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Judaism
Table of Contents
Introduction
The history of Judaism
General observations
Nature and characteristics
Periodization
Biblical Judaism (20th–4th century
bce
)
The ancient Middle Eastern setting
The pre-Mosaic period: the religion of the patriarchs
The Mosaic period: foundations of the Israelite religion
The Egyptian sojourn
Mosaic religion
The period of the conquest and settlement of Canaan
The period of the united monarchy
The religious and political problem
The Davidic monarchy
The period of the divided kingdom
The period of classical prophecy and cult reform
The emergence of the literary prophets
Prophecy in the southern kingdom
Reforms in the southern kingdom
The Babylonian Exile
The period of the restoration
Hellenistic Judaism (4th century
bce
–2nd century
ce
)
The Greek period (332–63
bce
)
Hellenism and Judaism
Social, political, and religious divisions
Religious rites and customs in Palestine: the Temple and the synagogues
Religious and cultural life in the Diaspora
Egyptian Jewish literature
Palestinian literature
The Roman period (63
bce
–135
ce
)
New parties and sects
Origin of Christianity: the early Christians and the Jewish community
Judaism under Roman rule
Rabbinic Judaism (2nd–18th century)
The age of the
tannaim
(135–c. 200)
The role of the rabbis
The making of the Mishna
The age of the
amoraim
: the making of the Talmuds (3rd–6th century)
Palestine (c. 220–c. 400)
Babylonia (200–650)
The age of the
geonim
(c. 640–1038)
Triumph of the Babylonian rabbinate
Anti-rabbinic reactions
The gaonate of Saʿadia ben Joseph
Medieval European Judaism (950–1750)
The two major branches
Sephardic developments
Ashkenazic developments
Marginalization and expulsion
Conflicts and new movements
Modern Judaism (c. 1750 to the present)
The new situation
The Haskala, or Enlightenment
In central Europe
In eastern Europe
Religious reform movements
Orthodox developments
In western and central Europe
In eastern Europe
Developments in scholarship
Jewish-Christian relations
Zionism
American Judaism
Judaism in other lands
Contemporary Judaism
The Judaic tradition
The literature of Judaism
General considerations
Sources and scope of the Torah
Prophecy and religious experience
Modern views of Torah
Basic beliefs and doctrines
God
Unity and uniqueness
Creativity
Activity in the world
Otherness and nearness
Modern views of God
Israel (the Jewish people)
Choice and covenant
Israel and the nations
The people and the land
Modern views of the people Israel
Humanity
The image of God
The earthly-spiritual creature
The ethically bound creature
Medieval and modern views of man
Ethics and society
The ethical emphasis of Judaism
Interpenetration of communal and individual ethics
The key moral virtues
The relation to non-Jewish communities and cultures
The formulation of Jewish ethical doctrines
The universe
Creation and Providence: God’s world
Humanity’s place in the universe
Intermediary beings: angels and demons
Eschatology
The future age of humankind and the world
The king-messiah and his reign
Secularization of messianism
Basic practices and institutions
The hallowing of everyday existence
The traditional pattern of individual and familial practices
The traditional pattern of synagogue practices
Ceremonies marking the individual life cycles
Holy places: the land of Israel and Jerusalem
The sacred language: Hebrew and the vernacular tongues
The rabbinate
Legal, judicial, and congregational roles
Chief rabbinates
General councils or conferences
Modern variations
The Jewish religious year
The cycle of the religious year
The Jewish calendar
Lunisolar structure
Months and notable days
Origin and development
The Sabbath
Importance
Observances
The Jewish holidays
Pilgrim Festivals
Ten Days of Penitence
Minor festivals: Hanukkah and Purim
The five fasts
The lesser holidays
The situation today
Art and iconography
The anti-iconic principle and its modifications
Ceremonial objects and symbols
Architecture
Paintings and illustrations
Music
Literature
Jewish philosophy
Pre-Hellenistic and Hellenistic thought
Bible and Apocrypha
Philo Judaeus
Other ancient sources
Medieval philosophy
Jewish
kalām
Saʿadia ben Joseph
The Karaites
Jewish Neoplatonism
Isaac Israeli
Solomon ibn Gabirol
Judah ha-Levi
Other Jewish thinkers, c. 1050–c. 1150
Jewish Aristotelianism
Abraham ibn Daud
Maimonides
Averroists
Gersonides
Ḥasdai Crescas
Joseph Albo
Modern philosophy
The Iberian-Dutch philosophers
Uriel Acosta
Benedict de Spinoza
German philosophers
Moses Mendelssohn
Solomon Formstecher
Samuel Hirsch
Nachman Krochmal
Solomon Steinheim
Hermann Cohen
Franz Rosenzweig
Martin Buber
Emmanuel Lévinas
Jewish mysticism
Nature and characteristics
The Judaic context
Three types of Jewish mysticism
Main lines of development
Early stages to the 6th century
ce
Sefer yetzira
The Arabic-Islamic influence (7th–13th century)
The making of Kabbala (c. 1150–1250)
Sefer ha-bahir
School of Isaac the Blind
The 10
sefirot
School of Gerona (Catalonia)
Sefer ha-temuna
Medieval German (Ashkenazic) Hasidism
The making of the
Zohar
(c. 1260–1492)
The Lurianic Kabbala
Shabbetaianism
Modern Hasidism
Modern Jewish mysticism
Jewish myth and legend
Significance and characteristics
Sources and development
Myth and legend in the Bible
Myths
Legends and other tales
Contemporary interpretations
Myth and legend in the Persian period
Myth and legend in the Hellenistic period
Historiated Bibles and legendary histories
Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha
Myth and legend in the Talmud and Midrash
Midrash and Haggada
Fables and animal stories
Contribution of Haggada to Christian and Islamic legends
Myth and legend in the medieval period
Jewish contributions to diffusion of folktales
Hebrew versions of medieval romances
Jewish contributions to Christian and Islamic tales
Major medieval Hebrew collections
Medieval legendary histories and Haggadic compendiums
Myth and legend in the modern period
Kabbalistic tales
Judeo-German (Yiddish) tales
Judeo-Persian and Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) tales
Hasidic tales
Droll stories
Modern Israeli folktales
Judaism in world perspective
Relation with non-Judaic religions
Exclusivist and universalist emphases
Relation to Christianity
Relation to Islam
Relations with other religions
The role of Judaism in Western culture and civilization
Its historic role
Its present role
Future prospects
References & Edit History
Related Topics
Images & Videos
For Students
Judaism summary
Contents
Home
Philosophy & Religion
Scriptures
Judaism: Media
religion
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Videos
What and when is Passover?
Passover commemorates the biblical story of the Exodus.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
What and when is Yom Kippur?
The Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur is the religion's holiest day of the year.
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
A look into the Hanukkah celebration
Overview of Hanukkah.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
History of ancient Jerusalem and its people
Learn about the history of Hanukkah.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Understanding the story of Purim
Purim commemorates the survival of a Jewish community marked for death in ancient...
Video: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
What happened to the Tower of Babel?
Learn about the monumental Tower of Babel in the ancient city of Babylon.
Video: Contunico © ZDF Studios GmbH, Mainz
Images
Jerusalem: Western Wall, Temple Mount
The Western Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem, all that remains of the retaining...
© AbleStock/Getty Images
Sacrifice of Isaac
The painting
Sacrifice of Isaac
(1713) by Italian artist Giambattista Pittoni...
© Renata Sedmakova/Shutterstock.com
Guercino:
Abraham Casting Out Hagar and Ishmael
Abraham Casting Out Hagar and Ishmael
, oil on canvas by Guercino, 1657;...
SCALA/Art Resource, New York
Titian:
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden
, oil painting by Titian, c. 1550; in...
SCALA/Art Resource, New York
Moses and the Israelites
Moses leading the children of Israel through the Red Sea; illustration from a German...
Ann Ronan Pictures/Heritage Image/age fotostock
Rembrandt:
Moses with the Tablets of the Law
Moses with the Tablets of the Law
, oil painting by Rembrandt, 1659; in the...
Courtesy of Gemaldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin - Preussischer Kulturbesitz
Nicolas Poussin:
Adoration of the Golden Calf
Adoration of the Golden Calf
, oil on canvas by Nicolas Poussin, c. 1634....
Fine Art Images/Heritage Image/age fotostock
Palestine during the time of David and Solomon
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Donatello:
David
David
, bronze sculpture by Donatello, early 15th century; in the Bargello...
Patrick
Mosaic of Elijah
Elijah the prophet, mosaic, 12th–13th century; in the cathedral of Monreale, Sicily,...
© Ancient Art & Architecture Collection
Homer
Bust sculpture of Homer.
Photos.com/Thinkstock
Seleucid king of the Hellenistic Syrian Empire
Antiochus III, coin, late 3rd–early 2nd century bce;...
Courtesy of the trustees of the British Museum; photograph, J.R. Freeman & Co. Ltd.
Palestine during the time of Herod the Great and his sons
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Menorah on the Arch of Titus
Roman soldiers carrying a menorah, detail of a relief on the Arch of Titus, Rome,...
© Photos.com/Getty Images
World distribution of Judaism
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Benedict de Spinoza
Dutch philosopher Benedict de Spinoza, painting by an anonymous artist; in the Herzog...
Hulton Fine Art Collection/Getty Images
Reform synagogue Temple Emanu-El
Temple Emanu-El synagogue, New York City, 1896.
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The Tower of Babel
The Tower of Babel
, oil painting by Pieter Brueghel the Elder, 1563; in...
Courtesy of the Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
Synagogue
Orthodox synagogue in Košice, Slovakia.
Marian Gladis
Capernaum synagogue
The synagogue at Capernaum, northwestern shore of the Sea of Galilee, Israel, 3rd–2nd...
Lee Boltin
Torah crown
Torah crown, Poland, late 18th century; in the Jewish Museum, New York City.
Graphic House/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
A bar mitzvah in Israel
A young boy carrying a Torah at the Western Wall, Jerusalem, during his bar mitzvah...
© RobertHoetink—iStock Editorial/Getty Images
Marriage contract
Ketubah, or marriage contract, signed in Venice, 1711.
The Newberry Library, Gift of Edward E. Ayer, 1911 (
A Britannica Publishing Partner
)
Havdalah
Havdalah ceremony marking the end of the Sabbath with wine and candle; woodcut from...
Jewish Museum, New York City/Art Resource, New York
Matzos
An unleavened bread, matzo is made with only flour and water.
© Ewa Walicka/Shutterstock.com
Seder plate
Seder plate from Pesaro, Italy, 1614; in the Jewish Museum, New York City.
Graphic House/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Seder plate
Passover seder plate.
© iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Havest festival sukkah
Sukkah (hut erected for the celebration of Sukkoth) with palm leaves, Herzliya, Israel,...
RonAlmog
Ram's horn shofar
Shofar made of ram's horn in the form of a fish, Ethiopia, 19th century; in the Jewish...
Graphic House/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Lamp for Hanukkah
Hanukkah lamp from Hermann Stadt, Hungary, 1775; in the Jewish Museum, New York City.
Graphic House/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Esther scroll
Scroll of Esther from Lwów, Galicia (now Lviv, Ukraine), 1880; in the Jewish Museum,...
Graphic House/Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Lamp for Hanukkah
Hanukkah lamp, silver with enamel medallions, by Johann Adam Boller, early 18th century,...
Jewish Museum, New York City
Doorpost mezuzah
Mezuzah on a doorpost in the Old City of Jerusalem.
© Mikhail Levit/Shutterstock.com
Dura-Europus, Syria: synagogue ruins
Ruins of a synagogue, Dura-Europus, Syria.
Heretiq
Bird mosaic
Mosaic floor fragment from a synagogue or church, cut stone with mortar from Israel,...
Photograph by Katie Chao. The Jewish Museum, New York City, gift of Erwin Harvith, U 7529
Zalaegerszeg
Former synagogue, now a concert hall, Zalaegerszeg, Hungary.
Kaboldy
Jabneh
Synagogue in Jabneh, Israel.
Bukvoed
Oradea
Synagogue on the banks of the Crişul Repede River at Oradea, Romania.
Marcin Szala
Thalia Theatre poster
Poster for the Thalia Theatre, on New York City's Lower East Side, 1897. Advertised...
Yozef Kroger, NY/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (digital. id. cph 3b52232)
Philo Judaeus
Jewish philosopher Philo Judaeus.
From
Les vrais pourtraits et vies des hommes illustres Grecs, Latins et Payens
, Vol. 2, by André Thevet, 1584.
Statue of Averroës (Ibn Rushd)
Averroës (Ibn Rushd), statue in Córdoba, Spain.
© LUMA/stock.adobe.com
Philosopher Benedict de Spinoza
Benedict de Spinoza, oil painting, c. 1665; in the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel,...
Hulton Fine Art Collection/Getty Images
Martin Buber
German-Jewish religious philosopher, biblical translator and interpreter Martin Buber.
Courtesy of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, photo, courtesy of the Consulate General of Israel in New York
False messiah: Shabbetai Tzevi
Shabbetai Tzevi blessing a Jewish congregation at Smyrna, Ottoman Empire (now İzmir,...
© Photos.com/Thinkstock
Grave of Baʿal Shem Ṭov
The covered burial place of Baʿal Shem Ṭov in Medzhybizh, Ukraine.
Eliyahu (Eli)
Abraham Isaac Kook
Religious writer Abraham Isaac Kook, 1924.
National Photo Company Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital File Number: LC-DIG-npcc-25595)
Peter Paul Rubens:
The Judgment of Solomon
The Judgment of Solomon
, oil on canvas by Peter Paul Rubens, c. 1617; in...
Statens Museum for Kunst (National Gallery of Denmark); www.smk.dk (Public domain)
Samson killing Philistines
Standing dish depicting Samson crushing the Philistines with the jawbone of an ass,...
Photograph by Jenny O'Donnell. Taft Museum of Art, Cincinnati, Ohio, Taft collection 1931.299
Angel, donkey, and Balaam
Balaam with angel and donkey, copperplate engraving by William Marshall Craig.
Photos.com/Thinkstock
Important sites and regions of biblical Judaism.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Important historical sites of Hellenistic and medieval Judaism.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Geographical distribution of the religions of the world in the early 1980s.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
reading from the Torah
A man wearing a tallis and a yarmulke and reading from the Torah at the Beth Yaacov...
© Pascal Deloche—Stone/Getty Images
VIEW MORE
in these related Britannica articles:
Media for: Zionism
Media for: Jewish festivals
Media for: Hebrew literature
Media for: Yiddish literature
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