Jewish denominations

Musa Damao
After the Romans destroyed the Jerusalem Temple in 70
C.E., one main group, who called themselves “rabbis” –
sages or teachers – began to dominate. What we now know
as “Judaism” grew out of this group, technically called
“Rabbinic Judaism.”
• Rabbinic Judaism believed that God gave Jewish
teachings and scriptures to Moses at Mt. Sinai, but that
they came in two parts: the “written law” or “written Torah”
and the “oral law” or “oral Torah.”
• The oral Torah is a vast body of interpretations that
expands upon the written Torah and is the source for most
of the rules and theology of Rabbinic Judaism.
• Fearful that these traditions might be lost, the early rabbis
began the process of writing them down, culminating in
two texts called the Mishna and the Talmud. This corpus
became the foundation of rabbinic literature.
• The rabbis assured the Jews that although the temple’s
destruction was devastating, Jews could continue to
serve God through study, prayer and observing God’s
commandments, called “mitzvot.” Someday, they
promised, God would send the Messiah, a descendant of
King David who would rebuild the temple and return the
exiled Jews to the land of Israel.
• There were tensions in Rabbinic Judaism from the outset.
For example, starting in the Middle Ages, a Jewish group
called the Karaites challenged the rabbis’ authority by
rejecting the oral Torah.
• Even within the rabbinic tradition, there were regular
disagreements: between mystics and rationalists, for
example; debates over people claiming to be the
messiah; and differences in customs between regions,
from medieval Spain to Poland to Yemen.
• Still, Rabbinic Judaism remained a more or less united
religious community for some 1,500 years – until the 19th
century.
• Around that time, Jews began to experience
emancipation in many parts of Europe, acquiring equal
citizenship where they had previously constituted a
separate, legal community. Meanwhile, thousands –
eventually millions – of Jews moved to the United States,
which likewise offered equal citizenship.
• These freedoms brought opportunity, but also new
challenges. Traditionally, Judaism was based on Jewish
autonomy – communities governed by rabbinic law – and
taking the truth of its beliefs for granted. Political
emancipation challenged the first, while Enlightenment
ideas challenged the second.
• Jews were now free to choose what to believe and how to
practice Judaism, if at all, at a time when they were
experiencing widespread exposure to competing ideas.
Groups
• Reform Judaism is based on the idea that both the Bible
and the laws of the oral Torah are divinely inspired, but
humanly constructed, meaning they should be adapted
based on contemporary moral ideals.
• Reform congregations tend to emphasize prophetic
themes such as social justice more than Talmudic law,
though in recent years many have reclaimed some rituals,
such as Hebrew liturgy and stricter observance of
Shabbat.
• Orthodox Judaism soon organized in reaction to Reform,
rallying to defend the strict observance of Jewish customs
and law. Orthodox leaders often blurred the distinction
between these categories and put particular emphasis on
the 16th-century legal code called the Shulchan Aruch.
Orthodoxy insists that both the written and oral Torah
have divine origins. Contrary views in pre-modern
sources are often censored.
• Conservative Judaism, which did not arrive in the U.S.
until the mid-1900s, shares many of Reform Judaism’s
views, such as equal religious roles for men and women.
However, Conservative Jews argue that the Reform
movement pulled too far away from Jewish tradition. They
insist that Jewish law remains obligatory, but that the
Orthodox interpretation is too rigid. In practice, most
Conservative Jews tend not to be strict about even major
rituals, like observing Sabbath restrictions or kosher food
practices.
• There are also smaller but still influential Jewish
movements. For example, Reconstructionism, created by
Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan in the 1930s and 1940s,
emphasizes community over ritual obligations. And
the Jewish Renewal movement, born out of the late
1960s counterculture, seeks to incorporate insights from
Jewish mysticism with an egalitarian perspective, and
without necessarily following the minutiae of Jewish law.
From Orthodox to ultra-Orthodox
• Modern Orthodoxy celebrates secular education and
integration into the modern world, yet insists on a
relatively strict approach to ritual observance and
traditional tenets of belief. They also tend to see Zionism
– the modern movement calling for Jewish national rights,
today connected to support for Israel – as part of their
religious worldview, rather than just a political belief.
• The ultra-Orthodox, on the other hand – sometimes called
“Haredim” or Haredi Jews – advocate segregation from
the outside world. Many continue to speak Yiddish, the
traditional language of Jews in Eastern Europe, or to
dress as traditional Jews did in Europe before the
Holocaust.
Becoming a nation
• The first Zionists were mostly secular Jews from Eastern
Europe. Inspired by nationalist movements around them,
they claimed that Jews constituted a modern nation,
rather than just a religion. Traditions and prayers
connected to the land – often reinterpreted through a
secular, nationalist lens – became all-important for
Zionists, while many other rituals and traditions were
abandoned.
• Most Jews opposed Zionism for decades. Reform Jews
and even some early Orthodox Jews worried that defining
Jews as a “nation” would undermine their claim to equal
citizenship in other countries. Orthodox Jews, meanwhile,
opposed Zionists’ staunch secularism and emphasized
that Jews must wait for the Messiah to lead them back to
the land of Israel.
Types of Jews
• Ashkenazi, plural Ashkenazim, from Hebrew Ashkenaz (“Germany”), member
of the Jews who lived in the Rhineland valley and in neighbouring France
before their migration eastward to Slavic lands (e.g., Poland, Lithuania,
Russia) after the Crusades (11th–13th century) and their descendants.
• After the 17th-century persecutions in eastern Europe, large numbers of
these Jews resettled in western Europe, where they assimilated, as they had
done in eastern Europe, with other Jewish communities. In time, all Jews
who had adopted the “German rite” synagogue ritual were referred to as
Ashkenazim to distinguish them from Sephardic (Spanish rite) Jews.
• Ashkenazim differ from Sephardim in their pronunciation
of Hebrew, in cultural traditions, in synagogue cantillation
(chanting), in their widespread use of Yiddish (until the
20th century), and especially in synagogue liturgy.
Sephardim
• Sephardi, plural or Sefardim, from Hebrew Sefarad
(“Spain”), member or descendant of the Jews who lived in
Spain and Portugal from at least the later centuries of the
Roman Empire until their persecution and mass expulsion
from those countries in the last decades of the 15th
century.
Beliefs and Traditions
• Judaism is a monotheistic religion that originated among the ancient Hebrews. It is
characterized by a belief in one transcendent God who revealed himself to Abraham, Moses,
and the Hebrew prophets and by a religious life in accordance with Scriptures and rabbinic
traditions.
• The Jewish faith is based on the Torah, which was the whole of the laws given to the
Israelites at Sinai. Jewish people believe they must follow God’s laws which govern daily life

• Jewish identity relies largely on religious practices. Rituals mark the important stages in a
Jew’s life, and Jews celebrate many festivals throughout the year to remember important
events in Jewish history. Worship of God is central to the Jewish faith. Many Jews place
great importance on prayer and on worship in the synagogue.
Date ranges for Jewish holidays
Holiday Date range
• Rosh Hashanah 5 Sep to 5 Oct
• Yom Kippur 14 Sep to 14 Oct
• Sukkot (first of seven days) 19 Sep to 19 Oct
• Shemini Atzeret 26 Sep to 26 Oct
• Simchat Torah 27 Sep to 27 Oct
• Hanukkah (first of eight days) 28 Nov to 27 Dec
• Tu Bishvat 15 Jan to 13 Feb
• Purim 24 Feb to 26 Mar
• Shushan Purim 25 Feb to 27 Mar
• Yom HaAliyah 21 Mar to 20 Apr
• Passover (first of seven/eight days) 26 Mar to 25 Apr
• Yom HaShoah 8 Apr[3] to 7 May[4]
• Yom Ha'atzmaut 15 Apr[5] to 15 May[6]
• Lag B'Omer 28 Apr to 28 May
• Yom Yerushalayim 8 May to 7 Jun
• Shavuot 15 May to 14 Jun
• Tzom Tammuz 25 Jun to 25 Jul
• Tisha B'Av 16 Jul to 15 Aug
• Tu B'Av 22 Jul to 21 Aug