Welcome to I Am Your Target Demographic and today we’re continuing our series on world
religions. I know these videos take a long time to come out, so I appreciate your patience as I do my
best to provide an unbiased look at these various spiritualities. Today we’re looking at Judaism, so
we’ll cover the basics of what this faith entails, how it looks around the world, and hopefully
answer some questions you likely have about it. Like other large religions, there can be an
overlap in what the religion believes and the cultural life of people in that religion,
what it might mean to be Jewish. We’re going to try to focus on the spiritual beliefs and
foundation here, though of course some of those other cultural facets may come in and out of play.
At its core, Judaism is based strongly on what’s called the Torah, which includes the
first five books of the Hebrew Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.
This means that there’s a large segment of shared history between the Abrahamic religions
such as Judaism, Christianity, and even Islam, but they make drastic differences
as they add additional holy texts such as New Testament for Christians and Muslims,
and then Muslims go one extra step to add the Quran. But today, we’re just focusing on Judaism.
In addition to the written Torah, they also have additional texts, based on both ancient literature
and spoken history, adding components such as the Midrash and the Talmud,
composed of writings and teachings from many rabbis over the course of time.
A rabbi is somewhat equivalent to teachers in other faiths, such as a Christian minister. It is
someone trained in the texts and then ordained by another rabbi or through a seminary. Denominations
have likely different requirements and path to ordination, so I won’t get too into the details
here. A rabbi is responsible for constantly studying the texts and teaching those lessons,
as well as leading services and events, typically in a place of worship called a synagogue.
Now back to the history. Judaism is an incredibly old religion, with the father of Judaism being the
figure Abram (or commonly referred to as Abraham) in around 2100 BCE. Abraham’s lineage is promised
the land that is now called Israel and Abraham is considered the beginning of the Jewish faith.
Other important figures in the history of the Jewish people include King David and his
son Solomon, who built the first Holy Temple in Jerusalem, which was subsequently destroyed by the
Babylonians. A popular symbol of Judaism is the Star of David named after this monumental feat of
unity, even appearing on the flag for the nation of Israel. While the first temple in Jerusalem
was destroyed, a second was built around the 6th century BCE and later renovated by King Herod,
destroyed eventually by the Roman empire. Now as we start to get into the beliefs of
Judaism, it gets complicated. With a religion this old, there are of course schisms and divergences
of faith. We’re going to cover the three largest movements of Judaism here, understanding that
of course there may be others and variations of these. We’re going to start with Orthodox Judaism,
who adhere strictly to the traditional understanding of Jewish law. For instance,
most Jewish individuals observe Shabbat as a weekly moment of celebration and remembrance,
but more Orthodox Jews might adhere to this more strictly,
such as choosing to not drive, work, or even handle money during Shabbat.
They also adhere strictly to other laws, such as how they dress and what they can and can’t eat.
We then have Conservative Judaism, which sees Jewish law as obligatory but they have adopted
certain ways to navigate those laws, such as the allowance to drive to a synagogue on Shabbat,
when traditionally that wouldn’t be allowed. Both Conservative and Orthodox tend to follow Kosher
laws for what food they can eat, which means their food is prepared in line with Jewish law,
straight from the text, such as the same utensils should not be used to prepare meat and
dairy foods, so they’re not washed in the same water and not stored together. I won’t go into
all the details, just know that food preparation and even how food is combined in various meals is
something that the law strictly dictates. Orthodox Jews also are strict to pray three times a day,
in a group of typically ten or more together, which symbolizes a community of Israel.
Now the third of the three largest categories of Jewish individuals is Reform Judaism,
meaning that these individuals might see the need to adapt ancient rules to make more sense today,
so these folks might be more politically progressive and social-justice oriented,
over the emphasis on ritual that might be the focus in both Conservative and Orthodox Judaism.
So as you can see, just like denominations in other religions, there’s a wide spectrum
for what Judaism might look like today, from those that follow the written law verbatim
from thousands of years ago to those that have adapted and changed in today’s society.
That makes creating videos like this difficult, since even topics like “What does this religion
believe?” becomes a very tricky topic to cover. So we’re going to try outlining some of the core
tenets, with the understanding that this is not unanimous and some denominations of Judaism may
not agree on all of these. One of the most consistent tenets is the idea of Monotheism.
God is one single entity, there is no plurality. God is also the creator of the universe,
though how he created it is up for contention. Some believe in the literal story in Genesis,
while others might agree that the world is billions of years old and the evolution narrative
that comes with that. They believe that every human being is created in the likeness of God,
so they should care for both themselves and others. Since they believe God created the world,
they see it as an obligation to help the world run justly and help others, including an emphasis on
charity and giving. In fact, they try to make the world a better place, by caring for each other,
animals, and the environment. Judaism also puts forth that God is eternal, that he is all-present,
all-knowing, and all-good. The idea of being all-good can be a contentious idea,
especially considering tragedies and disasters that have occurred,
either in personal lives or at a global scale, so there is an ongoing and likely never-ending debate
over the goodness of God versus God being an impersonal force in the world. This conversation
is likely common among all religions that might put forth the goodness of God as a key factor.
In terms of prophecy and prophets, the various denominations have differing views as well.
The prophet Moses is often considered the most important prophet, who spoke the word of God to
the people and laid the foundation for the written Torah. Orthodox and Conservative Jews see Moses as
the most important prophet, which no other prophet will ever compare, the end all, be all. For Reform
Jews, Moses is seen as rather the first of a chain of prophets, as humankind continues to
understand the will of God and see the laws that Moses commanded as sometimes antiquated and may
not be binding any longer. Obviously again, this a fevered debate amongst denominations.
I assume most viewers are not Jewish and are trying to learn more about the faith, so something
helpful to know might also be a basic understanding of Jewish holidays that your friends or coworkers
might be celebrating. The one that you likely already have an idea about would be Hanukkah,
the eight-night celebration that occurs in either late November or in December. A family celebrating
would use what’s typically called a menorah, a decoration with nine candles and each night they’d
light a new candle. It is a celebration more than an observance, so gifts are often exchanged
and food is shared, as well as sometimes daily discussions or devotionals about various topics.
While Hanukkah is culturally very well-known, especially in the United States, it’s not the most
religiously-important holiday. Some of these other holidays that might be important include Passover,
which recounts how God protected the Jewish people during a series of plagues and later
freed the Hebrews from slavery, and Yom Kippur, called the Day of Atonement in which individuals
spend a day in self-examination in an attempt to start a new year with a new clean slate.
There are many significant moments in ancient history that have days associated with them,
so the list of Jewish holidays has days scattered throughout the entire calendar.
Different denominations and even different individuals
might have preference for which days they celebrate, and how they celebrate them.
Something else that non-Jewish folks might wish to understand is the significance of what’s called
a yarmulke, or kippah (kee-puh). This is a head covering, worn as a sign of a fear and respect to
God. Orthodox Jews believe that you should cover your head at all times, while other denominations
may choose to only wear head coverings while at a synagogue or a religious event. Men wear this cap,
while women often cover with a hat or a scarf. Now, I’ve touched on Israel as a nation already,
but I wanted to circle back. Israel is incredibly important to Judaism, as the land promised to
Abraham and his descendants by God. I can’t really get into the politics too much, as I’m not an
expert of the tumultuous political landscape of the Middle East, but there is contention
over these holy sites, cities, and locations and who has the rightful claim to that land.
To learn about Israel, Jewish individuals often make trips there, especially important for Jewish
youth that maybe have never been. The non-profit organization known as Birthright is known for
hosting trips to Israel, incredibly popular among college-aged and other young Jewish men and women.
So in a nutshell, hopefully this helped you understand Judaism just a bit better.
It’s an ancient religion that has sprouted into many variations and denominations over the course
of thousands of years. You likely have friends or coworkers that identify as Jewish, either
spiritually or culturally, and hopefully this helped you grasp the religion a little bit better.
I did have a few Jewish friends and colleagues proofread this script and I want to thank them
for making sure this is an accurate portrayal of their faith and I want to thank all of you
viewers out there for wanting to learn more. We’ll continue to put out more videos about religion
since a lot of you find this content really captivating, so let me know in the comments
what other religions you’d be interested to learn about, and thanks for watching.