Judaism

Judaism (Hebrew: יַהֲדוּת, romanized: Yahăḏūṯ) is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant, which they believe was established between God and the Jewish people. The religion is considered one of the earliest monotheistic religions. Judaism as a religion and culture is founded upon a diverse body of texts, traditions, theologies, and worldviews. Among Judaism's core texts are the Torah (Biblical Hebrew: תּוֹרָה, lit. 'Teaching'), the Nevi'im (נְבִיאִים, 'Prophets'), and the Ketuvim (כְּתוּבִים, 'Writings'), which together compose the Hebrew Bible. In Modern Hebrew, the Hebrew Bible is often referred to as the Tanakh (תַּנַ׳׳ךּ, Tanaḵ)—an acronym of its constituent divisions—or the Miqra (מִקְרָא, Miqrāʾ, '[that which is] called out'). In addition to scripture, Jewish religious texts include the Oral Torah (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל־פֶּה, Tōrā šebbəʿal-pe, 'Torah by the mouth'), comprising the Mishnah, Talmud, Tosefta, and Jewish legal Midrashim (מִדְרָשִׁים, 'Studies' or 'Expositions'); Halakha (הֲלָכָה, 'the Way'), or Jewish law; Aggadah (אָגָּדָה, 'Narrative'); and responsa. The Hebrew word Torah specifically refers to the Five Books of Moses, but it can also be used as a general term for the entire body of rabbinic literature and any teachings based on those texts, and encompasses a variety of interpretations. Judaism's texts, traditions, and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam. By way of its relationship to Christianity, the dominant religion in the West, Judaism has had an indirect, yet significant role in the development of Western culture. There are a variety of Jewish religious movements, most of which emerged from Rabbinic Judaism, which holds that God revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in both the Written Torah (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב, Tōrā šebbīḵṯāv) and Oral Torah. Historically,...