# Judaism A monotheistic Abrahamic religion centered on the covenantal relationship between God and the Jewish people, the Torah as divine revelation, and the historical and ethical traditions developed across more than three millennia. With roughly 15 million adherents globally, Judaism is small by adherent count but historically and politically out-sized in reach: it is the parent tradition of Christianity and Islam, the religion of the State of Israel, and a community whose engagement with right-wing politics in the contemporary US is unusually triangular — simultaneously the object of antisemitic conspiracy theory, the focus of [[Christian Zionism]]'s alliance ambitions, and increasingly visible inside US right-wing coalition politics through Orthodox Jewish communities. ## Founding and origins Judaism's foundational narrative begins with Abraham's covenant with God (traditional dating c. 2000–1800 BCE) and continues through the Exodus from Egypt under Moses (traditional 13th century BCE), the conquest and settlement of Canaan, the United Monarchy under Saul, David, and Solomon (c. 1000 BCE), the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah, exile to Babylon (586 BCE, after the destruction of the First Temple), and return under Persian patronage (538 BCE, leading to the building of the Second Temple). The Second Temple period (516 BCE — 70 CE) is foundational for the religion as it has been practiced for the past two millennia. During this period the Hebrew canon largely stabilized, multiple Jewish movements coexisted (Pharisees, Sadducees, Essenes, Zealots, early Christians), Hellenistic and Roman pressures reshaped Jewish political and religious life, and the rabbinic interpretive tradition began. The destruction of the Second Temple by Rome (70 CE) and the subsequent failure of the Bar Kokhba revolt (132–135) transformed Judaism. With the sacrificial cult ended, the rabbis (heirs of the Pharisees) developed Rabbinic Judaism — a religion centered on textual study, communal prayer, the synagogue, and the home rather than the temple. The Mishnah (codified c. 200 CE) and the two Talmuds (Jerusalem c. 400 CE, Babylonian c. 500 CE) became foundational rabbinic texts. The diasporic Jewish world that resulted — communities across the Mediterranean, the Middle East, Europe, and eventually the Americas — sustained the religion for nearly two millennia without a sovereign Jewish state. The modern period brought emancipation, Reform Judaism (early 19th century), Zionism (late 19th century), the Holocaust (1933–1945, in which roughly 6 million Jews were murdered), and the founding of the State of Israel (1948) — each profoundly reshaping Jewish religious and political life. ## Core beliefs and practices **Theological core.** Strict monotheism — one God, eternal, incorporeal, indivisible. Covenant between God and the Jewish people, beginning with Abraham and renewed at Sinai under Moses. The Torah (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible) as divine revelation; rabbinic tradition as authoritative interpretation. The "thirteen principles of faith" articulated by Maimonides (12th century) are widely-cited summary, though Judaism has historically been more practice-centered than creed-centered. **Sacred texts.** The *Tanakh* — an acronym for Torah (the five books of Moses), Nevi'im (the Prophets), and Ketuvim (the Writings). The *Mishnah* — the foundational rabbinic legal text. The *Talmud* — Mishnah plus *Gemara* (rabbinic commentary), in Babylonian (the more authoritative) and Jerusalem versions. Subsequent legal codes (Maimonides' *Mishneh Torah*, the *Shulchan Aruch*) and commentary traditions. **Practices.** Observance of *mitzvot* (commandments) — traditional count 613 — covering ritual obligations (prayer, dietary law, festival observance), ethical conduct, and civil-legal matters. Sabbath observance from Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall. Major festivals: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Passover, Shavuot, Purim. Life-cycle rituals: brit milah (circumcision), bar/bat mitzvah, marriage, mourning practices. Dietary laws (*kashrut*) governing what may be eaten and how prepared. **Halakha.** Jewish religious law — the operative framework derived from Torah and rabbinic tradition. Observance levels vary dramatically across denominations: Orthodox Judaism understands halakha as binding divine law; Conservative Judaism takes a more historical-contextual approach; Reform Judaism treats traditional halakha as instructive but not binding. **Eschatology.** Belief in a future messianic age and (in most traditional views) bodily resurrection of the dead. Specific eschatological detail is famously underdeveloped relative to Christianity; the messiah is expected to be a human figure who will gather the exiles, rebuild the Temple, and inaugurate an era of peace. Orthodox communities maintain explicit messianic expectation; Reform and Conservative Jews often interpret messianism in collective/ethical rather than personal-eschatological terms. ## Major divisions Modern Judaism is most usefully mapped along the denominational distinctions developed in the 19th–20th centuries, alongside the older Ashkenazi / Sephardi / Mizrahi ethno-cultural distinctions. Denominational entries built 2026-08-15 (Phase 4): - **[[Reform Judaism]]** — the early-19th-century German liberal movement, now the largest US Jewish denomination. Treats halakha as instructive rather than binding; pioneered egalitarian gender practice; theologically rationalist; strong social-justice orientation; the most US-politically-liberal Jewish denomination. - **[[Conservative Judaism]]** — the late-19th-century US movement positioned between Reform and Orthodox. Maintains halakha as binding while embracing historical-critical study and evolutionary halakhic adaptation. Major institutional home: the Jewish Theological Seminary. - **[[Modern Orthodox Judaism]]** — Orthodox practice combined with engagement in secular society, professional life, and modern scholarship. Politically more conservative than Reform/Conservative, but historically a US Democratic constituency until the 2010s–2020s rightward shift. - **[[Haredi Judaism]]** (often called "Ultra-Orthodox") — the strictly traditionalist umbrella; includes both Hasidic communities (developed in 18th-century Eastern Europe around charismatic rebbes — Lubavitch/Chabad, Satmar, Bobov, Belz, Ger, etc.) and Litvish/Mitnagdic communities (the yeshiva-centered intellectual Orthodox tradition originating in [[Lithuania]]). Distinctive dress, sex-segregated schooling, large families, religious-law-centered governance of community life. Concentrated in Israel, the US (Brooklyn, suburban New York, parts of New Jersey, Lakewood), London, Antwerp, and other diaspora hubs. - **Reconstructionist Judaism** — a smaller US movement founded by Mordecai Kaplan in the mid-20th century; treats Judaism as an evolving religious civilization rather than a revealed religion in the traditional sense. Cross-cutting cultural divisions: **Ashkenazi** (Northern/Eastern European descent, the majority of US Jewry), **Sephardi** (Iberian descent, dispersed after 1492), **Mizrahi** (Middle Eastern and North African Jewish communities, the majority of Israeli Jewry). ## Demographic footprint **Global:** ~15 million (Pew, 2020). The largest concentrations are in Israel (~7 million) and the United States (~6 million), with smaller communities in France, the UK, Canada, Argentina, Russia, Germany, Australia, and elsewhere. **United States:** ~2.4% of US adults (~7.5 million counting cultural-Jewish identification). Concentrated in the Northeast (especially New York metro), with significant communities in Florida, California, and other major urban areas. **Political affiliation:** US Jewry has been historically a Democratic constituency (~65–75% Democratic vote share in recent presidential elections). The Orthodox / Haredi vote has trended sharply Republican over the past decade — by 2020–2024 Orthodox communities were voting heavily for Trump, while Reform and Conservative Jews remained majority-Democratic. ## Right-wing politics tributaries Judaism's relationship to US right-wing politics is uniquely triangular and contradictory: **As theological partner — [[Christian Zionism]].** Protestant evangelical theology, particularly the dispensationalist tradition, holds that the modern State of Israel and the ingathering of Jews to the Holy Land are fulfillment of biblical prophecy. This generates substantial US evangelical political support for Israel and for US-Jewish causes more broadly — though framed within Christian eschatological terms that traditional Jewish theology does not endorse. The alliance is real and politically significant, but uneasy: many Christian Zionists hold positions on Jewish religious legitimacy or the eschatological role of Jewish conversion that Jewish partners would reject. **As object of antisemitic conspiracy theory.** The vault tracks an extensive set of antisemitic conspiracy theories (in `/Conspiracy Theories/`): [[Blood Libel]], the [[George Soros Conspiracy]], "globalist" coding as antisemitic dog-whistle, "cultural Marxism" framings, replacement-theory narratives that figure Jews as orchestrators of demographic change. These narratives circulate across multiple right-wing factions — paleoconservative, alt-right, dissident-right, white-nationalist, and increasingly mainstream MAGA — and constitute a significant ongoing political reality for US Jewish communities. **As coalition participant — the Orthodox vote.** US Orthodox Jewish communities have shifted sharply rightward in the past decade, voting overwhelmingly Republican in 2020 and 2024. The drivers include Israel-policy alignment, opposition to LGBTQ rights in religious education contexts, government-funding questions for religious schools, and the broader social-conservative agenda. Hasidic communities in particular vote as organized blocs through rabbinic political endorsements. **As object of philosemitic right-wing rhetoric.** Some right-wing figures combine Christian Zionism with explicit philosemitism, framing Jews as natural allies in civilizational defense (against Islam in particular). This co-exists, sometimes within the same political coalition, with antisemitic strains — the dissonance is rarely resolved and often productive of internal right-wing tension. **As subject of "Judeo-Christian" framing.** The term "Judeo-Christian" — popularized in mid-20th-century US discourse, particularly during the Cold War — bundles Judaism and Christianity as a single civilizational tradition opposed to communism, Islam, or secular liberalism. The framing is theologically contested (the two religions disagree on foundational questions) but politically useful as a coalition device, particularly in right-wing rhetoric. ## Connections - [[Christian Zionism]] — the framework that organizes much US evangelical political engagement with Judaism and Israel - [[Christian Eschatology]] — the eschatological substrate that places Judaism inside Christian-Zionist political theology - [[Blood Libel]] — historical antisemitic conspiracy theory with ongoing political afterlife - [[George Soros Conspiracy]] — contemporary antisemitic conspiracy theory tracked extensively in the vault - [[Theocracy]] (regime type) — the State of Israel has religious-political dimensions without being formally a theocracy; cross-link to [[Theocracy]] for the comparative framing ## See also - [[Christianity]] — the daughter religion; shared scriptural inheritance (Hebrew Bible / Old Testament) - [[Islam]] — the third Abrahamic religion; complicated triangular dynamics in Israel-Palestine and US right-wing rhetoric - [[World Religions Timeline]] — the comparative chronological spine, including the Exile, the rabbinic turn, and the 19th-century denominational split - [[Religions and Right-Wing Politics]] — the payoff MOC; Judaism is the one tradition occupying three political roles simultaneously - [[Judaism Timeline]] — the tradition's own chronological spine, from the Merneptah Stele to 2026 - [[Hasidism]] — the Hasidic movement, now its own entry rather than a section inside [[Haredi Judaism]] - [[Babylonian Exile]] · [[Destruction of the Second Temple]] · [[Talmud]] · [[Haskalah]] · [[Religious Zionism]] — the layer this page assumes