Bronze-level article


From RationalWiki
(Redirected from Jewish)
Jump to: navigation, search
Party like it's 4004 BCE
Icon judaism.svg
Topics of interest
You are not practicing Judaism if you celebrate Christmas.
—Elliott Abrams

Judaism is the first Abrahamic religion. Due to their overwhelming refusal over the centuries to convert to either of the other two Abrahamic faiths — Christianity or Islam — and their traditionally strong cultural coherence, Jews control the world via the UN and banks are frequently made the subject of numerous conspiracy theories and libels, as well as pogroms and genocides (by far the most notable being the Holocaust of World War II). All forms of Judaism have in common the Tanakh as their primary scriptures. The Tanakh is made up of the five books of Moses, or Torah ("the Teaching"), the books of the prophets, or Nevi'im ("the Prophets"), and the K'tuvim ("the Writings"). The great majority also base their practices on a substantial body of exegesis, Rabbinical tradition and commentary known as the Talmud.

Not all Jews practice Judaism as a religion: cultural Judaism is the following of Jewish traditions, diet, festivals, etc, without religious belief, and Jewish atheism also has a significant tradition.[1][2] Followers of Judaism and ethnic Jews have been subject to different forms of antisemitism. Many conspiracy theories are inherently antisemitic. The general feature of these theories is that Jews are not seen as individuals divided into groups, but as one, homogeneous, conspiring whole. In modern times, the success of Zionism, a political movement that was successful in the establishment of the secular Jewish state of Israel in the region of Israel/Judea/Palestine/whatever you call it, adds to the mix of theories. Not every Jew is an active Zionist, and not everyone living within the current state of Israel is a Zionist Jew. Zionism, or ideological support of the state of Israel, is also common among different denominations of Christianity. Nevertheless, some Christian extremists and conspiracy theorists see an enemy in the Zionists or Jews in general, for example the Ku Klux Klan.

Jewish and Christian scriptures compared[edit]

Torah scroll for ritual purposes.


In addition to these differences in religious text, there are several major theological differences between Christianity and Judaism. Judaism, unlike Christianity, focuses more on this life than the afterlife, which is hardly mentioned in their scriptures and highly debatable.[3] For Jews, behavior is also more important than faith.[4] Satan never rebelled against YHWH but was created for the purpose of tempting people — usually Satan is more a symbol than an actual being. Most Jews do not believe in Satan at all, nor do they believe in Hell.[5] It would be blasphemous and a violation of monotheism to regard him as a rival to YHWH, as Satan is in some forms of Christianity. Judaism also rejects the concept of original sin.[6] The Trinity as accepted in one version or another by almost all Christian sects is considered by Jews to be a severe misconstrual of the true, unitary, nature of God.


Kingdoms of Israel and Judea in 926 BCE.





Modern denominations[edit]


Orthodox Judaism[edit]

Orthodox Jews in Israel protest for their right to be exempt from conscription.
  • Orthodox: Orthodox Judaism consists of many different sects which have in common a more strict adherence to halakha. Most sects considered Orthodox look forward to the reconstruction of the Jerusalem Temple on the Temple Mount (currently occupied by the Islamic Al-Aqsa Mosque) in messianic times; as a result, Orthodox teachings preserve a special role for those identified as Kohanim (priests of the line of Aaron) and Levites (other members of the tribe of Levi). In modern society, Orthodox Judaism is often criticized for intolerance of more liberal Jews and for maintaining strict gender roles among its worshippers.
  • Modern Orthodox: Orthodox Jews who believe that one can embrace and find value in the wider culture while maintaining strict adherence to halachah. This is in contrast to the Ultra-Orthodox, who generally believe that there is little of value in the wider culture and seek to create insular communities protected from what they view as the perverse influences of the outside world.
  • Chasidic: Chasidic (or Hasidic) sects are Orthodox sects that tend to have a charismatic leader. Each sect to originated from one original European community, and typically bears the name of the city or town in which it originated. Chasidim are particularly known for their distinctive appearance, including heavy beards, traditional clothing, and sidelocks (known as peyes in Yiddish), which derive from Biblical admonitions on how to dress and cut one's hair. Lubavitch Chasidim are the most openly proselytizing among Jews (although only to lapsed Jews, rather than to those of other religions), as well as the most messianic — for many years Lubavitchers promoted their leader, the Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, as the Jewish moshiach until his death in the 1990s (and some Lubavitchers continue to believe that Schneerson is the moshiach, claiming he will return to earth in the future — but, since they're not totally mad, they believe that the moshiach is born into every generation, but only when he fulfills his destiny will he actually be the messiah). Most Chassidic sects (and there are many) tend be isolationist and insular to greater or lesser degrees. The most extreme examples of insularity are the shtetles (small Jewish towns) of New Square and Kiryas Yoel in upstate New York, populated by members of the Skvere and Satmar sects, respectively.
  • Haredi: Essentially Jewish fundamentalists, the Haredi are extremely conservative in theology and lifestyle, and in Israel have been known to harass people who do not follow Haredic mores. They are also known as "ultra-Orthodox", a term they consider disrespectful. In Israel, Haredim control many aspects of civil and family law, leading to many culture clashes between the Haredi religious authorities and the generally less orthodox population. Some Haredi reject the Israeli state as too secular or in its entirety as blasphemy, because - in their view - only the Messiah can declare a new Jewish state. Neturei Karta is a Haredi group that frequently demonstrates against Israel and was in attendance at Ahmadinejad's "Holocaust conference". As can be expected, they are shunned by virtually all other Jewish groups.

"Haredi" is more an Israeli term than an American one. The equivalent community is in the United States is usually referred to as "Yeshivish," a reference to the yeshivos (religious schools of higher study) in which men spend part or all of their adult lives, and whose deans function as community leaders.

Liberal Judaism[edit]

The World Union for Progressive Judaism in 1970. It is an umbrella organization for various liberal Jewish branches.


A Reform synagogue, where men and women may sit together.
  • Jewish Atheism partially overlapping with secular Judaism, it is entirely possible for a Jew to not believe in god and still consider himself culturally Jewish and even keep to some mitzvot as culturally important and significant. Some Zionists have also been Atheists. Perhaps the best known Jewish Atheist in history was Moshe Dayan, the Israeli general in chief during the war of 1967.

Other Jewish sects[edit]


  • Dönmeh: A sect of Turkish crypto-Jews descended from the followers of 17th century would-be Messiah Sabbatai Zvi, the Dönmeh are outwardly integrated with the local Muslim population but still follow Jewish practices in private. Like the Messianic Jews, they are not recognized by mainstream Judaism, though other followers of Zvi (known as Sabbateans) are not so stigmatized. A longstanding antisemitic conspiracy theory in Turkey alleges that "Dönmeh" (real or imagined) are responsible for all ills that have befallen Turkey and that they secretly control everything.
  • Jewish Renewal: Jewish RenewalWikipedia's W.svg is a movement endeavoring to reinvigorate modern Judaism with Kabbalistic, Hasidic, and musical practices. Specifically, it seeks to reintroduce the "ancient Judaic traditions of mysticism and meditation, gender equality and ecstatic prayer" to synagogue services. In other words, a New Age approach to Judaism.

Relative numbers in US[edit]

A 2003 Harris survey in the US found that Jews who are members of a synagogue break down thus:[13]

  • Reform 38%
  • Conservative 33%
  • Orthodox 22%
  • Reconstructionist 2%
  • Other 5%

In UK[edit]

The main divisions in the UK are:[14]

  • Haredi - 18% of synagogue members
  • Modern Orthodox (aka Central Orthodox) - 52% (fallen from 66% in 1990)
  • Masorti (Conservative in the US) - 3%
  • Movement for Reform Judaism - 19%
  • Liberal Judaism - 8%
  • Sephardi/Mizrachi - 3%
  • Other (including informal and non-denominational groups) - figure not given

Ethnic groups[edit]


  • Ashkenazim: Jews whose ancestry lies in Central or Eastern Europe. When people think of Jews, they usually think of Ashkenazic Jews. Nearly all Chasidim are Ashkenazic. The overwhelming majority of American Jews, slightly under half of Israeli Jews, and 80% of all Jews are of Ashkenazi ethnicity. At one time split further into "German" (Western European) and "Russian" (Eastern European) Jews, and the Russian further split into "Litvuk" (Lithuanian) and "Galatzianer" (Polish/Ukrainian, named for the historical region known as Halych/Galicia/Galiezen which straddles the border of said countries) but no one really cares about these distinctions anymore
  • Sephardim: Jews whose ancestry lies in Spain, Portugal, from which they were expelled in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. They later settled in areas including the Balkans and the Middle East. They tend to be slightly more liberal than Ashkenazim, as Sephardic Jews were historically not subject to the same restrictions as Ashkenazim. They do get annoyed when Ashkenazim assume all non-Ashkenazim are Sephardim, even though it's partially true (see below). Like Ashkenazim with Yiddish, Sephardim originally spoke Spanish derived "Ladino", but the Nazis and cultural assimilation have caused this language to nearly die out with only a few elderly speakers remaining today. In the Middle Ages the vast majority of Jews worldwide were Sephardim and during the American Revolution almost all American Jews (as well as the oldest congregations) were Sephardim.
  • Beta Israel: Jews whose ancestry lies in sub-Saharan Africa, especially Ethiopia. There was a controversy regarding their ethnic and religious Jewishness in the past, but since Israel flew out the majority of them during political turmoil and famine in Ethiopia, their Jewishness is mostly questioned by racists who want to keep Israel "white". However, differences in theology and Hebrew proficiency are notable.


Main article: Jewish holidays


See also[edit]




  1. See the Wikipedia article on Cultural Judaism.
  2. See the Wikipedia article on Jewish atheism.
  3. Afterlife
  4. Jewish faith and God
  5. The Jewish view of Satan
  6. Original Sin
  8. Psalm 82 appears to be a remnant of this, in which their God deals the smackdown to unnamed other "gods", like his ex wife Asherah.
  11. Messianic Judaism
  12. Karaism in Rabbinic Jewish opinion
  13. See the Wikipedia article on American Jews.
  14. Branches of Judaism, Religion Media Centre, April 18, 2018
  15. For your viewing pleasure