The Nature of GOD

Prev | Table of Contents | Next The Nature of God Level:  Intermediate The nature of God is one of the few areas of abstract Jewish belief where there are a number of clear-cut ideas about which there is little dispute or disagreement. God Exists The fact of God's existence is accepted almost without question.  Proof is not needed, and is rarely offered.  The Torah begins by stating "In the beginning, God created . . .".  It does not tell who God is or how He came to be. In general, Judaism views the existence of God as a necessary prerequisite for the existence of the universe.  The existence of the universe is sufficient proof of the existence of God. God is One One of the primary expressions of Jewish faith, recited twice daily in prayer, is the Shema, which begins "Hear, Israel:  the LORD is our God, the LORD is one".  This simple statement encompasses several different ideas: There is only one God. No other being participated in the work of creation. God is a unity.  He is a single, whole, complete indivisible entity.  He cannot be divided into parts or described by attributes. Any attempt to ascribe attributes to God is merely man's imperfect attempt to understand the infinite. God is the only being to whom we should offer praise.  The Shema can also be translated as "the LORD is our God, the LORD alone", meaning that no other is our God, and we should not pray to any other. God is the Creator of Everything Everything in the universe was created by God, and only by God.  Judaism completely rejects the dualistic notion that evil was created by a Satan or some other deity.  All comes from God.  As Isaiah said, "I am the LORD, and there is none else.  I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create evil.  I am the LORD, that does all these things" (Isaiah 45,6-7). God is Incorporeal Although many places in scripture and Talmud speak of various parts of God's body (the Hand of God, God's wings, etc.) or speak of God in anthropomorphic terms (God walking in the garden of Eden, God laying tefillin, etc.), Judaism firmly maintains that God has no body.  Any reference to God's body is simply a figure of speech, a means of making God's actions more comprehensible to beings living in a material world.  Much of Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed is devoted to explaining each of these anthropomorphic references and proving that they should be understood figuratively. We are forbidden to represent God in a physical form.  That is considered idolatry.  The sin of the Golden Calf incident was not that the people chose another deity, but that they tried to represent God in a physical form. God is Neither Male nor Female This followed directly from the idea that God has no physical form.  God has, of course, no body; therefore, the very idea that God is male or female is patently absurd.  We refer to God using masculine terms simply for convenience's sake, because Hebrew has no neutral gender; God is no more male than a table is. Although we usually speak of God in masculine terms, there are times when we refer to God using feminine terms.  The Shechinah, the manifestation of God's presence that fills the universe, is conceived of in feminine terms, and the word Shechinah is a feminine word. God is Omnipresent God is always near for us to call upon and He sees all that we do, wherever we are. Closely tied in with this is the idea that God is universal:  He is not just the God of the Jews, but the God of all nations. God is Omnipotent God can do anything.  It is said that the only thing that is beyond His control is the fear of Him; that is, He has given us free will, and He does not compel us to do His will.  This belief in God's omnipotence has been sorely tested during the many persecutions of Jews, but we have always maintained that God has a reason for allowing these things, even if we in our limited perception and understanding cannot see the reason. God is Omniscient God knows all things, past, present, and future.  He knows our thoughts. God is Eternal God transcends time.  He has no beginning and no end.  He will always be there to fulfill His promises.  When Moses asked for God's name, He replied, "Ehyeh asher ehyeh".  That phrase is generally translated as, "I am that I am", but the word "ehyeh" can be present or future tense, meaning "I am what I will be" or "I will be what I will be".  The ambiguity of the phrase is often interpreted as a reference to God's eternal nature. God is Both Just and Merciful We have often heard Christians speak of Judaism as the religion of the strict Law, which no human being is good enough to fulfill (hence the need for the so-called sacrifice of Jesus).  This is a gross mischaracterization of Jewish belief.  Judaism has always maintained that God's justice is tempered by mercy, the two qualities perfectly balanced.  Of the two Names of God most commonly used in scripture, one refers to his quality of justice and the other to his quality of mercy.  The two names were used together in the story of Creation, showing that the world was created with both justice and mercy. God is Holy and Perfect One of the most common names applied to God in the post-Biblical period is "Ha-Kadosh, Barukh Hu", The Holy One, Blessed be He. God is our Father Christianity maintains that God has one son; Judaism maintains that God has billions of sons and daughters.  We are all God's children, and the people of Israel are His firstborn (Exodus 4,22).  The Talmud teaches that there are three participants in the formation of every human being:  the mother and father, who provide the physical form, and God, who provides the soul, the personality, and the intelligence.  It is said that one of God's greatest gifts to humanity is the knowledge that we are His children and created in His image. Prev | Table of Contents | Next Got a question or comment?  Write Us!

Who is a Jewv?

Prev | Table of Contents | Next Who is a Jew? Level:  Basic A Jew is any person whose mother was a Jew or any person who has gone through the formal process of conversion in full compliance with Jewish law. It is important to note that being a Jew has nothing to do with what you believe or what you do.  A person born to non-Jewish parents who believes everything that Orthodox Jews believe and observes every law and custom of the Jews is still a non-Jew, even in the eyes of the most liberal movements of Judaism, and a person born to a Jewish mother who is an atheist and never practices the Jewish religion is still a Jew, even in the eyes of the ultra-Orthodox.  In this sense, being a Jew is more like a nationality than like other religions; it is like a citizenship. Although all Jewish movements agree on these general principles, there are occasional disputes as to whether a particular individual is a Jew.  Most of these disputes fall into one of two categories. First, traditional Judaism maintains that a person is a Jew if his mother is a Jew, regardless of who his father is.  The liberal movements, on the other hand, consider a person to be Jewish if either of his parents was Jewish.  Thus, the child of a Jewish father and a Christian mother is a Jew according to the Reform movement, but not according to the Orthodox movement.  The matter becomes even more complicated, because the status of that child's children also comes into question. Second, the more traditional movements do not always acknowledge the validity of conversions by the more liberal movements.  The more modern movements do not always follow the procedures required by the more traditional movements, thereby invalidating the conversion.  In addition, Orthodoxy does not accept the authority of Conservative, Reform, and Reconstructionist rabbis to perform conversions, and the Conservative movement has debated whether to accept the authority of Reform rabbis. About the Agudath Ha-Rabonim Statement In March, 1997, the Agudath Ha-Rabonim issued a statement declaring that the Conservative and Reform movements are "outside of Torah and outside of Judaism".  This statement has been widely publicized and widely misunderstood, and requires some response.  Three points are particularly worth discussing:  1) the statement does not challenge the Jewish status of Reform and Conservative Jews; 2) the statement is not an official statement of a unified Orthodox opinion; 3) the statement was made with the intention of bringing people into Jewish belief, not with the intention of excluding them from it. First of all, the Agudath Ha-Rabonim statement does not say that Reform and Conservative Jews are not Jews.  Their statement does not say anything about Jewish status.  As the discussion above explains, status as a Jew has nothing to do with what you believe; it is simply a matter of who your parents are.  Reform and Conservative Jews are Jews, as they have always been, and even the Agudath Ha-Rabonim would agree on that point.  The debate over who is a Jew is the same as it has always been, the same as was discussed above:  the Reform recognition of patrilineal decent, and the validity of conversions performed by non-Orthodox rabbis. Second, the Agudath Ha-Rabonim is not the official voice of mainstream Orthodoxy.  Their statement does not represent the unified position of Orthodox Judaism in the US.  In fact, the Rabbinical Council of America (the rabbinic arm of the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America) immediately issued a strong statement disassociating themselves from this "hurtful public pronouncement [which] flies in the face of Jewish peoplehood". Finally, before one can denounce a statement like this, one should make an attempt to understand the position of those making the statement.  According to Orthodoxy, the Torah is the heart of Judaism.  All of what our people are revolves around the unchanging, eternal, mutually binding covenant between God and our people.  That is the definition of Jewish belief, according to Orthodoxy, and all Jewish belief is measured against that yardstick.  You may dispute the validity of the yardstick, but you cannot deny that Conservative and Reform Judaism do not measure up on that yardstick.  Reform Judaism does not believe in the binding nature of Torah, and Conservative Judaism believes that the law can be changed quite flexibly. The Agudath Ha-Rabonim did not intend to cut Reform and Conservative Jews off from their heritage.  On the contrary, their intention was to bring Reform and Conservative Jews back to what they consider to be the only true Judaism.  The statement encouraged Reform and Conservative Jews to leave their synagogues and "join an Orthodox synagogue, where they will be warmly welcomed".  Some Orthodox and Chasidic Jews believe that if there were no Reform or Conservative synagogues, everyone would be Orthodox.  It seems more likely, however, that if there were no such movements, most of these people would be lost to Judaism entirely. Prev | Table of Contents | Next Got a question or comment?  Write Us!

Movements of Judaism

Prev | Table of Contents | Next Before the 20th Century | 20th Century U.S. | 20th Century Israel | 20th Century U.K. Movements of Judaism Level:  Basic The different sects or denominations of Judaism are generally referred to as movements.  The differences between Jewish movements are not nearly as great as the differences between Christian denominations.  The differences between Orthodoxy and Reform Judaism are not much greater than the differences between the liberal and fundamentalist wings of the Baptist denomination of Christianity. In general, when speaking of "movements" in this site, we are mostly referring to movements in the United States in the 20th century. Movements Before the 20th Century All Jewish movements that exist today are derived from one movement, identified in the Christian scriptures as the Pharisees.  At the dawn of Christianity, there were several different competing schools of thought:  the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Essenes, and the Zealots.  The Pharisaic school of thought is the only one that survived the destruction of the Temple.  The Pharisees believed that God gave the Jews both a written Torah and an oral Torah, both of which were equally binding and both of which were open to reinterpretation by the rabbis, people with sufficient education to make such decisions.  The Pharisees were devoted to study of the Torah and education for all.  Today, this school of thought is known as Rabbinical Judaism. From the time of the destruction of the Temple until the middle of the 1700s, there was no large-scale organized difference of opinion within Judaism.  Judaism was Judaism, and it was basically Orthodox Judaism.  There were some differences in practices and customs between the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe and the Sephardic Jews of Spain and the Middle East, but these differences were not significant.  See Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews. In the 1700s, the first of the modern movements developed in Eastern Europe.  This movement, known as Chasidism, was founded by Israel ben Eliezer, more commonly known as the Baal Shem Tov or the Besht.  Before Chasidism, Judaism emphasized education as the way to get closer to God.  Chasidism emphasized other, more personal experiences and mysticism as alternative routes to God.  Chasidism was considered a radical movement at the time it was founded.  There was strong opposition from those who held to the pre-existing view of Judaism.  Those who opposed Chasidism became known as mitnagdim (opponents).  Today, the Chasidim and the mitnagdim are relatively unified in their opposition to the liberal modern movements. Movements in 20th Century United States Approximately 5 million of the world's 13 million Jews live in the United States.  There are three major movements in the U.S.  today:  Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox.  Some people also include a fourth movement, the Reconstructionist movement, although that movement is substantially smaller than the other three.  Orthodox and sometimes Conservative are described as "traditional" movements.  Reform, Reconstructionist, and sometimes Conservative are described as "liberal" or "modern" movements. Orthodoxy is actually made up of several different groups.  It includes the modern Orthodox, who have largely integrated into modern society while maintaining observance of halakhah (Jewish Law), the Chasidim, who live separately and dress distinctively (commonly referred to in the media as the "ultra-Orthodox"), and the Yeshivish Orthodox, who are neither Chasidic nor modern.  The Orthodox movements are all very similar in belief, and the differences are difficult for anyone who is not Orthodox to understand.  They all believe that God gave Moses the whole Torah at Mount Sinai.  The "whole Torah" includes both the Written Torah (the first five books of the Bible) and the Oral Torah, an oral tradition interpreting and explaining the Written Torah.  They believe that the Torah is true, that it has come down to us intact and unchanged.  They believe that the Torah contains 613 mitzvot binding upon Jews but not upon non-Jews.  The Judaism 101 web site (the starting point of this "site within a site") was written primarily from the Orthodox point of view.  It has been estimated that there are 1200 Orthodox synagogues in the US today with a total of approximately 1 million members. Reform Judaism does not believe that the Torah was written by God.  The movement accepts the critical theory of Biblical authorship:  that the Bible was written by separate sources and redacted together.  Reform Jews do not believe in observance of commandments as such, but they retain much of the values and ethics of Judaism, along with some of the practices and the culture.  The original, basic tenets of Reform Judaism in the USA were set down in the Pittsburgh Platform.  Many non-observant, nominal, and/or agnostic Jews identify themselves as Reform simply because Reform is the most liberal movement, but that is not really a fair reflection on the movement as a whole.  There are about 800 Reform synagogues in the US with approximately 2 million members.  For more information about Reform Judaism, see The Union for Reform Judaism. Conservative Judaism grew out of the tension between Orthodoxy and Reform.  It was formally organized as the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism by Dr. Solomon Schechter in 1913, although its roots in the Jewish Theological Seminary of America stretch back into the 1880s.  Conservative Judaism generally accepts the binding nature of halakhah, but believes that the Law should change and adapt, absorbing aspects of the predominant culture while remaining true to Judaism's values.  In our experience, there is a great deal of variation among Conservative synagogues.  Some are indistinguishable from Reform, except that they use more Hebrew; others are practically Orthodox, except that men and women sit together.  Most are very traditional in substance, if not always in form.  There are an estimated 800 Conservative synagogues in the US today with approximately 1.3 million members. Reconstructionist Judaism is theoretically an outgrowth of Conservative, but it does not fit neatly into the traditional/liberal, observant/non-observant continuum that most people use to classify movements of Judaism.  Reconstructionists believe that Judaism is an "evolving religious civilization".  They do not believe in a personified deity that is active in history, and they do not believe that God chose the Jewish people.  From this, you might assume that Reconstructionism is to the left of Reform; yet Reconstructionism lays a much greater stress on Jewish observance than Reform Judaism.  Reconstructionists observe the halakhah if they choose to, not because it is a binding Law from God, but because it is a valuable cultural remnant.  Reconstructionism is a very small movement but seems to get a disproportionate amount of attention, probably because there are a disproportionate number of Reconstructionists serving as rabbis to Jewish college student organizations and Jewish Community Centers.  Many seem to have had a Reconstructionist rabbi at college or in a community center, yet there are only about 60,000 Reconstructionists in the US. Though most Jews do not have any theological objections to praying in the synagogues of other movements, liberal services are not "religious" enough or "Jewish" enough for traditional Jews, and traditional services are largely incomprehensible to liberal Jews (because traditional services are primarily, if not exclusively, in Hebrew), too long, and too conservative.  Some Orthodox will not attend liberal services because of the mixed seating arrangements and because the liberal prayer book cuts many required prayers. We have been to services in Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox synagogues, and have found that while there are substantial differences in length, language, and choice of reading materials, the overall structure is surprisingly similar.  See Jewish Liturgy for more information about prayer services. Movements in 20th Century Israel Approximately 5 million Jews live in Israel.  Orthodoxy is the only movement that is formally and legally recognized in Israel.  Until very recently, only Orthodox Jews could serve on religious councils.  The Orthodox rabbinate in Israel controls matters of personal status, such as marriage, conversion, and divorce. The other US movements have some degree of presence in Israel, but for the most part, Israelis do not formally identify themselves with a movement.  Most Israelis describe themselves more generally in terms of their degree of observance, rather than in terms of membership in an organized movement. More than half of all Israelis describe themselves as hiloni (secular).  About 15-20 percent describe themselves as haredi (ultra-Orthodox) or dati (Orthodox).  The rest describe themselves as masorti (traditionally observant, but not as dogmatic as the Orthodox).  It is important to remember, however, that the masorti and hiloni of Israel tend to be more observant than their counterparts in the US.  For example, the hiloni of Israel often observe some traditional practices in a limited way, such as lighting Sabbath candles, limiting their activities on the Sabbath, or keeping kosher to some extent, all of which are rare among US Reform Jews, and unheard of among US Jews who describe themselves as secular. Movements in 20th Century United Kingdom There are an estimated 350,000 Jews in the UK.  Of those, approximately 20% are Reform or Liberal, which are two separate movements.  There is also a small but active Conservative movement called the Masoreti.  The Lubavitcher Chasidim are also active and growing in the UK. The liberal movements in the UK are generally more traditional than the Reform movement in the United States.  For example, the British Reform movement does not accept patrilineal descent (although the Liberal movement does).  See Who Is a Jew. Prev | Table of Contents | Next Got a question or comment?  Write Us!

Sages and Scholars

Prev | Table of Contents | Next Hillel and Shammai | Rabbi Akiba | Judah Ha-Nasi | Rashi | Maimonides Sages and Scholars Level:  Intermediate Hillel and Shammai These two great scholars who born a generation or two before the beginning of the Common Era are usually discussed together and contrasted with each other, because they were contemporaries and the leaders of two opposing schools of thought (known as "houses").  The Talmud records over 300 differences of opinion between Beit Hillel (the House of Hillel) and Beit Shammai (the House of Shammai).  In almost every one of these disputes, Hillel's view prevailed. Rabbi Hillel was born to a wealthy family in Babylonia, but came to Jerusalem without the financial support of his family and supported himself as a woodcutter.  It is said that he lived in such great poverty that he was sometimes unable to pay the admission fee to study Torah, and because of him that fee was abolished.  He was known for his kindness, his gentleness, and his concern for humanity.  One of his most famous sayings, recorded in Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers, a tractate of the Mishnah), is "If I am not for myself, then who will be for me?  And if I am only for myself, then what am I?  And if not now, when?"  The Hillel organization, a network of Jewish college student organizations, is named for him. Rabbi Shammai was an engineer, known for the strictness of his views.  He was reputed to be dour, quick-tempered, and impatient.  For example, the Talmud tells that a Gentile came to Shammai saying that he would convert to Judaism if Shammai could teach him the whole Torah in the time that he could stand on one foot.  Shammai drove him away with a builder's measuring stick!  Hillel, on the other hand, converted the Gentile by telling him, "That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor.  That is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary.  Go and study it!" Rabbi Akiba ben Joseph (50-135 C.E.) A poor, semi-literate shepherd, Akiba became one of Judaism's greatest scholars.  He developed the exegetical method of the Mishnah, linking each traditional practice to a basis in the biblical text, and systematized the material that later became the Mishnah. Rabbi Akiba was active in the Bar Kokhba rebellion against Rome, 132-135 C.E..  He believed that Bar Kokhba was the Mashiach, though some other rabbis openly ridiculed him for that belief (the Talmud records another rabbi as saying, "Akiba, grass will grow in your cheeks and still the son of David will not have come".) When the Bar Kokhba rebellion failed, Rabbi Akiba was taken by the Roman authorities and tortured to death. Judah Ha-Nasi (Judah the Prince) (135-219 C.E.) The Patriarch of the Jewish community, Judah Ha-Nasi was well-educated in Greek thought as well as Jewish thought.  He organized and compiled the Mishnah, building upon Rabbi Akiba's work. Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki) (1040-1105 C.E.) A grape grower living in Northern France, Rashi wrote the definitive commentaries on the Babylonian Talmud and the Bible.  Rashi pulled together materials from a wide variety of sources, wrote them down in the order of the Talmud and the Bible for easy reference, and wrote them in such clear, concise, and plain language that it can be appreciated by beginners and experts alike.  Almost every edition of the Talmud printed since the invention of the printing press has included the text of Rashi's commentary side-by-side with the Talmudic text.  Many traditional Jews will not study the Bible without a Rashi commentary beside it. Maimonides (Rambam; Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon) (1135-1204 C.E.) A physician born in Moorish Cordoba, Maimonides lived in a variety of places throughout the Moorish lands of Spain, the Middle East, and North Africa, often fleeing persecution.  He was a leader of the Jewish community in Cairo.  He was conversant in Arab and Greek sciences and philosopy, particularly of the school of Aristotle. Maimonides was the author of the Mishneh Torah code, the first and (so far) only complete code of Jewish law, fully covering every conceivable topic of Jewish law in subject matter order and providing a simple statement of the prevailing view in plain language for anyone who knows Hebrew.  In his own time, he was condemned because he claimed that Mishneh Torah was a substitute for studying the Talmud; but today, almost everyone who learns Talmud learns it with the help of Mishneh Torah. Maimonides is also responsible for several important theological works.  He developed the 13 Principles of Faith, the most widely accepted list of Jewish beliefs.  He also wrote the Guide for the Perplexed, for those who have reached perfection in knowledge and observance of the Torah on the one hand, and have learned the sciences and philosophy on the other, and find it difficult to resolve the seeming conflicts between them (not really for the masses, Jewish or Gentile!). Prev | Table of Contents | Next Got a question or comment?  Write Us!

Prophets and Prophecy

Prev | Table of Contents | Next What is a Prophet? | Who are the Prophets of the Jewish Scriptures? | Why is Daniel Not a Prophet? Prophets and Prophecy Level:  Intermediate What is a Prophet? Many people today think of a prophet as any person who sees the future.  While the gift of prophecy certainly includes the ability to see the future, a prophet is far more than just a person with that ability. A prophet is basically a spokesman for God, a person chosen by God to speak to people on God's behalf and convey a message or teaching.  Prophets were role models of holiness, scholarship, and closeness to God.  They set the standards for the entire community. The Hebrew word for a prophet, navi (Nun-Bet-Yod-Alef) comes from the term "niv sefatayim" meaning fruit of the lips, which emphasizes the prophet's role as a speaker. The Talmud teaches that there were hundreds of thousands of prophets:  twice as many as the number of people who left Egypt, which was 600,000.  But most of the prophets conveyed messages that were intended solely for their own generation and were not reported in scripture.  Scripture identifies only 55 prophets of Israel. A prophet is not necessarily a man.  Scripture records the stories of seven female prophets, listed below, and the Talmud reports that Sarah's prophetic ability was superior to Abraham's. A prophet is not necessarily a Jew.  The Talmud reports that there were prophets among the Gentiles (most notably Balaam, whose story is told in Numbers 22-24), although they were not as elevated as the prophets of Israel (as the story of Balaam demonstrates).  And some of the prophets, such as Jonah, were sent on missions to speak to the Gentiles. According to some views, prophecy is not a gift that is arbitrarily conferred upon people; rather, it is the culmination of a person's spiritual and ethical development.  When a person reaches a sufficient level of spiritual and ethical achievement, the Shechinah (Divine Spirit) comes to rest upon him or her.  Likewise, the gift of prophecy leaves the person if that person lapses from his or her spiritual and ethical perfection. The greatest of the prophets was Moses.  It is said that Moses saw all that all of the other prophets combined saw, and more.  Moses saw the whole of the Torah, including the Prophets, and the Writings that were written hundreds of years later.  All subsequent prophecy was merely an expression of what Moses had already seen.  Thus, it is taught that nothing in the Prophets or the Writings can be in conflict with Moses' writings, because Moses saw it all in advance. The Talmud states that the writings of the prophets will not be necessary in the World to Come, because in that day, all people will be mentally, spiritually, and ethically perfect, and all will have the gift of prophecy. Who are the Prophets of the Jewish Scriptures? The following list of prophets is based on the Talmud and Rashi. Abraham Genesis 11,26 - 25,10 Isaac Genesis 21,1 - 35,29 Jacob Genesis 25,21 - 49,33 Moses Exodus 2,1 - Deuteronomy 34,5 Aaron Exodus 4,14 - Numbers 33,39 Joshua Exodus 17,9 - 14, 24,13, 32,17 - 18, 33,11; Numbers 11,28 - 29, 13,4 - 14,38; 27,18 - 27,23, Deuteronomy 1,38, 3,28, 31,3, 31,7-Joshua 24,29 Pinchas Exodus 6,25; Numbers 25,7-25,11; Numbers 31,6; Joshua 22,13 - Joshua 24,33; Judges 20,28 Elkanah I Samuel 1,1 - 2,20 Eli I Samuel 1,9 - 4,18 Samuel I Samuel 1,1 - I Samuel 25,1 Gad I Samuel 22,5; II Samuel 24,11-19; I Chronicles 21,9-21,19, 29,29 Nathan II Samuel 7,2 - 17; 12,1 - 25. David I Samuel 16,1 - I Kings 2,11 Solomon II Samuel 12,24; 1 Kings 1,10 - 11,43 Iddo II Chronicles 9,29, 12,15, 13,22 Michaiah son of Imlah I Kings 22,8-28; II Chronicles 18,7-27 Obadiah I Kings 18; Obadiah Ahiyah the Shilonite I Kings 11,29-30; 12,15; 14,2-18; 15,29 Jehu son of Hanani I Kings 16,1 - 7; II Chronicles 19,2; 20,34 Azariah son of Oded II Chronicles 15 Jahaziel the Levite II Chronicles 20,14 Eliezer son of Dodavahu II Chronicles 20,37 Hosea Hosea Amos Amos Micah the Morashtite Micah Amoz (the father of Isaiah) Elijah I Kings 17,1 - 21,29; II Kings 1,10-2,15, 9,36-37, 10,10, 10,17 Elisha I Kings 19,16-19; II Kings 2,1-13,21 Jonah ben Amittai Jonah Isaiah Isaiah Joel Joel Nahum Nahum Habakkuk Habakkuk Zephaniah Zephaniah Uriah Jeremiah 26,20-23 Jeremiah Jeremiah Ezekiel Ezekiel Shemaiah I Kings 12,22-24; II Chronicles 11,2-4, 12,5-15 Barukh Jeremiah 32, 36, 43, 45 Neriah (father of Barukh) Seraiah Jeremiah 51,61-64 Mehseiah (father of Neriah) Haggai Haggai Zechariah Zechariah Malachi Malachi Mordecai Bilshan   Oded (father of Azariah) Hanani (father of Jehu) Sarah Genesis 11,29 - 23,20 Miriam Exodus 15,20-21; Num.  12,1-12,15, 20,1 Deborah Judges 4,1 - 5,31 Hannah I Samuel 1,1 - 2,21 Abigail I Samuel 25,1 - 25,42 Huldah II Kings 22,14-20 Esther Esther Why is Daniel Not a Prophet? It is often asked why the Book of Daniel is included in the Writings section of the Tanakh instead of the Prophets section.  Wasn't Daniel a prophet?  Weren't his visions of the future true? According to Judaism, Daniel is not one of the 55 prophets.  His writings include visions of the future, which we believe to be true; however, his mission was not that of a prophet.  His visions of the future were never intended to be proclaimed to the people; they were designed to be written down for future generations.  Thus, they are Writings, not Prophecies, and are classified accordingly. Prev | Table of Contents | Next Got a question or comment?  Write Us!

Prayers and Blessings

Prev | Table of Contents | Next Tefillah:  Prayer | Need for Prayer | Mindset for Prayer | Language for Prayer | Group Prayer | Berakhot:  Blessings | Who Blesses Whom? | Content of a Berakhah | Form of a Berakhah | Grace After Meals See also Jewish Liturgy Prayers and Blessings Level:  Intermediate Tefillah:  Prayer The Hebrew word for prayer is tefillah.  It is derived from the root Pe-Lamed-Lamed and the word l'hitpallel, meaning to judge oneself.  This surprising word origin provides insight into the purpose of Jewish prayer.  The most important part of any Jewish prayer, whether it be a prayer of petition, of thanksgiving, of praise of God, or of confession, is the introspection it provides, the moment that we spend looking inside ourselves, seeing our role in the universe and our relationship to God. For an observant Jew, prayer is not simply something that happens in synagogue once a week (or even three times a day).  Prayer is an integral part of everyday life.  In fact, one of the most important prayers, the Birkat Ha-Mazon, is never recited in synagogue services! Observant Jews are constantly reminded of God's presence and of our relationship with God, because we are continually praying to Him.  Our first thoughts and words in the morning, even before we get out of bed, is a prayer thanking God for returning our souls to us.  There are prayers to be recited just before enjoying a material pleasure, such as eating or drinking, or just after them, such as after eating or drinking or after buying new clothes or ordinary household items; prayers to recite before performing any mitzvah (commandment), such as washing hands or lighting candles; prayers to recite upon seeing anything unusual, such as a king, a rainbow, or the site of a great tragedy; prayers to recite whenever some good or bad thing happens; and prayers to recite before going to bed at night.  All of these prayers are in addition to formal prayer services, which are performed three times a day every weekday and additional times on sabbaths and festivals.  See Jewish Liturgy. The Need for Prayer Many people today do not see the need for regular, formal prayer.  "I pray when I feel inspired to, when it is meaningful to me", they say.  This attitude overlooks two important things:  the purpose of prayer, and the need for practice. One purpose of prayer is to increase your awareness of God in your life and the role that God plays in your life.  If you only pray when you feel inspired (that is, when you are already aware of God), then you will not increase your awareness of God. In addition, if you want to do something well, you have to practice it continually, even when you do not feel like doing it.  This is as true of prayer as it is of playing a sport, playing a musical instrument, or writing.  The sense of humility and awe of God that is essential to proper prayer does not come easily to modern man, and will not simply come to you when you feel the need to pray.  If you wait until inspiration strikes, you will not have the skills you need to pray effectively.  Before starting to pray regularly, many find that when they want to pray, they do not know how.  They do not know what to say, or how to say it, or how to establish the proper frame of mind.  If you pray regularly, you will learn how to express yourself in prayer. Kavanah:  The Mindset for Prayer When you say the same prayers day after day, you might expect that the prayers would become routine and would begin to lose meaning.  While this may be true for some people, this is not the intention of Jewish prayer.  As said at the beginning of this discussion, the most important part of prayer is the introspection it provides.  Accordingly, the proper frame of mind is vital to prayer. The mindset for prayer is referred to as kavanah, which is generally translated as "concentration" or "intent".  The minimum level of kavanah is an awareness that one is speaking to God and an intention to fulfill the obligation to pray.  If you do not have this minimal level of kavanah, then you are not praying; you are merely reading.  In addition, it is preferred that you have a mind free from other thoughts, that you know and understand what you are praying about and that you think about the meaning of the prayer. Liturgical melodies are often used as an aid to forming the proper mindset.  Many prayers and prayer services have traditional melodies associated with them.  These can increase your focus on what you are doing and block out extraneous thoughts. Hebrew:  The Language for Prayer The Talmud states that it is permissible to pray in any language that you can understand; however, traditional Judaism has always stressed the importance of praying in Hebrew.  A traditional Chasidic story speaks glowingly of the prayer of an uneducated Jew who wanted to pray but did not speak Hebrew.  The man began to recite the only Hebrew he knew:  the alphabet.  He recited it over and over again, until a rabbi asked what he was doing.  The man told the rabbi, "The Holy One, Blessed is He, knows what is in my heart.  I will give Him the letters, and He can put the words together". Even liberal Judaism is increasingly recognizing the value of Hebrew prayer.  It seems that fifty years ago, you never heard a word of Hebrew in a Reform synagogue.  Today, the standard Reform prayer book contains the text of many prayers in Hebrew, and many of the standard prayers are recited in Hebrew, generally followed by transliteration and an English translation.  Some Reform rabbis read from the Torah in Hebrew, also generally followed by an English translation or explanation. There are many good reasons for praying in Hebrew:  it gives you an incentive for learning Hebrew, which might otherwise be forgotten; it provides a link to Jews all over the world; it is the language in which the covenant with God was made, etc.  For us, however, the most important reason to pray in Hebrew is that Hebrew is the language of Jewish thought. Any language other than Hebrew is laden down with the connotations of that language's culture and religion.  When you translate a Hebrew word, you lose subtle shadings of Jewish ideas and add ideas that are foreign to Judaism.  Only in Hebrew can the pure essence of Jewish thought be preserved and properly understood.  For example, the English word "commandment" connotes an order imposed upon us by a stern and punishing God, while the Hebrew word "mitzvah" implies an honor and privilege given to us, a responsibility that we undertook as part of the covenant we made with God, a good deed that we are eager to perform. This is not to suggest that praying in Hebrew is more important than understanding what you are praying about.  If you are in synagogue and you do not know Hebrew well enough, you can listen to the Hebrew while looking at the translation.  If you are reciting a prayer or blessing alone, you should get a general idea of its meaning from the translation before attempting to recite it in Hebrew.  But even if you do not fully understand Hebrew at this time, you should try to hear the prayer, experience the prayer, in Hebrew. Group Prayer Most of our prayers are expressed in the first person plural, "us" instead of "me", and are recited on behalf of all of the Jewish people.  This form of prayer emphasizes our responsibility for one another and our interlinked fates. Formal prayer services are largely a group activity rather than an individual activity.  Although it is permissible to pray alone and it fulfills the obligation to pray, you should generally make every effort to pray with a group, short of violating a commandment to do so. A complete formal prayer service cannot be conducted without a quorum of at least 10 adult Jewish men; that is, at least 10 people who are obligated to fulfill the commandment to recite the prayers.  This prayer quorum is referred to as a minyan (from a Hebrew root meaning to count or to number).  Certain prayers and religious activities cannot be performed without a minyan.  This need for a minyan has often helped to keep the Jewish community together in isolated areas. Berakhot:  Blessings A berakhah (blessing) is a special kind of prayer that is very common in Judaism.  Berakhot are recited both as part of the synagogue services and as a response or prerequisite to a wide variety of daily occurrences.  Berakhot are easy to recognize:  they all start with the word barukh (blessed or praised). The words barukh and berakhah are both derived from the Hebrew root Bet-Resh-Kaf, meaning knee, and refer to the practice of showing respect by bending the knee and bowing, getting down on the knees and prostrating on the ground.  There are several places in Jewish liturgy where bowing is performed, most of them at a time when a berakhah is being recited.  At the end of the formal standing prayer, one is required to at least get down on his knees, if not to prostrate himself altogether on the ground; this requirement is commonly ignored by most Jews today, but continues to be the practice among Muslims all over the world, who learned this from the Jews, who still did it at the time Islaam was founded. According to Jewish Law, a person must recite at least 100 berakhot each day!  This is not as difficult as it sounds.  Repeating the Shemoneh Esrei three times a day (as all observant Jews do) covers 57 berakhot all by itself, and there are dozens of everyday occurrences that require berakhot. Who Blesses Whom? Many English-speaking people find the idea of berakhot very confusing.  To them, the word "blessing" seems to imply that the person saying the blessing is conferring some benefit on the person he is speaking to.  For example, in Catholic tradition, a person making a confession begins by asking the priest to bless him.  Yet in a berakhah, the person saying the blessing is speaking to God.  How can the creation confer a benefit upon the Creator? This confusion stems largely from difficulties in the translation.  The Hebrew word "barukh" is not a verb describing what we do to God; it is an adjective describing God as the source of all blessings.  When we recite a berakhah, we are not blessing God; we are expressing wonder at how blessed God is. Content of a Berakhah There are basically three types of berakhot:  ones recited before enjoying a material pleasure (birkhot ha-na'ah), ones recited before performing a mitzvah (commandment) (birkhot ha-mitzvot) and ones recited at special times and events (birkhot hoda'ah). Berakhot recited before enjoying a material pleasure, such as eating and drinking, acknowledge God as the creator of the thing that we are about to enjoy.  The berakhah for bread praises God as the one "who brings forth bread from the earth".  The berakhah when putting on our clothing every morning praises God as the one "who clothes the naked".  By reciting these berakhot, we acknowledge that God is the Creator of all things, and that we have no right to use things until we recognize what He has done.  The berakhah essentially gains permission to use the thing. Berakhot recited before performing a mitzvah (commandment), such as washing hands or lighting candles, praise God as the one "who sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us" to do whatever it is we are about to do.  Reciting such a blessing is an essential element of the performance of a mitzvah.  In Jewish tradition, a person who performs a mitzvah with a sense of obligation is considered more meritorious than a person who performs the same mitzvah because he feels like it.  Recitation of the berakhah focuses our attention on the idea that we are performing a religious duty with a sense of obligation.  It is worth noting that we recite such berakhot over both biblical and rabbinical commandments.  In the latter case, the berakhah can be understood as "who sanctified us with his commandments and commanded us to obey the rabbis, who commanded us to" do whatever it is we are about to do.  See Halakhah:  Jewish Law for an explanation of the distinction between biblical and rabbinical commandments. Berakhot recited at special times and events, such as when seeing a rainbow or a king or hearing good or bad news, acknowledge God as the ultimate source of all good and evil in the universe.  It is important to note that such berakhot are recited for both good things and things that appear to us to be bad.  When we see or hear something bad, we praise God as "the true Judge", underscoring the idea that things that appear to be bad happen for a reason that is ultimately just, even if we in our limited understanding cannot always see the reason. Form of a Berakhah Many of the berakhot that we recite today were composed by Ezra and the Men of the Great Assembly nearly 2500 years ago, and they continue to be recited in the same form. All berakhot use the phrase "Barukh atah Hashem, Eloheynu, melekh ha-olam", Blessed art thou LORD, our God, King of the Universe.  This is sometimes referred to as shem umalkhut (the name and the sovereignty), the affirmation of God as king. The use of the word "thou" is worth discussing:  in modern English, many people think of the word "thou" as being formal and respectful, but in fact the opposite is true.  Thou (like the Hebrew atah) is the informal, familiar second person pronoun, used for friends and relatives.  This word expresses our close and intimate relationship with God. Immediately after this phrase, the berakhah abruptly shifts into the third person; for example, in the birkhot ha-mitzvot, the first two phrases are blessed art thou, LORD our God, King of the Universe, who has sanctified us with his commandments and has commanded us to . . .  This grammatical faux pas is intentional.  The use of the third person pronoun while speaking to a person in Hebrew is a way of expressing extreme respect and deference.  This shift in perspective is a deliberately jarring way of expressing the idea that God is simultaneously close to us and yet far above us, intimately related to us and yet transcendent.  This paradox is at the heart of the Jewish relationship with God. Birkat Ha-Mazon:  Grace After Meals One of the most important prayers, one of the very few that the Bible commands us to recite, is never recited in synagogue.  That prayer is birkat ha-mazon, grace after meals. In Deuteronomy 8,10, we are commanded that when we eat and are satisfied, we must bless the LORD, our God.  This commandment is fulfilled by reciting the birkat ha-mazon (blessing of the food) after each meal.  Reciting birkat ha-mazon is commonly referred to as bentsching, from the Yiddish word meaning to bless.  Although the word "bentsch" can refer to the recitation of any berakhah, it is almost always used to refer to reciting birkat ha-mazon. The grace after meals is recited in addition to the various berakhot over food recited before meals. Birkat ha-mazon actually consists of four blessings, three of which were composed around the time of Ezra and the Great Assembly and a fourth which was added after the destruction of the Temple.  These blessings are: Birkat Hazan (the blessing for providing food), which thanks God for giving food to the world, Birkat Ha-Aretz (the blessing for the land), which thanks God for bringing us forth from the land of Egypt, for making His covenant with us, and for giving us the Land of Israel as an inheritance, Birkat Yerushalayim (the blessing for Jerusalem), which prays for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the coming of the Mashiach; and Birkat Ha-Tov v'Ha-Maytiv (the blessing for being good and doing good), was added after the destruction of the Temple, although it existed before that time.  It emphasizes the goodness of God's work, that God is good and does good. In addition to these four blessings, the full birkat ha-mazon incorporates some psalms and additional blessings for various special occasions (holidays, guests, etc.) Prev | Table of Contents | Next Got a question or comment?  Write Us!

The Role of Woman in the Synagogue

Prev | Table of Contents | Next The Role of Women in the Synagogue See also Marriage The Role of Women Level:  Intermediate The role of women in traditional Judaism has been grossly misrepresented and misunderstood.  The position of women is not nearly as lowly as many modern people think; in fact, the position of women in halakhah (Jewish Law) that dates back to the biblical period is in many ways better than the position of women under US civil law as recently as a century ago.  Many of the important feminist leaders of the 20th century (Gloria Steinem, for example) are Jewish women, and some commentators have suggested that this is no coincidence:  the respect accorded to women in Jewish tradition was a part of their ethnic culture. In traditional Judaism, women's obligations and responsibilities are different from men's, but no less important (in fact, in some ways, women's responsibilities are considered more important, as we shall see). The equality of men and women begins at the highest possible level:  God.  In Judaism, unlike Christianity, God has never been viewed as exclusively male or masculine.  Judaism has always maintained that God has both masculine and feminine qualities.  God has, of course, no body; therefore, the very idea that God is male or female is patently absurd.  We refer to God using masculine terms simply for convenience's sake, because Hebrew has no neutral gender; God is no more male than a table or chair (both "masculine" nouns in Hebrew). Both man and woman were created in the image of God.  According to many Jewish scholars, "man" was created "male and female" (Genesis 1,27) with dual gender, and was later separated into male and female. According to traditional Judaism, women are endowed with a greater degree of "binah" (intuition, understanding, intelligence) than men.  The rabbis inferred this from the idea that woman was "built" (Genesis 2,22) rather than "formed" (Genesis 2,7), and the Hebrew root of "build" has the same consonants as the word "binah".  It has been said that the matriarchs (Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, and Leah) were superior to the patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) in prophecy.  It has also been said that women did not participate in the idolatry regarding the golden calf.  Some traditional sources suggest that women are closer to God's ideal than men. Women have held positions of respect in Judaism since biblical times.  Miriam is considered one of the liberators of the people of Israel, along with her brothers Moses and Aaron.  One of the Judges (Deborah) was a woman.  Seven of the 55 prophets of the Bible were women. The Ten Commandments require respect for both mother and father.  Note that the father comes first in Exodus 20,11, but the mother comes first in Leviticus 19,3. There were many learned women of note.  The Talmud and later rabbinical writings speak of the wisdom of Berurya, the wife of Rabbi Meir.  In several instances, her opinions on halakhah (Jewish Law) were accepted over those of her male contemporaries.  In the ketubah (marriage contract) of Rabbi Akiba's son, the wife is obligated to teach the husband Torah!  Many rabbis over the centuries have been known to consult their wives on matters of Jewish law relating to the woman's role, such as laws of kashrut and women's periods.  The wife of a rabbi is referred to as a rebbetzin, practically a title of her own, which should give some idea of her significance in Jewish life. There can be no doubt, however, that the Talmud also has many negative things to say about women.  Various rabbis at various times describe women as lazy, jealous, vain and gluttonous, prone to gossip and particularly prone to the occult and witchcraft.  Men are repeatedly advised against associating with women, although that is as much because of man's lust as it is because of any shortcoming in women.  Women are discouraged from pursuing higher education or religious pursuits, but this seems to be primarily because women who engage in such pursuits might neglect their primary duties as wives and mothers.  The rabbis are not concerned that women are not spiritual enough, but rather are concerned that women might become too spiritually devoted. The rights of women in traditional Judaism are much greater than they were in the rest of Western civilization until this century.  Women had the right to buy, sell, and own property, and make their own contracts, rights which women in Christian countries (including the USA) did not have until about 100 years ago.  In fact, Proverbs 31,10-31, which is read at Jewish weddings, speaks repeatedly of business acumen as a trait to be prized in women (v.  11, 13, 16, and 18 especially). Women have the right to be consulted with regard to their marriage.  Marital sex is regarded as the woman's right, and not the man's.  Men do not have the right to beat or mistreat their wives, a right that was recognized by law in many Christian countries until a few hundred years ago.  In cases of rape, a woman is generally presumed not to have consented to the intercourse, even if she enjoyed it, even if she consented after the sexual act began and declined a rescue!  This is in sharp contrast to Western society, where even today rape victims often have to overcome public suspicion that they "asked for it" or "wanted it".  Traditional Judaism recognizes that forced sexual relations within the context of marriage are rape and are not permitted; in many states in the West, rape within marriage is still not a criminal act. There is no question that in traditional Judaism, the primary role of a woman is as wife and mother, keeper of the household.  However, Judaism has great respect for the importance of that role.  The Talmud says that when a pious man marries a wicked woman, the man becomes wicked, but when a wicked man marries a pious woman, the man becomes pious.  Women are exempted from all positive commandments ("thou shalts" as opposed to "thou shalt nots") that are time-related (that is, commandments that must be performed at a specific time of the day or year), because the woman's duties as wife and mother are so important that they cannot be postponed to fulfill a commandment.  After all, a woman cannot be expected to just drop a crying baby when the time comes to perform a commandment. It is this exemption from certain commandments that has led to the greatest misunderstanding of the role of women in Judaism.  First, many people make the mistake of thinking that this exemption is a prohibition.  On the contrary, although women are not obligated to perform time-based positive commandments, they are generally permitted to observe such commandments if they choose.  Second, because this exemption diminishes the role of women in the synagogue, many people perceive that women have no role in Jewish religious life.  This misconception derives from the mistaken assumption that Jewish religious life revolves around the synagogue.  It does not; it revolves around the home, where the woman's role is every bit as important as the man's. The Role of Women in the Synagogue To understand the limited role of women in synagogue life, it is important to understand the nature of commandments in Judaism and the separation of men and women. Judaism recognizes that it is mankind's nature to rebel against authority; thus, one who does something because he is commanded to is regarded with greater merit than one who does something because he chooses to.  The person who refrains from pork because it is a commandment has more merit than the person who refrains from pork because he does not like the taste.  In addition, the commandments, burdens, and obligations that were given to the Jewish people are regarded as a privilege, and the more commandments one is obliged to observe, the more privileged one is. Because women are not obligated to perform certain commandments, their observance of those commandments does not "count" for group purposes.  While a woman must pray the silent standing prayer just as a man does, she need not pray the full prayer service of the synagoue that a man prays.  Thus, a woman's voluntary attendance at daily worship services does not count toward a minyan (the 10 people necessary to recite certain prayers), a woman's voluntary recitation of certain prayers does not count on behalf of the group (thus women cannot lead services), and a woman's voluntary reading from the Torah does not count towards the community's obligation to read from the Torah. In addition, because women are not obligated to perform as many commandments as men are, women are regarded as less privileged.  It is in this light that one must understand the man's blessing thanking God for "not making me a woman".  The prayer does not indicate that it is bad to be a woman, but only that men feel fortunate to be privileged to have more obligations. Another thing that must be understood is the separation of men and women during prayer.  According to Jewish Law, men and women must be separated during prayer, usually by a wall or curtain called a mechitzah or by placing women in a second floor balcony.  There are two reasons for this:  first, your mind is supposed to be on prayer, not on the pretty girl praying near you.  Second, many pagan religious ceremonies at the time the Torah was given on Sinai involved sexual activity and orgies, and the separation prevents or at least discourages even thinking about such things.  A separation like that in today's synagogue was also made long ago in the Temple. The combination of the exemption from certain commandments and this separation results in some women feeling that they have an inferior place in the synagogue.  Because of these problems, many Orthodox women rarely attend services. But as said before, this restriction on participation in synagogue life does not mean that women are excluded from Jewish religious life, because the Jewish religion is not something that happens in synagogue.  Judaism is something that permeates every aspect of your life, everything that you do, from the time you wake up in the morning to the time you go to bed, from what you eat and how you dress to how you conduct business.  Prayer services are only a small, though important, part of the Jewish religion. Prev | Table of Contents | Next Got a question or comment?  Write Us!