What is Judaism?
Judaism is considered the world’s ancient monotheistic religion that dates back to 4000 years that originated from Yehudah who is of Anglo Latin origin. The people who follow Judaism are known as Jewish. It is a collective religion that is composed of three main religions, that is, Abrahamism, Monotheism and ethnic religion. These three religions together influenced the collective religion, culture, civilization and legal tradition of the Jewish people that are often referred to as Israelites.
The believer of Judaism believes in one god who according to the beliefs has been revealed through the ancient prophets. Religious jews consider the religion of Judaism through the expression of the Mosaic covenant that the god has established himself through the children of Israel.
It holds in itself a large number of texts, theologies, practices and a large number of organisations. The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh has been encompassed into large texts and the compilation is known as Torah. The Midrash and the Talmud are the representation of the supplemental oral tradition. Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world with 17.4 million adherents worldwide. This article, thus, deals with Judaism, its faith, types and answering the question “who follows Judaism”.
Development of Judaism
The most interesting feature of Judaism is that they were monotheists as they believed in one god. In ancient history, it was very unusual because most of the religions were polytheist as they worshipped and believed in multiple gods. This has drawn a number of historians to study the religion and the religious beliefs of the jews. From the beginning of the 11th century till the end of the 6th century the people followed Judaism who lived in the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. In the late 930 BCE, the two kingdoms split their ways. Thus in late antiquity, that is from the 11th to the 6th century BCE, Rabbinic Judaism developed.
As the Assyrian Empire and then the Babylonian Empire conquered the Jewish lands in the late 8th century and 6th century BCE respectively, this has majorly influenced the existence and thoughts of the Jewish. In the time of both the conquests, a large number of Jewish were forced to leave their homeland. When the Babylonian Emperor conquered the Jewish kingdom, that influenced the religious beliefs and thoughts of many Jewish and thus the period is also referred to as Babylonian exile.
Post the conquest of the Babylonian empire by the Persian ruler, named Cyrus the Great, he allowed the Jews to return to their homeland in 539 BCE. It was during this time that the Temple of Solomon was again rebuilt and was destroyed by the Babylonian emperor during the time of the conquest. The rebuilding of the temple was a mark of the celebration of the return of the Jews back to their homeland. This period is often referred to by historians as the second temple period. During this time most of the writings that incorporate history and religious thinking were developed that later became one of the major parts of the Torah. With the writings, Jewish beliefs in monotheism became more defined.
In Torah, the origin of the beliefs of Judaism is mentioned in detail. According to the writings in the holy book, the god has first revealed himself to a man named Abraham who was of Hebrew origin. He was then known as the founder of Judaism. It is believed by the Jews that God has made a special meeting with Abraham where he and his descendants were the chosen ones to bring goodwill to the nation. After Abraham, his son Issac and his grandson Jacob took the legacy forward and also had an equal influence in Jewish history. As Jacob took the name Israel, his descenders were famously referred to as Israelites.
Prophet Moses, after almost 1000 years after Abraham, took the initiative to get the Israelites out of Egypt who were there for more than 100 years as slaves in Egypt. Moses at Mt. Sinai was the one to whom the god has revealed his law as a Ten Commandment as mentioned in the scriptures.
Faith of Judaism
The faith of Judaism is based on the existence of only one God. The JEWs believe that there is only one God who has called for an agreement with them. God communicates to the people who are the actual believers through prophets and rewards for good deeds of people and at the same time also punishes for the evil. Most of the Jews, except a few of the groups, believe that their messiah has not come and he is yet to arrive in the near future. Synagogues are the holy place where all the Jews pray to their God. Their spiritual leaders are referred to as Rabbis. The symbol of Judaism is the famous six-pointed star of David. Today there are about 14 million Jews most of whom live in Israel and the United states. If one's mother is Jews then the person is considered Jewish.
Types of Judaism
There are several sections of Judaism that have been divided into these five major sects that are discussed below:-
Orthodox Judaism: Orthodox Judaism typically refers to the practices of the orthodox Jews who observe and practice the old rituals and law of Jewish beliefs strictly. For instance, orthodox Judaism believed that money handling, working or driving should not be practised by Shabbat. Judaism sought to consist of many groups and subgroups under this sect. This kind of Judaism was established in the Middle East during the 18th century where they practice different beliefs and rules that also fall under ultra-Orthodox Judaism. Hasidic Jews always emphasise direct communication with God through prayers and worship that results in many mystical experiences. From the Hasidic movement, the well known Orthodox Jewish was Chabad.
Reform Judaism: Reform Judaism is a more liberal form of Judaism as compared to orthodox Judaism that advocates for the following of ethical Judaism over the strict observance of the old rituals and laws of Jewish beliefs. Under reform Judaism, the Jews promote progressive ideas and adaptation. Most of the Jews who are living in the United States follow reform Judaism.
Conservative Judaism: This type of Judaism falls between orthodox Judaism and Reform Judaism. Under this Judaism, the Jews believe in adopting some of the modernised outlooks to the practice of their religion while sticking to the conservative Jews honour of the traditions.
Reconstructionist Judaism: In the year 1922, when the Society for the Advancement of Judaism was founded by Mordecai Kaplan, Reconstructionist Judaism was introduced. The Jews under this group truly believe that religion is under constant evolution and is a civilization religion in itself.
Humanistic Judaism: In the year 1963, the humanistic Judaism was founded by Rabbi Sherwin Wine. Jewish history and culture are celebrated by humanistic Judaism without much emphasis given on God.
Conclusion
Judaism is considered the world’s ancient monotheistic religion that dates back to 4000 years that originated from Yehudah who is of Anglo Latin origin. It is a collective religion that is composed of three main religions, that is, Abrahamism, Monotheism and ethnic religion. These three religions together influenced the collective religion, culture, civilization and legal tradition of the Jewish people that are often referred to as Israelites. The believer of Judaism believes in one god who according to the beliefs has been revealed through the ancient prophets. Judaism though is divided into many sects such as orthodox, reform, conservative, reconstructionist as well as humanists but many of the followers do not associate themself with any of the group and simply refer to themselves as Jewish.
