What Is Judaism? A Clear Introduction for Beginners

The word Judaism refers to the religion of the Jews. Most Jews, however, also understand themselves as a people – a community with a shared history and memory. That is why you will meet deeply observant Jews, traditional Jews and entirely secular Jews who experience their Jewishness mainly through culture, family or history.

According to the traditional narrative, Jewish history begins with the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and culminates in the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai. Historical scholarship describes these beginnings differently and more cautiously; for religious life, however, it is this narrative, recalled every year on the holidays, that matters.

Roughly 15 million Jews live in the world today; the largest communities are in Israel and the United States, with others in France, Canada, the United Kingdom, Argentina and Russia, among others. Life outside the Land of Israel is traditionally called the diaspora.

At the core of Judaism is belief in one God – monotheism. Its best-known expression is the verse recited morning and evening: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one." (שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל, Shema Yisrael).¹

Torah (תּוֹרָה, "teaching, instruction") in the narrow sense means the Five Books of Moses, handwritten on the Sefer Torah scroll from which the synagogue reading is chanted. In the broader sense it means the whole of Jewish teaching. The Hebrew Bible as a whole is called the Tanakh (Torah, Prophets, Writings).

Alongside the Written Torah, tradition recognizes an Oral Torah – interpretation handed down from generation to generation. The Mishnah introduces it with the words that Moses received the Torah at Sinai and passed it on to Joshua, and he to later generations.²

The oral tradition was written down in the Mishnah (around the year 200) and expanded in the Talmud, a vast record of rabbinic discussions; the most influential is the Babylonian Talmud. The Talmud is followed by halakhic codes such as Maimonides' Mishneh Torah (12th century) and Joseph Karo's Shulchan Arukh (16th century).

Judaism places great emphasis on action, not only on belief. The commandments are called mitzvot (singular mitzvah); tradition counts 613 of them in the Torah. They concern prayer, food, time, family, honesty in business and care for the poor.

Halakhah (הֲלָכָה, "the way") is the body of Jewish religious law as interpreted by rabbinic authorities. In Orthodox practice it is binding; Conservative (Masorti) Judaism also regards it as binding but allows for more development; Reform Judaism treats it rather as a source of inspiration for personal decisions.

Minhag (מִנְהָג) is the established custom of a particular community. Many things people think of as "Jewish" – specific foods, melodies or the shape of a wedding – are in fact minhag, which is why they differ between Ashkenazi, Sephardi and other communities.

Shabbat is the weekly day of rest from Friday sunset to Saturday night. The Torah grounds it in God's rest after the creation of the world. It begins with lighting candles and Kiddush over wine and ends with the Havdalah ceremony. Levels of observance vary – from the full halakhic prohibition of work to a family Friday-night dinner.³

The Jewish calendar is lunisolar: months follow the Moon, and leap years align it with the Sun, which is why the holidays "move" in the civil calendar. The day begins in the evening. The main holidays are set out in the Torah.⁴

Much of Jewish life takes place not in the synagogue but at home: at the Shabbat table, at the Passover seder or while lighting Hanukkah candles. On the doorpost there is often a mezuzah – a case holding a scroll with verses from the Torah.⁵

The life cycle is marked by ceremonies: the circumcision of boys, bar and bat mitzvah on reaching religious adulthood, the wedding under the chuppah canopy, and mourning with the seven-day shiva.

Kashrut is the set of dietary rules. The Torah lists which animals may be eaten (for example mammals that chew the cud and have split hooves), and tradition also derives from it the separation of meat and milk.^6,7

In practice, kashrut also covers slaughter (shechitah), a separated kitchen (The Kosher Kitchen) and certification (Certification and Hechsher). The category pareve denotes foods that are neither dairy nor meat. Levels of observance vary considerably between families and movements.

The synagogue (Hebrew beit knesset, "house of assembly", Yiddish shul) is a place of prayer, study and gathering. According to halakhah, communal prayer with certain parts of the liturgy requires a minyan of ten adults; in Orthodox practice ten men, in Conservative and Reform congregations usually women as well.

A rabbi is not a priest and does not mediate the relationship with God. A rabbi is a teacher and an expert in halakhah who decides religious questions, teaches and leads the community. Prayer can also be led by a layperson.

Since the 19th century, religious movements have developed: Orthodox Judaism (from Modern Orthodoxy to Haredi and Hasidic communities), Conservative or Masorti, Reform (liberal, progressive) and smaller movements such as Reconstructionism. Many Jews describe themselves as secular or traditional without belonging to any movement.

Over the centuries, culturally distinct communities formed: the Ashkenazim of Central and Eastern Europe, the Sephardim with roots on the Iberian Peninsula, the Mizrahim of the Middle East and North Africa, Yemenite Jews, Ethiopia's Beta Israel and others. They differ in customs, Hebrew pronunciation, melodies and cuisine, not in the foundations of faith.

If you want to start with practice, read about Shabbat in the family, daily practice and kashrut. For an overview of the year, see the pages of individual holidays, such as Passover or Hanukkah.

For ritual objects and symbols, continue to the menorah, the kippah or the tallit; for prayers, to Shema Yisrael. Recipes such as challah and cholent introduce the cuisine. Unfamiliar terms are explained in the glossary.