Judaism

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Map of the Twelve Tribes of Israel

Judaism (from Greek: ἰουδαϊσμός ioudaismos, from Hebrew: יהדות Yahadut) is the third Abrahamic religion, alongside Christianity and Islam. Currently, about 13.5 million people worldwide profess it. The Jewish religion considers itself the oldest of the monotheistic Abrahamic religions, as Christianity and Islam partly refer to it.

The Jewish religion, culture and tradition

The concept of Judaism encompasses not only religious aspects, but the entire culture and tradition of the Jewish people, bound together by their common history, which is derived in the narrowest sense from the tribe of Judah, which was one of the Twelve Tribes of Israel. Judah (Hebrew: יהודה Yehuda), the progenitor of the Tribe of Judah, was according to the Tanakh the fourth son of Jacob, who was the third progenitor of Israel after Abraham and Isaac. Regardless of ethnic origin, anyone who is either descended from a Jewish mother or who has converted to Judaism through a formal act is considered a Jew in the broadest and most actual sense, and thus a bearer of Judaism.

The root of Judaism lies in the covenant that Yahweh made with Abraham, but which, according to the Torah, explicitly includes all the peoples of the world:

„I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee: and in thee shall all kindreds of the Earth be blessed.“

According to the Jewish view, therefore, non-Jews also become partakers of God's salvation, provided they only lead a correspondingly moral life. Therefore, in contrast to Christianity and Islam, missionary activities are largely unfamiliar to Judaism.

„The Jews were preceded (at the Exodus from Egypt) by the weather cloud or pillar of fire: Earthly efficacy! We could delve deeply into the details, and everywhere we would find that the spirit of the Earth is at work in what Moses speaks of as the revelation of the God of Yahweh Geology is the proclamation of Moses. One will never understand the profound difference between the Hebrew and Greek worldviews unless one knows that the Greek worldview is meteorology and the Hebrew worldview is geology. Everything that the Greek feels unfolding around him, he thinks in connection with the forces pouring from the cosmos into the Earth's elements, into the Earth's surroundings in air, into everything that is near the Earth. Everything with which the Hebrew world-view feels itself surrounded is bound to the forces which unfold upwards from the Earth, which are bound to the Earth. Yes, even the sufferings of the Hebrew people, they come from the desert character, from that which is bound to the Earth and its effectiveness. For the Jews, the most important thing about man is that which is connected with the Earth and its powers. Yahweh feels himself to be the God who spiritually governs the Earth.“ (Lit.:GA 149, p. 68)

Literature
References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated.
Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com.
Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books
A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works
Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English.
Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold
steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA)
Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.
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