Download The Name of God

Judaic Tradition
Definition of God
 Definition of God: It is in many ways an impossibility to
define the God of Judaism; however there are some
attributes of God that give some, though not total, ideas of
God.

The Jewish God is the one and only God
 Creator God: created the world out of chaos(often understood
as a dark, unformed void)—gave order to it.

Omnipresent

Omniscient

Eternal

No physical form

No gender (God is neither male nor female)

Needs nothing, including needs no proof of existing

Is Perfect and holy

Judges fairly and mercifully
The Name of God
 YHVH “Yud-Hay-Vav-Hay”
 G-d
 Judaism refers to God in descriptive titles that are not actually names
and as “The Name” which in Hebrew is Ha Shem. Why refer to God as
Ha Shem? Because God is above all names.
 Descriptive titles “ These are names that correspond to the
characteristics of God in accordance with the definition of God.
 Adonai (Lord)
 El Khai/ the Living God
 Elohim/ God Everlasting
 El Shaddai/God almighty
 Eloheinu /Our God
 Tzur Yisroel/Rock of Israel
A Short History of the Jewish people:
A. Texts: The Jewish Bible is often referred to by Jews as the TaNaKh… this
name also stands as an acronym for how Jews divide their Bible:
Torah= 1st 5 books (first few books record the religious history of the Hebrews)
Nevi’im= The Prophets (19 books)
Ketuvim= The Writings (11 books)
Biblical scholars often refer to the TaNaKh as the Hebrew Bible. Christianity
adopts a version of this text as its Old Testament… implying that there is New
Testament.
* The finalization of the Tanakh in canonical form occurred sometime between 200
BCE and 200 CE (canon formation is always a process in textual traditions);
however, the Talmud suggests that this compiling of the definitive texts of the
Tanakh occurred in 450 BCE in the meeting of the Men of the Great Assembly.
B. Terms: The TaNaKh often using various terms for the ancestors of the Jews…
Various terms used: Hebrews, Israelites, descendants of Abraham, Israel, Judeans,
Jews, people of Judah, etc.
Various names for the land promised by the Hebrew God to Abraham and his
descendants: the promised land, the land of milk and honey, Canaan, Zion, etc.
Midrash and the Talmud
 The Midrash and the Talmud are the written Torah. . The
Oral Torah goes along with the Written Torah… but for
many years it is orally transmitted and only later written
down
 The Midrash offers an interpretation of the Torah in ways
that emphasize what the Tanakh means for everyday life.
The Talmud, also known as the “oral Torah” is a collection
of commentaries on the Torah written by rabbis over the
centuries. The Talmud concentrates on codifying and
explaining the Law of the Torah. The Talmud is the
earliest and therefore one of the most holy parts of the
canon, because it pre-exists the written Torah. It is the
written transmission of the earliest oral traditions and
teachings of Judaism.
Talmud continued
 The Talmud has 2 sections: you can refer to the
whole of the Tanakh and the Talmud as the Torah
because torah just means law.
 The Halakhah (“The Way” which is a guide to purity
and holiness) and the Aggadah (the Telling: which
explains and clairifies the stories and non0egal
aspects of the Torah).
 In the first 2 centuries CE, scholars continued to
expand upon the proper points of view regarding
the Talmud, and these are compiled in the Mishnah.
Mishnah
 The 6 tractates of the Mishnah (published by Rabbi Judah the Prince in
200CE) are as follows:

The Zeraim (Seeds) is one tractate on prayer and 10 on agricultural
concerns as they relate to the Talmud.
 Moed (Set Feasts) describe how to celebrate holy days (12 tractates)
 Nashim (Women) includes seven tractates on legal issues involving
women, marriage and family life
 Nezrikim (damages) 10 tractates involving criminal and civil law
 Kodashim (Holy Things) speaks of how to serve in the Temple including
general questions of things like service and holiness as well as proper
forms of sacrifice
 Toharot (Purifications) 12 tractates on uncleanliness and possibilities for
cleansing or purifying/repairing that which has become unclean.
 Talmud video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pICQc5H0-b8
 Interactive page for
Talmud:http://www.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/TalmudPage.h
tml
History
.
I.
Ancient Kingdom of Israel:
A. Tribal Confederacy to United Monarchy:
1. Saul
2. David
3. Solomon
B. Important dates:
922 bce: split of North (aka Israel, Ephraim, 10 tribes) and South (Judah)
722 bce: North destroyed by Assyrians… “lost”
597 bce: 1st deportation of Judah’s elite to Babylon (Ezekiel included)
586 bce: destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, 2nd deportation
538 bce: End of the Babylonian Exile, Persian King Cyrus (mentioned by
the prophet Isaiah) allows the Jews to return home and rebuilt their temple
C. The Prophets:
1. strong voice in the Hebrew Bible
2. the “ruah” of Yahweh= instruments of divine will and often voices of
discontent
Isaiah and Restoration:
A. The Babylonian Exile comes to
an end in 538 bce, when Cyrus the Great
defeats the Babylonian empire.
1. Judah interprets Cyrus’s victory as
something Yahweh has done, because Yahweh
is considered the architect of all events. They
believe that God used foreign vehicles to laid
Judah low for their transgressions and now that
they had repeated, he would be merciful to
them and restore them to the land of their
ancestors, Judah.
2. Cyrus not only frees the Jews from
Babylonian captivity, he also sends them home
so that they may rebuild their temple.
3. The author of Isaiah Chapter 45 is
so taken with Cyrus’ actions, believing them to
be part of God’s plan, that he actually refers to
Cyrus, a Persian king who openly does not
worship the Hebrew God, as the “messiah” or
chosen one of Yahweh.
Rabbinic Judaism
A.
Although the Jews were able to rebuilt their Temple, known as the 2nd
Temple, the power of the kingdom had diminished greatly. Various empires
still continued to rule over them… the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans,
etc. Until the creation of the modern state of Israel, the remnant of Judah
only self-governed for about 100 years. Since the destruction of the 1st
Temple, Jews had lived in Diaspora (dispersed) throughout the world. When
the Romans destroyed the 2nd Temple, Judaism underwent some radical
changes… for all that remains of the 2nd Temple today is the Western Wall
(Wailing Wall).
B.
B. Faith in Diaspora:
1. move from literal ritual sacrifice to emphasis placed on sacred texts
and ethical practice
2. Jews had to think about how to maintain Jewish identity while in
Diaspora (language, culture, dress, and various other customs)
3. shift from temple focus to home and synagogue focus
4. shift from temple priests to rabbis (teacher of laws and practice)