How do you explain an entire religion in just a few words? According to a famous story from the Talmud, Rabbi Hillel was asked to teach a Roman jokester all of Judaism while the man stood on one foot. Rabbi Hillel’s answer was simple: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your fellow. That is the Torah. The rest is commentary. Now go and learn.”
In this episode, we take inspiration from Hillel’s challenge and explore the essence of Judaism. Rather than beginning with a list of beliefs, we’ll look at Judaism as a whole, starting with a fundamental insight: Judaism is not a religious worldview, but the ethno-religion of in a people rooted in their history and geography, and who bear the responsibility not to let God down.
The main presentation is about 18 minutes long (starting at 2:45 and ending at 21:17) and can stand alone. There is also an epilogue which lists topics not included. This includes a brief explanation (approximately 6 minutes long, starting at 21:30) of the principal differences between movements in Judaism and why it is unhelpful to frame this divide in terms of theology alone. This discussion is presented separately from the main summary of Judaism in order that the differences between Jews do not distract from a holistic understanding of Judaism and of what binds Jews together as a people.
This overview is designed to help educators, students, and curious learners see the bigger picture, understand what is most central within Judaism, and place individual topics in their proper context.
If you are listening to this on an audio podcast, I strongly recommend that you go to https://rejudaism.substack.com, where you can either watch the video, or else view or download the slideshow. Not all the information is captured by the audio alone. I also apologise if the audio is choppy at times due to editing and additions.
The slideshow content is provided here in text form only (without maps etc.):
Judaism is two things.
1. Ethnicity
The Jewish People. Am Yisrael / B’nei Yisrael
history going back 3000 to 4000 years
2. Religion
Ideas, Values.
Practices shaped by Law and centred around stories / Narratives
As a whole: a Religion connected to an Ethnicity (Ethnoreligion)
Neither lasts very long without the other.
Our story (Ethnicity)
A family
* Descended from people who lived where Israel, West Bank and Jordan are today.
* Archaeological presence: from approx. 1200BCE perhaps 1000BCE
* 12 tribes, named for sons of Jacob aka Israel, grandson of Abraham (from the Bible)
Judah and Israel
* Judah: most important tribe, the tribe of kings David and Solomon.
* Judah (Yehuda) → Jew (Yehudi), Judaism
Israelite Religion: Identity based on Covenants with God (contained in Torah)
Covenant with Abraham (outward facing)
* Mission to be a “light unto the nations” (related to modern “tikkun olam”)
* Abraham stood for integrity and bravery (he even argued with God)
* Mission handed down Abraham → Isaac → Jacob → Children of Israel
Covenant at Sinai / with Moses (inward facing)
* “You will be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.”
* Mission to create a society in the Land founded on justice, morality
* Founding story is the Exodus → ethical lessons (don’t become like Pharaoh)
Oneness of God as an ethical principle:
* All human beings are equally created by the One God in His image
* No person should claim to be a god. We are all under God.
* Do not betray God by worshiping something false / objectifying God
Hebrew Bible (TaNaKh תָּנָ״ךְ)
ת Torah / Teaching – Rules and stories so we are true to these covenants
נ Nevi’im / Prophets (Do we live up to our mission?)
ך Ketuvim / Writings – other stories, psalms, later moral texts (eg. proverbs)
Inherited destiny
* Duty to transmit the covenant the next generation.
* Israelite society is patriarchal – identity inherited from your fatherEnd of biblical period → end of tribal identity → identity becomes matriarchalProgressive Jews today use both (father or mother)
History and Biblical Story
Biblical kings: eg. David, Solomon, Hezekiah
Historical kings: eg. Hezekiah, Hasmoneans
Crossroads of continents → Empires pass through. Often!
* Exile (by Babylonians) 586 BCE
* Return (Cyrus the Great) 520 BCE Marks end of the Biblical period.
* Israelites become Jews (from the name Judah), end of tribal system
* 2nd Temple Period lasts about 650 years.
* Persians, Greeks, Hasmoneans (Maccabees), Romans
* Temple destroyed (Romans) 70CE
* Bar Kochba catastrophe and Exile 135 CE
Diaspora / Exile (Galut)
* Survivors from Judea taken to Rome as slaves → Ashkenazi Jewry
* Others went to Spain, Iraq, North Africa etc → Sephardi / Mizrachi Jewry
* Diverse communities, with common origin in Judah and Israel. family.
* Some Jews remain in Judah and Israel, but most have now left.
* Jews never stop longing to return home to Zion / Jerusalem / arrival of the Messiah.
* (Today almost half of Jews live in Israel.)
Jewish Religion: How to survive?
From Crisis to Innovation
* Israelite religion / early Judaism is rooted in place (the Land, the Temple)
* Cataclysmic events (above). How to adapt Judaism in the Diaspora?
* Many competing approaches. Winner: Judaism of the academy. The Judaism of free debate and discussion. Rabbinic Judaism (Pharisees).
* Sages (Rabbis / Chazal) adapt Judaism to make it portable.
* Maintain our identity and practices as a people, without a fixed location.
* Sacrifices transformed into prayers, said anywhere by anyone
* Judaism becomes an international religion.
Rabbinic Judaism
Judaism today is based on Rabbinic interpretations of the Torah. We don’t always agree on which Rabbis have authority, but we are all Rabbinites.
Chain of Tradition (Mishnah Avot 1:1)
Torah instructs us to appoint judges → Rabbinic authority rooted in Torah.Laws must be interpreted to address contemporary problems.
Torah (Revelation at Sinai) → Moses → Joshua → Elders → Prophets → Men of the Great Assembly (First generation of Sages)
Halachic Process:
Torah → Mishnah → Gemara → Codes of Jewish Law → Modern Responsa
practice shaped by Law and centred around stories / narratives
Example: Creation / Shabbat = Sabbath
Story: Creation of the world.
One God created the whole universe: Good and bad, all from One God
God created the world in six days and then God rested on the seventh day.
God cares about his creations.
Each human being matters, as an individual, with dignity: human beings created individually, each one in the image of God.
A story is just a story, until you bring it to life.
We live this story.
* We work for six days and rest on Shabbat to create holiness in time
* Torah tells us “Remember the Sabbath Day to make it holy.”
* Torah tells us “Guard the Sabbath day to make it holy”
But what does it mean to “Guard” Shabbat and make it holy?
Torah tells us not to do any melachah on Shabbat. What is melachah??
The Sages (Chazal) explain that we look at the work to build the Mishkan – the temporary tent sanctuary in the wilderness after the Exodus.
Torah instructs us to stop work on the Mishkan on Shabbat.
From this, the Sages deduced 39 categories of melachah, including kindling fire, weaving cloth, cooking, building, and writing.
But what does it mean to “Remember” Shabbat and make it holy?
Sages: We actively sanctify Shabbat by reciting kiddush (the sanctification prayer) over wine and by actively celebrating Shabbat with special meals.
Second value of Shabbat: freedom. Resting once a week shows we are free.
Everyone rests on Shabbat: including animals, workers, slaves
Redemption from Egypt / Passover
Exodus from Egypt (Redemption).
We were enslaved by Pharaoh and God personally intervened to free us.
A story is just a story, until you bring it to life.
We live the Exodus story when we celebrate Pesach.
We each identify as personally having left Egypt – this is our origin story.
Seder meal, telling the story, eating matzah
Exodus story motivates much of Jewish social justice activism (tikkun olam).
Torah tells us: “Remember that you were slaves in the land of Egypt.”
“Don’t take advantage of a stranger. You know what it’s like to be a stranger; you were strangers in Egypt.”
Revelation at Sinai (Receiving the Torah)
1. Creation 2. Revelation 3. Redemption
Decalogue. What Christians call the 10 Commandments.
A story is just a story, until you bring it to life.
We live the Revelation story when we study Torah. God speaks to us.
Torah (5 books of Moses) is full of commandments (mitzvot). 613 for Jews. (Just 7 for non-Jews)
Mitzvot frame every part of our lives: what we eat, how we pray, business ethics, our sex lives, life cycle events….
Performing mitzvot makes our lives holy and makes space for God Living our commitment to Covenant.
Shavuot: festival where we reenact the Revelation at Sinai
Na’aseh Venish’mah – Doing comes first
God-Israel relationship is like a marriage, a Covenant, contracted at Mount Sinai.
At Mount Sinai, Israel accepted all of Torah.
Trust in God - We agreed to adhere to what we had not yet heard.
What is Torah? Not just scripture. Includes Law, Tradition, Teaching, Authority
We accepted the authority of scholarship. (Diverse attitudes to this.)
Rabbinic explanations (such as of melachah) are considered “from Sinai”. This is Oral Torah
Torah instructs us to appoint judges → Rabbinic authority rooted in Torah.Laws must be interpreted to address contemporary problems.
Core text (Exodus 24:7): All that God says, we will do and we will understand.
Na’aseh v’ Nishma. כֹּל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר ה נַעֲשֶׂה וְנִשְׁמָע
We learn by doing. Belief and understanding emerge from practice.
We teach children how to live (to do mitzvot). → they learn values and develop connection with Judaism, other Jews and God.
Faith in Practice: core idea for Jews.
Possible to be religious and also doubt truth claims.
A religious Jew keeps the faith, by continuing to practice.
Practice of mitzvot opens the door to God coming (back) into your life.
Life after death: not an important topic for Jews. Focus on how to live, in this life.
Summary
God, Torah, Israel
Creation, Revelation, Redemption
Important topics omitted above
Movements / Sects in Judaism
(To listen to this section, skip to 21:30 in the recording above.)
Various responses to the Enlightenment and its emphasis on personal autonomy.
Important not to stereotype, but distinctions between orthodox, progressive and other Jews tend to hinge on disputes over answers to these questions:
* Should Jews assimilate or maintain rules that keep us distinct and separate?
* How do we respond to secular wisdom? Reject? Embrace? Integrate?
* Are mitzvot binding on Jews or just traditions that we value observing?What is more important: personal autonomy or adherence to law?
* Are we bound to follow the rulings of the rabbis who wrote codes of Jewish law and of early modern rabbis who applied these to modernity? Can Jewish law change?
* Is the Torah God’s word, or a sacred part of our Tradition that is partly man-made? (This matters because it affects the authority of Law and whether it can change.)
Jewish Calendar
* Jewish time and why the secular date of Jewish festivals varies year to year.
* Other special days and festivals: centred these around stories / narratives
Interpersonal Mitzvot
* Honest / ethical business dealing
* kindness / charity: eg. hospitality, giving to charity, honouring parents
* Holiness Code in Leviticus
Judaism contains languages:
* Hebrew (in Bible, prayers, Rabbinic literature), Aramaic (Talmud)
Relationship with other religions
* “Abrahamic” faiths: Christianity and Islam
* Ethnoreligions: Hinduism, Sikhi (more in common than you might expect)
Bible stories
* Abraham: His journey (Ivri), family troubles, God’s promise
* Matriarchs, Patriarchs, Joseph, and how Israel’s children ended up in Egypt
History / Antisemitism
* General Jewish history including of Jews in Britain
* Antisemitism and the Holocaust
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