It is heartening to know that you have taken interest in learning more about one of the major and interesting religions in the world. I can help you with more information about Judaism as I have done a sort of research about it.
Judaism is the monotheistic religion of the Jews tracing its origin to Abraham, having its spiritual and ethical principle embodied chiefly in the Hebrew scripture and the Talmud. Ana, Judaism differs from many religions in modern times and to study it fully is a Herculean task as the subject is very vast. Their doctrines have influenced other religions like Christianity and Islam.
It has clung to a number of religious principles, the most important of which is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent, transcendent God, who created the universe and continues to govern it. According to traditional Jewish belief, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Israelites and revealed His laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of Torah (Hebrew Bible) and the Jewish people are the descendants of Israelites. Even now the Jews are very good at observing the commandments written in the Torah.
Ana, you may be curious to know what makes a person Jewish. According to the traditional Jewish law, a Jew is anyone born of a Jewish mother or converted to Judaism in accord with Jewish law. All mainstream forms of Judaism are open to sincere converts. They also maintain that a Jew, whether by birth or conversion is a Jew forever.
There are different branches of this traditional religion. I will give you the details of one of the major branches called Conservative Judaism. It is also known as Masorti (Hebrew word for traditional) Judaism. It is a modern stream of Judaism that arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid 19th century and took institutional form in the early 1990s. The main principles of Conservative Judaism are that they have total dedication to Halakha as a guide for lives and have a positive attitude towards modern culture and an acceptance of both traditional rabbinic modes of study and modern scholarships.
This branch has its roots in the school of thought known as Positive – Historical Judaism developed in 1850s Germany as a reaction to the more liberal religious positions taken by Reform Judaism. The term conservative was meant to signify that Jews should attempt to conserve Jewish tradition, rather than reform or abandon it and does not imply the movements’ adherence as politically conservative
Ana, as you already know that the eating habits of Jews are very peculiar. Certain foods are Kosher for them. It is very interesting to know that a Jewish body of law regulates the diet of a Jew. And their kitchen is always filled with a minimum of two dishes at a time.
Above all, the significance of observance is one of the main aspects to be discussed here. The conservative Jews’ life revolves around the observance of God’s commandments as written in Torah and expounded in the Talmud. The Sabbath is one of the most important ritual observances of the Conservative Jews. The Sabbath was also known as Shabbat in Hebrew and Shabbos in Yiddish is observed every Friday evening 1 hour after sundown. It is a day filled with prayer and Torah study. They remember the seventh day of creation, on which Jews are bidden to imitate God’s own rest. It is an occasion for songs of freedom and social justice praising the Holy One for removing the Hebrew slaves from oppression in the land of Egypt and for abstaining from the 39 categories of Mlacha (labor), which is described in the Torah.
Ana, hope you got a fair idea about what Judaism is all about. Hear from you soon.