Religion: General Information

From The New Encyclopedia of Judaism
The term “Ashkenazi Hasidism” denotes several groups of Jewish scholars who flourished in Germany in the second half of the 12th century and the first half of the 13th and created new concepts in Jewish thought, mysticism, and ethics.

Form The New Encyclopedia of Judaism
Jews tracing their descent from ancestors who settled throughout northwestern Europe in the early Middle Ages.

Members of a small Jewish religious order, originating in the 2d cent. B.C.

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
Term used by the rabbis to describe those Jews who maintained the highest standard of religious observance and moral action.

A Jewish mystical tradition based on an esoteric interpretation of the Old Testament and other texts, or a system which incorporates kabbalistic principles; any secret, occult or mystical doctrine.

All elements of the religious Jewish community that demand strict observance of Jewish law and praxis.

Liberal Jewish movement. Reform communities vary, but tend to question the authority of the Talmud (Jewish laws).

One of the two major geographic divisions of the Jewish people, consisting of those Jews whose forebears in the Middle Ages resided in the Iberian Peninsula, as distinguished from those who lived in Germanic lands, who came to be known as the Ashkenazim.

The rise of the Zionist movement in the late 19th cent. was influenced by nationalist currents in Europe, as well as by the secularization of Jewish life in Eastern Europe, which led many assimilated Jewish intellectuals to seek a new basis for a Jewish national life.

In Judaism, initiation of a boy, which takes place at the age of 13, into the adult Jewish community.

In Judaism, an eight-day festival of dedication and lights that takes place at the beginning of December. It celebrates the recapture of the Temple in Jerusalem from Antiochus IV of Syria in 164 BC by Judas Maccabaeus, and its rededication.

An annual Jewish festival held 15-22 Nisan (in March or April), commemorating the deliverance of the Israelites from bondage in Egypt.

the Jewish festival of New Year, celebrated on the first and sometimes second of the month Tishri, which falls in September or October, at which, during the New Year’s service, a ram’s horn is blown as a call to repentance and spiritual renewal.

The seventh day of the week, commanded by God in the Old Testament as a sacred day of rest after his creation of the world; in Judaism, from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday; in Christianity, Sunday (or, in some sects, Saturday). Keeping the Sabbath is one of the Ten Commandments.

Ceremonial meal that begins the Jewish festival of Pesach (Passover), which celebrates the Exodus.

Festival of Tabernacles. Sukkot is one of the three pilgrim festivals when, in ancient times, the Jews made pilgrimages to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Jewish high holy day, or ‘day of awe’, held on the tenth day of Tishri (September-October), the first month of the Jewish year. It is a day of fasting, penitence, and cleansing from sin, ending the ten days of penitence that follow Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.

From The New Encyclopedia of Judaism
The non-legal elements in classical rabbinic writings. Rabbinic literature is divided into two main parts, called HALAKHAH and aggadah. The former includes all the legal discussion and decisions; the latter comprises the rest.

Ancient leather and papyrus scrolls first discovered in 1947 in caves on the NW shore of the Dead Sea.

Book of the Bible, literally meaning "second law," last of the five books (the Pentateuch or Torah) ascribed by tradition to Moses. Deuteronomy purports to be the final words of Moses to the people of Israel on the eve of their crossing the Jordan to take possession of Canaan.

From The New Encyclopedia of Judaism
The branch of rabbinic literature which deals with the religious obligations of members of the Jewish faith, both in their interpersonal relationships and in their ritual performances.

Hebrew was the language of the Jewish people in biblical times, and most of the Old Testament was written in Hebrew.

Prophetic book of the Bible. It is a collection of prophecies from a 300-year period attributed to Isaiah, who may have been a priest.

Conforming to religious law with regard to the preparation and consumption of food; in Judaism, conforming to the food laws (kashrut) of the Torah (as laid down in Deuteronomy and Leviticus) and the Mishnah.

From The New Encyclopedia of Judaism
Rabbinic commentary on the Bible, clarifying legal points or deriving lessons by literary devices: stories, parables, legends. The word Midrash is also applied to the vast literature to which this gave rise. It derives from a Hebrew root meaning “to inquire, study, investigate,” and (by extension) “to preach.”

In Judaism, codified collection of Oral Law—legal interpretations of portions of the biblical books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy and other legal material. Together with the Gemara, or Amoraic commentary on the Mishna, it comprises the Talmud.

Christian name for the Hebrew Bible, which serves as the first division of the Christian Bible (see New Testament).

From The New Encyclopedia of Judaism
The first five books of the BIBLE, known in Hebrew as the ḥumash (from the root ḥ-m-sh, meaning “five”) or the TORAH. It would appear that the division into these five books had already been made long before the destruction of the Second Temple.

In Judaism, elaborately decorated and dressed Torah scroll housed in the ark in every synagogue. The scrolls are handwritten in Hebrew on vellum (calf, lamb, or kid skin) by a scribe who has trained for seven years.

In Judaism, vast compilation of the Oral Law with rabbinical elucidations, elaborations, and commentaries, in contradistinction to the Scriptures or Written Laws. The Talmud is the accepted authority for Orthodox Jews everywhere.

In Judaism, the first five books of the Tenakh, or Hebrew Bible (Christian Old Testament).

Table or platform for the performance of religious sacrifice. In its simplest form the altar is a small pile, with a square or circular surface, made of stone or wood.

Bodiless, immortal spirit, limited in knowledge and power, accepted in the traditional belief of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam and other religions.

A Christian or Jewish text which claims to contain a disclosure or revelation of hidden things or of the future, made by God to a chosen prophet, and often describing the end of the world and the Last Judgement.

The reconciliation, or "at-one-ment," of sinful humanity with God. In Judaism both the Bible and rabbinical thought reflect the belief that God's chosen people must be pure to remain in communion with God. The Bible prescribed Temple sacrifice for the removal of sin and uncleanliness.

In Judaism, initiation of a boy, which takes place at the age of 13, into the adult Jewish community.

Operation to remove the foreskin covering the glans of the penis. It dates back to prehistoric times and was widespread throughout the Middle East as a religious rite before it was introduced among the Hebrews, presumably by Abraham. It is performed by Jews on the eighth day after the birth of the male child, unless postponed for reasons of health.

Agreement entered into voluntarily by two or more parties to do or refrain from doing certain acts. In the Bible and in theology the covenant is the agreement or engagement of God with man as revealed in the Scriptures.

The practice of voluntarily going without food. It can be undertaken as a religious observance, a sign of mourning, a political protest (hunger strike), or for slimming purposes.

Address to divine power, ranging from a ritual formula to attain a desired end, to selfless communication in meditation.

A religious leader and spokesperson, particularly used in the Bible. The prophets emitted messages from the divine through inspired speech, the interpretation of omens and dreams, and the casting of lots and divination.

A system of thought, feeling, and action that is shared by a group and that gives the members an object of devotion; a code of behavior by which individuals may judge the personal and social consequences of their actions; and a frame of reference by which individuals may relate to their group and their universe.

A type of religious offering, or gift to a superior or supreme being, in which the offering is consecrated through its destruction.

Transgression of the will of God or the gods, as revealed in the moral code laid down by a particular religion.

In the Old Testament, the laws given by God to the Hebrew leader Moses on Mount Sinai, engraved on two tablets of stone.