History
& Community
About
Jewish History
Applying the question of "why things
happen" to Jewish life means asking who or what controls events in
Jewish history.
Ancient
Jewish History
The first extra-biblical reference to the people
Israel occurs in the late 13th century B.C.E.
Medieval
Jewish History
A period characterized by the geographic
dispersion of the Jews, who lived under the rule of Christianity and Islam.
Modern Jewish History
The struggle to become part of the modern
nation state was key for Jews everywhere.
Jewish World Today
Jewish life in the 21st century is,
according to many observers, experiencing a renaissance.
Contemporary Israel
The modern state of Israel was founded by United Nations resolution in
1948.
Daily
Life & Practice
About Jewish Daily Life
Jewish daily life and practice is how Jews
do things--day in and day out, and week after week.
Business
Ethics
Judaism insists that economic relations be regulated to prevent the weak from
being exploited by the strong.
Doing
Good
Jewish communities often pride themselves on tending to needs of their weaker
members.
Kashrut (Dietary Laws)
Traditional Jewish practice forbids the
consumption of some types of food and some combinations of foods.
Nature
& the Environment
To whom does the earth--the reachable universe--really belong? For whose
benefit does it exist?
Prayer
For religious Jews, prayer is an obligation, fulfilled several times daily by
reciting a prescribed liturgy.
Relationships
God's expectations of Jews encompass many sorts of relationships between
individual human beings as well.
Shabbat (the Sabbath)
A day of delights that is meant to
illuminate certain concepts in the Jewish perception of the world.
Speech
Judaism sees speech as a fundamental theological and ethical category.
The
Body
For the sages, the body was foremost the repository of the soul, but they did
not view it as a source of moral taint.
Torah
Study
Torah study is an end in itself--according to some, another way of
worshipping God.
Tzedakah
(Charity)
Support for those in need is not a matter of "charity"--generosity
beyond what is expected--but a requirement.
Holidays
About Jewish Holidays
The rhythm of Jewish life is determined by
its calendar.
Rosh Hashanah (New Year)
A time of rejoicing and of serious
introspection, to celebrate while also taking stock of one's life.
Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
The day at the conclusion of which,
according to tradition, God seals the Books of Life and Death.
Sukkot (the Festival of Booths)
Sukkot is named after the booths or huts
in which Jews are supposed to dwell during this week-long celebration.
Shemini
Atzeret & Simchat Torah
Shemini Atzeret means the "Eighth Day of
Assembly," while Simchat Torah means "Rejoicing in Torah."
Hanukkah (the Festival of
Lights)
Celebrating the rededication of the Temple
in Jerusalem.
Tu Bishvat (New Year for Trees)
A holiday intimately connected to the
agricultural cycle of the Land of Israel.
Purim
(Festival of Lots)
A joyous holiday that recounts the saving
of the Jews from a threatened massacre during the Persian period.
Pesach
(Passover)
A commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt
and the following day, when the Israelite slaves left Egypt hurriedly.
Shavuot
(Festival of Weeks)
Shavuot has been identified since biblical
times with the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.
Tisha
B'Av
The ninth day of the month of Av is the
major day of communal mourning in the Jewish calendar.
Modern
Holidays
There are a handful of holidays that have
entered Jewish life in the latter half of the 20th century.
Minor
Fasts
There are four minor public fast days in
the Jewish calendar.
Lifecycle
About Jewish Lifecycle
Jewish traditions provide ritual &
ceremony to place the journey of life in the context of covenant, belief, and
history.
Ceremonies For Babies
From the ancient rite of circumcision to
new ceremonies, a baby's birth becomes a focal point for ritual and
celebration.
Bar/Bat
Mitzvah
Coming of age for a Jew, which happens at
age 13 for a boy and 12 for a girl, is termed bar and bat mitzvah.
Conversion
Becoming a Jew is an evolutionary process
culminating in the adoption of a new cultural, national, & historical
identity.
Marriage
Jewish marriage is integral to God's plan
of ongoing creation, which began with the creation of the first couple, Adam
and Eve.
Divorce
Although the rabbis accepted that some
marriages had to end, they insisted that attempts at reconciliation precede a
divorce.
Death
& Mourning
Judaism pays much attention to treating the dead with respect (k’vod
ha-met) and to comforting mourners (nichum aveilim).
Other
Life Passages
Some Jews extend the definition of the
lifecycle beyond the rituals for birth, bar/bat mitzvah, marriage, divorce,
& death.
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Texts
About Jewish Texts
Books have become the territory through
which and in which Jews have traveled and interacted with other Jews.
Bible
A book about and for the people of Israel
from its origins as one family in Canaan to its return from exile in Babylonia.
Liturgical Texts
Jewish liturgy is the broad category of
activities that Jews do in order to invoke God.
Halakhic
Texts
Halakhah, from the Hebrew word for "walking" or
"path," is the system of legal interpretation.
Talmud
Talmud is the generic term for the documents that comment and
expand upon the Mishnah, the first work of rabbinic law.
Midrash
Midrash is an interpretive act, seeking the answers to religious
questions by plumbing the meaning of the words of the Torah.
Ideas & Beliefs
About
Ideas & Beliefs
Various & varied religious worldviews articulated
during Judaism's long history
Afterlife
& Eschatology
There is little consensus on how, what,
and when things happen in the Great Beyond.
Bioethics
Central to Jewish bioethical discourse:
the sanctity of human life & the duty to save and preserve it wherever
possible
Free
Will
Jewish tradition depicts God as guiding
& intervening in human affairs. Can this be reconciled with human free
will?
Gender
& Feminism
Today, even the most traditional
communities grapple in an unprecedented way with new roles for women.
God
God is beyond human comprehension, but
that has not stopped Jewish thinkers from attempting to describe God.
Jews
& Non-Jews
Jewish parlance often divides the world
into Jews & non-Jews--but Jewish tradition doesn't see all gentiles in
the same light.
Kabbalah & Mysticism
The Jewish mystical tradition is rich and
diverse, and Jewish mysticism has taken many forms.
Land
of Israel
Through centuries of exile, Jewish hopes
and prayers were focused on a small swath of land bordering the Mediterranean
Sea.
Sex & Sexuality
Procreation is a fundamental Jewish
religious obligation, but it is not the only religiously validated purpose of
sex.
Suffering & Evil
Why do bad things happen to good people?
If God is so powerful, why doesn't God prevent misfortune?
War
& Peace
Peace is one of Judaism's most revered
values. And yet, Jewish tradition takes it for granted that war is
inevitable.
Culture
Art
Words and ideas have been a focal point in
Jewish life, but arts and handicrafts have played a prominent role as well.
Film
For nearly as long as films have been
made, movies have been influenced by Jewish characters, themes, and plots.
Food
The foods Jews have eaten bear the stamp
of the socio-economic and migratory patterns of the Jewish community.
Hebrew
& Other Languages
For much of their history, Jews have not
had a homeland, so instead of speaking one language, they have spoken many.
Humor
Jews have always been laughing--at themselves and
their predicaments, at each other, even at God.
Literature
It is obvious that the People of the Book
have created a sizable corpus of secular prose and poetry.
Music
Music has been a part of Jewish life since
biblical times, and remains integral to the Jewish religious and cultural
experience.
Theatre
& Dance
In modern times, Jewish expression through
theatre and dance has grown tremendously.
Other Resources
Guided
Learning
Deepen your knowledge of any of these topics with these
mini-courses, which you can do at your own pace.
How-to Guides
Instructions on participating in many Jewish rituals and
customs
Discussions
Interact with other MyJewishLearning participants on our
discussion boards.
Quizzes
Test your knowledge of any subject on MyJewishLearning.
Communities
Find Jewish events and organizations in a city near you.
Links
Connect with other Jewish websites.
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