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The Judaism Portal

Collection of Judaica (clockwise from top):
Candlesticks for Shabbat, a cup for ritual handwashing, a Chumash and a Tanakh, a Torah pointer, a shofar, and an etrog box.

Judaism (Hebrew: יַהֲדוּת‎ Yahăḏūṯ) is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people. Judaism evolved from Yahwism, an ancient Semitic religion of the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age, likely around the 6th/5th century BCE. Along with Samaritanism, to which it is closely related, Judaism is one of the two oldest Abrahamic religions.

Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant, which was established between God and the Israelites, their ancestors. Jewish religious doctrine encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Among Judaism's core texts is the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, a collection of ancient Hebrew scriptures. The Tanakh, known in English as the Hebrew Bible, is also referred to as the "Old Testament" in Christianity. In addition to the original written scripture, the supplemental Oral Torah is represented by later texts, such as the Midrash and the Talmud. The Hebrew-language word torah can mean "teaching", "law", or "instruction", although "Torah" can also be used as a general term that refers to any Jewish text that expands or elaborates on the original Five Books of Moses. Representing the core of the Jewish spiritual and religious tradition, the Torah is a term and a set of teachings that are explicitly self-positioned as encompassing at least seventy, and potentially infinite, facets and interpretations. Judaism's texts, traditions, and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam. Hebraism, like Hellenism, played a seminal role in the formation of Western civilization through its impact as a core background element of Early Christianity. (Full article...)

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Shemini Atzeret is a Jewish holiday. It is celebrated on the 22nd day of the Hebrew month of Tishrei in the land of Israel, and on the 22nd and 23rd outside the land. In the Tanakh and Talmud, Shemini Atzeret is somewhat connected to the festival of Sukkot, which it directly follows. At the same time, it is considered to be a separate festival in its own right. Outside the land of Israel, this is further complicated by the additional day of Biblical holidays. The first day of Shemini Atzeret therefore coincides with the eighth day of Sukkot outside of Israel.

The celebration of Simchat Torah is the most distinctive feature of the holiday, but it is a later rabbinical innovation. In Israel, the celebrations of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are combined on a single day. In the Diaspora, the celebration of Simchat Torah is deferred to the second day of the holiday. Commonly, only the first day is referred to as Shemini Atzeret, while the second is called Simchat Torah. The holiday also features the prayers Yizkor and Geshem. (Read more...)

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Did You Know?

Did you know...

... that an attempt to sell the aging Stanton Street Synagogue (pictured) on the Lower East Side of Manhattan to a Jesuit priest led to its resurgence as a Jewish house of worship?
... that it is theorized that Jews' Gate Cemetery in Gibraltar was founded on Windmill Hill due to the expulsion of Jews mandated under the Treaty of Utrecht?
... that when Rabbi Avraham Kalmanowitz cried, "even the State Department listened"?
... that "Miky", a bomb-sniffing police dog that only responds to commands in Hebrew, helped to revitalize the Jewish community in Helena, Montana, that built Temple Emanu-El?
... that the Jewish Military Museum was founded partly to counter the idea that British Jews have avoided serving in the armed forces?

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The Hurva Synagogue is a historic synagogue located in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Founded in the early 18th century by followers of Judah he-Hasid, it was destroyed by Muslims a few years later in 1721. The plot lay in ruins for over 140 years and became known as the Ruin, or Hurva. In 1864, the Perushim rebuilt the synagogue, and although officially named the Beis Yaakov Synagogue, it retained its name as the Hurva. It became Jerusalem's main Ashkenazic synagogue, until it too was deliberately destroyed by the Arab Legion, hours after the withdrawal of the Israeli forces during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.

After Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in 1967, a number of plans were submitted for the design of a new building. After years of deliberation and indecision, a commemorative arch was erected instead at the site in 1977, itself becoming a prominent landmark of the Jewish Quarter. The plan to rebuild the synagogue in its 19th-century style received approval by the Israeli Government in 2000, and the newly rebuilt synagogue was dedicated on March 15, 2010. (Read more...)

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