How to learn about Judaism

Many people have converted to Judaism. Some have noted that at first it is hard for non-Jews to learn about Judaism. It takes time to put ideas about Jesus or Mohammed aside, and study Jewish sources on their own terms, but for those who want to do this, it can be done.

We might start here – Are Jews a people, religion, or ethnic group?

We’re not just people who share a common religion.

What do Jews believe about the Hebrew Bible?

A great book on this is “Biblical Literacy: The Most Important People, Events, and Ideas of the Hebrew Bible” by Joseph Telushkin.

What does it mean for a Jew to believe in God? How can we use words to describe God?

What is God?

How does one live as a Jewish person? What is “halakhah?”

Best translated as “the way,” or “the path,” halakhah often is translated as “Jewish law,” and refers to the Jewish way of doing and living.

What is revelation?

Judaism affirms that the Bible is, in some way, the product of divine revelation. But what does revelation mean? How can God “speak” to people? Here is an overview of Jewish responses.

Why study Judaism’s oral law? Isn’t the Bible enough?

Jews recognize that our Bible wasn’t written in a vacuum. It was written by a certain people, in a particular time and place. Both rabbis and historians agree that best way to understand a community’s beliefs is to read their scripture through the lens of that culture’s oral law.

An oral law is self-evident: many terms in the Bible are undefined; it clearly assumes that the reader already has this information, even for the most common of activities. This is why in order to understand Judaism, one must read it through the lens of Judaism’s oral law:

Judaism’s oral law

Introduction to the Mishnah

Tradition and change in rabbinic literature

What is Jewish theology – what are the ways in which we believe?

Theology is what we believe about ourselves, God, and our place in this universe. It is a systematic way of looking at the world religiously.

Conversion to Judaism –

What is conversion to Judaism?

Can you get an online conversion to Judaism?

Am I half Jewish?

____________________________

While you’re here, join our Facebook havurah, Coffeehouse Torah Talk or read our articles on Jewish ethics,  HalakhahholidaysKashrut (keeping kosher) , Lifecycle eventsMishnah and Talmud studybeliefs in JudaismTefila (prayer)Torah studyTanakh (bible)fighting antisemitism, and Zionism.

Kol Aleph Jewish Library - Copy

Leave a comment