What is the Difference? Judaism

JUDAISM

Judaism is one of the world’s oldest living religions. The Jewish people are descended from the ancient Hebrews. The history of the Jewish nation is contained in the Old Testament, the only Scriptures recognized by the Jewish people. Of particular importance is the Torah-the Law contained in the first five books of the Old Testament. Another critical part of the Old Testament are the writings of the prophets. These prophets spoke of the importance of justice and love. Striving for decent behavior (exhibiting justice and love) is still basic to Jewish thinking. It is no coincidence that many charitable organizations are led and supported by Jewish people.

Since the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by the Romans in A.D. 70, the Jews have had no place to offer sacrifices for their sins as required by the Law of Moses. After this dreadful loss, they scatted to almost every nation in the world where they established communities and built synagogues to keep faith alive.

Today there are four different forms of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Messianic.

Orthodox Jews try to follow the letter of the Law. They carefully study the Torah (Law or teachings) written down by Moses. The Torah, meaning “teaching and direction”, denotes the body of doctrine, written and oral, that has come down through the Jewish community. They not only strive to obey the Hebrew Bible (what Christians call the Old Testament), but they also observer other teachings of famous rabbis that have been added through the centuries. The Mishnah is about 1000 pages long and consists mainly of instructions for daily living known as “Halakah” or “the way to walk”. Another book is the Talmud. This runs about 36 volumes. It is based on the Mishnah, but much more material has been added. These three books-the Torah, the Mishnah and the Talmud-rule every facet of the Orthodox Jew’s life. Orthodox Jews follow rules regarding food and Sabbath law.

Conservative Jews have a more lenient interpretation of the Torah, but they do believe the Law is vitally important. Conservatives also want to keep alive the Hebrew language and the traditions of Judaism.

Reform Jews have moved some distance away from Orthodoxy. They teach that the principles of Judaism are more important than the practices. Most Reform Jews do not observe the dietary laws or other laws, such as what a Jew should or should not do on the Sabbath.

The Orthodox, Conservative and Reformed Jews all agree that The Sabbath and the holy days must be observed. The Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday night and continues until sundown on Saturday. In devout Jewish homes, as the sun is setting on Friday, the woman of the house, with her family around her, lights the traditional candles and gives the age-old blessing: “Blessed art Thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has sanctified us by Thy laws and commanded us to kindle the Sabbath light.” The father then blesses the wine, everyone has a sip, and then he slices the Sabbath loaf of challah bread.

After dinner on the Sabbath, Conservatives and Reform families go to the synagogues. The main Orthodox service is on Saturday morning. They (Orthodox) and most Conservatives attend another service in the afternoon.

The High Holy Days of Judaism are: Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year, celebrated in September or October and Yom Kippur, the Jewish Day of Atonement, which comes 10 days later. During this 10-day period, Jews take part in repentance and soul-searching. Another important time is PASSOVER which is celebrated around the time when Christians celebrate Easter.

Messianic Jews believe that Yeshua (the Hebrew name for Jesus) is the promised Jewish Messiah and Savior for Israel and the world.

In 1967, at the end of the Six Day War, Jerusalem suddenly came back into Jewish hands after nearly 2000 years under Gentile domination. Tens of thousands of Jewish people suddenly accepted Yeshua as their Messiah. More Jewish people have put their trust in Jesus as their Messiah in the last 20 years than in the past 20 centuries.

The Messianic congregations worship Yeshua and graciously welcome Gentiles, yet retain Jewish forms of worship, feasts, festivals, songs, customs and even humor.