The Religions Book - Big Ideas Simply Explained

BUDDHISM 149

See also: Preparing for the afterlife 58–59 ■ The ultimate reality 102–105 ■ Seeing with pure consciousness 116–21
■ The enlightenment of Buddha 130–35 ■ Immortality in Christianity 210–11

Body Sensations Perceptions Ideas and Consciousness
intentions

All these things are constantly changing.

Although conventionally referred to as my “self,” in reality I am just
this bundle of changing elements. We cannot say what a person is.

belief systems and philosophies. Analyzing the self So where is the chariot, Nagasena
It is implied by Buddha’s teaching Milinda starts by innocently asking asks, if it is not the wheels, or the
of the Middle Way (pp.130–35), whether the person he is greeting axle, and so on? Clearly, there is
and also reflects his teaching of is indeed Nagasena, whereupon no chariot over and above the parts
the interconnectedness of all things. Nagasena launches straight into from which it is constructed.
However, nowhere is the idea of the the discussion by stating that Chariot is a name applied to the
changing self better illustrated than although the name Nagasena collection of those parts when they
in The Questions of King Milinda, is conventionally used to refer to are put together to make the vehicle.
written anonymously in the 1st himself, there is actually nothing In the same way, Nagasena argues,
century CE. This text describes the that corresponds to it. The word there is no fixed or permanent self
discussions between a Buddhist is a designation, a “mere name,” over and above the various parts
sage known as Nagasena, and because “no real person is here of which we are made. Nagasena
King Milinda—the Indo-Greek ruler apprehended.” In an absolute does not represent anything that
of northwestern India, c.150 BCE. sense, Nagasena does not exist. Milinda could point to. ❯❯

Bewildered, the King asks I am known as Nagasena.
how that can be the case, since But the word ‘Nagasena’ is
Nagasena is clearly standing there only a designation or name
in front of him. To answer this, in common use. There is no
Nagasena uses an analogy. He
observes that the King arrived in permanent individuality
a chariot, so it is obvious that a (no soul) involved in the matter.
chariot exists. But he then starts
to analyze the various parts of the Nagasena
chariot: the axle, the wheels, and
so on, and asks the King if any of
these “are” the chariot—eliciting
the answer that they are not.

The monk Nagasena is often referred
to as one of the Sixteen (or Eighteen)
Arhats, beings who have realized a
very high level of spiritual attainment.

150 THE SELF AS CONSTANTLY CHANGING

We think of people as fixed objects.
But Nagasena insists that the self is a
process of ongoing change that can no
more be pinned down than motion itself.

Like the chariot, “Nagasena” refers The fifth skandha is consciousness: in no way fixed. They reflect a
to a set of elements that exist in a the general sense we have of being constantly changing stream of
state of mutual dependence. alive—including an awareness of experience and response as we
the information streaming in from engage with life. This means that
Buddhists view the human being our senses, and of our thoughts, not only is it impossible to point to
as made up of five interdependent ideas, and emotions. Nagasena, it is also impossible
skandhas (literally, heaps). These to say whether anyone is the same
are: form (our physical body); The key feature of Nagasena’s person during the course of one
sensations (information about the argument is that each of these lifetime. Nevertheless, we still have
world that is constantly fed to us skandhas is constantly changing. a sense of a person being the same
by our senses); perception (our This is most obvious in the case over a lifetime, since each of us has
awareness of the world through of form, or the physical body, as a past and a future. Nagasena
sensations); and mental formations we change from being a baby to an points out that it is absurd to say he
or impulses (our ongoing flow adult through the physical process remains the same over time, but
of ideas, intentions, and thoughts of aging. But it is also true of the likewise absurd to say he does not.
about the things we perceive). other four skandhas: they too are
In fact, Nagasena insists that
the questions themselves are
wrong, because they presuppose
a fixed self instead of one that
is dependent upon the body. In a
further example to illustrate the
dependency of the self, Nagasena
asks Milinda to consider milk,
curds, butter, and ghee. These are
not the same things, but the three
later stages—curds, butter, and
ghee—cannot be made unless
milk first exists. That is to say that

A meeting of cultures

The meeting between King Milinda—or Menander, as he is only appearance in literature
Milinda and Nagasena occurred known in Greek—was one such is his dialogue with the King
in the context of a meeting of king. He ruled a region known in The Questions of King
cultures. Buddhism had spread as the Indo-Greek Kingdom—in Milinda, a widely respected
to northern India through the present-day northwestern India text in Theravada Buddhism
teachings of missionaries sent —in the 2nd century BCE, so we that was written in the 1st
by the Emperor Asoka around may assume that Nagasena lived century CE. One legend about
100 years earlier. Meanwhile, in that area sometime between Nagasena states that while
the influence of classical Greece the 2nd and 1st century CE. living in Pataliputra (modern-
was spreading eastward from day Patna, India), he created
the Mediterranean, and, when While evidence of Milinda the Emerald Buddha, a jade
it reached northern India, it exists in the form of coins and statue of Buddha clothed in
was adopted by local rulers (a references by classical writers, gold, which is now in Wat Phra
process known as Hellenization). we know very little about the Kaew, Bangkok, Thailand.
philosopher-monk Nagasena. His

BUDDHISM 151

butter only exists because milk Which of these parts is the chariot? Nagasena chariot?
exists; it depends on the existence would answer that none of them are. Likewise,
of milk. In the same way, says whatever constitutes “me” cannot be pointed
Nagasena, “do the elements of to, but nonetheless continues to affect things
being join one another in serial in the universe now and in the future.
succession: one element perishes,
another arises, succeeding each chariot?
other as it were instantaneously.”

A category mistake chariot?
In the 20th century, the British
philosopher Gilbert Ryle attacked chariot?
the idea that the material body is
linked to a nonphysical mind. In Toward the end of the 20th century, sense of purpose. Existentialism
doing so, he used an argument that and into the 21st, most Western suggests that we shape our lives by
is exactly parallel to Nagasena’s. philosophers have argued for a the choices we make, and should
A visitor to the city of Oxford who materialist (or physicalist) view of acknowledge our responsibility for
has been shown various colleges, the mind: that mind is simply a doing so: we are what we choose
libraries, and so on, asks, “But word that describes brain function. to do—we do not have an internal
where is the university?” Ryle For modern science, there is no self real self or essence.
claims that there is no university over and above the body; the brain
over and above its constituent parts. performs a complex processing of Absolute truth
experience and response, which we This discussion of the self
Likewise, there is no mind think of as our mind, or self. highlights an important feature of
that exists separately from the Buddhist teaching: the difference
body. People who suppose that This differs from Nagasena only between conventional and absolute
there is are making a category in the way that the sage applies truth. In order to function normally,
mistake—where things of one kind a closer analysis of the way in we have to assume a pragmatic
are presented as though they which we experience ourselves as or practical approach and refer
belong to another. It is wrong to thinking, feeling, and responding to objects as though they have
treat the mind as though it is an beings. As he pointed out to King a recognizable, permanent, and
object of substance, when mind Milinda, even the fact that we do independent existence.
refers to a collection of capacities this does not mean that there is a
and dispositions. separate thing called the self. It would be impossible to
communicate if everything had
What we are today comes The other modern philosophy to be described in terms of its
from our thoughts of that unwittingly builds on this constituent parts. Buddhism
Buddhist idea is existentialism. It therefore accepts the need for
yesterday, and our present is often summed up in the phrase such conventional truth, but
thoughts build our life “existence precedes essence,” constantly guards against
meaning that we are born and exist mistaking it for absolute truth. ■
of tomorrow: our life is the before our lives have obtained any
creation of our mind.
Buddha

ENLIGHTENMENT

HAS MANY

FACES

BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS



154 BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS

IN CONTEXT A bodhisattva is an Each image of a buddha
enlightened being or bodhisattva represents
KEY EVENT who vows to remain in one or more qualities of
The development of the world to help all an enlightened mind.
Mahayana Buddhism other creatures.

WHEN AND WHERE Buddhist images are If we visualize or pay
2nd–3rd centuries CE, India aids to spiritual respect to an image,

BEFORE development, not gods we are helped to
From 1500 BCE The Hindu to be worshipped. develop the quality
Vedas refer to many gods and
goddesses, each depicting an represented by it.
aspect of nature and life.
Enlightenment has
From 2nd century BCE many faces.
Devotional practices become
influential in Hinduism.

AFTER
7th century CE Mahayana
Buddhism, using elaborate
images and ritual, is
established in Tibet.

8th century CE Images of
Buddhist teachers are used
as a source of inspiration, as
well as those of buddhas and
bodhisattvas. A popular image
is that of Padmasambhava, the
Precious Guru, who introduced
Tantric Buddhism into Tibet.

T he teachings that Buddha Buddha figures—of different colors, Buddha’s previous lives, and the
encapsulated in his Four male and female, some fearsome, actions and characteristics he
Noble Truths and Noble others in calm meditation—appear must have displayed in those lives
Eightfold Path (pp.136–43) were to be the objects of devotion in a to move toward nirvana. These
straightforward and rational. To way that, to the external observer, musings led to the compilation
follow them required mental training appears not unlike devotion to the of Jataka tales or “birth stories,”
and analysis of experience, but did gods and goddesses of other involving characters, sometimes
not entail metaphysical speculation religions. Since Buddhism still often human and sometimes animal,
(thinking about what does or does claims to be rational, how did this that depicted the Buddhist qualities
not exist), religious ritual, or—at imaginative transformation come of love, compassion, and wisdom
least for the first few centuries—any about, and how is it justified? deemed necessary for progress
use of images. However, a modern- toward enlightenment. In turn,
day visitor to a Mahayana Buddhist The bodhisattva path these stories led to the idea of
temple in China or Tibet would Given the general Indian belief in the “bodhisattva”: a being who
see many elaborate images and reincarnation, it was not long before is capable of enlightenment—or
forms of devotional worship. people started to speculate about of buddhahood—but who chooses

BUDDHISM 155

See also: The ultimate reality 102–105 ■ Physical and mental discipline 112–13 ■ Seeing with pure consciousness 116–121
■ Zen insights that go beyond words 160–63 ■ Man as a manifestation of God 188

There has arisen in me the preaching to beings in a vast must cultivate six “perfections”:
will to win all-knowledge, universe made up of many world generosity, morality, patience,
with all beings for its object, systems, of which this present energy, meditation, and wisdom.
that is to say, for the purpose world is a very small part. Followers These qualities are shown in
of setting free the entire of Mahayana argue that the earlier individual bodhisattva images.
teaching was a necessarily limited For example, the quality of wisdom
world of beings. version, and that their own was is depicted through the image of
Sikshasamuccaya kept hidden for many centuries, Manjushri, a young man holding a
awaiting the right conditions to lotus (representing the enlightened
to remain in the world, continuing allow it to be preached. mind) and brandishing a flaming
to be reborn, in order to benefit sword (representing the wisdom
all other beings. This idea brought Mahayana Buddhism, although with which he cuts through the
about a remarkable change in the it developed in India, spread north veil of ignorance).
overall view of the Buddhist path. and was established in China
Instead of striving to become an and then in Tibet. The earlier The most widely venerated of
arhat, or “worthy one” (the term tradition still exists as Theravada images is that of Avalokiteshvara,
used for those of Buddha’s followers (“tradition of the elders”) Buddhism. the Bodhisattva of Compassion. His
who have gained enlightenment), It is found today mostly in Thailand, name is a Sanskrit word meaning
it was now possible for Buddhists Sri Lanka, and Southeast Asia. “The Lord who looks down.” He
to dedicate themselves to the looks upon earthly beings as
more exalted path of becoming, Two bodhisattvas a good father would upon his
in effect, apprentice buddhas— The earlier tradition, now known children, offering them assistance
bodhisattvas who engage with the as Theravada, recognizes only two and trying to liberate them from
world out of universal compassion. bodhisattvas: the incarnation their faults and suffering through
of the historical figure of Buddha his unwavering compassion. ❯❯
The great vehicle (who is also known as Sakyamuni
Those who followed this new Buddha or Gautama Buddha), and This thangka, or silk wall hanging,
ideal called it Mahayana, or “great Maitreya, a bodhisattva who will depicts Tara, who vowed to become
vehicle,” in contrast to the earlier arrive in the future to preach the a female bodhisattva to show that the
tradition, which they described truth of the dhamma. However, difference between male and female is
as Hinayana (“small vehicle”) and in Mahayana Buddhism, lay unimportant, as these ideas are illusory.
regarded as too narrow in scope. people, as well as the monastic
Practitioners of Mahayana believe community, are encouraged to
that it represents a deeper reach nirvana and thereafter to
teaching, which was implicit in become bodhisattvas. Once the
the original Buddhist dhamma. possibility of a vast number of
Its scriptures—notably the Lotus bodhisattvas was accepted, each
Sutra—present an image of Buddha dedicated to the task of universal
enlightenment, the floodgates of
Buddhist iconography were opened,
because these beings could then
be imaginatively depicted in order
to provide inspiration to others.

Symbolism and images
Each bodhisattva vows to become
a buddha (“enlightened being”)
and to lead others toward
enlightenment. To do this, they

156 BUDDHAS AND BODHISATTVAS

May I be an unending
treasury for those desperate
and forlorn. May I manifest

as what they require and
wish to have near them.

Shantideva

Buddhists may offer incense or However elaborate or not these that requires sustained personal
flowers before a buddha image as an images may be, and however far attention to the qualities and ideals
act of devotion. This is not worship of removed they may appear to be that the image represents.
a god but respect for an enlightened from the straightforward teaching
human being, imaginatively expressed. of the historical Buddha, they are The impermanent mandala
all taken to represent aspects of The mandala is another Buddhist
Known to Tibetans as Chenrezig, enlightenment. They are not gods image created for the purpose of
Avalokiteshvara takes on a female to be worshipped, although it may spiritual development, whether
form as Kuan Yin in China, and be hard to remember this when used for meditation or instruction.
Kannon in Japan. Avalokiteshvara observing Buddhists paying tribute A mandala is a geometric pattern
is most commonly depicted as to them in temples and shrines. in which various shapes, letters,
having four arms: two are crossed and images of buddhas and
over his heart, a third holds a lotus Focuses for meditation bodhisattvas are intricately
flower, and a fourth holds a rosary. Images of bodhisattvas and buddhas interwoven in a complex image.
The crossed arms symbolize the are regarded as aids to spiritual
boddhisattva’s compassionate progress. In meditation, a person The patterns are carefully
outpouring from his heart to earthly may become adept at visualizing created out of colored sand,
beings. The lotus flower represents his or her chosen image, being displayed at festivals, and then
enlightenment and pure wisdom, able to construct it imaginatively destroyed. Their destruction is
while the rosary symbolizes at will. So, the practitioner of important because it reinforces the
his desire to liberate earthly meditation has an ongoing idea that everything is temporary.
beings from their endless cyclical relationship with a particular To attempt to retain the images
existence. The 14th Dalai Lama image. It is often selected for would encourage clinging and
(p.159) is traditionally thought that purpose, on the advice of craving, which are counter to
of as an incarnation of this a teacher, in order to address a Buddhist teachings since they lead
Bodhisattva of Compassion. particular quality—represented to frustration and suffering. It is
by the image of a bodhisattva only through letting go—embracing
Not all Mahayana images are or buddha—that the individual detachment—that the journey to
elaborate in appearance. Each of needs or wants to develop. The enlightenment can begin.
the dhyana or “meditation” buddhas benefit of such a practice is
such as Buddha Amitabha, for generally only apparent over a Emptiness and buddhas
example, are depicted sitting cross- period of time; it is not seen as The Buddhist philosopher
legged, wearing a very plain robe, an automatic process, but one Nagarjuna (see facing page)
their eyes closed in meditation. argued that everything is empty

If you want others to which sees earthly items and BUDDHISM 157
be happy, practice beings as having no essence (or
compassion. If you “own being”) because they are all Nagarjuna
want to be happy, dependent on the prior existence
practice compassion. of something else. Given that we Nagarjuna is considered the
The Dalai Lama ourselves have no independent, most important Buddhist
underlying essence, the aim of philosopher after Buddha
of inherent existence. By this he meditation is to see beyond our himself. He was born in the
meant that nothing in the world, senses and the ideas we have 2nd century CE to a brahmin
including all living beings, has a gained from them, to look directly (priestly) family, probably
self or, therefore, an underlying upon ultimate truth. in southern India. An oracle
essence (or “inherent existence”). predicted his early death at
He maintained that this idea was Given that the buddhas and the age of eight, so when he
implied by Buddha’s original bodhisattvas may be conjured was seven, his parents sent
teaching about the concept of up in meditation, this suggests him to a monastery to study
interconnectedness (pp.130–35), that they are neither substantial under the great Buddhist
(in other words, they do not have a teacher Saraha. It is said that
There are three types of physical embodiment), nor located he avoided death by reciting
bodhisattva, who approach their somewhere else in the universe. a mantra without interruption
task of helping others reach Each of the images conjured up on the eve and dawn of his
enlightenment in different ways. is not a representation of a person, eighth birthday. He then took
but part of the ultimate truth about monastic vows.
King the person who sits in meditation.
“I will become The vast array of buddha and Nagarjuna is best known
enlightened and bodhisattva images are merely for the teaching of Buddha’s
then lead and help temporary aids to assist a Perfection of Wisdom sutras.
others toward person in recognizing that every According to legend, he
enlightenment.” individual is a potential Buddha. ■ rescued these from nagas
(half-worldly spirits), gaining
Ship’s Captain the name Nagarjuna (master
“I will carry others of the nagas). He also wrote
many sutras himself, and
with me so that founded the Madhyamika
we may become (middle position) school
of Buddhist philosophy.
enlightened
together.” Key works

Shepherd c.200 CE Fundamental Verses
“I will guide of the Middle Way; The
everyone toward Treatise on the Great
enlightenment and Perfection of Wisdom
only then seek it
for myself.”

158

ACT OUT
YOUR BELIEFS

THE PERFORMANCE OF RITUAL AND REPETITION

IN CONTEXT Tibetan Buddhism These aim to engage
uses colorful and the Buddhist emotionally
KEY MOVEMENT imaginative rituals. and physically, not just
Tibetan Buddhism
intellectually.
WHEN AND WHERE
From 8th century CE, Tibet Act out This allows the
your beliefs. Buddhist to experience
BEFORE what it would feel like to
300 CE Tantric rituals that
use dramatic forms to act be enlightened.
out spiritual realities start to
develop within some branches I n most forms of Buddhism the performances and dancing, with
of Hinduism in India. rituals are simple (perhaps just huge images on cloth spread out
making an offering before a or hung on temple walls, and the
4th–5th century CE Yogacara Buddha image), while Tibetan creation and destruction of intricate
Buddhist philosophy argues Buddhism is colorful and dramatic. sand patterns, known as mandalas
that all we know of reality During worship, monks may chant (p.156). How is all of this, which
is in fact an interpretation repeated phrases (mantras), wear seems so different from the early
made by the mind; therefore striking headdresses, blow horns, simplicity of the Buddhist path,
imaginative and symbolic and use elaborate hand gestures explained and justified?
actions are real for us. (mudras)—often while holding small
symbolic objects (vajras) and For more than a thousand years,
AFTER bells. Lay Buddhists may also Buddhism and Hinduism coexisted
19th century Western chant, turn prayer wheels, and in India and influenced one another.
Orientalist scholars take an set out colorful prayer flags. At When Padmasambhava, revered as
interest in Tantric yoga. festivals, there may be dramatic the founder of Tibetan Buddhism,
took the religion to Tibet in the
1959 Following the Chinese
invasion of Tibet, lamas start
teaching Tantric Tibetan
Buddhism in other parts of
the world, particularly the
US and Europe.

BUDDHISM 159

See also: Symbolism made real 46–47 ■ Living the Way of the Gods 82–85 ■ Devotion through puja 114–15 ■ Buddhas and
bodhisattvas 152–57 ■ Sufism and the mystic tradition 282–83 ■ Devotion to the Sweet Lord 322

early 8th century, it was in a form bodhisattvas. Each of the mudras Buddhist monks perform a ritual at
influenced both by the general expresses a particular quality: an a northern Indian monastery. The bright
Mahayana tradition, which had open-handed gesture, palm turned clothing and headdresses are intended
already spread to China, and by outward, expresses generosity; to engage believers emotionally.
the devotional tradition (bhakti) the fearless mudra with the right
of Hinduism that had developed hand raised as though giving a and mudras to perform, depending
in India during the previous greeting, a blessing, or even on their personal inclinations and
centuries. Bhakti involved a a stop sign, is believed to induce what they hope to achieve.
more personal and emotional a feeling of determination. By
engagement with worship, which making these gestures, a Buddhist Although there are Tantric
was taken a step further in both imitates the image of the buddha aspects to publicly accessible forms
Hinduism and Buddhism with or bodhisattva, and thereby of Tibetan worship, many Tantric
the development of Tantra. identifies with what it represents. rituals are designed to be performed
Chanting, mudras, and other in private and their details are
Tantra involves not just aspects of Tantric Buddhism aim generally kept secret. But, whether
thinking about what will be to immerse the worshipper in a performed in private or public, the
achieved by spiritual practice, dramatic expression of what the feature common to all is that beliefs
but also a process of acting out. path toward enlightenment is and values are acted out using
For instance, rather than simply about, by not just explaining it, esoteric texts and actions. ■
visualizing an image of a buddha, but making it feel real.
the practitioner imagines him
or herself as that buddha. This Personalized rituals
process of emotional engagement Tantric rituals are performed
involves the whole person, not under the instruction of a teacher,
just the intellect, encouraging or lama, who selects those that
him or her to feel what it would are likely to be of particular
be like to be enlightened. value to each individual. In other
words, practitioners are given
So, for example, the mudras an individualized set of images
that are made in Tantric worship to visualize, mantras to chant,
are the same as those depicted
on the images of buddhas and

Tibetan lamas

The Dalai Lama is the 14th in line In Mahayana Buddhism, a a sign that he is indeed the
from Tsongkhapa, who founded the bodhisattva is someone who reincarnation. There are
Gelugpa sect of Tibetan Buddhism remains on earth to help others, hundreds of tulku: perhaps the
in the 15th century. perhaps through many lifetimes best known is the Dalai Lama,
(p.155). Tibetan Buddhism refines considered the incarnate form
the idea to a tulku, or “reincarnate of Avalokiteshvara, a bodhisattva
lama”—lama being the title given of compassion and the patron
to a senior Buddhist teacher in deity of Tibet. While he is
Tibet. When a great lama dies, it is regarded as the bodhisattva’s
thought that another will be born latest manifestation, he remains
to carry on his work. A search is an ordinary human, albeit one
made for the new lama, and the with the extraordinary vocation
child candidate is expected to of expressing Avalokiteshvara
identify objects from his past life as in today’s world.

160 IN CONTEXT

DISCOVER YOUR KEY EVENT
BUDDHA NATURE The development
of Zen Buddhism
ZEN INSIGHTS THAT GO BEYOND WORDS
WHEN AND WHERE
12th–13th century CE, Japan

BEFORE
6th century BCE The Buddha
teaches meditation leading
to insight and enlightenment.

6th century CE The Buddhist
monk Bodhidharma brings
meditation Buddhism (Ch’an)
to China, and is said to have
instigated martial arts training
at the Shaolin monastery.

AFTER
1950s–1960s Zen ideas
become popular in Western
counterculture, as seen in
the work of the Beat poets and
Robert Pirsig’s Zen and the
Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
Many Zen meditation groups
and California’s first Zen
monastery are founded.

Z en and its Chinese
equivalent, Ch’an, simply
mean “meditation.” As
a tradition of Buddhist practice,
it is generally regarded as having
been founded by an Indian monk,
Bodhidharma, who brought it to
China in 520CE, and is credited
with the definition of Zen as “a
direct transmission of awakened
consciousness, outside tradition
and outside scriptures”.

This definition highlights the
key features of Zen: it seeks to
allow enlightenment to happen
naturally, as a result of a clearing
of the mind, and does so without
the need for rational argument,
texts, or rituals. In other words,

BUDDHISM 161

See also: Aligning the self with the dao 66–67 ■ Sufism and the mystic
tradition 282–83 ■ Life-energy cultivation in Falun Dafa 323

Using words—in prayer, or discussion—
creates clutter in our mind.

Thinking and reading silently just create Nishida Kitaro
more words in our heads.
The Japanese philosopher
When we strive to find answers and insight, Nishida Kitaro (1870–1945)
our desire clouds the mind. studied both Zen Buddhism
and the history of Western
If we are to discover our Buddha nature, we must philosophy, and tried to
empty our minds of all these things. express Buddhist insights
using Western philosophical
With an empty mind, insight and understanding terms. He taught at the
will come to us without words. University of Kyoto from
1910 to 1928, and founded
it creates the conditions in which two main Buddhist branches, what is known as the Kyoto
a person’s mental clutter, which Theravada and Mahayana School of Philosophy.
detracts from clarity of the mind, (p.330), Zen sees itself as having
can be replaced by direct insight. developed independently via a Nishida argued that pure
separate line of transmission. experience took place before
Zen claims to continue a tradition the split between subject and
that goes back to the earliest days Buddha mind object, self and world—exactly
of Buddhist teachings. There is a Central to Buddhism is the idea the distinction made by Zen
story that one day, surrounded by that existential unhappiness is between the ego-based
his disciples, the Buddha simply caused by the illusion that each mind and the undifferentiated
held up a flower, turning it in his person has a fixed ego, which unity of the Buddha mind
hand without speaking. One of the is separate from the rest of the (see left). This he compared
disciples, Kasyapa, smiled; he world, yet which clings to it, trying to the ideas of the German
had seen the point. That wordless to hold on to what changes. philosopher Immanuel Kant
insight, it is claimed, was passed (1724–1804), who distinguished
down from teacher to disciple for Zen sees this as the small, between a person’s experience
28 generations to Bodhidharma, who superficial mind; one that people of things (phenomena) and the
took it to China, from where it spread acquire at birth, then develop, things themselves (noumena),
to Japan. So, rather than being a influenced by those around them. the latter being unknowable.
product of the development of the However, it holds that people also ❯❯ Nishida even introduced the
idea of God as the basis of
reality and our true self, and
compared Zen with Heidegger,
Aristotle, Bergson, and Hegel.

Key work

1911 A Study of Good

162 ZEN INSIGHTS THAT GO BEYOND WORDS

Sitting and meditating is all that
is required to achieve enlightenment
in Soto Zen. The stilling of the mind
dispels the illusion of self.

have a Buddha mind, freed from indivisible unity. Zen has no be repeated many times. It is said
egocentric, conceptual thinking. scriptures or formal teachings; it to happen almost as if by accident;
This is innate, but hidden by the is an oral teaching, a tradition of it cannot be forced, because
clutter of the small mind. People meditation passed from teacher wanting to achieve satori is a form
gain nothing by discovering their to pupil—hence the importance of of grasping. Zen does not seek to
Buddha mind, they simply recognize practicing only under the guidance define reality or the nature of satori.
what they have had all along. of an experienced teacher.
Soto Zen was developed in
Zen teacher Dogen said that A key feature of Rinzai Zen, Japan in the 13th century by the
the true self is not the superficial introduced by Hakuin, is the use teacher Dogen, who had traveled
ego that each person has now, but of koans—unanswerable questions in China and there encountered a
the original face he or she had that shatter conventional thinking. meditation tradition called Ts’ong
before they were born and molded Probably the best-known koan is Tung. His form of meditation is
by experience. It is only when Hakuin’s, “What is the sound of very different from the Rinzai form.
people develop their own faces that one hand clapping?” Those who Instead of trying to trigger sudden
they see themselves as separate think they know the answer to a insight, Soto Zen is based on sitting
entities and become egocentric. koan should think again, and let meditation (zazen) and a more
Dogen is therefore suggesting that go of all preconceived notions. gradual process of enlightenment.
people should strive to recognize Rationally examining a koan, or a
who they were before they were Zen dialogue (a mondo) is unlikely Soto considered that religious
conditioned by life and experience. to yield great insight, since it is traditions and rituals could be
too easy to view it only within the dispensed with: enlightenment
Zen in Japan parameters of personal discursive could be achieved simply through
There are two main forms of Zen: thought. A Zen teacher will try to the practice of zazen. This involves
Rinzai and Soto. Rinzai Zen was guard against that happening. periods of sitting in an upright,
established in Japan in the 12th cross-legged position, facing
century by Eisai, and reformed As a result of Zen practice, a a blank wall, interspersed with
in the 18th century by Hakuin. person may suddenly experience reflective walking, known as kinhin.
This school introduced the Zen satori—insight or enlightenment. In meditation, the mind is cleared
view that the world is an illusion This is not a one-time or permanent of its flow of ideas, so that the
and that reality is in fact a simple, state of enlightenment, but a process of sitting is exactly what
momentary experience that may
If you understand the
first word of Zen you
will know the last word.
The last word and the
first word: they are

not one word.
Mumon

BUDDHISM 163

If you meet the Buddha calligraphy or raking sand in a cause of suffering. In a world where
on the road, kill him! garden—both of which are features people seek to gain things, to claim
Zen koan of Zen practice—can help to free knowledge and insight like personal
the mind from the constant process possessions, Zen is the ultimate
enlightenment is about. A person of thinking, allowing a person to frustration. Collecting beautiful
does not sit in order to become act in greater harmony with nature. Zen artifacts could never result
enlightened; in the act of sitting That is why Zen finds expression in understanding what lies behind
that person is already enlightened. in many artistic forms, from flower their production. Zen is letting go.
Stilling the mind and clearing arranging to computer design.
away the illusion of a separate In some ways, Zen returns to
self is enlightenment. Zen is about creating situations the earliest phase of Buddhism,
that bring insight, without trying before the buddha and bodhisattva
Beyond words to explain or express it rationally. images, devotional practices, and
In Zen meditation, something is To try to describe the goal of Zen revered scriptures. Enlightenment
seen but cannot be described. is to have failed to understand it: is open to all: indeed, everyone is
Careful attention to a piece of Zen aims to set the mind free from already enlightened, if only they
content; it is not part of that content. could recognize it. Zen dispenses
Zen is not studied, it is practiced; with almost everything related to
and if satori or enlightenment is religion and presents itself as a path
finally achieved, nothing new is of insight and understanding that
known—all that is known is that it is without religious trappngs.
is not necessary to know anything.
Deliberately full of paradoxes, Zen It is also deliberately anarchic, its
aims to gradually break down the stories provocative, and its teachers
normal processes of logical thought. notoriously challenging. Asked to
summarize Buddhism, Bodhidharma
Attempting to explain something is believed to have replied, “Vast
is to grasp at it, and that grasping is emptiness; nothing holy”—not what
what the Buddha described as the was expected, but to the point. ■

That wind, banner, and mind are Neither the wind nor the
not innately different is what this koan banner is moving. It is your
seeks to demonstrate. Externalization is
a function of the ego-based mind, not of minds that are moving.
the undifferentiating Buddha mind.

I say the banner I say the wind
is moving. is moving, not

the banner.

JUDAISM

FROM 2000 BCE



166 INTRODUCTION

The era of King David Millions of Jews The Talmud is The Zohar,
the Patriarchs: reigns over die in two revolts completed. It includes a key work in
Israel as God’s against Roman the Mishnah and the the kabbalah
Abraham, his anointed one, rule, and are again Gemara (commentaries (the Jewish
son Isaac, and or “messiah.” driven out of Israel.
grandson Jacob. on the Mishnah). mystical
movement),
is compiled.

C.2000–1500BCE C.1005–965BCE 70 AND 135CE C.425 CE 1250

C.1300 BCE EARLY 6TH CENTURY BCE 200 CE 900–1200

Moses leads his Babylon conquers A written version of The Golden Age of
people from captivity David’s kingdom Jewish Oral Law, Jewish culture in
in Egypt to Canaan,
of Israel and in the Mishnah, Spain expands;
the Promised 586 BCE destroys the is compiled. the philosopher
Land, and receives Maimonides writes
First Temple of influential works.
the Torah. Jerusalem.

O ne of the oldest surviving faith with a son, Isaac; he in turn Solomon built a permanent temple
religions, Judaism evolved had a son, Jacob, who, the Tanakh in Jerusalem, symbolizing the
from the beliefs of the relates, was the father of the Twelve claim of the Jewish people on the
people of Canaan in the southern Tribes of Israel. Together Abraham, Land of Israel. But twice the Jews
Levant region, more than 3,500 Isaac, and Jacob are known as the were forced from their “Promised
years ago, and is closely connected Patriarchs—the physical and Land” and the temple destroyed:
to the history of the Jewish people. spiritual ancestors of Judaism. first by the Babylonians in the 6th
The Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, century BCE, and again after they
tells not only the story of God’s The Tanakh recounts how Jacob had returned and fallen under
creation of the world, but also the and his descendants were enslaved Roman rule, in the 1st century CE.
story of his special relationship in Egypt, and then led to freedom
with the Jews. by Moses at God’s command in The Diaspora
the Exodus. As part of Moses’s As a result of foreign rule, the
God’s agreement, or covenant, covenant with God, he received Jewish people became a widespread
with the Jewish people began with the Torah (the Five Books of Moses) diaspora. Some Jews, later known
God’s promise to Abraham that on Mount Sinai. Moses took his as the Sephardim, settled in Spain,
he would be the father of a great people back to the Land of Israel, Portugal, North Africa, and the
people. God told Abraham that his where they settled once again. Middle East, but the majority, the
descendants must obey him and Later, God appointed David—the Ashkenazim, formed communities
adopt the rite of circumcision as a anointed one or “messiah”—as king, in Central and Eastern Europe.
sign of the covenant; in return, God from which came the belief that a Inevitably, the geographical
would guide them, protect them, descendant of his, the Messiah, separation led to differences in the
and give them the land of Israel. would come to bring in a new age way Judaism developed between
Abraham was rewarded for his for the Jewish people. David’s son

JUDAISM 167

Revolutions in France The Reform, Theodor Herzl The State of Israel
and America lead to Orthodox, and starts the modern is founded.
Jews being given full Conservative movement of Zionism
with the publication
rights and freedom movements of The Jewish State.
of religion. separate.

1775, 1789 19TH CENTURY 1896 1948

18TH CENTURY LATE 18TH CENTURY 1881–1920 1938–45 1972

Hasidism is The Jewish Thousands of Jews Nazi Germany The first female
founded in Eastern Enlightenment are killed and persecutes and rabbi is ordained
(Haskalah) occurs; millions more executes millions within the Reform
Europe as a Jews in western Europe of Jews in the
reaction against integrate more fully into displaced in waves movement.
the austerity of their adopted societies. of pogroms in Holocaust.
legalistic Judaism.
Russia and Ukraine.

the groups, and various different Torah, which was considered to be attacks. From the 18th century
religious traditions evolved. In divine in origin, while Reform and on, countries such as the US and
Spain, a Golden Age of Jewish Conservative Judaism took a less France granted them full rights,
thinking flourished between the rigorous approach, regarding the and there was a movement toward
10th and 12th centuries, which Torah more as a set of guidelines greater integration. However, this
produced great philosophers such rather than obligations. An issue posed a question of identity. Were
as Moses Maimonides. This was that divided the different branches the Jewish people a religious,
also the center, in the Middle Ages, of Judaism in the 20th century was ethnic, cultural, or national group?
of interest in the more mystical the status of women. In spite of the Zionism, which arose in response,
aspects of Judaism, known as doctrine ruling that Jewish identity pressed for the formation of a Jewish
kabbalah. In eastern Europe, a is passed down solely through the state, and matters were brought to
number of the more isolated small maternal line, women were not able a head in the aftermath of the
Jewish settlements, the shtetls, to play an active part in religious Holocaust with the formation of
found that the scholarliness of ceremonies until recently. the State of Israel in 1948. Today,
their religion did little to promote it is difficult to assess how many
strong community ties, and a Oppression and identity followers of Judaism there are,
more spiritual movement, Largely because of their position because many who identify
Hasidism, emerged as a result. In as displaced immigrants and themselves as Jewish are not
the following centuries, there were their distinctive faith, Jews have actively religious. However, it is
further divisions in Judaism, largely been widely persecuted throughout estimated that there are more than
over matters of interpretation of their history. In many places, they 13 million Jewish people in the
Jewish Law. Orthodox Judaism have been isolated in ghettos, and world, the majority of them living
advocated a strict adherence to the suffered violent vilification and in either North America or Israel. ■

I WILL TAKE YOU AS

MY PEOPLE,

ANDI WILL BE

YOUR GOD

GOD’S COVENANT WITH ISRAEL



170 GOD’S COVENANT WITH ISRAEL

IN CONTEXT God asked Abraham to leave his home and
family, and go to another land.
KEY TEXT
The Torah If he did so, God promised to reward him;
this promise became known as the covenant
WHEN AND WHERE
c.1000–450 BCE, This promise was that as long as Abraham
the Middle East and his descendants obeyed God, God
would protect his descendants and
BEFORE give them the land of Canaan forever.
c.1300 BCE Hittite royal treaties
provide a model for the Torah’s “I will take you as my people,
description of the covenant. and I will be your God.”

AFTER
200–500 CE The Mishnah and
Talmud codify the oral law, or
received body of rabbinic
learning, and are used to offer
further Biblical interpretation
and guidance on the covenant.

1948 In the aftermath of World
War II, the State of Israel is
founded, allowing Jewish
people to return to their
historical homeland.

1990 US theologian Judith
Plaskow urges Jews to
reinterpret traditional texts
that exclude women from
the covenant.

The covenant, or contract, roughly equivalent to modern The first covenant
with God is the central Israel and Palestine, perhaps as Like many peoples in the ancient
concept of Judaism, and early as the 15th century BCE. In Middle East, the Israelites were
dates back to the beliefs of the around 1200 BCE, during a period polytheists, but worshipped a
Israelites, an ancient Middle when this part of the world was national god, one whom they
Eastern people. In fact, Jews view under Egyptian rule, an inscription viewed as offering their people
themselves as bound to God by a was carved that contains the first particular protection. Jews were
series of covenants. The Abrahamic mention of Israel as a people. later to deem their God’s name
covenant was the first, specifically too holy to pronounce and did not
singling out the Israelites as God’s In the 6th century BCE, many preserve its original vowels, so it
chosen people, while the later of the Israelites were forced into became known only by its four
Mosaic covenants (mediated by exile in Babylonia. During this consonants: YHWH (probably
Moses) renewed this initial bond. period of exile, much of the Hebrew, pronounced “Yahweh”). YHWH
or Jewish, Bible was composed. was also known by several other
The Israelites, sometimes It sets down the history of the names, including El and Elohim,
called Hebrews, were a people Israelite people and the origin meaning God.
who occupied part of Canaan, of their religious beliefs.

JUDAISM 171

See also: Animism in early societies 24–25 ■ Sacrifice and blood offerings 40–45
■ The burden of observance 50 ■ A challenge to the covenant 198

According to the Book of Genesis, Jewish boys are circumcised on The Hebrew Bible
the first of the five books of the the eighth day after their birth
Torah (the first section of the as a sign that they are parties to The Hebrew, or Jewish, Bible,
Hebrew Bible), it was by God’s this pledge. the sacred scriptures of the
decree that the Israelites first Jewish people, is a collection
settled in Canaan. He called on Abraham had two sons, Ishmael of writings composed mostly
a man, Abraham, born in the and Isaac. God blessed Ishmael, in the Hebrew language and
Mesopotamian city-state of Ur (in promising that he would become written over the course of the
modern-day Iraq) and commanded the father of a great nation. But first millennium BCE. With some
him to travel to a place named it was Isaac that God chose to variations in sequence and
Canaan, which was to become inherit the covenant from his content, these same scriptures
the Israelite homeland. The Torah father, appearing to him directly. make up the Old Testament
recounts that in Canaan, God Isaac in turn handed down the of the Christian Bible.
established a covenant with covenant to his son Jacob, who in
Abraham, which took a similar his turn received the name Israel Jewish tradition divides
form to a type of royal grant that from God and handed the covenant the Bible into three parts.
kings of the time handed out to down to all his offspring. The first, called the Torah or
loyal subordinates. It stipulated Pentateuch, describes God’s
that, as a reward for Abraham’s Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob creation of the world and
loyalty, God would grant him are known as Israel’s patriarchs, his covenant with Israel, and
many descendants who would because they represent the first outlines the commandments
inherit the land. As a sign of this three generations included in that were imposed on the
compact, Abraham and all the the covenant with God. Israelites. Tradition attributes
male members of his household the Torah to Moses, but modern
were circumcised. To this day, The covenant at Sinai scholars believe that it was
The Torah relates that when written by many authors
Abraham’s loyalty was tested when Canaan was struck by famine, over several centuries.
God asked him to sacrifice his son Jacob and his sons migrated to
Isaac. However, at the last moment, Egypt, where their descendants The second part of the
God sent an angel to stop Abraham, were subsequently enslaved. Bible, Prophets, includes a
as shown in this 18th-century painting. Several generations later, when narrative of Israelite history.
the Israelite population in Egypt This runs from the people’s
had increased, God appointed entry into Canaan to the
Moses, an Israelite raised in the end of their kingdom, when
Egyptian court, to lead the people their capital and temple are
out of slavery and back to the land destroyed and their people
of Canaan. The Israelites’ escape exiled. It also contains the
from Egypt (the Exodus) involved writings of the prophets.
many miracles: God struck the
Egyptians with plagues that The final part, called
included afflicting them with boils Writings, comprises a diverse
and turning the Nile to blood, and collection of later literature.
he split the Red Sea so that the
Israelites could pass through. With
these miracles, God demonstrated
his power, and his loyalty to the
covenant with the patriarchs.

After liberating the Israelites
from Egypt, and before leading
them into Canaan, God brought ❯❯

172 GOD’S COVENANT WITH ISRAEL

them to a mountain called Sinai, while all the people of Israel The whole land of Canaan…
or Horeb. Moses ascended the listened from below. Tradition I will give as an everlasting
mountain to speak to God, and has it that these commandments possession to you and your
a new covenant was established were inscribed personally by God
between God and the entire people onto the two stone tablets that descendants after you;
of Israel. The covenant at Sinai Moses brought down from the and I will be their God.
recalled God’s salvation of Israel mountain, although the Torah
and promised the Israelites that is not consistently clear on this Genesis 17:8
they would be God’s treasured point. Moses broke the tablets
possession if they observed the in anger when he saw that the
commandments that he had given Israelites had built a false god,
to Moses on Mount Sinai. a golden calf, while he was on the
summit. He returned to Mount
According to the Torah, God Sinai to have a new set of stone
spoke these commandments aloud tablets inscribed, and these were
from the top of Mount Sinai, which placed in a gilded chest called
was covered by cloud and fire,

the Ark of the Covenant. The ark
was equipped with poles so that it
could be carried by the Israelites
as they continued to Canaan.

The commandments
The most famous commandments
in the Sinai covenant are the Ten
Commandments, or the Decalogue.
The Decalogue comprises the
most fundamental rules of Israel’s
covenant. It prohibits the worship
of other gods or the depiction of
God in physical form; it says that
each week the Israelites must
observe a sacred day of rest,
the Sabbath; and it prohibits
certain actions, such as murder
and adultery.

In addition to the Decalogue,
the Torah includes numerous laws
that God is said to have conveyed
to the Israelites indirectly through
Moses, both at Sinai and on other
occasions. These laws also form
part of the covenant. According
to a calculation in the Talmud
(rabbinic interpretation of

When the Israelites fled Egypt
during the Exodus, God protected
them and supplied them with food,
as shown here in The Gathering of
the Manna, a 15th-century work.

JUDAISM 173

Jewish law) there are a total of this additional covenant with the The rituals of Judaism, such as
613 commandments in the Torah. people of Israel. It took the form of the lighting of candles for Shabbat, the
They address many aspects of the a final address from Moses, who Sabbath or day of rest, serve to remind
Israelites’ life in Canaan. Some was to die before he entered the Jews of the bond created by their
constitute what we would consider promised land. Moses recalled covenant with God.
civil law, describing systems of God’s salvation of Israel, relayed
government, regulating property further commandments that laws deal with agriculture and
disputes, and setting guidelines God had given him at Sinai, and are considered binding only in
for dealing with cases of murder promised that God would bless Israel. In the present day, Jews
and theft, among other matters. the Israelites if they obeyed the maintain a range of approaches
Others relate to the construction commandments, and curse them to the commandments and their
of a sanctuary for worshipping if they disobeyed. The covenant interpretations. Traditional Jews
God, and establish sacrificial rites at Moab reaffirmed the Israelites’ observe the Sabbath, the festivals,
to be performed by a hereditary loyalty to their God and his and dietary laws (such as avoiding
priesthood. Still others direct the commandments. certain meats and not mixing
behavior of individual Israelites, meat and dairy), as well as ❯❯
instructing them on matters The covenant in practice
ranging from what they may In principle, traditional Jews
eat, and whom they may marry, consider the laws of the Torah
to the fair and charitable treatment eternally binding. However, the
of other people. Generally, commandments have been subject
the commandments aimed to to centuries of interpretation, and
establish a society that was just, many are no longer applicable in
by the standards of the day, and practice. Certain laws pertaining
distinctive in its service of God. to the rule of kings, for example,
have not been applicable since
The final book of the Torah, the fall of the monarchy of Judah
Deuteronomy, describes a third in the 6th century BCE, and the
covenant between God and Israel, sacrificial rites have not been
established in the land of Moab practiced by mainstream Jews
(in modern-day Jordan) before since the Romans destroyed
the Israelites entered Canaan. their temple in Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Deuteronomy tells that God In addition, many of the Torah’s
commanded Moses to make

The covenant with Noah

Noah is not only an important In addition to God’s covenant Noah was the rainbow, which
figure in Judaism and Christianity, with Israel, the Torah also tells would thereafter serve as a
but also in Islam; his covenant of a covenant between God and reminder of God’s promise of
with God forms part of the Qur’an. all living beings. God made this safety. Later Jewish tradition
covenant with Noah, whose family understood the Noahide
survived a primordial flood that covenant to include seven
wiped out most life on Earth. commandments, which were
This covenant stipulated that incumbent on all humankind.
God would never again destroy These Noahide laws forbade
the world by flood. Like Israel’s idolatry, murder, blasphemy,
patriarchs after him, Noah was theft, sexual immorality (such
also promised many descendants as incest), and consuming
who would fill the Earth. The forbidden flesh, and required
sign of God’s covenant with courts of justice to be set up.

174 GOD’S COVENANT WITH ISRAEL

The Israelites’ loyalty to God was
tested by 40 years of exile in the desert.
This is commemorated in the festival
of Sukkot, in which fragile booths are
built to resemble their desert homes.

the promise of the land, although
conditional, remains eternal: the
Israelites might lose the land for
a time due to their sins, but they
need not lose hope of returning.

other rules. But for many modern The promise of the land The “Chosen People”
Jews, the essential laws are those In his covenant with Abraham, The Torah offers little in terms
that pertain to the love of one’s God granted the land of Canaan of explanation as to why God
neighbor and the just treatment to the patriarch’s descendants chose the patriarchs and their
of other human beings. Progressive as an inviolable gift. Yet it is descendants, yet it emphasizes
Jews often cite a dictum attributed stated elsewhere in the Bible that by virtue of their covenantal
to Rabbi Hillel the Elder on the that the Israelites’ hold on the relationship with him, the
Golden Rule: “That which is land is conditional on observance Israelites are privileged above
hateful to you, do not do to your of the commandments. This other nations. The authors of the
neighbor. That is the whole conditionality is said to explain Bible did not view the Israelites
Torah; the rest is the explanation.” why the Israelites were eventually as inherently superior to other
conquered by their enemies and people—on the contrary, they
If you will obey Me exiled from their land. Parts of the often describe them as sinful
faithfully and keep My Torah include exile among the and unworthy—but they clearly
covenant, you shall be curses that would befall the perceived Israel’s status as special.
My treasured possession Israelites if they violated the As Jews came to believe that their
among all the peoples. covenants at Sinai and Moab; god was the one God who ruled
many modern scholars believe the whole world, their status as
Exodus 19:5 that these passages were written his chosen nation took on even
in response to these events. greater significance.

At the same time, the Torah Throughout history, Jews have
asserts that God never abandoned struggled to understand why
his covenant with the patriarchs. God chose them and what this
While in exile, the Israelites had choice implied about their place
the opportunity to repent, and in the world. One ancient tradition
God led them back to their land, suggests that, rather than God
thereby upholding his covenant choosing Israel, Israel chose God.
with Abraham. In this way This tradition maintains that
God offered the commandments
to all the nations of the earth, but
all except Israel rejected them,
finding them too burdensome.
In accordance with this view, the
Israelites’ status is not a result of
choice on God’s part, but a product
of free will. At the same time, it
seems to deny freedom of choice by
holding individuals responsible for
the decisions of their ancestors.

JUDAISM 175

The meaning of Jewish between Jews and non-Jews. non-Jew to become Jewish through
history revolves around Modern Jewish thinkers tend to conversion. Under rabbinic law,
the faithfulness of Israel view the covenant instead as a convert to Judaism must accept
imposing a mission on Jews to live the Jewish commandments and be
to the covenant. in accordance with God’s will and immersed in a ritual bath (and if
Abraham Joshua thereby convey God’s truth to the male, be circumcised), at which
Heschel, Polish-born world. Some have suggested that point he, or she, assumes all the
Israel is not unique in having been rights and duties of a Jew.
US rabbi chosen by God, and that other
peoples may have been chosen to Traditionally, conversion to
Some Jewish mystical traditions fulfill other missions. Some liberal Judaism involved a commitment
with origins in the Middle Ages Jews reject the idea of chosenness to a strict regime of observance.
suggest a different perspective, on the grounds that it presupposes Today, progressive Judaism places
asserting that the souls of Jews superiority over other people and greater emphasis on individual
were chosen at the time of creation encourages ethnocentrism. autonomy in determining Jewish
and are qualitatively superior identity and its obligations. In
to those of non-Jews. However, Joining the covenant both Reform Judaism in the US
prominent thinkers from the major Traditional Judaism maintains and Liberal Judaism in the UK,
modern denominations of Judaism that status in the covenant is the children of Jewish fathers and
(Modern Orthodox, Conservative, transmitted from parent to child non-Jewish mothers are accepted
and Reform) emphatically reject through the maternal line; so without formal conversion if they
any claims of essential difference the child of a Jewish mother self-identify as Jewish.
is automatically Jewish and
bound by the commandments. In spite of varying beliefs
This inherited status cannot and practices, the concept of the
be forfeited: a Jew who does not covenant remains central to all
observe the commandments has streams of Judaism. It represents
violated the covenant, but he and defines the individual Jew’s
or she remains a Jew. On the purpose in the world, linking him
other hand, it is possible for a or her to the Jewish people across
the span of history, and to the
Jewish God. ■

How an individual joins the covenant depends on the faith,
or otherwise, of his or her parents. Judaism does not actively seek
converts, but accepts those who show commitment and sincerity.

If your mother is If only your father is If neither of your
Jewish and your father Jewish, some modern parents is Jewish, you

is not, then you are denominations will may convert to
Jewish, and can never accept you without Judaism, following the

be not Jewish. conversion. correct rituals.

176

BESIDE ME
THERE IS NO
OTHER GOD

FROM MONOLATRY TO MONOTHEISM

IN CONTEXT YHWH is the T he earliest authors of the
greatest god; his power Jewish Bible seem to
KEY SOURCE have acknowledged the
Second Isaiah is supreme, universal, existence of many gods, but
and eternal. insisted that the one whose name
WHEN AND WHERE is rendered as YHWH was the
c.540 BCE, Babylon/Judea Because he is greatest among them, and that
omnipotent he needs the Israelites should worship only
BEFORE YHWH. It appears, then, that at
1400–1200 BCE The prophet no subordinates. some time during the biblical
Zoroaster forms a new religion period, the Jewish people moved
with one supreme god. No other being can from this exclusive worship of
countermand his wishes. one god among many (known as
c.1000 BCE The “Song of the monolatry) to the belief that only
Sea,” a poem in the Bible’s Even events that harm his one god existed (monotheism).
Exodus, proclaims YHWH people—the Israelites—are
supreme over other gods. YHWH rules all nations
orchestrated by him. In addition to the views of the
c.622 BCE King Josiah of Bible’s authors, archaeological
Judah abolishes worship Both the evil and good of the evidence suggests that the early
of gods other than YHWH. world are part of his plan. Israelites worshipped a variety
of regional gods. The prophets of
AFTER There are no other gods the god YHWH, whose writings
c.20 BCE–40 CE Philo of but YHWH. comprise a large portion of the
Alexandria argues that biblical Bible, harshly rebuked the people
monotheism had anticipated for this practice. It is not clear
later Greek philosophical whether the prophets were all
conceptions of God. true monotheists, but they did
believe that YHWH was supremely
7th century Islam is revealed powerful and ruled over all nations.
to the Prophet Muhammad,
and monotheism supplants In 722 BCE, the Assyrians
polytheistic beliefs held conquered the northern kingdom of
among the tribes of Arabia. Israel and exiled its people. Around
130 years later, the Babylonians

JUDAISM 177

See also: Beliefs for new societies 56–57 ■ The battle between good and evil 60–65 ■ God’s covenant with Israel 168–75
■ Defining the indefinable 184–85 ■ The unity of divinity is necessary 280–81

The people of Israel were Around this time, the earliest clear Second Isaiah
vanquished by the Assyrians during articulation of monotheism in the
the 8th century BCE and led away to Bible emerged, in a collection of The biblical Book of Isaiah
exile, as shown on this relief from the writings known as Second Isaiah. claims to be the work of a
palace of Sennacherib at Nineveh. It emphasizes that YHWH created, prophet by that name who
and rules over, the world alone. lived in the late 8th and early
conquered the southern lands of Israel’s restoration is a sign of 7th centuries BCE. However,
the Jewish people, known as the YHWH’s control over history, which the latter portion of the book
Kingdom of Judah. In the ancient is both transcendent and personal: deals with the Jews’ return
Middle East, such conquests were he determines the actions of kings from exile in Babylon in the
usually interpreted as victories but also leads his people to salvation 6th century BCE. Modern
by the conquering people’s god like a shepherd guiding his flock. scholars refer to this section as
over that of the defeated people— Second Isaiah or Deutero-
so the supremacy of YHWH The problem of evil Isaiah and attribute it to one
appeared to be challenged. Yet the Monotheism raises the problem or more 6th-century writers.
prophets insisted that these events of evil: namely, if there is only
were all, in fact, YHWH’s doing: he one God, who is just and merciful, Second Isaiah echoes
was using the other nations to as the Bible insists, then how can the language and themes
punish the Israelites for violating he preside over a world in which of the first part of the book,
their covenant with him (pp.168–75). the righteous suffer? This is the while also introducing new
theme of the biblical book of Job, ideas and motifs, including
No God but YHWH which tells of a righteous man who explicit monotheism. Like
The Jews returned from exile in questions how God could have earlier prophetic works, it
Babylon to their homeland in 538 BCE, allowed his terrible misfortune. God’s interprets Israel’s exile as
under the decree of Cyrus the Great, response suggests that there is no punishment for the people’s
emperor of Persia, where the answer: his rule over the world is sins, but proclaims that the
Zoroastrian faith predominated. beyond human understanding. ■ punishment has ended and it
will be followed by everlasting
glory when Israel finally
embraces YHWH alone.

Many scholars believe that
the final portion of the book
was written later still and
constitutes a Third Isaiah.

Before Me no God
was formed, nor shall
there be any after Me.

Isaiah 43:10

178 IN CONTEXT

THE MESSIAH KEY TEXTS
WILL REDEEM The Dead Sea Scrolls
ISRAEL
WHEN AND WHERE
THE PROMISE OF A NEW AGE c.150 BCE–68 CE, Palestine

BEFORE
c.1005–965 BCE King David
reigns over Israel as God’s
anointed one, or Messiah.

586 BCE The Babylonian
conquest and exile of the
Jews ends David’s dynasty.

AFTER
1st century CE Jesus is
proclaimed the Messiah.

2nd century CE Simeon
Bar Kokhba is hailed as
the Messiah.

20th century CE Menachem
Mendel Schneerson, leader
of a Hasidic sect, promotes
Jewish observance as a way
to bring the Messiah; he is
himself hailed as the Messiah
by his followers.

T hroughout much of their
recorded history, the people
of Israel were ruled by
kings. A ritual called anointing,
in which oil was poured on the
monarch’s head, functioned much
like a coronation and served to
indicate God’s election of the
ruler, who was referred to as
God’s anointed one, or in Hebrew,
Messiah. Originally, the term
Messiah was used for any anointed
leader, but over time it came to
refer to a specific ruler who would
arise in the future and rescue Israel
from its enemies, ushering in a
golden age—the Messianic Era.
Jewish tradition offers much
speculation as to the events that

See also: God’s covenant with Israel 168–75 ■ Faith and the state 189 JUDAISM 179
■ The origins of modern political Zionism 196–97
Israelites and Jews
Perfect harmony
and abundance Abraham’s son Isaac fathered
two sons, Esau and Jacob;
in nature. the Bible relates that God
changed Jacob’s name
Peace among All Jews return to Israel. The families of
all nations. from exile Jacob’s 12 sons grew into the
to Israel. 12 tribes of Israel (Israelites),
occupying an area roughly
The Messianic Era equivalent to the modern
territory of Israel. In the late
Reinstatement Universal 10th century BCE, the Israelites
of the Temple. acceptance of were divided into two
the Jewish God. kingdoms—the southern
tribes formed the Kingdom
No sin or of Judah, while the northern
evil; all Israel tribes formed the Kingdom
will obey the of Israel. These two kingdoms
commandments. were subsequently conquered
and broken up—Israel by the
Assyrians in 722 BCE, and
Judah by the Babylonians in
586 BCE. However, the people
of Judah endured as a distinct
group with a distinct religion.
From this point, they were
called “Jews” and their religion
“Judaism”, although they still
thought of themselves as
Israelites. Modern citizens
of Israel are called Israelis.

would characterize the Messianic A Messiah from David’s line They will beat their
Era, but most agreed that it would One of the first kings of the united swords into plowshares
be a period of brotherhood and monarchy of Israel and Judah and their spears into pruning
glory on earth, when delicacies and was a man named David, who hooks. Nation will not take
miracles would be commonplace, reigned from around 1005 to up sword against nation,
swords would be beaten into 965 BCE. According to the Bible,
plowshares, and the wolf would David was instrumental in uniting nor will they train for
live with the lamb. the people of Israel and defending war anymore.
them against the Philistines. Isaiah 2:4
Some traditions speculated that The Bible relates that God loved
the Messiah would be an earthly David, referring to him as his son,
ruler (with a close connection to and established an agreement,
God), others that he would be a or covenant, with him, promising
heavenly figure appointed in a time that his descendants would rule
before creation itself. Similarly, a over Israel forever.
number of traditions envisioned
the Messianic Era to be part of the However, the Babylonians
normal course of history, while for conquered Judah in 586 BCE,
others it was a miraculous time when exiling most of its inhabitants
God’s spirit would reign on earth. and destroying the temple, and ❯❯

180 THE PROMISE OF A NEW AGE

David’s dynasty came to an end. misfortunes were God’s My servant David will be
The fall of the kingdom might punishment for the sins of the king over them, and they will
have suggested that God had people and its leaders and that all have one shepherd. They
broken his covenant with David. future restoration would only be
Yet the people of Judah continued possible if Israel repented. will follow my laws and be
to hold out the hope that, some time careful to keep my decrees.
in the future, a descendant of David Foreign rule
would once again rule over Israel The prophets’ visions were partly Ezekiel 37:24
as God’s Messiah. realized when the Persian king
Cyrus the Great defeated the plagues and tribulations that would
Foretold by prophets Babylonians and allowed many precede the advent of the Messiah:
Even before the fall of the monarchy, Jews to return to their homeland floods and earthquakes, the
some of Israel’s prophets predicted and rebuild the Temple. Indeed, darkening of the sun and moon,
that a king descended from David Cyrus is addressed in the Bible and the falling of the stars from
would unite the two kingdoms and as the “Lord’s Messiah”. However, the sky. These events came to be
rescue them from their enemies. a lengthy period of domination known as the “birth pangs of the
Although these prophecies were by foreign powers, including Messiah”, since for all the agony
written in different periods and the Greek and Roman Empires, that they would cause they were
some referred to specific historical followed the return of the Jews simply a precursor of the Messianic
kings, later generations interpreted to the homeland. During this Era, when evil would be banished
them as foretelling the advent of a time, they turned again to biblical from earth, the rule of oppressive
future Messiah. After the Babylonian prophecies about the Messiah empires would be swept away, and
conquest, some prophets foretold and an age of national restoration. people could live free of distraction
that the people would eventually and crime.
return to their homeland and The Jews drew on prophetic
rebuild their temple. A few traditions that envisioned a great
envisioned that the nations of the battle between the forces of good
world would one day recognize and evil, in which God would
Israel’s God and come to worship emerge triumphant and sinners
him in Jerusalem. These visions would be punished. Jewish
of a glorious future were not apocalyptic works of this period,
unconditional, however. The which include the Dead Sea Scrolls,
prophets believed that Israel’s offer elaborate descriptions of this
battle and the accompanying

The Dead Sea Scrolls

Biblical manuscripts make up In 1947, a Bedouin goatherd they awaited the end times,
almost half of the scrolls. Most are discovered a cache of buried apparently believing that they
on parchment in Hebrew, Aramaic, scrolls in a cave in Qumran, on alone would be redeemed in the
Greek, or Nabatean. the northwest shore of the Dead Messianic Era, which would
Sea. The scrolls are thought to be usher in a new, purer temple
the writings of the Essenes—an and priesthood. The scrolls
ancient Jewish sect—that had include the earliest known
been hidden when members manuscripts of nearly every
of the sect fled the Romans during book in the Hebrew Bible as
the Jewish revolt of 66–70 CE. The well as a wealth of later
Essenes rejected the priesthood Jewish literature, and they
that was then in control of the have contributed greatly to
Jerusalem temple and formed a our understanding of Jewish
community in the desert, where thought in the period.

JUDAISM 181

Some Jewish thinkers maintain
that the return of the diaspora and the
rebuilding of Jerusalem will be
the two most important preludes
to the coming of the Messiah.

Appearance of the Messiah underworld, but offered little detail in particular, rejected the ideas
Every so often throughout history, on the subject. Many Jews came of a messianic king, a return to
an exceptional individual would to believe that a person’s ultimate the Jewish homeland, and the
appear whom some people thought fate depended on his or her conduct rebuilding of the temple, although
might be the Messiah. One such in life. Some said that the righteous aspects of these beliefs have been
person was Jesus of Nazareth, lived on in Paradise while the reevaluated over the years. The
known to his followers as Christ, wicked were condemned to a place one feature of messianism that
from the Greek word for Messiah. of torment, called Gehenna. Others remains central in all streams
Jesus’s followers, who became emphasized a final judgment in of Judaism is, however, the belief
known as Christians, continued to the Messianic Era, when the dead that humankind—and the Jewish
believe that he was the Messiah would be resurrected. Both ideas people in particular—has the
after his execution by the Romans, persisted in Jewish belief, and ability to bring about a better
but other Jews rejected this claim. both the Messianic Era and the future through righteous action. ■
individual afterlife are commonly
Another messianic claimant referred to as the “World to Come.”
was Simeon Bar Kokhba, who led a
revolt against the Romans in 132 CE.
His revolt was a colossal failure,
which effectively brought an end
to Jewish life in Jerusalem and
the surrounding area. Those Jews
who were not killed were dispersed
throughout the Roman Empire,
and many were sold into slavery.

The failure of this, and other
revolts against Roman rule and the
loss, again, of the Jewish religious
centre in Jerusalem brought new
relevance to the prophecies from
the Babylonian exile.

Resurrection and afterlife Jewish messianism today King Messiah, the Son
The Messianic Era was originally Within Orthodox Judaism, the of Man, will arise in the future
envisioned by some traditions as a promise of messianic redemption and will restore the kingship of
time of national restoration, when remains a core belief. Many David to its ancient condition.
Israel would be redeemed and its leaders state that if Jews, as a
oppressors would perish. Later, group, embrace God and obey his Moses Maimonides
however, it was generally believed commandments, they can hasten
that it would also be a time of the Messiah’s arrival. Yet the
judgment for every person, living or idea of the Messiah has mostly
dead, when the righteous would be flourished when Jews have been
rewarded and the wicked punished. oppressed, and the relative freedom
of Jews in much of the modern
The Hebrew Bible says little world has lessened the sense of
about life after death. Most early urgency of the hope for national
biblical authors shared the ancient restoration. The Reform movement,
belief that the dead lived on in the

182

RELIGIOUS LAW
CAN BE APPLIED
TO DAILY LIFE

WRITING THE ORAL LAW

IN CONTEXT Each page of the Talmud holds J ewish tradition maintains
the text of the Mishnah—a that God gave Moses a body
KEY TEXT Hebrew account of the Oral Law of laws and teachings, which
The Talmud he passed on to the people of Israel
The text of the Mishnah is (pp.168–75). Many of these are
WHEN AND WHERE explained and discussed in recorded in the first five books
2nd–5th century CE, the surrounding Gemara. of the Hebrew Bible, the Torah,
Palestine and Babylonia but some Jews also believe
Texts of the Mishnah and that Moses received additional
BEFORE Gemara are then surrounded teachings (transmitted verbally to
140 BCE –70 CE The Pharisees the community’s leaders, and then
espouse belief in an Oral Law. by other layers of text from generation to generation),
and commentaries from which became known as the Oral
2nd century CE Rebellions Law. This Oral Law included
against Roman rule prompt a later period. additional details about, and
the destruction of many of the interpretations of, the biblical laws.
Yeshivot (places for the study The text of the Talmud
of the Torah); Rabbis write is a discussion. From the 2nd century CE, Jewish
down the Oral Law. rabbis (a word meaning “scholars”
Its arguments guide the reader or “teachers”) set out to record the
AFTER to the kernel of the truth. Oral Law. The result was a large
11th century CE Rabbi new body of literature. Many of
Solomon ben Isaac (Rashi) the rabbis’ writings are collected
produces a commentary on in a set of books called the
the Talmud, which becomes Talmud which, for observant
standard in printed editions. Jews, is the most important and
authoritative religious text after
c.1170–80 The Jewish the Bible itself.
philosopher Maimonides
composes the Mishneh Part of the reason the Oral
Torah, a work describing Law is important is that the Bible’s
and reviewing the laws laws are frequently ambiguous.
mentioned in the Torah. For example, the Bible prohibits
working on the Sabbath, but it
does not explain what kind of
work is prohibited. The Talmud

JUDAISM 183

See also: God’s covenant with Israel 168–75 ■ Progressive Judaism 190–95 ■ The pathway to harmonious living 272–75

The primary purpose of the Talmud
is to record the analysis of Jewish
traditions by the best intellects of
previous generations, and to challenge
new students to find their own truths.

resolves this ambiguity by Talmud, the doctrine of the Oral in the biblical text. Nonetheless,
specifying 39 types of activity Law was promulgated by a Jewish other branches of Judaism accept
(including building, cooking, sect called the Pharisees. However, the Talmud as a sacred text, and
and writing) that are forbidden. two sects—the Karaites and the Orthodox Jews continue to trace
Sadducees—rejected this doctrine. its origins to the Oral Law given
In addition to recording the The Karaites originated around the to Moses by God. Many modern
laws given to Moses, the Talmud 8th century in Baghdad and (unlike Jews do not take this idea literally,
includes extensive discussions the Sadducees) still exist today. but rather view the Talmud as
between rabbis over interpretation. Karaites have their own traditions part of a living tradition that
These discussions are considered for interpreting the Bible, but they preserves and interprets Jewish
part of the Oral Law too, because do not believe that any teachings law for every generation and
the authority to interpret the laws were given to Moses besides those encourages theological debate. ■
was handed down through Moses.

Each page of the Talmud is
designed to reflect this debate:
the earliest writings, or Mishnah,
setting out the law, are surrounded
by the discussions, or Gemara, so
the book can be read a series of
conversations between rabbis.

Acceptance of the Talmud
The concept of an oral law has not
been universally accepted among
Jews. Prior to the writing of the

Versions of the Talmud

A collective work of thousands Although there are many Moses received the Torah
of rabbis over hundreds of similarities between the from Sinai and transmitted
years, the Talmud is organized two versions, the Babylonian it to Joshua, Joshua to the
into six orders that deal with Talmud, which is more than elders, and the elders to the
different aspects of law and 6,000 pages in extent, is prophets, and the prophets
tradition, then into tractates generally considered to be transmitted it to the men
and chapters. There are more authoritative and is
two versions of the Talmud: used more widely by students of the Great Assembly.
the Jerusalem Talmud, which of Judaism. The Jerusalem Ethics of the Fathers
was compiled in the 4th Talmud was never completed
century CE in the Land of Israel, due to the persecution of
and the Babylonian Talmud, the Jews in Israel, and is thus
which was compiled c.500 CE far shorter and more cryptic
in Babylonia (modern-day Iraq). than the Babylonian Talmud.

184

GOD IS INCORPOREAL,
INDIVISIBLE, AND
UNIQUE

DEFINING THE INDEFINABLE

IN CONTEXT Since biblical times, belief in Middle Ages, a number of Jewish
one God has been a central philosophers in the Muslim sphere
KEY THINKER feature of Jewish religion. Yet of influence sought to demonstrate
Moses Maimonides the idea that God is one may be that the oneness of God, properly
understood in a variety of ways: understood, excluded all of these
WHEN AND WHERE that is, God could be the greatest of other possibilities.
12th century, North Africa many divine beings, or God could
be a single being composed of Moses Maimonides was a
BEFORE several different elements. In the particularly influential philosopher
30 BCE–50 CE The Jewish of this school. He explained the
philosopher Philo describes
the God of the Bible in Greek God has no physical or God is all-powerful,
philosophical terms, as lacking mental attributes that we because there can be
Aristotelian attributes. can describe, as these cannot nothing over which he
exist outside his oneness. does not have control.
933 CE Rabbi Sa‘adia Gaon’s
Book of Beliefs and Opinions God has a unity and nature unlike
proposes several arguments anything that we can comprehend.
for God’s unity.
God is infinite, because we God is eternal, because we
AFTER cannot imagine any limits to cannot conceive of a time at
13th century The Zohar,
a Jewish mystical text, his presence and power. which he did not exist.
propounds the idea that an
infinite and unified Godhead
became manifest in creation
and in ten emanations.

c.1730 Rabbi Moshe Chaim
Luzzatto’s The Way of God
states that God encompasses
all perfections, but these
exist in him as a single,
essential attribute.

JUDAISM 185

See also: From monolatry to monotheism 176–77 ■ Mysticism and the kabbalah
188 ■ The unity of divinity is necessary 280–81

Jewish tenet of monotheism in God is not two or more Moses Maimonides
terms of the classical Greek entities, but a single entity
philosophical doctrine that God Moses Maimonides (also
is “simple”—that is, not composed of a oneness even more known as Rambam) was born
of parts or properties. single and unique than any in 1135 in Cordoba, Spain, into
a Jewish family. His childhood
God’s oneness, according to single thing in creation. was rich in cross-cultural
Maimonides, is different from the Maimonides influences: he was educated in
oneness of any other being: he is a both Hebrew and Arabic, and
single, unique, indivisible entity; he his father, a rabbinic judge,
is also beyond human understanding taught him Jewish law within
and description, and therefore the context of Islamic Spain.
cannot be given specific attributes. His family fled Spain when the
Berber Almohad dynasty came
God cannot be categorized a physical object, which can be to power in 1148, and lived
God, Maimonides argued, is not broken into parts. But Maimonides nomadically for 10 years until
“one of a species”—he is not a went further, and argued that God they settled first in Fez (now
member of a group of beings that is also intellectually indivisible: in Morocco) and then in Cairo.
share certain characteristics. he cannot have any attributes (as Maimonides began training
Three different men, for example, defined by Aristotle), as he would as a physician due to his
are each individuals, but they share then consist of both his essence and family’s financial problems;
the attribute of maleness and his attributes. If God were eternal, his skill led to a royal
therefore belong to the category of for example, there would effectively appointment within only a
males. God, on the other hand, has be two gods: God and God’s eternity. few years. He also worked
no attributes, and therefore cannot as a rabbinic judge, but this
belong to a category of beings, Maimonides’ belief that God was an activity for which he
divine or otherwise. has no attributes is a product of a thought it wrong to accept
school of thought called negative any payment. He was
God’s oneness also differs from theology, which maintains that recognized as head of the
that of a body, which is divisible. it is inaccurate to characterize Jewish community of Cairo
This means that God is not like God in any affirmative way. Given in 1191. After his death in
the limits of human language, we 1204 his tomb became a place
According to Maimonides, God may describe God as eternal, but of Jewish pilgrimage.
existed before everything and is the in truth we can only affirm that
creator of all things. His existence is God is not non-eternal: that is, his Key works
independent of all other things but all essence is beyond comprehension.
other things need him in order to exist. Maimonides included the doctrine 1168 Commentary on
of God’s oneness among his 13 the Mishnah
essential principles of Jewish faith, 1168–78 Mishneh Torah
which also include such concepts 1190 Guide for the Perplexed
as God’s antiquity and the belief
that the Torah comes from the
mouth of God. Many regard these
principles as the fundamental
elements of Jewish belief. ■

186

GOD AND
HUMANKIND ARE
IN COSMIC EXILE

MYSTICISM AND THE KABBALAH

IN CONTEXT T he texts of Judaism include, teacher Isaac Luria, whose
along with the Hebrew interpretation of the Zohar gave
KEY FIGURE Bible (p.171) and the a unique description of the
Isaac Luria Talmud (a compendium of rabbinic creation that was applicable to
interpretations), a body of mystical the experience of Jews in exile.
WHEN AND WHERE knowledge known as kabbalah. It provided an explanation of good
16th century, Palestine Originally an oral tradition, it was and evil, and the way to redemption.
collected in the Zohar (“Divine
BEFORE Splendor”) in the late 13th century In Luria’s interpretation, before
From 1200 BCE Zoroastrians in Spain. The Zohar and its the creation only God existed. In
believe that every act of right kabbalistic ideas took on a special order to make space to create the
moral conduct by humans significance for exiled Jews— world, he contracted or withdrew
collectively aids the cosmic in particular for the scholars of into himself (tzimtzum): a form of
struggle of good against evil. Safed in Palestine—after their self-imposed exile for the sake
expulsion from Iberia (present-day of creation. A divine light streamed
10th–15th century CE Spain, Portugal, and Andorra) in into the created space in the shape
Christian mysticism flourishes the 1490s. Among them was the of 10 sefirot—emanations of the
in Europe in the Middle Ages. divine attributes of God. Adam
Jewish men at penitential prayers, Kadmon (meaning primordial
AFTER the Selichot, in Jerusalem. According man) formed vessels to contain
18th century In Europe, to kabbalah, observance of the the sefirot. But the vessels were too
as the Haskalah (Jewish commandments will help lead delicate to hold the divine light: the
Enlightenment) dismisses people from exile to redemption. upper three were damaged, and the
mysticism, Israel ben Eliezer lower seven completely destroyed,
founds Hasidic Judaism in scattering the divine light. This
Ukraine, based on Isaac Luria’s destruction of the vessels (known
exposition of kabbalah. as shevirat ha-kelim or shevirah)
upset the process of creation and
1980s In Los Angeles, the divided the universe into those
Kabbalah Center attracts elements that assisted, and those
celebrity followers with that resisted, the creation: good and
teachings derived from the evil, and the upper and lower worlds.
Judaic mystical tradition.
This damage can be repaired,
Luria explained, by detaching the
holy sparks of divine light to which

See also: The promise of a new age 178–81 ■ Man as a manifestation JUDAISM 187
of God 188 ■ Sufism and the mystic tradition 282–83
Isaac Luria
God contracted himself to make a void in which to
create the world yet maintain his transcendence. Isaac ben Solomon Luria
Ashkenazi was born in 1534
There then followed But the vessels in Jerusalem. His German
10 emanations, the containing the sefirot father died when Isaac was
sefirot, which together formed were not strong enough a child, so he moved with his
a divine light revealing and were destroyed in mother to stay with her brother
a catastrophe, shevirah. in Egypt. There he studied
God’s purpose. rabbinical literature and
Jewish law with some of
This is the source of both good and evil, the foremost scholars of the
and is embodied in the Fall of Adam. day, including Rabbi Bezalel
Ashkenazi, and traded as a
The damage cannot be repaired until the sparks of merchant. He married aged
the divine light are reunited, and until then… 15, but continued his studies.
Six years later he moved to an
…God and humankind are island on the Nile to study the
in cosmic exile. Zohar and the early kabbalists,
barely speaking to anyone,
and then only in Hebrew.
During this time, he said he
had conversations with the
long-dead prophet Elijah, who
told him to move to Safed,
a center of kabbalistic study
in Ottoman-ruled Palestine.

Working with Moses
Cordovero, Luria became
known for his teaching of the
kabbalah, and his disciples
dubbed him HaARI, “the
Lion,” from the initials, in
Hebrew, of “holy Rabbi
Yitzhak.” He died in
Safed in 1572.

the forces of evil in the lower world Although Luria did not leave a record The Torah is concealed.
are clinging, and restoring them to of his interpretation of kabbalah, his It is only revealed to
their source in the upper world: a esoteric teachings were preserved
process of tikkun olam—repairing by his followers. After his death, those who have reached
the world. The responsibility for his ideas spread quickly throughout the level of the righteous.
this rests on the Jewish people, who Europe. Because of the rational, The Talmud, Hagigah
rescue a holy spark each time they comprehensive nature of Lurianic
obey a holy commandment, and kabbalah, kabbalistic study became
pass one back to universal evil when a mainstay of Jewish thought, and in
they sin. Until all the divine sparks the 18th century it formed the basis
are reunited in the world of the good, for the Hasidic movement (p.188),
there can be no redemption, and which places particular emphasis on
humanity will live in cosmic exile. a mystical relationship with God. ■

188

THE HOLY
SPARK DWELLS
IN EVERYONE

MAN AS A MANIFESTATION OF GOD

IN CONTEXT H asidic Judaism, founded They offered worshippers not only
by Israel ben Eliezer (known guidance, but also an opportunity to
KEY FIGURE as Baal Shem Tov, or the participate more actively in religious
Israel ben Eliezer Besht) in the 1740s, is characterized observances. Where rabbinical
by enthusiasm and rituals of mass teaching had become detached from
WHEN AND WHERE ecstasy, performed under the the people, charismatic leaders such
1740s, Ukraine guidance of a spiritual leader, or as Baal Shem Tov explained that the
zaddik. One of its main teachings Torah was not the exclusive realm of
BEFORE is that the divine dwells within the rabbis. Spiritual learning was
16th century Isaac Luria everyone. It is now one of the major available to all: the holy sparks,
and other teachers reawaken branches of ultra-Orthodox Judaism. or divine light—a manifestation
interest in the mystical of God—outlined in the mystical
elements of the kabbalah. The movement emerged from tradition of the Lurianic kabbalah
the Jewish communities of Central could be found in everyone. ■
AFTER and Eastern Europe during the 18th
19th century Hasidism century. These communities were Hasidic men dance at a wedding
gains adherents in reaction often small and isolated, and their celebration. The distinctive clothing of
to the intellectualization and lifestyle was very different from that Hasidic Jews, drawn from earlier styles
secularization of Judaism. of urban Jews living elsewhere. of Eastern European dress, sets them
Mainstream Jewish philosophy had, apart from other branches of Judaism.
1917 The Bolshevik Revolution by then, become more intellectual,
in Russia breaks up many and theology more legalistic. This
Hasidic communities. development was at odds with the
needs of the inhabitants of small
1930s With the rise of Nazism, villages, or shtetls, especially in
Jews from Germany, Eastern areas such as southern Poland.
Europe, and Russia flee to the
US; all Hasidic communities in To maintain cohesion in these
Europe are destroyed during communities, especially in the
World War II. face of persecution by the Cossacks
(East Slavic people), religious leaders
1948 The State of Israel is traveled around from place to place.
founded. Many displaced
Hasidic Jews settle there. See also: Mysticism and the kabbalah 186–87 ■ Mystical experience in
Christianity 238 ■ Sufism and the mystic tradition 282–83

JUDAISM 189

JUDAISM IS A
RELIGION, NOT
A NATIONALITY

FAITH AND THE STATE

IN CONTEXT F ollowing in the wake of the The state has physical power
Enlightenment in Europe, and uses it when necessary;
KEY FIGURE the Haskalah movement,
Moses Mendelssohn or Jewish Enlightenment, was the power of religion is
inspired largely by the work love and beneficence.
WHEN AND WHERE of the German Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn
Late 18th century, Germany Moses Mendelssohn. He believed
that the persecution endured by the part in secular cultural life. In
BEFORE Jews was largely a result of their particular, he promoted the idea
135 CE The Romans drive the separateness from the societies of Jews learning the local language
Jews from the Land of Israel. in which they lived. —as he had done—to help integrate
themselves better into non-Jewish
AFTER His criticism of the separation societies, and published his own
1770s–1880 The Haskalah or of Jews and Gentiles (non-Jews) translation of the Torah into German.
Jewish Enlightenment: Jews, also raised the issue of what it
especially in western Europe, meant to be Jewish. In his opinion, Although Mendelssohn was
become increasingly integrated Judaism was a religion that should himself a practicing Orthodox
into their adopted societies. be treated in the same way as any Jew, his ideas and the Haskalah
other in a tolerant, pluralistic movement he inspired built the
1791 The emancipation of society, and its followers should be foundation for Reform Judaism in
Jews in France during the allowed freedom of conscience as the 19th century. ■
French Revolution is followed citizens of the country in which
by emancipation in Holland, they lived; conversely, being
and later in the countries a Jew did not imply belonging
conquered by Napoleon. to a separate nation or people.

1896 Theodor Herzl publishes In his book Jerusalem: or On
The Jewish State and starts Religious Power and Judaism (1783),
the modern Zionist movement. Mendelssohn argued not only for
emancipation of the Jews, but also
19th century Reform Judaism that they should “come out of the
is inspired by the Haskalah. ghettos” and play a more active

1948 The State of Israel See also: God’s covenant with Israel 168–75 ■ Progressive Judaism 190–95
is founded. ■ The origins of modern political Zionism 196–97

DRAW FROM THE PAST,

LIVE IN THE PRESENT,

WORK FOR THE

FUTURE

PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM



192 PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM

IN CONTEXT J ewish emancipation in The Talmud speaks with
Europe began in Germany in the ideology of its own time,
KEY MOVEMENT the 18th century. Previously, and for that time it was right.
Progressive Judaism Jews had been restricted in where I speak for the higher ideology
they could live, and had been
WHEN AND WHERE barred from entering universities of my own time, and for
19th century, and the professions, but the force this age I am right.
Europe and US of European Enlightenment led to
them being given equal rights as Extreme reformers in
BEFORE citizens. Yiddish-speaking Jews 19th-century Germany
19th century The German learned German, became part of
Enlightment offers Jews the the modern world, and began to that had kept them apart from
possibility of secular education feel the freedom of individuality. society. The authority of the classical
and participation in society. Many Jews started looking to rabbis was now seen to be a
secular education—rather than function of its time, and was
AFTER Jewish tradition—as a means also called into question.
1840 The West London of achieving their potential.
Synagogue is established. Progressive Judaism, which Some, faced with this new
began with the Reform movement insight and the opportunities
1872 The Reform Academy in Germany, was a response it gave rise to, abandoned their
Hochschule für die Wissen- to these changes, to modernity, Judaism in favor of secular
schaft des Judentums is and to the new freedoms. nationalism. Others sought instead
established in Berlin. to modernize Judaism in the
The earliest and most visible light of historical, academic study
1885 Reform Judaism reforms emerged in Berlin and of the religion (Wissenschaft des
flourishes in the US. The Hamburg. They concerned the Judentums). The pace of change
Pittsburgh Platform defines synagogue service: the sermon was too rapid for some, and various
the principles of Reform. would be given in German, and
men and women would sit together
20th century Progressive rather than being segregated. More
synagogues and communal radically, the impact of modern
organizations are established biblical scholarship led some Jews
throughout the world. to question the divine authority of
the biblical texts, and the traditions

Abraham Geiger Abraham Geiger was born in was appointed as second rabbi
Frankfurt-am-Main, Germany, in Breslau, in 1838, Geiger found
in 1810. He was educated in the his authority disputed by the
Jewish and German classics, and existing, traditionalist rabbi:
studied Arabic for his dissertation, both were officially rabbis of the
“What Did Muhammad Take from whole community, but eventually
Judaism?”. A passionate advocate each served his own faction.
of Wissenschaft des Judentums, Geiger later presided as the
the academic study of Judaism, he rabbi in Frankfurt and then in
set out to distill Judaism’s eternal Berlin, and also taught at the
spiritual and ethical core through new Reform Academy for two
groundbreaking scholarship. He years before his death in 1874.
sought to modernize Judaism
as a whole rather than to create Key works
a separate movement, rejecting
practices if their historical reason 1857 The Original Text and
was no longer relevant. When he Translations of the Bible

JUDAISM 193

See also: The promise of a new age 178–81 ■ The origins of modern political Zionism 196–97 ■ The Protestant Reformation
230–37 ■ The rise of Islamic revivalism 286–90 ■ The compatibility of faith 291

groups seceded from the Universalism: Particularism:
community, perhaps to be identification with the task and
served by a more orthodox rabbi. destiny of the
the common
Questioning theology concerns of all Jewish people.
Theological innovation led to
liturgical reform and the publication humanity.
of a new Reform prayer book in
Hamburg in 1818. Scholars and Power and Responsible Jewish history
rabbis, such as Abraham Geiger, freedom of autonomy and Jewish
now began to question key individuals to peoplehood.
theological assumptions. Geiger act on their The individual
recognized historical precedents own choices. making informed
for modifying Jewish tradition to
adjust to new conditions, and choices.
suggested that some observances
could be altered to be compatible Education:
with modern ways of living. secular and

Some of Judaism’s traditional Jewish.
theology was abandoned too. The
German reformers no longer felt
that they could pray for a messiah
in the form of one person who
would return the people to the Land
of Israel to rebuild the Temple and
restore the priestly sacrificial cult.
Instead, they replaced the idea
of the messiah with one of the
messianic ideal—peace for every
nation on earth—that every Jew

A minority is always would work to bring about. Even part of a nation and community
compelled to think. more daring was the new idea that (universalism), and having a unique
That is the blessing of the Jews were no longer in exile but destiny (particularism). What
being in the minority. could realize their Jewish destiny differs for progressive Jews is
as citizens of a modern nation. probably the modern focus on
Leo Baeck, autonomy—their freedom to
progressive rabbi This dream was in some ways determine how they live their
short-lived. For many there was Jewish lives. Progressive Judaism
no real social integration without teaches that responsible autonomy
conversion to Christianity, and the requires making choices based
Holocaust of Nazi Germany and on ethics, Jewish education, and
World War II made clear the limits commitment to the Jewish people,
of hope for an enlightened humanity. with reverence for the past and a
commitment to the future.
Religious autonomy
There is a tension in progressive Jewish theologies continue to
Judaism, as in other strands of develop. Although monotheism
the religion today, between being remains a fundamental tenet ❯❯

194 PROGRESSIVE JUDAISM

of the faith, progressive Judaism’s relationship between individual, problems in the contemporary
theology extends the notion of a God, and the commandments, Jewish world. This view takes
“commanding” God to the idea Jews in the progressive movement account of modern scientific
of an ongoing relationship with also came to review conventional developments, such as stem cell
God, in which each Jew exercises interpretations of the Hebrew Bible. research, and is strongly guided
his or her individual freedom. The They now regard it as a composite by contemporary ethics, tackling
mitzvot, or commandments, text from different historical issues such as care at the end of
are expressions of this relationship. periods—a written record of a life. Other progressives describe
human encounter with the divine, a post-Halachic Judaism, perhaps
The concept of monism rather than the recorded words of identifying more closely with the
Another group of progressive God, meaning that its authority is ancient Hebrew prophets and an
thinkers believes God to be an not straightforward. Since God’s ethically driven Prophetic Judaism.
inseparable part of the self, rather intentions were not fixed once in
than an external divinity. Some time, the revelation could be Rituals and observances
have absorbed the views of considered continuous. Modern approaches to ritual
Jewish mystics, who understand practice also reflect the idea of
the entire creation as taking place In a similar way, progressive Judaism’s continuing evolution,
within God, which means that Judaism recognizes the impact of stipulating that divine authority
everything is God. Monotheism, history and human authorship on is not limited to the Torah. The
or the belief in one god, becomes the development of Jewish law, Sabbath (Shabbat), for instance,
monism, meaning that there or Halachah, which is traditionally is considered a day of rest and
is only oneness, and that this rooted in biblical commandments holiness distinct from the working
oneness is God. These theological and the rulings of classical week. Progressive Jews respect
transformations within progressive rabbis. Halachah has undergone the Sabbath, and are still likely
Judaism mean that the role of the transformation in both progressive to begin it with lighting Shabbat
individual and the commandments and Orthodox communities. One candles on Friday evening, although
can no longer be seen as fixed. progressive view sees Halachah as not all will insist that this be done
Along with the newly defined undergoing continual adaptation before sunset, if it occurs very early.
to respond to ethical and practical They may also reject the traditional
Orthodox Jews believe that prohibition on driving a motor car to
the Torah was given by God the synagogue on Shabbat.
to Moses at Mount Sinai.
Progressive Jews, however, Dietary laws
believe it was written by human In matters of kashrut (dietary law),
beings under divine inspiration, some progressive Jews might
and should be responded dismiss all the rules as antiquated,
to accordingly. while others might avoid the meats
that are forbidden in the Torah but
not concern themselves with the
later rabbinic prohibitions
concerning the separation of
meat and milk products and the
utensils used in the preparation of
each. Some might focus instead on
the discipline of kashrut as a way of
expressing consciousness of what
they eat, perhaps extending this to
eating organic, fair-trade products
or food with low food miles. Others
might view vegetarianism as a
proper or suitable (from the

JUDAISM 195

Progressive communities mark the Novel liturgical compositions Progressive Judaism today
time when a girl becomes bat mitvah may sometimes be included, The core ideals of German Reform
(a daughter of the commandment); such as poetry or prayers of Judaism took root, and led to the
traditional custom prohibited women interfaith understanding, and growth of progressive Jewish
from taking part in religious services. a shorter weekly passage from the communities in most countries
Torah read. In many congregations, in the world today. In the UK,
meaning of the Hebrew word services are conducted in Hebrew Reform Judaism and Liberal
“kashrut”) diet and therefore as as well as the vernacular, and are Judaism emerged, and, with
a modern, progressive expression often accompanied by music. German Jewish immigration to the
of the observance. Progressive Jews observe the US, an American Reform movement
Hebrew festival dates given in came into being there. This gave
Liturgy for today the Torah, as is the practice of rise to other progressive
Historically, Jewish liturgy has all Jews in the Land of Israel. communities in the US, such as
tended to lengthen over the This is in contrast to Orthodox Reconstructionist Judaism, and
centuries as new prayers have been and Conservative Jews in the Conservative Judaism, which is
added. Progressive services retain diaspora, who traditionally extend modern in its theology but
the framework and core prayers, but the duration of festivals by a day, traditional in its practices. Other
remove some repetition; prayers, as was the custom outside Israel progressive forms of Judaism are
and their translations, reflect a before the Hebrew calendar was found worldwide, including in
reworking of concepts that do not fixed in 358 CE. Israel, where the faith tends toward
accord with progressive beliefs, a more traditional expression of
such as the resurrection of the Women and men in progressive Judaism than in the diaspora.
dead, the restoration of the temple, communities generally enjoy full
and animal sacrifices. Many equality in communal leadership A recent worldwide resurgence
progressive liturgies avoid feudal (including ordination as rabbis) of interest in Jewish learning
and gendered language both for and in ritual life, whether in the across the religious spectrum
God and the community, referring, synagogue or home. Girls therefore has led to an engagement with the
for example, to the Eternal instead celebrate their ritual adulthood study of classical texts in Hebrew
of the Lord, ancestors instead of at the age of 13 (becoming bat for their spiritual, literary, and
forefathers, and including the mitzvah) just as boys do (becoming ethical value. Today’s believers may
biblical matriarchs along with bar mitzvah) by reading publicly draw from a wide range of Jewish
the patriarchs. from the Torah and even leading and secular influences, and are
the congregation in prayer. therefore less likely to form a
lifelong commitment to only
one of the Jewish movements. ■

The past has a vote,
but not a veto.

Dr. Mordecai M. Kaplan,
Progressive theologian

196

IF YOU WILL IT,
IT IS NO DREAM

THE ORIGINS OF MODERN POLITICAL ZIONISM

IN CONTEXT The solution to the Since being driven into
“Jewish question” is not exile, Jews have dreamed
KEY FIGURE
Theodor Herzl assimilation, but the of returning to Zion,
establishment of a the Land of Israel.
WHEN AND WHERE Jewish nation state.
1896, Austria-Hungary
This requires … and if there are
BEFORE lobbying of the sufficient numbers of
586 BCE King Nebuchadnezzar international community… Jewish people who want it,
of Babylon destroys the Temple it can be achieved.
in Jerusalem and drives the
Jews into exile. From 538 BCE If you will it, it is no dream.
the Jews start to return to the
Land of Israel, in accordance E ver since their expulsion hopes were consolidated into a
with a decree from Persian from their homeland by political movement, Zionism, which
emperor Cyrus the Great. the Babylonians and the aimed to establish a nation state in
Romans, many among the Jewish Palestine for the Jewish people.
70 CE The Romans destroy the diaspora had dreamed of a return to
second Temple; the Jews are Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel, also During the Haskalah, or
exiled again. known as Zion after Mount Zion in Jewish Enlightenment, Jewish
Jerusalem. It was not until the late thinkers inspired by Moses
635 The Islamic Caliphate 19th century, however, that their Mendelssohn (p.189) had urged
conquers Palestine; in 1516 the Jews to assimilate themselves
Ottoman Empire takes control
of the region.

AFTER
1882–1948 Jews from the
diaspora immigrate to the
Land of Israel in waves.

1948 The State of Israel
is founded.

JUDAISM 197

See also: God’s covenant with Israel 168–75 ■ Faith and the state 189
■ Ras Tafari is our Savior 314–15

be defeated or eradicated, but
could be avoided by establishing
a Jewish nation state.

I consider the Jewish A Jewish homeland Theodor Herzl
question neither a social In Herzl’s short book The Jewish
State, published in 1896, which Theodor Herzl was born in
nor a religious one… he described as a “proposal of 1860 in Pest, part of modern-
It is a national question. a modern solution for the Jewish day Budapest. He moved to
question,” he set out the argument Vienna with his family when
Theodor Herzl for establishing a Jewish homeland. he was 18. There he studied
The obvious choice for this was law, and, in 1839, after a brief
into the culture of their adopted the Land of Israel, then a part of legal career, he moved to
countries as a way to overcome the Ottoman-ruled Palestine. This Paris. Here he worked as a
persecution they had suffered. In proposal marked the beginning correspondent for the Neue
much of western Europe and the of modern Zionism as a political Freie Presse (New Free Press)
US, emancipation had allowed movement, rather than a theological and as a theater writer.
middle-class Jews, in particular, aspiration. The following year,
to integrate into society. 1897, Herzl set up an international After reporting on the
conference, the First Zionist Dreyfus Affair of the 1890s,
One such Jew, the journalist Congress, at which it became clear in which a Jewish officer
and writer Theodor Herzl, firmly that the political will for a Jewish was framed for treason by
believed in Jewish assimilation, state existed, and was achievable the military, he concluded that
until he experienced extreme if Jews in sufficent numbers were the establishment of a Jewish
anti-Semitic feeling in France, to put pressure on the international homeland in Zion, the Land
an ostensibly liberal country. He community for its foundation. A of Israel, was essential. He
came to realize that ghettoization phrase from Herzl’s novel Old New outlined his arguments in The
and anti-Semitism were inevitable: Land was adopted as the Zionist Jewish State and elaborated
Jews tended to gravitate to places movement’s rallying cry: “If you on them in his novel, Old New
where they were not likely to be will it, it is no dream”. ■ Land. Herzl worked tirelessly
persecuted, but once they had to promote the ideals of
immigrated in significant numbers Israel’s flag, adopted in 1948, is Zionism: he organized the first
to these places, anti-Jewish feeling derived from a design produced for the congress of Zionism in Basel,
arose, and persecution followed. First Zionist Congress. It is inspired Switzerland, in 1897, and was
Similarly, even where Jews had by the tallit, or blue-bordered prayer president of the World Zionist
tried to blend in with the local shawl, and the Star of David. Organization until his death
community and behave as loyal in 1904. In 1949 his remains
citizens, they were still treated as were moved from Vienna
aliens and driven into isolation. and reburied in Jerusalem.
He concluded that the solution
to these problems lay not in Key works
assimilation, but in the large-scale
separation of Jewish people into 1896 The Jewish State
one place. Anti-Semitism could not 1902 Old New Land

198

WHERE WAS GOD
DURING THE
HOLOCAUST?

A CHALLENGE TO THE COVENANT

IN CONTEXT E ver since their expulsion Never shall I forget those
from Israel by the Romans moments that murdered
KEY MOVEMENT in 70 CE, the Jews have
Holocaust theology endured exile and persecution. my God and my soul.
However, the Holocaust, or Sho’ah Elie Wiesel
WHEN AND WHERE (catastrophe)—the systematic
Mid-20th century, Europe genocide of around 6 million Jews, others saw it as punishment for
or two-thirds of the European the sin of abandoning God and his
BEFORE Jewish population—was an event laws, which God had responded to
1516 The Republic of Venice of unprecedented horror that tested with his own temporary absence.
establishes the ghetto, which the faith of the Jewish people in A further group saw the Sho’ah as
becomes the model for ghettos their covenant with God. This separate from God, an example of
created across Europe to challenge raised an important human free will and its fallibility,
isolate Jewish communities. question: was the Holocaust God’s perhaps explained in kabbalistic
doing, or did he stand aside and terms as a stage of God’s tzimtzum,
1850s Anti-Semitism in allow it to happen? Jewish theology or contraction, from the world.
Europe takes on a more struggled to provide answers, and a
secular, racist stance. number of Jews lost faith, believing A whole new field of Holocaust
God had abandoned his people. theology has since emerged,
1880s Beginning of a series of examining these various responses,
pogroms—violent anti-Jewish The greatest test and reappraising the covenant in
mob attacks—in Russia. Different groups of Jews offered a the light of the Sho’ah. ■
range of other interpretations of the
1930s Hitler becomes German Holocaust. Some saw it as being no
Chancellor, and begins a different from the persecutions they
campaign of harassment and had already suffered, except in
genocide against Jews. scale. They defined it as an extreme
example of suffering in the world,
AFTER a test of faith, and a revelation
1945 Jews are liberated from calling for an affirmation of survival;
concentration camps at the end
of World War II and resettled, See also: God’s covenant with Israel 168–75 ■ Mysticism and the kabbalah
many in the US and later in 186–87 ■ The origins of modern political Zionism 196–97
the newly formed State of Israel.