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    Judaism - Simple Guides
    Judaism - Simple Guides
    Judaism - Simple Guides
    Ebook154 pages1 hour

    Judaism - Simple Guides

    By David Starr-Glass

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    About this ebook

    THIS BOOK WILL HELP YOU
    • to appreciate the wisdom of the world's oldest monotheistic religion
    • to understand what it means to be a Jew • to recognize the key Jewish festivals and the different aspects of Jewish practice and belief
    • to avoid faux pas in conversation, in travelling and in personal relationships Judaism is the world's oldest monotheistic religion.

    While the number of its adherents has always been small, its principles and ethics have influenced Christianity and Islam, and its holy book, the Hebrew Bible, is arguably the foundation document of Western civilization. The most important principle in Judaism is the belief in a single, ineffable Godhead, who created the universe and continues to govern it with justice and compassion. According to Jewish tradition, Judaism began with the covenant between God and Abraham, the patriarch and progenitor of the Jewish people. The central moment in their spiritual journey was the revelation of His laws to Moses on Mount Sinai, acceptance of which bound them to create a moral and ethical society that would be "a light unto nations". Traditionally, Judaism places great value on study of the Torah and the observance of its commandments. It is, however, as much a religion of doing as of thinking, and Jews strive for a balance between thought and deed in carrying out the Divine task of "repairing" the world. In modern Judaism there is no earthly hierarchy: authority lies in its sacred texts, religious law, and learned rabbis who interpret those texts and laws for changing times. Judaism is at once a subtle, practical, collective, and personal religion in which each believer enters into a direct relationship with God. This engaging book is not just a concise and readable introduction to its history, beliefs, teachings, and practices, but a shared exploration of the inner vitality and wisdom of the Jewish world. ACCESS THE WORLD'S RELIGIONS Simple Guides: Religion is a series of concise, accessible introductions to the world's major religions. Written by experts in the field, they offer an engaging and sympathetic description of the key concepts, beliefs and practices of different faiths. Ideal for spiritual seekers and travellers alike, Simple Guides aims to open the doors of perception. Together the books provide a reliable compass to the world's great spiritual traditions, and a point of reference for further exploration and discovery. By offering essential insights into the core values, customs and beliefs of different societies, they also enable visitors to be aware of the cultural sensibilities of their hosts, and to behave in a way that fosters mutual respect and understanding.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKuperard
    Release dateNov 1, 2008
    ISBN9781857336382
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      Judaism - Simple Guides - David Starr-Glass

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      List of Illustrations

      Holy ark of the synagogue in Recife, Brazil

      Semitic tribesman, c. 1800 BCE

      Canaanite household, c. 1500 BCE

      The short ceremony of kiddush

      The Shabbat welcome in a Jewish home

      Bas-relief of Judean exiles, c. 700 BCE

      Tenth-century BCE altar from the Israelite city of Megido

      Shrine of the Book, Israel Museum, Jerusalem

      Isaiah scroll, Israel Museum, Jerusalem

      Children – the centre of the Jewish family

      The havdala ceremony

      Stone relief of charging Philistines, c. twelfth-century BCE

      Model of the Second Temple, Jerusalem, Israel Museum

      The lights of Chanukka

      Artist’s impression of Moses leading his people through the wilderness

      Children studing one of the holy texts

      Wearing t’fillin

      Frieze of the Ark of the Covenant from a third-century CE synagogue

      Praying at the Western, or Wailing, Wall

      Inside the Dohány Street Synagogue, Budapest

      Preface

      The Torah begins with the second letter of the alphabet, and each tractate of the Talmud begins with page two, to suggest that the human mind cannot comprehend the perfect unity [the ‘alef’; the ‘one’] which preceded God’s revelation of His being.

      RABBINICAL SAYING

      There was a time when if we wanted to know something about another culture we went to a museum. We would look at objects – masks, pots, baskets, weapons, ritual articles, clothes – and tried to imagine who had made these things and why. And, of course, we remained essentially isolated and unconnected to the vibrancy which had created these artifacts. Today, we recognize that to appreciate a culture other than our own is to make a conscious voyage of discovery: it is to attempt to understand the patterns which shape the lives and actions of those who are not us; an attempt to remain open to newness and to take intellectual risks.

      Many consider that in trying to appreciate another culture it is helpful if someone within the culture attempts to guide those on its outside. Rather than look at display cases of glass, the person exploring the new culture is encouraged to walk beyond the glass and make contact with the guide on the other side. In this Simple Guide to Judaism I have tried to present this opportunity to you. The pages that follow are not intended to provide an objective study of texts and artifacts, but rather a subjective exploration of the things which make me a Jew. I hope that through this shared exploration you will come to a shared appreciation of the Jewish world as I perceive it.

      A scribe writing on the parchment scroll of a Sefer Torah

      Hebrew words have been transliterated into vowels and consonants which have their standard English pronunciation. While Hebrew has acquired different regional pronunciations (particularly noticeable between the Ashkenazim and Sephardim), modern Hebrew has been used (which incidentally coincides with Sephardic pronunciation). Note that the letters ‘ch’ are pronounced as in the Scottish ‘loch’. In modern Hebrew the last syllable is normally stressed.

      I have used the English word ‘God’ when referring to the Creator, despite that fact that this word has acquired many connotations in English which do not necessarily match the Hebrew. By the way, in Hebrew ‘God’ is a masculine noun and I have therefore used He and His: this should be interpreted neither as an anthropomorphism nor as gender-biased language.

      Many people have helped me assemble this short guide. The gratitude which I owe to my master and teacher Rabbi Boruch Epstein, of blessed memory, is impossible to quantify. His presence is as direct now as it was when I first met him a quarter of a century ago. I thank my friends and colleagues Rabbi Nosson Geisler and Rabbi Dr Menachem Gordon, who reviewed sections of this text. Their advice was invaluable, and any errors which remain, or any imperfections in implementing their suggestions, are mine alone.

      I also thank my editor and publisher Paul Norbury for his editorial skill, enthusiasm and decisiveness in this project. Nina, my wife, and our children have provided encouragement and suggestions for which I am most grateful. Finally, I would like to thank you, the reader: without you I could not have written and without you I could not serve as a guide.

      DAVID STARR-GLASS

      Jerusalem

      Chapter 1

      What is Judaism?

      Who are Jews? What is Judaism? These questions are entwined, and in that intertwining there is a great deal of latitude for confusion. In a more perfect world a Jew should be one who believes and practises the tenets of Judaism: there should be an alignment between the who and the what. However, in a less than perfect world, there is an inevitable slippage between ethnic identity and religious conviction. This slippage can make it very difficult for the non-Jewish observer to understand the essential aspects of both being a Jew and practising Judaism.

      Let us begin with a more general question. If Jews are part of humanity, and if Judaism is part of a mosaic of world religions, what (from a Jewish perspective) is the purpose of humanity at large – of Creation?

      Jewish View of Creation

      The traditional Jewish understanding of the Creation is that God brought the universe into existence and created primordial Man (Adam) and Woman (Eve, or Chava). His creation was aware of Him and had the ability to relate to Him. However, they were also conscious of their own, not necessarily congruent, desires and agendas: they were created with free will. God desired a symmetry of love and responsibility but His children could not enter into this relationship and became alienated from Him. Later, the progeny of Adam and Eve – humanity as a whole – grew more distanced from their source of being. Increasingly, they saw a fragmented world with separated powers and forces. They lost a sensitivity for the oneness of their Creator and for their unity within Him.

      The Star of David – two triangles symbolizing the balance of the universe, found on medieval Kabbalistic amulets

      Jewish tradition accepts that Abraham (Avraham), the son of an idol-maker, saw the transcending unity of God in spite of the idolatry that surrounded him in his native Charan, a city in northern Mesopotamia, in what is now southeast Turkey near the border with Syria. This happened about three-and-a-half thousand years ago. Abraham and his wife, Sarah, set out first to explore, then to proclaim, a religion of unity. Abraham practised many of the precepts

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