Great World Religions: Judaism [repost]

What is the essence of Judaism? Is it the Ten Commandments, given by God to Israel at Mount Sinai? Or is it the totality of teachings in the Hebrew Bible? Or is it symbolized by something outside the Bible? However Judaism is defined, the beliefs, practices, attitudes, and institutions of Jews through the ages display a striking diversity, despite the fact that all would ascribe to a common heritage.

Professor Isaiah M. Gafni of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem addresses these and other issues as he explores the ever-changing 4,000-year-old saga of Judaism, one of the world's most ancient and influential religions.

More Than a Faith


Indeed, as Professor Gafni points out, Judaism is something more than a religion. Christianity and Islam are faiths, or systems of beliefs, that embrace diverse communities and ethnic groups throughout the world. Although Judaism also adheres to particular beliefs and practices, many Jews would nevertheless consider the designation of Judaism as a religion as far too narrow or confining a categorization.

Where Does the Term Judaism Come from?


Consider the origin of the word "Judaism":
In the Hebrew Bible, known to Christians as the Old Testament, what came to be called Judaism is practiced by a people that are referred to as the nation of Israel.
The Israelites believed their destiny was linked to a faith in God and to God's promise to give a particular land to the offspring of Israel's founding patriarch, Abraham, who lived around 1800 B.C.E.
Abraham had a son Isaac, who had a son Jacob, who had a son Judah.
King David, a descendant of the tribe of Judah, founded a dynasty that would rule over Israel for four centuries. The kingdom would ultimately go by the name of Judah.
The word appears for the first time in the Second Book of Maccabees, composed 1,700 years after Abraham, as the designation of a way of life maintained by those people linked to the land of Judaea (the Roman name).

Hence, from the beginning, Judaism meant a people defined by a place as well as an ethnic and religious heritage.

Judaism from Within


Throughout the course, you will study Judaism from within—as it was understood by its adherents in the past and by those who practice or identify with Judaism today.

The lectures cover the critical stages of Jewish history; the centrality of such books as the Torah, Talmud, Midrash, and Mishna; and the manner in which the Jewish calendar and Jewish law, or Halakha, define daily life.

The course also illustrates how Judaism reinvented itself by embracing the rabbinical tradition after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. and considers the thinking of such philosophers as Philo of Alexandria and Moses Maimonides, a 12th-century C.E. scholar whom Professor Gafni calls "the star of this series."

The final lecture turns to the issue of how Judaism deals with the outside world. How does it handle converts to Judaism? How does it manage its dual but potentially conflicting missions: to be true to itself as a people chosen by God, and to be a spiritual example to the world, a "light unto the nations"?