The Major Beliefs of Judaism

Although there are many different sects within Judaism (and I’ll do my best to cover them all at some point), all Jews believe in a few key things. So here’s a short and simple list:

1. Jews believe there is only one God, who is the ultimate authority in the universe. Human beings can directly interact with God—through prayer, for example.

            The notion of one God isn’t exactly unique to the Jewish faith, as we’ve already established over the past year. However, Judaism is the oldest of the three major monotheistic religions (the others being Christianity and Islam—but I really hope you know that already). As George Robinson writes in Essential Judaism, “the idea of a single, omnipotent, omniscient God is a Jewish invention, one that has changed the course of Western (and, therefore, world) history.”

            So, one God, direction intervention. Easy enough.

2. Life is sacred.

            I certainly don’t have a problem with the idea that life is holy (even if my own has been nothing but an unholy mess lately). So let’s move on.

3. The Torah provides us with a guide for the proper way to live, and it continues (through study over time) to reveal more of the word of God.

            The Torah consists of the first five books of the Bible, which are:

•          Genesis (or Bereishit, in Hebrew)
•          Exodus (or Shemot)
•          Leviticus (or Vayikra)
•          Numbers (or Bamidbar)
•          Deuteronomy (or Devarim)

Together, these five books contain a narrative that covers the creation of the world through the death of Moses.

Studying the Torah is, for all practical purposes, the same as prayer—it allows us to interact directly with God. 

I’ve got to say that I’m really, really glad I already read the entire Bible back when I was Christian last December. Now I can just review the highlights. Yeah, I know. I’m lazy.

4. Taking part in group worship is an essential element when it comes to living a righteous life.

      Ugh. In case I haven’t made it clear enough up to now, I’m not much of a joiner. In fact, I kind of hate being around people most of the time. (My boyfriend would probably argue that I flat out hate people, period, but I wouldn’t go that far.)

However, in honor of my month as a practicing Jew, I will attempt to ignore my own personal discomfort around groups and will engage in some form of group worship—if, of course, my awesome Jewish friend Lorraine is willing to tolerate my presence. . . .

5. Jews have a collective responsibility to each other, regardless of where they live and who they are, because all share a common destiny and purpose.

      Wouldn’t it be nice if everybody felt as though they have a collective responsibility to one another? I’m thinking Judaism is on to something there.

So these are a few of the basics. Now I just have to get down to details and put it all into practice. Wow, I feel rusty—I guess it doesn’t take long to fall out of the religious (and blogging) habit. But I’m trying.