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Lithuanian School Of Kabbalah

Lithuanian School of Kabbalah

Lithuanian School of Kabbalah located at Kaunas, Lithuania, is a new Haredi innovative school of Kabbalah, based on the old Lithuanian Kabbalah. The school started global activities in 2005. It is created by Gerim Tsaddikim ("converts" to Judaism) and links itself to Haredi Judaism.

Roles and activities


- Studies of the major exponents of Lithuanian Kabbalah: legendary Vilna Gaon and Rabbi Shlomo Eliyashiv (1841-1925).
- Studies of works by Rabbis Yisrael Lipkin Salanter, Yisrael Meir Kagan and other gedolei of Lithuania
- Global & local lectures
- Possible renovation of legendary Slabodka Yeshiva and Kovno Kollel
- Use of modern original Jewish Kabbalah methods, trends and sources.
- Local night classes and global IM chat 24/7.
- Preparation for open (bliki type) web portal of Kabbalah learning and teaching with the web syndication tools.
- Basics of Torah and Talmud
- Studies of orthodox Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag's works
- Studies of Safed Kabbalah
- Mussar character improvement & Jewish business ethics The headquarters of the school are located in the city of Kaunas, second biggest city of Lithuania (where the famous Slabodka Yeshiva and Kovno Kollel once existed.)

References


- [http://thirtysix.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=464 Essays & books of Rabbi Shalom Eliashiv zt'l & Gaon mi Vilno]
- [http://www.orot.com/leshemravkook.html Rabbi Kook, Leshem and Lithuanian School of Kabbalah]
- [http://freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/k/kabbalah/ The Lithuanian School of Kabbalah, founded by the Vilna Gaon comparison to Rabbi Berg Kabbalah Center method]

External link


- [http://kabala.lietuvoje.info Lithuanian School of Kabbalah] official site Category:Jewish mysticism Category:Orthodox Judaism

Kaunas

Kaunas (approximate English transcription [ˈkəʊ.nəs], simplified Lithuanian transcription [kaŭnas]; German: Kauen; Polish: Kowno, often anglicized as Kovno; Russian Каунас, formerly Ковно), is the second largest city in Lithuania.

Basic information

The city is situated on the main freeway "Via Baltica" (E 67) Warsaw-Riga-Helsinki. Geographically Kaunas is located by Kaunas lagoon (largest water body in Lithuania), at the junction of the two largest Lithuanian rivers, the Neman and the Neris. With almost 93 percent citizens being ethnic Lithuanians, Kaunas is one of the most Lithuanian cities of the country. By the number of people of local nationality, Kaunas is the largest city in Baltic States: it has larger number of Lithuanians than Vilnius, larger number of Lithuanians than Riga has Latvians or Tallinn has Estonians.

Coat of Arms

In 1993.06.30 the current historical emblem of Kaunas city was established by a special Presidential decree and approved as standard. It features a white aurochs (which is city's heraldic symbol) with a golden cross between his horns set against a deep red background. This emblem was the result of much hard work by the Lithuanian Heraldry Commission, and finally realized by the artist Raimondas Miknevičius. Raimondas Miknevičius

History

Raimondas Miknevičius At the location of the current Kaunas old town, at the confluence of two large rivers, there was a settlement as far back as the tenth century BC. According to legend, the town was founded in 1030, but it is first mentioned in written sources in 1361. In the thirteenth century, a stone wall was built for protection from constant raids by the Teutonic Knights. In 1362, the town was captured by the Teutonic Knights, who destroyed the castle, but it was recaptured in 1404. In 1408 the town was chartered with Magdeburg Rights by Vytautas the Great. The castle was rebuilt in the beginning of 15th century. Kaunas then started to grow as an important city at trade route intersections and a river port. In 1441 Kaunas joined the Hansa and Hansa merchant offices opened. Already in the 16th century Kaunas had a public school, a hospital, a drugstore and was one of the best formed towns in Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The 17th and 18th centuries were unfortunate for Kaunas. In 1665 the Russian army attacked the city several times. In 1701 the city was occupied by the Swedish army, and also suffered from plagues in 1657 and 1708, and fires in 1731 and 1732. After the final partition of Polish-Lithuanian state in 1795 the city was occupied by Russia. In 1812 the Grand Army of Napoleon was crossing Neman, so the city was devastated two times that year. that year During the Partitions it was one of the centres of the November Uprising (1830-1831) and the January Uprising (1863-1864). To prevent further problems with the local population, the Russian authorities have placed a huge military garrison in the town. The Russian military fortifications from that time still survive throughout the town. In 1862 a railway connecting the Russian Empire and Germany was constructed, making Kaunas a significant railway hub. In 1898 the first power plant started operating. After Vilnius was occupied by Russian bolsheviks in 1919, the government of Republic of Lithuania established its main offices here. Later, when Vilnius was seized by Poland, Kaunas became the seat of Lithuanian government (officially styled temporary capital) until 1940, when the country was occupied by the Soviet Union and the capital was returned to Vilnius. Vilnius] Between the World Wars the Kaunas industry prospered, as it was the largest city in Lithuania. In 1940 it was annexed by the Soviet Union into Lithuanian SSR. During the World War II the city suffered heavy ravages under German occupation (1941-1944). The Jewish population of Kaunas, 37,000 people, was attacked by anti-Communist Lithuanian partisans immediately before the Germans arrived in the city in force, killing 3,800 people (see the Jager Report), some of these massacres were even filmed. Much of the remaining Jewish population was confined in the Kaunas Ghetto (also known as the Kauen concentration camp), and many were shot at the Ninth Fort. Only 3,000 or so Jews survived the war. During the Soviet era it was restored and became the main industrial city of Lithuania - it produced about a quarter of Lithuanian industrial output in those days. Trolleybuses started to operate in 1966. After the proclamation of Lithuanian independence in 1991, Soviet attempts to suppress the rebellion focused on the television and radio transmitters in Sitkūnai, which were the critical part of remaining free media. They were protected by the ordinary people, who were on duty to protect them, despite the risk of harm.

Historical population

YearNumber of inhabitants
172328.000
17968.500
18133.000
18255.000
18408.500
186023.300
189771.000
192392.000
1940154.000
1959214.000
1966275.000
1989418.087
2001378.943
2004366.652
2005364.083

Sights

The axis of central Kaunas is formed by two pedestrian streets: the 2 km long Laisvės aleja, and its continuation Vilniaus gatvė. The main sights in this area are:
- The Basilica, the largest Gothic building in Lithuania, with a late Baroque interior.
- The massive Neo-Byzantine Church of St. Michael the Archangel.
- The M. K. Čiurlionis Museum, that commemorates the work of this avant-garde artist who tried to combine paiting and music into a single artistic medium.
- The A. Žmuidzinavičiaus Museum (best known as the Devil's Museum), that houses a collection of more than 2000 sculptures and carvings of devils from all over the world, most of them of folk provenance. Of particular interest are the Hitler and Stalin devils, doing the dance of death over a playground littered with human bones.

Transportation

Kaunas has 16 trolleybus routes, 34 bus routes, wide maxicab carrier network, and it's also one of the biggest river ports in the Baltic States. City is located in the centre of Lithuania, it is very significant in logistics. Kaunas International Airport (KUN) is capable to handle 300.000 passengers and 100.000 tons of cargo per year.

Sports

year]] Kaunas is home to the Žalgiris basketball club, one of Europe's strongest. The city is also the birthplace or childhood home of many of the country's top basketball stars, among them Arvydas Sabonis, Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Žydrūnas Ilgauskas and Šarūnas Jasikevičius. The main stadium of the city is "S.Dariaus ir S.Girėno Sporto Centras" (total capacity 9.000) which is also a home stadium for Lithuanian soccer champions FBK Kaunas.

Education

Kaunas is often called a "city of students" with over 25.000 students studying in the universities of Kaunas.
- [http://www.ism.lt/index.php3?&lang=en ISM International School of Management]
- [http://www.vdu.lt/ Vytautas Magnus University]
- [http://www.kvk.lt/?set_lang=en Kaunas Business College]
- [http://www.kauko.lt/english/college.php?page=college&main=college Kaunas College]
- [http://www.kmu.lt/English.htm Kaunas University Of Medicine]
- [http://www.ktu.lt/ Kaunas University Of Technology]
- [http://www.lkka.lt/index_e.htm Lithuanian Academy Of Physical Education]
- [http://www.lzuu.lt/engl/ Lithuanian University Of Agriculture]
- [http://www.lva.lt/_turinys.php?id=305 Lithuanian Veterinary Academy]
- [http://www.vukhf.lt/index.php?url=english Vilnius University Kaunas Faculty of Humanities]
- [http://www.kdi.lt/english/ Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts - Kaunas Art Institute]

Famous people of Kaunas


- Valdas Adamkus, President of Lithuania
- Robertas Antinis, sculptor
- Bernardas Brazdžionis, poet
- Petras Cvirka, writer
- Viktoras Kuprevičius and Giedrius Kuprevičius, father and son composers
- Vytautas Landsbergis, former President of Lithuania, musician, political writer
- Vytautas Landsbergis-Žemkalnis, architect
- Vytautas Vytautas Landsbergis, film director, theatre director, writer
- Stasys Lozoraitis and Stasys Lozoraitis, father and son diplomats
- Jonas Mačiulis (Maironis), poet
- Eduardas Mieželaitis, writer
- Salomėja Nėris, poet
- Kipras Petrauskas, composer
- Gintaras Varnas, theatre director

Yearly events


- Fair of Kaziukas (beginning of March).
- International open-air "Kaunas Jazz Festival" (April-May).
- International dance competition "Amber pair" (beginning of May).
- Day of Kaunas city (middle of May).
- International poetry festival "Spring of poetry" (end of May).
- Pažaislis music festival (June-August).
- Traditional folk music competition "Play, Jurgelis" (November).
- Christmas tree lighting (end of November).

Interesting Facts


- Two of the country's three funiculars are located in KaunasLithuanian funiculars.
- Kaunas has Pažaislis abbey (impressive baroque architecture style building).
- Kaunas is famous for its historic downtown.
- Main pedestrian street of the city is named Laisvės alėja (Liberty avenue), which is probably the longest pedestrian street in Europe.
- National hero Romas Kalanta has commited self-immolation in Kaunas (in protest against Soviet Union occupying his homeland Lithuania).
- The only Lithuanian government-operated zoo is located in Kaunas.
- Europe's only post-graduate (similar to American and Japanese schools) law school is located at [http://law.vdu.lt Vytautas Magnus University].

References


- [http://www.kaunas.lt/english/ Website of Kaunas city]
- [http://www.randburg.com/li/kaunasci.html Kaunas city]

External links


- [http://www.inyourpocket.com/lithuania/kaunas/en/ Kaunas in your pocket -- Tourist information about Kaunas]
- [http://www.balticroads.lt/en/cities/kaunas.asp A short description of Kaunas]
- [http://www.bfcollection.net/cities/lithuania/kaunas/kaunas_01.html Historic images of Kaunas]
- [http://www.kaunasair.lt/11en.html Kaunas International Airport]
- [http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kovno/kovno.html Kovno site] and [http://www.eilatgordinlevitan.com/kovno/kovno_pages/kovno_stories_links.html Kovno stories links] by Eilat Gordin Levitan
- [http://muziejai.mch.mii.lt/Kaunas/kauno_rajonas.en.htm Museums in Kaunas]
- [http://www.kaunasjazz.lt/ Jazz festival "Kaunas jazz"]
- [http://www.kaunas.lt/transportas/ Transportation in Kaunas (omnibuses, trolleybuses)]
- [http://visit.kaunas.lt/en/index.htm Tourist Information Centre of Kaunas region]
- [http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=54.908981,23.935776&spn=0.190875,0.468361&t=k&hl=en Satellite picture by Google Maps] Category:Cities in Lithuania ko:카우나스 ja:カウナス nb:Kaunas

Haredi

Haredi or Charedi Judaism, often also called ultra-Orthodox Judaism, is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. The term "ultra-Orthodox" is controversial, as it is often considered to be pejorative, and is rarely used by the Jews to whom it is applied; they generally prefer Haredi (חֲרֵדִי, a Hebrew term which is derived from Harada (fear, anxiety) and could be interperted as "one who trembles in awe of God"), Yeshivish, Torah Jew or Hasidic (in the case of Hasidic Jews). Haredi Jews, like other Orthodox Jews, consider their belief system and religious practices to extend in an unbroken chain back to Moses and the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai. As a result they consider non-Orthodox denominations to be unjustifiable deviations from authentic Judaism.

Practices and beliefs

Views of halakha

One basic belief of the Orthodox community in general is that it is the latest link in a chain of Jewish continuity extending back to the giving of the Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai. It believes that two guides to Jewish law were given to the Israelites at that time: the first, known as Torah she-bi-khtav, or the "Written Law" is the Tanakh (Jewish Bible) as we know it today; the second, known as Torah she-ba'al peh ("Oral Law"), is the exposition as relayed by the scholarly and other religious leaders of each generation. The traditional interpretation of the Oral Law is considered as the authoritative reading of the Written Law. Jewish law, known as halakha, includes codes of behavior applicable to virtually every imaginable circumstance (and many hypothetical ones), which have been pored over and developed throughout the generations in a constantly expanding collection of religious literature. The earliest written compilation of halakha, the Talmud, is considered authoritative. Halakha is a guide for everything the traditional Jew does from the moment he wakes up to the moment he goes to sleep. It is a body of intricate laws, combined with the reasoning on how such conclusions are reached. Halakha incorporates as rules many practices that began as customs, some passed down over the centuries, and an assortment of ingrained behaviors. It is the subject of intense study in religious schools known as yeshivas. Throughout history, halakha has addressed issues on the basis of circumstance and precedent. There have been some significant changes, including more formal education for women in the early twentieth century, and the application of halakha to modern technology. While Haredim have typically been more conservative than their Modern Orthodox counterparts regarding new practices and rulings on new applications of halakhic concepts, Orthodox Judaism views these types of innovations as consistent with traditionally expounded halakhic concepts. Haredi Orthodoxy's differences with Modern Orthodoxy usually lie in interpretation of the nature of traditional halakhic concepts and in understanding of what constitutes acceptable application of these concepts. Modern inventions have been studied and incorporated into the ever-expanding halakha, accepted by both Haredi and other Orthodox communities. For instance, rulings guide the observant about the proper use of electricity and other technology on the Jewish Sabbath and holidays. Most major points are the subject of consensus, although fine points are the subject of a greater range of opinions. While discussions of halakha are common and encouraged, laypersons are not authorized to make final determinations as to the applicability of the law in any given situation; the proviso is: "Consult your local Orthodox rabbi or posek (rabbinical authority)."

Lifestyle and family

Haredi life is fairly family-centered. Depending on various factors, both boys and girls attend school and proceed to higher Torah study, in a yeshiva or seminary ("sem") respectively, starting anywhere between the ages of 13 and 18. A significant proportion of students, especially boys, remain in yeshiva until marriage (typically through a shidduch, or facilitated dating), and many study in a kollel (Torah study institute for married men) - sometimes for many years. In many Haredi communities, higher secular education is discouraged, although some have educational facilities for vocational training or run professional programmes for men and women. Families tend to be large, reflecting adherence to the Torah commandment "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:28, 9:1,7). Many Haredi poskim (authorities in Jewish law) have spoken out against watching television or films, reading secular newspapers and using the internet. Many feel that mobile phones should be programmed to disable internet and other functionality that could negatively influence their users.

Dress

Many members of the Haredi community still maintain styles of dress similar to those worn by their 18th and 19th century European ancestors. Many men wear beards, most dress in dark suits, virtually all wear a kippah at all times and generally a wide-brimmed hat (typically black) during prayer and outside. Women adhere to strict interpretations of tzeniut (modesty, particularly in dress), and hence wear long skirts and armsleeves, high necklines and a form of head covering when married (scarves, snoods, hats, or wigs). Hasidic men often follow the specific dress style of their group, which may include elegant frock coats (bekeshes), wide or high fur hats (shtreimels or spodiks) and generally a gartel (a long belt wrapped around the frock) during prayer.

History

Modern origins

For several centuries before the Emancipation of European Jewry, most of Europe's Jews were forced to live in closed communities, where their culture and religious observances persevered, no less because of internal pressure within their own community as because of the refusal of the outside world to accept them. In a predominantly Christian society, the only way for Jews to gain social acceptance was to convert, thereby abandoning all ties with one's own family and community. There was very little middle ground, especially in the ghetto, for people to negotiate between the dominant culture and the community. This began to change with the Enlightenment and calls by some European liberals to include the Jewish population in the emerging empires and nation states. For some Jews, it was an opportunity to escape the physical and psychological restraints imposed by the existence of the ghetto while benefiting from the enduring sense of community by finding some way of spanning the two worlds. In the words of a popular aphorism of the Enlightenment coined by Yehuda Leib Gordon, a person should be "a Jew in the home, and a mentsch (human being) in the street." Other Jews argued that the division between Jew and gentile had actually protected the Jews' religious and social culture; abandoning such divisions, they argued, would lead to the eventual abandonment of Jewish religion through assimilation. This latter group insisted that the appropriate response to the Enlightenment was to maintain strict adherence to traditional Jewish law and custom to prevent the disintegration of the community and ensure the survival of the Jewish people. The former group argued that Judaism had to "reform" itself in keeping with the social changes taking place around them. They were the forerunners of the Reform movement in Judaism. This group overwhelmingly assimilated into the surrounding culture. Even as the debate raged, the rate of integration and assimilation grew proportionately to the degree of acceptance of the Jewish population by the host societies. In other countries, particularly in Eastern Europe, acceptance (and integration) was much slower in coming. This was especially true in the Pale of Settlement, a region along Russia's western border including most of modern Poland, to which Jewish settlement in Russia was confined. Although Jews here did not win the same official acceptance as they did in Western and Central Europe, that same spirit of change pervaded the air, albeit in a local variant. Since it was impossible to gain acceptance by the dominant culture, many Jews turned to a number of different movements that they expected would offer hope for a better future. The predominant movement was socialism; other important alternatives were the cultural autonomists, including the Bund and the Zionists. These movements were not neutral on the topic of the Jewish religion: by and large, they entailed complete, not infrequently contemptuous, rejection of traditional religious and cultural norms. The traditionalists of Eastern Europe, who fought against the new movements emerging in the Jewish community, were the forebears of the contemporary Haredi movement.

Effects of the Holocaust

During this time, the emerging Haredi community was engaged in bitter debates with other developing Jewish communities, most notably those that denied the preeminence, or even relevance, of religion in Jewish life. Anecdotes abound: in one case, a reformer sent a leading rabbi a kosher cookie shaped like a pig, knowing that pork was a forbidden food in the Jewish religion. The rabbi responded by sending back a photograph with this note: "Thank you for your gift. You sent me a picture of you, so I am returning the favor in kind with a picture of me." The Holocaust brought a pause to the infighting. Until the rise of Nazism, Germany had been the major arena for the Enlightenment policies of acceptance and tolerance. Haredi leaders warned that "if the Jews do not make 'kiddush', the gentiles will make 'havdalah'." 'Kiddush' refers to the beginning ceremonies of the Shabbat, which sanctifies the day through joy and sets it apart from the mundane. 'Havdalah' refers to the ending ceremony, which mourns the departing of the holy as the darkness of the new week commences. Both words connote separation, kiddush meaning literally sanctification, and havdalah meaning separation. Anti-Semitism that had previously been supressed by legal and social factors, began to spread in the 1930's throughout most of Christian Europe with a fury against all Jews, regardless of their religious affiliation or lack thereof. For a time, in the face of destruction, Jews were able to overlook the differences between them as they faced a common enemy bent on their destruction. In the following years, however, the survivors were forced to come to grips with the theological implications of the catastrophe that had all but eradicated their communities. While they struggled to rebuild themselves, particularly in the United States and in Palestine (later Israel), they also attempted to understand why God had allowed such a disaster to befall them. This was coupled with the emergence of socialist Jewish nationalism, or Zionism, as a widely accepted, secular Jewish philosophy. Until that time, the Zionists were a small but vocal minority among the Jewish population of Eastern Europe. Suddenly, they experienced a tremendous growth, since settlement of the Land of Israel seemed to offer a viable response to the anti-Semitism that was still prevalent in Europe. The Haredi traditionalists had long rejected Zionism, partly because it was a predominantly anti-religious movement. Now, suddenly, the secular Zionists were in the process of achieving their goal of a Jewish homeland. Meanwhile, unable to return to their old homes in Europe and with quotas on Jewish immigration in the United States, that a Jewish homeland had necessarily become in some cases the only option for Haredi Jews. In effect, they were suddenly at the mercy of their most bitter opponents. However, they were not without their own leverage, including the sensitive fact that the longest-standing Jewish settlements in Palestine were, in fact, Haredi. It would have been easy for the Haredi community to explain the events of the 1930s-1950s as the direct result of most Jews abandoning their religious beliefs. In fact, some did; but the vast majority chose a more comforting approach, claiming that the Holocaust was a Divine act beyond human understanding. This allowed them to focus on rebuilding their communities, rather than to obsess on the past. There was, however, one stipulation to this approach: the martyred Eastern European past was idealized as a golden era of Jewish life. Within a generation, two vibrant new centers of Haredi life emerged: one in the United States, and the other in Israel, with smaller, somewhat less influential communities in England, Canada, France, Belgium, and Australia. As these communities became viable, independent entities, some of the old animosities between them and members of other Jewish groups began to resurface. This time, however, they were sharpened by the conviction on the part of Haredim that, as predicted, those groups' actions and prescriptions often lead to assimilation, thereby threatening the very idea of Jewish continuity. In the post-Holocaust era, that threat is perceived as being more real than ever.

Present day

Israel

In Israel, home to the most numerically powerful Haredi population, the situation is different. There, as in the United States, the community has adopted a policy of isolationism, but at the same time, it has also struggled for inclusion in dominant society, perceiving itself as the true protector of the country's Jewish nature. The issues date to the late nineteenth-early twentieth century, with the rise of Zionism. Until the Holocaust, the vast majority of Haredi Jews rejected Zionism for a number of reasons. Chief among these was the claim that Jewish political independence could only be obtained through Divine intervention, with the coming of the Messiah. Any attempt to force history was seen as an open rebellion against Judaism (see Neturei Karta for a more complete exposition of this ideology). Ironically, in this the Haredi Jews mirrored the Reform community, which, with few exceptions, rejected Zionism, since it called into question the loyalty that Jews should feel toward their native countries. More importantly, however, was the dislike that the political and cultural Zionism of the time felt toward any manifestation of religion. Spurred on by socialism, they taunted religion as an outdated relic, which should disappear (or, according to some extreme views, even be eradicated) in the face of Jewish nationalism. The Haredi Jews point out that even such liberals as Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism, at one time contemplated the mass conversion of the Jews to Christianity as a means of eliminating anti-Semitism. As with the nineteenth century Reform Judaism movement in Germany, the result was mutual recriminations, rejection, and harsh verbal attacks. To Zionists, Haredi Jews were either "primitives" or "parasites"; to Haredi Jews, Zionists were heretics. This kulturkampf still plagues Israeli society today, where animosity between the two groups has even pervaded both their educational systems. Nevertheless, despite the animosity, it was necessary for the two groups to work out some modus vivendi in the face of a more dangerous enemy, first the Nazis, and then the neighboring Arab states. This was achieved by a division of powers and authority, based on the division that existed during the British Mandate in the country. Known as the "status quo," it granted political authority (such as control over public institutions, the army, etc.) to the Zionists and religious authority (such as control over marriage, divorce, conversions, etc.) to the Orthodox. A compromise worked out by Labor Zionist leader Berl Katznelson even before statehood ensured that public institutions accommodate the Orthodox by observing the Sabbath and providing kosher food. Another compromise, worked out between prime minister David Ben Gurion and Haredi leader Rabbi Abraham Yishayahu Karelitz (known as the Chazon Ish), promised that the government would exempt a group of religious scholars (at that time, 400) from compulsory military service so that they could pursue their studies. In fact, this "status quo" affected virtually all aspects of life, sometimes with bizarre results. For example, there are no buses on the Sabbath in Tel Aviv, though there are in Haifa, since Haifa had a large Arab population at the time of the British Mandate (though to this day, Haifa still has a proportionally larger Arab population and lower Haredi population than other cities within Israel). Finally, the Agudat Israel party representing the Haredi population was invited to participate in the governing coalition. It agreed, but did not appoint any ministers since that would have implied full acceptance of the legitimacy of non-religious actions taken by the government. In 2000, the "status quo" was still in place, despite marked changes to the society since independence. In fact, it is one of the major factors that has prevented modern Israel from enacting a written constitution. Signs of the first challenge to the status quo came in 1977, with the fall of the Labor government that had ruled Israel since independence and the formation of a rightwing coalition under Menachem Begin. Rightwing Revisionist Zionism had always been more acceptable to the Haredi, since it did not share the same history of antireligious rhetoric that marked socialist Zionism. Furthermore, Begin needed the Haredi members of the Knesset (Israel's unicameral parliament) to form his coalition and offered more power and benefits to their community than what they were accustomed to receiving, including a lifting of the numerical limit on military exemptions. They proved to be able politicians, using their new powers to increase their power base, thereby increasing their role even more. From a small group of just four members in the 1977 Knesset, they gradually increased the number of seats they control to 22 (out of 120) in the late 1990s. In effect, they controlled the balance of power between the country's two major parties. On the other hand, less orthodox Israelis (Reform Judaism and Conservative Judaism who have always had a negligible presence in Israel), both began questioning whether a "status quo" based on the conditions of the 1940s and 1950 was still relevant in the 1980s and 1990s, and realized that they had the cultural and institutional support to enable them to change it regardless of its relevance. They challenged Orthodox control of personal affairs such as marriage and divorce, resented the lack of entertainment and transportation options on the Sabbath (then the country's only day of rest), and questioned whether the burden of military service was being shared equally, since the 400 scholars, who originally benefited from the exemption, had grown to 32,000. Finally, the Progressive (Reform) and Masorti (Conservative) communities, though still minuscule, began to exert themselves as an alternative to the Haredi monopoly on religious power. No one was happy with the "status quo," but while the Orthodox used their new-found political force to attempt to extend religious control, the non-Orthodox sought to reduce or even eliminate it. This situation was exacerbated still further by the rise of a strong Sephardic (Jews of North African and Middle Eastern descent) population with political aspirations of its own. Traditionally, the political elite in Israel consisted of European Jews, who founded the state. They were joined in the 1950 by entire communities of North African and Middle Eastern Jews (especially from Morocco, Iraq, Tunisia, Yemen, etc.), who were kept marginalized and encouraged (in some cases, even forced) to forego their traditional cultures for the dominant European one. There were protests, including a small but vocal "Black Panther" movement among unemployed Sephardic youth in the early 1970s, but the most effective voice for empowerment came from a small Haredi party named Shas, which split off from Agudat Yisrael in the early 1980s. With Sephardic disenfranchisement as its platform, it gained 17 of the 22 Haredi seats in the Knesset. Taking the attitude that restoring Sephardic pride entails restoring Sephardic religious observance, Shas has created devoted cadres of newly religious and semi-religious men and women with the zeal of neophytes and an animosity toward the country's European political establishment and occasionally, by extension, to all things Western. Furthermore, the movement has gained unflinching obedience in its supporters to the teachings of it spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. The chief antagonist of the Haredi has been the Supreme Court, which, in ruling after ruling based largely on its own conceptions of democracy and progressivity, limited the power of Haredi community by granting equal powers to competing bodies. The most notable case of this is the "Who Is a Jew?" case, in which the Supreme Court Ruled that the Ministry of the Interior (then controlled by Shas) must recognize Reform and Conservative converts to Judaism. More recently, even the Orthodox Zionist establishment has come under attack by the Court, since it often allies itself with the Haredi in matters of control of municipal and national religious councils. In many instances, the Haredim have responded to these and other threats angrily, verbally assaulting those who challenge their hegemony. At the same time, they recognize the animosity many secular Israelis feel toward them and have embarked on various public relations campaigns and other media projects to improve their image among the general public. Nonetheless, they remain firmly entrenched in their seats of power, with both blocs doing everything they can to gain their support. Following the 2003 elections, the Haredi parties lost their place in the government to the ultra-secular Shinui party. In 2005 Shinnui left the government and Ariel Sharon brought the Haredi United Torah Judaism back into his ruling coalition. Shinui runs under the flag of stopping extra funding to mostly Haredi schools and resistance to Tal Law which gives legal status to their exemption from military service. Nevertheless, a few Haredi Jews choose to volunteer to serve in the IDF, in the Haredi Jewish battalion Netzah Yehuda. In recent years, there has been a process of reconciliation and a merging of Haredi Jews with Israeli society. While not compromising on religious issues and their strict code of life, Haredi Jews have become more open to the secular Israeli culture. Haredi Jews, such as satirist Kobi Arieli, publicist Sehara Blau and politician Israel Eichler write regularly to leading Israeli newspapers. Another important factor in the reconciliation process has been the activity of ZAKA - a voluntary rescue organization which provides emergency first response medical attention at suicide bombing scenes and rescues human remains found there to provide proper burial. Another important Haredi insititution of charity is Yad Sara, established by Uri Lupolianski (mayor of Jerusalem between 2003- ) in 1977. Yad Sara, the only Israeli institution of its kind, provides patients and the handicapped with medical equipment (such as wheelchairs) on loan for free, and it is open to all Israelis. Religious Zionists, mainly from the Mafdal and publicly-involved Haredi Jews are trying to bridge the gaps between secular Jews and Haredi Jews.

United States

While there has been a Haredi presence in the U.S. since the start of the 20th century, the various groups began to emerge as distinctive communities only in the 1950s, with the influx of refugees from the Holocaust in Eastern Europe, who quickly filled leadership positions. Before then, the distinctions that are now commonly made between Haredi and Modern Orthodox Jews were moot at best, dividing lines between the two camps can now be drawn, though it is important to recognize that there is a large area of gray between the two communities to this day. As the tides of Jewish immigrants to the United States in the late nineteenth-early twentieth centuries became more settled and affluent, they looked to Europe to provide rabbis and other spiritual leaders and teachers for their emerging communities. While some rabbis accepted the challenge, a number of them returned to Europe soon after, frustrated by what they found in the United States. Unlike Eastern Europe, where Jews constituted a distinct minority group, the United States offered Jews an opportunity to blend into the dominant culture. Many of the new immigrants dropped their traditional customs and laws, both out of choice (the U.S. offered them a chance to escape the constraints of religious identity) or not (Jews refusing to work on the Sabbath were almost always fired at the end of the week; the large majority of those who desisted from working on Saturday had to face the formidable challenge of finding new work each week). The groups that arrived en masse after the Holocaust found a religious and social infrastructure already in place. While they also feared that their communities might assimilate into the mainstream of American society, they were also able to create more insular communities, devoid of all but the most necessary contacts with the surrounding society. As the communities became more affluent, they were able to assume more and more roles of the city and state for themselves. Today, there exist many autonomous communities in places such as Boro Park, Williamsburg and Crown Heights in Brooklyn, with their own economies, educational systems (yeshivos) welfare institutions and gemachs (free loan societies for everything from money to household items to tools to furniture), medical services (such as the Hatzolo ambulance corps), and security (the Shomrim neighborhood patrol). Some smaller, more isolationist groups actually founded their own small towns, such as New Square, New York and Kiryas Joel, New York patterned after the communities they left in Europe. There are still other, smaller communities in the cities of Lakewood, New Jersey, Passaic, New Jersey, Boston, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Chicago, Los Angeles, Valley Village, Baltimore, etc., which did not have all the established institutions of the dominant community in New York, but even they managed to put many of these institutions in place, thereby preserving their insularity. In recent years, tiny communities have also begun to appear in growing Sunbelt cities such as Dallas and Atlanta. With these in place, the communities were able to grow and flourish, both because of an extremely high birthrate (eight or more children is considered normal), and due to outreach programs geared toward other Jews. While some of the most insular communities regarded this as dangerous, since it could introduce unwanted ideas into the community, others, notably the Chabad Lubavitch Hasidic movement embraced outreach with a passion, conducting nationwide campaigns to introduce their brand of Judaism to unaffiliated Jews, as well as to Jews of other affiliations. This helped ignite the Teshuvah Movement that now claims tens of thousands of new adherents to Haredi Judaism yearly. On the other hand, despite all their efforts at insularity, the Haredi leadership could not ignore the appeal of American life to their own youth. While certain few concessions to American society were made (for example, some groups allowed some of their children to pursue some higher education under certain circumstances), for the most part the response was to adopt an even more extreme approach to insularity. In effect, anything that might be perceived as threatening the cultural homogeneity of the community was disparaged, including newspapers, radio, and television. Instead, a regimen of total immersion in study was imposed on the younger generation. Some Haredi leaders, most notably Rabbi Dr. Joseph Breuer, realized that the communities could not be kept completely insular and established ways to connect to society without compromising on their intrinsic beliefs. In several instances, yeshivos such as Torah Vodaas, Chaim Berlin and Ner Israel started allowing the boys (or bochurim) to pursue a secular education while remaining in the yeshiva. This was helped in a big way by the establishment of Touro College by Rabbi Bernard Lander. A college based in New York City geared towards Haredi students seeking college degrees. One of the most noticeable things in Touro is the fact that the classes are separate for men and women to keep in line with strict Haredi lifestyles. Another, even greater threat, was seen in those Jewish groups that attempted to bridge the gap between the religious and secular worlds, since this was also perceived as potentially alluring to the youths of the community, including those who could not perceive of a total break from their Jewish upbringing. Reform, Conservative, and even Modern Orthodox Judaism were seen as potentially threatening to the very continuity of the community. In the case of Reform, this animosity could be traced to the early nineteenth century in Germany, where Reform and Traditional groups were in open conflict over control of the communities. At that time, both groups attacked each other incessantly in the struggle for hegemony over the Jewish community. Until most recently, the Reform movement felt secure and was not leveling the same attacks on the Orthodox. In many instances, they sought ways to cooperate on common issues, hoping to consume the smaller community. To the Haredi, however, they were seen as a steppingstone to assimilation, to be disparaged and discouraged within their own communities. The old rhetorical attacks of two centuries earlier were revived and extended to the Conservative community as well. Their practices, which were not in keeping with Orthodox traditions, were similarly reviled. For many Haredi groups, this created an interesting paradox. On the one hand, Conservative and Reform Jews are classic targets of extensive outreach programs, conducted out of a "deep love and concern" for the "spiritual well-being" of other Jews; on the other hand, their religious practices and often their leaders are denigrated and condemned. It is this paradox that defines the Haredi community's relationship to the larger Jewish community to this day. The problem is even more complicated, when considering their position vis à vis the Modern Orthodox community. There is a mutual dependency between the two communities: the Modern Orthodox generally respect and adhere to the religious rulings of the Haredi leadership, while the Haredi often depend on university trained Modern Orthodox professionals to provide for needs that members of their own community cannot. For example, since there are so few Haredi doctors, the community will prefer to go to a Modern Orthodox doctor, since he or she will have a better understanding of the implications of the treatment in Jewish law (halakha). Furthermore, Haredi rabbis will consult with Modern Orthodox doctors before issuing rulings on medical procedures (an example of this is on issues relating to the precise moment of death). Nevertheless, the leadership is unwilling to accept the liberalism of their Modern Orthodox colleagues. In some cases, Modern Orthodoxy is perceived as balancing precariously on a very narrow wire between the Jewish and secular worlds: a tenable but, to the Haredi, unnecessary position. In other cases, Modern Orthodox leaders are considered to have passed the bounds of religious propriety and condemned for this in especially harsh, biblical terms, since those leaders, unlike Reform and Conservative rabbis, are believed to have the requisite learning and should have known better. None of these fights, however, no matter how sharp the discourse, has the same intensity as earlier arguments that led to or threatened real schisms among the Jewish people. For instance, with the rise of Hassidism, Rabbi Elijah of Vilna declared that his followers must not marry Jews adhering to the hassidic movement (the ruling was never put into practice). While, as tensions mount between Haredi and other Jews, the possibility of such a schism exists, the leadership of all the factions involved have taken care to prevent a complete break, while respecting the desire of the Haredi for autonomy and separatism. And there is common ground too, especially in the field of learning. It is not uncommon for Haredi scholars to take advantage of the vast library holdings, including rare manuscripts, in the libraries of Yeshiva University (Modern Orthodox), the Jewish Theological Seminary (Conservative), and Hebrew Union College (Reform).

United Kingdom

In the UK, the largest Haredi communities are located in London (Stamford Hill, Golders Green), Manchester (Salford and Prestwich) and Gateshead. The majority of UK Haredim descend from Eastern-European immigrants. Its main organisational body is the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations (UOHC).

Organisations

Haredi Jewish groups include:
- United Torah Judaism - Ashkenazi ultra-orthodox party
- Shas - Mizrahi Sefardi ultra-orthodox party
- Agudath Israel of America
- Hasidic Jewish groups such as: Chabad Lubavitch, Satmar, Belz, Bobov, Boston, Ger, Vizhnitz, Breslov, Pupa, Boyan, Munkacz, and Rimnitz.

Rabbinical leaders


- The Baal Shem Tov (18th century founder of Hasidism)
- The Vilna Gaon (founder of the mitnagdim (originally of Lithuania)
- Rabbi Chaim of Volozhim (19th century founder of the Lithuanian yeshivoth)
- Rabbi Moses Sofer (18th-19th century leader of Eastren European ultra-Orthodox)
- Rabbis of the Gerrer Hasidim (originally Poland, now Israel)
- Rabbis of Lubavitch
- Rabbi Avraham Yishayahu Karelitz (leader of Haredim in Israel)
- Rabbi Aharon Kotler (founder of the Lakewood yeshivas in America)
- Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (leader of Israeli Sephardi Haredim)
- Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv (present-day leader of Israel's Haredim)

See also


- Agudath Israel of America
- Chabad Lubavitch
- Degel HaTorah
- Divine Providence in Contemporary Jewish thought
- Hasidic Judaism
- Hasidim and Mitnagdim
- Mashgiach
- Orthodox Judaism
- Posek
- Rebbe
- Relationships between Jewish religious movements
- Rosh yeshiva
- United Torah Judaism
- ZAKA
- World Agudath Israel

External link


- [http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/363_Transp/08_Orthodoxy.html Varieties of Orthodox Judaism] (Prof. Eliezer Segal at the University of Calgary) Category:Orthodox Judaism

Judaism

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. It is one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths and one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. The tenets and history of Judaism are the major part of the foundation of other Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam. Over at least the last two thousand years, Judaism has not been monolithic in practice, and has not had any centralized authority or binding dogma. Despite this fact, Judaism in all its variations has remained tightly bound to a number of religious principles, the most important of which is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnibenevolent, transcendent God who created the universe, and continues to be involved in its governance. According to Jewish thought, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Jewish people, and revealed his laws and commandments to them in the form of the Torah. Jewish practice is devoted to the study and observance of these laws and commandments, as they are interpreted according to various ancient and modern authorities. Judaism does not easily fit into conventional western categories, such as religion, ethnicity, or culture, in part because of its 4,000-year history. During this time, Jews have experienced slavery, anarchic self-government, theocratic self-government, conquest, occupation, and exile; they have been in contact with, and have been influenced by, ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenic cultures, as well as modern movements such as the Enlightenment (see Haskalah) and the rise of nationalism. Thus, Talmud professor Daniel Boyarin has argued that "Jewishness disrupts the very categories of identity, because it is not national, not genealogical, not religious, but all of these, in dialectical tension."

Introduction

dialectic.]] According to both traditional Jews and critical historical scholars, a number of qualities distinguish Judaism from the other religious cults that existed when it first emerged. One characteristic was monotheism. The significance of this idea, according to critical historian Yehezkal Kaufman, lies in that Judaism holds that God created, and cares about, humankind. In polytheistic religions, humankind is often created by accident, and the gods are primarily concerned with their relations with other gods, not with people. Second, the Torah specifies a number of commandments to be followed by the Children of Israel. Other religions at the time were characterized by temples in which priests would worship their gods through sacrifice. The Children of Israel similarly had a temple, priests, and made sacrifices -— but these were not the sole means of worshiping God.

Monotheism

Critical scholars argue as to when the notion of monotheism arose in Judaism. Orthodox Jews claim that it is expressed directly in Torah (the Hebrew Bible), where God incorporates it into the Ten Commandments: "...I am the Lord your God. Do not have any other gods before Me. Do not represent [such] gods by any carved statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land. Do not bow down to [such gods] or worship them. I am God your Lord, a God who demands exclusive worship". Thus the belief in the existence of God, that God exists for all time, that God is the sole creator of all that exists, that God determines the course of events in this world, is the foundation of the Judaistic religion: "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt..." To turn from these beliefs is to deny God and the essence of Judaism, according to the Jewish understanding of the Ten Commandments. Furthermore, one is required to believe in God and God alone. This prohibits belief in or worship of any additional deities, gods, spirits or incarnations. The idea of God as a duality or trinity is heretical for Jews to hold; it is considered akin to polytheism. To deny the uniqueness of God, is to deny all that is written in the Torah: "You shall have no other gods besides Me...Do not make a sculpted image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above." It is also a prohibition against making or possessing objects that one or other may bow down to or serve, such as crucifixes or icons, and any forms of paintings or artistic representations of God. One must not bow down to or serve any being or object but God. (See Ten Commandments#Jewish interpretation) The significance of the idea is that an omniscient and omnipotent God created humankind as recorded in the Book of Genesis, in the Creation according to Genesis starting with the very first verse of Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," a marked contrast with polytheistic religions in which the gods are limited by their preoccupation with personal desires irrelevant to humankind, by their limited powers, or by the interference of other powers. In Judaism, God is unlimited, fully capable, and fully available to care for Creation.

Practical worship and the laws

Second, the Torah (i.e., The Hebrew Bible) specifies a number of laws, known as the 613 mitzvot, to be followed by the Children of Israel. Other religions at the time were characterized by temples in which priests would worship their gods through sacrifice. The Children of Israel similarly had a Temple in Jerusalem, a caste of priests, and made sacrifices — but these were not the sole means of worshipping God. As a matter of practical worship (in comparison to other religions) Judaism seeks to elevate everyday life to the level of the ancient Temple's worship by worshipping God through the spectrum of daily activities and actions. It has traditionally maintained that this is how the individual would merit rewards in the afterlife, called gan eden (Hebrew: "Garden of Eden") or olam haba ("World to Come"), though Judaism does not have a single concept of the afterlife, nor is the afterlife the focus of Jewish practice.

Traditional view of the development of Judaism

olam haba portion of the Tanakh, decorate the Dura-Europos synagogue dating from 244 CE]] The subject of the Hebrew Bible is an account of the Israelites' (also called Hebrews) relationship with God as reflected in their history from the beginning of time until the building of the Second Temple (ca. 350 BCE). This relationship is generally portrayed as contentious, as Jews struggle between their faith in God and their attraction for other gods, and as some Jews (most notably and directly, Abraham, Jacob -- later known as Israel—and Moses) struggle with God. According to Orthodox Judaism and most religious Jews, the Biblical patriarch Abraham was the first Hebrew. Rabbinic literature records that he was the first to reject idolatry and preach monotheism. As a result, God promised he would have children: "Look now toward heaven and count the stars/So shall be your progeny." (Genesis 15:5) Abraham's first child was Ishmael and his second son was Isaac, whom God said would continue Abraham's work and inherit the Land of Israel (then called Canaan), after having been exiled and redeemed. God sent the patriarch Jacob and his children to Egypt, where after many generations they became enslaved. Then God sent Moses to redeem the Israelites from slavery, and after the Exodus from Egypt, God led the Jews to Mount Sinai and gave them the Torah, eventually bringing them to the land of Israel. God designated the descendants of Aaron, Moses' brother, to be a priestly class within the Israelite community. They first officiated in the tabernacle (a portable house of worship), and later their descendants were in charge of worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. Once the Jews had settled in the land of Israel, the tabernacle was planted in the city of Shiloh for over 300 years during which time God provided great men, and occasionally women, to rally the nation against attacking enemies, some of which were sent by God as a punishment for the sins of the people. This is described in the Book of Joshua and the Book of Judges. As time went on, the spiritual level of the nation declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines to capture the tabernacle in Shiloh. The people of Israel then told Samuel the prophet that they had reached the point where they needed to be governed by a permanent king, as were other nations, as described in the Books of Samuel. Samuel grudgingly acceded to this request and appointed Saul, a great but very humble man, to be their King. When the people pressured Saul into going against a command conveyed to him by Samuel, God told Samuel to appoint David in his stead. Once King David was established, he told the prophet Nathan that he would like to build a permanent temple, and as a reward for his actions, God promised David that he would allow his son to build the temple and the throne would never depart from his children (David himself was not allowed to build the temple because he had been involved in many wars, making it inappropriate for him to build a temple representing peace). As a result, it was David's son Solomon who built the first permanent temple according to God's will, in Jerusalem, as described in the Books of Kings. Books of Kings is all that is known to remain of the Second Temple. The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism.]] After Solomon's death, his Kingdom was split into the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah. After several hundred years, because of rampant idolatry, God allowed Assyria to conquer Israel and exile its people. The southern Kingdom of Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem, home of the Temple, remained under the rulership of the House of David, however, as in the north, idolatry increased to the point that God allowed Babylonia to conquer the Kingdom, destroy the Temple which had stood for 410 years, and exile its people to Babylonia, with the promise that they would be redeemed after seventy years. These events are recorded in the Book of Isaiah and the Book of Jeremiah. After seventy years the Jews were allowed back into Israel under the leadership of Ezra, and the Temple was rebuilt, as recorded in the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah. The Second Temple stood for 420 years, after which it was destroyed by the Roman general (later emperor) Titus. The Jewish temple is to remain in ruins until a descendant of David arises to restore the glory of Israel and rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. The Torah given on Mount Sinai was summarized in the five books of Moses. Together with the books of the prophets it is called the Written Torah. The details and interpretation of the law, which are called the Oral Torah or oral law were originally unwritten. However as the persecutions of the Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, rabbinic tradition holds that these oral laws were recorded in the Mishnah, and the Talmud, as well as other holy books.

Critical historical view of the development of Judaism

Although monotheism is fundamental to Rabbinic Judaism, many critical Bible scholars claim that certain verses in the Torah imply that the early Israelites accepted the existence of other gods, while viewing their God as the sole Creator, whose worship is obligated (a rather henotheistic point of view). According to them, it was only by the Hellenic period that most Jews came to believe that their God was the only God (and thus, the God of everyone), and that the record of His revelation (the Torah) contained within it universal truths. They posit that this attitude reflected a growing Gentile interest in Judaism (some Greeks and Romans considered the Jews a most "philosophical" people because of their belief in a God that cannot be represented visually), and growing Jewish interest in Greek philosophy, which sought to establish universal truths, thus leading - potentially - to the idea of monotheism, at least in the sense that "all gods are One". According to this theory, Jews began to grapple with the tension between their claims of particularism (that only Jews were required to obey the Torah), and universalism (that the Torah contained universal truths). The supposed result is a set of beliefs and practices concerning identity, ethics, and the relationships between man and nature and man and God that examine and privilege "differences" — for example the difference between Jews and non-Jews; the local differences in the practice of Judaism; a close attention, when interpreting texts, to difference in the meanings of three words; attempts to preserve and encode different points of view within texts, and a relative avoidance of creed and dogma. In contrast to the Orthodox religious view of the Hebrew Bible, critical biblical scholars also suggest that the Torah consists of a variety of inconsistent texts that were edited together in a way that calls attention to divergent accounts (see Documentary hypothesis).

Religious doctrine and Principles of Faith

While Judaism has always affirmed a number of Jewish principles of faith, no creed, dogma, set of orthodox beliefs, or fully-binding "catechism," is recognized, an approach to religious doctrine that dates back at least two thousand years and that makes generalizations about Jewish theology somewhat difficult. While individual rabbis, congregations, or movements have at times agreed upon a firm dogma, generally other rabbis and groups have disagreed, and because there is explicitly no central religious authority, no specific formulation of Jewish principles of faith could take precedence over any other. In attempting to define who is a Jew, the ancient historian Josephus emphasized practices and traditions rather than religious beliefs, associating apostasy with a failure to observe traditional customs, and suggesting the requirements for conversion to Judaism included circumcision and adherence to traditional customs. Notably, in Orthodox Judaism some principles of faith (e.g., the Divine origin of the Torah) are considered important enough that public rejection of them can put one in the category of "apikoros" (heretic). Over the centuries, a number of clear formulations of Jewish principles of faith have appeared, many with common elements, though they differ in certain details, and comparisons demonstrate a wide variety of tolerance for varying theological perspectives. Of these formulations, the one most widely considered authoritative is Maimonides' thirteen principles of faith:
- God is one - strict unitarian monotheism, in which the eternal creator of the universe is the source of morality.
- God is all powerful (omnipotent), as well as all knowing (omniscient), and the different names of God are ways to express different aspects of God's presence in the world (see also: Names of God in Judaism).
- God is non-physical, non-corporeal, and eternal. All statements in the Hebrew Bible and in rabbinic literature which use anthropomorphism are held to be linguistic conceits or metaphors, as it would otherwise be impossible to talk about God.
- One may offer prayer to God alone — any belief in an intermediary between man and God, either necessary or optional, has traditionally been considered heretical.
- The Hebrew Bible, and much of the beliefs described in the Mishnah and Talmud, are held to be the product of divine revelation. How revelation works, and what precisely one means when one says that a book is "divine", has always been a matter of some dispute. Different understandings of this subject exist among Jews.
- The words of the prophets are true.
- Moses was the chief of all prophets.
- The Torah (five books of Moses) is the primary text of Judaism.
- God will reward those who observe His commandments, and punish those who violate them.
- God chose the Jewish people to be in a unique covenant with Him (see also: Jews as a chosen people).
- There will be a moshiach (Jewish Messiah), or perhaps a messianic era.
- The soul is pure at birth, and human beings have free will, with an innate yetzer ha'tov (a tendency to do good), and a yetzer ha'ra (a tendency to do bad).
- People can atone for sins through words and deeds, without intermediaries, through prayer, repentance, and tzedakah (dutiful giving of charity), if accompanied by a sincere decision to cease unacceptable actions and if appropriate amends to others are honestly undertaken, always providing a "way back" to God. (see also: Jewish views of sin)

The traditional Jewish bookshelf

Jewish views of sin.]] Jews are often called a "People of the Book," and Judaism has an age-old intellectual tradition focusing on text-based Torah study. The following is a basic, structured list of the central works of Jewish practice and thought. For more detail, see Rabbinic literature.
- The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Jewish bible study, which include:
  - Mesorah
  - Targum
  - Jewish Biblical exegesis (also see Midrash below)
- Works of the Talmudic Era (classic rabbinic literature)
  - The Mishnah and its commentaries
  - The Tosefta and the minor tractates
  - The Talmud:
    - The Jerusalem Talmud and its commentaries
    - The Babylonian Talmud and its commentaries Babylonian Talmud]
- Midrashic literature:
  - Halakhic Midrash
  - Aggadic Midrash
- Halakhic literature
  - The Major Codes of Jewish Law and Custom
    - The Mishneh Torah and its commentaries
    - The Tur and its commentaries
    - The Shulhan Arukh and its commentaries
  - Other books on Jewish law and custom
  - The Responsa literature
- Jewish Thought and Ethics
  - Jewish philosophy
  - Kabbalah
  - Hasidic works
  - Jewish ethics and the Mussar Movement
- The Siddur and Jewish liturgy
- Piyyut (Classical Jewish poetry) Related Topics
- Torah databases (electronic versions of the Traditional Jewish Bookshelf)
- List of Jewish Prayers and Blessings

Jewish Law and interpretation

The basis of Jewish law and tradition ("halakha") is the Torah (the five books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition there are 613 commandments in the Torah. Some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups, the Kohanim and Leviyim (members of the tribe of Levi), some only to those who practice farming within the land of Israel. Many laws were only applicable when the Temple in Jerusalem existed, and fewer than 300 of these commandments are still applicable today. While there have been Jewish groups which claimed to be based on the written text of the Torah alone (e.g., the Sadducees, and the Karaites), most Jews believed in what they call the oral law. These oral traditions were transmitted by the Pharisee sect of ancient Judaism, and were latter recorded in written form and expanded upon by the rabbis. Rabbinic Judaism has always held that the books of the Tanakh (called the written law) have always been transmitted in parallel with an oral tradition. To justify this viewpoint, Jews point to the text of the Torah, where many words are left undefined, and many procedures mentioned without explanation or instructions; this, they argue, means that the reader is assumed to be familiar with the details from other, i.e., oral, sources. This parallel set of material was originally transmitted orally, and came to be known as "the oral law". By the time of Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi (200 CE), after the destruction of Jerusalem, much of this material was edited together into the Mishnah. Over the next four centuries this law underwent discussion and debate in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and Babylonia), and the commentaries on the Mishnah from each of these communities eventually came to be edited together into compilations known as the two Talmuds. These have been expounded by commentaries of various Torah scholars during the ages. Halakha, the rabbinic Jewish way of life, then, is based on a combined reading of the Torah, and the oral tradition - the Mishnah, the halakhic Midrash, the Talmud and its commentaries. The Halakha has developed slowly, through a precedent-based system. The literature of questions to rabbis, and their considered answers, is referred to as responsa (in Hebrew, Sheelot U-Teshuvot.) Over time, as practices develop, codes of Jewish law are written that are based on the responsa; the most important code, the Shulkhan Arukh, largely determines Jewish religious practice up to today.

What makes a person Jewish?

According to Jewish law, someone is considered to be a Jew if he or she was born of a Jewish mother or converted in accord with Jewish Law. (Recently, the American Reform and Reconstructionist movements have included those born of Jewish fathers and gentile mothers, if the children are raised practicing Judaism only.) All mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere converts. A Jew who ceases to practice Judaism is still considered a Jew, as is a Jew who does not accept Jewish principles of faith and becomes an agnostic or an atheist; so too with a Jew who converts to another religion. However, in the latter case, the person loses standing as a member of the Jewish community and becomes known as an apostate. In the past, family and friends were said often to formally mourn for the person, though this is rarely done today. The question of what determines Jewish identity was given new impetus when, in the 1950s, David ben Gurion requested opinions on mihu Yehudi ("who is a Jew") from Jewish religious authorities and intellectuals worldwide. The question is far from settled and occasionally resurfaces in Israeli politics.

Jewish philosophy

Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology. Major Jewish philosophers include Solomon ibn Gabirol, Saadia Gaon, Maimonides, and Gersonides. Major changes occurred in response to the Enlightenment (late 1700s to early 1800s) leading to the post-Enlightenment Jewish philosophers, and then modern Jewish philosophers such as Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Mordecai Kaplan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Will Herberg, Emmanuel Levinas, Richard Rubenstein, Emil Fackenheim, and Joseph Soloveitchik.

Jewish denominations

Over the past two centuries the Jewish community has divided into a number of Jewish denominations; each has a different understanding of what principles of belief a Jew should hold, and how one should live as a Jew. To some degree, these doctrinal differences have created schisms between the Jewish denominations. Nonetheless, there is some level of Jewish unity. For example, it would not be unusual for a Conservative Jew to attend either an Orthodox or Reform synagogue, for example. The article on Relationships between Jewish religious movements discusses how different Jewish denominations view each other.
- Orthodox Judaism holds that the Torah was written by God and dictated to Moses, and that the laws within it are binding and unchanging. Orthodox Jews generally consider a 16th century CE law code, the Shulkhan Arukh, to be the definitive codification of Jewish law, and assert a continuity between pre-Enlightenment Judaism and modern-day Orthodox Judaism. Most of Orthodox Judaism holds to one particular form of Jewish theology, based on Maimonides' 13 principles of Jewish faith. Orthodox Judaism broadly (and informally) shades into two main styles, Modern Orthodox Judaism and Haredi Judaism. The philosophical distinction is generally around accommodation to modernity and weight placed on non-Jewish disciplines, though in practical terms the differences are often reflected in styles of dress and rigor in practice.
  - Modern Orthodox is a common traditional form of Judaism, which has a broad respect for historic traditions, and practices, and worship and belief in traditional form.
  - Haredi Judaism is a very conservative form of Judaism, sometimes also known as "ultra-orthodox".
    - Hasidic Judaism is a sub-set of Haredi Judaism. Hasidic Judaism community, the most theologically conservative form of Judaism.]]
- Conservative Judaism developed in Europe and the United States in the 1800s, as Jews reacted to the changes brought about by the Enlightenment and Jewish emancipation. It is characterized by a commitment to following traditional Jewish laws and customs, including observance of Shabbat and Kashrut; a deliberately non-fundamentalist teaching of Jewish principles of faith; a positive attitude toward modern culture; an acceptance of both traditional rabbinic modes of study and modern scholarship and critical text study when considering Jewish religious texts.
  - It teaches that Jewish law was not static, but rather has always developed in response to changing conditions.
  - It holds that the Torah is a divine document written by prophets inspired by God, but rejects the Orthodox position that it was dicated by God to Moses. Similarly, Conservative Judaism holds that Judaism's oral law is divine and normative, but rejects some Orthodox interpretations of the oral law.
- Progressive Judaism is composed of multiple movements in several countries. :
- Reform Judaism, called Liberal or Progressive in many countries, originally formed in Germany in response to the Enlightenment. (Note that in the United Kingdom, there are two distinct congregational unions, Reform and Liberal. The former is significantly more traditional than the latter, but both hold to essentially the same theoretical position.) Its defining characteristic with respect to the other movements is its rejection of the binding nature of Jewish law as such and instead believing that individual Jews should exercise an informed autonomy about what to observe. Reform Judaism initially defined Judaism as a religion, rather than as a race or culture; rejected the ritual prescriptions and proscriptions of the Torah; and emphasized the ethical call of the Prophets. Reform Judaism developed a prayer service in the vernacular, and emphasized personal connection to Jewish tradition over specific forms of observance. Today, many Reform congregations have returned to Hebrew prayers and encourage some degree of legal observance. Prophets :
- Reconstructionist Judaism started as a stream of philosophy by a rabbi within Conservative Judaism, and later became an independent movement emphasizing reinterpreting Judaism for modern times. Like Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism does hold not that Jewish law, as such, requires observance, but unlike Reform, Reconstructionist thought emphasises the role of the community in deciding what observances to follow.
- Humanistic Judaism. A small nontheistic movement that emphasizes Jewish culture and history as the sources of Jewish identity. Founded by Rabbi Sherwin Wine, it is centered in North America but has adherents in Europe, Latin America, and Israel. (Nota bene, since "Humanistic Judaism" rejects the ethical monotheism that is seen as the essence of Judaism by other movements, its inclusion as a Jewish denomination is highly controversial. Confer "Messianic Judaism".) Many religious Jews do not look at one's denomination as a valid way of designating Jews; instead they view Jews by the level of their religious observance. According to most Orthodox Jews, Jewish people who do not keep the laws of Shabbat and Yom Tov (the holidays), Kashrut, and family purity are considered non-religious. Any Jew who keeps at least those laws would be considered observant and religious.

Jewish denominations in Israel

Even though all of these denominations exist in Israel, Israelis tend to classify Jewish identity in ways that are different than diaspora Jewry. Most Jewish Israelis classify themselves as "secular" (hiloni), "traditional" (masorti), "religious" (dati) or Haredi. The term "secular" is more popular as a self-description among Israeli families of western (European) origin, whose Jewish identity may be a very powerful force in their lives, but who see it as largely independent of traditional religious belief and practice. This portion of the population largely ignores organized religious life, be it of the official Israeli rabbinate (Orthodox) or of the liberal movements common to diaspora Judaism (Reform, Conservative). The term "traditional" (masorti) is most common as a self-description among Israeli families of "eastern" origin (i.e., the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa). This term, as commonly used, has nothing to do with the official Masorti (Conservative) movement. There is a great deal of ambiguity in the ways "secular" and "traditional" are used in Israel. They often overlap, and they cover an extremely wide range in terms of ideology and religious observance. The term "Orthodox" (Ortodoxi) is unpopular in Israeli discourse (among both "secular" and "religious" alike). Nevertheless, the spectrum covered by "Orthodox" in the diaspora exists in Israel, again with some important variations. The "Orthodox" spectrum in Israel is a far greater percentage of the Jewish population in Israel than in the diaspora, though how much greater is hotly debated. Various ways of measuring this percentage, each with its pros and cons, include the proportion of religiously observant Knesset members, the proportion of Jewish children enrolled in religious schools, and statistical studies on "identity". What would be called "Orthodox" in the diaspora includes what is commonly called dati (religious) or haredi (ultra-Orthodox) in Israel. The former term includes what is called "Religious Zionism" or the "National Religious" community, as well as what has become known over the past decade or so as haredi-leumi (nationalist haredi), or "Hardal," which combines a largely haredi lifestyle with nationalist ideology. Haredi applies to a populace that can be roughly divided into three separate groups along both ethnic and ideological lines: (1) "Lithuanian" (non-hasidic) haredim of Ashkenazic origin; (2) Hasidic haredim of Ashkenazic origin; and (3) Sephardic haredim. The third group is the largest, and has been the most politically active since the early 1990s.

Karaism

Unlike the above denominations, which were ideological reactions that resulted from the exposure of traditional rabbinic Judaism to the radical changes of modern times, Karaite Judaism did not begin as a modern Jewish movement. The followers of Karaism believe they are the remnants of the non-Rabbinic Jewish sects of the Second Temple period, such as the Saducees, though others contend they are a sect started in the 8th and 9th centuries. The Karaites, or "Scripturalists," accept only the Hebrew Bible and what they view as the Peshat: "Plain or Simple Meaning"; and do not accept non-biblical writings as authoritative. Some European Karaites do not see themselves as part of the Jewish community, while most do. It is interesting to note that the Nazis often did not associate Karaites with Jews, and therefore several Karaite communities were spared in WWII and exist to this day even in places such as Lithuania where Jewish communities were completely devastated. In other areas, such as Greece, the Nazis deemed Karaites as belonging to a greater Jewish tradition and abused them accordingly. The main article Jewish views of religious pluralism describes how Judaism views other religions; it also describes how members of each of the Jewish religious denominations view the other denominations.

Jewish prayer and practice

Prayers

Jewish views of religious pluralism shawl. The prayer box strapped to his forehead and arm are tefillin. His uncut sidecurls are payot.]] There are three main daily prayer services, named Shacharit, Mincha (literally: "flour-offering") and Maariv or Arvit. All services include a number of benedictions called the Amidah or the Shemonah Esrei ("eighteen"), which on weekdays consists of nineteen blessings (one was added in the time of the Mishna, but the name remains). Another key prayer in many services is the declaration of faith, the Shema which is recited at shacharit and maariv. Most of the prayers in a traditional Jewish service can be said in solitary prayer, but Kaddish and Kedusha require a group of ten adult men (or men and women in some branches of Judaism) called a minyan (prayer quorum). There are also prayers and benedictions recited throughout the day, such as those before eating or drinking. There are a number of common Jewish religious objects used in prayer. The