National monotheistic religion with the cult of the god Yahweh. Judaism is the national monotheistic religion
Judaism- one of the oldest monotheistic religions in the world, which still functions with minor changes and is the national religion of the Jews. This religion played a special role in the development of many religious movements and directions, became the fundamental basis of two world religions - Christianity and Islam. Judaism plays an exceptional role in the history of the Jewish people, when, in the conditions of the loss of statehood and territory, religion became a means of preserving national identity.
Judaism was formed on the basis of ancient Jewish beliefs and cults and, as a monotheistic religion, was proclaimed by decree of King Josiah in 621 BC. e. According to this religious reform, the supreme God of the tribe of the Jews (hence the name of the religion) becomes the only, almighty God. Yahweh in Hebrew means "Lord" or "existing, that which exists." Therefore, Yahweh is not so much the name of God as a title, because among the Jews it was considered a great sin to call God by name (the name of God is unknown),
Jewish tribes (from the Hebrew "Jews" - "those who came from across the river Euphrates") belonged to the trans-Semitic group of pastoral nomads, who in the XIII century. BC e. moved from the Pivnichno-Mesopotamian steppes to Palestine. From history it is known about the conquest of the Jews by the Egyptians and their liberation from the “Egyptian captivity”. This event is associated with the biblical prophet Moses, under whose leadership the Jews returned to Palestine in Canaan (the Promised Land). They switched to agriculture and became intermediaries in trade between different nations. At the end of the XI century. BC e. the Kingdom of Israel is founded, in which the tribe of Judah (Jews) played a leading role, which worshiped the god Yahweh.
Moses is sometimes called the founder of Judaism, although long before his birth there was a cult of Yahweh - the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who through the prophets informed the people of Israel many revelations. Yahweh bequeathed to Abraham (about 2085 BC) that his descendants would be numerous and form a people chosen by God from among all other peoples of the world. One of the most important foundations of Judaism is the idea of Yahweh as the one, absolute and infinite Creator of all things. He is omnipotent, loving and just, deeply personal, not abstract. At the time of the liberation of the Jews from slavery, Yahweh revealed himself to Israel in action (Exit) and word (gave his Law to Moses on Mount Sinai). The Law received by Israel consisted of the Ten Commandments and over 600 laws in the form of commands and instructions for daily conduct.
The Pentateuch of Moses (Torah) - the first five books of the Bible - are the main sacred books that reflect the ancient history of the Jews and the process of formation of their religion. The Torah contains a story about the creation by God of all living and non-living things, about the ancestor of the Jews, the prophet Abraham, Moses, who received from Yahweh the "Covenant of God" - the Decalogue "(Ten Commandments), which brings together moral principles and rules of conduct. Yahweh through the prophets constantly instructed the people of Israel on social transformations and moral perfection.According to the covenant God put forward high moral requirements for His chosen people, pointing out that its blessing depends on social and moral justice in Jewish society.Judaism, reflecting the way of life of Jews, their ideas, features understanding of the world at the same time constitutes a system of developed ethical monotheism, analogues of which do not exist among the then religions of the world.
It is important to note that the formation of Judaism as a monotheistic religion took place in parallel with the process of state-political consolidation of the Israelis. Judaism played the role of a catalyst for social and political life and the establishment of Israel as a powerful kingdom.
The reigns of Saul, David and Solomon are called the "golden age" in Hebrew history. The six-pointed star - a symbol of the glory and valor of King David - has become a symbol of the Jewish people. According to researchers, this sign is formed by two shields of King David - an outstanding ruler, commander, talented poet and sage. He strengthened the state, rebuilt and decorated its capital, Jerusalem, built a majestic palace on Mount Zion, where the “Ark of the Covenant” was kept with two sacred tablets, on which the Ten Commandments were written, handed by God Yahweh to Moses on Mount Sinai. David's successor - King Solomon built a temple to God in Jerusalem - the main shrine of the Jews. This temple was destroyed during the Assyro-Babylonian conquest in 586.
At the end of the VI century. BC e., when the Persian kings Achaemenidi took possession of Babylonia, Jerusalem was rebuilt, and later, in the time of the prophet Ezra, the temple of Yahweh was restored. Therefore, this time entered history under the name of the period of the “second temple”. During the exile of the "Babylonian captivity"), the Jews gathered for prayer in special places - synagogues. Even when the Jerusalem Temple was rebuilt, the synagogues continued to be the prayer meetings of the Jewish communities. And when in 70 BC. e. The Romans finally destroyed the Temple, synagogues became organizational centers where Jewish communities were grouped and official centers for the spread of Judaism. In each synagogue, a rabbi taught, who had authority due to deep knowledge. Judaism survived in numerous diasporas scattered throughout many countries.
In the centuries following the Babylonian conquest, there were significant changes in the cult practices of Judaism. So, with the destruction of the temple, the tradition of sacrifice disappeared. In the synagogues, instead of sacrifices, prayer ceremonies and study of the Law took place. Instead of the Jewish priests, teachers of the Law (rabbis) appeared, who developed a detailed tradition of transmitting the Law of Moses. The law strictly regulated all aspects of the social and religious life of the Jews, which became the main guarantee of their salvation. The rabbis maintained that every Jew has immediate access to God and does not require conversion or redemption. The rabbis divided the Law into 613 commandments: 365 in the form of prohibitions and 248 commands and instructions. Each of them was detailed and unambiguously interpreted. Throughout his life, a Jew from the moment of birth to the funeral was subject to certain rites and rituals.
Thanks to these exceptional requirements, Judaism became a kind of national religion. The originality of the content of the dogma is determined by the following main provisions:
Belief in a single God of Light Yahweh, the Creator of heaven and earth;
Belief in the special calling of the Jewish people to be “God's chosen people”, “His own people from all the peoples that are on Earth”, set “highest above all the peoples that the Lord created”;
Belief in the end of the world, otherworldly reward and punishment in the resurrection from the dead;
The idea of the coming to earth of the Messiah - the "messenger of God" (from the Hebrew - "anointed", the ancient Greek - Christ), that is, the divine savior, the terrible judgment and the establishment of a millennium kingdom in Jerusalem - "heavenly Jerusalem".
The organizational center of Judaism was the temple on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The priests of this temple played an outstanding role in the creation of sacred books, collecting and editing ancient myths - about the creation of the world, the first people from the "dust of the earth" (from the Hebrew - "adama" - earth), about the "global flood", "Tower of Babel" and etc. Old Testament myths resonate with Sumerian, Asyro-Babylonian, Egyptian and Arabic sources.
Judaism reveals much in common with other ancient religions and in cult practice. Prayers, rites of circumcision and ablution play a significant role in the Jewish cult, which are of ancient origin. Main Religious holidays: - matzot - agricultural spring holiday, merged with the old pastor's Passover (Pesach); shabuot - the holy day of Saturday; Pentecost - the feast of the harvest of wheat; Sukkot is the Feast of Tabernacles, in honor of the gathering of fruits. Judaic rites and ritual are regulated in detail. The main source of doctrine is the Old Testament, which in Judaism is called the Tanakh (an abbreviation of the words “Torah”, “Nebiїm”, “Ketuvim” - the old Hebrew names of the three sections of the Holy Scripture - “Pentateuch”, “Prophets”, “Scriptures”). "Torah" (in translation - teaching), or "Laws of Moses" is the main book, which is in the nature of a collection of religious dogmas. It contains the first biblical books: "Genesis", "Exit", "Leviticus", "Numbers", "Deuteronomy" ("Deuteronomy"). The Mishnah - a set of rules and laws created at the turn of the II - III centuries, became the basis of all Jewish legislation, and the core of universal morality - the ten commandments of God - the Decalogue, which is contained in the book "Exit".
Along with the books of the Old Testament, the Jews respect the Talmud - a multi-volume collection of all religious literature. It was built in the 4th century. BC e. - IV century. n. e. and absorbed oral commentaries on the Old Testament, theological treatises on dogmas, moral instructions, religious instructions, laws regarding legal proceedings, criminal and civil cases. The Talmud included two parts - "Mishnah and Gemara" (commentaries on the treatises "Mishnah"). The Talmud is rich in folklore motifs, contains the teachings of eminent rabbis, reflects the customs and traditions of the Jews.
Throughout the centuries-old history, the Jewish doctrine and cult have been improved, transformed in accordance with new social and cultural circumstances. In its historical evolution, biblical, talmudic and rabbinical periods are distinguished.
Modern Judaism includes two main directions - orthodox and reformist (modernist). Orthodox try to carefully observe all the Talmudic prescriptions, traditional rites and rituals. One of the reasons for sustainable traditionalism is the way of life of the Jewish communities in the diasporas. Thanks to faith, a strong cultural tradition, the Jewish people managed to survive and preserve their authenticity in exile.
One of the most conservative movements is Hasidism (from the Hebrew "Hasid" - pious). Its founder was Uzril Besht (1700-1760), who preached his doctrine in Ukraine (in Galicia, Podolia, Volhynia). He traveled a lot, taught and treated people, for which he was called "a good miracle worker." The "sayings" of the teacher, which were collected and published by his students, convey the leading ideas of Hasidism. The central principle is absolute godliness, when the Universe, nature is thought of as radiation, an emanation of its potentialities. This is a kind of pantheism, when there is nothing outside and besides God. The ideas of Hasidism are based on the esoteric teachings of Kabbalah, a medieval mystical movement that combined some elements of Pythagoreanism and Christianity. Its supporters sought to achieve a mystical fusion of the individual with the divine universe. Therefore, the Hasidim were of decisive importance to prayers - sincere and exalted. They argued that it is not so much the fulfillment of the rites and prescriptions of the Talmud as sincere and ardent prayer to Yahweh that lead to salvation. The main thing in prayer is not the content, but feelings, inspiration. Hasidism found distribution not only in Ukraine, but also in Poland, Lithuania, Belarus from the end of the 18th century. Hasidim today are most numerous in the United States and Israel. They wear predominantly black attire in the style of the 18th - 19th centuries, and therefore noticeably differ in the modern urban environment. As a rule, they are organized into sects headed by various prominent rebs (rabbis).
Reformed (also called "liberal" or "progressive") currents of Judaism are formed in Western Europe in early XIX century on the conditions for the formation of bourgeois relations. Their religious dogmas and cult practices are adapting to new social relations. The reforms turned to the softening of rigid orthodox regulations and the simplification of religious rites, harmonizing them with the cultural needs of the indigenous population. After all, by promoting the idea of being chosen by God, Judaism isolated its followers from foreign social environment. The ideological basis of reformist Judaism was the teaching of the outstanding Jewish thinker of the 18th century. Moses Mendelssohn, who believed that Jews should not separate from Western culture, but should adopt and assimilate it. Simplifying the cult, the ideologists of reformism brought the importance of religious education in the family. Believers, instead of passive performers of the rites of Orthodox Judaism, increasingly became conscious followers of a modernized dogma. The most liberal form of Judaism has entered the United States, where a large community of Jews lives. Their way of life has reached the highest level of secularization, fully consistent with modern culture and philosophy.
In addition to the United States, significant Jewish communities live in European countries, including Ukraine.
Despite preaching the universal and universal nature of the one God, Judaism was and remains a national-ethnic religion. Two circumstances contributed in part to this: 1. God Yahweh has always been regarded solely as such that presents the Jews above all other peoples; 2. from 444 BC there is a religious ban on the marriage of Jews with representatives of any other peoples. Although this prohibition was initiated, however, Orthodox Jews are trying to observe it in our time. Judaism is the state religion of modern Israel. Today there is a difficult political situation due to the protracted Arab-Israeli conflict. Under these conditions, all world Jewry, through the mediation of numerous international organizations and religious associations, is looking for ways to resolve this conflict.
Jewish formations in Ukraine also take part in this. By the end of 1990, over 80 Jewish communities operated in Ukraine. Since 1991, the Association religious communities Jewish recognition in Ukraine”. Modern conditions of independent Ukraine contribute to the development of the Jewish ethnos, which takes part in the development rule of law, helps to establish civilized relations with various countries, in particular with Israel, where more than 200 thousand immigrants from Ukraine live. A significant role is played by Jewish cultural and educational organizations that operate in 70 cities. Such international organizations as Sokhnut, the Institute of Jewish Material Culture, the International Jewish Solomon University, as well as Jewish schools, theaters, the press, etc. operate in Ukraine. The political and legal foundations of the modern Ukrainian state make it possible to resolve the misunderstanding in interfaith relations between representatives of various faiths. Tolerance, tolerance, continuity of religious traditions represent an unconditional guarantee of harmonization of the life of various religious communities.
It should be said that in addition to those presented in this topic, there were and still exist other types of national-ethnic religions, such as Zoroastrianism (the religion of the ancient Iranian peoples), religion and religious cults Ancient Greece, ancient rome, Ancient Egypt, Babylon, etc. Some of them disappeared along with the ethnic groups and states on the basis of which they functioned, and some continue to exist in our time (for example, Zoroastrianism).
In some countries, in the process of historical development, original religious systems were formed that reflected the whole complex of specific natural, social, spiritual and cultural factors. Ethnic and national religions (or national-ethnic), which functioned or continue to operate within the framework of nation-states, are closely related to the geographical environment, the way of life of certain peoples, and therefore arise as an important characteristic of the ethnos, becoming a powerful factor in ethnogenesis.
Sometimes within the same state, where separate religious groups have formed, there are several religions (multi-confessionalism), and sometimes, on the contrary, different ethnic groups profess one religion, which acquires regional or world significance. Certain peoples throughout history have tried to stick to their traditional (national) religions (Hinduism, Shintoism, Judaism), while others radically replace traditional folk religions with completely new ones (for example, in Ukraine, Christianity has replaced the pagan folk religion).
An important factor in the evolution of each religion is interaction with the external ethno-cultural environment, which leads to the transformation of the traditional belief system, the modification of cult practice, as well as theosophical concepts. Civilizational progress also has a significant impact, in particular the urbanization process, when functioning religions are radically modernized in order to adapt to new forms of life. True, in the process of establishing new religions, more ancient beliefs and cults are syncretically associated with the newest ones, constituting the ethnographic base of over-ethnic religious systems functioning in a new geocultural environment.
A retrospective analysis allows us to recreate the historical rhythm of this complex process, which includes such separate stages: origin - formation - development - distribution - maturity - decline, or transformation.
Since religion is organically woven into the socio-cultural life of mankind, insofar as it marks the influence of historical, social and ethnic factors. In the history of mankind, religion has played an outstanding role in the processes of formation of various national-ethnic groups and early state formations. An appeal to the history, content and functions of the most famous and influential national-ethnic religions allows us to better understand both the essence of religion and the formation of ethnic and state processes.
All three monotheistic religious systems, famous stories world cultures are closely related to each other, flow from one another and genetically ascend to the same Middle Eastern zone. The first and oldest of these is Judaism, the religion of the ancient Jews. Much has been written about Judaism. This religion with all its dogmas and rituals, rich historical and cultural tradition, recorded in the sacred texts, was studied in detail by specialists.
In fact, there is nothing surprising in the fact that a monotheistic religion took shape in the Middle East zone, where the most ancient centers of civilization first appeared and where, as early as the 3rd millennium BC. e. quite developed first religious systems were formed. It is also not surprising that it was here, where the oldest centralized despotisms in history existed, primarily Egypt, that the very idea of absolute power and supreme sovereignty of a deified ruler could lead to monotheism. It is important to note, however, that this relationship should not be taken lightly. Of course, the subjects of the Egyptian pharaoh quite definitely saw in their master the highest divine symbol, personifying their entire expanded ethno-cultural and socio-political community. Such an exceptional concentration of earthly power could lead to the idea that in heaven, that is, in the world of supernatural forces, the structure of power was something similar. It was precisely such assumptions that should have contributed to the maturation of the idea of monotheism. Tendencies towards the implementation of this idea showed themselves quite early, already in the time of Akhenaten. But trends are one thing, and their successful implementation is quite another.
Religion, as already mentioned, is an autonomous system. Its development largely depends on the norms that have developed in it since ancient times and is subject to the force of inertia of conservative traditions. Actively functioning to preserve the existing system, customary norms and conservative traditions usually stand guard over the status quo, so that new religious systems can relatively easily replace obsolete ones only under exceptional circumstances, in critical situations accompanied by radical breaking of the established structure. At the same time, one cannot discount the force that an all-powerful despot like a pharaoh can rely on in his reforms, including religious ones. Akhenaten obviously did not possess such power, and the discrediting of his reforms completely undermined the ideological base on which anyone else could rely in their attempts to replace the cults of the powerful and jealously competing ancient Egyptian gods and the influential priests who stood behind them with a single deity. Be that as it may, but exactly where it would be most logical to expect the emergence of monotheism, the opposition of a long-established and firmly established religious system, based on a powerful layer of traditions, did not allow it to establish itself. On the other hand, the idea of monotheism was picked up and developed by the semi-nomadic Semitic tribe of ancient Jews, who for some time found themselves in contact with the great empire of the pharaohs.
Rise of the cult of Yahweh
The history of the ancient Jews and the process of the formation of their religion are known mainly from the materials of the Bible, more precisely, its most ancient part - old testament. A careful analysis of biblical texts and the entire Old Testament tradition gives reason to conclude that at the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. Jews, like many other related Semitic tribes of Arabia and Palestine, were polytheists, that is, they believed in various gods and spirits, in the existence of the soul (believing that it materializes in blood) and relatively easily included deities of other peoples in their pantheon , especially among those conquered by them. This did not prevent the fact that each more or less large ethnic community had its own chief god to which they appealed in the first place. Apparently, Yahweh was one of such deities - the patron and divine ancestor of one of the tribes (kinship groups) of the Jewish people.
Later, the cult of Yahweh began to come out on top, pushing others aside and finding itself in the center of attention of the entire Jewish people. The myths about the legendary forefather of the Jews Abraham, about his son Isaac, the grandson of Jacob and the twelve sons of the latter (according to the number of which, as it began to be considered later, the Jewish people were divided into twelve tribes) over time acquired a rather consistent monotheistic connotation: God, with whom they directly had the case of these legendary patriarchs, whose advice they heeded and whose orders they acted, began to be considered one and the same - Yahweh. Why did Yahweh manage to become the only God of the ancient Jews?
The biblical legendary tradition tells that under the sons of Jacob, all the Jews (following Jacob's son Joseph, who fell into Egypt) ended up in the Nile Valley, where they were warmly welcomed by the pharaoh who favored the wise Joseph (who became a minister). After the death of Joseph and his brothers, all the twelve tribes of the Jews continued to live in Egypt for several centuries, but their life became more and more difficult with each generation. With the birth of Moses (in the tribe of Levi), the Jewish people found their leader, the true messiah, who managed to make direct contact with Yahweh and, following his advice, led the Jews out of the “captivity of Egypt” to the “promised land”, i.e. to Palestine . According to biblical legends, Moses was the first Jewish legislator, it is he who owns the famous ten commandments, inscribed on the tablets at the command of Yahweh. With the help of various miracles (with a wave of his hand, he forced the sea to recede, and the Jews passed through this passage, while the Egyptians pursuing them drowned in the waves of the newly closed sea; with a rod, Moses cut water from the rocks in the middle of the desert, etc.) he saved the Jews from death in a long and difficult journey. Therefore, Moses is considered the father of the Jewish religion, sometimes even called Mosaism after him.
Many serious researchers note that in historical documents, in particular ancient Egyptian ones, there is no direct evidence confirming this legendary tradition, and that the whole version of the Egyptian captivity and the exodus of Jews from Egypt to Palestine is doubtful. These doubts are not unfounded. But one should take into account the scarcity of ancient sources and take into account that the scale and significance of this whole story, carefully described in biblical tales, could be greatly exaggerated. It is possible that a small Semitic tribe actually ended up in Egypt or close to it, lived there for a number of centuries, then left this country (maybe even as a result of the conflict), taking with them a lot of the cultural heritage of the Nile Valley. Among the elements of such a cultural heritage in the first place should be attributed to the trend towards the formation of monotheism.
Without direct evidence, experts draw attention to indirect evidence of the great influence that Egyptian culture had on the ideological and doctrinal principles of the Jews, recorded in the Bible. So, for example, the biblical cosmogony (the original water abyss and chaos; the spirit hovering in the sky; the creation by the spirit of the abyss and chaos of light and firmament) almost literally repeats the main positions of the Egyptian cosmogony from Hermopolis (in Ancient Egypt there were several variants of cosmogony). Even more graphic and convincing parallels were found by scientists between the famous hymn to the god Aten from the time of Akhenaten and the 103rd psalm of the Bible: both texts - as Academician M.A. great one God and his wise deeds. This evidence is very convincing. Who knows, maybe Akhenaten's reforms really had an impact on the ideological and conceptual ideas of a small people who were somewhere near Egypt (if not even under its rule) in the middle of the 2nd millennium BC. e.?
If all this could be so, or at least approximately so (as some authors suggest, for example 3. Freud), then the possibility of the appearance in their midst of a reformer, a prophet, a charismatic leader (later so colorfully described in the Bible under the name of Moses) is also quite likely , who had not only to bring the Jews out of Egypt, but also to change and correct something in their beliefs, decisively bringing Yahweh to the fore, attributing to him the reforms and laws that later played such a significant role in the life of the Jews, their society, state, religion. The fact that subsequently all these deeds were shrouded in the Bible with a halo of mysticism and miracles and attributed to direct connections with Yahweh does not contradict the possibility of the real existence of a reformer like a prophet-messiah who could play a really important role in the history of the Jewish people and their religion. In a word, behind the legendary image of Moses, who led the Jews out of the "captivity of Egypt" and gave him the "laws of Yahweh", there may be a real process of gradual transformation of ancient Hebrew polytheism into monotheism. Moreover, the legendary "exodus" of the Jews and their appearance in Palestine fall precisely on those very XIV-XIII centuries. BC e., when Egypt had just experienced a radical transformation of Pharaoh Akhenaten.
Jews in Palestine
Having conquered Palestine (Canaan) and brutally dealt with its settled population (the Bible colorfully describes the "feats" of the Jews, who, with the blessing of Yahweh, ruthlessly destroyed entire cities and devastated the fertile areas of this fertile part of the Middle East region), the ancient Jews settled in this country, they switched to an agricultural way of life and created their own state here. At the same time, the traditions of the ancient Palestinian Semitic peoples, now included in the Jewish state, had a considerable influence on the development of their culture - perhaps also religion. Its first kings - the unifier of the country Saul, the brave David, the sage Solomon (XI-X centuries BC), whose activities are vividly described in the Bible - failed, however, to create a strong state, which after Solomon split into two parts Israel in the north and Judah in the south. The power of the kings in both states was weak, but on the other hand, the priests of the Jerusalem temple and various kinds of “servants of God”, Nazirites (“holy” people) and prophets, who spoke out with denunciation of injustices and social inequality, which became more and more noticeable as development of society. These "servants of God" saw salvation from all troubles in the frenzied cult of the great Yahweh, in the hope of his mercy and will.
The Jerusalem temple over time, especially after the reforms of the Jewish king Josiah in 622 BC. e., became not only the center, but also practically the only place where rituals and sacrifices were performed in honor of Yahweh. The rest of the sanctuaries and altars, as well as the cults of other Hebrew and borrowed by the Jews from the peoples of Canaan they conquered, from the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. gradually died off. Only Yahweh was now offered prayers by the priests from the tribe of Levi, that is, the descendants of Moses. Yahweh was on the lips of numerous prophets, whose teachings were included in the Bible (in the Old Testament) and have survived to this day. At the same time, it is significant to note that the prophets competed with the priests of the Jerusalem temple, representing something of an opposition to the official course of the cult of Yahweh. To a certain extent, it can be said that the whole life of the people and the policy of the state were concentrated around Yahweh and the Temple in Jerusalem. No wonder the entire period of Hebrew history until 586 BC. e., when Jerusalem was conquered by Babylonia, the temple was destroyed, and many Jews, led by priests and prophets, were taken captive to Babylon, is called the period of the First Temple. This temple, built in the tenth century. BC e. Solomon of strong stone and Lebanese cedar, was an impressive structure. Its construction was a heavy burden on the people, and some authors suggest that this was the reason for the collapse of the Jewish state after Solomon.
The period of the First Temple is the era of increasing the power of the priests and strengthening the cult of Yahweh. Even then, those foundations of hierocracy (the power of the clergy) and theocracy were formed, which clearly manifested themselves later, during the period of the Second Temple. After the conquest of Babylonia by the Persian king Cyrus, the Jews in 538 BC. e. allowed to return to Jerusalem, and the temple was rebuilt. Its priests were drowning in luxury - plentiful offerings flocked to them from all over the country. During the period of the Second Temple, the cult of the one and all-powerful Yahweh, cleansed of the layers of the past, began to be carried out even sharper and more consistently than before. The priests of the temple, who practically took all the power in the country into their own hands, vigorously fought against polytheistic remnants and superstitions, in particular, they banned the manufacture of any idols.
The whole history and theory of Judaism, so closely connected with the life and destinies of the ancient Jews, was reflected in the Bible, in its Old Testament. Although the Bible, as the sum of sacred books, began to be completed at the turn of the II-I millennium BC. e. (the oldest parts of it date back to the 14th-13th centuries, and the first records - approximately to the 9th century BC), the main part of the texts and, apparently, the edition of the general code dates from the period of the Second Temple. The Babylonian captivity gave a powerful impetus to the work of writing these books: the priests taken away from Jerusalem no longer had to worry about maintaining the temple ”and were forced to focus their efforts on rewriting and editing the scrolls, on compiling new texts. After returning from captivity, this work was continued and, ultimately, completed.
The Old Testament part of the Bible (most of it) consists of a number of books. First, there is the famous Pentateuch attributed to Moses. The first book (“Genesis”) tells about the creation of the world, about Adam and Eve, the global flood and the first Hebrew patriarchs, and finally, about Joseph and the Egyptian captivity. The second book ("Exodus") tells about the exodus of the Jews from Egypt, about Moses and his commandments, about the beginning of the organization of the cult of Yahweh. The third (“Leviticus”) is a set of religious dogmas, rules, rituals. The fourth (“Numbers”) and the fifth (“Deuteronomy”) are devoted to the history of the Jews after the Egyptian captivity. The Pentateuch (in Hebrew - Torah) was the most revered part of the Old Testament, and later it was the interpretation of the Torah that brought to life the multi-volume Talmud and formed the basis for the activities of rabbis in all Jewish communities of the world.
Following the Pentateuch, the Bible contains the books of the judges and kings of Israel, the books of the prophets and several other works - a collection of psalms of David (Psalter), the Song of Solomon, Proverbs of Solomon, etc. The value of these books is different, sometimes their fame and popularity are incommensurable. However, they were all considered sacred and studied by many hundreds of millions of people, dozens of generations of believers, not only Jews, but also Christians.
The Bible is, first of all, a church book that instilled in its readers a blind faith in the omnipotence of God, in his omnipotence, in miracles performed by him, etc. The Old Testament texts taught Jews humility before the will of Yahweh, obedience to him, as well as priests and prophets speaking on his behalf . However, this content of the Bible is far from exhausted. Her texts contain a lot of deep reflections about the universe and the fundamental principles of being, about relationships between people, about moral standards, social values, etc., which is usually found in every sacred book that claims to present the essence of a particular creed.
Miracles and Legends of the Old Testament
The main thing in the Old Testament traditions is not the miracles that Yahweh himself showed when, for example, he created the firmament of the earth or sculpted Eve from Adam's rib. Their essence lies in that miraculous connection that Yahweh allegedly had with the people he patronized, in that supernatural wisdom that he allegedly generously endowed with his chosen patriarchs and leaders of this people. This is what was put into the text in the first place. holy book. Here is the first patriarch of the Jews, Abraham, whose wife Sarah, already in her old age, gave birth to her only son Isaac, is ready at the first word of Yahweh to sacrifice his firstborn to him - as a reward for such zealous reverence and obedience, the Lord blesses Abraham, Isaac and all their tribe. Here is the son of Isaac Jacob, already bearing the blessing of the Lord, overcoming all the difficulties of his life path, gets himself a beloved wife, multiplies his herds, acquires a large family and huge property. Here is the beautiful Joseph, the beloved son of Jacob from his beloved wife, betrayed by his envious brothers, falls into slavery in Egypt. But Yahweh is vigilantly watching his fate: the pharaoh has a prophetic dream, as if seven fat cows come ashore, followed by seven skinny ones, the skinny ones attack the fat ones and devour them. Pharaoh demands that the meaning of the dream be explained to him, but no one is able to do this until they remember Joseph, who by that time had already gained fame in this area. Joseph explains the meaning of the dream: seven fruitful years will come, then seven lean years; time to prepare and take action. The delighted pharaoh makes Joseph a minister, after which the brothers, who arrived in Egypt for alms in the famine years of lean years, admit their guilt, ask for forgiveness and move to Egypt.
Miracles follow miracles - and all by the grace of Yahweh, who blessed his people, endowed them with wisdom and vigilantly followed their fate. When the life of the Jews in Egypt became unbearable, Yahweh blessed Moses to save the people, to lead them to the promised land. And Moses, who almost regularly consulted with the Lord, borrowed commandments and laws from him, received with his help both manna from heaven, and water from the rock, and much more, fulfilled his destiny - not without a struggle with those who resisted him, whom he convinced with with the help of all new miracles.
Yahweh guards his people and opens all paths for them. With his blessing, the Jews attack the flourishing cities of Palestine, ruthlessly destroy its population and finally take possession of the promised land promised to them by Yahweh. True, this is not easy: the enemy fights, sometimes even overcomes - and then the Lord sends the strong man Samson, who destroys the enemies, the wise child David, who kills the giant Goliath with a sling, and finally, the great sage Solomon. And they all lead the people from success to success. True, after Solomon, less wise rulers led the people to decline, and for all the deeds that were objectionable to the Lord, the Jews were punished by the destruction of Jerusalem, the temple, and Babylonian captivity. But for too long, Yahweh could not be angry - and punishment was followed by forgiveness. With the help of Yahweh, the Jewish people returned to Jerusalem, rebuilt new temple and again began to zealously worship his God.
So, the quintessence of the Old Testament is in the idea of being chosen by God. God is one for all - this is the great Yahweh. But the almighty Yahweh singled out one of all nations - the Jewish one. The progenitor of the Jews, Abraham, Yahweh gave his blessing, and since then this people with all its successes and failures, disasters and joys, piety and disobedience has been in the center of attention of the great God. It is characteristic that during the period of the Second Temple, i.e., approximately from the 5th century. BC e., the Jerusalem priests very strictly ensured that the Jews did not enter into marriage relations with foreigners, with "uncircumcised pagans" (the rite of circumcision performed on all male babies on the eighth day of their life and consisting in cutting off the "foreskin", symbolized the introduction to the Jewish people, to faith in the great Yahweh).
Like other monotheistic religions, Judaism not only sharply opposed polytheism and superstition, but was also a religion that did not tolerate the existence of any other gods and spirits along with the great and one God. A distinctive feature of Judaism was expressed in its exclusive belief in the omnipotence of Yahweh; the idea of this omnipotence is perhaps best reflected in the Book of Job, included in the Bible. This book tells about the sufferings of Job, from whom Yahweh, who decided to conduct a kind of experiment, alternately took away wealth, children, health and led him to the brink of death, as if testing whether Job, distinguished by piety, would complain, whether he would renounce the great and all-good Yahweh. Job endured for a long time, suffering and still blessing the Lord. But on the verge of death, he could not stand it and murmured. The Lord, through messengers faithful to him, severely condemned Job for cowardice and unbelief, for grumbling and opposition - and the disgraced Job humbled himself, after which God restored his health and wealth, his wife bore him ten more children, and he himself lived for many years. The book of Job is instructive, and not so much in terms of the fight against God, which, in essence, is not in it, but in terms of educating humility and humility, the ability not to lose heart in misfortune and start all over again, relying on the help of the almighty Yahweh.
The God-chosen motives of Judaism have played a significant role in the history and destinies of the Jewish people. The convinced belief in their exclusivity, chosenness contributed to the development of the adaptability with which the sons of Israel found the optimal forms of their existence after the turn of our era, when the Jewish state ceased to exist, and the majority of Jews scattered around the world (Jews of the Diaspora - scattered). It was the Jews, according to their ideas, who owned the truth, knew God, one and common for all. However, this great and omnipotent God, who reciprocated the Jews and distinguished them from others, was practically only their god, that is, the deity of a small people. This contradiction led to the fact that the truly considerable spiritual and intellectual potential of the Jews, born of Judaism, was, as it were, driven inside, into the depths of the religion itself. As a result, in the passionate eschatological predictions of the Jewish prophets, ideas about the messiah, about the coming prophet who would appear and save people, were increasingly heard. The prophet Isaiah associated with this moment the onset of the kingdom of universal harmony, when the wolf lies peacefully next to the lamb and when swords are beaten into plowshares. The prophet Daniel predicted in his visions that the "son of man" was coming, whose kingdom would be eternal and just.
At the turn of our era, the idea of a messiah spread throughout Jewish society, it was professed by many different sects, from day to day waiting for divine intervention in the course of history. Apparently, to a large extent, these ideas and moods provoked military actions of the Jews against Roman rule (the Jewish War of 66-73). The uprisings of the Jews, suppressed by the Romans with extraordinary cruelty, put an end to the existence of the Jewish state and the beginning of the resettlement of Jews throughout the world.
Judaism of the Jews of the Diaspora
A considerable number of Jews lived outside the Jewish states of Palestine even before that. However, it was the destruction of the temple (70th year) and the destruction of Jerusalem (133rd year) that put an end to the existence of the Hebrew state and, along with it, to ancient Judaism. In the diaspora, another religious organization arose - the synagogue. A synagogue is a prayer house, a kind of religious and social center of the Jewish community, where rabbis and other Torah experts interpret sacred texts, pray to Yahweh (but do not make sacrifices!) and resolve all disputes and problems that arise among parishioners with the power of their authority. Formed by the III-V centuries. a kind of commentary on the Torah - the Talmud, has become the main set of religious prescriptions. The texts of the Talmud and the Bible were studied by boys in synagogue schools under the guidance of special teachers - melameds.
The synagogue organization, the authority of the rabbis - everything was aimed at ensuring that Judaism, in the absence of social, political, territorial, even linguistic unity of the Diaspora Jews scattered all over the world, served as an integrating moment. It was the religion of the ancestors - Judaism - that was supposed to preserve the ethno-cultural community of the descendants of the ancient Jews. In addition, the very pressing needs of everyday life, the need for some kind of local association in the interests of protection, with the aim of organizing, adapting Jews in ethno-cultural and religious-political societies alien to them, determined their craving for unity, which was reflected in religious organizations that were natural for that time. . However, this natural traction to unity in a foreign land, in conditions of sometimes severe oppression, even pogroms, was exploited by the synagogue elite of the Jewish communities, proclaiming the religion, Judaism - the only binding force connecting Jews scattered all over the world with each other.
All this contributed to the fact that in the Judaism of the Jews of the Diaspora, much attention was paid to the rituals of circumcision, ablutions, fasting, as well as strict observance of rituals and holidays. An Orthodox Jew was supposed to consume only kosher (that is, permitted for food) meat, but in no case, for example, pork. This meat was sold in special shops of butchers-slaughterers, who learned how to cut animals according to special rules. On the days of the Easter holidays, it was supposed to eat matsupress cakes made without yeast and salt. It was believed that the Passover holidays should be spent at home, that Passover - the ancient holiday of the Jews, dating back to memories of their life as pastoralists, when they sacrificed a lamb, whose blood was smeared on the crossbars of the entrance to the tent - is closely connected with the legendary exodus from Egypt under the leadership of Moses . In addition to Passover, the Jews of the Diaspora celebrated the Doomsday, Yomkippur, which fell in autumn (September-October), shortly after the onset of the Jewish lunar new year. It was believed that this is the day of humility and repentance, purification and prayers for sins: it was on this day that God was to determine the fate of every person on earth. next year. It was necessary to prepare especially for the Day of Judgment, as well as for Easter, to perform fasts, ablutions, etc. Among the sacred days of the Jews is Saturday - the day when one should not do any work, up to cooking, lighting a fire.
Judaism and the history of the culture of the East
Judaism as a monotheistic religion, as a developed cultural tradition with mythopoetic and philosophical intellectual potential has played a certain role in the history of culture, in particular in the history of Eastern cultures. This role is most noticeable in the fact that through Christianity and, especially through Islam, the religious and cultural principles of monotheism began to spread widely in the East. The countries and peoples of the East, and, above all, the Middle East, closely connected with Judaism by common roots and cultural and genetic affinity, along with the idea of monotheism, also adopted the mythopoetic tradition of biblical texts with their legendary heroes and prophets, patriarchs and kings. This religious and cultural legacy of Judaism penetrated to the Muslim peoples of the East primarily through Islam, through the suras of the Koran, although many orthodox Muslims are not even aware of the primary source of the wisdom of the commandments and prescriptions, of the real prototypes of the sages and prophets of the Koran.
In addition to the indirect religious and cultural impact of Judaism on the countries and peoples of the Middle East, including the culture of the medieval Islamic world, Judaism also had a more direct impact with the help of the Jews of the Diaspora, scattered all over the world, including many countries of the East. Jewish communities, usually concentrated in the most developed and prosperous economic and commercial centers, were quite rich and influential. True, this circumstance often contributed to hostility, and even persecution, but it also played a certain role both in preserving the religious tradition of Judaism and in its spread along with Jews moving from place to place. The influence of Judaism on the surrounding Jewish settlements-communities varied. Most often, it was limited to only a small cultural impact. Sometimes Judaism took deeper roots, acquiring the support of those in power and becoming an influential religious factor in certain countries, as, for example, in the South Arabian state of the Himyarites in the 4th-6th centuries. Much less often, only in exceptional cases, it came to the complete conversion of one or another people of the East to Judaism.
The first of the more or less large states in which Judaism became the official ideology was the Khazar Khaganate. After the death of this ethnically Turkic state, the remnants of the Khazars dispersed. There is a point of view that some of them eventually received the name of Karaites, whose descendants live, professing Judaism in a modified form, on the territory of Lithuania, in the Crimea, in Ukraine. Judaism became widespread among part of the highlanders of the Caucasus (Mountain Jews), in Central Asia (Bukharian Jews), in Ethiopia (Falasha, or "black Jews"). The transition of some ethnic communities to Judaism was accompanied by the penetration into their midst of a certain number of Jews, who mixed with the local population.
Over time, Judaism became more and more isolated within its communities and isolated from the religions that surrounded it. Existing mainly in a Christian or Islamic environment (outside of it, there were very few Jewish communities in India, China and other regions), Judaism not only did not have any intellectual, cultural or doctrinal advantages, but practically turned out to be only the earliest version of the dominant religion. . More developed monotheistic religions, which arose on its basis and absorbed a lot of new things, opened themselves to the world incomparably wider than Judaism, in many respects clearly surpassed their alma mater. Naturally, under such conditions, the Jewish communities of the Jews of the Diaspora, who held on to Judaism as the faith of their fathers, an important ethnically integrating force, retained influence only among their own. And it was precisely this circumstance, fueled by pogroms and persecution, that contributed to the strengthening of the position of Judaism among the Jews.
Cult of Yahweh
These major changes in the social life of people could not but be reflected in religion: from the numerous host of spirits and gods in which various Jewish tribes and clans believed, a god stood out, who began to be considered the patron of the entire Jewish people. It is clear that this could take place only when the tribes began to unite. The God of the Jewish people began to be considered Yahweh, or, as he was previously incorrectly called in the literature, Jehovah.
The cult of Yahweh is of very ancient origin. It existed long before the unification of the Jewish tribes into the Israeli state. But then he was one of many cults, and Yahweh himself was considered one of the many gods worshiped by various Jewish tribes. Known, for example, are the names of the goddess Anat, the gods Bethel, Elyon, Shaddai. The influence of the peoples of neighbors, in particular, the Phoenicians, Assyrians, Babylonians, also affected: the Jews borrowed from them the gods Tammuz, Moloch, Astarte.
History knows a form of religion which late XIX century scientists have been given the name (henotheism). It lies in the fact that a given people or a given tribe worship a certain god, considering him to be their supreme patron and leader: but at the same time he does not deny the existence of other gods, alien, patronizing other peoples and tribes. The worship of Yahweh was for many centuries not monotheistic, not monotheistic, but geotheistic: it did not exclude, but, on the contrary, assumed the recognition that other peoples had other gods.
Initially, Yahweh was revered by some clans and tribes of pastoral nomads as the spirit or demon of the desert. In the future, he turned into the god of the tribe of Judah. When the Jewish tribes united in the State of Israel, and leading role the tribe of Judah played in this connection, the patron god of this tribe became the patron god of the entire Jewish people and the kingdom of Israel. Its main function has also changed. Since his main task, as a patron, was to lead military operations against the Philistines, Moabites and other external enemies, he became the god of war. Gradually changed in the imagination of believers and appearance god Yahweh. Initially, he was depicted, probably in the form of a lion, then? in the form of a bull (calf). In the future, Yahweh acquires a human image, although in very many cases his later images retain the features of an animal.
In the view of believers, Yahweh was by no means omnipresent: he lived in a certain place. It is known that Mount Sinai has long been considered the abode of Yahweh. Its heights served as an object of worship for other gods of Palestine. When the cult of Yahweh began to acquire a predominant character, the service of Yahweh began to be performed on the same heights, and the service to other vaals (masters, gods) was performed on them until now. It was very easy to redirect worship from any Vaal to Yahweh, since the nature of this worship was the same: as a rule, it was a bloody sacrifice, accompanied by a very brief verbal appeal to God. The question of the place of worship was considered very important. It was connected with the question of where the god lives, for he had to pray exactly where he was. Over time, the idea that Yahweh dwells in one particular place has arisen? in the ark. According to the biblical description, the ark was a box on a stretcher, on the lid of which were two cast gold cherubs (cherubs) [See. Exodus, ch. XXXVII]. Some researchers of the Hebrew religion believe that the original ark depicted the throne of Yahweh, others believe that it contained statues of Yahweh in the form of a calf and his wife Anat-Yahu. There is also an opinion that meteorite stones were in the ark. In any case, it is noteworthy that the god Yahweh, according to biblical ideas, lived in a portable box.
As the cult of Yahweh more and more supplanted the cults of other tribal and tribal gods, the priests of this god stood out and, over time, gained more and more importance. Their main duty during this period was not sacrifice? by this, by old tradition tribal society, are still involved in the believers themselves, mainly the heads of clans and families,? but questioning the deity, asking him for predictions and advice. The priest divined with the help of pebbles or sticks called urim and tumim, as well as in other ways; Yahweh answered him flawlessly, and the believer, who turned to Yahweh's help through the priest, received an "exact" answer to the question of how he should act in this particular case. If the tsar himself addressed the question, the answer became especially important: depending on it, the tsar could, for example, start a war or not start a war. In the hands of the priests, therefore, there was an important means of influencing state policy.
There is no doubt that human sacrifices were made to the god Yahweh. The Bible has preserved many traces of this barbarism. Although the corresponding passages were written at a later time, the custom of human sacrifice is certainly of an older origin and, of course, belongs to the period we are now talking about.
During this period of modern bible books was not there yet. There were oral traditions, legends, songs, parables and other works of folk art, of course, religiously colored.
Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. The word "Judaism" comes from the Greek ioudaismos, introduced by Greek-speaking Jews c. 100 BC to distinguish their religion from the Greek. It goes back to the name of the fourth son of Jacob - Judah (Yehuda), whose descendants, together with the descendants of Benjamin, formed the southern - Judaic - kingdom with its capital in Jerusalem. After the fall of the northern kingdom of Israel and the dispersion of the tribes inhabiting it, the people of Judah (later known as Yehudim, Jews, or Jews) became the main bearer of Jewish culture and remained so even after the destruction of his state.
Judaism as a religion is the most important element of Jewish civilization. Thanks to the awareness of their religious chosenness and the special purpose of their people, the Jews were able to survive in conditions when they repeatedly lost their national and political identity.
Judaism implies belief in the only God and the real impact of this belief on life. But Judaism is not only an ethical system, it includes religious, historical, ritual and national
elements. Moral behavior is not self-sufficient, it must combine
Xia with the belief that virtue "glorifies the one God."
The main rationale for the key beliefs and practices of Judaism is the history of the Jewish people. Even borrowing ancient holidays or rituals
in the developed cultures of Canaan and Babylonia, Judaism changed their main meaning, supplementing and then replacing the natural interpretation of the historical
Sky. For example, Pesach (Jewish Passover), originally a spring holiday
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LECTURE 8. HISTORY OF JUDAISM
harvest, became a holiday of liberation from Egyptian slavery. The ancient custom of circumcision, originally used by other peoples as a rite that marked the entry of a boy into puberty, was transformed into an act performed at the birth of a boy and symbolizing the introduction of a child into a covenant (union-agreement) that God concluded with Abraham.
The conclusion to which in the XIX century. came some (mostly Christians-
sky) historians of religions that Jewish history has given rise to two different religions,
namely, the religion of Israel before Ezra (c. 444 B.C.) and then Judaism, has been recognized as erroneous by many. The evolution of Judaism is continuous, and like other religions, Judaism has changed and developed, freeing itself from many old elements and perceiving new principles and norms in accordance with changing conditions. Despite the increasing role of legal elements in Judaism after the Babylonian captivity, religion remained essentially the same as in the period before the captivity, and any significant doctrine of Judaism after the captivity goes back to earlier teachings. Judaism after the captivity, without retreating from the universalism of the former prophets, raised their universalism to a new height in the works of Deutero-Isaiah, the books of Ruth, Jonah, the Psalms, the so-called literature of wisdom and compiled by the Pharisees Halakha and Haggadah.
In a primitive form, the Jewish religion existed during the period of the Patriarchy.
arches (c. 2000-1600 BC), in an era characterized by the deification of the forces of nature, belief in the power of demons and spirits, taboo, distinction between clean and unclean animals, and veneration of the dead. The germs of some of the important ethical ideas that Moses and the prophets later developed existed already in the earliest period.
According to the Bible, Abraham was the first to recognize the spiritual nature of the only God. For Abraham, God is the supreme God in whom I believe
who can turn, God does not need temples and priests,
he is omnipotent and omniscient. Abraham left his family, which did not abandon the Assyrian-Babylonian beliefs, and until his death he wandered in Canaan
from place to place, preaching faith in the only God.
Under Moses (probably 15th century BC), who was brought up in a highly developed Egyptian culture, Judaism adopted more complex
and sophisticated forms. Moses gave religion the form of the exclusive worship of Yahweh (as the Jews called God). It was his intervention that he explained the terrible catastrophe that befell Egypt and led
to the liberation from slavery of the Israelites and the heterogeneous mass of the oppressed - those who were destined to become the Jewish people. The veneration of the only God was accompanied by the establishment of ritual and social laws, which
which guided the children of Israel during their wanderings in the wilderness. Cult and ritual had no special meaning for Moses, they were only an additional means of helping the people to maintain devotion to God.
The main emphasis was placed on the observance of the spiritual and moral law formulated in the Ten Commandments, which strongly forbade the worship of idols depicting the Gods. The religion of Moses allowed
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LECTURE 8. HISTORY OF JUDAISM
1. Sources for the study of Judaism. Tanakh. The rise of monotheism. Cult of Yahweh. Messianism. Talmud
the armament of a special tent, the tabernacle of the covenant, which served as a visible sign of the divine presence, as well as the ark of the covenant, a wooden box lined with gold, where the “covenant” of Yahweh was placed, a mysterious object from which, possibly, dangerous radioactive radiation emanated (1 Sam. 5-6).
After conquering Canaan, the sons of Israel, influenced by local religious customs, developed a cult that included sacrifices, holidays, and local sanctuaries with an organized priesthood. Israelites in Canaan
also discovered an extremely ramified cult of fertility deities,
chief among which was Asirat.
Later, in connection with the struggle against idolatry, prophets appeared in Israel - a group of people unique in the history of the ancient world, thanks to whom
by which the religion of the Jewish people reached its highest peak. These were people of various social backgrounds who dared to announce
to speak loudly what was revealed to them, even if their prophecies heralded great disasters, the death of an entire people, or the destruction of the Temple. They preached pure monotheism and universalism, their teaching was permeated with the pathos of social justice. The prophets fought not so much for
against sacrificial offerings, how much against giving them an independent value or considering them as the observance of the union-treaty of Israel with God. The controversy of the prophets, which can also be traced in the psalms,
played an important role in the liquidation of many independent cult centers, but not in the abolition of sacrifices. As a result of the centralization of cult in the reign of Josiah, the Jerusalem Temple supplanted the old sanctuaries
with their pagan deities and cults. It was precisely the prophetic criticism of the cult of sacrifices and the subordination of righteousness to the ritual side that to a large extent led to the so-called Deuteronomic reform.
formation, which was carried out by King Josiah c. 621 BC
With the fall of the Kingdom of Judah and the destruction of the Temple in 586 BC.
among exiled Jews living in Babylonia, Judaism took on new forms. During the exile, the Jews settled not only in Babylonia,
but also in Egypt, Syria and other countries. There was no trend towards idolatry in exile, and at this time only those rites were performed that were not connected with temple worship. Sabbath observance
and circumcision were the most important signs of the union-agreement with God. Traditions were recounted in the meetings, the Scriptures were interpreted, psalms and other works of religious poetry were read, confessions were made and prayers were
general or individual. Prayer service became an innovation in Jewish life. There was no longer a need for buildings, objects of worship, and the class of priests; all that was required was the will of the group or the individual. In the assembly
they did not divide people according to their social affiliation, and in this sense, democracy later became feature synagogues. When the exiles returned to Jerusalem, the worship of prayer, which was developed
In the synagogues, it became part of the temple service, and after the second destruction of the Temple (70 AD) it again supplanted the sacrifices. The synagogue replaced the Temple. For Jews living in the Diaspora, it served as a prayer house, a
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LECTURE 8. HISTORY OF JUDAISM
1. Sources for the study of Judaism. Tanakh. The rise of monotheism. Cult of Yahweh. Messianism. Talmud
religious school and meeting place. During the Babylonian captivity and after it, the universal significance of the ideas of Judaism was revealed, and it was transformed from a community based on blood relationship to a community based on faith, a member of which could be a representative of any people. National ideals were preserved, which coexisted with the idea of the unity of mankind. This concept is illustrated by seventy sacrifices on the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), symbolizing the participation of seventy peoples of the world in the service of one God.
A little over a hundred years after the destruction of the Temple, the exiles
began to return to Palestine. Under the leadership of Nehemiah, they
they rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem and raised the Temple again. On his orders, Jews annulled marriages with foreign wives in order to preserve the Jewish community, which was threatened by the penetration of pagan cults and customs brought by foreign women.
If the Temple again became a place of sacrifice, then the synagogue provided an opportunity for everyone to study the Torah (Law). The Law of Moses limited the field of activity of the priestly (priestly) class; task
interpretations of the Torah were taken over by learned scribes (“soferim”). The prestige of the scribes increased, especially at a time when the hereditary priesthood began to adapt to Hellenistic customs and customs. scribes
successfully led the struggle for the preservation of national and religious purity. In the struggle for freedom, the sons of Mattathia Hasmonean, led by Judas Maccabeus, led the Jews to victory over the Greek troops of Antiochus Epi-
fana (the holiday of Hanukkah is dedicated to the victory in it).
Ezra (Ezra) and the scribes who came after Nehemiah (V-II centuries BC)
are credited with finalizing the three-part canon of the Jewish
Bible (Tanakh). This work was created at a time when many apocryphal writings appeared. Now the study of the Written Law (Torah she-bihtav) was supplemented by the interpretation of the Oral Law (Torah she-be-al-pe), composed of the commandments that, according to legend, Moses received at Sinai along with the Written Torah. Obviously, many provisions of the Written Torah have changed over time. The Written and Oral Law covered ritual practice, economic activity law, hygiene, inheritance law, property law, agriculture, clothing, food bans almost every area of human life. The written and oral Torah determined not just religion, but a way of life.
In the II century. BC. In Judaism, two groups took shape - the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees belonged to the priesthood and the nobility; they served as the backbone of the Zadokid priestly dynasty and are probably named after its founder, Zadok. The Pharisees, who represented the middle strata of society and acted in accordance with the tradition of the scribes, tried to limit the influence of the Sadducees and challenged their decisions. They proclaimed the priesthood of the whole people as their ideal and were convinced that the whole life of a person should be permeated with piety. The Sadducees proceeded from the letter of the Law, the Pharisees from its spirit. Unlike the Sadducees, the Pharisees, along with Scripture
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LECTURE 8. HISTORY OF JUDAISM
1. Sources for the study of Judaism. Tanakh. The rise of monotheism. Cult of Yahweh. Messianism. Talmud
The Torah was recognized as the Oral Torah developed by scribes and rabbis (rabbis, teachers of the law), considering its prescriptions obligatory for execution. Thanks to the recognition of the authority of both the Written and the Oral Law, the life of the Jewish people did not lose its traditional features even after the fall of the Jewish state and the destruction of the Temple. The increased authority of the Law turned the teachers of the Torah into the undisputed leaders of the people. There were also differences between the Pharisees and Sadducees on a number of specific issues. Thus, the Pharisees recognized the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and the resurrection from the dead, while the Sadducees rejected it.
The tradition of the Pharisees was continued by the tannai (tannaim - "teachers"), amora
(amoraim – “interpreters”) and Savorai (savoraim – “explaining”), scholars whose collective work culminated in the creation of the Talmud, a huge collection of documents, including the Oral Law, legal conclusions, discussions and decisions on various issues, moral prescriptions and principles, as well as historical narratives, legends and traditions. The Talmud took its final form in Babylonia c. 500. The last edition of the Babylonian Talmud is attributed to Ravina, head of the academy at Sura, and Rabbi Yose, head of the academy at Pumbedita. The Jerusalem or Palestine Talmud, written in the schools of Palestine for many generations, was completed c. 350 in Jerusalem.
The Talmud consists of two parts. The first part is the Mishnah, a work of the Tannaites, edited by Judah ha-Nasi ("Judah the Prince"); the second is the Gemara (“completion”), the result of the work of the Amorais. The legal material of the Talmud is called Halacha, and the homiletic, allegorical and poetic material is called Haggadah (“narrative”, “narrative”). Doctrine is assigned a subordinate role, since fundamental principles of the Jewish faith, being well-known and recognized, did not need to be listed or any special formulations. The main attention is paid to the norms regulating the behavior of Jews in any sphere of life. Halakha is the main division of the Talmud, while the Haggadah is much more prominent in other rabbinic works. This genre, midrash, provided the basic material for Jewish theology.
The era of the Savorai lasted until 600. Approximately at this time, a galaxy of leading scientists, gaons (from the Hebrew “geonym” – “excellencies”, “glorified”) appeared. The Gaons presided over the academies at Sura and Pumbedita, two of the leading schools in Babylonia, which became centers for the study of law after the Romans closed the schools in Palestine (300). At that time, the head of the Babylonian community was the "resh galuta" ("head of the exiles", "exilarch"), who, as a rule, was approved by the Persian authorities. But the real influence on the life of the Jews, both in Babylonia and in other countries, was exerted by gaons. The gaonate period lasted about 450 years (600-1050). Some eminent gaons commented on and taught the Law in the schools they headed and, as chief judges, introduced it into the life of the communities. They were engaged in research that went beyond Talmu-
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LECTURE 8. HISTORY OF JUDAISM
1. Sources for the study of Judaism. Tanakh. The rise of monotheism. Cult of Yahweh. Messianism. Talmud
yes, history, grammar, liturgy. Rabbi Sherira Gaon of Pumbedita in 987 wrote a famous epistle to the Jews of Kairouan on the evolution of the Talmud, which remains one of the important sources on the subject. Rabbi Amram Gaon of Sura in 870 and Rabbi Saadia Gaon (892-942), an eminent grammarian and philosopher, developed the liturgy. Many gaons, responding to requests from the Jews of the Diaspora, wrote lengthy responsa (this was the name given to the messages of authoritative rabbis in response to a question of a halakhic nature; the decision set forth in the responsa was a precedent and had the force of law). The best known are the responsa of Rabbi Chai Gaon of Pumbedita, dated to around 1000. The Gaons also edited the Talmudic law codes.
A sect that arose in the era of the gaonate, known under the name of the Karaites, rejected
Gala Talmud. These were the followers of Anan ben David (died c. 800),
unsuccessfully applied for the post of exilarch, which was held by his uncle. Hardened against the Gaons, who did not support his claims to this position, Anan went to Palestine, where he gathered around him a group of followers convinced that the prescriptions of the Talmudists perverted the Law. Anan called for strict observance of the letter of the Law as formulated in the Bible. Answering Anan, the rabbis first emphasized the authority of the Talmud, believing that in the conditions of the spread of Islam it is necessary to adhere to the interpretation of the Written and Oral Torah, consecrated by centuries of tradition. In order to adequately respond to the challenge of the Karaites, the Talmudists engaged in intensive study of the Bible, Jewish grammar and philology, as well as Jewish theology and ethics. In the end, the growth of the Karaite movement ceased, and for the next generations the Talmud remained the most authoritative work.
Generally speaking, the Talmud is not so much an ordered code as a simple collection of laws. In addition, the Talmud was enriched with extensive commentaries by rabbis who interpreted it in accordance with changing social and cultural conditions. There were no hard and fast rules of interpretation, no ultimate authority or ultimate authority. In most cases commentators tried to find justification for their views in the Bible and Talmud, or in the writings of predecessor rabbis. The leading commentator on the Talmud was Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzhak of Troyes,
1040-1105). It was said that without his commentary, the Talmud could now become a book with seven seals.
Although the commentaries made it easier to study the Talmud, there was a need for an accessible manual that was easy to apply. Very early began to draw up codes of Jewish laws, designed to fill
this shortcoming. Among the first are the Great Ordinances (Galakhot Gedolot) and Gilhot Alfasi, which opened the way for further codification. The most important of the later codices was the code of Maimonides Repetition of the Law
(Mishneh Torah), Four rows (Arbaa Turim), work of Jacob ben Asher (died
1340), and the Set Table (Shulkhan Arukh) by Joseph Karo (1488-1575). Co-
The Dex of Maimonides presents the system of Judaism in its entirety, and
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LECTURE 8. HISTORY OF JUDAISM
1. Sources for the study of Judaism. Tanakh. The rise of monotheism. Cult of Yahweh. Messianism. Talmud
Maimonides, unlike other codifiers, did not follow the order accepted in the Talmud, but grouped the material in his own way and introduced new sections. He did not refer to authorities, for which he was criticized; his style is laconic. Shulkhan Arukh Karo, compiled on the basis of Arbaa Turim and supplied with the glosses of Moses Isserles (1520-1572), is accepted by modern Orthodox Jewry as a normative code.
“The revolutionary essence of Yahwism consisted in the concept of social religion he proposed as opposed to the natural religions that were widespread at that time, cosmotheistic teachings that deified the forces of nature and materialized these forces in various figures and images.
Yahwism proclaimed faith in an abstract spiritual force that governs natural processes and human activities, a force that rises above all mortal rulers and guards the legitimate interests of the common people, protecting the foundations of justice and peace in human society.
It is not surprising that Yahwism as a religion in its original form originated in the desert, where nature is not too generous to man: it was here that the idea of an abstract deity, symbolizing domination over man and nature, of a deity as the source of world law and social interdependence of people.
This entity Yahweh expressed and revealed not visually in pictures or statues, not on altars on hills overgrown with grass, but in the deep silence of the desert. The flaming mantle on one of the first images of Yahweh (remember the vision of the burning bush and the burning Mount Sinai) later underwent a number of changes. The Yahwist-monotheistic concept was improved in social terms and gradually cleared of the sensual imagery of pantheism.
Not a cult that required sacrifices, not a fire on the altar of the Jerusalem Temple, and even the prayers of a believer not prescribed by ritual now testify to the presence of a real religion, but a pure heart, a good deed, a worthy life (individual and society), a social order in which there are no oppressors, neither their victims, nor the hungry and needy, - a society in which equality and human mutual understanding are endless, "like the waters that fill the sea."
It is no coincidence that the Yahwist monotheistic doctrine, as well as the struggle to accept it as the basis for building human society, arose in the cultural life of a small people whose land was surrounded by the great powers of antiquity, a small people who, through their own tragic experience, felt all the horror and the whole backwardness of power politics. Ancient empires - Assyrian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and later Persian, Greek and Roman - arose, conquered, ruled and in the battles for dominance collapsed and fell apart.
As a symbol of their earthly struggle, the rulers of these powers erected pantheons, where they depicted their gods as supernatural giants who defeated rivals in bloody battles and divided power over the world among themselves in the same way as their human likeness shared power over countries on earth.
In contrast to such a reactionary view of religion as a cult of tyranny and brute force, among the progressive folk thinkers and spiritual leaders of Ancient Israel - a country that could not build its life on the basis of violence - a new idea arose and developed step by step.
It was the idea of one God, one for weak and strong, for near and far countries, a universal God who created the earth for all human children and ruled the world not as a bloody despot, but as a father, justly and mercifully.
It must be admitted that initially Yahweh was seen by the prophets exclusively as the national God of the Israelite people. For the time being, He was indulgent towards the existence of cosmotheistic religions in other countries. He, so to speak, recognizes their temporary independent dominion in other territories and over other peoples. However, very soon the idea of the prophets reaches a new, higher level.
The social religion of Yahwism is now recognized as universal, world religion, and all cosmo-theistic currents, whatever they are and wherever they exist, are recognized as false and rejected. The idea that a person is able to realize God, but cannot create Him or His material embodiment for himself, is skillfully and consistently developed.[…]
Nor was it easy to inculcate in the minds of the villagers the idea of a supreme absolute world force that governs natural processes and human society, repays the righteous and supports the virtuous; about the fact that the grace of God cannot be bought, like the grace of earthly rulers; that God's mercy comes down as a reward for the righteous and meritorious conduct of man. Acting as an instrument of God and justice, the prophet became an expression of the power of human consciousness and the deep conviction that arose in him as a result of religious inspiration.
This religious and psychological aspect gave great power to the social utterances of the prophets, a force that neither the indifference of the ignorant masses nor the terror of despotic rulers could diminish or destroy. For the prophets, God remained eternally unchanged, the source of social truth and justice, the force that punishes tyrants and oppressors, whose service is a great honor. That was the call of the times. Although the messenger of God cannot avoid pain and torment, insults and persecution, sacrificing his own well-being and even life for the sake of the people, for the sake of the triumph of truth and justice in society, is quite justified.
Shmuel Eisenstadt, Prophets. Their era and social doctrine, M., "Parallels", 2004, p. 36-39.
