JUDAISM

1. These slides are prepared by Julie Arliss of Richard Huish College, Taunton, England to assist teachers in to introduce Judaism to young people. They are not to be regarded as comprehensive and should be supplemented by appropriate reading. JUDAISM

2. Seeing Judaism ‘correctly’ • It is important to avoid seeing Judaism through Christian eyes.. This is particularly the case with the Scriptures. The Christian ’Old Testament’ - now generally referred to as the ‘Hebrew Scriptures’ – is regarded differently by Jews, and seen as revelation of a living Testament, not an ‘Old’ Testament. • Equally the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible) are by far the most important and it is these that form the TORAH which is so central to Judaism. The Prophets are used and so are stories such as the book of Esther, associated with the feast of PURIM, but they are much less significant.

3. Seeing Judaism through Jewish Eyes • A rabbi tells the story of his childhood when he attended a Christian school. The teacher was teaching a class on Judaism. “YAHWEH”, said the teacher, “IS THE NAME JEWS GIVE TO GOD”. • ‘Please Miss’, said the future Rabbi, ‘It isn’t’. However he was told to keep quiet and went home and asked his father. His father had never heard of Yahweh, nor had his mother. • When they were next in the synagogue they asked the Rabbi if he had heard of YAHWEH. He laughed: • “Oh yes!” He said, “Yahweh is the name Christians say Jews give to God.” • It is important to try to see Judaism as far as possible from a Jewish perspective. To do otherwise ‘does violence’ as Levinas would say

4. RABBINIC REFLECTION • Rabbis over the centuries have • reflected on The Torah and sought to gain inspiration and guidance from it – but they have always realised the central importance of interpretation. • They consider that God has given the Torah not just to be obeyed but also to be interpreted in the light of new situations – and this interpretation is a human activity which takes into account previous interpretations and uses reason to grapple with new situations. Jews do not expect to agree on interpretations! • The Torah is considered so holy that it is not touched – instead a pointer is used called a ‘Yad’

5. TORAH • The Torah (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy) is central to Judaism. • It contains much legal material. 613 laws of which 248 are positive injunctions and 365 are prohibitions. According to tradition they were given by Moses. • It also traces the story of the Jewish people beginning with the creation of the whole world, and then focusing on God’s election of Abraham who became the father of the Jewish people by covenant promise. The descendents of Abraham are traced, but the next major figure is Moses, considered the author of the Pentateuch. Moses formed the people into a nation through the experience of the Exodus, and the Sinai covenant. He then led the people to the threshold of the Promised Land, where he died.

6. HISTORY OF THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL

7. Salvation History • The Hebrew scriptures do not offer a simple historical account of the History of Israel. They offer an interpretation of what the events mean to the people of Israel. Through the events God is seen to be acting to save Israel. • The Torah begins with the stories of creation in Genesis. In this account of pre-history God is presented as the God of the whole world, and has dealings with the whole world. This is given in Chapters 1-11 of Genesis and according to the Hebrew Scriptures is a disaster. Mankind fails to obey the creator and fails to understand the nature of obedience and faith. • The election of Abraham in Genesis 12 is a new start. Abram was called by God to go from his home in the town of Ur to become a wandering nomad. He obeyed this call.Obedience is central to the notion of leading a good Jewish life. He became separate from others: HOLY. Israel is called to be like God; a Holy people.

8. Abraham and key aspects of Judaism • God made a one sided covenant with Abraham in which He promised that Abraham would have many descendants who would be given the land of Israel to live in. The concept of Israel being a chosen people is crucial to their self-understanding. • Abram and his wife were infertile. Both Abraham and Sara lacked faith. Abraham had a child (ISHMAEL) with Sara’s slave, HAGAR.Abraham was 100 years old and Sara 90 when the time for fulfilment came. • The son of Abraham and Sarah was ISAAC. The greatest test of Abraham’s faith was the command to sacrifice Isaac, in Genesis 21. He obeyed, only to find that it was a test. The outcome of the test: • ‘All nations of the world will be blessed by your descendants because you listened to my voice’ Gen 22:18 • Israel believes she, as a people, is chosen for a purpose. • In Hebrew the same verb means ‘to listen’ and ‘to obey’

9. Abraham an archetypal Jew When God shared with Abraham his intention to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah Abraham asked, ‘Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?’ Gen 18:25. Abraham recognised the righteousness of God and challenged Him to live up to this aspect of His nature. • Israel is commanded to pursue righteousness as a people (Deut 16:20) a word which can be a synonym of justice. • Righteousness goes beyond that which is purely just, and includes concern for those who have no particular claim to justice. • He is a symbol for what it is to be a good Jew: to be chosen by God, to be Holy, to live in faith and obedience to the word of God. • Abraham was not perfect: he became a wandering nomad, and this is a symbol of the journey of faith that he and all Jews have to make.

10. Abraham a spiritual father • Abraham is considered to be the genetic father and spiritual father of the Jewish people. • According to Genesis 17 the sign of the covenant with Abraham was circumcision. This is a tradition still practised. • He is a key figure for Jews in understanding their identity.They are the chosen people of God and the descendants of Abraham. • Three world religions claim Abraham as their spiritual ancestor, Islam, Christianity and Judaism. The accounts of his dealings with God are fundamental to understanding the requirement of faith and trust in God demanded by these three world faiths.

11. The Descendents of Abraham • Abraham and his descendents are not presented as perfect people! They are the chosen people by the grace of God, not by merit. In the Hebrew Scriptures God chooses who He wills and His ways are a mystery to mankind. A major theme of the stories in the Pentatuech is that God is Lord of history, and His choice of Israel has a divine purpose that will have a universal impact. • Jews in the early Hebrew Scriptures are Monotheists; having faith in a single God. This, in itself, marked them out from all the tribes of the surrounding area who believed in many gods. • This exclusive relationship with one God led to a total rejection of idol worship and to a strong sense of the unique identity of the people of Israel.

12. From Abraham to Moses • The book of Genesis traces the movement of the Jewish people from Abraham to the appearance of the Hebrews in Egypt: • Isaac • Jacob • Joseph • This ends the book of Genesis. The second book of the Torah, Exodus, opens with the story of Moses. • Yahweh reveals himself throughout the Moses narratives as a saviour, epitomised in the epic story of deliverance from Egypt.

13. The formation of Israel • On Mt Sinai a two sided covenant is sealed. This is a unique moment and crucial for understanding Jewish attitude to the Laws in the Torah. • Exodus 19:5,’IF YOU WILL OBEY MY VOICE AND KEEP MY COVENANT, YOU SHALL BE MY OWN POSSESSION AMONG ALL PEOPLES; FOR ALL THE WORLD IS MINE, AND YOU SHALL BE TO ME A KINGDOM OF PRIESTS AND A HOLY NATION’ • Israel agrees to this and becomes Yahweh's people. But the covenant is understood as conditional on obedience to the laws of the covenant. • Abraham was obedient to the word of God, but now the word of God is written down and fixed, for all generations. • These events made the Jews into a people with a unique identity, bound to each other, to God and to Torah.

14. The Law and a right Relationship with God • Much of the legal material in the Hebrew scriptures concerns how to follow the rules given in the Decalogue, how to be a Holy people, how to be righteous. • The laws in Exodus and Leviticus are all encompassing and instruct on how to behave both towards God, other people, animals and the land.There are both Casuistic and Apodictic laws. • Throughout, the emphasis is on the nature of God as a jealous God, demanding exclusive allegiance. • The consequence of failure to honour the laws and to follow one God is made clear in the farewell speech of Moses in Deuteronomy. He outlines a series of curses for failure and blessings for obedience.Failure to obey will result in disaster, punishment, loss of the promises of the covenant. In short, God with withdraw his favour. He is just and takes vengeance upon the wicked, and shows mercy to the good.

15. Choose Life • Deuteronomy 30:19-20 • ‘I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse: therefore choose life, that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God. Obeying his voice, and cleaving to him: for that means life to you and length of days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and to Jacob.’

16. Conquest and Kingship • Moses lead the newly formed people to the promised land, but did not enter with them. The land was by no means vacant. The Canaanites lived there and the Philistines were soon to establish themselves along the coastline. It had to be fought for over a period of some years. • The conquest was lead by Joshua, and began with the fall of Jericho. • Once in the land Israel was ruled, according to the texts, by Judges. Judges were not an established institution. They usually appeared in a period of crisis, brought on by the disobedience of the people, to save the people from their enemies. Stories include those of Deborah, Samson, Gideon.They were charismatic leaders believed to have been sent by God.

17. From Conquest to Kingship • Theologically these events are important because they show that; • 1. God keeps his promises. He promised Abraham that he would be the father of a great nation and that he would give them the land of Israel to live in. • 2. Failure to obey the laws of the covenant result in the people being threatened by their enemies. • 3. When the people turned to God, he acted to SAVE them, by sending a judge. History is understood in simple terms of cause and effect. • 4. The identity of Israel becomes bound up not only with descent from Abraham, a common commitment to God and obedience to the Torah, but also to the LAND. • Possession of the land is a sign that they are in a right relationship with God, because this was a covenant promise.

18. The Monarchy • Whilst Saul was the first king of Israel, David is far more significant. • The decision to elect a king signposts the end of the period of the judges and the end of the period of charismatic leadership. It is clear from the texts that there was division among the people about the decision. For some it revealed lack of faith in God to save them from their enemies, and too much of a desire to be like their neighbours. • These objections are based in the demands of the covenant to have complete faith in God’s power to save, and the command to be a holy people, not conforming to the standards of other people but to the standards of God. • It is, however, clear from the text that the pro-monarchy party won the argument and both Saul and David are blessed with a special gift of the Spirit.

19. The Monarchy and the Messiah • The appointment of a king was not viewed at a secular act. The first two kings were chosen by the prophet/judge/priest, Samuel. • The election of a king was sealed with the act of anointing. Messiah means ‘The anointed one.’ (In Greek this is Christ). It was accompanied with a special gift of the spirit which signposted that God had chosen this person. • The King became the protector and saviour of the people in God’s stead. • In a coronation Psalm the king is called, ‘My begotten son.’ the king was an adopted son of God. • The monarchy of David was sealed by a covenant (2 Sam 7:26), ‘THE HOUSE OF MY SERVANT DAVID SHALL BE ESTABLISHED FOR EVER’

20. The Monarchy • The lineage of David did not last for ever. The hope for a Messiah, a king like David, in fulfilment of the Davidic covenant endures. • David established a very large kingdom and the extent of the Davidic kingdom is the geographical area claimed as ‘Israel’. • The identity of Israel as a people became bound up with the idea of monarchy. The king was a symbol of divine grace and favour. • Political independence also became a part of what defined Israel as a people during the period of the monarchy. • During this period (1000 BCE – 597 BCE) the great Israelite prophets came on to the scene to act very often as the conscience of the king and people. The greatest of these was Elijah.

21. Solomon’s Temple • David bought the site for the Temple to be built on but it was his son, Solomon who built it. • It is evident that there were dissenting voices to the building of a Temple on a fixed site. The Tabernacle, which had contained the ark of the covenant, was a tent-like structure which could be moved around. • The central room, the Holy of Holies was a room for the ark, but otherwise empty. • When Solomon, acting as a priest, dedicated the Temple it is evident that God approved of the Temple as, ’A CLOUD FILLED THE HOUSE OF THE LORD…FOR THE GLORY OF THE LORD FILLED THE HOUSE OF THE LORD’ 1 Kings 8:11. • The Temple became a symbol of the gracious presence of God in the midst of the people. A sign of His grace.

22. What makes the people of God? 1. Being a descendant of Abraham. Circumcision. 2. Being the recipient of divine covenants, Abraham, Moses and David. The Abraham covenant included the promise of the land of Canaan and descendants. The Mosaic covenant meant acceptance of the Law. The call to be HOLY and RIGHTEOUS. The Davidic covenant was the promise of an everlasting king. OUTWARD SIGNS THAT THESE CLAIMS ARE TRUE: 1. Living in the Land of promise. 2. The Temple. This was a sign that God dwelt in their midst and found their worship acceptable. 3. Having a Davidic king, and political independence. 4. Circumcision and the possession of the Law.

23. The Divided kingdoms • After the death of Solomon David’s kingdom split into two, the Northern kingdom, Ephraim, and the southern Kingdom, Judah. • In 721 BCE the Northern Kingdom was destroyed and captured by Assyria. • In 597-596 BCE the Southern kingdom was destroyed by Babylon. Jerusalem was in the southern kingdom.Her destruction meant the destruction of the Temple, (the end of sacrificial worship), and the end of the Davidic monarchy. • The leading inhabitants of the country were carried off into exile where they were allowed to trade and live freely.

24. BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY‘By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept…’ • The exile of Babylon was central to the consciousness of the people of Israel. Exile from the ‘promised land’ was almost impossible to tolerate and they made sense of this by seeing it as a punishment sent by God and, indeed, prophesied by God through the prophet JEREMIAH • The modern pop song ‘By the waters of Babylon we sat down and wept’ is based on songs sung at this time.

25. Exile • Theologically this was a very productive time. The prophet Ezekiel had a number of visions.In one of them (Ezekiel 1) he had a vision of creatures with wheels and wings and eyes who went wherever the spirit moved them. This was followed with a vision of God. • This persuaded Ezekiel that God was not limited in his activity to the land of Israel. He was with them in exile. God had tremendous power of movement and could see all things.Such revelations lead to pure monotheism, the belief that there IS only one God. • It also lead to a belief that the covenant promises were not tied up necessarily with land Temple and king, but with the spiritual life of the people. Obedience to the Law and righteousness was what God required. • In practical terms the Jewish people responded by developing synagogue worship, and writing many of the scriptures in the form in which they are now found.

26. Exile • Many outward signs of the covenant disappeared. But the Jewish people lived in hope that they would be replaced. The exile was a period of hope. • The hope for a new king, like David, who would be a saviour of the people and deal with them justly and righteously. • The hope for a return to Jerusalem. • The hope for a new covenant. • The hope for redemption, and restoration of the outward signs that they were the chosen people, (to be sign posted to the world by their glorious return to Jerusalem.) • The hope for political independence. This never disappeared, although their survival as a people with a clear identity was secured in the exile without this.

27. A CONQUERED LAND – But a fiercely independent people • Eventually the exiles in Israel were given permission to return. Many stayed behind, having established a good life for themselves in Babylon. Those who returned to Jerusalem began rebuilding the walls of the city and the Temple. They did not have the power to be independent. They were continually occupied by foreign powers but their beliefs had been refined in the period of exile and this was not such a problem.

28. Post exilic Judaism • Between 536-520 BCE was the return from exile • Israel was under Persian rule. • Zerubbabel, Nehemiah and Ezra acted as leaders, and co-operated with Persian authorities. No Jewish king. • Israel enjoyed a great deal of religious and civic freedom. • 516 BCE the building of the second Temple completed under Zerubbabel. Jewish priesthood resumed offerings. • 444 BCE Nehemiah returned from Persia with permission to re-build the walls of Jerusalem. • Nehemiah enforced Sabbath observation, and forbade mixed marriage. • Ezra confirmed Nehemiah’s rulings, and made men dismiss their foreign wives. (Ezra 10.) • Religious purity, observation of laws became the focus of what it meant to be a true Jew.

29. The Maccabees • 331 BCE Alexander the Great conquered the Persians. • The pressure of Greek culture under the rule of the Seleucids encouraged some Jews to abandon some aspects of their religious life. • A Greek Gymnasium was built in Jerusalem with the permission of the High Priest, Jason.Without a king the High Priests became political activists, and the ruling classes. • Problems over the election of the High Priest led Antiochus Epiphanes to enforce Greek culture upon Jerusalem in 168 BCE. • He forbade all practices which made the Jews distinctive; observation of festivals, sacrifices,(an altar to Zeus was put up in the Temple), circumcision, reading of the law.

30. Antiochus Epiphanes • Copies of the Law were destroyed. • Anyone who refused to worship at the altar to Zeus and to eat pigs flesh were put to death.(2 Macc 6:18) • Women circumcising their baby boys were put to death. • Judas Maccabee lead a rebellion against this tyranny. • 164 BCE the Temple was recovered and re-dedicated. This is celebrated at the festival of Hanukkah. Some called for political independence. A treaty with Rome was made to secure independence from the Seleucids. • The book of Daniel was written during this period by someone who disagreed with an antagonistic approach to foreign masters. Obedience to the law and obedience to foreign powers were not incompatible. God would bring salvation and establish his Kingdom in his own good time. What was required of the people to bring this about was obedience to the law and holiness in a spiritual sense, rather than political independence.

31. Divisions within Judaism • This period high lights the propensity of Judaism for divisions. • The return from exile saw a division between those who had been through the process of exile and those left on the land. Some thought those left behind no longer qualified as Jews because they had not been through the experience. • Some returned because the ‘homeland’ was part of who they were, others no longer considered it important. • Some looked for political independence, others thought as a people they were a spiritual community, not a political state. • Some thought there was no contradiction accommodating Greek culture within Judaism, others thought it wrong. • Some hoped for another King of the line of David, others thought the kingdom of God would come with a superhuman ‘son of man’ pictured in apocalyptic language.

32. Divisions • Some had come to believe in life after death, and believed that obedience to the letter of the law would be rewarded in the afterlife. Others did not believe in life after death. • Some believed that the mission of Judaism meant living with gentiles and in that way bringing them to believe in the one true God. Others believed that the call to be HOLY meant withdrawing from society to focus on obedience to the laws. Such a community was at Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found. • Some believed that the Temple and sacrifice were at the heart of Judaism and a sign of God’s blessing: others experienced God without the need for sacrifice, in the Synagogue. • The belief that they were a people with a mission from God, called to be HOLY and RIGHTEOUS and to live in OBEDIENCE to the law not questioned, but what this meant and how to do it was widely debated.

33. First century Palestine • In the first century CE the Romans occupied Palestine. They tolerated Jewish religious practices,and worked hard to compromise with the Jewish people throughout the empire to maintain peace. They even allowed the Jews to have a king… although he was a puppet king. Such was king Herod. • Herod was in many ways a remarkable king. Many of his building projects still exist. The expansion and rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem was one of his most impressive achievements. Rome insisted on having a fortress at one corner. He was however a violent man and killed all whom he perceived as a threat. • On his death Rome split the rule of Israel into local provinces and sent a Roman procurator or governor to control Jerusalem. Roman soldiers patrolled the streets.

34. Many Jews found the presence of the Romans totally unacceptable and the ZEALOTS were dedicated to throwing out the Romans and making Israel independent once more – as in the great days under King David. When Florus, the Roman procurator and successor to Pontius Pilate, took money from the Temple, this provoked a riot. The people of Jersualem, always proud, attacked Roman soldiers and gained control of the Temple Mount. • The Romans initially retained control of the Antonia fortress but soon lost this to the Israelites. Other Hebrews, seeing the success of those in Jerusalem, attacked Roman garrisons and drove them out. • Rome could not accept this and an army of 60000 under Vespasian march into Galilee and conquered most of it.

35. JERUSALEM AND MASADA • Vespasian returned to Rome to become Emperor and his son, Titus, took charge of a five month siege of Jerusalem. Eventually the Romans broke through and in CE 70 raised the whole city to the ground. All that was left was the western wall. • The Jews still held two fortresses – Machaerus and Masada (on the East and West of the Dead sea). Masada, built as a fortress by Herod the Great was a formidable mountain stronghold and the Jews held out there for three years. Eventually the Roman tenth legion built a ramp to gain access and when they did so they found that the 960 defenders – men, woman and children – had all killed themselves rather than be taken by Rome. • This marked the end, until recent times, of the Jewish occupation of Israel, of Temple, priests and king.

36. DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE • The Temple was seen by many as the heart of Jewish worship. Its destruction many would have thought a mortal blow to Judaism. However there were many Jews for whom Jerusalem was not crucial to being a Jew. There were Jews all over the Roman world, who might have visited Jerusalem once in a lifetime, if at all. For these Jews Judaism rested on synagogue worship and obedience to the Law. • After CE 70 Jerusalem, Israel, a King and Temple as part of Jewish identity went out of focus. As in the Babylonian exile obedience to scriptures became paramount. • Those who viewed Righteousness, obedience to the Law and Holiness as central to Jewish life survived. Such were the Pharisees.

37. JERUSALEM OR TORAH • During the siege of Jerusalem, Rabbi Yohanan ben Zakkai is held to have had himself smuggled out without detection by the Jewish Zealot guards by hiding in a coffin. He went to Vespasian and obtain permission to move the Sanhedrin, the ruling Jewish body, to the village of Yavneh. • At Yavneh, the Jewish scriptures were established, commentaries on Torah recorded and a Jewish calendar laid down so that wherever Jews scattered to, they could still celebrate the sacred festivals at the same time. • There is a story that Rabbi Yohanan said that if Vespasian had given him the choice of preserving Jerusalem or Yavneh, he would have chosen Yavneh. This is important as it illustrates that the Torah and teaching of the Jews was more important than the city of Jerusalem.

38. Different periods • Nina Rosenstand points out that Judaism has gone through four eras: • Nina Rosenstand ‘The Moral of the Story’ - an introduction to Ethics p. 417 • The Biblical period, • The Talmudic period (from the Talmud, the body of Jewish civil and religious law) • The medieval period, and • The modern period

39. JEWISH RELIGIOUS TEXTS • The Hebrew Scriptures are central to Judaism. Some parts of Hebrew scripture are more authoritative for some Jews than others. The TORAH – the first five books, which came into their final form during the Babylonian captivity stands as the most authoritative. Since the rise of critical Biblical study in the nineteenth century the Bible is no longer read by many Jews as a sufficient or reliable guide to ancient history or as an infallible account of God. The authority of the Bible has been fatally undermined, although some suppose that it is the scholars that are in error.This debate between propositional and non-propositional attitudes to the Bible provides grounds for division within Judaism today. • The reading of Biblical books is inseparable from their interpretation. This tradition of interpretation is embodied in a large mass of writings going back to antiquity.

40. Interpretative Texts • TARGUM is the name given to translations of Hebrew scripture into Aramaic. All are both a translation and an interpretation and at points include mini-sermons to help the public understand the Hebrew words. • MIDRASH – a collection of commentaries on Torah, by rabbis, compiled between the third and eleventh centuries. In the sixteenth century the Midrash-rabbah was published, presenting midrashic compilations on each of the books of Torah, and five other scrolls of scriptures. These have acquired an almost canonical status for many Jews, although they have no explicit religious authority. • TALMUD is the foundation text of rabbinic Judaism. It is a huge document written in a mixture of Aramaic and Hebrew, making it very difficult to read for most Jews. It has a great deal of authority for many Jews, although this is not unchallenged.

41. Talmud • The reform movement does not consider many of the laws and regulations binding, although it is still studied in Reform rabbinical colleges. • The Talmud consists of two intertwined texts, the Mishnah and the Gemara. • The Mishnah is a relatively short work composed in Hebrew in Israel. The Gemara is a longer work composed in Aramaic. It consists largely of detailed discussion on the meaning and validity of laws and rules in the Mishnah and the Bible. • Talmud and the Bible are Jewish sources of HALAKHAH – Jewish practice. However they cannot be applied today without the subsequent traditions that have refined them and adjusted then to changing conditions. Much of this tradition was produced in the middle ages. The Shulhan Arukh, first published in 1565 is the most authoritative interpretations of the Talmud, used by all main branches of Judaism.

42. THE TALMUD • The Talmud says that Jews are required to care for Gentiles just as much as other Jews because “the tender mercies of God are over all his world”. In ‘Great Traditions of Religion’, Cecil Roth speculates that a Jewish man in the Middle ages might write something on the following lines to his son as representing the ethical rules of life: Psalm 145. 9 • “My son! Make a point of visiting a sick man, for thus his suffering is eased. But do not fatigue him by staying too long, for his illness is enough for him to bear.... Be considerate for the feelings of a poor man, by giving him alms in secret, and on no account before others. For this reason, give him also food and drink in your own house - but do not watch him while he is eating. Do not overwhelm a poor many with words, for God will fight his cause.”

43. The Zohar • The Zohar (radiance) is the classical text of the mystical tradition within Judaism, the Kabbalah. It was probably written by Moses de Leon (1250-1305). • In Judaism esoteric knowledge is found through the Kabbalah tradition. Behind the world we experience is a hidden world of forces representing a higher form of uncorrupted being. The goal of the Kabbalist is mystical union with God, achieved through secret rituals. • The Zohar was written in late thirteenth century Spain in an artificial Aramaic. It has the form of a commentary on the Torah, and outwardly resembles the Midrash. In fact it is a vehicle for communicating the main ideas of kabbalah. • It is regarded by many as a sacred book. It is influential among the Hasidic movement, that arose in Poland in the eighteenth century. It is said that the founder of the movement, BAAL SHEM TOV always carried a copy around with him.

44. MOSES BEN MAIMON • (MAIMONIDES)

45. Moses Maimonides • Moses ben Maimon (1135 - 1204), the great • Jewish philosopher, lived at a time when Islam was spreading into Spain and Northern Africa - the areas where he spent most of his life. He was a Jewish Aristotelian whose book ‘The Guide to the Perplexed’ is regarded as the masterpiece of medieval Jewish Religious thought, recognised by Muslims and Christians. Its aim is to reconcile Jewish beliefs with the rational arguments about physics and metaphysics of Aristotle and his followers. • Moses ben Maimon was condemned by Rabbis at the time for his use of Aristotle’s ethics but his influence has been profound. • The Yigdal, the 13 articles of Jewish faith, came from Maimonides – and have become an unofficial Jewish creed found in the prayer book.

46. YIGDAL (13 articles of Jewish faith) “We praise the living God, For ever praise His name, Who was and is and is to be For e’er the same; The One eternal God Before our world appears, And there can be no end of time Beyond His years. Without a form is He Nor can we comprehend The measure of his love for us – Without an end. For he is Lord of all, Creation speaks his praise. The human race and all that grows His will obeys. He knows our every thought, Our birth and death ordains; He understand sour fervent dreams, Our hopes and our pains. Eternal life has He Implanted in our soul, We dedicate our life to Him – His way, our goal!”

47. ETHICAL MONOTHEISM • Ethical Monotheism has four components: • 1) God’s laws are binding on everyone in society, no matter what their station in life, • 2) God’s laws protect the underprivileged in society • 3) The moral standards apply to everyone, including God • 4) Human freedom and personal integrity are of the highest importance. • Moses ben Maimon wrote out of this context. Virtue is not of value in itself - it is a means towards becoming a complete person and, for ben Maimon, this meant a person capable of understanding religious truths. • Wisdom, he considered, is part of morality but there is more to morality than wisdom alone - it is, after all, possible to be wise in the ways a person sets about doing evil.

48. Maimonides - personal growth • Moses Ben Maimon considered there were four ways of achieving personal growth: • 1) The first level of perfection is when human beings have learnt to understand what everyday life consists of. Every day life consists of possessions - people owning and possessing things. This level of perfection has no inner bearing on a person’s life. Human beings are merely externally related to their possessions. • 2) The second level of perfection consist of being physically fit - however if we are merely physically fit we are no different from animals and although this affects us as persons, it is only at a superficial level.

49. Personal Growth contd. • 3) The third level of perfection has to do with the individual’s self becoming morally virtuous. Aristotle was a major influence on Moses Ben Maimon here. Ben Maimon did not consider moral virtues to be an end in themselves - rather they are concerned with human inter-action. For Aristotle, extreme humility or total avoidance of anger were to be avoided - Ben Maimon also regarded the middle path as being virtuous. BUT whereas for Aristotle the path of virtue was the highest path, for Moses Ben Maimon there was a higher one....

50. Personal Growth contd. • 4) The fourth level involves involves perfecting the rational virtues. It is through these virtues that an individual becomes truly human and an individual. This level of perfection can only be reached by knowing and understanding God. This is true wisdom. • True wisdom will come about only by cultivating acts of love, compassion, judgement and righteousness. Within Jewish tradition, these acts of loving kindness were considered to be of utmost importance. Charity is vitally important and one central rule of such charity is that good deeds are rendered of little account or value if the person doing the good deed lets their actions be known - they must be done in secret. • Jesus, as a Jew, recognised this when he said that when giving to charity one’s left hand should not know what one’s right hand is doing. Nina Rosenstand ‘The Moral of the Story’ p. 418