Orthodox Judaism

Orthodox Judaism is the stream of Judaism which adheres to a relatively strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics first canonized in the Talmud ("The Oral Law") and later codified in the Shulkhan Arukh ("Code of Jewish Law"). It is governed by these works and all the Rabbinical commentary and further codification of them written throughout the last millennium. The role of Rabbi in Orthodox Judaism is to interpret and apply classical Rabbinical rulings and logic to any given question or situation.

Beliefs

See main article: Jewish principles of faith.

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Orthodox Judaism is composed of different groups with intersecting beliefs, practices and theologies, and in their broad patterns, the Orthodox movements are very similar.

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Orthodoxy, collectively, considers itself the only true heir to the Jewish tradition; most of it considers all other Jewish movements to be unacceptable deviations from tradition. Most Orthodox groups characterize non-Orthodox forms of Judaism as heresy; see Torah Judaism.

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Within orthodoxy, the various groups maintain significant social differences, and differences in understanding halakha due to their varying "attitudes" concerning (a) the role of women in Judaism, (b) relations with non-Orthodox Jews, (c) attitudes toward modern culture and modern scholarship, and (d) how to relate to the State of Israel and Zionism.

Related Topics:
Halakha - Israel - Zionism

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