Judaism
Quick Survey
 

Scriptures:
    The word of God is revealed in the Hebrew Bible (or Old Testament), especially in that part known as the Torah. The Torah also contains, according to rabbinic tradition, a total of 613 biblical commandments, including the Ten Commandments, which are explicated in the Talmud.  
    Scriptures: Tanakh, Torah, Talmud, Mishna... Bibles in Hebrew and different languages, commentaries, dictionary, concordance, encyclopedia, apocrypha
   
    The next leader of the Israelites, Moses, led his people out of captivity in Egypt and received the Law from God. Joshua later led them into the promised land where Samuel established the Israelite kingdom with Saul as its first king. King David established Jerusalem and King Solomon built the first temple there. In this time of prosperity the Wisdom Books came up, Psalms, Proverbs... Later on, in times of distress, the Prophets appeared, Isaiah, Jeremiah...
    The worship of Yahweh (God) was centered in Jerusalem from the time of David. In 70 CE the temple was destroyed and the Jews were scattered throughout the world.
    The Jews were later allowed to return by the Persians, but an unsuccessful rebellion against Roman rule led to the destruction of the Second Temple in AD 70 and, again, the Jews' dispersal throughout the world in the Jewish Diaspora.
    Rabbinic Judaism emerged to replace the temple cult at Jerusalem with the Synagogue and a life of good ethics. The great body of oral law and commentaries were committed to writing in the Talmud and Mishna. The religion was maintained despite severe persecutions in many nations, thanks, among other things, to the Sabbath (the day of rest of the Lord) and the Synagogue.
   
    - Two branches of Judaism emerged in the Middle Ages, the 12th century: The traditional Sephardim ("Sefardic"), centered in Spain and culturally linked with the Babylonian Jews; and the more liberal Ashkenazi ("Ashkenazic"), centered in France and Germany and linked with the Jewish culture of Palestine and Rome. They still represent the main thoughts of today's Judaism.
    - Elements of mysticism also appeared, notably the esoteric writings of the Kabbala in the 13th century, and, in the 18th century, the movement known as Hasidism. The 18th century was also the time of the Jewish Enlightenment, or Haskala.
    - Reform and Conservative Judaism emerged in 19th-century Germany as an effort to modify the strictness of Orthodox Judaism.
    - By the end of the 19th century Zionism had appeared as an outgrowth of reform to secure a homeland in Israel for the Jews and to support the new State of Israel in its struggles amidst the Arab Islamic world.
    - European Judaism suffered terribly during the Holocaust, when millions were put to death by the Nazis, and the rising flow of Jewish emigrants to Palestine led to declaration of the State of Israel in 1948.

    Two kinds of Judaism:
    1- Judaism "before Christ": Centered in the Altar, with sacrifices, priests, Temple... the Judaism of Abraham, Moses, David, Isaiah, Jesus...
    2- Judaism "after Christ": "Rabbinic Judaism", centered in the Synagogue, with rabbis (teachers), but no Altar, nor sacrifices, nor priests, nor Temple... today's Judaism.
    The Torah is the most sacred book of Judaism today, and dedicates 27 full chapters to the Altar, sacrifices, and priests (Ex.25-40, Lev.1-6, 23-25, Num.28-29)... plus Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob spent a good time of their lives erecting altars and offering sacrifices... and now, all of them are "obsolete" for today's Rabbinic Judaism... If Abraham or Moses would come today to New York or Israel they would not recognize Judaism!... without altar? no sacrifice? no priests?
    The Scriptures are really being fulfilled to the letter: The Altar, Temple, sacrifices, and priests, will be abolished after the coming of the Messiah (Daniel 8:11, 9:27, 11:31, 12:11). Judaism
    Temple and Synagogue: The difference between "Temple" and "Synagogue":
    - In the "Temple" God is present in the Ark of the Covenant. In Christianity, in the Tabernacle.
    - "Synagogue" means "hall of meetings", to meet and teach and pray, but God is not present, there is no Ark of the Covenant, nor Tabernacle in Christianity. The Synagogue and the Temple

    Today's Judaism:
    It is the Rabbinic Judaism just mentioned, without altar nor sacrifice nor priests, and the religious observance takes place both at home and in the synagogue.
    There are three main groups who vary in their interpretation of those parts of the Torah that deal with personal, communal, international, and religious activities:
    1- The Orthodox community, which views the Torah as derived from God, and therefore absolutely binding. This the oldest, most conservative, and most diverse form of Judaism. Modern Orthodox, Chasidim and Ultra Orthodox share a basic belief in the derivation of Jewish law, even as they hold very different outlooks on life. They attempt to follow the original form of Judaism as they view it to be. They look upon every word in their sacred texts as being divinely inspired.
    2- The Reform movement: They are a liberal group, followed by many North American Jews. The movement started in the 1790's in Germany. They follow the ethical laws of Judaism, but leave up to the individual the decision whether to follow or ignore the dietary and other traditional laws. They use modern forms of worship. There are many female rabbis in reform congregations.
    3- The Conservative Jews, who follow most of the observances set out in the Torah but allow for change in the face of modern life. This began in the mid-nineteenth century as a reaction against the Reform movement. It is a main-line movement midway between Reform and Orthodox. It was brought to America by Solomon Schechter, and it is called the United Synagogue of America.
    4- A fourth group, Reconstructionist Jews: This is a new, small, liberal movement started by Mordecai Kaplan as an attempt to unify and revitalize the religion. They reject the concept that Jews are a uniquely favored and chosen people, yet maintains rituals as part of the Judaic cultural heritage.. They have no connection at all with Christian Reconstructionism, which is an ultra-conservative form of Christianity.
    In USA: A survey conducted in 2001 for the 2002 edition of the American Jewish Year Book indicated that Orthodox has fewer that 10% of American Jews. However, Orthodox synagogues represent 40% of all U.S. synagogues. Reform Judaism has 26 percent of all synagogues; Conservatives have 23 percent. "Every other denomination or group representing synagogues –- Reconstructionist, Sephardic, Traditional, Humanistic, Gay/Lesbian –- accounts for 3 percent or less of synagogue affiliations..."
     The total number of U.S. synagogues has increased from 2,851 in 1936 to 3,727 in 2001.
    In Israel: The Orthodox branch of Judaism is the only recognized form of Judaism in Israel. They hold considerable power, while more liberal Jewish traditions (Reform and Conservative) are relatively powerless.

    In the early 1990s the total world Jewish population was about 12.8 million:
    - 5.5 million lived in the United States
    - more than 3.9 million in Israel
    - and nearly 1.2 million in the Soviet Union, the three largest centers of Jewish settlement.
    - About 1.2 million Jews lived in the rest of Europe, most of them in France and Great Britain. About 356,700 lived in the rest of North America, and 32,700 in Asia other than Israel. About 433,400 Jews lived in Central and South America, and about 148,700 in Africa.

    The Greatest Mistake of Judaism:
    - It is puzzling to consider why some Jews do not recognize Jesus as the long promised and awaited Messiah, with so many prophecies of the Scriptures fulfilled to the letter in Jesus on Him... at least 1,093 prophecies and types of the Old Testament (the Jewish Bible) have already been fulfilled in Jesus and His Church. Prophecies Fulfilled in Jesus, The Passion Prophecies
    - One reason is that the Scriptures make 300 prophecies of the "First Coming of the Messiah", as the suffering servant of Is.53, but make 500 prophecies about the "Second Coming of the Messiah", the triumphal King of Zach.14... to the point that some rabbis talk about two Messiah, and for most Jews, the "triumphant one" is the Messiah they were expecting. The Rabbinic Two Messiah Theory
    - Another reason is that Jesus did not bring "peace" to this world. The Peace of Christ... no Peace, no Messiah?, Redemption of the Immanuel of Isaiah
    - The Jews did not kill Jesus, the Roman soldiers did, under the command of a Roman Governor, Pontius Pilate... however the "real killers" of Jesus are you and I, because each time we sin, "we crucify the Son of God for ourselves holding him up to mockery" (Hebrews 6:6)...
    ... The Jews, and you and I, were expecting a Messiah to bring us the kingdom of this world, but Jesus offers us something infinitely bigger, the Kingdom of Heaven... and for it we shout "crucify him"!... we expected a dictator, and Jesus is only God. We wanted swords, and Jesus gives us palms. We were longing to be bosses, but Jesus orders us to love even the enemies. We were expecting to be victorious, with honors, and Jesus commands us to forgive and to be humble... and for it, as a criminal of high treason, we shout "crucify him"!...

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