The religion of the Jewish people, with a belief in one God and a basis in Mosaic and rabbinical teachings. The Jews were called to reject polytheism and worship the one God, the Creator, whose will is revealed in the Torah, which comprises the first five books of the Bible (also known as the Pentateuch) and which contains the Ten Commandments. This monotheism, inherited by both Christianity and Islam, is the heart of Judaism. Jews believe that as a result of the covenant made by God with Abraham, they have a unique relationship with God (that they are the Chosen People). They also believe that an anointed person (the Messiah) will be sent by God to gather all of the peoples of Israel into the promised land and bring everlasting peace to Earth. Christians, but not Jews, believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
Orthodox Judaism teaches that the Torah (the five books of Moses) contains all the divine revelation that Jews require. Religious practice is strictly observed. When interpretation of the Torah is required, reference is made to the Talmud. Orthodox Jews maintain the separation of sexes in synagogue worship. There is only an Orthodox rabbinate in Israel, with the result that all official religion in that country is Orthodox controlled. While many Orthodox Jews support Zionism, they deplore the secular origins of the movement and the fact that Israel is not a fully religious state. For example, the Orthodox recognize a person as Jewish only if he or she has a Jewish mother or undergoes an arduous process of conversion; whereas the Law of Return governing emigration to Israel accepts all those with a Jewish grandmother as potential Israeli citizens.
Liberal Judaism began in about 1780 in Germany, in response to the need to redefine the meaning and practical observance of the Torah in a changing society. Liberals saw the Torah’s revelations as progressive rather than static, expressing God’s teaching rather than God’s law. This allowed for evolution in religious law and practice and resulted in dramatic changes in both diet and custom. In Europe the movement is also known as Progressive, and is roughly equivalent to US Reform Judaism.
Reform Judaism was founded in Germany by Zachariah Frankel (1801–75) in reaction to the perceived laxity of Liberal Judaism. Frankel questioned the wholly divine inspiration of the Torah, whilst retaining observance of some Jewish laws and traditions. In the UK, Reform Jews might be regarded as being on the ‘right’ of the Liberal or Progressive movement. In the USA, the term Reform Judaism refers to the whole of the Liberal tradition, brought across by German immigrants in the 19th century.
Hasidism (from Hebrew, ‘pious’) is a mystical movement that first found expression in 12th-century Germany. Modern Hasidism evolved in 18th-century Poland, where its leader, Ba’al Shem Tov (1700–60), taught a return to faith and piety. The movement advocated repeated prayer, song, chanting, and dance as joyous ways of perceiving God in all aspects of daily life. After rapid growth amongst the repressed Jewish communities of eastern Europe, the movement was curtailed by the rise of modernism. Today the largest groups of Hasidic Jews are to be found in the USA and Israel, where their leaders, zaddikim (‘saints’), are in the forefront of the movement for religious legislation, and are determined defenders of Orthodox Judaism. Followers are distinguished by their black dress, reminiscent of clothes worn in Poland in the 17th–18th centuries, and curled side-locks, as well as by their acceptance of the Orthodox Jewish prohibition against cutting the beard, which probably originated in a wish to be distinguished from unbelievers.