By religion
Religious Jews have Minhagim Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, Nusach (נוסח), refers to the traditional order and form of the prayers. Arabic: منهاج minhāj also means custom or tradition, though not necessarily religious tradition, customs, in addition to Halakha Halakha — also transliterated Halocho and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions, or religious law, and different interpretations of law. Different groups of religious Jews in different geographic areas historically adopted different customs and interpretations. On certain issues, Orthodox Jews are required to follow the customs of their ancestors, and do not regard themselves as having the option of picking and choosing. Therefore, observant Jews at times find it important for religious reasons to ascertain who their household's religious ancestors are in order to know what customs their household should follow. These times include, for example, when two Jews of different ethnic background marry, when a non-Jew converts to Judaism and determines what customs to follow for the first time, or when a lapsed or less observant Jew returns to traditional Judaism and must determine what was done in his or her family's past. In this sense, "Ashkenazic" refers both to a family ancestry and to a body of customs binding on Jews of that ancestry.
In a religious sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is any Jew whose family tradition and ritual follows Ashkenazi practice. When the Ashkenazi community first began to develop in the Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages, or Dark Ages, is a period in the history of Europe following the fall of the Western Roman Empire. It lasted from about AD 500 to 1000. The period featured raiding, migration, and conquest by Huns, Germanic peoples, Arabs, Vikings and others. There was frequent warfare and a virtual disappearance of urban life. By the eighth and until the 9th century, the centers of Jewish religious authority were in the Islamic world, at Baghdad Baghdad or Bagdad is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a municipal population estimated at 6.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest (after Cairo) in the Arab World and in Islamic Spain. Ashkenaz (Germany) was so distant geographically that it developed a minhag Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, Nusach (נוסח), refers to the traditional order and form of the prayers. Arabic: منهاج minhāj also means custom or tradition, though not necessarily religious tradition of its own, and Ashkenazi Hebrew came to be pronounced in ways distinct from other forms of Hebrew.
In this respect, the counterpart of Ashkenazi is Sephardic 1st row: Maimonides•Isaac Abrabanel•Baruch Spinoza•David Nieto•Daniel Mendoza•David Ricardo , since most non-Ashkenazi Orthodox Jews follow Sephardic rabbinical authorities, whether or not they are ethnically Sephardic. By tradition, a Sephardic 1st row: Maimonides•Isaac Abrabanel•Baruch Spinoza•David Nieto•Daniel Mendoza•David Ricardo or Mizrahi Ashkenazi Jews, Sephardi Jews, other Jewish ethnic divisions and Arabs woman who marries into an Orthodox Orthodox Judaism is a formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim or Haredi Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism, sometimes referred to as Ultra-Orthodox Judaism, though the term is considered pejorative by some, is the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi Ashkenazi Jewish family raises her children to be Ashkenazi Jews, and a gentile The term Gentile refers to non-Israelite tribes or nations in English translations of the Bible, most notably the King James Version who converts to Judaism Conversion to Judaism is a formal act undertaken by a non-Jewish person who wishes to be recognised as a full member of the Jewish community. A Jewish conversion is both a religious act and an expression of association with the Jewish people. A formal conversion is also sometimes undertaken to remove any doubt as to the Jewishness of a person who and takes on Ashkenazi religious practices becomes an Ashkenazi Jew.
Traditional Jewish law or Halacha Halakha — also transliterated Halocho and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions considers a person who has undergone a formal religious conversion to be a Jew, but it also defines who is a Jew "Who is a Jew?" is a basic question about Jewish identity. The question has gained particular prominence in connection with several high-profile legal cases in Israel since the founding of the Jewish state in 1948 by ancestry, following the maternal lineage, irrespective of belief. According to Halacha, membership in a synagogue A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer or participation in a local Jewish community does not alone make one a Jew. Likewise a person who disassociates themselves from the Jewish community is still considered to be Jewish by Halachic standards. Outside the State of Israel Israel officially the State of Israel ( מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medinat Yisra'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a country in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and, no central authority or ruling body in Judaism determines who is a Jew. More religiously liberal and secular Jews have different approaches to accepting the Jewish heritage.
Since by tradition, Jewish status is inherited and follows the maternal lineage, someone who is maternally descended from a Jew, even if totally unaware of their Jewish heritage, or even if a practitioner of another religion, is from a traditional Jewish legal perspective still a Jew. Likewise, a person born of a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother is not considered Jewish by traditional Orthodox Jewish law, even if they were raised Jewish, unless they convert.
As a result of both difficulties caused applying of the traditional rules in the face of widespread intermarriage in less traditional Jewish circles and ideological perspectives (egalitarianism Egalitarianism has two distinct definitions in modern English . It is defined either as a political doctrine that holds that all people should be treated as equals and have the same political, economic, social, and civil rights, or as a social philosophy advocating the removal of economic inequalities among people. Throughout history, people have), Reform Judaism Reform Judaism refers to the spectrum of beliefs, practices and organizational infrastructure associated with Reform Judaism in North America and in the United Kingdom. The term also may refer to the Israeli Progressive Movement, the worldwide Progressive movement, the Reform movement in Judaism, and the magazine Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism Reconstructionist Judaism is a modern American-based Jewish movement based on the ideas of Mordecai Kaplan . The movement views Judaism as a progressively evolving civilization. It originated as the radical left branch of Conservative Judaism before it splintered. The movement developed from the late 1920s to 1940s, and it established a rabbinical adopted an approach of single-parent descent irrespective of gender. Under this definition, someone born to one Jewish parent who is given a Jewish upbringing is considered Jewish, and conversely, someone born to one Jewish parent who is not given a Jewish upbringing is considered a non-Jew (regardless of whether it is the father or mother who is Jewish). However, Reform Judaism considers a Jew who has converted to another religion to no longer be Jewish.
The following examples illustrate Jewish identity issues from the perspective of Halakha Halakha — also transliterated Halocho and Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish religious law, including biblical law (the 613 mitzvot) and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions:
Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein (November 28, 1829 – November 20, 1894) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos. He also founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, which, together with Moscow Conservatory founded by his brother Nikolai Otto Lilienthal Otto von Lilienthal was a German pioneer of human aviation who became known as the Glider King. He was the first person to make repeated successful gliding flights. He followed an experimental approach first established earlier in the century by Sir George Cayley. Newspapers and magazines in many countries published photographs of Lilienthal Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (10 February 1890 – 30 May 1960) was a Nobel Prize-winning Russian poet and writer. In the West he is best known for his epic novel Doctor Zhivago, a tragedy whose events span the last period of Tsarist Russia and the early days of the Soviet Union. It was first translated and published in Italy in 1957. In Russia,- Apostasy. A Jew who converts to another religion, though an apostate, is still considered a Jew. Anton Rubinstein Anton Grigorevich Rubinstein (November 28, 1829 – November 20, 1894) was a Russian pianist, composer and conductor. As a pianist he was regarded as a rival of Franz Liszt, and he ranks amongst the great keyboard virtuosos. He also founded the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, which, together with Moscow Conservatory founded by his brother Nikolai, who converted to Eastern Christianity Eastern Christianity refers collectively to the Christian traditions and churches which developed in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Middle East, Northeastern Africa and southern India over several centuries of religious antiquity. The term is generally used in Western Christianity to describe all Christian traditions which did not, was still considered an Ashkenazi Jew. In Israel Israel officially the State of Israel ( מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medinat Yisra'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the, however, an Israeli Jew who converts to a different religion is no longer considered to be Jewish by the State of Israel Israel officially the State of Israel ( מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medinat Yisra'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a country in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the east, and, but is still considered Jewish by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate.
- Atheism. A Jew who becomes an atheist is still considered a Jew.
- Hidden Identity. A Jew whose identity was hidden, who was raised in another religion, is still considered a Jew. Madeleine Albright Madeleine Korbel Albright was the first woman to become United States Secretary of State. She was appointed by President Bill Clinton on December 5, 1996, and was unanimously confirmed by the United States Senate 99-0. She was sworn in on January 23, 1997, the former US Secretary of State In many countries, a Secretary of State is a mid-level post. It is usually a political post, although in some countries, such as Germany, it can be filled by a member of the executive bureaucracy as a political appointment. In the United Kingdom a Secretary of State is a senior member of the Government, a politician appointed by the Prime Minister whose Jewish parents converted to Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church,[note 1] is the world's largest Christian church. With more than a billion members, over half of all Christians[note 2] and more than one-sixth of the world's population, the Catholic Church is a communion of the Western, or Church, and 22 autonomous Eastern Catholic Churches (called to escape persecution in the Holocaust The Holocaust (from the Greek ὁλόκαυστον : holos, "whole" and kaustos, "burnt"), also known as The Shoah (Hebrew: השואה, Latinized ha'shoah; Yiddish: חורבן, Latinized churben or hurban) is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a and then hid their ancestry, is considered an Ashkenazi Jew, even though she did not know of her "identity" until she became an adult, and was a professing Episcopalian.
- Renunciation. A Jew who renounces and even condemns Judaism is still considered a Jew. Bobby Fischer Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was a chess Grandmaster, and the eleventh World Chess Champion. Born an American, late in life he took Icelandic citizenship, the international chess star who claimed that the Holocaust The Holocaust (from the Greek ὁλόκαυστον : holos, "whole" and kaustos, "burnt"), also known as The Shoah (Hebrew: השואה, Latinized ha'shoah; Yiddish: חורבן, Latinized churben or hurban) is the term generally used to describe the genocide of approximately six million European Jews during World War II, a was a Jewish invention and a lie, claimed to have only a Jewish mother, though evidence has shown to suggest that both his parents were Jewish.[6]
With the reintegration of Jews from around the world in Israel Israel officially the State of Israel ( מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medinat Yisra'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the, North America, and other places, the religious definition of an Ashkenazi Jew is blurring, especially outside of Orthodox Judaism Orthodox Judaism is a formulation of Judaism that adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmudic texts and as subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim. Many Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews have joined liberal movements that originally developed within Ashkenazi Judaism. At least in recent decades, the congregations they have joined have often embraced them, and absorbed new traditions into their minhag. Rabbis Rabbi is the term in Judaism for a religious teacher. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word רַב, rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ‘great’ in many senses, including "revered." The word comes from the Semitic root R-B-B, and is cognate to Arabic ربّ rabb, meaning "lord" (generally used when talking about and Cantors A hazzan or chazzan is a Jewish cantor, a musician trained in the vocal arts who helps lead the congregation in songful prayer in all non-Orthodox movements study Hebrew 1United States Census 2000 PHC-T-37. Ability to Speak English by Language Spoken at Home: 2000. Table 1a.PDF in Israel Israel officially the State of Israel ( מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל (help·info), Medinat Yisra'el; Arabic: دَوْلَةُ إِسْرَائِيلَ, Dawlat Isrā'īl), is a developed state in Western Asia located on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea. It borders Lebanon in the north, Syria in the northeast, Jordan in the, learning Sephardic rather than Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation. Ashkenazi congregations are adopting Sephardic or modern Israeli melodies for many prayers and traditional songs. Since the middle of the 20th century there has been a gradual syncretism Syncretism consists of the attempt to reconcile disparate or contrary beliefs, often while melding practices of various schools of thought. The term may refer to attempts to merge and analogise several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, and thus assert an underlying unity allowing for an inclusive and fusion of traditions, and this is affecting the minhag Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism. A related concept, Nusach (נוסח), refers to the traditional order and form of the prayers. Arabic: منهاج minhāj also means custom or tradition, though not necessarily religious tradition of all but the most traditional congregations.
New developments in Judaism often transcend differences in religious practice between Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. In North American cities, social trends such as the chavurah movement, and the emergence of post-denominational Judaism[7][8] often bring together younger Jews of diverse ethnic backgrounds. In recent years, there has been increased interest in Kabbalah Kabbalah is a discipline and school of thought concerned with the mystical aspect of Judaism. It is a set of esoteric teachings that is meant to explain the relationship between an infinite, eternal and essentially unknowable Creator with the finite and mortal universe of His creation. In solving this paradox, Kabbalah seeks to define the nature, which many Ashkenazi Jews study outside of the Yeshiva Yeshiva or yeshivah (pronounced /jəˈʃiːvə/; Hebrew: ישיבה, "sitting " ; pl. yeshivot or yeshivas), or metivta or mesivta (Aramaic: מתיבתא)) also frequently referred to as a Beth midrash, Talmudical Academy, Rabbinical Academy or Rabbinical School is an institution unique to classical Judaism for study of its traditional, framework. Another trend is the new popularity of ecstatic Ecstasy is subjective experience of total involvement of the subject, with an object of his or her awareness. Because total involvement with an object of our interest is not our ordinary experience since we are ordinarily aware also of other objects, the ecstasy is an example of altered state of consciousness characterized by diminished awareness worship in the Jewish Renewal Jewish Renewal is a movement in Judaism which endeavors to reinvigorate modern Judaism with mystical, Hasidic, musical and meditative practices movement and the Carlebach style minyan A minyan in Judaism refers to the quorum required for certain religious obligations. The traditional minyan for most cases consists of ten men, which continues to be the position within Orthodox Judaism. Other strands of Judaism also accept women in forming a minyan, both of which are nominally of Ashkenazi origin.[9]
<<Table of Contents Sephardi Jews, Mizrahi Jews, and other Jewish ethnic divisions | Next>> | Show All>>
