The document provides an overview of Judaism and the Jewish people from several perspectives. It discusses who Jewish people are both ethnically and religiously, tracing their history from ancient Israel through periods of persecution and diaspora in Europe and Russia. It also examines key beliefs and teachings in Judaism such as monotheism, the Torah, oral tradition, and the importance of traditions, holidays, and the Sabbath. The main branches of Judaism are outlined as well as personal beliefs among American Jews today based on research. Reasons why most Jews reject Christianity and Jesus as the Messiah are also presented.

1. Topic 2, Week 3, Day 1
INT-244 World Religion: Judaism

2. 1. Who are the Jewish people?
2. How did Jews come here?
3. What are their shared values?
4. What does Judaism teach?
5. What do most think of Jesus?

3. 1. Who are the Jewish People?

4. What makes someone
Jewish?
Gal Gadot

5. Is Jewish a …
•Religion?
•Race?
•Ethnicity?
•Nationality?

6. pollen.com/drmeyer
Text DRMEYER to 22333

8. Jewish is an …
•Religion?
•Race?
•Ethnicity
•Nationality?

9. Judaism is a religion

10. What’s the definition of Jewish

11. Historically, a person is Jewish if…
• One Jewish Mother (or)
• Converted to Judaism

12. State of Israel said (Law of Return)
• One Jewish mother (or)
• Converted to Judaism (and)
• Does not believe in Jesus

13. Consensus of American Jews
• One Jewish grandparent (or)
• Converted to Judaism (and)
• Doesn’t believe in Jesus

14. Jewish is an ethnicity or ancestry
Judaism is a religion

15. How many Jews are there?
• 14.7M in the world
Ben Stiller
https://www.jewishdatabank.org/databank/search-results?category=Global

16. How many Jews are there?
• 14.7M in the world
• 5.8M in U.S.
Kate Hudson
(Pew Research, May 2021)

17. How many Jews are there?
• 14.7M in the world
• 5.8M in U.S.
• 6.8M in Israel
Naphtali Bennet, Prime Minister
(United with Israel, 2019

18. How many Jews are there?
• 14.7M in the world
• 5.8M in U.S.
• 6.8M in Israel
• 98K in Phoenix
Mila Kunis

19. Central
Phoenix
N Scottsdale
Sun City
Phoenix (98,000)

20. Who are the Jewish People?
5.8M Jews in the US
350K Messianic-Jews
< 6%
Beth Yeshua, Havertown, PA

21. 2. How did Jews Come Here?

22. How did Jews leave Israel?

23. • Pharisees
• Sadducees
• Essenes (Dead Sea Scrolls)
• Nazarenes (First Jewish-Christians)

24. Temple Destroyed in 70 AD

26. Tragic history of Jews in Christian Europe

27. Jewish Life in Christian Europe
• Jews could not be citizens
• Jews could not own land
• Jews could not work for government
• Jews forced to live in ghettos
• Jews (often) got expelled

28. Tragic history of the Jews
•Crusades (1095 - 1290)

29. First Crusade
The Rhineland Masacre in 1096

30. Tragic history of the Jews
•Crusades (1095 - 1290)
•Expelled from England (1291)

31. Tragic history of the Jews
•Crusades (1095 - 1290)
•Expelled from England (1291)
•Expelled from Spain (1492)

32. Expulsion from Spain
1492
King Ferdinand & Queen Isabella

34. But that was the Catholic Church…right??

35. Martin Luther
1517
“Against the Jews & their Lies”

36. Be on your guard against the Jews, knowing that wherever they
have their synagogues, nothing is found but a den of devils in
which sheer self-glory, conceit, lies, blasphemy, and defaming of
God and men are practiced most maliciously and vehement his
eyes on them…eject them forever from Germany. For, as we
have heard, God’s anger with them is so intense that being
merciful to them will only make them worse…Set
fi
re to their
synagogues and schools…let their houses be razed and
destroyed…and as they are
fl
eeing, abolish safe-conduct on the
roads for the Jews.
Luther, Martin (1543) Against the Jews and their Lies. Retrieved https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/martin-luther-quot-the-jews-and-their-lies-quot

37. Tragic history of the Jews
•Crusades (1095 - 1290)
•Expelled from England (1291)
•Expelled from Spain (1492)
•Fled persecutions in Russia (1880 - 1920)

38. Jews finally arrive in America

39. First Jews came to New York Fleeing the Spanish Inquisition

40. • Spanish Jews arrive (1654)

41. • Spanish Jews arrive (1654)
• German Jews arrive (1850s)

42. • Spanish Jews arrive (1654)
• German Jews arrive (1850s)
• Eastern Europe (1880 - 1924)

43. Jewish Pale of Settlement
By 1880, 5 Million Jews lived in Russian Empire

44. Jewish Pale of Settlement
Half of all Jews lived in Russia

45. Russian Programs (1880 - 1917)

46. Jews from E Europe
1880-1924
2 million Jews

47. An American Tale (1986)

48. Holocaust Survivors
1945 - 1950

49. 5.8 Million Jews in the U.S.
6.8 Million Jews in Israel

50. 3. What’s important to American Jews?

51. Group:
Based on how Jews came to America, what
is important to Jews?

52. • Tradition
• Family
• History (Long Memory)
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Cultural Values

53. • Learning
• Competition
• Jewish Humor
Ruth Bader Ginsburg
Cultural Values

54. • Social justice
• Immigrants Rights
• Care of the Earth
Cultural Values

55. • Jewish Survival
• Remembering the Holocaust
Cultural Values

57. • State of Israel
Cultural Values

58. How do most Christians think of Israel?

59. • Ful
fi
llment of prophecy
• Only democracy in Mideast
• American ally
• God will bless America if…
• Place where Jesus walked
How do most Christians think of Israel?

60. How do most Jews think of Israel?

61. • Jewish homeland
• Jewish self-determination
• Sanctuary against Antisemitism
• Society for distinctly Jewish
values
• Center of Jewish cultural life
How do most Jews think of Israel?

62. • Motive to convert the Jews
• Rooted in Racism
• Comes out of a Right-Wing
political conservatism
Many Jews suspect Christian Zionism

63. • America is a Christian Nation, therefore
• Israel should be Jewish Nation
Fear of Religious Nationalism

64. • Loyalty to Israel and
• Concern for Palestinian Justice
American Jews and the State of Israel

65. 4. What does Judaism Teach?

66. What does Judaism Teach?
•Sacred beliefs
•Sacred texts
•Sacred times
•Sacred communities

67. Sacred Beliefs

68. Temple Destroyed 70 AD
• Sacri
fi
ces stopped
• Priesthood Ended
• Rituals ceased

69. Rabbinic Judaism
Priest Rabbi
Temple Synagogue
Sacri
fi
ces Prayers

70. Traditional Beliefs
• God is One
• God is indivisible
• God is only spirit

71. Traditional Beliefs
• Written Torah (Law)
• Oral Torah (Oral Law)
• 613 Commandments

72. Traditional Beliefs
Unbroken chain of authority
from Moses to the Rabbis

73. God gave on Mt. Sinai
Written Law

74. God gave on Mt. Sinai
Written Law
Oral Law

75. God gave on Mt. Sinai
Written Law
Oral Law
Only to the Jews

76. Unbroken Chain of Authority
MOSES JOSHUA JUDGES RABBIS The PEOPLE
1400 BC 2022 AD

77. God
Bible The Rabbis

78. Written Torah
God
Bible The Rabbis

79. Oral Torah
Written Torah
God
Bible The Rabbis

80. Oral Torah
Written Torah
God
Bible The Rabbis Jewish People
Interpretation

81. Beliefs
Discussion:
How do you know there that there
was NOT an Oral Torah?

82. Beliefs
READ:
Akhnai’s Oven (Baba Metzia 59b)

83. Tovia Singer, Proof an an Oral Torah

84. Argument against Oral Torah
• If there is an Oral Tradition, then what happens when it’s wrong?
ex. Jesus is the Messiah
• The Masorites, who added the vowels, were Karaites who rejected
oral law

85. Traditional Beliefs
• Heaven (Gan Eden)
• Hell (Gehenna)

86. Traditional Beliefs
Recite Kaddish
For those who died

89. Traditional Beliefs
• Messiah human
• Messiah still coming
• Messiah bring peace
• Messiah regather Jews

90. Traditional Beliefs
• Sin is an Act not a condition
• Judged by our deeds, not beliefs

91. Atonement for Sin
• Prayer
• Repentance
• Righteous Deeds

92. Sacred Texts

93. Bible
TANAKH (Old Testament)

94. Bible
Torah — the Law
Neviim — the Prophets
Kotviim — the Writings

95. Torah Scroll
The Law
First Five Books of the Bible
Read on Saturday

96. Talmud
Commentary on the Law
Written 400 AD in Babylon

98. Siddur
Jewish Prayer Book

99. Sacred Times

100. Bar/Bat Mitzvah
• 13 years old
• Adulthood
• Reads Torah in Hebrew
• Gives Sermon
• Party / Gifts!!
Carrie’s Bat Mitzvah

102. Shabbat
• Friday Night - Saturday
• No work
• Synagogue
• Light Candles
• Shabbat Meal

104. Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad
Hear! Oh Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.

105. Cantor Azi Schwartz, Park Avenue Synagogue in New York

106. Holidays
• New Year (Sep-Oct)
• Day of Atonement (Oct)
• Feast of Tabernacles (Oct)
• Hanukkah (Dec)

107. Holidays
• Passover (Apr 16, 2022)
• Holocaust Mem. (Apr 28, 2022)
• Pentecost (Jun 5, 2022)

108. Sacred People
• Rabbi
• Cantor

109. Sacred Communities
The branches of Judaism

110. Orthodox Judaism
• Service is in Hebrew
• No musical instruments
• Men separate from women
• Bible is Word of God
• Oral Torah
• No work on Shabbat
• Keep Kosher

111. Reform Judaism
• Service is Hebrew & English
• Musical instruments
• Men & women together
• Bible is human book
• No Oral Torah
• Belief in God not required
Rabbi Buchdahl, Central Synagogue in NY

112. Conservative Judaism
• Service in Hebrew
• Musical instruments
• Men & women together
• Bible inspired (errors)
• Oral Torah (errors)
• Modern practices
• Belief in God
Cantor Azi Schwartz, Park Ave. Synagogue, NY

114. Hassidic Judaism
• Ultra Orthodox
• Rebbe community leader
• Insular community
• Speak Yiddish
• Mysticism
• Believe ONLY true Judaism
Late Rabbi Menachem Schneerson, Lubavitch sect

115. Renewal Movement
• Counter-culture 1970s
• Practices mysticism
• Small groups
• New Age Beliefs
Renewal Jews practicing mediation

116. Personal Jewish Beliefs

117. Who are the Jewish People?
• 37% Reform
• 17% Conservative
• 9% Orthodox
• 37% Unaf
fi
liated/other
Natalie Portman
Pew Research 2021, p. 57

118. Religious Attendance
Weekly 12%
Monthly 8%
Yearly 27%
Never 53%
Wilshire Temple Los Angeles
Pew Research 2021, p. 80

119. Belief in God
God of the Bible 26%
Higher Power 50%
Atheist/Agnostic 23%
Pew Research 2021, p. 67

120. 50% of Couples are Intermarried

121. 5. What do they think about Jesus?

122. Why Most Jews Reject Jesus
1. Converts are no longer Jews

123. Messianic Congregations are Not Jewish!

124. Why Most Jews Reject the Gospel
1. Converts are no longer Jews
2. Worshipping Jesus is idolatry

126. Why Most Jews Reject the Gospel
1. Converts are no longer Jews
2. Worshipping Jesus is idolatry
3. Christians killed Jews

127. Rose Price

128. Why Most Jews Reject the Gospel
1. Converts are no longer Jews
2. Worshipping Jesus is idolatry
3. Christians killed Jews
4. Messiah bring peace on earth

129. Ben Shapiro, Talkshow Host