11 Questions About Judaism

Spanning nearly four thousand years of continuous history from the bronze-age Fertile Crescent to the modern twenty-first-century globe, Judaism is the oldest of the world’s three great Abrahamic monotheistic faiths—serving as the historical and theological root from which both Christianity and Islam later branched out. Yet despite its immense influence on Western law, ethics, and literature, because Jews make up just 0.2 percent of the world’s total population (roughly 15.7 million people worldwide), many neighbors have never had the chance to ask basic questions about how Jewish faith, culture, and daily practice actually work. Answering eleven of the most common questions about Judaism illuminates a rich tradition centered on ethics, study, family, and sacred action in the here and now.

1. Is Being Jewish a Religion, an Ethnicity, or a Culture?

The short answer is: all three at once. Unlike universalizing missionary religions that define membership strictly by signing onto a theological creed, Judaism began in antiquity as the national, covenantal tradition of a specific historical tribe and people: the Am Yisrael (“the People of Israel” or the Jewish People, taking the word “Jew” from the ancient Kingdom of Judah). Because Judaism is an ethno-religion—a family and a nation that carries a sacred religious tradition—a person can be Jewish by birth (traditionally through having a Jewish mother in Orthodox and Conservative law, or either Jewish parent if raised Jewish in Reform Judaism) OR by sincere religious conversion (giyur), which welcomes a convert as a 100% full member of both the faith and the family.

2. What Are the Sacred Texts of Judaism (Torah vs. Talmud)?

Jewish scripture and law rest upon two complementary pillars known as the Written Law and the Oral Law:

• The Tanakh (The Hebrew Bible / Written Torah): An acronym formed from its three sections: Torah (the Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, scrolled on parchment inside every synagogue ark), Nevi’im (the Prophets, such as Isaiah and Samuel), and Ketuvim (the Writings, including the Psalms, Proverbs, and Job).
• The Talmud (The Oral Torah): Compiled by rabbis in Galilee and Babylonia between roughly 200 AD and 500 AD (combining the Mishnah and the Gemara), the Talmud is a massive, multi-volume record of legal debates, ethical stories, and lively arguments over how to apply the Torah’s 613 commandments (mitzvot) to everyday life.

3. How Do Jews View God (and Why Is “G-d” Sometimes Written With a Dash)?

Judaism is strictly, uncompromisingly monotheistic—summarized twice a day in the central Jewish prayer, the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4): “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is One.” God in Judaism is completely incorporeal (possessing no physical body, gender, or division into persons), eternal, omnipotent, and directly accessible to every human being through prayer without requiring any intermediary. You will often see observant Jews write “G-d” with a hyphen on paper because Jewish law forbids erasing, tearing, or throwing a page bearing the sacred Hebrew Name of God into the trash; writing “G-d” in English is a sign of reverence to protect the holiness of the name.

More Read

Brumalia: A Roman Winter Solstice Festival

Surus: The Story of Hannibal’s Favorite Elephant

Black Friday: The holy festival of consumerism, its history & origin

Christmas in San Francisco: Traditions and Celebrations

4. What Are the Main Branches of Modern Judaism?

While sharing the same Torah, calendar, and history, modern Judaism encompasses several major movements that differ in how they interpret Jewish law (Halakha):

1. Orthodox Judaism (Including Modern Orthodox and Haredi / Hasidic): Holds that both the Written and Oral Torah were divinely revealed at Mount Sinai and that all traditional laws regarding the Sabbath, kosher diet, and prayer remain permanently binding.
2. Conservative (Masorti) Judaism: Holds that Jewish law is binding, but has always evolved organically through history alongside rabbinic scholarship and changing social realities (for example, ordaining female rabbis while maintaining traditional Hebrew liturgy and kosher standards).
3. Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism: Emphasizes individual moral autonomy, social justice (Tikkun Olam, “repairing the world”), and adapting ritual traditions to modern egalitarian life.

5. What Does “Kosher” Actually Mean?

The Hebrew word kashrut (kosher) does not mean “blessed by a rabbi”; it literally means “fit” or “proper” according to biblical dietary laws (Leviticus 11). To be kosher: (a) land mammals must both **chew their cud AND have split hooves** (meaning cattle, sheep, goats, and deer are kosher, while pigs, rabbits, and horses are forbidden); (b) fish must have **both fins AND removable scales** (meaning salmon and tuna are kosher, while shellfish like shrimp, lobster, crab, oysters, and catfish are forbidden); (c) meat and poultry must be slaughtered swiftly and painlessly by a trained ritual slaughterer (shochet) and drained of all blood using salt; and (d) **meat and dairy products may never be cooked or eaten together** (following the thrice-repeated biblical command not to “boil a kid in its mother’s milk”), with kosher homes maintaining two separate sets of dishes for meat and dairy.

6. Why Does the Jewish Sabbath (Shabbat) Start at Sundown on Friday?

In the first chapter of Genesis, the creation of each day is described with the words: “And there was evening, and there was morning—one day.” Because the biblical day begins at sundown rather than midnight, every Jewish holiday and the weekly Shabbat (Sabbath) begins eighteen minutes before sunset on Friday evening (welcomed by lighting two candles and blessing wine and braided challah bread) and lasts until three stars appear in the sky on Saturday night. For twenty-five hours, observant Jews unplug completely from the rat race of work, money, and technology to focus on family, rest, and prayer.

7. What Is a Rabbi (and How Is a Synagogue Different From a Temple)?

A rabbi (Hebrew for “My Master” or “Teacher”) is not a priest with mystical sacrament powers above ordinary laypeople; a rabbi is an ordained scholar and teacher thoroughly trained in the Torah and Talmud to answer legal questions, teach, and guide a community. Any gathering of ten Jewish adults (a minyan) can lead a full prayer service without a rabbi present! The building where Jews gather for prayer, study, and community is called a synagogue (Greek for “house of assembly”), a Beit Knesset in Hebrew, or a shul in Yiddish (Reform congregations often call their synagogues a “Temple” in homage to the ancient Temple in Jerusalem destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD).

More Read

Christmas in Vienna: Traditions and Celebrations

Do Mormons Celebrate Christmas? Yes and No

People Worshipped Mao’s Mangos and the Fruits Were Not Even Real

Christmas in Stockholm: Traditions and Celebrations

8. Why Don’t Jews Believe Jesus Was the Messiah?

While modern Jews view Jesus of Nazareth with respect as a historical first-century Jewish teacher, Judaism does not accept him as the Messiah (Mashiach, “the Anointed One”) or as divine. In Jewish scripture (such as Isaiah 2 and 11), the Messiah is not a divine “Son of God” who dies to forgive original sin (Judaism does not believe in inherited original sin); rather, the Messiah is a mortal human leader descended from King David whose arrival will be proven by unmistakable, concrete physical facts on Earth: ending all war across the planet forever, gathering all exiles, and ushering in an era of universal peace and knowledge. Because war, suffering, and injustice continued after the first century, Judaism holds that the Messianic age has not yet arrived.

9. What Is the Most Important Holiday in Judaism? (Hint: It’s Not Hanukkah!)

Because the eight-day winter Festival of Lights—Hanukkah—falls in December right beside Christmas, many non-Jews assume Hanukkah is the “Jewish Christmas” and the biggest holiday of the year. In reality, Hanukkah is a minor post-biblical historical holiday celebrating the 164 BC Maccabean rededication of the Jerusalem Temple! The actual holiest days of the Jewish calendar occur in autumn: Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) and Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), a solemn twenty-five-hour day of fasting, prayer, and making amends with one’s fellow human beings, alongside the spring festival of Passover (Pesach) celebrating the Exodus from Egyptian slavery.

10. What Does Judaism Believe About the Afterlife?

While Judaism affirms belief in the immortality of the soul and a spiritual world to come (Olam Ha-Ba)—and uniquely teaches that righteous people of all nations and religions have a share in the World to Come (Chasidei Umot HaOlam), which is why Judaism doesn’t try to convert non-Jews!—the Torah focuses overwhelmingly on this life. Rather than doing good deeds merely to win a ticket to heaven or avoid hell, Judaism teaches that the ultimate purpose of human existence is to sanctify everyday life on Earth through ethical action, charity (tzedakah), and kindness right now.

11. What Are a Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah?

When a Jewish boy turns thirteen (or a girl turns twelve or thirteen), they automatically reach the age of religious majority, becoming a Bar Mitzvah (“Son of the Commandment”) or Bat Mitzvah (“Daughter of the Commandment”). You don’t “have” a Bar Mitzvah—you *become* one, publicly celebrating your adult responsibility for your own moral choices by being called up to read directly from the handwritten Hebrew Torah scroll in front of the congregation.