Professional Documents
Culture Documents
1
Jewish Understanding of God
Radical monotheism
o Ancient Israel was surrounded by polytheistic cultures
Many gods with both power and weakness
People continually had to “play” the gods against one another
o At some point (when is unclear), the Israelites began to think that their god was the only God
Complete innovation
The one God demands undivided devotion
o The Shema = the Jewish Declaration of Monotheism
Dt 6:4 “Shema Israel! Adonai eloheinu, Adnonai echad!” “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the
LORD alone!” or more literally “Hear, O Israel! Yahweh is our God, Yahweh is one!”
Prayed twice a day by observant Jews
Like the “Jewish Creed”
As God is undivided, so must our love for him be undivided (“Love him with your whole heart,
mind and strength.”)
God’s personal name: Yahweh
o Israel called God by a personal, mysterious name
o When did this start? Unclear (Ex 3 indicates it started at the Burning Bush)
o In Judaism, God is a person who wants relationship, not just some concept/force/energy/power.
o Yet God remains completely holy, totally “other” – his name cannot even be translated
o A name that communicates both immanence (closeness) and transcendence (otherness)
o In post-exilic Judaism, the divine name is not said aloud, out of respect.
2
The Torah
Four senses of the word, in concentrically smaller
circles:
1. Revelation of God’s will
All God has revealed to us
Judaism is a “revealed religion”
2. The Hebrew Scriptures
God’s written revelation
Called the Tanakh
T = Torah (Law)
N = Neviim (Prophets)
K = Ketuvim (Writings)
3. The Pentateuch
Gn, Ex, Lv, Nm, Dt
Gn: Tells the stories of
Primordial History, the
Patriarchs and Matriarchs
Ex, Lv, Nm, Dt: Tells the story
of the Exodus
Traditional author: Moses
4. The 613 specific laws
Traditional enumeration of the laws in
the legal sections of the Pentateuch
The concrete way of living the covenant
All life (in its details) is to be sanctified
Remember, Torah is both God’s gift to us and our way of responding to God’s gift
3
Jewish Holy Days: See article “A Gentile’s Guide to Jewish Holidays”
Passover
o Commemorates the Exodus from Egypt
o A seven or eight day feast in early Spring
o Seder - the ritual meal eaten on the first or second night
Reenactment of meal during the 10th plague described in Ex 12
Three main foods: lamb, unleavened bread, bitter herbs
Rosh Hashanah
o Jewish New Year in early Fall
o Time to look back and look ahead, make resolutions to be a better person
o The most memorable part of the Rosh Hashanah service is the blowing of the shofar, as a call to
repentance and to begin the Days of Awe, or the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.
o Sweet foods are eaten (tzimmes, apples and honey) to bring in the sweetness of the new year
o Common greeting: Shana tova = [Have] a good year
Yom Kippur
o Day of Atonement, 10 days after Rosh Hashanah
o Day of fasting and repentance
o The service ends with the blowing of the shofar bringing the Days of Awe to an end.
Chanukkah
o Celebration of the rededication of the Jerusalem Temple after its desecration by the Greek (Seleucid)
King in the 2nd Cent. B.C.E.
o A minor feast day, but often known by Christians because of its closeness to Christmas
o Festival of Lights - eight-day lighting of the menorah to commemorate the miracle of the oil
o Children often play dreidel games and receive gelt as gifts
o Common foods: latkes, brisket, kugel and sufganiyah (jelly donuts)
Major divisions of Judaism in the U.S. only; does not include many Jews, especially worldwide
1. Reform Judaism
o Accept the basics of Judaism (God, Torah) while embracing diversity and introducing innovation
o Particularly committed to inclusion (women, homosexuals, interfaith families)
2. Orthodox Judaism
o Believe the Torah, both written and oral, are of divine origin
o Rejects reform, innovation, relaxation of Torah
3. Conservative Judaism
o Middle ground between Reform and Orthodox
o Maintains strict observance of the written Torah, but allows reform regarding the oral Torah