What Does Judaism Teach About God?
Judaism is the world’s founding monotheism. The nature of the One God is a question on which the tradition speaks in many voices.
The Fundamentals
Essential Questions, Facts, Reading, Prayers, and Judaica
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The Fundamentals
Who is a Jew?
Jewish identity has both a Halachic definition and a wider self-understanding. The two do not always coincide.
Continue reading →Do Jews Believe in an Afterlife?
Yes — and the tradition speaks of the afterlife with restraint, multiplicity, and a strong focus on this life as primary.
Why Do Jews Not Believe in Jesus?
Jesus does not match the Tanakh’s Messianic criteria and his divinity violates Jewish monotheism. The answer is that simple — and that careful.
What Is Halacha?
Halacha is the Jewish legal system — the way one walks. It is the operating language of observant Jewish life.
The Tanakh in One Article
Tanakh is the Hebrew Bible: Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim. Twenty-four books, one canon, the foundation of everything else.
The Talmud in One Article
The Talmud is the rabbinic literature that develops the Oral Torah into the Halacha and the worldview of normative Judaism.
The Three Pillars: Torah, Avodah, Gemilut Chasadim
Shimon HaTzaddik: “The world stands on three things: Torah, Avodah (service of God), and acts of loving-kindness.”
The 613 Mitzvot
The Torah contains 613 commandments — 248 positive and 365 negative. They are the operating program of a Jewish life.
Kashrut: The Basics
Kosher is not a kind of food. It is a system of laws governing what may be eaten, how it must be prepared, and what may be combined.
Essential Reading: A Starter Library
A small shelf of well-chosen books gives a New Jew everything needed for the first year.
The Shema
The central declaration of Jewish faith — recited twice daily and at the moment of death.
The Amidah (Shemoneh Esrei)
The central prayer of every service — eighteen (now nineteen) benedictions said standing, silently, facing Jerusalem.
Morning Blessings (Birkot HaShachar)
The blessings on first arising — gratitude for the body, the soul, the senses, and the day.
Kippah
A small head covering worn as a constant reminder of Hashem above.
Tallit and Tzitzit
The fringed garment commanded in the third paragraph of the Shema — worn in prayer and (in the form of the tallit katan) all day.
Tefillin
Two leather boxes containing parchment scrolls of biblical passages, worn on the arm and head during weekday morning prayer.
Mezuzah
A parchment scroll of the Shema affixed to the doorpost, fulfilling the command to write God’s words “on the doorposts of your house.”
Shabbat Candlesticks and Kiddush Cup
The two essential pieces of Shabbat judaica: candlesticks to welcome the day and a kiddush cup to sanctify it.