the Torah used by Jews. In addition to the Samaritan Torah, Samaritans also revere their version of the Book of Joshua and recognize some Biblical figures, such as Eli. Samaritanism...

A member of the American LGBTQ community praying next to an ultra-Orthodox man at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, May 2016. Credit: Eyal Warshavsky

Modern Orthodox Judaism

Modern Orthodox Judaism Modern Orthodox Judaism (also Modern Orthodox or Modern Orthodoxy) is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law with the secular, modern world. Modern Orthodoxy draws on several teachings and philosophies, and thus assumes various forms. In the United States, and generally in the Western world, Centrist Orthodoxy underpinned by the philosophy of Torah Umadda (“Torah and...

A Jewish wedding (Jozef Israëls, 1903)

Jewish Views On Marriage

Jewish Views On Marriage This article covers Jewish Views On Marriage. In traditional Judaism, marriage is viewed as a contractual bond commanded by God in which a man and a woman come together to create a relationship in which God is directly involved. (Deut. 24:1) Though procreation is not the sole purpose,...

Smilies Emoticons Especially Special Feature

Jews As The Chosen People

Jews As The Chosen People This article covers Jews as the Chosen People in detail. In Judaism, “chosenness” is the belief that the Jews, via descent from the ancient Israelites, are the chosen people, i.e. chosen to be in a covenant with God. The idea of the Israelites being chosen by God is found most directly in...