The Basics
Judaism is a term which requires strict definition. The religion of Moses prior to John the Baptist is the shared heritage of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity. Jews claim that Christians and Muslims are offshoots of Judaism, but Christians and Muslims claim that Judaism is the offshoot. That is to say, Christians claim that the religion of Moses was really Christianity the whole time, just in a nascent form. Likewise with Islam. Jews would of course claim that Judaism as practiced today is the same religion under different circumstances.
As such, I will first go over the scripture which is the shared heritage of all Abrahamic religions in five parts. Following that, I will describe the history and practices of Judaism since the destruction of the Second Temple. To skip the scripture and go straight to the description of post-temple era Judaism, click here.
Scripture: Adam
The story begins with God creating the heavens and the earth, and then “resting” on the seventh day. God crowns His creation with man, who is physically like the animals, but has the power of mind, by which he can know God. Indeed, this first man, Adam, did know God, and knew Him with a personal familiarity. God gives him a companion, a woman named Eve. They live in the Garden of Eden, a place of perfect natural happiness, and enjoy immunity from sickness and death.
In this garden the couple lives in, all good things are open to their enjoyment. There is only one stipulation: not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. A snake tempts the woman to break God’s rule, saying they would become gods, determining right and wrong for themselves. She and her husband eat of the tree, and are thus ousted from the Garden forever. God tells the snake that, due to this transgression, his head shall be crushed by one of Eve’s offspring – a king.
Already the scripture has greatly differentiated itself from the pagan world in multiple ways. Firstly, it begins with a God who is simply there. Unlike the Greek or Egyptian creation myths, where the gods come out of a preexisting void, this God preexists all things. Second, practically all non-Abrahamic mythology involves mankind being a mere plaything of the gods (Zeus, Loki, Krishna), often sources of sexual amusement. But this God sees mankind as the crown of His creation and treats them justly. Finally, this story condemns man trying to determine reality by relying on himself, symbolized by the fruit in the tree. There is only one truth and only one good – the one God.
Scripture: Abraham
Ousted from the garden, mankind now suffers the fate of normal animals – illness and death, namely. Both mind and will become weak without God’s special protection. Man could only know God as a shadow, not as a friend, and man could only control his passions with struggle, not with ease. The unpleasant results of this manifest quickly. Adam and Eve’s own son, Cain, kills his brother, Abel the shepherd, out of jealousy. The world descends into all sorts of impropriety – particularly idol worship and sexual misconduct. After bearing the evil for a long while, God floods the earth, saving the sole righteous man, Noah, and his family. He promises Noah that the earth will not be flooded again.
Several generations later, God chooses Abram, a man of faith, to be the father of His chosen nation. He renames him “Abraham” and his wife “Sarah,” and, despite their being very old, promises them a son named Isaac. First, he instructs Abraham that circumcision will be the sign of His covenant and sends him on a journey to a “Promised Land.” Abraham, growing older, becomes anxious for the Lord to make good on His promise, and has a son with a maid, naming him Ishmael. But shortly after, Abraham does have a son with Sarah, Isaac, as God promised.
Ismael grows up to be idolatrous, and God bids Abraham to send him into exile for his own good. God does not abandon Ishmael, but promises to give him his own nation. When Isaac is a young man, God instructs Abraham to take Isaac to a mountaintop and sacrifice him. The debacle with Ismael had taught Abraham not to be faithless, and he and Isaac obey. As Abraham is about to complete the sacrifice, an angel stops him and bids him sacrifice a ram instead. Again, this is an explicit departure from paganism – the gods of the pagans demand child sacrifice; this God demands faith.
In the middle of this story, there is one curious character: a priest named Melchizedek. Not much is said of him, but he is called “priest of God Most High,” and blesses Abraham with bread and wine. Abraham gave him a tenth of his possessions, beginning the practice of tithing.
Isaac grows up, marries, and then has two children after many years of trying: Jacob and Esau. Though Esau was the rightful heir as firstborn, he disregards and ultimately trades his birthright to Jacob for a bowl of soup. Jacob, though deeply flawed, had an inexhaustible faith like Abraham. This is signified by God literally taking a human form and wrestling with him, and Jacob refusing to give up until he receives a blessing. One might think of it like a father wrestling with his very young son, holding back to test his will. He receives his blessing and is renamed “Israel.”
Israel has 13 sons, one of whom, Joseph, was the most beloved. The brothers, envious that Israel loved him the most, kidnap him with murderous intent. Ultimately, his brother Judah sells him into slavery for 20 pieces of silver. Joseph becomes a slave in Egypt, but quickly gains favor with the Pharaoh for his prophetic abilities. He prophesies a famine, and convinces the Pharaoh to save up grain. The famine comes, and all the surrounding areas barter with Egypt for their excess grain – including the Israelite tribe. The 12 brothers come to Egypt to barter, resulting in Joseph revealing himself to them, forgiving them, and inviting them all to live in Egypt with him.
Scripture: The Law
Over time, the relationship between the Egyptians and the Israelites sours. The mighty Egyptians see the Israelites could serve as a great source of labor, and so they enslave them. But just as great numbers provide much value, too many Jews could overthrow their oppressors. For population control, the Egyptians order the killing of the Israelite firstborns, leading one mother to put her son in a basket and send him down the river. The Pharaoh’s daughter finds and takes him in, naming him Moses. Like Joseph, Moses rose to a high status. One day, he witnesses an Egyptian taskmaster beating a slave mercilessly, and he kills him. Fearing the Pharaoh, he flees to the land inhabited by the Ishmaelites (descendants of Isaac’s half-brother). There he stays for forty years, a “foreigner in a foreign land.”
One day, Moses sees a burning bush. Upon approaching it, a voice calls to him from the bush – the voice reveals itself to be the God of his forefathers. Significantly, He shares with Moses His name: I AM. He commands Moses to return to Egypt and free the slaves. Moses does not respond like some Herculean hero; he is uncertain of himself, admits to a speech impediment, and asks for help. God sends his brother Aaron to accompany him and speak on his behalf. The Pharaoh, of course, does not take this news lightly, and asks Moses for signs. The signs grow more and more extreme, in tandem with the Pharaoh’s growing obstinance.
The culmination of these signs comes in the story of the Passover. God tells Moses that He will kill the firstborn son of every household of Egypt, except those which mark their door frames with the blood of a slaughtered lamb. The Israelites follow the command, marking their doorposts with blood. The angel of death passes over all the Israelite homes marked with the blood of the lamb, and kills the firstborns of the Egyptians. At last, the broken Pharaoh orders Moses to take the Israelites and leave. Soon after, the Pharaoh’s sadness turns into rage, and he chases them with his army to kill them. Famously, Moses splits the waters of the Red Sea, which allows the Israelites safe passage, and then closes the sea again, drowning the soldiers chasing after them.
God then takes the nation to Mount Sinai, which He clouds in smoke and fire. He speaks directly to the people, and then to Moses as a representative atop the mountain. He gives Moses a covenant – that if the people obey His law, He will bring the people to the Promised Land – and writes the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets. The Ten Commandments are a codification of the natural law – that is, they explain to man what God made him to be like. God made man to know and love Him (#1-3) and know and love each other (#4-10). God supplied specific instructions for the construction of an Ark to store the Ten Commandments.
The Jews then enter a period of constant unfaithfulness. God curses them to wander the desert for forty years as punishment for their behavior. In their wandering, God fed them with bread from Heaven called Manna, which would appear every morning like the dew appears. When thirsty, God draws water for them from a stone. He gives them special laws and statutes of religion, on top of the natural law of the commandments. The Israelites are attacked by snakes, but God provides a remedy for the poison – to look upon an icon of a snake on a pole. God gives them military victories over attackers, led by Joshua in battle and watched over by Moses. Moses established the Sanhedrin, a high court with the authority to interpret God’s law and settle disputes.
Manna and eventually Aaron’s staff were added to the Ark of the Covenant, and the Ark was said to contain the very presence of God. It was stored in the “Holiest of Holies,” the sanctuary of the Jewish house of worship (which was, at this point, a tent). Every year, on the day of atonement (Yom Kippur), the high priest would enter the sanctuary of God’s presence and perform rituals according to the instruction given to Moses and Aaron. This was to atone for the sins of the people.
Approaching the Promised Land at last, Moses sends 12 spies into the territories. 10 are faithless and report that they cannot best the inhabitants; the other two, the faithful Joshua and Caleb, reported that the Israelites would surely have victory with God’s help. Moses dies soon after, and Joshua becomes the new leader of the Israelites. His story details seven years of warfare against the pagans who inhabited the land. As with the previous heroes, there were many missteps and many acts of great faith. One particularly astonishing event is when Joshua commands God to set still the sun so he can defeat the Gibeonites, and God obeys (Joshua 10:1-15).
Ultimately, out of the entire generation that entered the desert, only Joshua and Caleb lived to see the Promised Land in Israelite hands. The next twenty years are dedicated to establishing the law that God gave to Moses. The book of Joshua concludes by saying that God gave rest to Israel, like His own rest on the seventh day in Genesis.
Scripture: Kings
The following books detail Israel slipping into unfaithfulness again and again. Instead of blessing the nations around them, they become corrupted by them.
Israel’s faithlessness and corruption brings it to the brink of collapse at the hands of their enemies. To save His people, the Lord instates the prophet Samuel and has him install Saul as the first King. Saul’s story is a famous tragedy; despite God’s patience, his constant faithlessness leaves God no choice but to depart from him. At this point, the nation is at battle with the Philistines. A young shepherd boy named David is called forth by God to defeat their champion, Goliath. David cunningly uses a slingshot to slay the giant, and Samuel anoints him as God’s new king. Saul, much like Cain, Esau, and the brothers of Joseph, becomes envious to the point of murder. David is persecuted for a time, but Saul’s death in battle gives him the throne.
King David was called “the anointed one,” or “Messiah,” due to his anointing from Samuel. He was a great king, and he won Jerusalem for the Israelites, making it their capital and bringing the Ark of the Covenant there. He unites all the 12 tribes of Israel. But David, like his forefathers, is deeply flawed. He lusts over a woman, Bathsheba, wife to a loyal soldier in David’s army named Uriah. David summons Bathsheba and sleeps with her, and she becomes pregnant.
To protect her from suspicion of adultery, David summons her unsuspecting husband back from the front lines, encouraging him to go home for a few days. Uriah refuses, citing his duty to the soldiers. Uriah’s stalwart virtue juxtaposes with David’s degeneracy. Finally, David commands his general to send Uriah on a suicide mission, then marries Bathsheba after his death. But despite all this evil, David is not like Saul. He humbly admits his mistake, and accepts the Lord’s judgment that he is unworthy to build His temple.
David and Bathsheba have two sons. Despite not being the firstborn, God chooses the younger, Solomon, to be the next king. In a dream, God offers him a gift of his choice, and instead of asking for wealth or power, he asks for wisdom. God is pleased to grant this, and Solomon, though young, becomes the wisest king there ever was or ever would be. Of course, great wisdom leads to prosperity. He then uses his wisdom, wealth, and power to finally construct the Temple of Jerusalem. But again, like his forefathers, he falls into temptation. He permits his many wives from many lands to import their gods and worship them, eventually becoming idolatrous himself.
The Lord spares Israel the penalty for their unfaithfulness until Solomon’s death, on account of His promise to David. After Solomon’s natural death, his son Rehoboam, rightful heir to the throne, is challenged by Jeroboam, a rebellious servant. Jeroboam becomes the king of the tribes of the north (Israel), while the south (Judah) accepts Rehoboam, splitting the kingdom in two. The wars between these two powers, starting in about 1200 BC, are the main topic until 750 BC. One major exception is the story of Elijah in 900 BC. He is considered the greatest prophet, though no book bears his name. He stood against King Ahab of Israel and his wife Jezebel, who worshiped Phoenician gods. Among his many miracles, the most notable was calling down fire from Heaven to consume a sacrifice in the presence of Baal worshipers.
Scripture: Prophets
The writings of the prophets depart from the matter-of-factness of most other Biblical stories. They are vivid, and they relate to particular events of the time, but also carry a broader, deeper meaning. This is especially clear in retrospect, seeing as many of them intertwine prophecies which have come true with others which have not.
Around 750 BC, God calls Isaiah to be a prophet, to warn the people of impending judgment for their Godless ways. The book of Isaiah is lengthy, and the theme is a complex mixture of judgment and redemption. Isaiah oscillates between justice and mercy, and between nation and person. For example, he compares Judah to Sodom, a city utterly destroyed by God in Genesis. But in the same passage, he describes the deliverance of “the penitent ones” and the punishment of the unjust, who would be like wood, and their works a spark, and the fire unquenchable (Isaiah 1). The dual themes continue in the juxtaposition of a glorious future of peace and prosperity with the terrifying result of God’s wrath, though God makes it clear that His mercy and wrath both bring Him glory (Isaiah 2).
A very interesting portion called the “Songs of the Suffering Servant” in chapters 42, 49, 50, and 52, details an abused servant leading the nations, accepting the punishment due to others, and then receiving a reward. There is also a reference to a new and everlasting covenant which is open to people of all social strata, and even to foreigners, so long as they desire God (Isaiah 55, Isaiah 56). Isaiah’s prophecy concludes with a lengthy, hopeful description of the future. Israel is to be a light to all nations, to gather the gentiles to them, and to live in a city illuminated by God Himself, filled with the righteous (Isaiah 60).
Isaiah lives to see God’s judgment upon Israel: the Assyrians sack the northern kingdom in 720 BC. The ten tribes of Israel fail to reassemble after the resulting diaspora, later called “the lost tribes.” But the tragedy continues when the Babylonians sack Jerusalem around 590 BC, leaving King Zedekiah as a vassal leader. The remaining three major prophets are contemporaries of the Babylonian exile.
The next major prophet is Jeremiah, who also authors Lamentations. While “King” Zedekiah has several plans to oust the Babylonians through alliances with other vassal states, the Lord tells Jeremiah that patiently bearing the punishment would result in freedom. Zedekiah did not heed Jeremiah’s warnings. His plan with the Egyptians fails, and the Babylonians sack Jerusalem, destroying the temple, and sending all of Judah into exile. Jeremiah writes to the captives, warning them that they must avoid being enculturated and swallowed up by the Babylonians. Like Isaiah, judgment and hope fill his prophecy. Like Isaiah, he makes reference to a new and “everlasting” covenant to come after the exile is over (Jeremiah 32). This new covenant would last because God would make Himself known to the heart, not just the mind, and forgive the sins of the people (Jeremiah 31).
The last prophet I will detail is Ezekiel. Along with Jeremiah, he foretells the destruction of Judah. Afterwards, he prophesies about the era to come. Disturbingly, his prophetic rules for the next temple contradict the instructions from the Torah (see an extensive list here). He also contradicts the moral teachings of the Torah, seemingly revising the idea of patrilineal punishment with page after page about personal responsibility (Exodus 20:5, Ezekiel 18).
Like the other major prophets, Ezekiel has prophecies of destruction and of hope, though his are more vivid. He describes how Israel will be split into thirds to starve, be conquered, and scatter to the winds (Ezekiel 5). God shows Ezekiel a vision of flesh returning to bones, resurrecting them by the power of a mysterious spirit, and then promises a glorious, everlasting covenant with His people. Further still, God promises to gather the Israelites to live forever with Him and with their own descendants (Ezekiel 37).
After seventy years, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquers the Babylonians, returning the tribe of Judah to their home. He builds the Second Temple, ushering in a new era. This new era was different than the previous: the Jews remained faithful, shunning idols and worshiping the one God. The final book of the Jewish scripture is Chronicles, which focuses on the primacy of obedience, worship, and God’s promise.
Judaism
Modern Judaism began with Paul of Tarsus (St. Paul, to Christians) causing schism amongst the people. Paul of Tarsus was a Pharisee, the most conservative and tradition-oriented color of Jewish faith at the time. In his Pharisaic fervor, he persecuted the early Christians until Christ (reportedly) appeared to him and struck him blind. After that incident, he became an evangelist to Jew and gentile, his greatest skill was relating the words of the ancient scripture to the words and traditions of Jesus and the Christians.
Although the Jews at the time were not of one mind in matters of doctrine, the difference between the Christians and the existing religious groups was obviously more dramatic. While Pharisees and Sadducees could coexist under one umbrella, Christianity could not. Following Jewish rebellion, in 70 AD, the Romans sacked Jerusalem, destroyed the Second Temple, and exiled or killed 500,000 Jews. The exiled Jews then clung even harder to the law of Moses, as they had during their exile. This event sealed the schism.
But there was a problem: the sack of Jerusalem also marked the end of the Sanhedrin court. The Sanhedrin were the highest authority in the Jewish community, the “religious supreme court.” Only their authority was unquestionable. Without their power, Judaism split into even more wildly different interpretations. There was a brief period of reinstatement which ended in the fourth century, and no Sanhedrin has existed since then. Over time the differences between the different sects of Judaism became so deeply entrenched that a reestablishment of the Sanhedrin is no longer a real possibility. This has been proven by several attempts over the centuries. Any time they make a ruling that one sect doesn’t like, that sect just rejects them as illegitimate. Many Jews believe that only the Messiah could reinstate the Sanhedrin at this point.
This in mind, the modern Judaic religion is best understood through the Talmud, a guide composed of Rabbinical writings spanning from the third to seventh centuries. It represents an attempt to apply the extensive law of Moses to an unfamiliar world. It is a combination of the oral interpretation of the law, the Mishnah, and Rabbinical commentary and discussion, Gemara. The Talmud is a sort of legal codex, detailing the “rulings” in the Mishnah and the opinions in the Gemara.
Much of the Talmud is extremely minute. Here is a fourteen page tract on whether an egg laid on a festival day may be eaten the same day. And that is not a topic of utmost importance such as the Passover feast, or the Sabbath. One chapter on the Sabbath details permissible oils and wicks, whether a chair may be dragged, and whether a lamp may be extinguished under extreme circumstances. It is certainly not all minutiae, but much is.
Comparable to the Talmud in authority, but perhaps more influential and certainly more accessible are the writings of Moses Maimonides. His goal was to establish harmony between reason and revelation based on Aristotelian metaphysics. Aside from this intellectual departure from Jewish tradition, he was not afraid to delve into the philosophies of other faiths. By all accounts, Moses should’ve been a controversial character, but many of his teachings enjoy near-unanimous Jewish agreement. He is a central pillar of modern Judaism.
Big Ideas
There are three major sects in Judaism. The orthodox Jews defy the changing scenery of modernity and hold true to the strictures of the Torah as expressed by the Talmud. The reform Jews, formed as a response to orthodoxy, claim that Judaism is the “historical experience of the Jewish people.” They deny Judaism’s status as a sanctuary of divine truths required for salvation. Reform Judaism welcomes the reality that the temple is destroyed, the Sanhedrin disestablished, and the Mosaic law near-impossible to maintain in modern times. Reform Judaism seeks acceptance in their new communities over adherence to “archaic laws.” They reject such key principles as the restoration of Israel, sin-offerings, resurrection, and the afterlife.
Conservative Judaism is the response to the rejection of development by the orthodox and the rejection of tradition by the reform movement. They claim that change itself is part of Judaism… but only a part. They refer to the constant changes made throughout the scripture, suggesting the Talmudic era is a continuation of this trend. Conservatives maintain some key traditional practices, like honoring the Sabbath, but have taken broad strides away from the orthodox. They ordain female rabbis, practice mix-gender worship, usually allow active homosexuals to join liturgy, and hold the right to interpretation above the letter of the law.
Even within these three general schools of thought, there is endless variation. Just under half of Israeli Jews are secular, or irreligious. To quote an old Jewish saying, “two Jews, three opinions.” So what is Judaism? What is the substance of it?
To quote Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: “Because men eliminated God from life, nay, even from nature and found the basis of life in possessions and its aim in enjoyment, deeming life the product of the multitude of human desires, just as they looked upon nature as the product of a multitude of gods, therefore it became necessary that a people be introduced into the ranks of the nations which, through its history and life, should declare God the only creative cause of existence, fulfillment of His will the only aim of life; and which should bear the revelation of His will, rejuvenated and renewed for its sake, unto all parts of the world as the motive and incentive of its coherence.
This mission required for its carrying out a nation poor in everything upon which the rest of mankind reared the edifice of its greatness and its power, externally subordinate to the nations armed with proud reliance on self, but fortified by direct reliance on God; so that by suppression of every opposing force God might reveal Himself directly as the only Creator, Judge and Master of nature and history.”
Judaism is best understood not as a religion in the western sense, but as an identity. Nearly all Jews today descend from Abraham, from those lost in the desert with Moses, from those who conquered Canaan, from those who lived through the Babylonian exile and the Roman diaspora. One who converts has an equal share in this legacy, although it is not by blood. However a Jew understands God – whether as a truly existent being, or simply an idea – the Jewish people have a special relationship with Him. However a Jew understands the Messiah – a true person, or a symbol – the Jews believe he will come. Although few agree on theology, they all agree that being Jewish means something, and that something finds its expression in Judaism.
Conclusion
Judaism is an ethno-religion based on interpretation of the ancient Abrahamic scriptures. It is best understood through the Talmud, but there are as many ideas about Judaism as there are Jews.
My critique of Judaism will center on two arguments. First, that the only convincing evidence of Jewish scriptural legitimacy is Christian scripture. Second, that Talmudic Judaism is contradicted by these same scriptures.
You can follow the hyperlink here or navigate to the critiques using the menu.