The Story of Exile and Return
Hebrew Bible begins with God’s creation of the world in seven days, six days of labor and one day of rest.
Adam and Eve and the serpent in the Garden of Eden, first example of Exile.
God’s only law, do not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
Adam and Eve give in to temptation, break the law, and are banished.
This sets in motion two primary rythmic themnes of Judaism
The Nature of God
God is just, he punished wrongdoing.
God is merciful, he provides opportunities for repair.
God calls Abraham and his descendants to be his people and promises them a special land.
But the Israelites must wander for forty years and escape slavery.
God delivers to Moses the Torah, or law, on Mount Sinai as a new covenant.
Torah
Torah refers to the first five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus,
A Religion and A People
Judaisim gave birth to Christianity and Islam.
Judaisim is both a religion and a people.
Jews come from many different ethnic groups but are bound together by shared beliefs and shared community.
Can be both observant and nonobservant
On Converts and Creeds
Judaism is not evangelical, not a missionary religion.
Rabbis tradiotionally discourage conversion, and refuse converts 3 times before accepting them.
Judaisim has no real creed, so excommunication is rare.
Know the phrase Tikkun Olam.
Juddaism favors practice over belief.
The Jewish God is personal but not human. He is radically transcedent, above and beyond the world.
Exile and Return]
Judaism focuses on the community rather than the individual.
The problem is exile, the distance from God and where we ought to be. The solution is return, to go back to God and our true home.
The Sabbath and Minor Holidays
Shabbat, from sundown on Friday to sundown on Saturday, the most important holiday.
Sabbath,
Zionism and The Holocaust
Zionism, Jewish nationalism, the desire to establish a Jewish state.
Long history of Jewish persecution cumulating in the Holocaust.
Feminist Theology and Kabbalah
Community focus of Judaism has left personal spirituality underdeveloped.
Many Jews have turned to Buddhism to satisfy this yearning.
Kabbalah is the mystical tradition in Judaism.
Rooted in the 13th century book called the Zohar, Kabbalah contains esoteric speculation on God, numbers, letters, vowels, and consonants.
Shekhino, the feminine and immanent aspect of God that balances the masculine and transcedent aspects of the Tana.
Origin Story
Four Noble Truths
From Suffering to Nirvana
Budda, Dharma, Sangha