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Contemporary Religions in
Canada
Judaism
Judaism
• Important preliminary…
– “being Jewish” can be either an ethnic or
religious affiliation (and in many cases both)
– Hence, “secular Jews” (ethnic but not
embracing religious beliefs or rituals)…or
converts to Judaism (religiously but not
ethnically Jewish)…former are quite common,
latter less so.
Judaism
• Basic beliefs
– Monotheistic—belief in one God (a belief
passed on to both Christianity and Islam
which also have their roots in the ancient
Hebrew or “Abrahamic religion”)
– This God has showed himself to the ancient
ancestors of the Jews in self-revelation
• First to Abraham
• Later saving Israel (nation descended from
Abraham) from slavery in Egypt, led by Moses to
Mt. Sinai where they were giving divine law (Torah)
Judaism
• Basic beliefs
– Torah (instruction)—the law given by God to
Israel at Mt. Sinai through Moses
– 613 Commandments (halakhah)
– God gives Israel the choice of life or death
based on it following these commands
– By giving the law, God makes it possible for
his people to “choose life” by following his will
as laid out by the commandments
Judaism
• Basic beliefs
– This exchange in which God chooses
(election) and saves and protects his people,
Israel, and they respond with obedience to his
life-giving commands is called a “covenant”
• Hence a self-understanding by Jews as a “chosen
people”
– Commands require deeds of loving kindness
(mitzvot)—that is, the people of God must
embody in their lives the kindness and justice
of God as a model to the world
Judaism
• Basic beliefs
– Sacred Texts
• “Torah”—technically the five books of Moses (first five books
of Hebrew Bible/Christian OT)
• Tanak—the Hebrew Bible (=Christian OT), Torah (Law),
Nebi’im (Prophets), Kitubim (Writings)
• Mishnah—collection of rabbinic debates over laws pulled
together in 2nd century CE
• Talmud (“learning”/ “study”)—collection of ongoing rabbinic
debates on Mishnah pulled together in 4-6th century CE
– Along with the Tanak, THE key writing for contemporary forms
of Judaism—what is studied at length by Jewish religious
scholars and children educated in Judaism
– Two “talmuds”—Babylonian (Bavli) (most common); Palestinian
(Yerushalami)
Judaism
• Basic beliefs
– Talmud
• Essentially a written form of ongoing oral dialogue
• In some senses never “finished” because the oral dialogues
of the Talmud are taken up in contemporary study of Talmud
and the debates are rehashed and refreshed
• Debate over the law is at the heart of talmudic piety—
wrestling with God and his laws is at the heart of Jewish
religious practice
• Captured well in the Hebrew Bible story of Jacob who
wrestles with other men and God and so is given the name
“Israel” (means “fights with God”)
Judaism
• Historical Roots of Judaism
– Modern “Judaism” has its roots in the era of the
ancient Hebrew Bible, but with its emphasis on oral
Torah it finds its path after the fall of the second
Temple in 60 CE in what we call “rabbinic Judaism”—
a reorganization of the faith in light of the absence of
a Temple in Jerusalem
– The Jewish faith is reoriented away from a Temple
centered cult to one which finds its piety expressed in
terms of prayers, good deeds, and the study of Torah
and its application to everyday life.
Judaism
• “Types” of Judaism
– Reform Judaism
• Most “liberal” expression of Judaism
• Has its roots in 1800’s Europe
• Expresses an attempt to “modernize” Judaism in
the context of Enlightenment Europe (itself
increasingly less “Christian” and more “secular”)
• Defines Judaism as a “rational-ethical system”, a
religion which offers ideas of ethics and justice to
humanity
Judaism
• “Types” of Judaism
– Reform Judaism
• Is not concerned with ritual legal components of Judaism
such as kosher food laws
• Does not hold to a belief in a coming messiah, rather belief in
humanity’s progress toward a “messianic age” (easily
equated with notions of scientific/rational progress)
• Was not originally interested in a return of Jews to the land of
Israel (although it birthed secular Jewish movements that did
form the modern state of Israel)
• Sees Judaism as a religion developing over time rather than
a religion of eternal unchanging truths and practices
• Open to innovations such as prayers in local languages
rather than Hebrew
Judaism
• “Types” of Judaism
– Orthodox Judaism
• Can be seen as a movement in response to Reform Judaism,
although it would define itself as essentially maintaining a
strict lineage with pre-modern forms of rabbinic Judaism.
• Opposite to all the modernizing tendencies of Reform
Judaism
– All prayers in Hebrew
– All laws are eternal and unchanging truth (not historically
conditioned and easily cast aside)
– Messiah is a literal figure who’s coming is prayed for
– Believe in an ultimate return of all Jews to land of Israel
(although not necessarily fans of modern state of Israel)
Judaism
• “Types” of Judaism
– Conservative Judaism
• In some senses a “middle path” between Reform and
Orthodox Judaism
• Focuses on Jewish practices, rather than beliefs
– One may believe or disbelieve aspects of the supernatural
worldview of pre-modern rabbinic Judaism
– Rather what is important is observing Torah in daily life (here it
allows more compromises than the Orthodox as well)
• More American in origin and has an “American pragmatism”
about it
• Most influential and widely embraced form of Judaism in
America
Judaism
• “Types” of Judaism
– Ultra-Orthodox Judaism
• The more radical or “fundamentalist” form of Judaism
• Consists of a number of more radical sects that call for a high
level of Jewish self-segregation and absolute application of
Talmudic law
• Are most visible these days as those who oppose any
concessions to Palestinians and favour settlements in
Palestinian territories as a precursor to their expulsion from
Israel
• Some, however, are very opposed to the secular state of
Israel
Judaism
• “Types” of Judaism
– Other Terms to be familiar with…
• Kabbalah—Jewish mystical movement which draws
especially on Zohar (Book of Splendor), seeking to discover
the spiritual emanations of God in the physical world (hence,
is assumed to have neo-platonic and gnostic influences)
through mystical contemplation and devout performance of
the requirements of halakhah.
• Hasidic Judaism—a Jewish movement with roots in Poland
and with some links to Kabbalistic forms of Judaism, founded
by Israel ben Eliezer (“the Besht”), a charismatic healer who
taught joy is the only correct response to the great suffering
of the Jews, creating a division of Judaism known for its
festive communal worship and its reverence for the Tzaddik,
the revered holy man who leads the hasidic community.
Judaism
• “Types” of Judaism
– Other Terms to be familiar with…
• Zionism—a secular Jewish movement in the late 1800’s/early
1900’s that saw the establishment of a state for Jews as the
only answer to ongoing Jewish persecution; now a term
generally applied to a belief in the necessity of a Jewish state
for the Jews
• Holocaust—the destruction of 6 million European Jews by
Hitler in WW 2—a devastating event that reshaped Jewish
religion, politics, and identity and can be understood as the
catalyst for the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, as well
as a rethinking of aspects of Jewish theology by some
leading Jewish writers
Judaism
• Jewish Practices…in brief (there are many)
– Sabbath observance (Friday sundown to Saturday
sundown)
• How strictly observed depends on particular form of Judaism
followed
– Synagogue (Shul)
• Where Jews gather, particularly on the Sabbath, where
services consist of prayers, readings/chanting from biblical
texts, “sermons”
• Also used at other times for morning/afternoon prayers or
meetings
Judaism
• Jewish Practices…in brief (there are many)
– Festivals
• Rosh Hashanah (“Days of Awe”—10 day festival in Autumn)
– Days of communal prayer spent at synagogue which mark the
start of the year (the anniversary of the creation of the world;
hence readings about creation)
– Also a time of self-examination and renewal
– Ends with a day of total fasting and repentance known as Yom
Kippur (“Day of Atonement”) (but that day then ends with a
festive community meal)
• Sukkoth (7 day festival a short time after Yom Kippur)
– Celebratory, for observant Jews may involve setting up a
Sukkah, a temporary tent-like shelter to commemorate the
wilderness wanderings of Israel, in which meals are eaten
Judaism
• Jewish Practices…in brief (there are many)
– Festivals
• Hannukah (8 day festival circa Christmas time)
– Commemorates the cleansing of the 2nd Temple after it was
desecrated by the Greeks and the miracle of the consecrated
oil not running out on the Temple lamp
– Celebrated with lighting candles and eating “oily” foods
• Purim (typically mid March)
– Commemorates the victory Queen Esther gains for the Jews in
the Persian era from their nemesis Haman
– Involves gift-giving and very heavy drinking
• Passover (Pesach)
– A family based celebration that commemorates the Exodus
from Egypt—requires a feast with unleavened bread (matzah)
and other items
Judaism
• Jewish Practices…in brief (there are many)
– Festivals
• Hannukah (8 day festival circa Christmas time)
– Commemorates the cleansing of the 2nd Temple after it was
desecrated by the Greeks and the miracle of the consecrated
oil not running out on the Temple lamp
– Celebrated with lighting candles and eating “oily” foods
• Purim (typically mid March)
– Commemorates the victory Queen Esther gains for the Jews in
the Persian era from their nemesis Haman
– Involves gift-giving and very heavy drinking
• Passover (Pesach)
– A family based celebration that commemorates the Exodus
from Egypt—requires a feast with unleavened bread (matzah)
and other items
Judaism
• Jewish Practices…in brief (there are many)
– Circumcision—cutting off the foreskin of the penis of
males (shortly after birth) as a religious ritual/Jewish
identity marker
– Kosher—observing the food laws of the Torah
• E.g., not eating pork/pork products, not mixing meat and
dairy, no shellfish, meat only from animals killed according to
Jewish law, etc.
• Strictness of observance varies within Jewish communities
– Bar/Bat Mitzvah—coming of age ritual for Jewish
children (12 for girls; 13 for boys); involves
memorizing Torah and reading Scripture in
synagogue service for the first time