Great World Religions: Judaism (Audiobook)
| Date: 12 April 2011, 07:45
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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.
[b]More Than a Faith[/b]
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.
[b]Where Does the Term Judaism Come from?[/b]
Consider the origin of the word "Judaism":
[list][*]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).
[/list]Hence, from the beginning, Judaism meant a people defined by a place as well as an ethnic and religious heritage.
[hide=Course Lecture Titles]
[list][*]1. What is Judaism?
[*]2. The Stages of History
[*]3. The Jewish Library
[*]4. The Emergence of Rabbinic Judaism
[*]5. Jewish Worship—Prayer and the Synagogue
[*]6. The Calendar—A Communal Life-Cycle
[*]7. Individual Life-Cycles
[*]8. God and Man; God and Community
[*]9. Philosophers and Mystics
[*]10. The Legal Frameworks of Judaism—Halakha
[*]11. Common Judaism—or a Plurality of Judaisms?
[*]12. Judaism and “Others”
[/list][/hide]
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