Today's Jewish Fact of the Day
Oct. 28th, 2003 02:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pennywhistleBranches of Judaism
Just like there are different forms of Christianity, there are different branches of Judaism.
They are:
Orthodox
"Orthodox Jews believe that God gave Moses the whole Torah (Written and Oral) at Mount Sinai. Written Torah refers to the first five books of the Bible. Oral Torah interprets and explains the Written Torah. Orthodox Jews believe that the Torah contains 613 mitzvot (commandments) that are binding upon Jews. Modern Orthodox Jews strictly observe halakhah (Jewish Law), but still integrate into modern society. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, which includes Chasidic Jews, strictly observe Jewish laws and do not integrate into modern society by dressing distinctively and living separately."
Most of my older relatives when I was growing up (they have since passed on) were all Orthodox or Ultra-Orthadox.
Conservative
"Conservative Judaism maintains that the ideas in the Torah come from God, but were transmitted by humans and contain a human compontent. Conservative Judaism generally accepts the binding nature of halakhah (Jewish Law), but believes that the Law should adapt, absorbing aspects of the predominant culture while remaining true to Judaism's values."
Reform
"Reform Judaism believes that the Torah was written by different human sources, rather than by God, and then later combined. While Reform Judaism does not accept the binding nature of halakhah (Jewish Law), the movement does retain much of the values and ethics of Judaism as well as some of the practices and culture."
Reconstructionist
"Reconstructionists believe that Judaism is an "evolving religious civilization." In one way it is more liberal than Reform Judaism - the movement does not believe in a personified deity that is active in history and does not believe that God chose the Jewish people. In another way Reconstructionist Judaism is less liberal than Reform Judaism - Reconstructionists observe halakhah Jewish Law) if they choose to, not because it is a binding Law from G-d, but because it is a valuable cultural remnant."
My family is Reform. Which basically means we go to services on major holidays ^_~ But we still celebrate the holidays, just at home. My parents were both raised Orthodox, and tried to start their home together as Orthodox, which meant keeping a Kosher home at all times. They knew they couldn't keep it up when we were eating something unkosher on the front porch when I was 2 so that the kitchen wouldn't see us. My parents now eat pork, but I don't.
Just like there are different forms of Christianity, there are different branches of Judaism.
They are:
Orthodox
"Orthodox Jews believe that God gave Moses the whole Torah (Written and Oral) at Mount Sinai. Written Torah refers to the first five books of the Bible. Oral Torah interprets and explains the Written Torah. Orthodox Jews believe that the Torah contains 613 mitzvot (commandments) that are binding upon Jews. Modern Orthodox Jews strictly observe halakhah (Jewish Law), but still integrate into modern society. Ultra-Orthodox Jews, which includes Chasidic Jews, strictly observe Jewish laws and do not integrate into modern society by dressing distinctively and living separately."
Most of my older relatives when I was growing up (they have since passed on) were all Orthodox or Ultra-Orthadox.
Conservative
"Conservative Judaism maintains that the ideas in the Torah come from God, but were transmitted by humans and contain a human compontent. Conservative Judaism generally accepts the binding nature of halakhah (Jewish Law), but believes that the Law should adapt, absorbing aspects of the predominant culture while remaining true to Judaism's values."
Reform
"Reform Judaism believes that the Torah was written by different human sources, rather than by God, and then later combined. While Reform Judaism does not accept the binding nature of halakhah (Jewish Law), the movement does retain much of the values and ethics of Judaism as well as some of the practices and culture."
Reconstructionist
"Reconstructionists believe that Judaism is an "evolving religious civilization." In one way it is more liberal than Reform Judaism - the movement does not believe in a personified deity that is active in history and does not believe that God chose the Jewish people. In another way Reconstructionist Judaism is less liberal than Reform Judaism - Reconstructionists observe halakhah Jewish Law) if they choose to, not because it is a binding Law from G-d, but because it is a valuable cultural remnant."
My family is Reform. Which basically means we go to services on major holidays ^_~ But we still celebrate the holidays, just at home. My parents were both raised Orthodox, and tried to start their home together as Orthodox, which meant keeping a Kosher home at all times. They knew they couldn't keep it up when we were eating something unkosher on the front porch when I was 2 so that the kitchen wouldn't see us. My parents now eat pork, but I don't.
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Date: 2003-10-28 04:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2003-10-28 06:16 pm (UTC)i dunno why, but that cracks me up. don't they know that the kitchen has spies who live on the front porch?! ;-)
I'm really enjoying this!! Thanks again for sharing.
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Date: 2003-10-28 07:12 pm (UTC)always wanted to learn more about Judaism. Your post was quite informative on the basics. We're about to cover Judaism in my Sociology of Religion class. Thanks for the intro!
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Date: 2003-11-05 04:48 am (UTC)- many people believe that all secular jews are atheists but that's not true! it's true most don't observe the halakhah or eat kosher or wear skirts and yarmulkes but that doesn't mean we don't believe in G-d it means we might not be that traditional
just thought it was worth a mention ^_^
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Date: 2003-11-05 09:37 am (UTC)Thanks for filling us in, oh anonymous one ^_^