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Course 18 · Lesson 2.1

Judaism: Torah, covenant and the shape of Jewish life

12 minute read

Lessons in this course

Course 18 outline

Module 1: Studying Religions Fairly

  1. Describing a religion in its own terms
  2. Insider and outsider views, and the limits of comparison
  3. Pluralism, inclusivism and exclusivism: the basic terms
  4. The comparison grid: God, revelation, authority, humanity and salvation

Module 2: Judaism and Islam

  1. Judaism: Torah, covenant and the shape of Jewish life
  2. How Judaism understands Jesus, Messiah and the Christian claim
  3. Islam: the oneness of God, the Prophet and the Quran
  4. How Islam understands Jesus, the Trinity and the Christian claim

Module 3: Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism

  1. Hinduism: its diversity and central ideas
  2. Buddhism: the Four Noble Truths and the path
  3. Sikhism: the Gurus, the one God and the Guru Granth Sahib
  4. Karma, rebirth and liberation compared with Christian hope

Module 4: Deism, Atheism and Agnosticism

  1. Deism: history and beliefs
  2. Atheism: varieties and arguments
  3. Agnosticism and the question of burden of proof
  4. Meaning, morality and hope in nonreligious positions

Module 5: New Religious Movements

  1. What a new religious movement is, and why the term is debated
  2. Movements with Christian roots and their relation to historic Christianity
  3. Other modern movements and spiritualities

Module 6: Comparing the Great Questions

  1. Revelation compared: word, law, awakening and incarnation
  2. Divine nature compared: one God, the Trinity, the Absolute and no creator
  3. Human nature and the human problem compared
  4. Salvation compared: forgiveness, submission, liberation and awakening
  5. Scripture and authority compared

Module 7: Christian Approaches to Other Religions

  1. Exclusivism, inclusivism and pluralism examined
  2. Catholic and Orthodox approaches to other religions
  3. Protestant approaches to other religions
  4. Witness, dialogue and respect

All courses

Program / Course 18: World Religions / Lesson 2.1

What you will learn

  • Describe the Jewish understanding of one God, covenant, Torah and the people of Israel.
  • Explain the difference between the written Torah, the Oral Torah and the Talmud.
  • Outline the main movements of modern Judaism and the rhythm of Jewish life.
  • State Jewish teaching in terms a Jewish reader would recognize, and see what Christians share with it.

The big idea

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, who understand themselves as bound to the one God by a covenant, a binding relationship, made with Abraham and renewed at Mount Sinai. Its center is not a creed but a way of life shaped by Torah, which means teaching or instruction, as interpreted over centuries by the rabbis. Judaism is both a faith and a people, which is why a Jew need not hold every belief to remain Jewish. Christianity grew out of Judaism and still shares its Scriptures.

Key terms

Torah
The teaching of God. In the narrow sense, the five books of Moses (Genesis to Deuteronomy). In a wider sense, the whole body of Jewish teaching.
Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible, named from the first letters of its three parts: Torah (law), Nevi’im (prophets) and Ketuvim (writings).
Covenant (brit)
A binding relationship between God and his people, with promises and obligations on both sides.
Mitzvah (plural mitzvot)
A commandment. Traditional Judaism counts 613 commandments in the Torah.
Oral Torah and Talmud
The tradition, which Jews hold was given with the written Torah at Sinai, of how to interpret and apply it. It was written down in the Mishnah (about the year 200) and the Talmud (about 500).
Halakhah
Jewish law, from a word meaning to walk. It covers worship, daily conduct, family life and ethics.
Shema
The central Jewish declaration, “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4), said morning and evening.

Background

Jews trace their story to Abraham, to whom God promised land, descendants and a blessing for all families of the earth (Genesis 12:1-3). They hold that God freed their ancestors from slavery in Egypt, gave them the Torah at Sinai, and brought them to the land of Israel. The prophets called the people to faithfulness and justice, and the Temple in Jerusalem was the center of worship until its destruction by Rome in the year 70.

After that loss, the rabbis, teachers who gathered in study houses, developed the form of Judaism that most Jews still follow. Worship moved to the synagogue and the home, and study of Torah became a form of devotion. This is often called rabbinic Judaism. Christians and rabbinic Jews therefore both emerged from the Judaism of the Second Temple period, and they read many of the same texts in different ways.

Step-by-step explanation

Step 1: One God and the covenant

The foundation is the Shema: God is one. Jews hold that God is the creator of the world, is just and merciful, and is not to be pictured. The covenant with Israel is a relationship of love and responsibility. Many Jews describe it as a calling to holiness in daily life, not as a sign of superiority. The prophets frequently remind Israel that the covenant brings duties to the poor and the stranger.

Jewish tradition also recognizes God’s concern for all nations. The Noahide laws, based on God’s covenant with Noah (Genesis 9), are a set of moral obligations the rabbis held to apply to all people. The covenant with Israel is particular, while God’s care extends to all.

Step 2: Torah, written and oral

The Torah, the five books of Moses, is the heart of Scripture. The larger Tanakh adds the prophets and writings. Rabbinic Judaism teaches that alongside the written Torah, an oral tradition of interpretation was given at Sinai. It was written down in the Mishnah and then the Talmud, which records centuries of debate among rabbis about how to live the commandments.

Jewish study is typically a conversation. The Talmud preserves minority opinions beside the ruling that prevailed, and students are trained to argue and question. This is one reason Jewish learning is often described as a living tradition and not as a fixed doctrine.

Step 3: The shape of Jewish life

Jewish life is structured by time. The Sabbath, from Friday evening to Saturday night, is a day of rest, prayer and family meals. Annual festivals include Passover, which recalls the exodus, Shavuot, which recalls the giving of the Torah, and Sukkot. The High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are days of repentance. Many Jews keep dietary laws (kashrut). Boys are circumcised on the eighth day, and at around thirteen, a bar or bat mitzvah marks the assumption of adult responsibility.

Prayer is held three times a day in traditional practice, and the Hebrew prayer book draws heavily on the Psalms. Acts of loving kindness (gemilut hasadim) and charity (tzedakah) are central. The phrase tikkun olam, repair of the world, expresses the hope that people are partners with God in healing creation.

Step 4: Movements and diversity

Modern Judaism includes several movements. Orthodox Judaism holds that the Torah and halakhah are binding as received. Conservative (in Israel, Masorti) Judaism accepts the authority of halakhah but allows it to develop with historical study. Reform Judaism understands Jewish law as a guide to ethics and personal conscience, with less emphasis on ritual obligations. Reconstructionist Judaism treats Judaism as an evolving civilization. There are also Hasidic communities and many Jews who are secular and identify through culture and history.

Because Jewish identity is also peoplehood, a person born to a Jewish mother (or, in Reform and some others, to a Jewish parent and raised Jewish) is considered Jewish whatever their beliefs. This is why statements such as “Jews believe” should always be qualified.

Step 5: Hope, the Messiah and the world to come

Judaism has hope. Many Jews look forward to a messianic age, in which a descendant of David will bring justice and peace to the world, gather the exiles and rebuild a world at peace (Isaiah 2:4). Messiah in Jewish thought is a human king, not a divine figure and not a savior from original sin. Jewish views on life after death and resurrection vary: classical rabbinic teaching affirms resurrection and a world to come, while modern movements differ.

Judaism does not teach that sins must be atoned for by a sacrifice that someone else offers. Repentance (teshuvah), prayer and charity restore a person’s standing with God. The Day of Atonement is the high point of this teaching.

  1. What does it mean to belong to a covenant, and how does that differ from holding a creed?
  2. Why did Jews, after the Temple fell, build a life around study and the home?
  3. How might the Sabbath shape a week differently from a week without it?
  4. Which movements of Judaism would say that Jewish law is binding, and which would say it is a guide?
  5. What do Christians and Jews share, and where does the reading of the shared Scriptures differ?
  6. How would a Jewish reader respond to the statement that the old covenant has been replaced?

Examples

A Friday evening

A family lights two candles shortly before sundown, says a blessing over wine and over two loaves of bread, and shares a meal with songs and a reading from the week’s Torah portion. Work, shopping and screens are set aside until Saturday night. The family does this because the Torah commands rest (Exodus 20:8-11) and because the day is a gift. (A constructed, typical example.)

A page of Talmud

A page of Talmud shows a short line of the Mishnah in the center, surrounded by discussion and by later commentary on the same page. Students sit in pairs and argue over how a command applies, such as how to treat a lost object. The argument itself is the study.

A secular Jew

A woman who does not believe in God but who fasts on Yom Kippur, marks Passover with family and sends her children to Hebrew school is regarded as Jewish by most Jews. Her case shows why Judaism is a people as well as a faith.

Different perspectives

Jewish (Orthodox)

Orthodox Jews hold that the entire Torah, written and oral, was given by God at Sinai and that the commandments remain binding. Many cite the Thirteen Principles of Maimonides, which include belief in God’s unity, in Moses as the greatest prophet, in the Torah as divine, in the coming of the Messiah and in the resurrection of the dead.

Jewish (Conservative, Reform and others)

Conservative Jews accept halakhah but read it in light of history, and Reform Jews see the ethical teaching of the prophets as the core while giving individuals greater freedom on ritual. These movements differ among themselves, and their disagreements with Orthodoxy are real and ongoing.

Catholic

The Catholic Church teaches that the Jewish people remain beloved by God and that God’s gifts and calling are irrevocable (Romans 11:29). Nostra Aetate rejects the charge that the Jews as a whole were guilty of Christ’s death and condemns antisemitism. Catholics hold that the Old Testament is the word of God and fulfilled in Christ.

Orthodox and Protestant Christian

Orthodox and Protestant Christians also receive the Old Testament as Scripture. Many Protestants, especially Reformed and evangelical, stress the unity of the covenants in Christ. Others, such as dispensationalists, give a continuing role to the Jewish people. Christians differ on how the two covenants relate, and this is an active debate.

Scholarly

Historians stress that Judaism and Christianity both took their present forms after the first century and that neither is simply the older religion unchanged. The rabbinic movement developed alongside early Christianity, and each tradition shaped the other through argument.

Why it matters

Judaism is the root from which Christianity grew, and the traditions are tied by Scripture, by history and by a sad record of Christian hostility toward Jews. A Christian who wishes to read the Old Testament honestly, to understand Jesus in his setting and to live peaceably with Jewish neighbors needs to know Judaism as Jews describe it.

Common misunderstandings

Misunderstanding: Judaism is just the Old Testament religion that Christianity replaced.

Correction: Judaism did not stop at the Hebrew Bible. Rabbinic Judaism developed through the Talmud and later writings and is a living tradition with its own continuity. Jews understand their covenant as ongoing.

Misunderstanding: Jews believe they earn salvation by keeping the law.

Correction: Jewish tradition roots the commandments in a covenant that God offered first, as in the exodus before Sinai. Obedience is a response to grace. Repentance and God’s mercy are central.

Misunderstanding: All Jews hold the same beliefs.

Correction: Jews range from strictly observant to fully secular, and the movements differ on authority and practice. Identity is shaped by peoplehood as well as belief.

Misunderstanding: Judaism teaches that non-Jews cannot be saved.

Correction: Rabbinic tradition holds that the righteous of all nations have a share in the world to come, and Judaism does not require conversion for non-Jews.

Knowledge check

What are the three parts of the Tanakh?

The three parts are the Torah (the five books of Moses), the Nevi’im (the Prophets) and the Ketuvim (the Writings). The name Tanakh is formed from their first Hebrew letters. Christians include these books in the Old Testament, though the order and some groupings differ in Christian Bibles.

What is the Oral Torah, and where was it written down?

The Oral Torah is the tradition of interpreting and applying the written Torah, which rabbinic Judaism holds was given at Sinai together with the written text. It was recorded in the Mishnah, around the year 200, and discussed at length in the Talmud, completed around the year 500.

Why is Judaism described as both a religion and a people?

Jewish identity comes from birth into the Jewish people, or from conversion, and not only from holding beliefs. A person can be secular and still be Jewish. The covenant is understood to be made with the whole people, so history, culture and religion are bound together.

How does Jewish thought understand the Messiah?

In most Jewish thought, the Messiah is a human descendant of King David who will bring an age of justice and peace, gather the exiles and rebuild a world at peace. The Messiah is not divine and does not rescue people from inherited sin. Views of the messianic age vary among movements.

Think it through

  1. What might a Christian learn from the Jewish practice of arguing over the meaning of the text?
  2. How does the idea of covenant as a relationship with duties compare with your understanding of faith?
  3. Why might Jews feel that statements about the old covenant being replaced are hurtful?
  4. What do you know about the history of Christian treatment of Jews, and how should it affect how a Christian speaks today?

Independent assignment

A Jewish account, and your own response

In your notebook, write about 300 words describing Judaism in a way a Jewish reader would accept, covering God, covenant, Torah, practice and hope. Use at least one source written by a Jewish author or a Jewish translation of the Tanakh. Then add 150 words naming two things Christians and Jews hold in common, and one real disagreement. Fill in the Judaism column of your comparison grid.

Further study