Judaism - Prophecy, Cult, Reform

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border-right-sm border-left-sm open"> <div class="drawer d-flex flex-column open"> <div class="left-rail-section-content"> <div class="topic-left-rail-header text-truncate bg-gray-50 position-relative text-right d-flex align-items-center"> <div class="tlr-title px-20 py-15 text-left"> <em class="material-icons text-gray-400 d-lg-none" data-icon="toc"></em> <a class="font-serif font-weight-bold text-black link-blue" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Judaism">Judaism</a> </div> <button aria-label="Close" class="js-sections-close-button btn-link btn-sm btn d-lg-none position-absolute top-0 p-10 right-0" > <em class="material-icons font-26" data-icon="close"></em> </button> </div> <div class="section-content pl-10 pr-20 pl-sm-50 pr-sm-60 pl-lg-5 pr-lg-10 pt-10 pt-lg-0 bg-gray-50 clear-catfish-ad"> <div class="toc mb-20"> <div class="font-serif font-14 font-weight-bold mx-15 mb-15 mt-20"> Table of Contents </div> <ul class="list-unstyled my-0" data-level="h1"><li data-target="#ref1"><div class="pl-25"><a class="link-gray-900 w-100" href="/topic/Judaism">Introduction</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"></div></li><li data-target="#ref35164"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism#ref35164">The history of Judaism</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35165"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism#ref35165">General observations</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35166"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism#ref35166">Nature and characteristics</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35167"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism#ref35167">Periodization</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35168"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Biblical-Judaism-20th-4th-century-bce">Biblical Judaism (20th–4th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35169"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Biblical-Judaism-20th-4th-century-bce#ref35169">The ancient Middle Eastern setting</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35170"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Biblical-Judaism-20th-4th-century-bce#ref35170">The pre-Mosaic period: the religion of the patriarchs</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35171" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Biblical-Judaism-20th-4th-century-bce#ref35171">The Mosaic period: foundations of the Israelite religion</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35172"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Biblical-Judaism-20th-4th-century-bce#ref35172">The Egyptian sojourn</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35173"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Mosaic-religion">Mosaic religion</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35174"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Mosaic-religion#ref35174">The period of the conquest and settlement of Canaan</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35175" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Mosaic-religion#ref35175">The period of the united monarchy</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35176"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Mosaic-religion#ref35176">The religious and political problem</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35177"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Davidic-monarchy">The Davidic monarchy</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35178"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Davidic-monarchy#ref35178">The period of the divided kingdom</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35179" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-period-of-classical-prophecy-and-cult-reform">The period of classical prophecy and cult reform</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35180"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-period-of-classical-prophecy-and-cult-reform#ref35180">The emergence of the literary prophets</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35181"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-period-of-classical-prophecy-and-cult-reform#ref35181">Prophecy in the southern kingdom</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35182"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-period-of-classical-prophecy-and-cult-reform#ref35182">Reforms in the southern kingdom</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35183"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Babylonian-Exile">The Babylonian Exile</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35184"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Babylonian-Exile#ref35184">The period of the restoration</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35185"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Hellenistic-Judaism-4th-century-bce-2nd-century-ce">Hellenistic Judaism (4th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>–2nd century <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span>)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35186" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Hellenistic-Judaism-4th-century-bce-2nd-century-ce#ref35186">The Greek period (332–63 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35187"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Hellenistic-Judaism-4th-century-bce-2nd-century-ce#ref35187">Hellenism and Judaism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35188"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Hellenistic-Judaism-4th-century-bce-2nd-century-ce#ref35188">Social, political, and religious divisions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35189"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Religious-rites-and-customs-in-Palestine-the-Temple-and-the-synagogues">Religious rites and customs in Palestine: the Temple and the synagogues</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35190"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Religious-rites-and-customs-in-Palestine-the-Temple-and-the-synagogues#ref35190">Religious and cultural life in the Diaspora</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35191"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Religious-rites-and-customs-in-Palestine-the-Temple-and-the-synagogues#ref35191">Egyptian Jewish literature</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35192"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Religious-rites-and-customs-in-Palestine-the-Temple-and-the-synagogues#ref35192">Palestinian literature</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35193" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Roman-period-63-bce-135-ce">The Roman period (63 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>–135 <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span>)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35194"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Roman-period-63-bce-135-ce#ref35194">New parties and sects</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35195"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Roman-period-63-bce-135-ce#ref35195">Origin of Christianity: the early Christians and the Jewish community</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35196"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Roman-period-63-bce-135-ce#ref35196">Judaism under Roman rule</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35197"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Rabbinic-Judaism-2nd-18th-century">Rabbinic Judaism (2nd–18th century)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35198" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Rabbinic-Judaism-2nd-18th-century#ref35198">The age of the <em>tannaim</em> (135–c. 200)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35199"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Rabbinic-Judaism-2nd-18th-century#ref35199">The role of the rabbis</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35200"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Rabbinic-Judaism-2nd-18th-century#ref35200">The making of the Mishna</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35201" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Rabbinic-Judaism-2nd-18th-century#ref35201">The age of the <em>amoraim</em>: the making of the Talmuds (3rd–6th century)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35202"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Rabbinic-Judaism-2nd-18th-century#ref35202">Palestine (c. 220–c. 400)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35203"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Babylonia-200-650">Babylonia (200–650)</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35204" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Babylonia-200-650#ref35204">The age of the <em>geonim</em> (c. 640–1038)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35205"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Babylonia-200-650#ref35205">Triumph of the Babylonian rabbinate</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35206"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Babylonia-200-650#ref35206">Anti-rabbinic reactions</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35207"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Babylonia-200-650#ref35207">The gaonate of Saʿadia ben Joseph</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35208" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Medieval-European-Judaism-950-1750">Medieval European Judaism (950–1750)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35209"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Medieval-European-Judaism-950-1750#ref35209">The two major branches</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35210"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Medieval-European-Judaism-950-1750#ref35210">Sephardic developments</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35211"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Medieval-European-Judaism-950-1750#ref35211">Ashkenazic developments</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref260811"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Marginalization-and-expulsion">Marginalization and expulsion</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35212"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Marginalization-and-expulsion#ref35212">Conflicts and new movements</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35213"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Modern-Judaism-c-1750-to-the-present">Modern Judaism (c. 1750 to the present)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35214"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Modern-Judaism-c-1750-to-the-present#ref35214">The new situation</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35215" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Modern-Judaism-c-1750-to-the-present#ref35215">The Haskala, or Enlightenment</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35216"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Modern-Judaism-c-1750-to-the-present#ref35216">In central Europe</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35217"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Modern-Judaism-c-1750-to-the-present#ref35217">In eastern Europe</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35218"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Religious-reform-movements">Religious reform movements</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35219" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Religious-reform-movements#ref35219">Orthodox developments</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35220"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Religious-reform-movements#ref35220">In western and central Europe</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35221"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Religious-reform-movements#ref35221">In eastern Europe</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35222"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Religious-reform-movements#ref35222">Developments in scholarship</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35223"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-Christian-relations">Jewish-Christian relations</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35224"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-Christian-relations#ref35224">Zionism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35225"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-Christian-relations#ref35225">American Judaism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35226"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-Christian-relations#ref35226">Judaism in other lands</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35227"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-Christian-relations#ref35227">Contemporary Judaism</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></li><li data-target="#ref35228"><div class="d-flex align-items-center"><button class="h1-link-drawer-button btn btn-xs btn-circle d-flex rounded" type="button" aria-label="Toggle Heading"><em class="material-icons font-18" data-icon="keyboard_arrow_right"></em></button><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Judaic-tradition">The Judaic tradition</a></div><div class="ml-40 toc-drawer sub-toc-drawer"><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35229"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Judaic-tradition#ref35229">The literature of Judaism</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35230"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Judaic-tradition#ref35230">General considerations</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35231" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Judaic-tradition#ref35231">Sources and scope of the Torah</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35232"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Judaic-tradition#ref35232">Prophecy and religious experience</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35233"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Judaic-tradition#ref35233">Modern views of Torah</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35234"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-beliefs-and-doctrines">Basic beliefs and doctrines</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35235" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-beliefs-and-doctrines#ref35235">God</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35236"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-beliefs-and-doctrines#ref35236">Unity and uniqueness</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35237"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-beliefs-and-doctrines#ref35237">Creativity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35238"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-beliefs-and-doctrines#ref35238">Activity in the world</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35239"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-beliefs-and-doctrines#ref35239">Otherness and nearness</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35240"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-beliefs-and-doctrines#ref35240">Modern views of God</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35241" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Israel-the-Jewish-people">Israel (the Jewish people)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35242"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Israel-the-Jewish-people#ref35242">Choice and covenant</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35243"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Israel-the-Jewish-people#ref35243">Israel and the nations</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35244"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Israel-the-Jewish-people#ref35244">The people and the land</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35245"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Israel-the-Jewish-people#ref35245">Modern views of the people Israel</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35246" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Humanity">Humanity</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35247"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Humanity#ref35247">The image of God</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35248"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Humanity#ref35248">The earthly-spiritual creature</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35249"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Humanity#ref35249">The ethically bound creature</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35250"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Humanity#ref35250">Medieval and modern views of man</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35251" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ethics-and-society">Ethics and society</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35252"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ethics-and-society#ref35252">The ethical emphasis of Judaism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35253"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ethics-and-society#ref35253">Interpenetration of communal and individual ethics</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35254"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ethics-and-society#ref35254">The key moral virtues</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35255"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ethics-and-society#ref35255">The relation to non-Jewish communities and cultures</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35256"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ethics-and-society#ref35256">The formulation of Jewish ethical doctrines</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35257" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ethics-and-society#ref35257">The universe</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35258"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ethics-and-society#ref35258">Creation and Providence: God’s world</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35259"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Humanitys-place-in-the-universe">Humanity’s place in the universe</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35260"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Humanitys-place-in-the-universe#ref35260">Intermediary beings: angels and demons</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35261" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Humanitys-place-in-the-universe#ref35261">Eschatology</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35262"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Humanitys-place-in-the-universe#ref35262">The future age of humankind and the world</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35263"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Humanitys-place-in-the-universe#ref35263">The king-messiah and his reign</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35264"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Humanitys-place-in-the-universe#ref35264">Secularization of messianism</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35265"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-practices-and-institutions">Basic practices and institutions</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35266"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-practices-and-institutions#ref35266">The hallowing of everyday existence</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35267"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-practices-and-institutions#ref35267">The traditional pattern of individual and familial practices</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35268"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-practices-and-institutions#ref35268">The traditional pattern of synagogue practices</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35269"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Basic-practices-and-institutions#ref35269">Ceremonies marking the individual life cycles</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35270"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Holy-places-the-land-of-Israel-and-Jerusalem">Holy places: the land of Israel and Jerusalem</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35271"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Holy-places-the-land-of-Israel-and-Jerusalem#ref35271">The sacred language: Hebrew and the vernacular tongues</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35272" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Holy-places-the-land-of-Israel-and-Jerusalem#ref35272">The rabbinate</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35273"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Holy-places-the-land-of-Israel-and-Jerusalem#ref35273">Legal, judicial, and congregational roles</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35274"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Holy-places-the-land-of-Israel-and-Jerusalem#ref35274">Chief rabbinates</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35275"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Holy-places-the-land-of-Israel-and-Jerusalem#ref35275">General councils or conferences</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35276"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Holy-places-the-land-of-Israel-and-Jerusalem#ref35276">Modern variations</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref260812"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Jewish-religious-year">The Jewish religious year</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref260813"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Jewish-religious-year#ref260813">The cycle of the religious year</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref260814" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Jewish-religious-year#ref260814">The Jewish calendar</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref260815"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Jewish-religious-year#ref260815">Lunisolar structure</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref260816"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Jewish-religious-year#ref260816">Months and notable days</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref260817"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Jewish-religious-year#ref260817">Origin and development</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref260818" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Sabbath">The Sabbath</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref260819"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Sabbath#ref260819">Importance</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref260820"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Sabbath#ref260820">Observances</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref260821" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Sabbath#ref260821">The Jewish holidays</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref260822"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Sabbath#ref260822">Pilgrim Festivals</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref260823"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ten-Days-of-Penitence">Ten Days of Penitence</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref260824"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ten-Days-of-Penitence#ref260824">Minor festivals: Hanukkah and Purim</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref260825"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ten-Days-of-Penitence#ref260825">The five fasts</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref260826"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ten-Days-of-Penitence#ref260826">The lesser holidays</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref260827"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Ten-Days-of-Penitence#ref260827">The situation today</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35277"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Art-and-iconography">Art and iconography</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35278"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Art-and-iconography#ref35278">The anti-iconic principle and its modifications</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35279"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Art-and-iconography#ref35279">Ceremonial objects and symbols</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35280"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Art-and-iconography#ref35280">Architecture</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35281"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Art-and-iconography#ref35281">Paintings and illustrations</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35282"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Art-and-iconography#ref35282">Music</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35283"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Art-and-iconography#ref35283">Literature</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35284"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-philosophy">Jewish philosophy</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35285" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-philosophy#ref35285">Pre-Hellenistic and Hellenistic thought</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35286"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-philosophy#ref35286">Bible and Apocrypha</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35287"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-philosophy#ref35287">Philo Judaeus</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35288"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-philosophy#ref35288">Other ancient sources</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35289" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-philosophy#ref35289">Medieval philosophy</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35290"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-philosophy#ref35290">Jewish <em>kalām</em></a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35291"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-philosophy#ref35291">Saʿadia ben Joseph</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35292"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-philosophy#ref35292">The Karaites</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35293"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-philosophy#ref35293">Jewish Neoplatonism</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35294"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-philosophy#ref35294">Isaac Israeli</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35295"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Solomon-ibn-Gabirol">Solomon ibn Gabirol</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35296"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Solomon-ibn-Gabirol#ref35296">Judah ha-Levi</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35297"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Solomon-ibn-Gabirol#ref35297">Other Jewish thinkers, c. 1050–c. 1150</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35298"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Solomon-ibn-Gabirol#ref35298">Jewish Aristotelianism</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35299"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Solomon-ibn-Gabirol#ref35299">Abraham ibn Daud</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35300"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Maimonides">Maimonides</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35301"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Maimonides#ref35301">Averroists</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35302"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Maimonides#ref35302">Gersonides</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35303"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Hasdai-Crescas">Ḥasdai Crescas</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35304"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Hasdai-Crescas#ref35304">Joseph Albo</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35305" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Hasdai-Crescas#ref35305">Modern philosophy</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35306"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Hasdai-Crescas#ref35306">The Iberian-Dutch philosophers</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35307"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Hasdai-Crescas#ref35307">Uriel Acosta</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35308"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Benedict-de-Spinoza">Benedict de Spinoza</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35309"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Benedict-de-Spinoza#ref35309">German philosophers</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35310"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Benedict-de-Spinoza#ref35310">Moses Mendelssohn</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35311"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Benedict-de-Spinoza#ref35311">Solomon Formstecher</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35312"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Samuel-Hirsch">Samuel Hirsch</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35313"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Samuel-Hirsch#ref35313">Nachman Krochmal</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35314"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Samuel-Hirsch#ref35314">Solomon Steinheim</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35315"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Samuel-Hirsch#ref35315">Hermann Cohen</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35316"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Samuel-Hirsch#ref35316">Franz Rosenzweig</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35317"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Samuel-Hirsch#ref35317">Martin Buber</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref260828"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Samuel-Hirsch#ref260828">Emmanuel Lévinas</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35318"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-mysticism">Jewish mysticism</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35319" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-mysticism#ref35319">Nature and characteristics</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35320"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-mysticism#ref35320">The Judaic context</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35321"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-mysticism#ref35321">Three types of Jewish mysticism</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35322" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-mysticism#ref35322">Main lines of development</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35323"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Jewish-mysticism#ref35323">Early stages to the 6th century <span class="text-smallcaps">ce</span></a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35324"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Sefer-yetzira"><em>Sefer yetzira</em></a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35325"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Sefer-yetzira#ref35325">The Arabic-Islamic influence (7th–13th century)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35326"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Sefer-yetzira#ref35326">The making of Kabbala (c. 1150–1250)</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35327"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Sefer-yetzira#ref35327"><em>Sefer ha-bahir</em></a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35328"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Sefer-yetzira#ref35328">School of Isaac the Blind</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35329"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Sefer-yetzira#ref35329">The 10 <em>sefirot</em></a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35330"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/School-of-Gerona-Catalonia">School of Gerona (Catalonia)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35331"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/School-of-Gerona-Catalonia#ref35331"><em>Sefer ha-temuna</em></a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35332"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/School-of-Gerona-Catalonia#ref35332">Medieval German (Ashkenazic) Hasidism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35333"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/School-of-Gerona-Catalonia#ref35333">The making of the <em>Zohar</em> (c. 1260–1492)</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35334"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Lurianic-Kabbala">The Lurianic Kabbala</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35335"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Lurianic-Kabbala#ref35335">Shabbetaianism</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35336"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-Lurianic-Kabbala#ref35336">Modern Hasidism</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35337"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Modern-Jewish-mysticism">Modern Jewish mysticism</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35338"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Modern-Jewish-mysticism#ref35338">Jewish myth and legend</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35339"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Modern-Jewish-mysticism#ref35339">Significance and characteristics</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35340" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Modern-Jewish-mysticism#ref35340">Sources and development</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35341"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Modern-Jewish-mysticism#ref35341">Myth and legend in the Bible</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35342"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myths">Myths</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35343"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myths#ref35343">Legends and other tales</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35344"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myths#ref35344">Contemporary interpretations</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35345"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myths#ref35345">Myth and legend in the Persian period</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35346"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-Hellenistic-period">Myth and legend in the Hellenistic period</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35347"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-Hellenistic-period#ref35347">Historiated Bibles and legendary histories</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35348"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-Hellenistic-period#ref35348">Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35349"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-Hellenistic-period#ref35349">Myth and legend in the Talmud and Midrash</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35350"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-Hellenistic-period#ref35350">Midrash and Haggada</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35351"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-Hellenistic-period#ref35351">Fables and animal stories</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35352"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-Hellenistic-period#ref35352">Contribution of Haggada to Christian and Islamic legends</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35353"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-medieval-period">Myth and legend in the medieval period</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35354"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-medieval-period#ref35354">Jewish contributions to diffusion of folktales</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35355"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-medieval-period#ref35355">Hebrew versions of medieval romances</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35356"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-medieval-period#ref35356">Jewish contributions to Christian and Islamic tales</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35357"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-medieval-period#ref35357">Major medieval Hebrew collections</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35358"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-medieval-period#ref35358">Medieval legendary histories and Haggadic compendiums</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35360"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-modern-period">Myth and legend in the modern period</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35361"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-modern-period#ref35361">Kabbalistic tales</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35362"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-modern-period#ref35362">Judeo-German (Yiddish) tales</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35363"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-modern-period#ref35363">Judeo-Persian and Judeo-Spanish (Ladino) tales</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35364"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-modern-period#ref35364">Hasidic tales</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35365"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-modern-period#ref35365">Droll stories</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h5"><li data-target="#ref35366"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Myth-and-legend-in-the-modern-period#ref35366">Modern Israeli folktales</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h2"><li data-target="#ref35367"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Judaism-in-world-perspective">Judaism in world perspective</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35368" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Judaism-in-world-perspective#ref35368">Relation with non-Judaic religions</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35369"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Judaism-in-world-perspective#ref35369">Exclusivist and universalist emphases</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35370"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Judaism-in-world-perspective#ref35370">Relation to Christianity</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35371"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Judaism-in-world-perspective#ref35371">Relation to Islam</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35372"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/Judaism-in-world-perspective#ref35372">Relations with other religions</a></li></ul></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h3"><li data-target="#ref35373" class="has-children"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-role-of-Judaism-in-Western-culture-and-civilization">The role of Judaism in Western culture and civilization</a><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35374"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-role-of-Judaism-in-Western-culture-and-civilization#ref35374">Its historic role</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35375"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-role-of-Judaism-in-Western-culture-and-civilization#ref35375">Its present role</a></li></ul><ul class="list-unstyled" data-level="h4"><li data-target="#ref35376"><a class="w-100 link-gray-900" href="/topic/Judaism/The-role-of-Judaism-in-Western-culture-and-civilization#ref35376">Future prospects</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul></div></li></ul> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Judaism/additional-info">References & Edit History</a> <a class="toc-extra-link link-gray-900" href="/facts/Judaism">Related Topics</a> </div> <div class="tlr-media-slider pb-10 mb-30"> <a 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Adjunct Professor of Judaic Studies, University of Arizona, Tucson. Author of <i>Listening to the...</i></div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor text-decoration-underline"> Lou Hackett Silberman</span>, <div class="editor-popover popover p-0"> <a class="d-block p-20 gtm-byline font-12 byline-contributor" href="/contributor/Arthur-Hertzberg/1308" > <div class="editor-title font-16 font-weight-bold">Arthur Hertzberg</div> <div class="editor-description font-12 font-serif mt-5 clamp-description text-black">Emeritus Professor of Religion, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. 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They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors.</div> </a> <div data-popper-arrow></div> </div> <span class="btn btn-link editor-link p-0 qa-byline-link font-12 "> The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica</span></div> <div class="last-updated font-12 font-serif"> <span class="text-gray-700"> Last Updated: <time datetime="2024-11-27T00:00:00CST" >Nov 27, 2024</time> •</span> <a class="byline-edit-history" href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Judaism/additional-info#history" rel="nofollow">Article History</a> </div></div> </div> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm mobile-toc-button gtm-mobile-toc-inline-button d-none d-sm-block js-sections-inline-button module-spacing btn d-lg-none"> <em class="material-icons mr-5 ml-n10 my-n5 md-icon" data-icon="toc"></em> Table of Contents </button> <div class="d-flex d-sm-none flex-row"> <button class="d-flex d-lg-none btn btn-outline-blue border rounded-sm shadow-sm 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See all related content </a> </div> </div> </div> </div><div class="bg-gray-50 p-15 rounded module-spacing recent-news d-flex flex-column float-false"> <div> <h2 class="font-weight-bold font-14 m-0 d-inline"> News <span class="text-gray-600">•</span> </h2> <div class="recent-news-item first-recent-news-item d-inline"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-830938" rel="nofollow">'Jews kill babies': Chabad facilities in Melbourne targeted by vandalism</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 26, 2024, 7:44 PM ET (Jerusalem Post) <button class="btn btn-link d-inline p-0 font-12 js-toggle-recent-news"> <span class="text-gray-500">...</span><span>(Show more)</span> </button> </span> </div> </div> <div class="rest-of-recent-news-items"> <div class="recent-news-item mt-5"> <a class="font-14 gtm-ap-news-link" href="/news/307197/52b74577982b34ce2607b693bd51cae7" rel="nofollow">Texas education board approves optional Bible-infused curriculum for elementary schools</a> <span class="font-14 text-gray-600"> <span>•</span> Nov. 22, 2024, 5:39 PM ET (AP) </span> </div> <button class="js-toggle-recent-news d-flex btn btn-unstyled font-14 pr-10 rounded-sm mt-10" aria-label="Toggle additional news items"> Show less <em class="material-icons" data-icon="expand_less"></em> </button> </div> </div><span class="marker before-article"></span><section data-level="3" id="ref35179">  <section data-level="4" id="ref35180"> <h2 class="h4">The emergence of the literary prophets</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD1 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">By the mid-8th century, one hundred years of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="chronic" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/chronic" data-type="EB">chronic</a> warfare between <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Israel-Old-Testament-kingdom" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Israel</a> and <span id="ref88078"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Aram" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Aram</a> had finally ended—the Aramaeans having suffered heavy blows from the Assyrians. King <span id="ref255809"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeroboam-II" class="md-crosslink ">Jeroboam II</a> (8th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>) undertook to restore the imperial sway of the north over its neighbour, and <span id="ref255810"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jonah-biblical-figure" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jonah</a>’s prophecy that Jeroboam would extend Israel’s borders from the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Dead-Sea" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Dead Sea</a> to the entrance to Hamath (Syria) was borne out. The well-to-do expressed their relief in lavish attentions to the institutions of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/worship" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">worship</a> and to their private mansions. But the strain of the prolonged warfare showed in the polarization of society between the wealthy few who had profited from the war and the masses whom it had ravaged and impoverished. Dismay at the dissolution of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Israelite" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Israelite</a> society animated a new breed of prophets—the literary or classical prophets, the first of whom was <span id="ref255811"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Amos" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Amos</a> (8th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>), a Judahite who went north to Bethel.</p><span class="marker MOD1 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD2 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The point that <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="apostasy" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/apostasy" data-type="MW">apostasy</a> would set God against the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="community" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/community" data-type="MW">community</a> was made in early <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/prophecy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">prophecy</a>; the idea that violation of the social and <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="ethical" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ethical" data-type="MW">ethical</a> injunctions of the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="covenant" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/covenant" data-type="MW">covenant</a> would have the same result was first proclaimed by Amos. Amos almost ignored <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/idolatry" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">idolatry</a>, denouncing instead the corruption and callousness of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/oligarchy" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">oligarchy</a> and rulers. He proclaimed the religious exercises of such villains to be loathsome to God; on their account Israel would be oppressed from the entrance of Hamath to the Dead Sea and exiled from its land.</p><span class="marker MOD2 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD3 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The westward push of the Neo-Assyrian empire in the mid-8th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> soon brought Aram and Israel to their knees. In 733–732 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Assyria" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Assyria</a> took <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Gilead-ancient-region-Palestine" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Gilead</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Galilee-region-Israel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Galilee</a> from Israel and captured Aramaean <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Damascus" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Damascus</a>; in 721 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Samaria-West-Bank" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Samaria</a>, the Israelite capital, fell. The northern kingdom sought to survive through alliances with Assyria and Egypt; its kings came and went in rapid succession. The troubled society’s <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="malaise" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/malaise" data-type="MW">malaise</a> was interpreted by <span id="ref255812"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Hosea" class="md-crosslink ">Hosea</a>, a prophet of the northern kingdom (Israel), as a forgetting of God (<em>see</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Book-of-Hosea" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hosea, Book of</a>). As a result, in his view, all authority had evaporated: the king was scoffed at, priests became hypocrites, and pleasure seeking became the order of the day. The monarchy was godless, putting its trust in arms, fortifications, and alliances with great powers. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/salvation-religion" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Salvation</a>, however, lay in none of these but in repentance and reliance upon God.</p><span class="marker MOD3 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="4" id="ref35181"> <h2 class="h4">Prophecy in the southern kingdom</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD4 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Judah was subjected to such intense pressure to join an Israelite-Aramaean coalition against Assyria that its king <span id="ref255813"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ahaz" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ahaz</a> (8th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>) instead submitted to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Assyria" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Assyria</a> in return for relief. Ahaz introduced a new Aramaean-style altar in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Temple-of-Jerusalem" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Temple of Jerusalem</a> and adopted other foreign customs that are counted against him in the Book of Kings. It was at this time that <span id="ref255814"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Isaiah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Isaiah</a> prophesied in <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Jerusalem" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Jerusalem</a> (<em>see also</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Book-of-Isaiah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Isaiah, Book of</a>). At first (under<a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Uzziah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true"> Uzziah</a>, Ahaz’s prosperous grandfather) his message emphasized the social and religious corruption of Judah, stressing the new prophetic themes of indifference to God (which went hand in hand with a thriving cult) and the fateful importance of social <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="morality" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/morality" data-type="MW">morality</a>. Under Ahaz the political crisis evoked Isaiah’s appeals for trust in God, with the warning that the “hired razor from across the Euphrates” would shave Judah clean as well. Isaiah interpreted the inexorable advance of Assyria as God’s chastisement. The “rod of God’s wrath,” Assyria would be broken on Judah’s mountains because of its insolence when God was finished with his purgative work. Then the nations of the world, which had been subjugated by Assyria, would recognize the God of Israel as the lord of history. A renewed Israel would prosper under the reign of an ideal Davidic king, all humanity would flock to <span id="ref88031"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Zion-hill-Jerusalem" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Zion</a> (the hill symbolizing Jerusalem) to learn the ways of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yahweh" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">YHWH</a> and to submit to his adjudication, and universal peace would prevail (<em>see also</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/eschatology" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">eschatology</a>).</p><span class="marker MOD4 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD5 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The prophecy of <span id="ref255816"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Micah-Hebrew-prophet" class="md-crosslink ">Micah</a> (8th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>), also from Judah, was contemporary with that of Isaiah and touched on similar themes—e.g., the vision of universal peace is found in both their books (<em>see</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Book-of-Micah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Micah, Book of</a>). Unlike Isaiah, however, who believed in the inviolability of Jerusalem, Micah shocked his audience with the announcement that the wickedness of its rulers would cause Zion to become a plowed field, Jerusalem a heap of ruins, and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Temple-Mount" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Temple Mount</a> a wooded height. Moreover, from the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="precedence" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precedence" data-type="MW">precedence</a> of social morality over the cult, Micah drew the extreme conclusion that the cult had no ultimate value and that God’s requirement of humanity could be summed up as “to do <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="justice" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/justice" data-type="MW">justice</a>, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God.”</p><a class="link-module shadow-sm d-block qa-read-more-module" href="/story/which-is-correct-hanukkah-or-chanukah" data-link-module-iframe-link=""> <img loading="lazy" src="https://cdn.britannica.com/51/195651-118-D27FD8E1/Hanukkah-families-Jewish.jpg" alt="Four year old boy with grandfather and father lighting Hanukkah menorah. Photo taken on: December 21st, 2009" class="rounded-sm mr-15" width="70" /> <div class="line-clamp clamp-5"> <div class="module-title bg-navy-dark">More From Britannica</div> <div class="font-weight-semi-bold mt-5">Which Is Correct: Hanukkah or Chanukah?</div> </div> </a><span class="marker MOD5 mod-inline"></span> </section> <section data-level="4" id="ref35182"> <h2 class="h4">Reforms in the southern kingdom</h2> <span class="marker PREMOD6 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">According to the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Book-of-Jeremiah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Book of Jeremiah</a> (about 100 years later), Micah’s prophetic threat to Jerusalem had caused King <span id="ref255818"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hezekiah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Hezekiah</a> (reigned c. 715–c. 686 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>) to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="placate" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/placate" data-type="MW">placate</a> God—possibly an <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="allusion" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/allusion" data-type="MW">allusion</a> to the cult reform instituted by the king in order to cleanse Judah of various pagan practices. A heightened concern over assimilatory trends resulted in his also outlawing certain practices considered <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="legitimate" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/legitimate" data-type="MW">legitimate</a> up to his time. Thus, in addition to removing the bronze serpent that had been ascribed to <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Moses-Hebrew-prophet" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Moses</a> (and that had become a fetish), the reform did away with the local altars and stone pillars, the venerable (patriarchal) antiquity of which did not save them from the taint of imitation of Canaanite practice. Hezekiah’s reform, part of a policy of restoration that had political as well as religious <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="implications" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/implications" data-type="MW">implications</a>, was the most significant effect of the fall of the northern kingdom on official <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/religion" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">religion</a>. The outlook of the reformers is suggested by the catalog in 2 Kings, chapter 17, of religious offenses that had caused the fall; the objects of Hezekiah’s purge closely resembled them. Hezekiah’s reform is the first historical evidence for Deuteronomy’s doctrine of cult centralization. Similarities between Deuteronomy and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Book-of-Hosea" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Book of Hosea</a> lend colour to the supposition that the reform movement in Judah, which culminated a century later under King <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Josiah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Josiah</a>, was sparked by attitudes inherited from the north.</p><span class="marker MOD6 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD7 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Hezekiah was the leading figure in a western <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="coalition" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/coalition" data-type="EB">coalition</a> of states that joined with the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Babylon-ancient-city-Mesopotamia-Asia" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Babylonian</a> king <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Merodach-Baladan-II" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Merodach-Baladan II</a> in a rebellion against the Assyrian king <span id="ref255819"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Sennacherib" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Sennacherib</a> shortly after the Assyrian’s accession in 705 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>. When Sennacherib appeared in the west in 701, the rebellion collapsed; Egypt sent a force to aid the rebels but was defeated. His kingdom overwhelmed, Hezekiah offered tribute to Sennacherib; the Assyrian, however, pressed for the surrender of Jerusalem. In despair, Hezekiah turned to the prophet Isaiah for an oracle. While condemning the king’s reliance upon Egyptian help, Isaiah stood firm in his <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/faith" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">faith</a> that Jerusalem’s destiny precluded its fall into heathen hands. The king held fast, and Sennacherib, for reasons still obscure, suddenly retired from Judah and returned home. This unlooked-for deliverance of the city may have been regarded as a <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="vindication" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/vindication" data-type="MW">vindication</a> of the prophet’s faith and was doubtless an inspiration to the rebels against <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Babylonia" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Babylonia</a> a century later. For the present, although Jerusalem was intact, the country had been devastated and the kingdom turned into a vassal state of Assyria.</p><span class="marker MOD7 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD8 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">During the long and peaceful reign of <span id="ref255820"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Manasseh-Hebrew-tribe" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Manasseh</a> in the 7th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>, Judah was a submissive ally of Assyria. Manasseh’s forces served in the building and military operations of the Assyrian kings <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Esarhaddon" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Esarhaddon</a> (reigned 680–669 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>) and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ashurbanipal" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ashurbanipal</a> (reigned 668–627 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>). Judah benefitted from the increase in commerce that resulted from the political unification of the entire <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Middle-East" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Middle East</a>. The prophet <span id="ref255821"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zephaniah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Zephaniah</a> (7th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>) <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="attests" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/attests" data-type="EB">attests</a> to heavy foreign influence on the mores of Jerusalem—merchants who adopted foreign dress, cynics who lost faith in the power of YHWH to do anything, and people who worshipped the pagan host of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/heaven" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">heaven</a> on their roofs (<em>see also</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Book-of-Zephaniah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Zephaniah, Book of</a>). Manasseh’s court was the centre of such influences. The royal sanctuary became the home of a congeries of foreign gods; the sun, astral deities, and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Asherah-Semitic-goddess" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Asherah</a> (the female fertility deity) all had their cults alongside YHWH. The countryside also was provided with pagan altars and priests, alongside local YHWH altars that were revived. Presumably, at least some of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/science/blood-biochemistry" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">blood</a> that Manasseh is said to have spilled freely in Jerusalem must have belonged to YHWH’s devotees. No prophecy is dated to his long reign.</p><span class="marker MOD8 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD9 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">With the death of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ashurbanipal" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ashurbanipal</a>, Assyria’s power faded quickly. The young king of Judah, <span id="ref255822"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Josiah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Josiah</a> (reigned c. 640–609 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>), had already set in motion a vigorous movement of independence and restoration, a cardinal aspect of which was religious. First came the purge of foreign cults in Jerusalem under the aegis of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/high-priest" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">high priest</a> Hilkiah; then the countryside was cleansed. In the course of renovating the Temple, a scroll of Moses’ <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Torah" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Torah</a> (by scholarly <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="consensus" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/consensus" data-type="MW">consensus</a> an edition of Deuteronomy) was found. Anxious to <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="abide" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/abide" data-type="MW">abide</a> by its injunctions, Josiah had the local YHWH altars polluted to render them unusable and collected their priests in Jerusalem. The celebration of the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Passover" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Passover</a> that year was concentrated in the Temple, as it had not been “since the days of the judges who judged Israel,” according to 2 Kings 23:22, or since the days of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Samuel-Hebrew-prophet" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">Samuel</a>, according to 2 <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/books-of-the-Chronicles" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Chronicles</a> 35:18; both references reflect the theory of the <span id="ref255823"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/event/Deuteronomic-Reform" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Deuteronomic</a> (Josianic) reformers that the Shiloh sanctuary was the <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="precursor" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/precursor" data-type="MW">precursor</a> of the Jerusalem Temple as the sole legitimate site of worship in Israel (as demanded by Deuteronomy, chapter 12). To seal the reform, the king convoked a representative assembly and directed it to enter into a covenant with God over the newfound Torah. For the first time, the power of the state was enlisted on behalf of the ancient covenant and in obedience to a covenant document. It was a major step toward the establishment of a <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/sacred" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">sacred</a> canon.</p><span class="marker MOD9 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD10 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Josiah <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="envisaged" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/envisaged" data-type="MW">envisaged</a> the restoration of Davidic authority over the entire domain of ancient Israel, and the retreat of Assyria <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="facilitated" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/facilitated" data-type="MW">facilitated</a> his ambitions—until he became fatally embroiled in the struggle of the powers over the dying empire. His death in 609 was doubtless a setback for his religious policy as well as his political program. To be sure, the royally sponsored syncretism of Manasseh’s time was not revived, but there is evidence of a recrudescence of unofficial local altars. Whether references in the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Book-of-Jeremiah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Book of Jeremiah</a> and the <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Book-of-Ezekiel" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Book of Ezekiel</a> to child <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/sacrifice-religion" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">sacrifice</a> to YHWH reflect post-Josianic practices is uncertain. Yet there is stronger indication of private recourse to pagan cults in the worsening political situation.</p><span class="marker MOD10 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD11 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">The unsettled conditions following Assyria’s fall <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="dismayed" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/dismayed" data-type="EB">dismayed</a> the devotees of YHWH, who had not been prepared for it by prophecy. Their mood finds expression in the oracles of the prophet <span id="ref255824"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Habakkuk" class="md-crosslink ">Habakkuk</a> in the last years of the 7th century <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> (<em>see</em> <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Book-of-Habakkuk" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Habakkuk, Book of</a>). Confessing perplexity at God’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/toleration" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">toleration</a> of the success of the wicked in subjugating the righteous, the prophet affirms his faith in the coming salvation of YHWH, tarry though it might. And in the meantime, “the righteous must live in his faith.”</p><span class="marker MOD11 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD12 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Despite these expectations of salvation, the situation grew worse as Judah was caught in the Babylonian-Egyptian rivalry. Some attributed the deterioration to Manasseh’s <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/sin-religion" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">sin</a> of moving toward <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/polytheism" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">polytheism</a>. For the prophet <span id="ref255817"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jeremiah-Hebrew-prophet" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jeremiah</a> (c. 650–c. 570 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>), the Josianic era was only an interlude in Israel’s career of guilt, which went back to its origins. His pre-reform prophecies denounced Israel as a faithless wife and warned of <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="imminent" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/imminent" data-type="MW">imminent</a> <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="retribution" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retribution" data-type="MW">retribution</a> at the hands of a nameless northerner. After <span id="ref255825"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nebuchadnezzar-II" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Nebuchadrezzar II</a> (reigned c. 605–c. 561 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>) decisively defeated Egypt at <a href="https://www.britannica.com/place/Carchemish" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Carchemish</a> (605 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>), Jeremiah identified the scourge as Babylonia. King <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jehoiakim" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jehoiakim</a>’s attempt to be free of Babylonia ended with the exile of his successor, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jehoiachin" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Jehoiachin</a>, along with Judah’s elite (597 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>); yet the court of the new king, <span id="ref255827"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Zedekiah" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Zedekiah</a> (reigned 597–587/586 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span>), persisted in plotting new revolts, relying—against all experience—on Egyptian support. Jeremiah now proclaimed a scandalous doctrine of the duty of all nations, Judah included, to submit to the divinely appointed world ruler, Nebuchadrezzar, as the only hope of avoiding destruction; a term of 70 years of submission had been set to humiliate all nations beneath Babylonia. Imprisoned for demoralizing the people, Jeremiah persisted in what was viewed as his traitorous message; Judah’s leaders, on their part, persisted in their policy, confident of Egypt and the saving power of Jerusalem’s Temple to the bitter end.</p><span class="marker MOD12 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD13 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Jeremiah also had a message of comfort for his hearers. He foresaw the restoration of the entire people—north and south—under a new <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/David" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">David</a>. And since events had shown that human beings were incapable of achieving a lasting reconciliation with God on their own, he <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off mw" data-term="envisioned" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/envisioned" data-type="MW">envisioned</a> the penitent of the future being met halfway by God, who would remake their nature so that doing his will would come naturally to them. God’s new covenant with Israel would be written on their hearts, so that they should no longer need to teach each other obedience, for young and old would know YHWH.</p><span class="marker MOD13 mod-inline"></span> <span class="marker PREMOD14 mod-inline"></span><p class="topic-paragraph">Among the exiles in Babylonia, the prophet <span id="ref255828"></span><a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ezekiel-Hebrew-prophet" class="md-crosslink " data-show-preview="true">Ezekiel</a>, Jeremiah’s contemporary, was haunted by the burden of Israel’s sin. He saw the defiled Temple of Manasseh’s time as present before his eyes and described God as abandoning it and Jerusalem to their fates. Although Jeremiah offered hope through <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="submission" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/submission" data-type="EB">submission</a>, Ezekiel prophesied an inexorable, total destruction as the condition of reconciliation with God. The majesty of God was too grossly offended for any lesser satisfaction. The glory of God demanded Israel’s ruin, but the same cause required its restoration. Israel’s fall disgraced YHWH among the nations; to save his reputation, he must therefore restore Israel to its land. The dried bones of Israel must revive, so that they and all the nations should know that he was YHWH (Ezekiel 37). Ezekiel too foresaw the remaking of <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/human-nature" class="md-crosslink autoxref " data-show-preview="true">human nature</a>, but as a necessity of God’s glorification; the concatenation of Israel’s sin, <a class="md-dictionary-link md-dictionary-tt-off eb" data-term="exile" href="https://www.britannica.com/dictionary/exile" data-type="EB">exile</a>, and consequent defamation of God’s name must never be repeated. In 587/586 <span class="text-smallcaps">bce</span> the doom prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel came true. Rebellious Jerusalem was reduced by Nebuchadrezzar, the Temple was burned, and much of Judah’s population was dispersed or deported to Babylonia.</p><span class="marker MOD14 mod-inline"></span> </section> </section> <span class="marker end-of-content"></span><span class="marker after-article"></span></div> <div id="chatbot-root"></div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="ai-dialog-placeholder"></div> </div> </div> <aside class="col-md-da-320"></aside> </div> </div> </div> </div> </article></div> </div></div> </div> </main> <div id="md-footer"></div> <noscript><iframe src="//www.googletagmanager.com/ns.html?id=GTM-5W6NC8" height="0" width="0" style="display:none;visibility:hidden"></iframe></noscript> <script type="text/javascript" id="_informizely_script_tag"> var IzWidget = IzWidget || {}; (function (d) { var scriptElement = d.createElement('script'); scriptElement.type = 'text/javascript'; scriptElement.async = true; scriptElement.src = "https://insitez.blob.core.windows.net/site/f780f33e-a610-4ac2-af81-3eb184037547.js"; var node = d.getElementById('_informizely_script_tag'); node.parentNode.insertBefore(scriptElement, node); } )(document); </script>  <script> window.ap3c = window.ap3c || {}; var ap3c = window.ap3c; ap3c.cmd = ap3c.cmd || []; ap3c.cmd.push(function() { ap3c.init('ZO4siT4cLwnykPnzZWJtd3Byb2Q', 'https://engage.email.britannica.com/'); ap3c.track({v: 0}); }); ap3c.activity = function(act) { ap3c.act = (ap3c.act || []); ap3c.act.push(act); }; var s, t; s = document.createElement('script'); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.src = "https://engage.email.britannica.com/app.js"; t = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; t.parentNode.insertBefore(s, t); </script> <script class="marketing-page-info" type="application/json"> {"pageType":"Topic","templateName":"DESKTOP","pageNumber":5,"pagesTotal":45,"pageId":307197,"pageLength":2342,"initialLoad":true,"lastPageOfScroll":false} </script> <script class="marketing-content-info" type="application/json"> [] </script> <script src="https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/js/libs/jquery-3.5.0.min.js?v=3.130.14"></script> <script type="text/javascript" data-type="Init Mendel Code Splitting"> (function() { $.ajax({ dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: 'https://cdn.britannica.com/mendel-resources/3-130/dist/topic-page.js?v=3.130.14' }); })(); </script> <script class="analytics-metadata" type="application/json"> {"leg":"C","adLeg":"C","userType":"ANONYMOUS","pageType":"Topic","pageSubtype":null,"articleTemplateType":"PAGINATED","gisted":false,"pageNumber":5,"hasSummarizeButton":false,"hasAskButton":false} </script> <script type="text/javascript"> EBStat={accountId:-1,hostnameOverride:'webstats.eb.com',domain:'www.britannica.com', json:''}; </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function() { $.ajax( { dataType: 'script', cache: true, url: '//www.britannica.com/webstats/mendelstats.js?v=1' } ) .done( function() { try {writeStat(null,EBStat);} catch(err){} } ); })(); </script> <div id="bc-fixed-dialogue"></div> </body> </html>

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Judaism - Prophecy, Cult, Reform | Britannica