MAJOR CULTURAL CHANGE
The Jewish culture and outlook changed from Near Eastern to Hellenic.
New institutions arose:
- the synagogue (house of worship and study)
- the rabbi (religious authority)
- the yeshivot (academies for rabbis)
70CE, the Romans destroyed the Temple. This ended the functioning priesthood.
THE JEWISH STAR
One triangle, the points represent God, Torah, and Israel.
The other triangle, the points represent the deeds of creation, revelation, and redemption.
THE HEBREW SCRIPTURES
"The Hebrew Scriptures.. contain twenty-four books. The Scriptures, or Bible, are divided into three sections--the Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings.The proper Jewish name for Bible, TANAK, is an acronym for the titles of the three sections:
- Torah (Law – the five books of Moses)
- Nevi'im (Prophets)
- Ketuvim (Writings)
Christians call the Tanak the Old Testament, but this name is not favored by Jews" (Wylen, 12).
"Torah" means "Teaching," or "instruction."
It is also called "Humash" (for "five)
In Greek, it is known as the Septuagint.
In a broader sense, "Torah refers to all of the interpretations, commentaries, extensions and applications of the Torah which have accrued over the centuries" (Wylen, 13).
TWO-FOLD TORAH
The phrase "twofold Torah" refers to the Jewish way of reading the Septuagint.
There is the written Torah, and the oral Torah.
The oral Torah is an unbroken chain of oral teachings going back to Moses on how to live by the law.
"... whatever the rabbinic scholars said in their academies had already been taught to Moses on Mt. Sinae" (Wylen, 13).
"The traditions of the rabbis were eventually committed to writing in the Talmud, but they are still called the Oral Torah. Torah and Talmud together, the Written and Oral Torahs, make up the total Scriptures of the Jews" (Wylen, 13).
Jewish elementary education focuses on the Written Torah.
Jewish adult education focuses on the Oral Torah--how to live by the Written Torah.
Hence, they see Bible-reading as superfluous.
The tradition is to re-read the Bible once each year as part of the liturgy.
They don't believe that God speaks out of the Biblical text.
Rather, they believe that God's voice is heard through their inherited traditions.
Hence, they do not print just the Written Torah or Bible,
rather, they print and read the MIKRAOT GEDOLOT, and "expanded Scriptures."
This book contains the text of the Bible in the middle of the page, surrounded by learned commentaries." (Wylen).
In other words, they read the Written Torah, then they read the commentaries to find out what they read.
Modernist movements in Judaism have tried to restore the primacy of the Bible (Reform and Zionist).
Many modern Jews prefer to study Jewish history, philosophy, etc., rather than the sacred texts.
In Israel, however, Bible study remains strong. (Wylen)
PARDES
"The Jewish mystics of the late Middle Ages identified four different levels of interpretation of Scripture
These four levels are together called "PaRDeS," or the "garden," after the first letter of the name of each level:
- peshat
- remez
- derash
- sod
Peshat is the literal level of meaning.
Remez is allegory....
Derash is the rabbinic method of interpretation by which we derive laws and the message of faith and hope.
Sod is the meaning revealed only to the mystic.
HALAKHA
"The body of rabbinic law is called HALAKHA.
Every individual law is called A halakha...
Halakha literally means "the way."
Halakha is the path one follows in order to live by God's intention." (Wylen).
Talmud & Mishnah
The first written volume of Oral Torah was the Mishnah, written by Rabbi Judah the Patriarch around 200 CE.
Then came the TALMUD OF ISRAEL, around 400 CE
Then the TALMUD OF BABYLONIA, written around 500 CE.
The last became the primary source for halakha.
SUMMARY
"Torah provides Mitzvot which are the basis of halakha.
Halakha is based on the Talmud" (Wylen).
"Torah study is the most sacred of activities"
Parable of the pharmacy (told by Judah Halevi)
--a trained person heals; an ignorant one kills
"The world stands on three pillars--on Torah, on worship, and on deeds of loving kindness." (Wylen).
"Rabbi Elijah of Vilna, a renowned scholar, was reported to have said, "If an angel were to offer me all the knowledge of the Torah at once, I would not accept it. For study, not knowledge, is the chief thing."
The act of Torah study is believed to create character, to purify the soul, and to bring the student into relationship with God" (Wylen, 20).
"..what is most important is the joy of study and the presence of the sacred that one discovers through study" (Wylen, 21).
A quote from the Torah, Deuteronomy 30:12...
"It (God's law) is not in the heavens, that you should say, 'Who will go up to the heavens and get it for us and teach it to us?' .. No, the matter is very close to you, your mouth and your heart, that you may do it" (Wylen, 21).
PILPUL
"The preferred method of Torah study was for partners to join together and discuss the text, drawing out every possibility in the text to its furthest logical consequences. This method of study through logical debate is called pilpul, or pepper.
TORAH AS SALVATION
Unlike Christians, "Jews do not believe that the purpose of the Messiah is to bring salvation from sin.
In Jewish belief it is Torah that brings salvation from sin.
The Torah is already in the world; in Jewish eyes the means to salvation is ever at hand.
Not faith in a Savior, but observance of the Torah, brings salvation to the individual.
Jews and Christians both believe that their salvation is present and readily available.
The difference between the Christian and Jewish concept of salvation is a difference in the concept of what it means to be human.
One concept of humanity leads to the belief that faith in Christ brings salvation.
A different concept leads to the belief that observance of mitzvot brings salvation…" (Wylen, 1996: 24).
DEFINITION OF HUMANITY
"Jews believe that a human being is born neither good nor evil by nature…
The Jewish idea of the moral nature of mankind is not based on the Garden of Eden story, from which Christians derive the concept of Original Sin, but rather on the story of Cain and Abel.
God says to Cain, "Sin crouches at the door; its urge is toward you, yet you may be it master" (Gen. 4:7)" (Wylen, 24).
B’RIT
The relationship between God and man—usually translated as "covenant"—is called B’rit.
The covenant was made with the people as a whole, and "can only be fulfilled by the people as a whole" (Wylen, 46).
"The traditional Jewish concept of the religious community is different from the concept found in America and some other modern countries that religion is a personal affair…
Traditional Judaism was the religion of a nation… In Israel and in multi-national states such as the USSR, Jews are still thought of as a distinct nation" (Wylen, 46).
"Since traditional Judaism is the religion of a nation, Judaism could only be observed and fulfilled in the context of national life.
Jewish religion could not be separated from the Jewish land, language, law, and culture…
The festivals, prayers, laws, and practices of Judaism relate to the geography and climate of the land of Israel.
Jews continued to observe the harvest festival at the time of the harvest in Israel, even when they lived in lands that had a different harvest season.
They continued to pray for rain at the time of year when the land of Israel is in need of rain" (Wylen, 46)
"The very term "Jew" is in origin national rather than religious.
A Jew is a person from the Kingdom or Province of Judah…
Judah was one of the 127 provinces of the Persian empire…
Jews lived in many lands, but always under their own national laws and with their own national culture" (Wylen, 47).
NAMING CHILDREN
"Eight days after birth a Jewish boy is entered into the covenant of Abraham in the ritual of circumcision" (Wylen, 64).
"At the time the child is given a name…
Girls are named when they are presented in the synagogue about a month after birth" (Wylen, 69-70).
"Ashkenazic Jews usually name a child after a deceased relative.
Sephardic Jews name after a living relative, often the grandfather of the child.
Many American Jews have two different names. They have a secular name which they use in everyday situations and a Jewish name which is a Hebrew or Yiddish equivalent of the secular name.
This Jewish name is used only on sacred occasions.
The patronymic or last name is not used as part of the religious name
The Jewish custom is to call a person by his or her name followed by the name of the father, So-and-so ben (son of) so-and-so, or so-and-so bat (daughter of) so-and-so." (Wylen, 70).
"The first day of a child’s education begins around the age of five. In former times the child on his first day of school would be dressed in white and paraded on the shoulders of important members of the community.
In a ceremonial lesson the child would be taught the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Then they would give him sweets to eat, so that the child would learn that Torah learning is sweet" (Wylen, 70).
"At the age of thirteen for boys and twelve and a half for girls a child become bar mitvah—"liable for the commandments."
Before this age a child’s behavior is the responsibility of the parents.
Now the child is expected to have the maturity and knowledge to fulfill the mitzvot for himself" (Wylen, 70).
"The marriage rate has always been very high in Jewish society.
Marriage is considered to be the natural state of a human being.
An unmarried person is thought to be only half a person; in marriage two halves become one whole.
The sexual relationship between husband and wife is considered to be no concession to human weakness but a gift of God and a pathway to holiness.
The joy which husband and wife give to each other is a mitzvah [a blessed obligation]" (Wylen, 72).
"The traditional age for marriage was about eighteen or twenty…
Until modern times marriages were usually arranged by the parents of the bride and groom.
A shadkan, a marriage broker, often helped to bring the two families together…
Jewish law did provide that the bride and groom should meet before the arrangments were sealed, and each had the right of refusal" (Wylen, 73).
"In Talmudic law a wife is acquired by three means: by gift, by contract, and by cohabitation. The marriage ceremony includes all three.
The gift is the wedding ring.
The contract is the ketubah [traditionally written in Aramaic].
Immediately after the ceremony the couple are secluded for a period of fifteen minutes, a symbolic cohabitation" (Wylen, 73-4).
Judaism’s most important prayer is the Shema (Steinsaltz):
A mitzvah is a divine commandment, "An act performed in agreement with God’s will" (Glustrom).
There are, officially, 613 mitzvot. They are defined by the great medieval legalist and philosopher, Maimonides, in his Mishneh Torah.
An averah is a transgression against God; the opposite of a mitzvah (Glustrom).
The joy of fulfilling a commandment; a sense of privelege.
The Talmud says, "When a man faces his maker he will have to give a reckoning for the joys of life that he has failed to experience." (Glustrom).
Love, charity. This comes from the Biblical word Tzedek, meaning righteousness or justice.
"Helping those in need… is a relgious obligation to establish justice… The Bible does not regard man’s possessions as really belonging to him, but rather to God. Therefore, in helping the underpriveleged, he is merely a guardian, distributing God’s wealth where it rightfully belongs" (Glustrom, 15).
Maimonides said that "the highest form of charity is to help strengthen the hand of the poor by giving him a loan, or to join him in partnership, or to find him work… to help him establish himself" (Glustrom).
"Giving charity through societies or organizations never absolved the Jew from personal charity. On frequent occasions he remembered the poor. Every celebration, every holiday was marked by gifts to the needy.
In pre-modern Europe, every house contained tin boxes that supported institutions and individuals. Coins were deposited before the housewife kindled the Sabbath candles. The members of the household placed coins in the boxes before or after family crises occurred…" (Glustrom16).
"…the need for giving tzedakah does not end with.. organizational campaigns. There are people in need who are too proud to seek aid through an agency; others are in drastic need of immediate aid… Jewish law explicitly states that it is forbidden to turn away any man who seeks help" (Glustrom,16).
Compassion, pity, including "the unique ability even to feel compassion for those who have wronged us or who have failed to develop the capacity to love others" (Glustrom17).
The essential meaning of rahhamuth is the "ability to mature beyond self-centeredness" (Glustrom, 17).
The law against needless destruction; the prohibition against wasting or destroying any useful thing.
The idea here is that we do not own anything.
Everything rightfully belongs to God.
"All our possessions have been given in trust on condition that we make wise use of them" (Glustrom, 23).
Used as a greeting or farewell. [cf. "Salaam aleichem" and Aleichem salaam"]
The dictionary says shalom means peace, tranquillity; welfare; greeting, hello, goodbye.
Glustrom translates it as "completeness".
He says that "tradition reveals that SHALOM is one of the names of God alnd should not be uttered in an unclean place." (Glustrom, 27).
Hospitality. An essential mitzvah, "sharing one’s table is preferred to giving money to the needy… Abraham gave food and drink even to idolators..
We are advised to show hospitality indiscriminately, even to those we suspect do not need our help" (Glustrom).
Decency or acceptable behavior. How you act with your fellow man… good manners, neat appearance, clean and polite. (Glustrom).
Regard (kevod) or love (ahavat) for human beings. This concept stresses the dignity of each person—one of the highest goals of the Jewish religion.
Since man is made in the divine image, he is of inestimable worth (Ben Azzai).
Each person represents a world.
"Jewish tradition proclaims that caring for the needs of one’s fellow man takes precedence over communion with God" (Glustrom, 47).
Modesty. It implies modesty in all things—dress, chastity, humility, dignity.
"Especially worthy of praise is the woman, the tznuah, who does not seek attention by her provocative appearance…" (Glustrom, 89).
Soul-searching.
"The very essence of the expression "to pray" in Hebrew means to judge oneself—to undergo a rigid self-examination…
Nowhere does God "make" a person change his ways. Change can only come from within, where there is realization through rigorous self-appraisal that one has failed to live up to his moral commitments" (Glustrom, 93).
"Self-appraisal cultivates humility; through humility one becomes aware of himself as he really is" (Glustrom, 94).
[compare this to the Christian view of humility…
"Put in simple terms, humility means to live as close to the truth as possible: the truth about ourselves, the truth about others, the truth about the world in which we live. It has nothing whatever to do with a Casper Milquetoast kind of personality. It does not mean groveling or finding the worst possible things to say about ourselves.
"Humility is, in fact, filled with power to bring forth life. The word itself comes from the Latin humus, which means fertile ground. "Humility," writes Anthony Bloom, "is the situation of the earth"… The earth, Bloom reminds us, is always with us, always taken for granted, always walked on by everyone. It is the place where we dump our garbage. "It’s there," continues Bloom, "silent and accepting everything and in a miraculous way making out of all the refuse new richness…transforming corruption itself into a power of life and a new possibility of creativeness, open to the sunshine, open to the rain, ready to receive any seed we sow and capable of bringing thirtyfold, sixtyfold, a hundredfold out of every seed." Such is the power of humility" (Foster, 1992: 61).
"Several of Benedict’s steps focus on our relationship with God: "Have a constant reverence for God before our eyes; reject our own will and desires and, instead, do God’s will; confess all of our evil thoughts and all of our evil actions to the Lord." Three of the steps deal with our use of the tongue, underscoring the importance of this single aspect of our lives. We are to cultivate silence, avoid frivolous talk, and use plain, simple speech. One of the steps of humility is "enduring with patience the injuries and affliction we face." Another is "to be content in all things."
"In each case the point of the teaching is its triviality. Simple, ordinary things are undertaken for the love of God. As we experience the many little deaths of going beyond ourselves, we increasingly enter into the grace of humility" (62).
Mother Teresa says of humility:
The name of God.
The name of God—yod, hei, vav, hei—was revealed to Moses at the burning bush..
In conversation, Hashem, meaning The Name, is uttered to protect God’s name… from irreverence or blasphemy.
In the temple, God was referred to as Elohim, Lord.
Several Hebrew expression have been used by religious Jews regardless of the language they are accustomed to speak:
""The women have to sit in a balcony, behind a curtain yet," said Ms. Goldman with indignation.
""Only in Orthodox synagogues," the rabbi pointed out, "and old-fashioned ones at that. The idea is that the sight of the women might distract the men from their prayers. You could argue that it is complimentary to women. It was not so long ago that practically all colleges were either for men or for women; only state colleges were coeducational…."
""My grandfather said the public schools were segregated by sex, too," a student volunteered. "Girls sat on one side of the room and boys on the other."
"The rabbi nodded. "Does that explain it for you, Ms. Goldman? If you lookinto the matter in depth, I think you’ll find that women have what many would regard as a preferred position in Judaism. The center of our religion is not the synagogue, but the home, and there the woman is obviously in command. And then there is the matter of the Ketubah. What is a Ketubah, anyone?"
""It’s the marriage contract, isn’t it?" said a student.
""That’s right, Mr.—er—"
""Ritter. Asher Ritter."
""You’re quite right, Mr. Ritter. But it’s a one-way contract. It gives the duties of the grroom and the promises he makes to the bride, but there is no corresponding list of obligations and promises of the bride to the groom."
""But he can divorce her, if he wants to," said the other female student.
""Not unless she is willing to accept the bill of divorcement, Ms. Sachs," said the rabbi. "Not since the ruling of Rabbi Gershom in the eleventh century. Originally we were a polygamous society, as were all other societies at the time. But we have made changes in our rules, or re-interpreted them, to conform to more modern habits of thoughts."
(Kemelman, 1996: 77-8)
"The rabbi was puzzled and uncertain. "Then you want me to pray for victory?"
""Well, naturally we’d like our folks to win, but we’re not competing as a town, if that’s what you mean."
""Then I’m not quite sure that I understand. You mean that you just want the boats themselves blessed?"
""That’s the idea rabbi. Your job would be to bless the boats, not only ours, but all those that are in the harbor at the time."
""I don’t know," said the rabbi doubtfully. "I haven’t had much experience in that sort of thing. You see, our prayers are rarely petitionary. We don’t so much ask for things that we don’t have as give thanks for what we have received."
""I don’t understand."
"The rabbi smiled. "It’s something like this. You Christians say, ‘Our Father who art in Heaven, give us this day our daily bread.’ Our comparable prayer is, ‘Blessed art Thou, O Lord, who bringest forth bread from the earth.’ That’s rather over-simplified, but in general our prayers tend to be prayers of thanksgiving for what has been given to us. Of course, I could offer thanks for the boats which provide us with the pleasures of sailing. It’s a little far-fetched; I’d have to think about it. I’m not really in the blessing business, you know."
"Macomber laughed. "That’s a curious way of putting it. I don’t suppose Monsignor O’Brien who did it a couple of years ago, or Dr. Skinner who took a turn at it one year, think of themselves as being in the blessing business either. But they did it."
""It’s at least more appropriate to their respective professions than it is to mine."
""Aren’t you all in the same profession?"
""Oh no, we stem from different traditions, all three of us. Monsignor O’Brien is a priest in the tradition of the priests of the Bible, the sons of Aaron. He has certain powers, magical powers, that he exercises in the celebration of the Mass, for example, where the bread and wine are magically changed to the body and blood of Christ. Dr. Skinner as a Protestant minister is in the tradition of the prophets. He has received a call to preach the word of God. I, a rabbi, am essentially a secular figure, having neither the mana of the priest nor the "call" of the minister. If anything, I suppose we come closest to the judges of the Bible."
(Kemelman, 1964: 180-181)
Dimont, Max I. Jews, God and History. NY: Signet, 1962.
Foster, Richard J. Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home. San Francisco: HarperCollins, 1992.
Glustrom, Simon. The Language of Judaism. Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1988. ISBN 0-87668-874-1.
Kemelman, Harry. That Day the Rabbi Left Town. NY: Fawcet Crest, 1996.
Kemelman, Harry. Friday the Rabbi Slept Late. NY: Fawcet Crest, 1964.
Mother Teresa. No Greater Love. Novato, CA: New World Library, 1997.
Steinsaltz, Adin. The Sustaining Utterance: Discourses on Chasidic Thought.
Wylen, Stephen M. Settings of Silver: An Introduction to Judaism. NY: Paulist Press, 1989.
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EDUCATION
MARRIAGE
TERMINOLOGY
SHEMA
"Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One."
MITZVAH
AVERAH
SIMHAH SHEL MITZVAH
TZEDAKAH
RAHAMANUTH
BAL TASH’HCHEETH
SHALOM
HAKHNASATH ORHIM
DEREKH ERETZ
KEVOD HAVERIYOTH
TZNEE’UTH
CHESHBON HANAPHESH
"A second classical approach to Formation Prayer is the active pursuit of humility described in The Rule of St. Benedict. Using the metaphor of Jacob’s ladder, Benedict discusses twelve steps into humility" (Foster, 1992: 60).
"Be sincere in your prayers. Sincerity is humility, and you acquire humility only by accepting humiliations. All that has been said about humility is not enough to teach you humility. All that you have read about humility is not enough to teach you humility. You learn humility only by accepting humiliations. And you will meet humiliation all through your life. The greatest humiliation is to know that you are nothing. This you come to know when you face God in prayer" (Mother Teresa, 6-7).
HASHEM
BARUKH HASHEM
Thank God
BE'EZRAT HASHEM
With the help of God (all plans and letters are begun with the initials BH)
IM YIRTZEH HASHEM
If it please God (cf. "Imshallah" in Arabic--- Accompanies every promise or wish)
Women in Judaism
The Rabbi
References
by Colby Glass, MLIS.
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