Judaism

Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah

Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat TorahThe eight day harvest festival of Sukkot commemorates the Jews’ forty years of wandering in the desert after their exodus from Egypt, as described in the Torah. Jews build sukkahs, temporary structures made of organic materials like bamboo and leaves in backyards, yards, or rooftops. Jews then eat meals—and, for some, sleep—in the structures. Shemini Atzeret is the eighth day of Sukkot. Simchat Torah, the following day, celebrates the congregation’s yearly completion of the reading of the whole Torah, finishing the Book of Deuteronomy and beginning again with Genesis.... Read more about Sukkot, Shemini Atzeret, and Simchat Torah

Jewish Pluralism

Jewish PluralismWhile many Jewish institutions define themselves as specifically Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, or Reconstructionist, contemporary American Judaism contains a strain of intra-Jewish pluralism, in which Jewish identity is not solely defined by denominational commitments. This strain of internal Jewish pluralism has led to a flourishing of educational and organizational opportunities for American Jews whose Jewish identity does not revolve around specific Jewish practices. ... Read more about Jewish Pluralism

Ethnic Jewishness

Ethnic JewishnessEastern European Jewish immigrants brought to America a strong sense of Yiddishkeit, or social, political, and cultural “Jewishness,” which manifested most prominently in the political movement of Zionism throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries.... Read more about Ethnic Jewishness

Countercultural Judaism

Counter Cultural JudaismIn the second half of the 20th century, American Jews expressed a growing sense of Jewish peoplehood through support for Israel and for Soviet Jews. Simultaneously, some American Jews found new opportunities for spiritual expression in Jewish mysticism and the formation of a havurah, an informal Jewish worship community.... Read more about Countercultural Judaism

Orthodoxy in Transition

Orthodoxy in TransitionBoth the Modern Orthodox and Conservative Jewish movements, now quite distinct, were created in the early 20th century not through the efforts of any one leader, but through the creation of organizations and schools built upon shared values. Since then, the Conservative movement has become the more liberal and Orthodox the more conservative movement in religious practice and doctrine.... Read more about Orthodoxy in Transition

Postwar Judaism

Postwar Jewish RevivalAfter World War II, many American Jews moved to the suburbs and further assimilated into American culture. While Jewish institutions rose in prominence during this period, Jewish religious practice diminished. Additionally, the recognition of the horrors of the Holocaust elicited a specifically modern and American reexamination of Jewish theology.... Read more about Postwar Judaism

Immigrant Orthodoxy

Immigrant OrthodoxyIn the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many Jews emigrated from the Pale of Settlement, a large Polish and Russian territory in which Jews were allowed to live in impoverished shtetls (small Jewish villages). Most immigrant Jews from these areas had not cultivated the same religious reforms as the Jews of Germany and Western Europe. As a result, these new Jewish immigrants to America developed a more traditional movement called Orthodox Judaism.... Read more about Immigrant Orthodoxy

Early Americanization

Early AmericanizationIn the 18th century, many Jewish synagogues adopted American Christian forms of worship and organization. Jews democratized synagogue leadership and began employing hazzans, spiritual leaders who had less traditional authority than rabbis and whose roles were similar to those of Christian pastors. American Jews also began to participate in American culture and civic life.... Read more about Early Americanization

Classical Reform

Classical ReformAfter the Civil War, many German-born rabbis immigrated to the United States, where they helped to organize and solidify the Jewish Reform movement. They sought to align the Jewish and the American experience and to loosen many traditional rules and requirements of Jewish prayer and practice. ... Read more about Classical Reform

Antebellum Judaism

Antebellum JudaismMore Ashkenazi (Central and Eastern European) than Sephardic (Iberian) Jews immigrated to the U.S. in the 19th century, leading to the fracturing of singular synagogue-communities into multiple congregations with varying levels of Americanization. The Jewish American landscape shifted from synagogue-communities to a community of synagogues.... Read more about Antebellum Judaism

Antisemitism and the Holocaust

Antisemitism and the HolocaustMany trace the roots of antisemitic sentiment to particular passages in the Christian New Testament, but antisemitism became especially fervent in the European Enlightenment as Jews began gaining greater civil freedoms. The most horrific and destructive antisemitic event was the Holocaust (or Shoah, in Hebrew), in which the Nazis systematically killed over six million Jews and created a lasting need for remembrance among surviving Jews. ... Read more about Antisemitism and the Holocaust

Zionism and Israel

Zionism and IsraelZionism is a political movement that was initiated in the late 19th century with the aim of actualizing the Jewish sense of peoplehood in a physical nation, leading to the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Zionism today informs many Jews’ continued support and commitment to Israel.... Read more about Zionism and Israel

Modern Jewish Culture

Modern Jewish CultureJudaism’s syncretic interaction with the European Enlightenment created the Haskalah (Jewish Enlightenment). From the Haskalah came the contemporary Jewish Reform, Conservative, and neo-Orthodox movements, as well as Zionism, a political form of Jewish expression that some considered “secular” (that is, divorced from theistic belief or Jewish practice).... Read more about Modern Jewish Culture

Rabbinic Text

Rabbinic TextThe Jewish commentaries and interpretations of the Bible, ranging from legal codes to rabbinic dialogues, from philosophical inquiry to folklore, collectively form the Talmud. The earliest commentary is called the Mishnah, while the later commentary on and elaboration of the Mishnah is called the Gemara, taken together these two commentaries make up the Talmud. Talmudic Midrash, another genre of rabbinic writing, also includes stories, philosophical explications, and historical writing.... Read more about Rabbinic Text

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