Portal:Judaism
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Judaism (from the Greek Ioudaïsmos, derived from the Hebrew יהודה, Yehudah, "Judah"; in Hebrew: יַהֲדוּת, Yahedut, the distinctive characteristics of the Judean eáqnov) is the religion of the Jewish people, based on principles and ethics embodied in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh), as further explored and explained in the Talmud. In 2007, the world Jewish population was estimated at 13.2 million people—41 percent in Israel and 59 in the diaspora
According to Jewish tradition, the history of Judaism begins with the Covenant between God and Abraham (ca. 2000 BCE), the patriarch and progenitor of the Jewish people. Judaism is among the oldest religious traditions still in practice today. Jewish history and doctrines have influenced other religions such as Christianity, Islam and the Bahá'í Faith.
Judaism differs from many religions in that in modern times, central authority is not vested in any single person or group, but in sacred texts, traditions, and learned Rabbis who interpret those texts and laws. Throughout the ages, Judaism has clung to a number of religious principles, the most important of which is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent, transcendent God, who created the universe and continues to govern it. According to traditional Jewish belief, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Israelites, and revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah, and the Jewish people are the descendants of the Israelites. The traditional practice of Judaism revolves around study and the observance of God's laws and commandments as written in the Torah and expounded in the Talmud.
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- Purim (Hebrew: פורים Pûrîm "lots", related to Akkadian pūru) is a rabbinically ordained Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people from Haman's genocidal plot to annihilate all of them in the ancient Persian Empire as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther. The Jews were in the Babylonian captivity because Babylonia had destroyed Solomon's Temple and dispersed the defeated Jews of the Kingdom of Judah. Babylonia was in turn conquered by Persia. Purim is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, giving mutual gifts of food and drink, giving charity to the poor, and a celebratory meal (Esther 9:22); other customs include drinking wine, wearing of masks and costumes, and public celebration.
- Purim is celebrated annually according to the Hebrew calendar on the 14th day of the Hebrew month of Adar, the day following the victory of the Jews over their Persian oppressors which was on the 13 day of Adar. In cities that were protected by a surrounding wall at the time of Joshua, including Shushan (Susa) and Jerusalem, Purim is celebrated on the 15th of the month, known as Shushan Purim. As with all Jewish holidays, Purim begins at sundown on the previous secular day.
- In 2008, Purim will begin on Thursday evening March 20 and continues during Friday March 21 2008. All Purim celebrations and observances must be entirely completed a few hours before the onset of Shabbat, which commences at sunset on Friday March 21 2008.
- The first religious ceremony ordained for the celebration of Purim is the reading of the Book of Esther (the "Megilla") in the synagogue, a regulation ascribed in the Talmud (Megilla 2a) to the Sages of the Great Assembly, of which Mordecai is reported to have been a member. Originally this enactment was for the 14th of Adar only; later, however, Rabbi Joshua ben Levi (3d century CE) prescribed that the Megillah should also be read on the eve of Purim. Further, he obliged women to attend the reading of the Megillah, inasmuch as it was a woman, Queen Esther, through whom the miraculous deliverance of the Jews was accomplished.
- Purim is an occasion on which much joyous license is permitted within the walls of the synagogue itself. For example, during the public service in many congregations, when the reader of the Megillah mentions Haman (54 occurrences), there is boisterous hissing, stamping, and rattling. This practice traces its origin to the Tosafists (the leading French and German rabbis of the 13th century). In accordance with a passage in the Midrash, where the verse "Thou shalt blot out the remembrance of Amalek" (Deuteronomy 25:19) is explained to mean "even from wood and stones", the rabbis introduced the custom of writing the name of Haman, the offspring of Amalek, on two smooth stones and of knocking or rubbing them constantly until the name was blotted out.
Moses directed the Israelites that when God delivered enemies into their power, the Israelites took captives, an Israelite saw among the captives a beautiful woman, he desired her, and wanted to marry her, the Israelite was to bring her into his house and have her trim her hair, pare her nails, discard her captive’s garb, and spend a month lamenting her father and mother. Thereafter, the Israelite could take her as his wife. But if he should find that he no longer wanted her, he had to release her outright, and not sell her for money as a slave.
If a man had two wives, one loved and one unloved, both bore him sons, but the unloved one bore him his firstborn son, then when he willed his property to his sons, he could not treat the son of the loved wife as firstborn in disregard of the older son of the unloved wife; rather, he was required to accept the firstborn, the son of the unloved one, and allot to him his birthright of a double portion of all that he possessed.
If the community executed a man for a capital offense and impaled him on a stake, they were not to let his corpse remain on the stake overnight, but were to bury him the same day, for an impaled body affronted God.
If one found another’s lost ox, sheep, ass, garment, or any other lost thing, then the finder could not ignore it, but was required to take it back to its owner. If the owner did not live near the finder or the finder did not know the identity of the owner, then the finder was to bring the thing home and keep it until the owner claimed it.
If one came upon another’s ass or ox fallen on the road, then one could not ignore it, but was required to help the owner to raise it.
A woman was not to put on man’s apparel, nor a man wear woman’s clothing.
If one came upon a bird’s nest with the mother bird sitting over fledglings or eggs, then one could not take the mother together with her young, but was required to let the mother go and take only the young.
When one built a new house, one had to make a parapet for the roof, so that on one should fall from it.
One was not to sow a vineyard with a second kind of seed, nor use the yield of such vineyard. One was not to plow with an ox and an ass together. One was not to wear cloth combining wool and linen.
One was to make tassels (tzitzit) on the four corners of the garment with which one covered oneself.
If a man married a woman, cohabited with her, took an aversion to her, and falsely charged her with not having been a virgin at the time of the marriage, then the woman’s parents were to produce the cloth with evidence of the woman’s virginity before the town elders at the town gate. The elders were then to have the man flogged and fine him 100 shekels of silver to be paid to the woman’s father. The woman was to remain the man’s wife, and he was never to have the right to divorce her. But if the elders found that woman had not been a virgin, then the woman was to be brought to the entrance of her father’s house and stoned to death by the men of her town.
If a man was found lying with another man’s wife, both the man and the woman with whom he lay were to die.
If in a city, a man lay with a virgin who was engaged to a man, then the authorities were to take the two of them to the town gate and stone them to death — the girl because she did not cry for help, and the man because he violated another man’s wife. But if the man lay with the girl by force in the open country, only the man was to die, for there was no one to save her.
If a man seized a virgin who was not engaged and lay with her, then the man was to pay the girl’s father 50 shekels of silver, she was to become the man’s wife, and he was never to have the right to divorce her.
No man could marry his father’s former wife.
God’s congregation could not admit into membership anyone whose testes were crushed, anyone whose member was cut off, anyone misbegotten, anyone descended within ten generations from one misbegotten, any Ammonite or Moabite, or anyone descended within ten generations from an Ammonite or Moabite. As long as they lived, Israelites were not to concern themselves with the welfare or benefit of Ammonites or Moabites, because they did not meet the Israelites with food and water after the Israelites left Egypt, and because they hired Balaam to curse the Israelites — but God refused to heed Balaam, turning his curse into a blessing.
The Israelites were not to abhor the Edomites, for they were kinsman, nor Egyptians, for the Israelites were strangers in Egypt. Great grandchildren of Edomites or Egyptians could be admitted into the congregation.
Any Israelite rendered unclean by a nocturnal emission had to leave the Israelites military camp, bathe in water toward evening, and reenter the camp at sundown. The Israelites were to designate an area outside the camp where they might relieve themselves, and to carry a spike to dig a hole and cover up their excrement. As God moved about in their camp to protect them and to deliver their enemies, the Israelites were to keep their camp holy.
If a slave sought refuge with the Israelites, they were not to turn the slave over to the slave’s master, but were to let the former slave live in any place the former slave might choose among the Israelites’ settlements and not ill-treat the former slave.
Israelites were forbidden to serve as cult prostitutes, and from bringing the wages of prostitution into the house of God in fulfillment of any vow.
Israelites were forbidden to charge interest on loans to their countrymen, but they could charge interest on loans to foreigners.
Israelites were required promptly to fulfill vows to God, whereas they incurred no guilt if they refrained from vowing.
A visiting Israelite was allowed to enter another’s vineyard and eat grapes until full, but the visitor was forbidden to put any in a vessel. Similarly, a visiting Israelite was allowed to enter another’s field of standing grain and pluck ears by hand, but the visitor was forbidden to cut the neighbor’s grain with a sickle.
A divorced woman who remarried and then lost her second husband to divorce or death was not allowed to remarry her first husband.
A newlywed man was exempt from army duty for one year so as to give happiness to his wife.
Israelites were forbidden to take a handmill or an upper millstone in pawn, for that would be equivalent to taking someone’s livelihood in pawn.
One found to have kidnapped a fellow Israelite was to die.
In cases of a skin affection, Israelites were to do exactly as the priests instructed, remembering that God afflicted and then healed Miriam’s skin after the Israelites left Egypt.
An Israelite who lent to a fellow Israelite was forbidden to enter the borrower’s house to seize a pledge, but was required to remain outside while the borrower brought the pledge out to the lender. If the borrower was needy, the lender was forbidden to sleep in the pledge, but had to return the pledge to the borrower at sundown, so that the borrower might sleep in the cloth and bless the lender before God.
Israelites were forbidden to abuse a needy and destitute laborer, whether an Israelite or a stranger, and were required to pay the laborer’s wages on the same day, before the sun set, as the laborer would urgently depend on the wages.
Parents were not to be put to death for children, nor were children to be put to death for parents: a person was to be put to death only for the person’s own crime.
Israelites were forbidden to subvert the rights of the stranger or the fatherless, and were forbidden to take a widow’s garment in pawn, remembering that they were slaves in Egypt and that God redeemed them. When Israelites reaped the harvest in their fields and overlooked a sheaf, they were not to turn back to get it, but were to leave it to the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow._-_The_Olive_Trees_(1889).jpg)
When one was to be flogged, the magistrate was to have the guilty one lie down and be whipped in the magistrate’s presence as warranted, but not more than 40 lashes, so that the guilty one would not be degraded.
Israelites were forbidden to muzzle an ox while it was threshing. When brothers dwelt together and one of them died leaving no son, the surviving brother was to marry the wife of the deceased and perform the levir’s duty, and the first son that she bore was to be accounted to the dead brother, that his name might survive. But if the surviving brother did not want to marry his brother’s widow, then the widow was to appear before the elders at the town gate and declare that the brother refused to perform the levir’s duty, the elders were to talk to him, and if he insisted, the widow was to go up to him before the elders, pull the sandal off his foot, spit in his face, and declare: “Thus shall be done to the man who will not build up his brother’s house!” They shall then call him “the family of the unsandaled one.”
If two men fought with each other, and to save her husband the wife of one seized the other man’s genitals, then her hand was to be cut off.
Israelites were forbidden to have alternate weights or measures, larger and smaller, but were required to have completely honest weights and measures.
Israelites were required to remember what the Amalekites did to them on their journey, after they left Egypt, surprising them and cutting down all the stragglers at their rear. The Israelites were enjoined not to forget to blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.
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| Holiday of: | Judaism and Jews | |
| Name: | (Hebrew): Shavuot שבועות | |
| Translation: | "Feast of Weeks." It marks the conclusion of the Counting of the Omer and the day the Torah was given to the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. It is one of the shalosh regalim, the three Biblical pilgrimage festivals mandated by the Torah. | |
| Begins: | Sunday night at dusk, June 8, 2008. (6th day of Sivan) | |
| Ends: | Tuesday night June 10, 2008 (7th [in Israel 6th] day of Sivan.) | |
| Occasion: | One of the Three Pilgrim Festivals. Celebrates the giving of the Ten Commandments by God to the Children of Israel at Mount Sinai, 49 days (7 weeks) after the Exodus from ancient Egypt. Commemorates the fruit harvesting in the Land of Israel. Culmination of the 49 days of Counting of the Omer. Shavuot has many aspects and as a consequence is called by several names. In the Torah it is called Feast of Weeks (Hebrew: חג השבועות, Hag ha-Shavuot, Exodus 34:22, Deuteronomy 16:10); Festival of Reaping (Hebrew: חג הקציר, Hag ha-Katsir, Exodus 23:16), and Day of the First Fruits (Hebrew יום הבכורים, Yom ha-Bikkurim, Numbers 28:26). The Mishnah and Talmud refer to Shavuot as Atzeret (Hebrew: עצרת, a solemn assembly), as it provides closure for the festival activities during and following the holiday of Passover. Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after Passover, some gave it the name Pentecost (πεντηκόστη, "fiftieth day"). |
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| Mitzvot and Halachot ("commandments and laws"): | Festive meals. All-night Torah study. Recital of Akdamut liturgical poem in Ashkenazic synagogues. Reading of the Book of Ruth. Eating of dairy foods. Decoration of homes and synagogues with greenery. | |
| Related to: | Passover, Counting of the Omer, and as one of the Three Pilgrim Festivals. | |
| Recorded in: | Torah Talmud Shulkhan Arukh, Rabbinic literature, Mahzor, Siddur. | |
Chametz
Chametz (or Chometz) is the Hebrew term for "leavened bread". The word is used generally in regard to the Jewish holiday of Passover. In Jewish law, the Torah prohibits one from owning, eating or benefiting from any chametz during Passover. The laws of Passover are mentioned in several places; for example the prohibition against eating chametz is found in Exodus 13:3. The Torah's punishment for eating chametz on Passover is karet ("spiritual excision"). Generally speaking, there are two requirements for something to be considered chametz: (1) It needs to be of one of the five primary grains. (2) It needs to have fermented in contact with water for eighteen minutes.
Fast of the Firstborn
Fast of the Firstborn (Ta'anit B'khorot or Ta'anit B'khorim) is a unique fast day in Judaism which usually falls on the day before Passover (i.e. the fourteenth day of Nisan, a month in the Jewish calendar. Passover always begins on the fifteenth of the month). Usually, the fast is broken at a siyum celebration (typically made at the conclusion of the morning services), which, according to prevailing custom, creates an atmosphere of rejoicing that overrides the requirement to continue the fast. See: breaking the fast.
Passover Seder
The Passover Seder ("order" or "arrangement") is a Jewish ritual feast held on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover (the 15th day of Hebrew month of Nisan). For people living outside of Israel(even if they are spending the holiday in Israel), the Seder is held twice, on the first and second nights of Passover (the 15th and 16th days of Nisan). Families gather around the table on the night of Passover to read the Haggadah, the story of the Israelite exodus from Egypt. Seder customs include drinking of four cups of wine, eating matza and partaking of symbolic foods placed on the Passover Seder Plate. The Seder is a family ritual, although communal Seders are also organized by synagogues, schools and community centers. These Seders are usually open to the general public. With the Haggadah serving as a guide, the Seder is performed in much the same way all over the world.
Haggadah of Pesach
The Haggadah of Pesach contains the order of the Passover Seder. Haggadah, meaning "telling," is a fulfillment of the scriptural commandment to each Jew to "tell your son" about the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt, as described in the book of Exodus in the Torah. According to Jewish tradition the Haggadah was compiled during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods, but the exact time is not known.
Passover Seder Plate
The Passover Seder Plate (or ke'ara) is a special plate containing symbolic foods used by Jews during the Passover Seder. Each of the six items arranged on the plate has special significance to the retelling of the story of the Exodus from Egypt, which is the focus of this ritual meal. The seventh symbolic item used during the meal — a stack of three matzos — is placed on its own plate on the Seder table. The six traditional items on the Seder Plate are: (1) and (2) Maror and chazeret — Bitter herbs, symbolizing the bitterness and harshness of the slavery which the Jews endured in Egypt. (3) Charoset — A sweet, brown, pebbly mixture, representing the mortar used by the Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt. (4) Karpas — A vegetable other than bitter herbs, which is dipped into salt water at the beginning of the Seder. Parsley, celery or boiled potato is usually used. The dipping of a simple vegetable into salt water (which represents tears) mirrors the pain felt by the Jewish slaves in Egypt, who could only eat simple foods. (5) Z'roa — A roasted lamb or goat shankbone, chicken wing, or chicken neck; symbolizing the korban Pesach (Pesach sacrifice), which was a lamb that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, then roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night. (6) Beitzah — A roasted egg, symbolizing the korban chagigah ("festival sacrifice") that was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem and roasted and eaten as part of the meal on Seder night.
Ma Nishtana
Ma Nishtana are the four questions sung during the Passover seder. Called "Ma Nishtanah" in Hebrew, meaning "Why is it different?", is taken from the first line of the song. In English, it is referred to as, "The Four Questions." Traditionally, the Four Questions are asked by the youngest child at the table who is able. The questions are asked as part of the Haggadah of Pesach. The "4 questions" were formed to encourage the children to ask questions. Many other customs were also set for this reason, child participation is considered a very important aspect of the seder.
Chol Hamoed
Chol HaMoed, (Hebrew phrase which means "weekdays [of] the festival"), refers to the intermediate days of Passover and Sukkot. During Chol HaMoed the usual restrictions that apply to the Biblical Jewish holidays are relaxed, but not entirely eliminated.(Jews are encouraged not to work during this time, according to tradition money earned during Chol Hamoed will "see no blessing)[1] Hallel and Mussaf prayers must be said on these days, as on Yom Tov, although on Chol Hamoed of Passover, an abridged form of Hallel is recited. The tachanun prayer is also omitted. Passover is a seven-day festival (eight in the Diaspora), of which days second though sixth - third though sixth in the Diaspora - are Chol HaMoed. Sukkot is a seven-day festival, of which days second though seventh (third through seventh in the Diaspora) are Chol HaMoed.
Counting of the Omer
Counting of the Omer (or Sefirat Ha'omer) is a verbal counting of each of the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot. This mitzvah derives from the Torah commandment to count forty-nine days beginning from the day on which the Omer, a sacrifice containing an omer-measure of barley, was offered in the Temple in Jerusalem, up until the day before an offering of wheat was brought to the Temple on Shavuot. The Counting of the Omer begins on the second day of Passover and ends the day before the holiday of Shavuot. The idea of counting each day represents spiritual preparation and anticipation for the giving of the Torah, which was given by God on Mount Sinai on the fiftieth day, Shavuot.
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