JUDAISM - the smallest but nearly oldest

THE WORLD
Judaism is the smallest of the world’s religions. Information on the number of Jews in the world varies greatly, depending on who is counted as Jewish. Overall, it can be said that there are around 15 million Jews around the world. Approximately 4 million live in Israel. Today’s Jews are divided into three ethnic groups: Ashkenazic (approx 84 %), Sephardic (approx 6 %), and Oriental Jews (approx 10 %).
The first Ashkenazic Jews came from Central Europe, primarily from Germany and France. Later they moved to Eastern Europe, primarily to Poland. There they developed Yiddish (a type of medieval German with Hebrew and Slavic elements) as the language of the Ashkenazic Jews. Sephardic Jews originate from Spain, from where they were driven in 1492. They settled throughout the Mediterranean region and created the Ladino language (a type of ancient Spanish with Hebrew elements). The Oriental Jews also created their own language, a type of Jewish-Persian spoken by Jews in Oriental countries.
Nevertheless, all today’s Jews have their origins in the biblical Jewish people who had already in biblical times settled in the eastern Mediterranean, today’s Israel and Palestine. Throughout history there have also been people who have converted to Judaism. The most well-known of these are the biblical Rut.

Different types of Judaism
There are several types of Judaism. Four of them are ultra-orthodox, orthodox, Reformed Jews and the conservatives.
· Ultra-orthodox Jews can be recognised by their black clothes, black hats, long beards and long curly side-hair. They live strictly according to the law of the Bible and the 613 detailed commandments. The most well-known among orthodox Jews are the Hassidics who are often seen as typical Jews. But the Hassidics and wholly ultra-orthodox Jews account for only a fraction of the world’s Jews.
· Orthodox Jews live a wholly normal life in society but strictly follow the 613 biblical commandments. At the same time, Orthodox Jews follow the orthodox liturgy in the synagogue. The means among other things that the language of worship is Hebrew, no instruments are used in the worship and that men and women sit separately.
· Reformed Judaism developed at the beginning of the 1800s in Germany, where the Jewish bible, the Torah, began to be interpreted in a modern way. Consequently, Jews began to adapt themselves in certain respects to the societies in which they lived. The commandments are followed, but not to the letter. Services of worship are more equal. i.e. women and men sit together in the synagogue, there are also women rabbis (priests), organ and other instrumental music is played and the language of the relevant country is used alongside Hebrew.
· Conservative Judaism is a reaction against both Orthodox and Reform Judaism and arose around 1840. It is a position between the two other currents. Services of worship are also equal and female rabbis are permitted.

A large number of today’s 15 million Jews are secular - they continue Jewish traditions but are no longer religious. That is to say they neither believe in God nor follow His commandments.

SWEDEN
The ‘Jewish regulations’, which forbade Jews to settle outside the four cities of Stockholm, Göteborg, Norrköping and Karlskrona were abolished in 1870. Thereafter Jews were officially permitted to settle wherever they wished. There are about
15 000 Jews living in Sweden today. There are synagogues in Stockholm, Norrköping, Göteborg, Malmö, Helsingborg and Lund, plus a number of Jewish cemeteries.

MALMÖ
In 1870 there were 251 Jews living in the Malmö region; 209 lived in the city. The following year, 1871, the Malmö Mosaiska (later called Jewish) congregation was founded. To begin with, they rented offices which functioned as synagogues. Malmö synagogue was built in 1903 and is probably Sweden’s largest. The Malmö congregation is an Orthodox one and the services in the synagogue follow the Orthodox tradition. Currently, there are about 1 300 members of the congregation. There is also a group called ‘Holocaust’s Eyewitness’ which regularly visits schools to give talks about the Second World War.

JUDAISM’S BEGINNINGS
Judaism is the oldest of the world’s three monotheocratic religions which arose in the Middle East. It is regarded as the ‘mother’ religion to both Christianity and Islam. During their more than 4000 year history the Jews have been called both Hebrews and Israelites. Nevertheless, Judaism came about after the Egyptians built their pyramids and the Sumerians ruled a whole empire. The Jews were then a little group of wandering nomads in the Arab deserts.

God’s chosen people
Judaism came into being around 1800 years before our time when Abraham, one of three of the ancient patriarch, came to the land of Israel. The other two patriarchs were Abraham’s son Isaac and his grandson Jacob. They call their land Israel because God gave Jacob the name Israel. Abraham is considered by Jews as their founding father, as he is also by Muslims (Ibrahim in Arabic). Even though Abraham and his sons are seen as the first to introduce God’s holy commandments he is not seen as the religion’s originator because God is seen as the one, eternal power who chose the Jews to be the followers of his commandments. In modern interpretations the whole human family is regarded as God’s chosen people.

God’s chosen land
The Jewish people’s story begins around 1800 years BC* when Abraham left the city of Ur which lay in today’s Iraq to settle down In Canaan, the chosen land, today’s Israel and Palestine. But the term Jews came forward a thousand years later In connection with the kingdom of Judah.

The Jews still call themselves Abraham’s children. Just as God chose Abraham and his children as His people, He also gave them the promise of their own land, Israel.
"The Almighty said to Abraham: leave your land and your birthplace and your father’s home, and go to the land that I will show you. You will make a great people. I shall bless you and make your name great and it will become a blessing. And I will bless them who bless you and those who curse you I will curse, and in you shall all your family on Earth be blessed. ."
From the Book of Moses 12:1-3

The stay in Egypt
Abraham’s grandson, Jacob’s beloved son Joseph, was sold into slavery In Egypt by his jealous brothers, but Joseph became the principal adviser to the Pharaoh, Egypt’s king. Later Joseph brought his father and all his people to Egypt. The Jewish people lived in peace in Egypt under the Pharaohs for several hundred years until one of the Pharaohs made them into slaves. In the Second Book of Moses it tells how the Pharaoh ordered his soldiers to kill all new-born Israelite boys.

Moses in the reeds
But one young slave girl defied Pharaoh’s order. She put her new-born son in a basket in the River Nile. There he was found by Pharaoh’s daughter who took care of the boy and let him grow up at the court. The Egyptian princess gave him the name Moses (which means one who is rescued from the water).

Exile
As an adult Moses killed a man who mistreated one of his Jewish brethren and was forced into exile. One day during his exile God appeared to him as a burning bush and commanded Moses to free his people from slavery and lead them to the promised land.

The Birth of Passover
But Pharaoh wouldn’t allow the Jews to leave Egypt. Nevertheless, Moses had God on his side and the Egyptians were punished with ten plagues. In order not to be damaged themselves by the last and worst catastrophe - on a particular day all the first-born of Egypt would die - the Jews had to slaughter a lamb and smear its blood on their doorposts. Thereafter, they got permission to leave the country. This is the origin of Pessach, which in Swedish is often called the Jewish Passover.

Exodus
Moses became leader of the Jews flight, or exodus, from Egypt around 1250 BC*. Pharaoh sent his army to arrest them by the Red Sea but God let the Red Sea part for the Jews while they went over it. Then he let the sea flood back and Pharaoh’s army drowned.

The Prophets and the Laws
After the exodus from Egypt there followed 40-years wandering in the desert, when Judaism formed as a religion. God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai and gave Moses God’s ten commandments, which he wrote down on two stone tablets. These Ten Commandments are the central part God’s instruction to Israel’s people, which developed into the Torah, the Jewish bible. In addition to the Ten Commandments there are the Divine Laws, 613 permitted and forbidden matters. Since the flight from Egypt Moses is seen as Judaism’s most important prophet; he who gave Jews their laws. Jews celebrate Shavuot in May or June every year, in remembrance of this divine ‘legislation’.

JEWISH HISTORY after the flight from Egypt
After the flight from Egypt the Jews established a Jewish state in the land of Israel around 1200 BC, from which later came a united kingdom with Jerusalem as its capital. After this disintegrated around 930 BC there were two Jewish kingdoms, Israel and Judea, for around 100 years. The name ‘Jews’ derives from the kingdom of Judea.

Exile
In 586 BC* the first temple in Jerusalem, built by King Solomon some 400 years earlier, was destroyed. The Jews were forced in exile, mostly to Babylon but some Jews came to Spain. These are those who laid the foundations for Sephardic Judaism. The Jews exile in Babylon lasted for about 50 years until they were allowed to return to Jerusalem, but a large number of Jews remained in Babylon and developed a successful Jewish community there.

Fasting and celebration
The second temple in Jerusalem was founded in 520 but was later destroyed by the Romans in about 70 AD. According to Jewish tradition, both temples were destroyed on the same date, the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av, tisha b'Av, which falls in high summer and which religious Jews commemorate through fasting. But during the years 165 and 164 BC the temple was desecrated by the Greek powers-that-be who used it to worship the Greek Gods. The uprising of Makkabée in 164 BC put a stop to this: an anniversary nowadays celebrated in December as Chanukah.

In modern times
By the beginning of our time reckoning - e.g. Jesus’ time - Judea was a part of the Roman Empire. On several occasions there were uprisings against the Roman powers. In 135 AD Jerusalem was destroyed. The Jews were forced into exile and since this lived in a diasporas, scattered far and wide. By this time the first Jewish congregations had started in Central Europe, which later became the Ashkenazic Jews.

Interpretations of the Torah
During the first five hundred years AD the Mishna and Talmud were completed: the large collections of commentary and exposition of the Torah which are recognized as the verbal Torah. These collections interpret the Torah and from these ultimately the Divine Law. But throughout history and even today, the Torah is reinterpreted again and again, leading to different conclusions about its’ content and interpretation.

The Golden Age
At the same time, the diasporas developed important Jewish centres in different parts of the world. Amongst others, a whole population converted to Judaism in the 8th century - the Kazaks in today’s Russia. For four hundred years the Jews experienced a golden age in what was then Muslim Spain. But it 1492 they were driven out by the Catholic monarchy that had won power in Spain. The Sephardic Jews from Spain fled to other countries in the Mediterranean. Simultaneously, the Ashkenazic Jews were driven out from Germany and France.

Persecution of the Jews
They were taken in by the Polish monarchy and lived through a certain golden age there for several years. At the end of the 1700’s this interval finished when Poland was divided into three and the main part of the Jewish population came under Russian rule. It was during this time that Orthodox Judaism arose. Pogroms (persecution and mass murder) against Jews took place in Russian towards the end of the 1800s. This led to mass emigration to the USA, Palestine, Germany and other countries.

Jewish Enlightenment
At the same time as the division of Poland at the end of the 1700’s, a new period in Jewish history was taking place in Germany. Under the leadership of Moses Mendelssohn the Haskala movement arose, which led to a Jewish enlightenment and finally to the emergence of Reform and Conservative Judaism.

The Holocaust
While Jews in various European countries had reached equality with the local population, which was not least the result of the Haskala movement; they realized that the ruling elite still used them as scapegoats. This was shown in France during the Dreyfuss affair at the end of the 1800s and in Russia both before and after the October Revolution of 1917. Between six million Jews in Europe were killed by the Nazis who ruled in Germany and their associates. This means that a third of all Jews in the world, or every other European Jew, was murdered.

The State of Israel
The state of Israel was founded in 1948 within an area of land under the British mandate of Palestine. But there have been Jews in this area throughout history. Significant Jewish immigration has been ongoing since the middle of the 1800s and when the state was proclaimed there was already a functioning state apparatus in place. Of today’s 15 million Jews worldwide around a third live in Israel.

RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS
Star of David
The Star of David is the most common symbol for Judaism. David is known as the Jews’ greatest king and the star derives from his battle shield. It arose as symbol for the whole of Judaism at the end of the 1800s.

Candelabra
The Menorah, the seven armed candle holder is the oldest Jewish symbol - much older that the Star of David - and is the official emblem of the state of Israel. It represents the seven armed candle holder used in the temple in Jerusalem. The candle holder symbolises perfection. It was on the seventh day that God finished the Creation.

Skullcap
Kippa in Hebrew - or yarmulke in Yiddish - is the skullcap that every devout Jewish man wears in the synagogue and on other religious occasions. It symbolises God’s hand over mankind.
Orthodox Jews wear it always, as it says in the Talmud that no-one should go out without covering the head. Nevertheless, the custom of wearing a skullcap has become so integrated into Jewish tradition that it’s difficult to separate the custom from real biblical commandments. It was during the Middle Ages that use of the skullcap spread as a sign of piety. Today it is a recognised way to show reverence before God. The kippa can come in all colours and styles; the most important fact is that it covers the crown of the head.

While men cover their heads to show submission before God, women primarily cover their hair for respectability for the Bible relates that a woman’s hair can be a temptation for men. Strictly religious orthodox women even wear wigs, but even those Jewish women who normally don’t cover their hair often respect the rule in the synagogue and other holy places.

Prayer Shawl
The tallit is a special prayer shawl that numerous Jewish men wear when they pray. The tallit is placed over the shoulders, but can also be used to cover the head during special prayers. The corner fringes, called tsitsit in Hebrew, give the shawl its religious significance because they remind those who see them to observe God’s holy commandments, in accordance with The Book of Moses Chapter 15:37-41.

Prayer Capsule
A mezuza is a little capsule that is fastened on the right doorpost and all prayer rooms in a house. It contains a little roll of parchment with the first words of Judaism’s central prayer, Shema Israel. One touches the mezuza when entering the room.

Prayer straps
In order to remember the Laws, this should be fastened by the doorpost, in the form of a mezuza, but can also be bound round the left arm and worn on the forehead at certain in the form of a telfilla, prayer straps of small capsules containing verses from the Torah.

HOLY BOOKS
Holy scriptures in a collection of 39 books called Tanakh, which consists of three parts: Torah (The Law), Neviim (The Prophets) and Ketuvim (The Writings).
· Torah (also called The Five Books of Moses) tells of the Jews’ early history up to Moses time. They also contain The Law, e.g. the 613 commandments, divided into 248 permitted and 365 forbidden. These are God’s instructions to the Jews and are binding. They were later abbreviated and summarised in the Ten Commandments. The Torah is also a holy book for Christians and is known by them as the Old Testament.
· Neviim are books that take up the Jews later history. They deal with God’s message to the Jews through the Prophets.
· Ketuvim contains a number of different books of different types. One of them is The Psalms, which is a collection of religious poems and songs.

Talmud, תלמוד, Hebrew for teaching, is the Jews’ Torah post-biblical collection of writings which describe in detail the rules for an orthodox Jewish life. They are writings that contain a collation of the rabbis’ teachings and views. Here there are written rules, laws, Jewish ethics, customs and legends which according to Jewish tradition are seen as an important source.

PLACE FOR WORSHIP
Jews go to the synagogue, where they assemble to pray to God. Sometimes this is also called the shul and within Reform Judaism the temple. The most important part of the synagogue is Aron haKodesh, the holy ark, where the Torah parchments are kept. The ark is covered and over the cupboard hangs a constant light as a reminder that God is always present. The original arks contained the Ten Commandments but this ceased thousands of years since.

Women’s own place
In the middle of the synagogue there is a podium, called a bima. This is where the rabbis stands and read from the Torah to the congregation. Jews go to synagogue on holy days and on Shabbat, the holy day of the week. In orthodox synagogues women normally have their own place in the gallery or in a separate part of the prayer hall. A complete service in this tradition can only happen when ten Jewish men are gathered, who together constitute a minjan. In Reform and Conservative synagogues, women are counted in the minjan and men, women and children sit together during the service. The synagogue is not only a place for worship: it is also a meeting place Jews in the congregation, with both meeting and classrooms and a kitchen.

Shabbat - the holiest day of the week
The Shabbat begins at sunset on Friday and continues during Saturday up till the evening. During Shabbat one should not do certain work and it begins on Friday with a festive dinner where women have an important role. Furthermore, there are holy services on Friday evening at the synagogue, Kabbalat Shabbat, and on Saturday morning, Shacharit Shabbat.

Holy city
Jerusalem is a holy city for Jews, Christians and Muslims. The city has been completely destroyed on at least ten occasions. Jews make pilgrimage here to read their prayers. Church bells ring for the Christians and the imams call Muslims to prayers at the mosque. Today Jerusalem is Israel’s capital with around 600 000 residents, two-thirds of whom are Jews. 175 000 are Muslims and the others are Christians.

Pilgrimage
In modern times, thousands of pilgrims come to Jerusalem every year. This began nearly 3 000 years ago when Jews started pilgrimages to Jerusalem to make sacrifices to God in the temple. They made pilgrimage then 3 times a year, at Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot). In the 2nd century AD the first Christian pilgrims came to the city. In the year 1300 the city also became a holy site for Muslims.

The Wailing Wall
The holiest place for Jews today is haKotel, the so-called Western Wall, which was part of the temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD. The temple was the centre of the Jewish religion: today only the Western wall remains. It is also called the Wailing Wall it is a cymbal of the temple and a reminder of its destruction.

Prayers
God hears the Jews’ prayers wherever they pray, but the most important place for prayer is still the Western wall. Every cranny in the wall is filled with notes where people have written prayers. To write down the prayers is a way of ensuring that God will not forget them. All Jews hope to visit the Wall at some time in their lives.

RIGHT AND WRONG - ETHICAL LAWS
The Idea of God
Judaism is a monotheocratic religion, i.e. it recognises only one God. The Jews see God both as Israel’s God and as creator of the whole world and universe. His is transcendent (spiritual) and eternal. He sees everything and knows everything. He rules history and the moral, physical and social order. God’s name is thought of as so holy that one should not pronounce it. Instead one uses the word Adonai (Lord), Elohim (God) or haShem (The Name).

Divine law
What distinguishes orthodox Jews is that they are faithful to the Torah. Jews consider that God revealed himself when Moses received The Law from Him. The word of The Law is therefore divine and absolutely authoritative. It is God’s eternal will and must be studied daily.
Therefore an Orthodox Jews life is ruled by the mitsvo, the commandments. He must run his life according to these regulations and rituals. There are strict rules for the Shabbat, kosher rules (dietary regulations) and the prayers three times a day.

Creed
The creed of Judaism was summarised by Moses Maimonides, one of Judaism’s greatest teachers, at the end of the 1100’s in 13 articles of faith, which are read during morning prayers within certain traditions. But the most important prayer is the Shema, which should be read daily. It is a section of the Fifth Book of Moses and starts with the words:
"Hear Israel! The Lord is our God, The Lord is one."

There are several ground principles to Judaism.
· There is only one God
· Only worship the one God and do not depict his form or pronounce his name
· God is eternal, without form, all powerful, all knowing and is everywhere
· The Jews are God’s chosen people and are expected to follow his teachings
· The land of Israel is that which God gave to the Jews
· The Messiah will come who will save the world. The Messiah is God’s chosen one who will be sent to rule over the world in a future time of peace.
· The soul is clean at birth: people are free will to do both good and evil
· One can atone for one’s sins through good deeds, regret and prayer

Life as entirety
Judaism has since its beginnings been permeated by an eagerness for justice. It is through right that all people are brothers/sisters and that cruelty and exploitation are wrong. The commandment “to love your neighbour as your self" applies to all, including the poor, orphans and animals. All life is holy.

THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
1. I am the Lord your God
2. You shall have no other God but me.
3. You shall not make any likeness or and depiction of that which is in Heaven or down on the Earth or of that which is in the sea. Do not bow down to them or worship them.
4. Do not take the name of God your Lord in vain. God will not allow the one who takes His name in vain to go unpunished.
5. Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
6. Honour your father and mother. You will then live long on the land that God your Lord is giving you.
7. Do not commit murder.
8. Do not commit adultery.
9. Do not steal.
10. Do not testify as a false witness against your neighbour. Do not be envious of your neighbour's house. Do not be envious of your neighbour's wife, his servants, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that is your neighbour's." 2 Moses. 20:2-17

Judaism - a summary

ONE GOD
Monotheism - one God

FOUNDER
Abraham considered the founding father, Moses took the Divine Laws directly from God and is therefore regarded as the originator. He was one of the prophets and led the Jews through the desert.

PLACE FOR WORSHIP
Synagogue

PRIESTS
Rabbis - teachers responsible for a Jewish congregation

HOLY BOOKS
Tanakh - consisting of Torah (The Laws), Neviim (The Prophets), Ketuvim (The Writings) - then Jewish Bible
Mishna and Talmud - commentaries, traditions and explanations of The Law

IMPORTANT FESTIVALS
Rosh haShana - New Year, celebrated in September.
Yom Kippur - a day of atonement ten days after Rosh haShana. A serious day for fasting and prayer for forgiveness for things one has done wrong and regrets.
Sukkot - a harvest festival in October. The festival lasts eight days and ends with Simchat Torah.
Chanukah - a party of games and playing. Celebrate the memory of the initiation of the temple in Jerusalem in 164 BC when the Jews were released from worshipping the Greek gods. The festival lasts eight days. Candles are lit on the eight armed candle holder, the chanukkia.
Purim - in March. A happy festival to the memory of the Persian queen Ester who saved the Jews from being killed.
Pessach - the festival of the unleavened bread in April and often called the Jewish Passover. The festival commemorates how God freed the Jewish people from slavery in Egypt.
Shavuot - a week’s festival in June to commemorate that Moses received the Law of God.

LIFE AFTER DEATH
The Jews believe that there is everlasting life after death, but not much is written on how this life is.

Read more in:
Dan Cohn-Sherbok: A Concise Encyclopaedia of Judaism. - Oxford: Oneworld, 1998


* BC = Before Christ
** AD = After Christ (from the year of his birth)