History UsefulNotes / Judaism

'''The Chosen People''': Jews are often referred to as the Chosen People. Though the term doesn't show up often in Jewish texts (they are sometimes referred to as "the treasured people") the idea permeates Jewish consciousness. It dates back to the days of Abram and Sarai. Abram agreed to serve God first and foremost, and thus became TheChosenOne by adopting Adonai as ''his'' [[TheChosenOne Chosen One]]. (This is also when Abraham got his MeaningfulRename.) The idea is not necessarily that Jews are somehow intrinsically better than anyone else; after all, if they were, they wouldn't take converts. It's more that Jews, being the favorite people of the Lord, are held up to a higher standard than others, and are expected to act in a holier manner than other, more mundane nations. The surprising tenacity of the Jewish people and religion, to have survived in a healthy manner for so long despite its small numbers and constant oppression, is also often cited as a commentary on their "special" status. An alternative interpretation, popular in more liberal sects of Judaism, is to reverse the meaning of the phrase: the Chosen people are not people who were chosen, but people who chose.

Jewish philosophy is decidedly averse to asceticism. In general, Jews believe that God put us on the earth to be a "light unto the nations" - to bring the sacred into the mundane world. To that end, Jews do not believe in celibacy, poverty, or self-flagellation; one should enjoy as much of God's world as possible while being given guidelines as to how to do so. Jewish thought emphasizes modesty, humility, generosity, introspection, faith in God, and repentance as important traits to have. It also places an emphasis ''against'' converts.

* A lunar/solar calendar. The year is divided into 12 months. While in the earlier texts of the Bible these are just called first month, second month, etc., they were given Babylonian names when pretty much the entire Jewish elite was deported there in 597-538 BCE. A year is therefore approximately 11 days shorter than the 365-day solar year (it's +/-1 because of all sorts of complications). However, because several holidays are tied into to the growing seasons and harvests, every few years (seven times every nineteen years, yes it's complicated) a "leap month" is added onto the end to keep the the holidays in the same season. The Jewish year is marked from the date of Creation and can be found by adding 3760 to the Gregorian year (so 2009 becomes 5769). The year begins on Rosh Hashana (see below), which falls out in September or October, so the first three or four months of 5769 were in 2008. Every 19 years the Jewish and secular calendars (approximately) meet, such that one's birthday in each calendar are usually only on the same day every 19 years.

'''The Chosen People''': Jews are often referred to as the Chosen People. Though the term doesn't show up often in Jewish texts (they are sometimes referred to as "the treasured people") the idea permeates Jewish consciousness. It dates back to the days of Abram and Sarai. Abram agreed to serve God first and foremost, and thus became TheChosenOne by adopting Adonai as ''his'' [[TheChosenOne Chosen One]]. (This is also when Abraham got his MeaningfulRename.) The idea is not necessarily that Jews are somehow intrinsically better than anyone else; after all, if they were, they wouldn't take converts. It's more that Jews, being the favorite people of the Lord, are held up to a higher standard than others, and are expected to act in a holier manner than other, more mundane nations. The surprising tenacity of the Jewish people and religion, to have survived in a healthy manner for so long despite its small numbers and constant oppression, is also often cited as a commentary on their "special" status.

'''Reward and Afterlife''': While Jewish thought certainly includes spiritual reward and punishment, an important saying in Tractate Avoth urges its adherents not to do things for the reward, but simply because it's God's will. The idea of an eternal hell is not included in most Jewish thought; the closest thing to it is "Gehinnom", a sort of temporary Purgatory where the bad aspects of a soul are burned out of it before allowing it to ascend to the Garden of Eden, or Heaven. There is a character called Ha'Satan (Hebrew for "the Adversary") but he is generally identical to the Evil Inclination - a tempter, not a fallen angel or leader of Hell. In the visualization of Man's Final Judgment, Satan is the prosecuting attorney. He is balanced by the Good Inclination. Note that many rabbis, such as Maimonides, see these as metaphorical for internal struggle rather than actual spiritual beings.

Jews don't really have a central authority of any sort. Even in ancient times they practiced an impressive separation of powers: the king was responsible for the running of the secular side of things; rabbis and judges were in charge of religious decisions that often overruled the king; and priests were in charge of performing rituals in the temple. After the loss of the monarchy, the destruction of the temple, and the dissolution of the Sanhedrin (supreme court), the closest thing to a central authority Jews had once the Diaspora took full force was made up of senior rabbis arguing until they could reach a consensus, or at least a compromise, which would eventually propagate to most Jewish communities by word-of-mouth. And those rabbis ''loved'' to argue. So this entry will try to hit the highlights, especially the common portrayals of Jews in media, but it is by '''no means''' comprehensive, complete, or guaranteed to be accurate for any given Jew.

'''Racial Judaism''' is the least interesting one. There are Jews everywhere, and probably of every racial group, but the primary Jewish racial stereotype is mostly a function of...

'''Who's a Jew?''' This one is less confusing than one might think, but has become more so in recent decades. Traditionally, a Jew is someone whose mother is a Jew or who converted. Many branches of Judaism stick to this conception today, but some less restrictive branches of Judaism allow either parent to be Jewish if the child has been raised as one, which has caused controversy, particularly when marriages between different groups are involved. A Jew who ceases to practice Judaism is a non-observant Jew, not a non-Jew, so the atheist Jews mentioned above are still considered Jewish. More observant branches even refuse to acknowledge conversion out; the so-called converts are highly misguided, but if their mother was Jewish or they went through conversion to Judaism, they're still technically a Jew.

* ''Reform'': One of the most liberal of the Jewish denominations, tending to stress moral teachings and downplay rituals. Your average American Jew is likely to be of this denomination; Reform is more "loose" with restrictions and how one follows Mitzvot (although Conservative Judaism is, according the TheOtherWiki, a close second). Many Reform Jews do not keep kosher or observe the Sabbath. There are different levels of Reform, and which (if any) rabbinical restrictions one keeps is usually reliant on the temple.

** ''"Modern Orthodox"'' are a mainly American phenomena, consisting of people who want to keep the full gamut of Orthodox laws while still being active members of world society. Most Orthodox editors on this wiki will probably consider themselves Modern Orthodox, though the label is rather wide.

It is considered slightly off-color to call someone "a Jew." Why, exactly, is tricky, and boils down to "it just sounds rude." Maybe it's just that so many have said that with a harsh tone. It has been used as an insult to indicate that negative Jewish stereotypes apply; instead of saying "you are so greedy," some people still say, "you're such a Jew." It might also be that it implies that being Jewish is a choice. It's a bit more common to hear someone described as "Jewish," rather than "a Jew."

* ''Conservative'': A happy medium between the very conservative Orthodoxy and the more liberal sects, holding that the rabbinical rulings based on the holy texts should be modified when their basis has changed in modern times - basically meaning whenever a religious law gets ''totally'' ridiculous. This form of Judaism is more prevalent in the US.

* ''Conservative'': A happy medium between the very conservative Orthodoxy and the more liberal sects, holding that the rabbinical rulings based on the holy texts should be modified when their basis has changed in modern times - basically meaning whenever a religious law gets ''totally'' (according to... hmm... well... whoever doesn't want that part anymore) ridiculous. This form of Judaism is more prevalent in the US. Please note: There are different levels of reform, and which (if any) rabbinical restrictions one keeps is usually reliant on the temple.
* ''Reform'': One of the most liberal of the Jewish denominations, tending to stress moral teachings and downplay rituals. Your average American Jew is likely to be of this denomination; Reform is more "loose" with restrictions and how one follows Mitzvot (although Conservative Judaism is, according the TheOtherWiki, a close second). Many Reform Jews do not keep kosher or observe the Sabbath.

* ''Kashrut'', a set of dietary restrictions. The most famous part of this is the banning of pork and most types of seafood - this is because each animal in the world is defined as 'kosher' or 'not kosher' depending on some physical characteristics: animals need to chew their cud and have split hooves, fish need fins and scales. Nevertheless, there are myriad laws involved in it, including a very rigorous method of slaughtering animals known as ''shechitah'', and the separation of milk and meat (commonly including a wait of several hours after eating meat before eating any dairy products). This separation goes far beyond merely not eating them at the same time or in the same meal; Orthodox households generally have two sets of dishes, two sets of silverware, two ovens, and two sinks, one each for milk and meat - and this can, depending on religious observance, extend to two countertops, two tablecloths or placemats, two microwaves, or in some very extreme and very rich households, two ''kitchens''.
** This troper's family has two countertops, but only one sink, one stove, etc. The appliances each are designated to either milk or meat, and separate dishpans and racks are used in the sink.
*** Let us not forget Passover (''Pesach''), when the entire house is cleaned of any leaven (''chometz'') and the separate set of dishes is brought up from the locked closet. There's a reason that switching the kitchen to Pesach mode is called "turning over."
** Only two tablecloths, sets of dishes and silverware? What about Shabbos/Yom Tov? Most have at least 3, 5 if you count Pesach...

* Praying three times a day, though this was instituted in the early centuries CE after the destruction of the Temple and the cessation of animal sacrifices. Men are traditionally supposed to pray with a group of at least ten men, males over age 13 (a ''minyan''). Men wear ''tefillin'' (black boxes with leather straps) on their heads and arms, and wrap themselves in a white ''tallit'' (prayer shawl) for morning prayers only. In all types of Judaism except Orthodox Judaism (and occasionally in Modern Orthodox Judaism) women wear tefillin and prayer shawls also.

Jewish philosophy is decidedly averse to asceticism. In general, Jews believe that God put us on the earth to be a "light unto the nations" - to bring the sacred into the mundane world. To that end, Jews do not believe in celibacy, poverty, or self-flagellation; one should enjoy as much of God's world as possible while being given guidelines as to how to do so. Jewish thought emphasizes modesty, humility, generosity, introspection, faith in God, and repentance as important traits to have. It also places an emphasis <i>against</i> converts.

'''Literalism''': It is very important to note that simply reading the Bible will not give you a good idea of Jewish laws. Almost nothing in the Bible is taken at face value; for example, the famous line "an eye for an eye" is actually interpreted as paying the ''monetary value'' of an eye after gouging someone's eye out [[hottip:* :to be specific, the rabbis said that this passage was talking about compensatory damages for personal injury, and took another segment to be talking about punitive damages, yet another for medical damages, and so on. I kid you not, in the [[TheTalmud holy texts]] of this religion is a giant book on torts law. And they wonder why so many Jews become lawyers.]] (it also serves as a limitation on revenge, not a prescription for horrible punishments as it's often imagined. Remember that the commandments were given to the Jews when they were nomadic desert people with a corresponding lack of civilization, courts, wait, we had courts in the desert, and the like). A number of the commandments given in the Bible are not currently practiced even by the Orthodox, since they only apply when the Temple in Jerusalem is standing, and said Temple was razed 21 centuries ago.

* Interesting fact: People named "Cohen" (which means priest in Hebrew" and "Levi" (the tribe of Levi were the priest caste in Judaism) are probably descended from the actual Jewish priesthood. This (gentile) troper doesn't know for certain, but asked an Orthodox rabbi what would happen to these people if/when the temple is rebuilt - would they all be rounded up and forced to be priests? The rabbi said, more or less, yes.
** Some (non-Orthodox) rabbis do allow Kohanim/Levites to renounce their status, although this also means renouncing it for all their descendants. IIRC, this is done mostly because Kohanim are forbidden from marrying divorced women.
*** It can also be for a number of other reasons. At least one renounced his status as a Kohen in order to take part in his wife's funeral - since Kohanim, as a priestly class, are expected to adhere to a much higher standard of purity, and since dead bodies are by definition impure, this was a fairly serious revocation (only marginally less so since, at the time, his only surviving children were daughters) and indicative of his devotion to his wife.
*** This (Orthodox) Troper would like to point out that a Kohen is allowed to attend his wife's funeral. Unless he's the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) in which case the messiah came, the Temple has been rebuilt, and no one told me...
** Although a common point of view, it's nowhere near universally accepted. In any case, there are plenty of people today who still identify as priests and Levites, which has ''halachic'' importance in things like going into graveyards, order of ''aliyot'' at the synagogue, etc. Although there are common Kohen names like Cohen and Katz, and Levite names like Leibowitz, there are many people with all sorts of last names who are still Kohanim and Levites.

Assimilation is a big topic of debate. Nowadays, especially in America, Jews want to be part of society at large, but don't want to lose their own identities; similarly, right now in America, this balancing act is generally possible. In other countries...it varies. Please note: The last major assimilation station was Germany. I'll let you fill in the blanks.

* This has been taken to the extreme in the Russian language. By the early XX century the word "Zhid/Žid/Żyd" that means "Jew" in most Slavic languages (just like the English word, it is derived from the Hebrew word "Yehudi") has become so offensive in Russian that it is now used ''exclusively'' as a pejorative, on the same level of offensiveness as "Kike". This Russian Troper only realised what the word originally meant when he was about twelve, before that he thought that "Zhid" was just a playground insult that meant "greedy person". The PC substitute for "Zhid" is "Yevrey", which means "Hebrew".

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* ''Orthodox'': Orthodox (''"frum"'') Judaism is somewhat of an umbrella term. In general, Orthodoxy strictly interprets Jewish religious texts such as the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament for all you goyim out there), the Talmud, the Mishnah (sort of like commentary on the Torah), etc. This means that Orthodox families keep kosher, dress conservatively, and observe the Sabbath in accordance with some of the 613 Mitzvot (Commandments) that a Jew is supposed to follow. Also, Orthodox Judaism is the only type of Judaism which still does not allow female rabbis and cantors. Despite its breadth of coverage on this page, the Orthodox are actually the smallest, if most dedicated, of the Jewish denominations, it's members may be Ashkenazi or Sefardi. (Interestingly, in Israel all but a tiny handful of practicing Jews are Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) so the proportions are reversed from worldwide Judaism. Israel doesn't even recognize non-Orthodox religious rites, marriages, or conversions. The largest group of the Jews in Israel are Shomrei Masoret ("following tradition"). About a quarter are secular, although even they are known to follow certain mitzvas, and celebrate holidays. Got that straight?) Orthodoxy has several sub-denominations, many of which are ill-defined, but which include:

* Praying three times a day, though this was instituted in the early centuries CE after the destruction of the Temple and the cessation of animal sacrifices. Men are traditionally supposed to pray with a group of at least ten men (a ''minyan''), which today may be a group of ten people of any gender except in Orthodox Judaism which requires men for it. Men wear ''tefillin'' (black boxes with leather straps) on their heads and arms, and wrap themselves in a white ''tallit'' (prayer shawl) for morning prayers only. In all types of Judaism except Orthodox Judaism (and occasionally in Modern Orthodox Judaism) women wear tefillin and prayer shawls also.

* For women (and men), modesty is important; women have clothing that covers knees and elbows. Married women cover their hair, though many wear ''sheitels'' (wigs), some of which look better than the original hair did. Men and women are forbidden from even casual touching, like shaking hands, and women are forbidden from singing within earshot of men. This is one of the first things to go as one follows the continuum left of Orthodoxy.
** Amongst Orthodox Jews, marriage is generally done via a ''shadchan'', or matchmaker, who connects the two singles. They go on several dates and decide if they want to marry each other. Dating and engagements are very short (often going less than four months from first meeting to marriage) and amongst Hasidim, there may be only one or two dates before the decision is made. Divorce is seen as unfortunate and to be avoided, but is far from rare.

Jewish philosophy is decidedly averse to asceticism. In general, Jews believe that God put us on the earth to be a "light unto the nations" - to bring the sacred into the mundane world. To that end, Jews do not believe in celibacy, poverty, or self-flagellation; one should enjoy as much of God's world as possible while being given guidelines as to how to do so. Jewish thought emphasizes modesty, humility, generosity, introspection, faith in God, and repentance as important traits to have.

'''People of the Book''': Although you'll always find Jewish leaders and rabbis who shun questions, Jews are unusually questioning of their own religion. Talmud study, a fixture of Orthodox life, revolves around logic, debate, and the attacking of each side of an argument until it falls apart or reveals itself to be worthy. Jews are called the "People of the Book" by others, and even the simplest Jewish library will often have dozens of "must-have" books that form the basis of religious study. Synagogues will generally have full libraries with hundreds or thousands of books, and new ones are coming out all the time!This has become something of a Jewish cultural value as well; even non-religious Jews tend to place a high value on study and intellectual pursuits.

'''Literalism''': It is very important to note that simply reading the Bible will not give you a good idea of Jewish laws. Almost nothing in the Bible is taken at face value; for example, the famous line "an eye for an eye" is actually interpreted as paying the ''monetary value'' of an eye after gouging someone's eye out [[hottip:* :to be specific, the rabbis said that this passage was talking about compensatory damages for personal injury, and took another segment to be talking about punitive damages, yet another for medical damages, and so on. I kid you not, in the [[TheTalmud holy texts]] of this religion is a giant book on torts law. And they wonder why so many Jews become lawyers.]] (it also serves as a limitation on revenge, not a prescription for horrible punishments as it's often imagined. Remember that the commandments were given to the Jews when they were nomadic desert people with a corresponding lack of civilization, courts and the like). A number of the commandments given in the Bible are not currently practiced even by the Orthodox, since they only apply when the Temple in Jerusalem is standing, and said Temple was razed 21 centuries ago.

'''The Temple''': The Temple in Jerusalem holds an important place in Jewish philosophy, but its value varies from one sect to the next. The Orthodox pray that the Temple will be rebuilt so Jews can go back to doing animal sacrifices there like in the old days. The Conservative prayers ask for the Temple to be rebuilt, but consider that we have moved beyond the need for sacrifices. (Some Orthodox agree with this belief, but not to the point of changing their prayers.) Reform Jews do not believe the Temple in Jerusalem is needed any more at all, and thus they often call their own houses of worship "temples." It is popularly believed that the Kotel, known in English as the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall, is the one remaining feature from the second Temple (it was destroyed by conquerors and rebuilt once); it is actually, however, a retaining wall built around the artificial platform at the top of the mountain upon which the Temple was built. The Kotel has gained respect as the holiest site available to Jews due to its proximity to the Temple Mount, and many go there to pray at the closest place a Jew can currently get to where the Temple once stood. This is also because many rabbis forbid Jews from going onto the temple mount for fear of entering a location restricted to Levites or Kohanim.

** Some rabbis do allow Kohanim/Levites to renounce their status, although this also means renouncing it for all their descendants. IIRC, this is done mostly because Kohanim are forbidden from marrying divorced women.

Assimilation is a big topic of debate. Nowadays, especially in America, Jews want to be part of society at large, but don't want to lose their own identities; similarly, right now in America, this balancing act is generally possible. In other countries...it varies.

* ''Orthodox'': Orthodox (''"frum"'') Judaism is somewhat of an umbrella term. In general, Orthodoxy strictly interprets Jewish religious texts such as the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament for all you goyim out there), the Talmud, the Mishnah (sort of like commentary on the Torah), etc. This means that Orthodox families keep kosher, dress conservatively, and observe the Sabbath in accordance with some of the 613 Mitzvot (Commandments) that a Jew is supposed to follow. Also, Orthodox Judaism is the only type of Judaism which still does not allow female rabbis and cantors. Despite its breadth of coverage on this page, the Orthodox are actually the smallest, if most dedicated, of the Jewish denominations. (Interestingly, in Israel all but a tiny handful of practicing Jews are Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) so the proportions are reversed from worldwide Judaism. Israel doesn't even recognize non-Orthodox religious rites, marriages, or conversions. The largest group of the Jews in Israel are Shomrei Masoret ("following tradition"). About a quarter are secular, although even they are known to follow certain mitzvas, and celebrate holidays. Got that straight?) Orthodoxy has several sub-denominations, many of which are ill-defined, but which include:

* ''Conservative'': A happy medium between the very conservative Orthodoxy and the more liberal sects, holding that the rabbinical rulings based on the holy texts should be modified when their basis has changed in modern times - basically meaning whenever a religious law gets ''totally'' ridiculous. This form of Judaism is more prevalent in the US.

* A lunar/solar calendar. The year is divided into 12 months. While in the earlier texts of the Bible these are just called first month, second month, etc., they were given Babylonian names when pretty much the entire Jewish elite was deported there in 597-538 BCE (a new month was designated as the "beginning" of the year as well). A year is therefore approximately 11 days shorter than the 365-day solar year (it's +/-1 because of all sorts of complications). However, because several holidays are tied into to the growing seasons and harvests, every few years (seven times every nineteen years, yes it's complicated) a "leap month" is added onto the end to keep the the holidays in the same season. The Jewish year is marked from the date of Creation and can be found by adding 3760 to the Gregorian year (so 2009 becomes 5769). The year begins on Rosh Hashana (see below), which falls out in September or October, so the first three or four months of 5769 were in 2008. Every 19 years the Jewish and secular calendars (approximately) meet, such that one's birthday in each calendar are usually only on the same day every 19 years.

* ''Orthodox'': Orthodox (''"frum"'') Judaism is somewhat of an umbrella term. In general, Orthodoxy strictly interprets Jewish religious texts such as the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament for all you goyim out there), the Talmud, the Mishnah (sort of like commentary on the Torah), etc. This means that Orthodox families keep kosher, dress conservatively, and observe the Sabbath in accordance with some of the 613 Mitzvot (Commandments) that a Jew is supposed to follow. Also, Orthodox Judaism is the only type of Judaism which still does not allow female rabbis and cantors. Despite its breadth of coverage on this page, the Orthodox are actually the smallest, if most dedicated, of the Jewish denominations. (Interestingly, in Israel all but a tiny handful of practicing Jews are Orthodox or ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) so the proportions are reversed from worldwide Judaism. Israel doesn't even recognize non-Orthodox religious rites, marriages, or conversions. Despite this, most Jews in Israel are ethnic but not religious and don't practice at all. Got that straight?) Orthodoxy has several sub-denominations, many of which are ill-defined, but which include:

Jews don't really have a central authority of any sort. Not since 358, when the Romans quashed the Great Sanhedrin (Supreme Court)--itself a replacement for the High Priest, gone since the Second Temple was destroyed in 71, which followed after the loss of the royalty, gone for a lot longer. The closest thing to a central authority Jews had once the Diaspora took full force was made up of the senior rabbis arguing until they could reach a consensus, or at least a compromise, which would eventually propagate to most Jewish communities by word-of-mouth. And those rabbis ''loved'' to argue. So this entry will try to hit the highlights, especially the common portrayals of Jews in media, but it is by '''no means''' comprehensive, complete, or guaranteed to be accurate for any given Jew.

** Some refrigerators includes a "Sabbath Mode" as part of its onboard features - engage it and the onboard touchscreen will not respond to any commands until you press a predetermined sequence of buttons to bring up an option to exit Sabbath Mode.

* Charity and good works; Jews are urged to give one-tenth of their earnings to the poor, though this sometimes winds up being given to Jewish schools and other organizations rather than people who are actually poor.
** Many people do not realize that Jewish schools are very hard to run, being that they are, for the most part, not funded by the government, beacause of "Seperation of Church and State", and have, additional to the regular, secular classes, hebrew classes to run. Along with classes come teachers, and along with extra teachers come extra paychecks to be given. The schools DO need the money.

* Keeping the Sabbath day (known as ''Shabbat'' or ''Shabbos'' depending on one's pronunciation), which always lasts from Friday sunset to Saturday about an hour after sunset ("when you can see three stars"). Although the Sabbath is a joyous and holy day, there are all sorts of things that are prohibited to Orthodox Jews on the Sabbath, all of which fall under the category of "melacha", commonly (mis)translated as "work". These include anything to do with business as well as such mundane things as dragging tables through grass (as it's similar to ploughing) all the way up to practically anything to do with electricity, such as flicking light switches or operating cars. (To clarify: melacha is generally defined as one of thirty-nine categories of activity used to build the Mishkan or the Temple. These generally describe acts of creation or destruction - the use of electricity is disallowed under these categories either through the prohibition against fire or the prohibition of "completing" or "destroying" a circuit.) By most definitions, soldiers and emergency service personnel on duty are exempt from these strictures. Enterprising modern Jews have found [[http://www.kosherimage.com/ ingenious ways around some of these strictures]], though. Most major holidays have most of the same restrictions.
*** There are Halachos (laws) that deal firmly with the questions of what is allowed if someone's life is in danger. However, one must ask a Rabbi about personal circumstances that may come up.
** This troper's parents just got a new refrigerator recently. It includes a "Sabbath Mode" as part of its onboard features (including temperature controls, current status, how you want your ice, etc.) - engage it and the onboard touchscreen will not respond to any commands until you press a predetermined sequence of buttons to bring up an option to exit Sabbath Mode. When engaged, it took about 20 minutes to poke around and figure it out, which would have been averted by checking the manual.

'''The Temple''': The Temple in Jerusalem holds an important place in Jewish philosophy, but its value varies from one sect to the next. The Orthodox pray that the Temple will be rebuilt so Jews can go back to doing animal sacrifices there like in the old days. The Conservative prayers ask for the Temple to be rebuilt, but consider that we have moved beyond the need for sacrifices. (Some Orthodox agree with this belief, but not to the point of changing their prayers.) Reform Jews do not believe the Temple in Jerusalem is needed any more at all, and thus they often call their own houses of worship "temples." Since the ground the Temple once stood on is currently occupied by the Dome of the Rock, a Muslim holy site, rebuilding the Temple is not likely to happen soon. It is popularly believed that the Kotel, known in English as the Western Wall or the Wailing Wall, is the one remaining feature from the second Temple (it was destroyed by conquerors and rebuilt once); it is actually, however, a retaining wall built around the artificial platform at the top of the mountain upon which the Temple was built. The Kotel has gained respect as the holiest site available to Jews due to its proximity to the Temple Mount, and many go there to pray at the closest place a Jew can currently get to where the Temple once stood. This is also because many rabbis forbid Jews from going onto the temple mount for fear of entering a location restricted to Levites or Kohanim.

'''The Chosen People''': Jews are often referred to as the Chosen People. Though the term doesn't show up often in Jewish texts (they are sometimes referred to as "the treasured people") the idea permeates Jewish consciousness. It dates back to the days of Abram and Sarai. Abram agreed to serve God first and foremost, and thus became TheChosenOne by adopting Adonai as ''his'' [[TheChosenOne Chosen One]]. (This is also when Abraham got his Meaningful Rename.) The idea is not necessarily that Jews are somehow intrinsically better than anyone else; after all, if they were, they wouldn't take converts. It's more that Jews, being the favorite people of the Lord, are held up to a higher standard than others, and are expected to act in a holier manner than other, more mundane nations. The surprising tenacity of the Jewish people and religion, to have survived in a healthy manner for so long despite its small numbers and constant oppression, is also often cited as a commentary on their "special" status.

If you go by Jewish TV characters, it would seem that [[YouHaveToHaveJews one in every three people is Jewish]]. On ''Friends'' this is literaly true; two out of the six main characters are Jewish. Judaism is usually portrayed as one of three major world religions, along with Christianity and Islam. The truth is that out of some six-and-a-half-billion people in the world, only fourteen-and-a-half-million are Jewish, which works out to just 0.215% of the world's population, making Judaism the 11th most populous religion. In the UK, according to the 2001 census, Jews were outnumbered three to two by people who said their religion was "Jedi". There were, however, about 18 million Jews before the Holocaust, or almost 1% of the world population at the time. Also, Jews comprise about 2% of the population of the United States and have always been its second-most-populous religion. The reason Jewish characters are so common may be because of the absurdly high percentage of Jewish people in the entertainment industry. It may also be due to many shows being written in New York City, which has the largest Jewish population in the world outside of Israel.

The physical aspects are the racial ones: curly dark hair, large noses and ears, dark complection, occasionally a "swarthy" look, et cetera. Yiddish - basically a dialect of Middle German with huge numbers of words taken from Hebrew and Polish and written using the Hebrew alphabet - that was the main language among Ashkenazim (Ashkenaz refers to Germany), is often [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage a second language]], or at least a great choice for cursing. A tendency towards being short seems to have been reversed with the advent of better nutrition; many American Jews are taller than all of their grandparents.

The physical aspects are the racial ones: curly dark hair, large noses and ears, dark complection, occasionally a "swarthy" look, et cetera. Yiddish—basically a dialect of Middle German with huge numbers of words taken from Hebrew and Polish—that was the main language among Ashkenazim (Ashkenaz refers to Germany), is often [[YiddishAsASecondLanguage a second language]], or at least a great choice for cursing. A tendency towards being short seems to have been reversed with the advent of better nutrition; many American Jews are taller than all of their grandparents.

Jews don't really have a central authority of any sort. Not since 358, when the Romans quashed the Great Sanhedrin (Supreme Court)--itself a replacement for the High Priest, gone since the Second Temple was destroyed in 71, which followed after the loss of the royalty, gone for a lot longer. The closest thing to a central authority Jews had once the Diaspora took full force was made up of the senior rabbis arguing until they could reach a consensus, or at least a compromise, which would eventually propagate to most Jewish communities by word-of-mouth. And those rabbis ''loved'' to argue. So this entry will try to hit the highlights, especially the common portrayals of Jews in media, but it is by '''no means''' comprehensive, complete, or guaranteed to be accurate for any given Jew.

Jews don't really have a central authority of any sort. Not since 358, when the Romans quashed the Great Sanhedrin (Supreme Court)--itself a replacement for the High Priest, gone since the Second Temple was destroyed in 71, which followed after the loss of the royalty, gone for a lot longer. The closest thing to a central authority Jews had once the Diaspora took full force was made up of the senior rabbis arguing until they could reach a consensus, or at least a compromise, which would eventually propagate to most Jewish communities by word-of-mouth. And those rabbis ''loved'' to argue -- a trait which is not uncommon in Jews today. So this entry will try to hit the highlights, especially the common portrayals of Jews in media, but it is by '''no means''' comprehensive, complete, or guaranteed to be accurate for any given Jew.

* Praying three times a day, though this was instituted in the early centuries CE after the destruction of the Temple and the cessation of animal sacrifices. Men are traditionally supposed to pray with a group of at least ten men (a ''minyan''), which today may be a group of ten people of any gender except in Orthodox Judaism which requires men for it. Men wear ''tefillin'' (black boxes with leather straps) on their heads and arms, and wrap themselves in a white ''tallit'' (prayer shawl). In all types of Judaism except Orthodox Judaism (and occasionally in Modern Orthodox Judaism) women wear tefillin and prayer shawls also.

'''TheArabIsraeliConflict''': It's confusing, filled with ancient history and old grudges on both sides, with absolutely no black or white ''anything'' and a distinct lack of clear answers.