Forms of judaism?

[Kristoffer]

How many forms of judaism does exist?
What is the most popular form for judaism?

Bonus question:
- What differs traditional judaism from kabbalah?

 

[metis]

How many forms of judaism does exist?
What is the most popular form for judaism?

Bonus question:
- What differs traditional judaism from kabbalah?

Depending on how one may define "forms", maybe a dozen or so (I'm counting the various forms of chasidim as being of different "forms").

Internationally, the most common would be "Orthodox", as they are called here in the States, but Reform is more popular here.

The tradition is that Kabbalah was carried over from the 2nd Temple Period, and most groups may use it, but some more than others. The chasidim especially tend to emphasize this.

Some others here can go into more detail than I, especially the two rabbis here that frequent this site.

 

[JacobEzra.]

For beginning research, look up Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism. These are the most popular movements.

 

[Akivah]

How many forms of judaism does exist?

It's pretty much infinite. Each person can apply Judaism differently in their lives from every other person. No one polices people to enforce that everyone practices Judaism in the exact same way. Now there are a certain number of identified denominations within Judaism, but each individuals' practice can vary widely within their self-identified denomination.

What is the most popular form for judaism?

The three largest denominations are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. Within those groups and outside of them are other smaller additional groups such as Reconstructionist, Chasidic, Masorti, Humanistic, and more.

Bonus question:
- What differs traditional judaism from kabbalah?

I think of Judaism as the religion that we put into practice in our daily lives. Kabbalah is just a book of esoteric and philosophical musings without much relevance to people's daily lives.

 

[Kristoffer]

The tradition is that Kabbalah was carried over from the 2nd Temple Period, and most groups may use it, but some more than others. The chasidim especially tend to emphasize this.

- What do you mean? Can you tell more detailed about this?

The three largest denominations are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. Within those groups and outside of them are other smaller additional groups such as Reconstructionist, Chasidic, Masorti, Humanistic, and more.

- What would you say are the different characteristics between these unlike forms?

I think of Judaism as the religion that we put into practice in our daily lives. Kabbalah is just a book of esoteric and philosophical musings without much relevance to people's daily lives.

- Can you tell me a little more about this? For example: Does every jude have more or less contact with the kabbalah? Is the kabbalah an actual book, or an philosophy? Who have wrote it? Why is it so popular with judes?

 

[Tumah]

How many forms of judaism does exist?
What is the most popular form for judaism?

Bonus question:
- What differs traditional judaism from kabbalah?

There's a lot of different forms of Judaism. Some of them are compatible with each other (usually within the same umbrella group) and some not. Others have listed a number of different nominations.
The most popular is probable unaffiliated or maybe Reform.

Judaism is a religion. Kaballah is a topic of study. There's not really a way to contrast the two. Its like comparing Christianity and math.

 

[Tumah]

I think of Judaism as the religion that we put into practice in our daily lives. Kabbalah is just a book of esoteric and philosophical musings without much relevance to people's daily lives.

I can point you to a few tens of thousands of people who would beg to differ about its relevant to daily life.

 

[Tumah]

The tradition is that Kabbalah was carried over from the 2nd Temple Period, and most groups may use it, but some more than others. The chasidim especially tend to emphasize this.

Who's tradition? Sefer Yetzirah is traditionally attributed to Abraham. And Sefer Raziel to Adam. That's at least 3 years before the Second Temple was built. Possibly even more than three years.

Actually I'm not sure whether Chassidim or Sefardim emphasize kabballah more.

 

[Levite]

- What do you mean? Can you tell more detailed about this? Can you tell me a little more about this? For example: Does every jude have more or less contact with the kabbalah? Is the kabbalah an actual book, or an philosophy? Who have wrote it? Why is it so popular with judes?

Kabbalah is the collective name we give to a number of related systems of Jewish mysticism. All of these schools of mystical thought have multiple books-- sometimes very many books-- associated with them, and usually have subgenres and sub-schools of thought within them.

While traditionally certain works of Kabbalah were ascribed to great figures of the past-- Adam or Abraham or Solomon or suchlike-- modern scholarship confirms that the majority of the Kabbalah studied today dates from the medieval period and just afterward, mostly from the eighth or ninth century CE to the sixteenth century, though there are extant works of Kabbalah from earlier than that, and mystical references abound in the Talmud. Likewise, there are a couple of significant works of Kabbalah from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, but the greatest works of Kabbalah are medieval and sixteenth century.

Initially, our mysticism was fairly esoteric. In later times, like say, by the medieval period, it began to be more widely known amongst our scholars and among well-educated people. When the movement of Chasidism arose in the Eighteenth century, one of the things it did was to make mystical teaching more accessible to common people. Again today, with the advent of the Jewish Renewal quasi-movement, there is beginning to be a push toward making mystical teaching more accessible to common people, including Jews lacking in traditional textual learning and Hebrew/Aramaic skills.

That said, Kabbalah remains relatively esoteric in its original textual forms outside the Orthodox world, since non-Orthodox Jews tend to be less Jewishly educated than Orthodox Jews, and to have less skill with Hebrew. There certainly are some non-Orthodox Jews who study Kabbalah seriously, in the original textual forms-- myself included-- but we are relatively few in the non-Orthodox world, as opposed to many in the Orthodox world who learn at least a little Kabbalah, or teachings influenced by Kabbalah.

As to why the Jews who study Kabbalah find it compelling, that is a more difficult question to answer. In part, it probably depends on the school of Kabbalistic thought they prefer, and the works they study most intensely, since different schools of Kabbalistic thought tend to have different agenda, and the works within those schools of thought all the more so.

In general, the "purpose" of Kabbalah (if we can generalize and oversimplify enough to say one exists) is to get a better understanding of God, the universe He created, how everything functions, and how we can use such knowledge to become more spiritually aware, more effective in our observance of the commandments and our understanding of Torah, and more effectively contribute to making the world a better place.

 

[metis]

Who's tradition? Sefer Yetzirah is traditionally attributed to Abraham. And Sefer Raziel to Adam. That's at least 3 years before the Second Temple was built. Possibly even more than three years.

Actually I'm not sure whether Chassidim or Sefardim emphasize kabballah more.

I'll defer to your understanding but I did get it from a source that I had looked up. If you're interested, I can try and see if I can find it again, but that'll have to probably have to be tomorrow 'cause I'm leaving fairly soon for the day.

 

[Tumah]

I'll defer to your understanding but I did get it from a source that I had looked up. If you're interested, I can try and see if I can find it again, but that'll have to probably have to be tomorrow 'cause I'm leaving fairly soon for the day.

I only commenting because you mentioned "tradition". Maybe you meant from the academic perspective?

 

[metis]

I only commenting because you mentioned "tradition". Maybe you meant from the academic perspective?

I'll see if I can find it, but I'm not going out on a limb thinking that it necessarily is correct since I don't know how accurate even the source is.

 

[Tumah]

I'll see if I can find it, but I'm not going out on a limb thinking that it necessarily is correct since I don't know how accurate even the source is.

Its not really important.

 

[metis]

Its not really important.

Ya, but now my curiosity has been provoked.

 

[Tumah]

Ya, but now my curiosity has been provoked.

provoked or evoked?

 

[metis]

provoked or evoked?

Both.

I could not find the text I was looking for, and I know this is a a terrible substitute, but I'll post it anyway:

Pre-Kabbalistic schools

The mystical methods and doctrines of Hekhalot (Heavenly "Chambers") and Merkabah (Divine "Chariot") texts, named by modern scholars from these repeated motifs, lasted from the 1st century BCE through to the 10th century, before giving way to the documented manuscript emergence of Kabbalah. Initiates were said to "descend the chariot", possibly a reference to internal introspection on the Heavenly journey through the spiritual realms. The ultimate aim was to arrive before the transcendent awe, rather than nearness, of the Divine. From the 8th to 11th centuries, the Hekhalot texts, and the proto-Kabbalistic early Sefer Yetzirah ("Book of Creation") made their way into European Jewish circles. -- Kabbalah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anyhow, just disregard what I had originally posted.

 

[Akivah]

- What would you say are the different characteristics between these unlike forms?

Judaism 101: Movements of Judaism The three modern movements of Judaism are described at the bottom of this link.

Can you tell me a little more about this? For example: Does every jude have more or less contact with the kabbalah? Is the kabbalah an actual book, or an philosophy? Who have wrote it? Why is it so popular with judes?

Levite gave a decent answer on #9 reply. The Kabbalah is a book which is esoteric and requires great learning to be able to comprehend it. It is like at the doctorate level. Most Jews stick to the high school level, the Torah. Note that there are many books of Judaism. These include works such as the Torah, Talmud, Targum, Mishnah, Tosefta, Midrashic literature, Pirkei Avot, Mishneh Torah, Shulchan Aruch, Musar, and the Kabbalah. All of these are studied and are popular with Jews.

 

[Tumah]

Levite gave a decent answer on #9 reply. The Kabbalah is a book which is esoteric and requires great learning to be able to comprehend it. It is like at the doctorate level. Most Jews stick to the high school level, the Torah. Note that there are many books of Judaism. These include works such as the Torah, Talmud, Targum, Mishnah, Tosefta, Midrashic literature, Pirkei Avot, Mishneh Torah, Shulchan Aruch, Musar, and the Kabbalah. All of these are studied and are popular with Jews.

Just for the sake of clarity:

The kabballah is not a book. There are numerous books on the subject of kabballah.
While it may have been its own book at one time, Its been many years since any of the Targum have been printed on their own and not along with the Torah.
Pirkei Avot is one of the tractates of Mishnah.

 

[RabbiO]

1) Judaism 101: Movements of Judaism The three modern movements of Judaism are described at the bottom of this link.

2) Levite gave a decent answer on #9 reply. The Kabbalah is a book.....

1) Actually the article mentions four movements - Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist. Even at that the article is incomplete as it does not mention the Humanistic movement nor does it mention Renewal, which though it would argue that it is not, in fact, a movement it is, or is well on the way of becoming one.

2) As Levite pointed out Kabbalah is not a book. It is rather the blanket term for the various strands of Jewish mysticism from which have come many texts.

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

1) Actually the article mentions four movements - Orthodox, Reform, Conservative and Reconstructionist.

Perhaps Humanistic Judaism deserves honorable mention, but it is a pretty marginal movement.