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105-686: Ancient Jewish traditions viewed the Holy of Holies as the spiritual junction of Heaven and Earth, the " axis mundi ". As a part of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies was situated somewhere on Temple Mount ; its precise location in the Mount being a matter of dispute, with some classical Jewish sources identifying its location with the Foundation Stone , which sits under

210-404: A Berakah is said also at evil tidings. Hence, although the experience of God is like none other, the occasions for experiencing Him, for having a consciousness of Him, are manifold, even if we consider only those that call for Berakot. Whereas Jewish philosophers often debate whether God is immanent or transcendent , and whether people have free will or their lives are determined, halakha

315-399: A mikvah ("collection of water"; a ritual of purification), not coming during or following menstruation or immediately following a seminal emission , not showing their back towards its presumed location, etc. To avoid religious conflict, Jewish visitors caught praying or bringing ritual objects are usually expelled from the area by police. According to the ancient apocryphal Lives of

420-484: A superlative . Examples of similar constructions are "servant of servants" (Gen 9:25), "Sabbath of sabbaths" (Ex 31:15), "God of gods" (Deut 10:17), " Vanity of vanities " (Eccl 1:2), " Song of songs " (Song of Songs 1:1), "king of kings" (Ezra 7:12), etc. In the Authorized King James Version , "Holy of Holies" is always translated as "Most Holy Place". This is in keeping with the intention of

525-615: A centralized authority that would dictate an exact religious dogma. Because of this, many different variations on the basic beliefs are considered within the scope of Judaism. Even so, all Jewish religious movements are, to a greater or lesser extent, based on the principles of the Hebrew Bible or various commentaries such as the Talmud and Midrash . Judaism also universally recognizes the Biblical Covenant between God and

630-464: A means of experiencing God". Reflecting on the contribution of the Amoraim and Tanaim to contemporary Judaism, Professor Jacob Neusner observed: The rabbi's logical and rational inquiry is not mere logic-chopping. It is a most serious and substantive effort to locate in trivialities the fundamental principles of the revealed will of God to guide and sanctify the most specific and concrete actions in

735-580: A means to learn the contents of God's revelation, but an end in itself. According to the Talmud: These are the things for which a person enjoys the dividends in this world while the principal remains for the person to enjoy in the world to come; they are: honoring parents, loving deeds of kindness, and making peace between one person and another. But the study of the Torah is equal to them all. (Talmud Shabbat 127a). In Judaism, "the study of Torah can be

840-523: A parallel oral tradition, illustrating the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the details from other, i.e., oral, sources. Halakha , the rabbinic Jewish way of life, then, is based on a combined reading of the Torah, and the oral tradition—the Mishnah, the halakhic Midrash, the Talmud and its commentaries. The halakha has developed slowly, through a precedent-based system. The literature of questions to rabbis, and their considered answers,

945-523: A permanent king, and Samuel appointed Saul the king. When the people pressured Saul into going against a command conveyed to him by Samuel, God told Samuel to appoint David in his stead. Rabbinic tradition holds that the details and interpretation of the Law, called the Oral Torah or "Oral Law," were originally unwritten traditions based on the Law given to Moses at Sinai. However, as the persecutions of

1050-555: A positive commandment is to be fulfilled: The ordinary, familiar, everyday things and occurrences we have, constitute occasions for the experience of God. Such things as one's daily sustenance, the very day itself, are felt as manifestations of God's loving-kindness, calling for the Berakhot . Kedushah , holiness, which is nothing else than the imitation of God, is concerned with daily conduct, with being gracious and merciful, with keeping oneself from defilement by idolatry, adultery, and

1155-701: A reward for his act of faith in one God, he was promised that Isaac , his second son, would inherit the Land of Israel (then called Canaan ). Later, the descendants of Isaac's son Jacob were enslaved in Egypt , and God commanded Moses to lead the Exodus from Egypt. The Law was given at Sinai —the Torah , or five books of Moses. These books, together with the Nevi'im and Ketuvim , are known as Torah Shebikhtav , as opposed to

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1260-594: A scepter in token of his authority over the nations. According to one midrash, Moses split a tree trunk into twelve portions, and gave one portion to each tribe. When the Rod of Aaron produced blossoms, the Israelites could not but acknowledge the significance of the token. This opinion seemingly assumes that the rod in Korach's rebellion was separate from the rod used for the plagues. Hebrews 9:4 states that Aaron's rod

1365-530: A seminal role in the formation of Western civilization through its impact as a core background element of Early Christianity . Within Judaism, there are a variety of religious movements , most of which emerged from Rabbinic Judaism , which holds that God revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah. Historically, all or part of this assertion

1470-469: A stone using his rod. Aaron's rod – perhaps a different rod – reappears in Numbers 16–17 . Here Korah 's rebellion against Moses's proclamation of the tribe of Levi as the priesthood has been quashed and the entire congregation's ensuing rebellion has resulted in a plague , ended only by the intercession of Moses and Aaron. In order to "stop the complaints" of the Israelites, God commands that each of

1575-483: Is Maimonides ' thirteen principles of faith , developed in the 12th century. According to Maimonides, any Jew who rejects even one of these principles would be considered an apostate and a heretic. Jewish scholars have held points of view diverging in various ways from Maimonides' principles. Thus, within Reform Judaism only the first five principles are endorsed. In Maimonides' time, his list of tenets

1680-487: Is a system through which any Jew acts to bring God into the world. Ethical monotheism is central in all sacred or normative texts of Judaism. However, monotheism has not always been followed in practice. The Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh ) records and repeatedly condemns the widespread worship of other gods in ancient Israel . In the Greco-Roman era, many different interpretations of monotheism existed in Judaism, including

1785-597: Is also the source of the Hebrew term for Judaism, יַהֲדוּת Yahaḏuṯ . The term Ἰουδαϊσμός first appears in the Koine Greek book of 2 Maccabees in the 2nd century BCE (i.e. 2 Maccabees 2:21, 8:1 and 14:38) . In the context of the age and period it meant "seeking or forming part of a cultural entity". It resembled its antonym hellenismos , a word signifying people's submission to Hellenistic cultural norms. The conflict between iudaismos and hellenismos lay behind

1890-866: Is also used more broadly in Catholic tradition with reference to sanctuaries other than the Temple in Jerusalem . A notable example is for the Chiesa di San Lorenzo in Palatio ad Sancta Sanctorum , a chapel in the complex of St John Lateran in Rome. The Greek phrase refers to the Tabernacle or Temple. The name in Greek for the sanctuary of a church is Ἱερόν Βῆμα ( Hieron Vema , see Bema#Christianity ), in Russian it

1995-550: Is an esoteric tradition in Judaism in Kabbalah , Rabbinic scholar Max Kadushin has characterized normative Judaism as "normal mysticism", because it involves everyday personal experiences of God through ways or modes that are common to all Jews. This is played out through the observance of the halakha , or Jewish law, and given verbal expression in the Birkat Ha-Mizvot , the short blessings that are spoken every time

2100-605: Is called Святой Алтарь ( Svyatoy Altar – literally: "Holy Altar"), and in Romanian it is called Sfântul Altar . A cognate term in Ge'ez is found in the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church : Qidduse Qiddusan (or Bete Mekdes ), referring to the innermost sanctuary of an Orthodox Christian church, where the tabot is kept and only clergy may enter. Every Ethiopian Orthodox church has one, and it

2205-684: Is called the Jerusalem Talmud . It was compiled sometime during the 4th century in Palestine. According to critical scholars , the Torah consists of inconsistent texts edited together in a way that calls attention to divergent accounts. Several of these scholars, such as Professor Martin Rose and John Bright , suggest that during the First Temple period the people of Israel believed that each nation had its own god, but that their god

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2310-461: Is covered with a curtain. There are often three entry points, symbolising the Holy Trinity. In the middle, there is always an altar where the church's tabot is kept. There can be as many altars as the number of tabots. The Saint Thomas Christians (also known as Nasrani or Syrian Christians) from Kerala , South India still follow much Jewish Christian tradition. In Nasrani tradition

2415-463: Is heavily associated with and most often thought of as Orthodox Judaism . 13 Principles of Faith: — Maimonides In the strict sense, in Judaism, unlike Christianity and Islam, there are no fixed universally binding articles of faith, due to their incorporation into the liturgy. Scholars throughout Jewish history have proposed numerous formulations of Judaism's core tenets, all of which have met with criticism. The most popular formulation

2520-726: Is premundane and has no peer or associate; (3) the whole universe is created; (4) God called Moses and the other Prophets of the Biblical canon; (5) the Law of Moses alone is true; (6) to know the language of the Bible is a religious duty; (7) the Temple at Jerusalem is the palace of the world's Ruler; (8) belief in Resurrection contemporaneous with the advent of the Messiah; (9) final judgment; (10) retribution. In modern times, Judaism lacks

2625-606: Is referred to as responsa (Hebrew Sheelot U-Teshuvot ). Over time, as practices develop, codes of halakha are written that are based on the responsa; the most important code, the Shulchan Aruch , largely determines Orthodox religious practice today. Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology. Major Jewish philosophers include Philo of Alexandria , Solomon ibn Gabirol , Saadia Gaon , Judah Halevi , Maimonides , and Gersonides . Major changes occurred in response to

2730-600: Is regarded as the first Jewish diaspora . Later, many of them returned to their homeland after the subsequent conquest of Babylon by the Persian Achaemenid Empire seventy years later, an event known as the Return to Zion . A Second Temple was constructed and old religious practices were resumed. During the early years of the Second Temple, the highest religious authority was a council known as

2835-418: Is that halakha should be viewed as a set of general guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, special courts enforced halakha ; today, these courts still exist but the practice of Judaism is mostly voluntary. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, but in the sacred texts and

2940-675: The Babylonian Talmud Tractate Yoma , the Kodesh Hakodashim (Holy of Holies) is located in the center of the esplanade from a North–South perspective, but significantly to the West from an East–West perspective, with all the major courtyards and functional areas lying to its east. The Talmud supplies additional details, and describes the ritual performed by the High Priest. During the annual ritual,

3045-715: The Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy ), 2 Macc. ii. 21: "Those that behaved themselves manfully to their honour for Iudaisme." At its core, the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh is an account of the Israelites ' relationship with God from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple ( c.  535 BCE ). Abraham is hailed as the first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people. As

3150-690: The Dome of the Rock shrine. Other Jewish scholars argue that contemporary reports would place the Temple to the north or to the east of the Dome of the Rock. The Christian Crusaders associated the Holy of Holies with the Well of Souls , a small cave that lies underneath the Foundation Stone in the Dome of the Rock. The construction "Holy of Holies" is a translation of the Hebrew, which is intended to express

3255-716: The Enlightenment (late 18th to early 19th century) leading to the post-Enlightenment Jewish philosophers. Modern Jewish philosophy consists of both Orthodox and non-Orthodox oriented philosophy. Notable among Orthodox Jewish philosophers are Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler , Joseph B. Soloveitchik , and Yitzchok Hutner . Well-known non-Orthodox Jewish philosophers include Martin Buber , Franz Rosenzweig , Mordecai Kaplan , Abraham Joshua Heschel , Will Herberg , and Emmanuel Lévinas . 13 Principles of Hermeneutics: — R. Ishmael Orthodox and many other Jews do not believe that

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3360-790: The Great Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE), the Romans sacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple. Later, Roman emperor Hadrian built a pagan idol on the Temple Mount and prohibited circumcision; these acts of ethnocide provoked the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–136 CE), after which the Romans banned the study of the Torah and the celebration of Jewish holidays, and forcibly removed virtually all Jews from Judea. In 200 CE, however, Jews were granted Roman citizenship and Judaism

3465-517: The High Priest , and even he would only enter once a year on Yom Kippur , to offer the blood of sacrifice and incense . The Bible reports that in the wilderness, on the day that the tabernacle was first raised up, the cloud of the Lord covered the tabernacle ( Exodus 40:33–40:34 ). There are other times that this was recorded, and instructions were given that the Lord would appear in the cloud upon

3570-629: The Kohanim and Leviyim (members of the tribe of Levi ), some only to farmers within the Land of Israel. Many laws were only applicable when the Temple in Jerusalem existed, and only 369 of these commandments are still applicable today. While there have been Jewish groups whose beliefs were based on the written text of the Torah alone (e.g., the Sadducees , and the Karaites ), most Jews believe in

3675-688: The Maccabean Revolt and hence the invention of the term iudaismos . Shaye J. D. Cohen writes in his book The Beginnings of Jewishness : We are tempted, of course, to translate [ Ioudaïsmós ] as "Judaism," but this translation is too narrow, because in this first occurrence of the term, Ioudaïsmós has not yet been reduced to the designation of a religion. It means rather "the aggregate of all those characteristics that makes Judaeans Judaean (or Jews Jewish)." Among these characteristics, to be sure, are practices and beliefs that we would today call "religious," but these practices and beliefs are not

3780-574: The Mosaic covenant , which was established between God and the Israelites , their ancestors. The religion is considered one of the earliest monotheistic religions in the world. Jewish religious doctrine encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Among Judaism's core texts is the Torah , the first five books of the Hebrew Bible , a collection of ancient Hebrew scriptures. The Tanakh, known in English as

3885-748: The Oxford English Dictionary the earliest citation in English where the term was used to mean "the profession or practice of the Jewish religion; the religious system or polity of the Jews" is Robert Fabyan's The newe cronycles of Englande and of Fraunce (1516). "Judaism" as a direct translation of the Latin Iudaismus first occurred in a 1611 English translation of the Biblical apocrypha (the Deuterocanonical books in

3990-698: The Patriarch Abraham as well as the additional aspects of the Covenant revealed to Moses , who is considered Judaism's greatest prophet . In the Mishnah , a core text of Rabbinic Judaism , acceptance of the Divine origins of this covenant is considered an essential aspect of Judaism and those who reject the Covenant forfeit their share in the World to Come . Establishing the core tenets of Judaism in

4095-589: The Shekhinah ( Exodus 25:22 ). When the Temple was rebuilt after the Babylonian captivity , the Ark was no longer present in the Holy of Holies; instead, a portion of the floor was raised slightly to indicate the place where it had stood. In Jewish tradition, two curtains separated the Holy of Holies from the lesser Holy place during the period of the Second Temple. These curtains were woven with motifs directly from

4200-410: The Tabernacle and Temple in Jerusalem when Solomon's Temple and the Second Temple were standing. The parochet , a brocade curtain with cherubim motifs woven directly into the fabric from the loom, divided the Holy of Holies from the lesser Holy place. The Holy of Holies was located at the westernmost end of the Temple building and was a cube: 20 cubits by 20 cubits by 20 cubits. The inside

4305-410: The Torah . The Bible tells how, along with Moses's rod , Aaron's rod was endowed with miraculous power during the Plagues of Egypt that preceded the Exodus . Later, his rod miraculously sprouted blossoms and almonds to symbolize God's choice of Aaron and his tribe for holy service. In Israelite culture, the rod ( Hebrew : מַטֶּה maṭṭeh ) was a natural symbol of authority, as the tool used by

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4410-484: The Tractate Yoma and chapter 26 of the Tractate Sanhedrin , on the other hand, assert that the Holy of Holies stood directly on the Foundation Stone . The Crusaders associated the Holy of Holies with the Well of Souls , which is located under the Foundation Stone of the Dome of the Rock . Most Orthodox Jews today completely avoid climbing up to Temple Mount , to prevent them from accidentally stepping on any holy areas. A few Orthodox Jewish authorities, following

4515-407: The Twelve Tribes provide a rod; and only that of the tribe chosen to become priests will miraculously sprout overnight. Aaron provides his rod to represent the tribe of Levi, and "it put forth buds, produced blossoms, and bore ripe almonds", as an evidence of the exclusive right to the priesthood of the tribe of Levi. In commemoration of this decision, it was commanded that the rod be stored "before

4620-426: The halakha whereas its ultimate goal is to bring the holiness down to the world. Mordecai Kaplan , the founder of the Reconstructionist Judaism , abandons the idea of religion for the sake of identifying Judaism with civilization and by means of the latter term and secular translation of the core ideas, he tries to embrace as many Jewish denominations as possible. In turn, Solomon Schechter 's Conservative Judaism

4725-416: The liturgy , symbolizes the Holy of Holies. Some Christian churches, particularly the Catholic Church , consider the Church tabernacle , or its location (often at the rear of the sanctuary), as the symbolic equivalent of the Holy of Holies, due to the storage of consecrated hosts in that vessel. The Latin Vulgate Bible translates Qṓḏeš HaqQŏḏāšîm as Sanctum sanctorum (Ex 26:34). Reproducing in Latin

4830-420: The oral law . These oral traditions were transmitted by the Pharisee school of thought of ancient Judaism and were later recorded in written form and expanded upon by the rabbis. According to Rabbinical Jewish tradition, God gave both the Written Law (the Torah ) and the Oral Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai . The Oral law is the oral tradition as relayed by God to Moses and from him, transmitted and taught to

4935-412: The rabbis and scholars who interpret them. Jews are an ethnoreligious group including those born Jewish, in addition to converts to Judaism . In 2021, the world Jewish population was estimated at 15.2 million, or roughly 0.195% of the total world population, although religious observance varies from strict to none. In 2021, about 45.6% of all Jews resided in Israel and another 42.1% resided in

5040-455: The shepherd to correct and guide his flock . Moses , in fact, initially carried his rod while tending his sheep, and later it became his symbol of authority over the Israelites. The rods of both Moses and Aaron were endowed with miraculous power during the Plagues of Egypt . God commanded Moses to raise his rod over the Red Sea when it was to be split and in prayer over Israel in battle; at Meribah Moses brought forth water from

5145-442: The Ark. King Josiah , who foresaw the impending national catastrophe, concealed the Ark and the objects stored with it (Aaron's rod, a vial of manna , and the holy anointing oil ). Their whereabouts will remain unknown until, in the Messianic age, the prophet Elijah shall reveal them. As discussed, the Bible ascribes similar miraculous powers to rods of Aaron and Moses. One midrash goes a step further, and identifies them as being

5250-469: The Biblical text. It is reported that the rod was made of sapphire , weighed forty seahs (a seah = 10.70 pounds), and bore the inscription דצ״ך עד״ש באח״ב (the initials of the Hebrew names of the Ten Plagues ). God created it in the twilight of the sixth day of Creation, and delivered it to Adam when the latter was driven from paradise. After it had passed through the hands of Shem , Enoch , Abraham , Isaac , and Jacob successively, it came into

5355-415: The Conservative movement. The following is a basic, structured list of the central works of Jewish practice and thought: The basis of halakha and tradition is the Torah (also known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition, there are 613 commandments in the Torah. Some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups,

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5460-405: The Diaspora spoke it; the Vulgate was a faithful translation for Christian Rome. Certain branches of Christianity , including the Eastern Orthodox Church , and the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church continue to have a tradition of a Holy of Holies that they regard as a most sacred site . The ciborium , a permanent canopy over the altar in some churches, once surrounded by curtains at points in

5565-433: The Great Assembly, led by Ezra the Scribe . Among other accomplishments of the Great Assembly, the last books of the Bible were written at this time and the canon sealed . Hellenistic Judaism spread to Ptolemaic Egypt from the 3rd century BCE, and its creation sparked widespread controversy in Jewish communities, starting "conflicts within Jewish communities about accommodating the cultures of occupying powers." During

5670-422: The Hebrew Bible, has the same contents as the Old Testament in Christianity . In addition to the original written scripture, the supplemental Oral Torah is represented by later texts, such as the Midrash and the Talmud . The Hebrew-language word torah can mean "teaching", "law", or "instruction", although "Torah" can also be used as a general term that refers to any Jewish text that expands or elaborates on

5775-428: The Hebrew construction, the expression is used as a superlative of the neuter adjective sanctum , to mean "a thing most holy". It is used by Roman Catholics to refer to the Eucharist in the tabernacle which represents the presence of Christ. The Vulgate also refers to the Holy of Holies with the plural form Sancta sanctorum (2 Chr 5:7), possibly a synecdoche referring to the holy objects hosted there. This form

5880-411: The Hebrew idiom to express the utmost degree of holiness. Thus, the name "Most Holy Place" was used to refer to the "Holy of Holies" in many English documents. A related term is debir , transliterated in the Septuagint ( Koinē Greek : δαβιρ , romanized:  dabir ), which either means the back (i.e. western) part of the Sanctuary, or derives from the verb stem ד־ב־ר "to speak", justifying

5985-423: The High Priest would pronounce the Tetragrammaton , the only point that it was pronounced out loud. According to Jewish tradition, the people prostrated themselves fully on the ground when it was said. According to the Talmud, the High Priest's face upon exit from the Holy of Holies was radiant. While under normal circumstances, access to the Holy of Holies was restricted to the High Priest and only on Yom Kippur ,

6090-409: The Holy of Holies is kept veiled for much of the time. The red veil covers the inner altar or the main altar. It is unveiled only during the central part of the main Nasrani ritual. The main ritual of the Saint Thomas Christians is the Qurbana . The Salt Lake Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) contains a Holy of Holies wherein the church's president —acting as

6195-419: The Israelites. Christ will come and bless his people after cleaning the Holy of Holies in heaven (Heb 9:23). Judaism Judaism ( Hebrew : יַהֲדוּת ‎ , romanized :  Yahăḏūṯ ) is an Abrahamic monotheistic ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people . Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing

6300-517: The Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, these oral laws were recorded by Judah ha-Nasi in the Mishnah , redacted c.  200 CE . The Talmud was a compilation of the Mishnah and Gemara , rabbinic commentaries redacted over the next three centuries. The Gemara originated in two major centers of Jewish scholarship, Palestine and Babylonia ( Lower Mesopotamia ). Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of Talmud were created. The older compilation

6405-439: The Oral Torah, which refers to the Mishnah and the Talmud . Eventually, God led them to the land of Israel where the tabernacle was planted in the city of Shiloh for over 300 years to rally the nation against attacking enemies. As time passed, the nation's spiritual level declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines to capture the tabernacle. The people of Israel then told Samuel that they needed to be governed by

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6510-515: The Presiding High Priest—enters to fulfill the relationship between the High Priest of Israel and God in accordance with the LDS Church's interpretation of the Book of Exodus ( Exodus 25:22 ) and Latter-day Saint religious texts. Seventh-Day Adventism (SDA) believes that the Holy of Holies on Earth was a copy of the true tabernacle in heaven , and this view can also be seen in other Christian denominations . Because in Hebrews , God commands Moses to make sure that all things according to

6615-400: The Prophets , after the death of Zechariah ben Jehoiada , the priests of the Temple could no more, as before, see the apparitions of the angels of the Lord, nor could make divinations with the Ephod , nor give responses from the Debir . The Greek New Testament retains the pre-Christian Septuagint phrase "Holy of the Holies" hágion ( sg n ) tōn hagíōn ( ἅγιον τῶν ἁγίων ) without

6720-408: The Prophets depicts Harun (Aaron) leaning on his rod, while his brother Musa 's (Moses) staff miraculously turned into a snake-dragon to defeat Pharaoh 's magicians. D. H. Lawrence entitled a novel Aaron's Rod in 1922. This book describes a flautist, Aaron Sissons, and his experiences as he journeys through a Europe exhausted by the First World War . The biblical eponymous reference, with

6825-410: The Talmud suggests that repair crews were allowed inside as needed but were lowered from the upper portion of the room via enclosures so that they only saw the area they were to work on. Judaism regards the Torah ark , a place in a synagogue where the Torah scrolls are kept, as a miniature Holy of Holies. The exact location of the Holy of Holies is a contentious issue, as elements of questioning

6930-452: The United States and Canada, with most of the remainder living in Europe, and other groups spread throughout Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. The term Judaism derives from Iudaismus , a Latinized form of the Ancient Greek Ioudaismos ( Koinē Greek : Ἰουδαϊσμός , from the verb ἰουδαΐζειν , "to side with or imitate the [Judeans]"). Its ultimate source was Hebrew : יהודה , romanized :  Yehudah Judah ", which

7035-453: The authority of the rabbinic tradition , and the significance of the State of Israel . Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and halakha are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, and that they should be strictly followed. Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditionalist interpretation of Judaism's requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position

7140-430: The basis of the Talmud. According to Abraham ben David , the Mishnah was compiled by Rabbi Judah haNasi after the destruction of Jerusalem, in anno mundi 3949, which corresponds to 189 CE. Over the next four centuries, the Mishnah underwent discussion and debate in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and Babylonia ). The commentaries from each of these communities were eventually compiled into

7245-471: The belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of mankind. According to the Hebrew Bible, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation. Many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God; that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate God's concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to love one another; that is, Jews are to imitate God's love for people. Thus, although there

7350-408: The blood was sprinkled where the Ark would have been and the incense was put on the Brazen Altar of incense). The animal was sacrificed and the blood was carried into the most holy place. The gold was also found in the Most Holy Place. The Magdala stone is thought to be a representation of the Holy of Holies carved before the destruction of the Temple in the year 70. Traditional Judaism regards

7455-413: The definite article as "Holies of Holies" hágia ( pl n ) hagíōn ( ἅγια ἁγίων ) in Hebrews 9:3. In the Vulgate of Saint Jerome , these are rendered as sanctum sanctorum and sancta sanctorum , respectively. The Greek language was the common language upon Hellenization of much of the Middle East after the death of Alexander the Great , and the division of his empire among four generals. The Jews of

7560-462: The establishment of the authority of rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities. Unlike other ancient Near Eastern gods, the Hebrew God is portrayed as unitary and solitary; consequently, the Hebrew God's principal relationships are not with other gods, but with the world, and more specifically, with the people he created. Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism :

7665-533: The exact placement of the Temple are often associated with Temple denial . There are three main theories as to where exactly the Temple stood on the Mount: where the Dome of the Rock is now located; to the north of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Asher Kaufman); or to the east of the Dome of the Rock (Professor Joseph Patrich of the Hebrew University ). The location of the Holy of Holies is connected to

7770-476: The interpretations that gave rise to Christianity. Moreover, some have argued that Judaism is a non-creedal religion that does not require one to believe in God. For some, observance of halakha is more important than belief in God per se . The debate about whether one can speak of authentic or normative Judaism is not only a debate among religious Jews but also among historians. In continental Europe , Judaism

7875-607: The location of the Jewish Temple. The location of the Temple, however, had become uncertain already less than 150 years after the Second Temple's destruction, as detailed in the Talmud . Chapter 54 of the Tractate Berakhot states that the Holy of Holies was directly aligned with the Golden Gate , which would have placed the Holy of Holies slightly to the north of the Dome of the Rock, as Kaufman postulated. Chapter 54 of

7980-501: The location where the inner sanctuary was originally located, on the Temple Mount ( Mount Moriah ), as retaining some or all of its original sanctity for use in a future Third Temple . The exact location of the Holy of Holies is a subject of dispute. Traditional Judaism regards the Holy of Holies as the place where the presence of God dwells. The Talmud gives detailed descriptions of Temple architecture and layout. According to

8085-477: The loom, rather than embroidered, and each curtain had the thickness of a handbreadth (ca. 9 cm.; 3½"). Josephus records that Pompey profaned the Temple by insisting on entering the Holy of Holies in 63 BCE. When Titus captured the city during the First Jewish–Roman War , Roman soldiers took down the curtain and used it to wrap therein golden vessels retrieved from the Temple. The Holy of Holies

8190-576: The mercy seat ( kapporet ), and at that time the priests should not enter into the tabernacle (Leviticus 16:2). According to the Hebrew Bible , the Holy of Holies contained the Ark of the Covenant with representation of Cherubim . Upon completion of the dedication of the Tabernacle, the Voice of God spoke to Moses "from between the Cherubim" ( Numbers 7:89 ). The Holy of Holies was the inner sanctuary within

8295-504: The modern era is even more difficult, given the number and diversity of the contemporary Jewish denominations . Even if to restrict the problem to the most influential intellectual trends of the nineteenth and twentieth century, the matter remains complicated. Thus, for instance, Joseph Soloveitchik's (associated with the Modern Orthodox movement ) answer to modernity is constituted upon the identification of Judaism with following

8400-489: The next few centuries. Later, two poetic restatements of these principles (" Ani Ma'amin " and " Yigdal ") became integrated into many Jewish liturgies, leading to their eventual near-universal acceptance. The oldest non-Rabbinic instance of articles of faith were formulated, under Islamic influence, by the 12th century Karaite figure Judah ben Elijah Hadassi : (1) God is the Creator of all created beings; (2) He

8505-476: The opinion of the medieval scholar Maimonides , permit Jews to visit parts of the Temple Mount known not to be anywhere near any of the sanctified areas. Orthodox Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount, who come especially from those groups associated with the Temple Institute and its efforts to rebuild a Temple , seek to conform to the minimal requirements for coming near the Temple, such as immersing in

8610-438: The original Five Books of Moses . Representing the core of the Jewish spiritual and religious tradition, the Torah is a term and a set of teachings that are explicitly self-positioned as encompassing at least seventy, and potentially infinite, facets and interpretations. Judaism's texts, traditions, and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam . Hebraism , like Hellenism , played

8715-494: The pattern shewed to thee in the Mount Sinai (Heb 8:2, 5). After the " Great Disappointment ", preacher O. R. L. Crosier , Hiram Edson , and F. B. Hahn published new insights into Christ's sanctuary ministry that Jesus began to minister in the heavenly sanctuary after His ascension (Heb 9:24). Seventh-Day Adventism (SDA) believes that just as the high priest completed the special ministry on Yom Kippur and blessed

8820-533: The possession of Joseph . On Joseph's death the Egyptian nobles stole some of his belongings, and, among them, Jethro appropriated the staff. Jethro planted the staff in his garden, when its marvelous virtue was revealed by the fact that nobody could withdraw it from the ground (compare " the sword in the stone "); even to touch it was fraught with danger to life. This was because the Ineffable Name of God

8925-455: The revealed Torah consists solely of its written contents, but of its interpretations as well. The study of Torah (in its widest sense, to include both poetry, narrative, and law, and both the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud) is in Judaism itself a sacred act of central importance. For the sages of the Mishnah and Talmud, and for their successors today, the study of Torah was therefore not merely

9030-431: The sages ( rabbinic leaders) of each subsequent generation. For centuries, the Torah appeared only as a written text transmitted in parallel with the oral tradition. Fearing that the oral teachings might be forgotten, Rabbi Judah haNasi undertook the mission of consolidating the various opinions into one body of law which became known as the Mishnah . The Mishnah consists of 63 tractates codifying halakha , which are

9135-674: The same rod: The rod with which Jacob crossed the Jordan ( Genesis 32:11 ) is the same rod which was in Judah's hand ( Genesis 38:18 ), which was in Moses's hand ( Exodus 4:20 ), which was in Aaron's hand ( Exodus 7:10 ), which was in David's hand ( 1 Samuel 17:40 ). which was in the hand of each king until the destruction of the Temple, when it was hidden. When the Messiah comes it will be given to him for

9240-1118: The sanctuary were similarly sealed, to prevent anyone from having access to the rods at night. The miraculous flowering of the rod was also considered a type of the Incarnation of Christ and his Virgin Birth , and appears in scenes of the Annunciation to Mary . In the Ethiopian fourteenth-century text of the Kebra Nagast , Aaron's rod is broken in three and probably a symbol of the Trinity: "The rod of Aaron which sprouted after it had become withered though no one watered it with water, and one had broken it in two places, and it became three rods being [originally only] one rod." Accounts of Aaron's rod appear in Islamic literature. A depiction from al-Tha'labi 's (d. 1035, AH 427) Stories of

9345-419: The shedding of blood. The Birkat Ha-Mitzwot evokes the consciousness of holiness at a rabbinic rite, but the objects employed in the majority of these rites are non-holy and of general character, while the several holy objects are non-theurgic. And not only do ordinary things and occurrences bring with them the experience of God. Everything that happens to a man evokes that experience, evil as well as good, for

9450-637: The sole content of the term. Thus Ioudaïsmós should be translated not as "Judaism" but as Judaeanness. Daniel R. Schwartz, however, argues that "Judaism", especially in the context of the Book of Maccabees, refers to the religion, as opposed to the culture and politics of the Judean state. He believes it reflected the ideological divide between the Pharisees and Sadducees and, implicitly, anti-Hasmonean and pro-Hasmonean factions in Judean society. According to

9555-552: The testimony". Aaron's rod is cited as exhibiting miraculous power on its own, when not physically held by its owner. In Exodus 7:10–1 , Aaron "cast down his rod" and it became a serpent . When he does so, the Pharaoh's sorcerers counter by similarly casting down their own rods, which also become serpents, but Aaron's rod swallowed them all. Similarly, in Numbers 17:23 it sprouted blossoms when not being held. Rabbinic midrash described attributes of Aaron's rod beyond those in

9660-462: The translation in the Vulgate as oraculum , which the traditional English translation "oracle" (KJV, 1611) derives from. According to the Hebrew Bible , in order that God may dwell among the Israelites, God gave Moses instructions for erecting a sanctuary . The directions provide for: According to the Bible, the Holy of Holies was covered by a veil , and no one was allowed to enter except

9765-638: The two Talmuds, the Jerusalem Talmud ( Talmud Yerushalmi ) and the Babylonian Talmud ( Talmud Bavli ). These have been further expounded by commentaries of various Torah scholars during the ages. In the text of the Torah, many words are left undefined, and many procedures are mentioned without explanation or instructions. Such phenomena are sometimes offered to validate the viewpoint that the Written Law has always been transmitted with

9870-561: The workaday world. ... Here is the mystery of Talmudic Judaism: the alien and remote conviction that the intellect is an instrument not of unbelief and desacralization but of sanctification. To study the Written Torah and the Oral Torah in light of each other is thus also to study how to study the word of God. Aaron%27s rod Aaron's rod refers to any of the walking sticks carried by Moses ' brother, Aaron , in

9975-542: Was centered on a pantheon of gods much like in Greek mythology . According to the Hebrew Bible , a United Monarchy was established under Saul and continued under King David and Solomon with its capital in Jerusalem . After Solomon's reign, the nation split into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel (in the north) and the Kingdom of Judah (in the south). The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed around 720 BCE, when it

10080-602: Was challenged by various groups such as the Sadducees and Hellenistic Judaism during the Second Temple period ; the Karaites during the early and later medieval period; and among segments of the modern non-Orthodox denominations. Some modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be considered secular or nontheistic . Today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism ( Haredi and Modern Orthodox ), Conservative Judaism , and Reform Judaism . Major sources of difference between these groups are their approaches to halakha (Jewish law),

10185-716: Was conquered by the Neo-Assyrian Empire ; many people were taken captive from the capital Samaria to Media and the Khabur River valley. The Kingdom of Judah continued as an independent state until it was conquered by Nebuchadnezzar II of the Neo-Babylonian Empire in 586 BCE. The Babylonians destroyed Jerusalem and the First Temple , which was at the center of ancient Jewish worship. The Judeans were exiled to Babylon , in what

10290-599: Was criticized by Hasdai Crescas and Joseph Albo . Albo and the Raavad argued that Maimonides' principles contained too many items that, while true, were not fundamentals of the faith Along these lines, the ancient historian Josephus emphasized practices and observances rather than religious beliefs, associating apostasy with a failure to observe halakha and maintaining that the requirements for conversion to Judaism included circumcision and adherence to traditional customs. Maimonides' principles were largely ignored over

10395-455: Was engraved upon it. When Moses entered Jethro's household he read the Name, and by means of it was able to draw up the rod, for which service Zipporah , Jethro's daughter, was given to him in marriage. Her father had sworn that she should become the wife of the man who should be able to master the miraculous rod and of no other. Aaron's rod, together with its blossoms and fruit, was preserved in

10500-476: Was entered once a year by the High Priest on Yom Kippur , to sprinkle the blood of sacrificial animals (a bull offered as atonement for the Priest and his household, and a goat offered as atonement for the people (this is where the term scapegoat originates from)) and offer incense upon the Ark of the Covenant and the mercy seat that sat on top of the ark in the First Temple (the Second Temple had no ark and

10605-455: Was identical with the tradition understood as the interpretation of Torah, in itself being the history of the constant updates and adjustment of the Law performed by means of the creative interpretation. Finally, David Philipson draws the outlines of the Reform movement in Judaism by opposing it to the strict and traditional rabbinical approach and thus comes to the conclusions similar to that of

10710-454: Was in darkness and contained the Ark of the Covenant, gilded inside and out, in which was placed the Tablets of Stone . According to both Jewish and Christian traditions, Aaron's rod and a pot of manna were also in the ark. The Ark was covered with a lid made of pure gold, known as the " mercy seat " ( Exodus 37:6 ), which was covered by the beaten gold cherubim wings, creating the space for

10815-526: Was kept in the Ark of the Covenant . The account of the blossoming of Aaron's rod contained in Clement 's first letter to the Corinthians (ep. 43) is in haggadic-midrashic style, and may probably be ascribed to Jewish or, more strictly speaking, Jewish-Hellenistic sources. According to that account, Moses placed upon each of the twelve staffs the corresponding seal of the head of a tribe. The doors of

10920-410: Was recognized as a religio licita ("legitimate religion") until the rise of Gnosticism and Early Christianity in the fourth century. Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews, Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifice, and worship was rebuilt around the community (represented by a minimum of ten adult men) and

11025-627: Was superior to other gods. Some suggest that strict monotheism developed during the Babylonian Exile, perhaps in reaction to Zoroastrian dualism. In this view, it was only by the Hellenistic period that most Jews came to believe that their god was the only god and that the notion of a bounded Jewish nation identical with the Jewish religion formed. John Day argues that the origins of biblical Yahweh , El , Asherah , and Ba'al , may be rooted in earlier Canaanite religion , which

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