There is quite a leap from the Judaism of the Old Testament to the Judaism of today. Indeed, as with any human institution, there was neither one monolithic Judaism in the past just as there is no monolithic Judaism today. Abraham left a legacy that would develop into monotheism and a rejection of all forms of polytheism. Moses left a legacy of a religion based on rituals and, above all, on the law (Torah). David’s son Solomon inaugurated the temple as the sole cultic centre though rituals continued in the home. The first destruction of the temple and the abolition of the kingship did not simply lead to a reversion to the pre-Mosaic days. Rather there was the gradual emergence of meeting-places for prayer, synagogues, throughout the country. The temple was restored though later desecrated and restored again until the Romans finally erased it for good.
Lacking a temple as a focus, Judaism fell back on its synagogues and above all on the Torah as explained by teachers—known now as ‘rabbis’. Judaism also had to define itself with respect to the nascent Christian movement, something that provoked much polemic. In later centuries, Judaism also had to learn to live under Islam, a religion that claimed to restore the sole religion of all humankind, the same as the religion of Abraham/Ibrahim. Thus in looking at Judaism we need to consider two factors that continue to influence it throughout the centuries. One is internal: that which gives it its own self-identity, whether Torah, temple or ritual practice. The other is external: how it reacts to surrounding cultures, religions and political structures. It should be obvious that there may be differing options chosen by different Jews at any given point of history, both in terms of factors of internal self-identity and in terms of how to relate to external circumstances. One key factor, not discussed here, was whether Judaism developed in Muslim Spain (Sephardi) or in west central Europe (Ashkenazi).
This chapter will focus on the current situation, leaving past choices to other authors, although these past choices will, to some extent, be touched on in later chapters.
(continued)
註：感謝來源：
Jewish Sketches:
Judaism and Jewish-Catholic Relations
作者 Edmund Ryden 雷敦龢
出版者 Edmund Ryden 雷敦龢
地址 31141 新竹縣五峰鄉花園村六鄰花園 141 號
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頁數 1-416 頁
大小 15.0 cm x 23.0 cm x 2.0 cm
ISBN-13: 978-957-43-8155-5
初版初印 中華民國 109 年 9 月
版權所有．翻印必究
Printed with Ecclesiastical Permission
V. Rev. P. Stephen Chow SJ, Provincial Superior,
Chinese Province of the Society of Jesus
16 September 2020
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