why do they call judaism, judaism?
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The word "Judaism" is related to the word "Jewish", and to the name "Judah", though it's not so obvious in English.  Here's how it happened:\n\n"Judaism" is derived from the name "Judah" -- it was used to refer to the religion of the 'people of Judah'.  "Judah" was one of the larger, more powerful tribes of the people of Israel, the tribe from which King David and his descendants come.  Most of the Israelite tribes to the north split off to form their own kingdom after the death of David's son Solomon (called "Israel" in the Bible, while the southern kingdom is called "Judah").  \n\nAfter the Assyrians destroyed the Northern Kingdom (Israel) late in the 8th century BC, only the kingdom of Judah remained.   They were the ones who fell to Nebuchadnezzar and many of whom were exiled to Babylonia. in the 6th century B.C.   And they were the ones who later re-established a kingdom.    Remnants of the other tribes joined them, but the tribe of Judah was still central, hence the people were known by this name.  \n\nA literal translation of the TERM used from them might be "Jud-ish" (compare the term "Judean").  In fact, most European languages use a form something like that.  German is Juedisch.     What causes confusion is the fact that English lost the "d" and ended up with the word"JEWISH", a form that is not obviously related to "Judah"/"Judean".\n\n(For what it's worth, the language spoken by many Jewish people in Eastern Europe is a dialect of GERMAN --not Hebrew-- called Juedisch, or in English, "Yiddish")\n\nOne other note: there was in the first century a lot more variety in "Judaism" (or perhaps we should say "Judaism-s").  The form we now identify as Judaism was the Rabbinic form that gained the ascendancy after the Temple was destroyed in AD 70.  (Remember too that Christianity was considered a Jewish sect in the first century; thus what we think of today as "Judaism" and "Christianity" were in a sense born at about the same time, two distinct offshoots of one tree.)
46100
A person who converts to Judaism is a Jew. Period. He or she is not referred to as a Gentile convert, he or she is a Jew. And anyone, Jew or Gentile, who thinks otherwise knows nothing of Judaism or Jewish law.
731804
to say the name of god, as is told to the jews by way of the tanakh, is to profane the creator. Hashem is "the name" with emphasis on THE.
302515
That is in the New Testament, which is irrelevant. Jews determine who is a Jew, not the Jewish wannabees.
70229
well, 'jew' means 2 things.  it can mean someone who adheres to a particular religion, and it also can refer to someone of a particular ethnic background.\n\nthere are actually several jewish ethnicities - ashkenazi jews, for instance are typically from eastern european/slavic backgrounds and have pale skin, whereas sephardic jews are from spain/southern europe and have dark skin, sorta like what one thinks of when one pictures an israeli.\n\nso, most religion-jews are descended from one of the main jewish ethnic groups.  but not all.  as someone else pointed out, a few (not many) black people have converted to judaism.  i would say the confusion arises from having a single term carry two meanings.\n\n(also, for what it's worth - jesus was born and lived in what is modern-day israel, jordan and egypt.  the people from around there aren't really black in the sense of black africans from central/southern africa.. so i would call BS on whoever says he was black, and suggest that maybe he was more medium-toned and his ethnicity could be described as israeli, jewish or closer to arabic than black.)
550268
The terms are almost synonymous.  The only difference I could see that is that the term Jew in America defnines a person as being Jewish, not American, and America is solely a geographical location, and not part of an identity.  The term American Jew seems to combine to aspects  - Jewish and American - in one identity.  Does that make sense?
566081
Compared to Christianity, Judaism can be verified just by reading scripture in plain language. When in Judaism there is a belief in one God, the Torah backs this up with no questions. Unlike Christianity where a 'trinity' is a 'mystery' and never answered satisfactorily.\n\nAnd in other places, were men are chosen to be prophets, they dont claim to be God in the flesh, they are simply men. And there is no double talk if one is under the Law of God or not, even if it is perfect.\n\nComparing the two, Judaism is more straight forward than Christianity and in turn, not ridiculed as much.
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Judaism, from a historical perspective (which is important in understanding it's philosophy) even though it's considered "Western", has it's origins in the Middle East, of course.  It is the spiritual ancestor of both Christianity *and* Islam.\n\nIt is a religion of the people of Israel and includes faithful devotion to one God (the God of their tribes) and believes that Divine teaching was revealed by this one God to the fathers and mothers of the people of Israel through Moses and the Prophets and Sages.\n\nThe goal of the Covenant between the Jews and their tribal God is relatively simple as it's base:\n\nA good life for all, through obedience to God's teachings (Torah) and Commandments (Mitzvot); harmony on earth (individual and societal) culminating in peace and well-being for all humanity, through all peoples' acceptance of their God as the primary/universal/only God.  This acceptance does NOT mean conversion, however - it means that non-Jews must simply abide by the moral laws (separate from the covenant between God and the Jews) that God requires of them.\n\nJudaism is classified as a religion of deed, of acts, rather than faith. God needs the faithful (Jews) just as much as people need God.  It is through the right actions of the faithful that the order of the universe is maintained and chaos is held at bay.\n\nIt is a "Way" by which humans are capable of understanding and responding to the teachings of their God.\n\nAs Judaism developed, the concept of God as their tribal God changed into a "universal" God, who was responsible for a universal Creation , with a universal Revelation to Moses and the people at Mount Sinai, leading to the Redemption of Israel and all humanity.\n\nThere is a vast body of teaching and lore that has grown up over centuries, much of which takes the form of interpretation of the oldest biblical texts; the Halacha or "Way", and the Aggada, a collection of stories, homilies, parables, and poetry.  The Talmud is a rabbinic text (meaning "Teaching"), and is second only to the Bible in importance.\n\nThe mystic teachings of Judaism, collectively, is the Kabbalah (the received tradition) which teach of the emanation of the Godhead into the world, the experience of communion with God in transcendence of the self, and the maintenance of the balance and order of the cosmos through human action in Covenant with God.\n\nIn this way,  Jews are panentheists - that is to say, for them, as in  many other religious traditions, God is both in everything and beyond containment in anything.\n\n********\nNote: I'm not Jewish, just a student of religions.  I'm more than willing to be corrected on anything here that I've misunderstood.
229995
Do you mean Hebrews or Israelites, Jews an a Israelites are different. A Jew is anyone who relgion is Judaism, it not a race but a religion. Jew is in the Bible but it's a mistranslation, everytime "Jew" is used in the Bible it should read Judah. Judah is one of the 12 tribes of Israel, so calling ALL Israelites Jews is incorrect. Moses was from the tribe Levi not Judah so that means that he wasn't a Jew, Abraham counldn't a descendant of his own great great grandson so he wasn't a Jew ethier. The name Jew should have never even appear in the English translation.\n\nToday many Jews are white, ask ANY Jew, what does it take to be a Jew. They will tell you to convert to Judaism or if your moms a Jew, then your Jewish.\n\nNONE of them will tell you that to be a Israelites you HAVE to be a decsendant of one of the 12 tribes of Jacob/Israel.\nNote all through out scripture the Bible says that genology is ONLY pass through the FATHER never the mom/wife.\n\nWith that been said Jews are not Israelites and Israelites are not Jews. \n\nTO ANSWER YOUR QUESTION: Todays most Jews are descendants of Ashkenaz and Khazar tribes Both are decsendants of Japhet, Genesis 10 1-5 with are European tribes, which is why todays Jews are white. Until when find some evidences of what Isrealites looked like and can proven they are Israelites, then we would know what color they are.
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In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title. It represents the Jewish conception of the divine nature, and of the relation of God to the Jewish people. In awe at the sacredness of the names of God, and as a means of showing respect and reverence for them, the scribes of sacred texts took pause before copying them, and used terms of reverence so as to keep the true name of God concealed. The various names of God in Judaism represent God as he is known, as well as the divine aspects which are attributed to him.\n\nThe numerous names of God have been a source of debate amongst biblical scholars — some have advanced the variety as proof that the Torah has many authors (see documentary hypothesis), while others declare that the different aspects of God have different names, depending on the role God is playing, the context in which he is referred to and the specific aspects which are emphasized\n\n\nThe most important and most often written name of God in Judaism is the Tetragrammaton, the four-letter name of God. This name is first mentioned in the book of Genesis and is usually translated as 'the LORD'. Because Judaism forbids pronouncing the name outside the Temple in Jerusalem (see below), the correct pronunciation of this name has been lost—the original Hebrew texts only included consonants. Some scholars conject that it was pronounced "Yahweh", but some suggest that it never had a pronunciation (which is extremely unlikely given that it is found as an element in numerous Hebrew names). The Hebrew letters are named Yod-Heh-Vav-Heh: יהוה; note that Hebrew is written from right to left, rather than left to right as in English. In English it is written as YHWH, YHVH, or JHVH depending on the transliteration convention that is used. The Tetragrammaton was written in contrasting Paleo-Hebrew characters in some of the oldest surviving square Aramaic Hebrew texts, and it is speculated that it was, even at that period, read as Adonai, "My Lord", when encountered.\n\nIn appearance, YHWH is the third person singular imperfect of the verb "to be", meaning, therefore, "He is". This explanation agrees with the meaning of the name given in Exodus 3:14, where God is represented as speaking, and hence as using the first person — "I am." It stems from the Hebrew conception of monotheism that God exists by himself, the uncreated Creator who doesn't depend on anything or anyone else; therefore I am who I am.\n\n God is presented as a living God, as contrasted with the lifeless gods of the heathen: God is presented as the source and author of life (compare 1 Kings 18; Isaiah 41:26–29, 44:6–20; Jeremiah 10:10, 14; Genesis 2:7; and so forth)\n\nThe name YHWH is often reconstructed as Yahweh or oftentimes Jehovah in the English language. The name Yahweh is likely to be the origin of the Yao of Gnosticism. A few also think it might be cognate to Yaw of Ugaritic texts. If the Hehs in the Tetragrammaton are seen as sacred augmentation similar to those in Abraham (from Abram) and Sarah (from Sarai), then the association becomes clearer. Though the final Heh in Yahweh would not necessarily have been pronounced in classical Hebrew, the medial Heh would have almost certainly been pronounced. Other possible vocalisations include a mappik in the final Heh, rendering it pronounced — most likely with a gliding Patah (a-sound) before it.\n\nThe prohibition of blasphemy, for which capital punishment is prescribed in Jewish law, refers only to the Tetragrammaton.
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Yes, of course you could call a Jewish person a Jew.  You can also use the word Jewish. \n\nHowever, it is very offensive to most Jews to have the word "Jew" used as an adjective.  So, "That man is a Jew" is okay.  "The Torah is the Jew Bible" is offensive.  Always use "Jewish" in that situation.  And if  you find this confusing, you can use "Jewish" all the time and never be wrong.\n\nBTW, don't be misled by the earlier comment that Orthodox Jews do not consider converts to be Jewish.  That person doesn't know what she is talking about.  What *is* true is that some Orthodox rabbis do not recognize conversion ceremonies that are performed by non-Orthodox rabbis.  In other words, it has only to do with the nature of the ceremony, not whether the person was born Jewish.\n\nGood luck on your paper.  If you havent found the Website Shamash.org yet, you might want to look there for information.\n\nGood luck!!
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first off all American their is a list that one must do to be called the messiah. and yes Jews are still waiting for the first person to complete that check list. \n\nhere it is -- it is detialed and long so bear with\n\nTHE MESSIAH ACCORDING TO JUDAISM\nOne of the basic premises upon which Christianity rests is that Jesus was the Messiah predicted in the Jewish Bible. Judaism has always rejected this belief. Since the goal of "Hebrew Christian" missionaries is to convince Jews that Jesus did in fact fulfill the requirements of the promised Messiah, it is necessary to examine the Jewish understanding of the Messiah to understand why such claims are simply not true.\n\nTHE HEBREW ROOTS OF THE WORD "MESSIAH"\n\nThe Hebrew word for "Messiah" is "Moshiach --." The literal and proper translation of this word is "anointed," which refers to a ritual of anointing and consecrating someone or some-thing with oil. (I Samuel 10:1-2) It is used throughout the Jewish Bible in reference to a wide variety of individuals and objects; for example, a Jewish king (I Kings 1:39), Jewish priests (Leviticus 4:3), prophets (Isaiah 61:1), the Jewish Temple and its utensils (Exodus 40:9-11), unleavened bread (Numbers 6:15), and a non-Jewish king (Cyrus king of Persia, Isaiah 45:1).\n\nTHE CRITERIA TO BE FULFILLED BY THE JEWISH MESSIAH\n\nIn an accurate translation of the Jewish Scriptures, the word "Moshiach" is never translated as "Messiah," but as "anointed."1Nevertheless, Judaism has always maintained a fundamental belief in a Messianic figure. Since the concept of a Messiah is one that was given by G-d to the Jews, Jewish tradition is best qualified to describe and recognize the expected Messiah. This tradition has its foundation in numerous biblical references, many of which are cited below. Judaism understands the Messiah to be a human being (with no connotation of deity or divinity) who will bring about certain changes in the world and who must fulfill certain specific criteria before being acknowledged as the Messiah.\n\nThese specific criteria are as follows:\n\n1) He must be Jewish. (Deuteronomy 17:15, Numbers 24:17)\n\n2) He must be a member of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) and a direct male descendent of both King David (I Chronicles 17:11, Psalm 89:29-38, Jeremiah 33:17, II Samuel 7:12-16) and King Solomon. (I Chronicles 22:10, II Chronicles 7:18)\n\n3) He must gather the Jewish people from exile and return them to Israel. (Isaiah 27:12-13, Isaiah 11:12)\n\n4) He must rebuild the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. (Micah 4:1)\n\n5) He must bring world peace. (Isaiah 2:4, Isaiah 11:6, Micah 4:3)\n\n6) He must influence the entire world to acknowledge and serve one G-d. (Isaiah 11:9, Isaiah 40:5, Zephaniah 3:9)\n\nAll of these criteria for the Messiah are best stated in the book of Ezekiel chapter 37:24-28: \n\n"And My servant David will be a king over them, and they will all have one shepherd, and they will walk in My ordinances, and keep My statutes, and observe them, and they shall live on the land that I gave to Jacob My servant...and I will make a covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting covenant and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever and My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their G-d and they will be My people. And the nations will know that I am the Lord who sanctifies Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forever." \n\nIf an individual fails to fulfill even one of these conditions, he cannot be the Messiah.\n\nWHY JESUS COULD NOT HAVE BEEN THE JEWISH MESSIAH\n\nA careful analysis of these criteria shows us that, although Jesus was Jewish, he did not fulfill any of the other criteria. An examination of the contradictory accounts of Jesus' genealogy demonstrates a number of difficulties with the fulfillment of the second criterion. Specifically, the New Testament claims that Jesus did not have a phy
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Judaism:  The Religion of the Hebrews\n\nThe Jewish religion was unique in the ancient world because it was monotheistic.\n \nAlmost 2,000 years ago, many Jews were forced to leave their homeland in Palestine. This diaspora, or scattering of people, sent Jews to different parts of the world. Wherever they settled, Jews maintained their identity as a people by living in close-knit communities and obeying their religious laws and traditions. These traditions set Jews apart from other people. Yet they also helped them survive centuries of persecution. \n\nJudaism is numbered among the world's major religions for its unique contribution to religious thought as well as its influence on two later religions, Christianity and Islam. Both these faiths, which also emerged in the Middle East, were monotheistic. Jews, Christians, and Muslims all honor Abraham, Moses, and the prophets, and they teach the ethical world view developed by the Hebrews.
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jew comes from the hebrew word yehudi, which would mean someone from yehudah or judah. however this term is used to refer to the jews as a nation which will rather give up their life than denounce their religion as we see in the book of esther mordechai was called yehudi, being that he was putting his life on the line by not bowing to haman and his idol. so in actuallity jew is more of a proud name than israelite.
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1)there is no such thing as 'Jewish blood.' A person can convert TO Judaism, and is therefore a Jew, and a person can convert from Judaism to another faith and is no longer a Jew. Jews define who is a Jew, not the wannabe-Jews.\n\n2)'clean' and 'unclean' are a bad translation. better would be something like, 'they will be considered gross to you,' or 'disgusting.'\n\n3)to answer your question, they are still relevant today TO JEWS. Jews were at Sinai, Jews received the commandments, and Jews were the ones commanded. \n\nPlease see http://WhatJewsBelieve.org
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The 13 Articles of Faith\nAs noted above, Judaism has no creed and beliefs of individual Jews can vary widely. However, the great 12th century rabbi Maimonides put together "13 Articles of Faith" that he believed every Jew ought to adhere to, and this is often used as a summary of common Jewish beliefs. Full article » \n\nJewish Beliefs about God\nIn Judaism, ultimate reality is a single, all-powerful God. It is this belief that made the Jews unique among other ancient Semitic peoples and that became the legacy Judaism has passed on to the entire Western world. God's name in Hebrew is YHWH, which simply - but significantly - means "I am." Full article » \n\nJewish Beliefs about the Messiah\nMany of the world's religions have hope in a future heroic figure who will rescue the righteous, judge the wicked, and restore peace to the world (Krishna in Hinduism, Maitreya in Buddhism and the Second Coming of Christ in Christianity). In Judaism, this figure is the messiah. Full article » \n\nJewish Beliefs about Human Nature\nWhen Genesis 2:7 says "God formed man," it uses the Hebrew word vayyitzer ("formed"). The Talmud finds special meaning in the unique spelling of the word in this context, with two yods instead of one. The two yods, the rabbis explain, stand for the two impulses found in humans: the yetzer tov and the yetzer ra. Full article » \n\nOlam Ha-Ba: Jewish Beliefs about the Afterlife \nJewish sacred texts and literature have little to say about what happens after death, which may seem surprising to non-Jews since the sacred texts of Christianity and Islam, both of which have their foundations in Judaism, elaborate rather fully about the afterlife. Full article »
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Several of us will pop up when we see the word Jewish, Judaism, Torah, etc. in the question.  I for example just found your question by putting the word "Jewish" in the search for open questions.  I used to scroll through all the questions but that has become too tedious lately and I don't answer on Christian or general Bible matters because I have no need to impose my beliefs on anyone else. \n\nPersonally I think it's time there were subcategories under R&S, so that we can all have a forum to discuss things without constantly being interrupted by people who are not respectful.  To me that's like someone going into a section on mathematics and saying "i hate math".  If you don't like the topic, just stay away.  For example when someone asks a question about Jesus, I don't think it's necessary for someone atheist to comment, "he's a figment of your imagination" and by the same token I as a Jew, would NOT comment "he's not the messiah" even if that's what I believe.  I don't feel it's my place and it is not relevant to the question being asked. Everyone has a right to their beliefs and I don't need to chime in with my opinion every two seconds.  In fact the ones who do this are probably insecure with their belief systems and feel a need to be loud about it.   \n\nAnd for questions asked about Judaism I only answer the ones asked respectfully.  You can tell when someone really wants to know or they just want to spout their own prejudices and are not open to answers. If you scroll through my answers you can see I have answered many questions on Judaism that were asked in a thoughtful and respectful manner.\n\nWell, I hope that answers your question somewhat... :)