1. Taoism or Daoism is a religious or philosophical tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao (“Way”).

2. The Tao is a fundamental idea in most Chinese philosophical schools.

3. In Taoism, however, it denotes the principle that is both the source, pattern and substance of everything that exists.

4. Taoism differs from Confucianism by not emphasizing rigid rituals and social.

5. Taoist ethics vary depending on the particular school, but in general tend to emphasize wu wei (effortless action), “naturalness”, simplicity, spontaneity, and the Three Treasures: “compassion”, “frugality”, and “humility”.

6. The roots of Taoism go back at least to the 4th century BCE.

7. Taoism has had a profound influence on Chinese culture in the course of the centuries.

8. Taoists (“masters of the Tao”), a title traditionally attributed only to the clergy and not to their lay followers, usually take care to note distinction between their ritual tradition and the practices of Chinese folk religion and non-Taoist vernacular ritual orders.

9. The word Taoism is used to translate different Chinese terms which refer to different aspects of the same tradition and semantic field:
 “Taoist religion” (teachings of the Tao) – a family of organized religious movements sharing concepts or terminology from “Taoist philosophy”, the first of these is recognized as the Celestial Masters school.
 “Taoism philosophy” (school or family of the Tao”) – the philosophical doctrines based on the texts of the I Ching, the Tao Te Ching and the Zhuangzi.

10. Traditionally, the Chinese language does not have terms defining lay people adhering to the doctrines or the practices of Taoism, who fall instead within the field of folk religion.

11. In Western sinology, Taoist, is traditionally used to translate daoshi (master of the Tao), thus strictly defining the priests of Taoism, ordained clergymen of a Taoist institution.

12. Wu-wei is the leading ethical concept in Taoism. Wei refers to any intentional or deliberated action, while wu carries the meaning of lacking or without. (i.e. action without action).

13. Naturalness describes the primordial state of all things as well as a basic character of the Tao, and is usually associated with spontaneity and creativity. To attain naturalness, one has to identify with the Tao; this involves freeing oneself from selfishness and desire, and appreciating simplicity.

14. Three Treasures or Three Jewels comprise the basic virtues of ci (translated compassion), jiam (translated moderation), and bugan wei tianxia xian (translated not daring to act as first under the heavens or humility).

15. Cosmology is cyclic; relativity, evolution and extremes meet are main characters.

16. Theology of Taoism can be defined as pantheistic, given its philosophical emphasis on the formlessness of the Tao and the primacy of the Way rather than anthropomorphic concepts of God.

17. Taoism encourages a vegetarian diet but at certain dates, food may be set out as a sacrifice to the spirits of the deceased or the gods.

18. There are four (4) components in the emergence of Taoism:
 Philosophical Taoism, i.e. the Tao Te Ching and Zhuangzi
 Techniques for achieving ecstasy
 Practices for achieving longevity or immortality
 Exorcism

19. Taoism tends to emphasize various themes such as naturalness, spontaneity, simplicity, detachment from desires, and most important of all, wu wei. However these texts cannot be equated with Taoism as a whole.

20. About 1 Billion Chinese practice some folk religion with about 200 million practicing Taoism.

21. Unlike Confucianism, Taoism favors philosophical anarchism, pluralism and laissez-faire-government.

22. Many scholars believe that Taoism arose as a countermovement against Confucianism.

23. Taoism includes some aspects of Buddhism in its practices as well as Confucianism as do each of them include Taoism in their respective practices.

1. Buddhism is an Indian religion and dharma that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teaching attributed to the Buddha.

2. Originated in Ancient India sometime between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE.

3. Two major extant branches of Buddhism are generally recognized by scholars: Theravada and Mahayana.

4. It is the world’s fourth largest religion with over 500 million followers or 7% of the global population.

5. Practices of Buddhism include taking refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma and the Sanga, study of scriptures, observance of moral precepts, renunciation of craving and attachment, the practice of meditation, the cultivation of wisdom, loving-kindness and compassion.

6. Theravada has the ultimate goal of attaining the sublime state of Nirvana, achieved by practicing the Noble Eightfold Path. Primarily in Southeast Asia and Sri Lanka.

7. Mahayana practices the cycle of rebirth to help other beings reach awakening.

8. Vajrayana, a sub- Mahayana teaching and is practiced primarily in Tibet, the Himalayas, Mongolia and Kalmykia.

9. Buddha was born as Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini and grew up in Kapilavasthu, a town in the plains region of modern Nepal-India border.

10. Gautama found the teachings of the scholars to be insufficient to attain his goal so he turned to the practice of asceticism.

11. This too fell short so he turned to the practice of meditation.

12. Buddha’s teaching were propagated by his followers, and evolved into over 18 Buddhist sub-schools of thought, each with it own texts containing different interpretations and authentic teaching of the Buddha.

13. These evolved into the many traditions of Theravada, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism.

14. Four Noble Truths – crave and cling to impermanent states and things; incapable of satisfying; painful; and rebirth and dying again.

15. Liberation from this endless cycle to the state of Nirvana is by following the Noble Eightfold Path.

16. Buddhist texts assert that rebirth can occur in six realms of existence, namely three good realms (heavenly, demi-god, human) and three evil realms (animal, hungry ghosts, hellish).

17. Rebirth refers to a process whereby beings go through a succession of lifetimes as one of many possible forms of sentient life, each running from conception to death.

18. This rebirth does not involve any soul because it rejects the concepts of a permanent self or an unchanging, eternal soul, as it is called in Hinduism and Christianity.

19. Karma is a core belief in Buddhism, it implies neither fatalism nor that everything that happens to a person is caused by Karma.

20. The theory of Karma is that intent matters and is essential to bring about a consequence or result.

21. Refuge in the Three Jewels –
 The Buddha, the Gotama, the Blessed One, the Awakened with true knowledge
 The Dharma, the precepts, the practice, the Four Truths, the Eightfold Path
 The Sanga, order of monks, the community of Buddha’s disciples
22. Reciting the three refuges is considered in Buddhism not as a place to hide, rather a thought that purifies, uplifts and strengthens.
23. Theravada – Noble Eightfold Path

24. Buddhist texts was an oral tradition in the ancient times. The early doctrines and concepts, the interpretations were transmitted from one generation to the next by the word of mouth in monasteries, and not through written texts.

25. The first written texts were about 400 years after Buddha died.

26. Multiple interpretations of the texts were available.

27. Unlike what the Bible is to Christianity and the Quran is to Islam, there is no consensus among the different Buddhist traditions as to what constitutes the scripture or a common canon.

28. The Theravada tradition traces its roots to the words of the Buddha preserved in the Pali Canon, and considers itself to be the more orthodox form of Buddhism.

29. Theravada is primarily practiced today in Sri Lanka, Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia as well as small portions of China, Vietnam, Malaysia and Bangladesh and is growing in the west.

30. Mahayana (Eastern Buddhism) is practiced today in China, Japan, Korea, Singapore, parts of Russia and most of Vietnam.

31. Tibet Buddhism and that practiced in the Himalayan regions is known as Northern Buddhism. Also more commonly called the Vajrayana Buddhism.

32. The following shows the practice of Buddhism by country, population and percent of total population:

Cambodia 13,701,660 (96.90%)
Thailand 64,419,840 (93.20%)
Burma 38,415,960 (80.10%)
Bhutan 563,000 (74.70%)
Sri Lanka 14,455,980 (69.30%)
Laos 4,092,000 (66.00%)
Mongolia 1,520,760 (55.10%)
Japan 45,807,480 (36.20%), or 84,653,000 (67.00%)
Singapore 1,725,510 (33.90%)
Taiwan 4,945,600 (21.10%), or 8,000,000 (35.00%)
* Estimated as of the 2010 Census according to the Pew Research Center

33. North America has about 3.9 million Buddhists while South America, Africa and the Middle East have about 1.0 million Buddhists.

34. China has about 249,340,000 Buddhists or about 50% of the world population of Buddhists.

Outline of Lesson 1

1. Islam is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion which professes that there is only one and incomparable God (Allah) and that Muhammad is the last messenger of God.

2. It is the world second largest religion.

3. It is the fastest growing religion in the world.

4. It has about 1.8 billion adherents.

5. The primary scriptures of Islam are the Quran, viewed by Muslims as the verbatim word of God, and the teachings and normative example (called the Sunnah, composed of account called hadith) of Muhammad.

6. Muslims believe that Islam is the complete and universal version of a faith that was revealed many times before through the prophets including Adam, Abraham, Moses, and Jesus.

7. The Quran is considered the unaltered and final revelation of God.

8. Islam believes that the righteous are rewarded in paradise and the unrighteous are punished in hell.

9. Five pillars of Islam: obligatory acts of worship, following Islamic law, which touches on virtually every aspect of life and society, from banking and welfare to women and the environment.

10. The cities of Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem are home to the three holiest sites in Islam.

11. Most Muslims are of one of two denominations: Sunni (75-90%) or Shia (10-20%).

12. Islam means “voluntary submission to God”

13. God is described in chapter 112 of the Quran as: “Say, He is God, the One and Only; God, the Eternal, Absolute; He begetteth not, nor is He begotten; And there is none like unto Him”.

14. Muslims repudiate polytheism and idolatry and reject the Christian doctrine of the Trinity and divinity of Jesus.

15. God is described and referred to by certain names or attributes, the most common being Al-Rahman, meaning “The Compassionate” and Al-Rahim, meaning “The Merciful”.

16. Allah is neither plural or gender identified.

17. Islam believes in angels but they have no form as they are believed to be light, they don’t possess free will, and therefore worship and obey God in total obedience.

18. Muslims believe in the “Day of Resurrection” and that it is preordained by God but unknown to man.

19. There are five basic religious acts in Islam, known as the “The Pillars of Islam” which are considered obligatory for all believers. They are (1) the creed, (2) daily prayers, (3) almsgiving, (4) fasting during Ramadan, and (5) the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in a lifetime.

20. The Shahadah is the basic creed of Islam and must be memorized and recited under oath daily.

21. Ritual prayers are required to focus on God and seen as a personal communication with him that expresses gratitude and worship.

22. Zakat is a fixed charity that must be given annually and is based upon the assets owned by each person and paid by each person equal to 2.5% of the capital assets per year, for people who are not poor.

23. Sadaqah is the option giving by Muslims and is in addition to the mandatory Zakat and is for the needy people.

Outline of Lesson 2

1. Fasting from food and drink, among other things, must be performed from dawn to dusk during the month of Ramadan. The fast is to encourage a feeling of nearness to God, and during it Muslims should express their gratitude for and dependence on him, atone for their past sins, and think of the needy. Eating is permissible at other times.

2. The obligatory Islamic pilgrimage, called the hajj, has to be performed during the Islamic month of Dhu al-Hijjah in the city of Mecca. Every able-bodied Muslim who can afford it must make the pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his or her lifetime.

3. Rituals of the Hajj include: spending a day and a night in the tents in the desert plain of Mina, then a day in the desert plain of Arafat praying and worshiping God, following the footsteps of Abraham; then spending a night out in the open, sleeping on the desert sand in the desert plain of Muzdalifah; then moving to Jamarat, symbolically stoning the Devil recounting Abraham’s action; then going to Mecca and walking seven times around the Kaaba which Muslims believe was built as a place of worship by Abraham; then walking seven times between Mount Safa and Mount Marwah recounting the steps of Abraham’s wife, while she was looking for water for her son Ismael in the desert before Mecca developed into a settlement.

4. Recitation and memorization of the Quran is required. Muslims recite and memorize the whole or part of the Quran as acts of virtue. Reciting the Quran in the correct manner has been described as an excellent act of worship. Pious Muslims recite the whole Quran at the month at the month of Ramadan. One who has memorized the whole Quran is called a hafiz who, it is said, will be able to intercede for ten people on the Last Judgment Day.

5. Sharia is the religious law forming part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam, particularly the Quran and the Hadith. In Arabic, the term sharī’ah refers to God’s divine law and is contrasted with fiqh, which refers to its scholarly interpretations.The manner of its application in modern times has been a subject of dispute between Muslim traditionalists and reformists.

6. Traditional theory of Islamic jurisprudence recognizes four sources of sharia: the Quran, Sunnah (authentic hadith), qiyas (analogical reasoning), and ijma (juridical consensus).

7. Different legal schools developed methodologies for deriving sharia ruling from scriptural sources using a process known as ijtihad.

8. Traditional jurisprudence distinguishes two principal branches of law, ‘ibādāt (rituals) and mu ‘āmalāt (social relations), which together comprise a wide range of topics.

9. Its rulings assign actins to one of five categories: mandatory, recommended, permitted, abhorred, and prohibited.

10. Thus some areas of sharia overlap with the Western notion of law while others correspond more broadly to living life in accordance with God’s will.

11. The role of sharia has become a contested topic around the world. There are ongoing debates as to whether sharia is compatible with secular forms of government, human right, freedom of thought, and women’s rights.

12. Islam, like Judaism, has no clergy in the sacerdotal sense, such as priests who mediate between God and people.

13. A school of jurisprudence is referred to as a madhab. The four major Sunni schools are the Hanafi, Maliki, Shafi’I, Hanbali and sometimes Zāhirī while the two major Shia schools are Ja’fari and Zaidi.

14. To reduce the gap between the rich and the poor, Islamic economic jurisprudence encourages trade, discourages the hoarding of wealth and outlaws interest-bearing loans (call usury).

15. Wealth is taxed through Zakat, but trade is not taxes.

16. Jihad means “to strive or struggle” (in the way of God). Jihad, in its broadest sense, is “exerting one’s utmost power, efforts, endeavors, or ability in contending with an object of disapprobation”.

17. There are different categories of Jihad.

18. Jihad, when used without any qualifier, is understood in its military aspect.

19. Jihad also refers to one’s striving to attain religious and moral perfection.

20. Some Muslim authorities, especially among the Shi’a and Sufis, distinguish between the “greater jihad”, which pertains to spiritual self-perfection, and the “lesser jihad”, defined as warfare.

21. Within Islamic jurisprudence, jihad is usually taken to mean military exertion against non-believer/non-Muslim/Muslim combatants.

22. The ultimate purpose of military jihad is debated, both within the Islamic community and without. Jihad is the only form of warfare permissible in Islamic law and may be declared against illegal works, terrorists, criminal groups, rebels, apostates, and leaders or states who oppress Muslims.

23. Most Muslims today interpret Jihad as only a defensive form of warfare.
24. Offensive jihad can only be declared by a divinely appointed leader of the Muslim community, and as such is suspended since Muhammad al-Mahdi’s occultation in 868 AD.

25. For Muslim communities, family is the basic component of society, and is responsible for the wellbeing of its members.

26. Marriage, which serves as the foundation of a Muslim family, is a civil contact which consists of an offer and acceptance between two qualified parties in the presence of two witnesses.

27. The groom is required to pay a bridal gift to the bride, as stipulated in the contract.

28. Most families in the Islamic world are monogamous.

29. Polyandry, a form of polygamy, where a woman takes on two or more husbands is prohibited in Islam.

30. There are 49 Muslim majority countries in the world at the present time.

31. Islamic etiquette includes greeting others with (“peace be unto you”), saying (“in the name of God”) before meals, and using only the right hand for eating and drinking.

32. Circumcision of male offspring is also practiced in Islam.

33. Prohibited foods include pork products, blood, carrion, and alcohol.

34. All meat must come from an herbivorous animal slaughtered in the mane of God by a Muslim, Jew or Christian, with the exception of game that one has hunted or fished for oneself.

35. Food permissible for Muslims is known as halal food.

36. In Islam, social welfare is foremost. Duties to parents, neighbors, relatives, sick people, the old, and the minority have been defined in Islam.

37. Respecting one’s parents and taking care of them especially in their old age have been made a religious obligation.

38. Mainstream Islamic law does not distinguish between “matters of church” and “matters of state”; the scholars’ functions as both jurists and theologians.

39. Muslim tradition views Muhammad (c 570 – June 8, 632) as the seal of the prophets. During the last 22 years of his life, beginning at age 40 in 610CE, according to the earliest surviving biographies, Muhammad report revelation that he believed to be from God, conveyed to him through the archangel Gabriel. Muhammad’s companions memorized and recorded the content of these revelations, known as the Quran.

40. Muhammad was persecuted in Mecca and forced to leave and went to Medina, taking some of his converts with him. After 12 years of persecution, Muhammad was successful in bringing together the people into Islam and he returned to Mecca.

41. The Constitution of Median was formulated, instituting a number of rights and responsibilities for the Muslim, Jewish, Christian and pagan communities of Medina, bringing them within the fold of one community – the Ummah.

42. The Constitution established: the security of the community; religious freedoms; the role of Medina as a sacred place (barring all violence and weapons); the security of women; stable tribal relations within medina; a tax system for supporting the community in time of conflict; parameters for exogenous political alliances; a system for granting protection of individuals; a judicial system for resolving disputes where non-Muslims could also use their own laws and have their own judges.

43. By the time of Muhammad’s death he had united the tribes of Arabia into a single religious polity.

This study continues a series of studies conducted by Pastor Terry Austin on world religions. Judaism, based on an historical and cultural heritage spanning roughly 3000 years, is impossible to comprehensively cover in the space of a single lesson. The audience for this lesson, mostly being non-Jewish, arrives at this study with impressions of both Jews and Judaism formed by Biblical studies, facts/opinions gleaned from readings and/or the media, and personal interactions with Jewish friends, acquaintances and organizations. With this in view, the goal is to narrow down the possible range of topics to a manageable few, while still providing an overview of the demographics of the Jewish population and its religious subsets. Since there can be no Judaism as a living faith without the presence of Jewish practitioners, the question, “Who is a Jew,” seems to me to be an appropriate starting point.

Who is a Jew?

There are estimates that indicate the worldwide Jewish population to be between 13.75 to 17.4 million. Why the difference? Because it depends on who’s doing the counting and what their definition of a Jew is.

The word, Jew is, in Hebrew, Yehudi. It derives from the name of Judah, the fourth son of the patriarch, Jacob, and ancestor of the tribe of Judah. Judah is pronounced Ye-hud-ah in Hebrew. Yehudah finds its verbal root in the word, yadah, meaning to confess, give thanks or give praise. Therefore, the word, Jews, can be understood to mean a “people of praise.”

The designation of Yehudim, that is, Jews, to members of the tribe of Judah expanded following the division of the nation of Israel after the death of King Solomon. The Kingdom of Judah emerged, incorporating tribal members not only from Judah, but also from the tribes of Benjamin and Levi. All these were considered Yehudim. In Esther 2:5, we find the person of Mordecai, the cousin of Esther, described both as a Yehudi and as a Benjamite.

All Israel claims to be descended from the patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The descendants of Judah–since they are among  the tribes of Jacob–share in this claim. They partake of the promises of God to the Patriarchs–“I will make you a great nation,” (Gen. 12:2) “In you all the families of the earth will be blessed.” (Gen. 12:3) “To your seed,” said God to Abram, “I have given this land.”  (Gen. 15:18) To Isaac, God said: “I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.” (Gen. 26:5) They are also parties to covenants with God. “This is My covenant,” God declared to Abraham, “which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised.” Through Moses, God said: “If you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Ex. 19:5-6) To which “all the people answered together and said, ‘All that the LORD has spoken we will do!'” This would come to include the observance of “appointed times” (moedim) in which the people are called upon to “meet with God,” as well as a corpus of 613 commandments (mitzvot) found in the Torah, God’s “instruction.” Although genealogy, as already indicated, can play a role in becoming a Jew, even those outside the lineage of Judah, or outside the lineage of Israel itself, can become Jews. Take, for example, the person of Ruth. In Chapter 1 of the Book of Ruth, Naomi, a Judean and the mother-in-law of Ruth, contemplated returning to Judah from the nation of Moab following the death of her husband and two sons. Naomi tried to dissuade Ruth, a Moabite by birth, from following her back to Judah to which Ruth responded: “Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God, my God.” (Ruth 1:16)

From this, we build the understanding that Scripture provides a fairly straightforward approach to defining a Jew:  a person self-identifies as a Jew by claiming an attachment to the promises made to the Patriarchs, abiding by the covenants entered into by the Patriarchs (i.e., the Abrahamic covenant and the covenant of circumcision), observing the terms of the covenant made between God and the people of Israel on Mount Sinai that would include keeping the appointed times and lifestyle choices (i.e., eating kosher [Kashrut], laws regarding purity [Niddah]), identifying the people of Israel as one’s own, and perhaps most importantly, adopting the God of Israel as one’s own.

It all seems so simple. . .until it ceases to be so simple. Today, there exist five major branches of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and Karaite. We will compare their answers to the question, “Who is a Jew,” alongside the position of the State of Israel (in the context of the Law of Return) and the view of the anti-Semitic movement, Nazism.

Orthodox Judaism

I did the majority of my Jewish study as a youth, including my Bar Mitzvah, in an Orthodox synagogue. At the time, I had no idea what “orthodox” meant–which, as it works out, is probably very much like the experience of every Jew until the beginning of the 19th century. What we today call Orthodox Judaism, arose in response to the advent of Reform Judaism, wrapping itself in the ways and traditions of Jews dating back into antiquity, though the ancients would not have called themselves “orthodox” per se. Orthodox Judaism is an umbrella term covering a number of groups, most prominently Modern Orthodox Judaism–a movement that preserves traditional understandings but seeks to embrace modernity, to Haredi Judaism–an ultra-Orthodox community that rejects modernity, tightly embracing Jewish laws and customs and regarding itself as the most genuinely authentic group of Jews. Chasitic Judaism is a subset of Haredi Judaism.

The Berkley Center for Religion, Peace and World Affairs at Georgetown University published a demographic study in 2017 showing that 22% of all Jews residing in the U.S. identify as Orthodox, the third largest denomination. In Israel, 15-20% of all Jews self-identify as either Orthodox or Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi/Chasitic), compared to 35% non-denominationally religious and 50% secular.

All Orthodox Jews share the ancient Pharisaic view of two Torahs, one Written and the other Oral. The Oral Torah is considered to have been given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai, passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation, and ultimately compiled into writing, beginning in the 2nd Century C.E. Both the written and oral Torahs are regarded by Orthodox Jewry as equally authoritative. The written compilation of the Oral Torah–known as the Talmud–has two parts: the Mishnah and the Gemara. The word, Mishnah, derives from the Hebrew, shanah, meaning “to repeat.” So the word itself is understood to mean to “study by repetition.” Within this book are two different kinds of literature, one of which is halakah. Halakah derives from the Hebrew root, halak, meaning “to walk.” It can also mean a “way” or “path.” It brings together under one heading laws found in the Torah (both oral and written), rules instituted by the rabbis (takanot and gezerot), as well as customs (minhagim).[1] The other literary form is aggadah (“telling”), consisting of “wise sayings,” stories, parables and homilies. The Gemara consists of oral discussions between ancient rabbis concerning the reading and application of the teachings in the Mishnah. And it is in the Talmud, within the halachot, that Orthodox Judaism finds its means of answering “Who is a Jew?”[2]

In Orthodox Judaism, across all streams, a Jew is regarded as someone born to a Jewish mother. The genealogy is, therefore, matrilineal. The background of the father is irrelevant insofar as determining if the child is a Jew. Also irrelevant is whether the child self-identifies as Jewish. Neither the mother nor the child need to practice any of the commandments nor do they have to observe any of the appointed times (moedim/holidays). Orthodox believers cite the Talmud, tractate Kiddushin 68b, in support of this view. The tractate references Deuteronomy 7:3-4, regarding intermarriage between Gentiles and Israelites. Insofar as a marriage between a Gentile male and an Israelite female is concerned, the text of 7:4 reads: “For they (the Gentile males) will turn your (the Israelite females) sons away from following Me to serve other gods.”  Therefore, the rabbis reasoned that the “sons” who would turn away from God began as Israelites. They also deduced that since the text did not address a situation involving a Gentile mother, an Israelite son could only belong to an Israelite mother. A Jew, being an Israelite, would be subject to the same reasoning.

The Tanakh makes no explicit statement supporting matrilineal descent.

With regard  to conversions, again the halacha of the Talmud is the guide. A bet din (Hebrew: house of judgment, a court) consisting of three Jewish males, usually Orthodox rabbis, oversees that the following requirements are met:

1) Male circumcision. If already circumcised, a small drop of blood will be taken (hatafat dam, hatafat means drop, dam means blood, first used in Genesis 4:10 regarding the blood of Abel).

2) Immersion in a Mikveh (a running body or natural pool of water) for both men and women. This symbolizes the acceptance of the Torah in one’s life.

3) Accepting the “yoke of the commandments.” This means all of them.[3]

Conservative Judaism

At first glance, this would seem to indicate that this branch is to the conservative side of Orthodox. That’s not the case, though having attended Shabbat services in Conservative synagogues as a youth, I did not observe a great deal of difference (perhaps I was more interested in the food after the service![4]). More than likely, this is because Conservative Judaism accepts the binding nature of halacha (written/oral Torah; rabbinical edicts, customs). However, it departs from the Orthodox movement, to a greater or lesser degree depending on which stream of Orthodoxy we’re looking at. Conservative Jews recognize the divine nature of Torah, but add that there are human influences in its writing. They also lean toward the belief that the law should adapt to modern, cultural influences. For instance, women and men sit together and participate fully during synagogue services whereas in Orthodox services, they are separated. Conservative Judaism, like Orthodox Judaism, officially disapproves of homosexuality. As of 1985, women can be ordained as rabbis. In 1960, it was agreed that using electrical appliances and driving a car on the Sabbath are permitted. There are degrees to which strict adherence to halacha (or departure from it) applies also–many Conservative synagogues are almost indistinguishable from their Orthodox counterparts while others lean toward the more liberal, Reform movement.

Conservative Judaism grew out of a dissatisfaction with both the Orthodox and Reform movements, occupying what it sees as a “middle ground” between the strict halachic approach of the Orthodox and the non-halachic approach of the Reform. It traces its theological genesis into 19th century Europe, it reached the United States in 1883, and it is here that it claims most of its following. Conservative Judaism is the second-largest U.S. denomination at 33 percent. There is a comparable movement in Israel known as Masorti Judaism (Masorti meaning “traditional” or “conservative” in Hebrew).

Like its Orthodox counterpart, Conservative Judaism defines a Jew as one of matrilineal descent. Conversion also follows the pattern of the Orthodox movement. However, because Conservative Judaism departs from a strict interpretation of halacha, the Orthodox movement, particularly the Chief Rabbinate[5] in Israel (which is exclusively Orthodox/Ultra-Orthodox) does not recognize the legitimacy of Conservative conversions.

Reform Judaism

Reform Judaism originated in Germany in the early 19th century. It is the largest denomination in the U.S. representing 38% of all American Jews. It has a very minimal presence in Israel. In 1885, the Reform Movement convened a conference in Pittsburgh where it laid out its principles. It laid out a universalistic view, accepting other religious perspectives, embracing Christianity and Islam in particular, appreciating “their providential mission, to aid in the spreading of monotheistic and moral truth.” This “platform” rejected halachic restrictions on diet, as well as any other law that is “not adapted to the views and habits of modern civilization.” However, Reform Jews maintain certain rites particular to Jewish life, including circumcision, observance of the Sabbath and other traditional Jewish holidays. As it regards the afterlife, Reform Judaism rejects the belief in bodily resurrection and the belief “in Gehanna and Eden (Hell and Paradise) as abodes for everlasting punishment and reward.” They also reject the divine authorship of Scripture, citing instead that Torah is “God inspired” and its laws are “products of historical processes. . .certain of its laws have lost their binding force with the passing of the conditions that called them forth.” These positions depart significantly from those of the Orthodox and Conservative movements. The Reform Movement views women as equal to men in every aspect of religious life. It also is “committed to the full participation of gays and lesbians in the synagogue life as well as society at large.” (reformjudaism.org) It also declares its commitment to tikkun olam–repairing the world–“as we strive to bring peace, freedom and justice to all people.” (reformjudaism.org)

The position of Reform Judaism on “who is a Jew” accepts both matrilineal and patrilineal descent, “so long as the child is raised as a Jew.” Therefore, a child could be considered a Jew if one or both of the parents are Jewish, but would not be a Jew if the child does not receive a Jewish education, doesn’t celebrate “life cycle events,” such as receiving a Hebrew name or becoming a bar or bat mitzvah. This “raised as a Jew” factor has no relevance to the definition of a Jew under the Orthodox and Conservative movements.  The Reform Movement encourages, but does not require, circumcision in the conversion process. Reform rabbis generally do not require a mikveh immersion though the practice is gaining some foothold there. Although the Reform Movement provides Judaism classes for potential converts, “its synagogues do accept as full members those non-Jews who have not undergone formal conversion but agree to maintain a Jewish home and provide their children with a Jewish education.” (MyJewishLearning.com)

Reconstructionist

This is Judaism’s newest, if not smallest, branch. It came into existence in the early 20th century as an outgrowth of the Conservative Movement, though in practice, it shares more in common with the Reform Movement. It broke away from the Conservative Movement’s dedication to halacha, declaring that “the past has a vote, but not a veto. . .When a particular Jewish value or custom is found wanting, it is our obligation as Jews to find a means to reconstruct it.” (jewishrecon.org)  It was founded by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, who defined Judaism as “an evolving religious civilization.” Kaplan was highly supportive of women’s equality, and he is credited with “orchestrating” the first Bat Mitzvah. In addition to women’s roles, gays and lesbians are full participants in the Reconstructionist Movement. (Reconstructionist Judaism in the United States by Rebecca T. Alpert)

Both Reconstructionist Judaism and Reform Judaism share a common approach to defining a Jew. Both movements acknowledge matrilineal and patrilineal descent so long as the child adopts a Jewish lifestyle. Reconstructionists, like Reformers, advance a course of study for non-Jewish converts. Due to the small size of the Reconstructionist Movement, potential converts receive training on an individual basis. The movement requires mikveh immersion, circumcision/hatafat dam, conducted with the oversight of a bet din. However, there are many who testify that these requirements are not always applied in practice.

Karaite Judaism

In “old” Hebrew, kara means scripture, so Karaites are scripturalists. Karaites believe strictly in the authority of the written Tanakh, rejecting all later writings, including the Oral Law and all other Rabbinic writings. There are approximately 30,000 Karaites today, 25,000 in Israel, 2,500 in the U.S., with smaller communities in France, Switzerland, Turkey, England and elsewhere. The only Karaite synagogue in the U.S. is located in San Francisco.

Adherence to only the written Tanakh aligns Karaism with the views associated with the party of the Sadducees who also are reputed in their time to have rejected the “oral law” of the Pharisee party. The Sadducees are also said to have rejected bodily resurrection and reward/punishment in the afterlife. Karaites, on the other hand, believe in both the Final Resurrection and Reward/Punishment based on a reading of Daniel 12:2: “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” Women are full equals to men in Karaism.  (karaite-korner.org)

Most Karaites accept only patrilineal descent in determining “who is a Jew.” This views emanates from the prominence of patrilineal genealogies in the Tanakh. Some believe both parents must be Jewish. Conversion requirements include circumcision and acceptance of three fundamental Karaite principles, taken from karaite-korner.org:

1. I believe in YHWH of Hosts as the only God, and renounce all others.
2. I believe in the Tanakh, the Hebrew Scripture, as the word of YHWH and the only religious authority and renounce all other writings, creeds, and doctrines as the words of men.
3. I undertake to study and keep the Tanach, striving to interpret it according to its “plain meaning”. 

And one must accept the principles of the ancient Karaite Vow:

• “By the covenant of Mt. Sinai and the statutes of Mt. Horeb I will keep the holy appointed times of YHWH according to the New Moon and the finding of the Aviv in the Holy Land of Israel, when possible.”

All of the above movements reject Jesus as the Messiah. In addition, they reject the authority of the New Testament. They consider “Messianic Judaism” to be a branch of Christianity.

The Law of Return

The Law of Return was passed by the Israeli Knesset (assembly) on July 5, 1950. It states “Every Jew has the right to come to this country as an oleh.” An oleh is one who makes “aliyah“–meaning ascent in Hebrew–that is, “goes up” toward Jerusalem, which in effect means to move to the land of Israel. This idea of “going up to Jerusalem” is found in the very last verse of the Hebrew Tanakh, 2 Chronicles 36:23 which reads:  “Thus says Cyrus king of Persia, ‘The LORD, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and He has appointed me to build Him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever there is among you of all His people, may the LORD his God be with him, and let him go up!'” Go up in this verse is alah, the root of the word, aliyah.

The 1950 original version of the law did not address the question, “who is a Jew.” Any person who self-identified as a Jew, with the exception of those 1) engaged in an activity against the Jewish people or 2) likely to endanger public health or the security of the State, were eligible for Israeli citizenship. The law was toughened slightly in 1955 to define those with a criminal past as likely to endanger public welfare.

It wasn’t long before Jewish identity became a matter of public debate in Israel. In 1958, an issue arose over whether a child of a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother could be registered as a Jew. The Minister of the Interior, a secularist, ruled that anyone could be listed in his identity papers as a Jew by declaration, or a child by the declaration of his/her parents–in other words, self-identification. There ensued an uproar among Orthodox Jews who adhered to the halachic standard of matrilineal descent.

There were two subsequent court cases in Israel that influenced a future change in the law. One was the “Brother Daniel” case in 1962. Shmuel Oswald Rufeisen was a Polish Jew who, due to his fluency in both Polish and German, was able to pass himself off as a Polish German, and he talked his way into a job with the German Military Police, for whom he served as a translator. While stationed in Mir, Poland, he facilitated the escape of 300 Jews who were situated in a makeshift ghetto, and not surprisingly, were on a collision course with imminent annihilation. He himself escaped from the Nazis, taking refuge in a local convent. It was at this point that he resolved to convert to Christianity, a decision made firm after the war at which time he studied to become a priest. He moved to Haifa, Israel, in the late 1950’s, joining his brother who had fled there during the war. Brother Daniel, at that point, a Carmelite monk, applied to be listed as a Jew under the Law of Return. The Chief Rabbinate ruled that Brother Daniel should be given citizenship in Israel as a Jew since he met the halachic definition of a Jew as one born to a Jewish mother. The Supreme Court of Israel, however, ruled that Brother Daniel couldn’t be both a Catholic priest and a Jew. His petition was denied.  (Sources:  “The Strange Case of Brother Daniel,” by David Twersky; www.hebrew-streams.org/works/tapuchim/rufeisen.html)

A second case in 1969 ruled that children born in Israel to a Jewish father and a non-Jewish mother could be designated as Jewish on their Israeli identification cards. The case involved a career naval officer, Binyamin Shalit, a Jew, and his non-Jewish wife, Ann. On the Israeli ID cards at that time, there were two fields, one for religion and the other for le’om, meaning in Hebrew, “people,” representing for the State of Israel “national ethnic group.”[6] The Shalits had two children, both born in Haifa, Israel. The children automatically became Israeli citizens, but on their ID cards, their religion was listed as “none” and their le’om was “no registration.” The Shalits, being atheists, had no objection to “none” for religion, but wanted the le’om, the national ethnicity category, to be changed to Jewish. Their point was that the children were being raised with a strong affiliation to the national/historical Jewish community, so they should be classified as Jewish. In a very insightful article by Robert Alter called “The Shalit Case,” written in 1970, we read: “Shalit tried to illustrate the kind of contradictions involved in ignoring considerations of national consensus and common sense to define le’om by religious law only: he, for example, a career officer in the Israeli navy could not register his children as Jews, while Kemal Nimri, one of the leaders of Al Fatah[7], would in principle be able to list himself as a Jew because his mother was Jewish.” In a 5 to 4 decision, including opinions from each of the nine justices, spanning 180 pages, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Shalits.

Take note here that Orthodox Judaism opposed the Shalits on the basis of matrilineal descent, or in their case, a lack thereof. They supported the petition of Brother Daniel on that same basis. Also note that in this case, the beliefs of the plaintiffs, the Shalits, were essentially irrelevant to the decision or the controversy altogether. In these examples, different streams of thought within the Jewish community clashed, often passionately, over the definition of “Who is a Jew?”

In 1970, the law was amended in light of these developments. “4B. For the purposes of this Law, ‘Jew’ means a person who was born of a Jewish mother or has become converted to Judaism and who is not a member of another religion.” That conformed the Law of Return to the Orthodox view of matrilineal descent. It also reaffirmed the decision against Brother Daniel or a Jewish convert to another religion, including Messianic Jews who are considered Christians by all Jewish mainstream denominations. In response to the Shalit ruling, the Law of Return now provides that “the rights of an Oleh under any other enactment, are also vested in a child and grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child of a Jew and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew, except for a person who has been a Jew and has voluntarily changed his religion.” Along with opening the classification of Jewish to an oleh’s spouse, children, grandchildren, and the children’s/grandchildren’s spouses, this provision retains the prohibition against Jews who voluntarily convert to another religion.

The State of Israel’s prohibition against Jews who convert to another religion is a departure from halacha in that it is written in the Talmud: “A Jew, even if he has sinned, remains a Jew.” (Sanhedrin 44a) A Conservative rabbi, Simon Glustrom, author of The Myth and Reality of Judaism, wrote: “Legally it is impossible for a Jew to cease being a Jew.” When the Chief Rabbinate in Israel, an Orthodox body, supported the petition of Brother Daniel, they reflected this view.

Nazism

In September, 1935, at an annual party rally in Nuremberg, the Nazis created new laws that reflected the racial theories of the party. Embedded in these Nuremberg Laws was a definition of “who is a Jew.” According to the Simon Wiesenthal Center website, the Nazis defined a Jew as ” Anyone with three Jewish grandparents; someone with two Jewish grandparents who belonged to the Jewish community on September 15, 1935, or joined thereafter; was married to a Jew or Jewess on September 15, 1935, or married one thereafter; was the offspring of a marriage or extramarital liaison with a Jew on or after September 15, 1935.” The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum notes that this definition was enforced “regardless of whether that individual identified himself or herself as a Jew or belonged to the Jewish religious community.” They continue: “Many Germans who had not practiced Judaism for years found themselves caught in the grip of Nazi terror. Even people with Jewish grandparents who had converted to Christianity were defined as Jews. . .among them even Roman Catholic priests and nuns and Protestant ministers whose grandparents were Jewish.”

Persons who fit this definition were ostracized from German society, and from any other society which fell prey to Nazi military aggression. They were required to carry identity cards with special markings–a red “J” inscribed on them, plus “new middle names for all those Jews who did not possess recognizably ‘Jewish’ first names–‘Israel’ for males, ‘Sara’ for females.” Jewish businesses were taken over via purchase by non-Jewish Germans at highly discounted prices set by the Nazi regime. Many lost their jobs. Jewish doctors were forbidden to treat non-Jews. Jews were forbidden to marry or have sexual relations with persons of “German or related blood.” Ultimately, they were herded into concentration camps and ultimately to gas chambers by the millions. All this based on a definition of a Jew–strictly racial as its basis–by a radically anti-Semitic regime. (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum)

END NOTES

[1] There is a saying among the rabbis: “Minhag b’Yisrael, Torah Hi.” Translated literally, this means: a custom of Israel is Torah. In other words, an “accepted tradition” becomes the law. A tradition has the status of Torah. Therefore, a custom practiced over time becomes binding. Take, for instance, the practice among Orthodox Jews of wearing a skull cap or kippah. According to chabad.org: “The tradition to wear a kippah is not derived from any biblical passage. Rather, it is a custom which evolved as a sign of our recognition that there is Someone “above” us who watches our every act. . . As with all Jewish customs, once they become a universally accepted Jewish practice, they become halachically (that is, legally) obligatory.” The custom rises to the status of Scripture.

[2] Yet another form of Rabbinic literature is Midrash. The root of midrash is derash, meaning to seek or inquire. It looks to “plumb” more deeply into the Scripture, expanding beyond the plain meaning of the text (p’shat). There are two categories of Midrash: Midrash Halacha–that pertaining to the interpretation of the law–and Midrash Aggadah, “exploring questions of ethics or theology, or creating homilies and parables based on the text.” (www.myjewishlearning.com/article/midrash-101) “Midrash halacha from the two centuries following the fall of the Temple was collected in three books–the Mekhilta on Exodus, the Sifra on Leviticus and the Sifrei on Numbers and Deuteronomy. Most ancient midrash were considered to have been written between 200 C.E. and 1000 C.E., though oral transmission of midrash are considered to date further back.

[3] In the Book of Acts, we see two of these three criteria, circumcision and adherence to the “Law of Moses” being debated among those attending the Jerusalem Council. “Certain of the sect of the Pharisees” advanced these requirements for conversion. (Acts 15:5) This predates the literary compilation of the Talmud, that began in the 2nd Century C.E.

[4] The refreshments served immediately after the Sabbath service has come to be called “Oneg Shabbat.” In Isaiah 58:13, the LORD instructs Israel to call the Shabbat “oneg“–a delight. This parallels the use of the same word in the following verse: “Then you will take delight (oneg) in the LORD. And I will make you ride on the heights of the earth; And I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” (Is. 58:14)

[5] The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is the supreme rabbinic authority for Judaism in Israel, having jurisdiction over marriages, divorces, burials, kosher certification, immigration of diaspora Jews (olim), and most importantly to our study, conversions.

[6] The word, le’om, is famously found in Scripture in Genesis 25:23, in which the LORD speaks to Rebecca, mother of Esau and Jacob: “The LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb; And two peoples will be separated from your body; And one people (le’om) shall be stronger than the other people (mil’om); And the older shall serve the younger.”

[7] Al Fatah, a terrorist organization, opposed the existence of Israel.

Outline of Lesson 1

1. Introduction to a List of All Religions and Belief Systems of the currently 80 most identifiable religions in the world at the present time, always subject to change.

2. Color May of the main 10 religions consisting of the most adherents to the religion principles/theology.

3. Definitions of the most common terms of identifying the various religions regarding the belief system of God, Gods, or no gods.

4. Religious symbols of the most prominent religions in the world.

5. Listing of the religions to be discussed in the fellowship lessons in the coming weeks are as follows: Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Folk Religion, Taoism, Shinto, Falun Gong, Sikhism, Judaism, Korean Shamanism, Caodaism, Bahá ‘I Faith, Tenrikyo Jainism, Cheondoism, and Hòa Háo.

6. In world cultures, there have traditionally been many different groupings of religious beliefs.

7. In Islam, the Quran mentions three different categories: Muslims, the People of the Book, and idol worshipers.

8. Daniel Defoe described the original definition of religion as follows: “Religion is properly the Worship given to God, but ‘tis also applied to the Worship of Idols and false Deities.”

9. The modern meaning of the phrase “world religion,” putting non-Christians at the same level as Christians, began with the 1893 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago.

10. Religions are classified into super-groups:
a) Middle Eastern religions: called Abrahamic and include Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Bahá ‘I Faith. They are named for Abraham and practice monotheism. There are about 3.8 billion adherents.

b) Iranian religions: include Zoroastrianism, Yazdanism, AEtsaeg Din, Ahl-e Haqq and historical traditions of Gnosticism (Mandaeism, Manichaeism).

c) Indian religions: sharing key concepts, such as dharma, karma, reincarnation among others. These include Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism.

d) East Asian religions: these make use of the concept of Tao (in Chinese) or Do (in Japanese or Korean). They include many Chinese folk religions, Taoism and Confucianism, as well as Korean and Japanese religion influenced by Chinese thought.

e) African religions: Sub-Saharan Africa except ancient Egyptian religion.

f) Indigenous ethnic religions: Found everywhere and includes traditional African religions, Asian shamanism, Native American religions, Austronesian and Australian Aboriginal tradition, Chinese folk religions and postwar Shinto.

g) New religious movements: those religions arising since the 19th century, generally reviving or re-interpreting older traditions such as Ayyavazhi, Mormonism, Ahmadiyya, Pentecostalism, polytheistic reconstructionist, etc.

11. Largest religions (approximate adherents): Christianity 2.2 billion; Islam 1.8 billion; Hinduism 1.1 billion; Buddhism 488 million; Folk religion 400 million; Taoism 12-173 million; Shinto 100 million; Falun Gong 80-100 million; Sikhism 30 million; Judaism 17 million; Korean shamanism 5-15 million; Caodaism 5-9 million; Bahá ‘I Faith 5-7 million; Tenriism 5 million; Jainism 4 million; Cheondoism 3-4 million; and Hoahaoism 1-3 million.