Judaism

The Contemporary World

 History
• Judaism is the oldest of the world's four biggest monotheistic religions
(religions with only one god). It's also the smallest, with only about 12
million followers around the world.

• Jewish history begins with the covenant established between God and
Abraham around 1812 BC (over 3,800 years ago), during the Bronze Age,
in the Middle East.

• The Torah (Jewish Law), the primary document of Judaism, was given to
the Jews by the Prophet Moses (Moshe) about 3,300 years ago.

• The Jewish calendar starts with the day when Adam and Eve were created
(the Sixth Day of Creation). This year (2010) is 5770 on the Jewish
Calendar. It starts with Rosh HaShanah, the two day Jewish New Year.
From September 2010, the Jewish Calendar will be 5771.
 Origins of Judaism
Place of Origin Israel
Founder Abraham
Sacred Text The TeNaCh (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim)
Sacred Synagogue
Building
Holy Place Jerusalem
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, Pesach
Major Festivals (Passover), Shavuot (Pentecost), Sukkot
(Tabernacles)
Main Branches Orthodox, Reform, Conservative
(Denominations)
 Judaism’s concept on “Good” and
”Evil”
• Judaism does not have a single, unified theory about the
origin of good and evil. The Kabbalists (Jewish mystics)
understood the brokenness of the universe to be the result of
shattered vessels that had proven too weak to hold the
primordial light present in the act of creation, and believe
that evil developed from the resulting imbalance in the
cosmos. Although Judaism in general rejects the Christian
concept of “original sin,” something very close to this idea
is found in kabbalistic thinking, which posits that all created
souls have been affected by Adam’s failure to complete the
assigned task of gathering the final, stray sparks of the
shattered vessels that would have set the universe right.
 Judaism’s concept on “Good” and
”Evil”
• However, traditional rabbinic understanding of human
nature is shaped to a large degree by the presence of
two inclinations – the yetzer ha tov (the good
inclination) and the yetzer ha ra (the evil inclination).
Influenced to a large extent by the thinking of the
Jewish philosopher Maimonides (1135-1204), the good
inclination has become identified with the rational self
that is capable of positive, moral choice. The evil
inclination is sometimes identified with the “lower”
passions, and Torah study and obedience are prescribed
as the means through which the evil inclination is
tamed and put to proper use.
 Judaism’s concept on “Good” and
”Evil”
• This understanding places the human being at
the center of his own cosmic drama, torn
between two opposing forces that are vying for
control. Evil is most certainly opposition to
God. Yet without the evil inclination, we
humans would lack the opportunity to grow in
goodness, as we learn to overcome temptation
and therefore develop righteous character.
 Judaism’s concept on “Good” and
”Evil”
• The teaching of Yeshua (Jesus) understands
human nature as needing a total transformation
that is initiated through belief in and obedience
to the Messiah, whose atoning death and
resurrection form the basis for new life: “I am
the light of the world. He who follows Me shall
not walk in darkness, but have the light of
life” (John 7:12).
13 Principles of Faith in Judaism:
-Becoming “Good” and avoiding “Evil”
 Judaism’s concept on becoming
“Good” and avoiding “Evil”
• I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be
His Name, is the Creator and Guide of everything that
has been created; He alone has made, does make, and
will make all things.
• I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be
His Name, is One, and that there is no unity in any
manner like His, and that He alone is our God, who
was, and is, and will be.
• I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be
His Name, has no body, and that He is free from all the
properties of matter, and that there can be no (physical)
comparison to Him whatsoever.
 Judaism’s concept on becoming
“Good” and avoiding “Evil”
• I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be
His Name, is the first and the last.
• I believe with perfect faith that to the Creator, Blessed
be His Name, and to Him alone, it is right to pray, and
that it is not right to pray to any being besides Him.
• I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the
prophets are true.
• I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses
our teacher, peace be upon him, was true, and that he
was the chief of the prophets, both those who preceded
him and those who followed him.
 Judaism’s concept on becoming
“Good” and avoiding “Evil”
• I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that is
now in our possession is the same that was given to
Moses our teacher, peace be upon him.
• I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be
exchanged, and that there will never be any other Torah
from the Creator, Blessed be His Name.
• I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be
His Name, knows all the deeds of human beings and all
their thoughts, as it is written, "Who fashioned the
hearts of them all, Who comprehends all their actions"
(Psalms 33:15).
 Judaism’s concept on becoming
“Good” and avoiding “Evil”
• I believe with perfect faith that the Creator,
Blessed be His Name, rewards those who keep
His commandments and punishes those that
transgress them.
• I believe with perfect faith in the coming of
the Messiah; and even though he may tarry,
nonetheless, I wait every day for his coming.
• I believe with perfect faith that there will be a
revival of the dead at the time when it shall please
the Creator, Blessed be His name, and His
mention shall be exalted for ever and ever.
The Jewish Political Tradition
and Its Contemporary Uses

By: Daniel J. Elazar and Stuart A. Cohen

• Politics is, in many respects, the fantasy of Jewish
studies. Much attention has been lavished on the
development of Jewish religion, legal, and social
practice; probably even more has been written
about the history of Jewish Gentile relations. By
comparison, the study of the Jewish political
tradition -- with all that it entails for an
understanding of Jewish modes of self-
government, Jewish political perceptions, and
Jewish political responsibilities -- remains an
almost uncharted area.
• Concerns of an intrinsically political nature, have, after all, constantly lain
at the very heart of much Jewish thought and practice. Traditionally,
indeed, the validity of Jewish teaching has always been considered to find
best expression in a political setting, through a polity in which Jews bear
the responsibility for creating the "kingdom of heaven" (Hebrew: malkhut
shamayim-- the good commonwealth) on earth. Hence, the Bible is replete
with examples of political behavior and contains seminal ideas concerning
political organization and obligation. In turn, these are reflected and quoted
in later texts of Jewish law. Furthermore, and as the entire chronicle of the
Jewish diaspora experience indicates, Jewish political practice did not come
to an abrupt end with the destruction of the Temple and the subsequent
Exile of the Jews from the Holy Land. Throughout their dispersion, the
Jews continued to develop and embellish distinctive patterns of communal
government, and it was in accordance with these that communal authority
was conferred and accepted.
• There exists a sad irony in the fact that the very existence of a Jewish
political tradition should have gone virtually unrecognized in our own
time. It might have been expected that the Jewish national revival of the
twentieth century would have generated attempts to enhance public
awareness of the political tradition of which it forms a part. In effect, the
operational resurgence of the concept of a Jewish polity in the modern
State of Israel has not been accompanied by an awareness of its historical
parallels and roots. Concentrating their focus on what is novel in the
present Jewish institutions in Israel and the diaspora, past and present;
equally obscured is the evidence which indicates that contemporary
Jewry functions -- for the most part unconsciously -- in the political arena
in no small measure on the basis of certain fundamental beliefs and
practices which are embedded in Jewish culture. There has been very
little regard for the fact that the present behavioral patterns of the Jewish
political world, revolutionary though some of them might seem, are in
essence extensions and modifications of a tradition which possesses deep
roots in the entire course of Jewry's long and eventful history.
• It is in the light of such considerations that it is appropriate
to build a comprehensive and fully integrated program in
the Jewish political tradition and its contemporary uses.
Drawing upon the vast storehouse of accumulated Jewish
historiography, and utilizing the methodologies more
recently developed in the political and social sciences, such
a program can arouse contemporary awareness of both the
importance and relevance of the topic. This is a venture
which must, of necessity, engage the attention of Jewish
political and communal leaders, as well as academics. Such
a program will not only fill a scholarly lacunae, but also
should make a contribution to the continuing development
of a tradition of enduring worth.
• Jewish political studies emphasizes the organization of
the Jewish community as a polity -- a corporate entity
whose structure, institutions and processes have
reflected the continuing effort of the Jewish people to
govern itself under a variety of conditions. As a field, it
is designed to recover and enrich the political
dimensions of Jewish life in all its manifestations.
• The subject matter of Jewish political studies falls into
three major divisions: Jewish political institutions and
behavior, Jewish political thought, and Jewish public
affairs.
 At least nineteen areas of concern have been
identified on the basis of these divisions as
reflected in the literature currently available.
They include:
Civic Education Jewish Political Culture
Contemporary Issues Jewish Political Organization
Country, Community and Area Jewish Political Thought
Studies Jewish Public Law
Defining the Boundaries of Public Personalities
Jewish Society Religious Movements,
External Relations Ideologies and Public
Intercommunity Relations Persuasions
Israel Research Approaches and
Jewish Organizations and Methods
Interest Groups Subdivisions of the Jewish
Jewish Political and Communal People
Institutions The Course of Jewish Public
Jewish Political Behavior Affairs
 There are four primary tasks that
should occupy the field:
• Investigation - research into Jewish political
theory and practice, past and present, and the
development of Jewish attitudes towards the
exercise of political prerogatives.
• Interpretation - the analysis of Jewish political
behavior and its meaning in light of the
constitutional bases and divisions of the Jewish
polity.
• Policy Application - the utilization of scholarship
in Jewish public affairs.
 I. Investigation
• Not the least of the achievements of the first two
decades of systematic study of Jewish political
life and thought has been the development of
frameworks of analysis which have facilitated an
informed understanding of major trends in Jewish
political life. By positing the notion of a
continuous tradition of Jewish political behavior,
and by highlighting the importance of the
covenant idea within that tradition, it has been
possible to focus attention on the basic elements
of the subject and, thereby, to fashion tools for its
further study.
 II. Interpretation
• The accumulation of additional knowledge is but
an essential preliminary to an analysis of the
information thus obtained. Jewish political studies
is not to be regarded as a progression of attested
"facts;" it is to be perceived as a finely-balanced
testimony to a particularly Jewish perspective on
governance, each stage of which reflects a
basically continuous affirmation and application
of constitutional principles which lie at the very
heart of the Jewish experience.
 III. Policy Application
• It is by now a commonplace to talk of the political re-awakening of
the Jewish people during recent decades. Less frequently articulated,
because more obscure, are the implications of that phenomenon and
its bearings on the central issue of Jewish identity in our times.
Fundamental to the investigation of these phenomena is a
recognition of the remarkable efforts presently being undertaken
throughout the Jewish world to refashion and reconstitute
the edah. The post-modern epoch of Jewish constitutional history
has witnessed the emergence of new and exciting modes of Jewish
political organization, which have themselves often been reflections
of the coming of age of a new Jewish political public. The revival of
the political aspirations of the Jews during the twentieth century has
raised anew the issue of Jewish identity in its entirety, and in so
doing has opened up novel modes of its expression and
enhancement.