Knowra Judaism Judaism Judaism is the monotheistic religious tradition of the Jewish people, grounded in covenant with God, the Torah, and diverse bodies of law and practice.
Torah : The foundational Jewish teaching, especially the Five Books of Moses, interpreted through scripture and tradition. It is the central source of Jewish teaching and the covenantal story.
Talmud : A major Jewish compilation of rabbinic discussions of law, ethics, biblical interpretation, and tradition. Its debates preserve methods of interpretation that shape Jewish law and learning.
Ancient Israelite religion : The religious traditions of the ancient Israelites, from which Judaism developed. It provides the historical setting from which distinctively Jewish tradition emerged.
Orthodox Judaism : A group of Jewish movements that uphold the binding authority of traditional Jewish law. It emphasizes halakhic obligation and continuity with inherited practice.
Zionism : A modern movement supporting Jewish national self-determination, especially in the historic land of Israel. It transformed debates about Jewish peoplehood, homeland, and political sovereignty.
Tanakh : The Jewish Bible, comprising the Torah, Prophets, and Writings. It places the Torah within the wider scriptural canon of Judaism.
Midrash : Jewish interpretive literature that explores and expands the meaning of biblical texts. It shows how close reading generates narrative and legal meanings beyond the text's surface.
Babylonian exile : The deportation of many Judeans to Babylonia after Jerusalem's conquest in the sixth century BCE. Exile reshaped Jewish scripture, worship, and communal identity outside the land.
Conservative Judaism : A modern Jewish movement that treats Jewish law as binding while allowing historically grounded change. It balances commitment to halakha with adaptation through historical interpretation.
Holocaust : The genocide of six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II. It devastated Jewish communities and profoundly affected Jewish memory and postwar life.
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