Who Can Practice Judaism
There are two ways to become a Jew. The first is to be born to a Jewish mother, and the second is to undergo conversion, known as “giyur” in Judaism. This distinguishes Judaism from Hinduism and other national religions, such as Zoroastrianism and Shintoism. One cannot convert to Hinduism or Shintoism; belonging to these religions is only possible by birth. Judaism, however, is open to converts. That said, becoming a Jew is not easy.
Traditionally, potential converts, or “proselytes,” are often discouraged from taking this step to demonstrate the firmness of their intentions: “A person wishing to become a Jew is not accepted right away. They are told: ‘Why do you want to become a Jew? Don’t you see that this nation is more humiliated and oppressed than all other nations, that illnesses and calamities befall it…’” Even though the quoted tractate “Gerim” (from Hebrew, “Proselytes”) was created in the 2nd century, during a period when Roman authorities prohibited Jewish rituals as retaliation against yet another anti-Roman uprising in Palestine, the warning remained relevant at least until the mid-20th century. A “seeker” who shows sufficient determination undergoes a special ritual and becomes part of the Jewish people.
Brit Milah and Bar Mitzvah
For a proselyte, Jewish life begins with the giyur ritual. During this ceremony, both men and women undergo ritual immersion in a special pool called a “mikveh.” Men also undergo the ritual of circumcision, known as “brit milah.” According to the Bible, this ancient tradition dates back to the first Jew, Abraham, who performed the ritual for the first time to mark the covenant between him and God. Abraham was 99 years old, so it is never too late to become a Jew. Boys born into Jewish families are traditionally circumcised on the eighth day after birth.
The next important life cycle ritual is the Bar Mitzvah (literally, “son of the commandment”), which boys undergo at the age of 13. From this age, males are considered old enough to observe all the laws of Judaism.
A similar ritual for girls, Bat Mitzvah (“daughter of the commandment”), appeared relatively recently, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and was initially performed only in liberal religious circles that, following the “spirit of the times,” sought to grant equal rights to women and men. There were many opponents of this ritual, but gradually it became widely accepted and is now performed in most Jewish religious families.
During the Bar Mitzvah, the boy reads a chapter of the Holy Scriptures (the Torah) publicly for the first time in his life. The Bat Mitzvah depends on the community’s level of liberalism: it can be either a public reading of the Torah or a modest family celebration.
How Many Commandments Jews Must Observe
Everyone knows about the so-called Decalogue — the Ten Biblical Commandments (Exodus 19:10-25). However, Judaism imposes much stricter requirements on its followers — Jews must observe 613 commandments. According to tradition, 365 of these are prohibitions (the same number as days in a year), and the remaining 248 are positive commands (corresponding to the number of organs in the human body). From a Jewish perspective, non-Jews are required to follow only the Seven Laws of Noah (which presumably apply to all humanity).
These laws are: prohibition of idolatry, blasphemy, murder, theft, incest, and consuming flesh torn from a living animal, as well as the requirement to establish a fair legal system. The great Jewish sage Maimonides, who lived in the 12th century, claimed that non-Jews who observe these laws would enter the Kingdom of Heaven alongside Jews.
Why Jews Don’t Eat Pork
The dietary prohibitions in Judaism are not limited to pork — the list of forbidden foods is quite extensive. This list is found in the biblical Book of Leviticus. It specifically prohibits the consumption of camel, jerboa, pig, most birds, and fish without scales. The nature of Jewish dietary laws is a topic of heated debate, although from a Jewish standpoint, dietary laws are taken as a given without a need to find a rational explanation.
Nevertheless, even famous Jewish sages tried to find reasons for them. Maimonides argued that food forbidden to Jews is harmful to health. Another prominent sage, Nachmanides, who lived a century later, countered this by arguing that such food is primarily harmful to the soul; for example, the meat of predatory birds negatively affects a person’s character.
Why Jews Have Side Curls
One of the distinguishing features of a religious Jew’s appearance is payot — long side curls. This is because one of the commandments prohibits men from trimming the hair on their temples — although the length of the hair is not regulated by this commandment and depends on the traditions of specific communities. Incidentally, boys are not usually given haircuts at all until the age of three.
However, married women must not only cut their hair short (and in some communities even shave it off) but also cover it with a headscarf. In some communities, wigs are allowed instead of headscarves, while in others, they are strictly prohibited because even artificial hair could tempt other men.
What Cannot Be Done on the Sabbath
Observance of the Sabbath is one of the main commandments of Judaism. The Bible recounts that God created the world in six days and “rested from His work” on the seventh day. In imitation of God, Jews are commanded to sanctify the Sabbath day by freeing it from everyday work. What kinds of activities are forbidden? Some are listed in the Bible: lighting a fire, pitching a tent, and shearing sheep. Later prohibitions are generally derived from biblical ones: it is forbidden to turn on electricity, open an umbrella (since it resembles a tent), shave a beard, etc.
In the Jewish shtetls of Eastern Europe, there was a practice of enlisting Christian neighbors, known as “Shabbos goyim” (“Sabbath non-Jews”), to perform tasks forbidden on the Sabbath when necessary. On the Sabbath, one is also prohibited from burying the dead, despite the tradition of laying the deceased to rest as soon as possible. However, contrary to popular belief, the Sabbath can and should be broken to save one’s own or another’s life: “You can break the Sabbath for the sake of a newborn who is a day old, but not for the corpse of the king of Israel.”
When Will the Messiah Come
In Judaism, there is a belief that a Savior, an ideal king, a descendant of King David (who ruled in the 11th century BCE), will one day come to the world — the Messiah (from Hebrew “Mashiach,” meaning “anointed one”). For centuries, Jews have associated his coming with hope for a change in their often precarious situation, the restoration of Israel’s former greatness, and their return to their historic homeland. It is not surprising that messianic expectations intensified during times of political upheaval.
Christians believe that the Messiah has already come — Jesus Christ (in Greek, “Christos” also means “anointed one”), a carpenter from the city of Nazareth. There have been other claimants to the role of “the Messiah” in Jewish history — Bar Kochba (2nd century CE), Shabbetai Zevi (17th century), Jacob Frank (18th century) — but the hopes associated with them were disappointed, so Jews continue to wait.
What Are the Talmud and Torah, and How Do They Differ from the Bible
Let’s start with the fact that the Jewish Bible is not identical to the Christian one. The Christian Bible consists of two parts — the Old and New Testaments. The Old Testament (39 books) is identical to the Jewish Bible, but the books are arranged in a slightly different order, and some are presented in a different edition. Jews themselves prefer to call their Holy Scriptures “Tanakh,” an acronym formed from the first letters of the names of its parts.
In a Jewish context, it is inappropriate to use the term “Old Testament” since, for Jews, their covenant with God is the only and relevant one. Another term often used to refer to the Holy Scriptures in Judaism is the Torah (Law). This term is used in various meanings: it refers to the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch of Moses) but sometimes also the entire Bible and even the whole body of Jewish law.
The word “Talmud” in the Russian language has acquired a common noun meaning — it can refer to any thick book. However, in Judaism, the Talmud (from Hebrew “study”) is not just a thick book; it is a very thick book — a monument of medieval Jewish thought, a compilation of legal, ethical, and ritual norms of Judaism. The texts of the Talmud are discussions by authoritative sages on various issues from all areas of life — agriculture, religious holidays and rituals, family relations, criminal law, and so on. The Talmud is several times larger than the Bible and supplements it.
The high status of the Talmud in Judaism is supported by the belief that it is based on the Oral Law (or Oral Torah), which, like the Torah itself, was given by God to the prophet Moses on Mount Sinai. The Torah was given in written form; the Oral Law, as its name suggests, was given orally. It was transmitted orally from generation to generation, discussed, and commented on by sages until it was eventually written down.
Judaism or Judaisms
Modern Judaism is not a single, uniform phenomenon. Besides the most traditional form, Orthodox Judaism, there are also other, more liberal movements. Even Orthodox Judaism is not uniform. In the 18th century, a unique movement called Hasidism emerged in Eastern Europe. Initially, it conflicted with traditional Judaism; its followers prioritized an emotional and mystical connection with God over intellectual study of the Holy Scriptures.
Hasidism is divided into several branches, each originating from a particular charismatic leader, or tzaddik. Tzaddiks were revered by their followers as holy righteous people, intermediaries between God and humans, capable of performing miracles. Hasidism spread quite quickly across Eastern Europe, but in Lithuania, it faced opposition thanks to the efforts of the spiritual leader of Lithuanian Jews — the outstanding rabbi Elijah ben Solomon Zalman, known for his wisdom as the Vilna Gaon, or Gaon in Hebrew.
As a result, opponents of Hasidism were called “Litvaks,” regardless of where they lived. Over time, the contradictions between the Hasidim and Litvaks lost their sharpness, and now they coexist peacefully.
A more liberal movement, Reform Judaism, emerged in the 19th century in Germany. Its followers sought to make the Jewish religion more European and thereby promote the integration of Jews into European society by translating worship services from Hebrew to German, using the organ in services, and abandoning prayers for the return of the Jewish people to Palestine. Even the attire of a Reform rabbi became almost indistinguishable from that of a Lutheran pastor.
The most radical reformists even advocated shifting the day of rest from Saturday to Sunday. Within the framework of Reform Judaism, the first female rabbi appeared in the 1930s, and today, even same-sex marriages are permitted. Reform Judaism is popular in the United States. There are also Reform communities in Europe, Latin America, and Israel, but their popularity is significantly lower.
In the early 20th century, Conservative Judaism arose in the United States, occupying an intermediate position between Orthodox and Reform Judaism. Conservatives aimed for more moderate and gradual changes than the Reformists: they insisted on retaining Hebrew as the language of worship, strictly observing dietary laws, and maintaining the Sabbath rest. Later, contradictory trends appeared within Conservative Judaism — some of its followers sought to align more closely with Reformists, while others drifted towards Orthodoxy. Today, the conservative version of Judaism remains quite popular in the U.S., with a small number of communities in Israel as well.
How Synagogues Differ from the Temple
A synagogue (from the Greek for “assembly”) is a building intended for collective prayers, gatherings, and the performance of religious ceremonies; there can be many such buildings. However, in Judaism, there can be only one Temple, and currently, there isn’t one at all: the last, Second Temple was destroyed in 70 CE by the Romans during the suppression of the Great Jewish Revolt. In Hebrew, a synagogue is called “bet-knesset” — “house of assembly,” while the Temple was called “bet-Elohim” — “house of God.”
Essentially, this is the main distinction between them: the synagogue is for people, while the Temple is for God. Ordinary people did not have access to the Temple; only priests served there, while others could only be in the Temple courtyard. Daily sacrifices to the God of Israel were made there — the main form of Temple worship. Drawing an analogy with other Abrahamic religions, Christian temples resemble the Jerusalem Temple in structure and function, while mosques are more similar to synagogues.
Synagogue buildings are characterized by a wide stylistic diversity, limited only by the fashionable trends of the time, the tastes of architects, and patrons. Typically, synagogues have separate areas for men and women (if it is not a synagogue of one of the liberal movements). At the wall facing Jerusalem is the aron ha-kodesh — the holy ark, resembling a cabinet with a curtain instead of doors. Inside it is the main treasure of the synagogue: one or several parchment scrolls of the Pentateuch of Moses — the Torah. It is taken out, unrolled, and read during the service on a special platform — the bimah (from Hebrew for “elevation”).
The main role in synagogue worship belongs to the rabbi. A rabbi (from Hebrew, “teacher”) is an educated person knowledgeable in religious laws and the spiritual leader of the community. In Orthodox communities, only men can be rabbis, while in Reform and Conservative communities, both men and women can serve as rabbis.
The dream of restoring the Temple destroyed by the Romans is a very important idea in Judaism, and it is this Temple that is mourned at the Western Wall in Jerusalem (the only part of the Temple complex that has survived to this day). The problem is that it can only be rebuilt on the same site — the Temple Mount, where today Muslim shrines are located. Jews believe that the Temple will eventually be restored after the long-awaited arrival of the Messiah. In souvenir shops, small models of the Temple often come with an optimistic sign: “Buy now! The Temple will be rebuilt soon, and prices will go up!”
Why Are Jews the “Chosen People,” Who Chose Them, and Was There Any Manipulation in the Process?
The concept of the chosenness of the Jewish people is one of the key ideas in Judaism. “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession,” says God (Exodus 19:5–6), giving the Jewish people His Law — the Torah. According to Talmudic tradition, the act of choosing was not one-sided but mutual: God, the sages of the Talmud claimed, offered the Torah to various peoples, but they refused, not wanting to burden themselves with the observance of the commandments, and only the Jews agreed to accept it.
However, according to another (also Talmudic) version, the consent of the Jewish people was obtained under pressure — in the literal sense of the word. God tilted a mountain over the people who had gathered beneath it, and they said, “We will do everything that the LORD has said; we will obey.” However, the status of the chosen people entailed not so much privileges in relation to other peoples as a special responsibility before God.
The misfortunes that repeatedly befell the Jews were explained by the non-observance of the commandments. However, at the end of times, with the coming of the Messiah, the situation should change radically: God is long-suffering, and His love for His chosen people is unwavering.
