Which Two Mystical Currents Dominate Judaism?

interesting article. As a Jew I have to correct a few things. The article didn’t always match the text tho. Most of those pictured in the “conservative” section were dressed more as Orthodox. Within the Orthodox are modern Orthodox and Haredi, which those you pictured were wearing streimels are Haredi. Haredi include both Hasidic and Mishnagidim from the Litvak (Lithuanian) stream. While there are also Mizrachi that are “orthodox” but non-European.

Wow dude. Seriously, well done. I’m really impressed. I used to be a modern orthodox practicing Jew and “upgraded” about 5 years ago to a Chabad chassid. I have to say that your presentation was clear and well researched. And even after 44 years, I actually learned a lot from your article. Very well done.

Loved your style and the clarity as well as brevity of the presentation. I won’t mention the detail about how the word Chabad חב״ד is actually pronounce since several people had covered this topic. What I did want to tell you is that when you got to Humanistic Judaism my heart skipped a beat. Your description is exactly the way I celebrated my Jewishness for decades. It had no name for it, but I knew that this is what spoke to me. I am glad it now has a name in my heart and in my mind. Thank you. Keep up the good work. Dita T Palmetto Bay FL

I consider myself a Humanistic Jew. I was raised in a Christian household by my mother’s family (very far back) was Jewish. I grew up hearing stories of the Holocaust, seeing my grandmother who seemed a bit conflicted as to whether she was Christian or Jew, and eating some of the foods. I have always considered that I am sort of Jewish. I found out about this branch not that long ago. But before then I started celebrating some major holidays, reading, etc. I don’t claim to know that much, though. The thing that drew me to this is that I am a non-theist (agnostic or whatever). I have found that people in this movement have lots of different stories. And actually though maybe they won’t admit it, agnosticism and atheism are kind of common among Jews.

It was crucial to the Rebbe that non-Jews be made aware of Hashem’s requirements that He gave at Creation which bring great blessing. These seven requirements are beautifully detailed in the book, “Path of the Righteous Gentile.” These are very special Laws, and are separate from Jewish Laws. Each of these two paths are beautiful to Hashem.

Thanks for this effort and for your research. Your surprise would have been less big had you realized that Judaism is not just a religion, that it is most importantly a peoplehood, that as a member of this nation you are a Jew no matter what your specific beliefs are. (Yes, you can indeed be an atheist and a Jew.) It is The People of Israel (not limited to today’s State of Israel). (Israel = יִשְׂרָאֵל Yīsrāʾēl = “Struggled with G-d”) Judaism not only permits divergence of opinions, it actually mandates self-study, group-study and constant exchange of interpretations and opinions, a constant struggle in the pursuit of understanding the divine and leading a sacred life, of making the world a better place. In essence, Judaism can not be fairly compared with Islam and Christianity, these being purely religions, i.e. belief systems (with emphasis on “belief”) without national or ethnic basis.

A nice job of presenting diffrent kinds of judaism, but there are few incorrections. First of all some of the branches are not an official form of judaism, they are more of some subsidiary movements. You basically could divide the jewish world into three- orthodox (haredi), traditional (maosrati) and reforms and maybe conservatives (masorties jews are diffrent from the definition you brought) . Most of the groups you mentioned are branches of those main groups. Besides, there are some groups in this article which are only (or mainly) exist in the USA, there are more of branches around the world.

Well, there’s Heavy Coke syrup, then there’s Classic Coke, then Cola regular, then Cherry Cola, then Cola light, then Diet Coke, then Zero Cola, then Pepsi, then AW Root Beer, and then Cola non-brand and then keep an open mind–the possibilities they are a’changin endlessly…God is so fantastic elastic!

Good introduction to the various streams (not sects or denominations) of Judaism. A couple of additional points. One is that the term “ultra-orthodox” is considered by some Jews, especially orthodox Jews, as pejorative. Another point is that some Jews do not regard themselves as members of any stream, while others do not believe in dividing Jews into streams of Judaism. Finally, there are a few more streams of Judaism such as Karaite Judaism, in which Jews believe only in following the Written Law (Torah) but not the Oral Law (Talmud), and Nazarene Jews, who believe that Jesus was the Messiah but not Gd.

Great article! It’s very nice to see your very nice research – usually people get a lot of things wrong, but not you. Kudos! Of course, there’s space for some adjustments here and there. I’m not gonna talk about everyone of them, tho. When talking about conservative Judaism you mainly show images of Orthodox Jews. Also, despite the name “conservative”, this stream is also progressive, egalitarian and pluralistic. Together with Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism, conservative Judaism also ordinates openly gay men and women as rabbis.

I am excessively impressed… You’re a great educator… My great-grandfather was a rabbi and ironically I was raised in an orthodox tradition in Passaic Park New Jersey but my dad who had such a love for all people and always taught me that every religion you can find God and loved and so we became conservative LOL cuz there’s nothing else to do I have a severe learning disability because I am paranoid schizophrenic I made 68 the reason I said LOL as I used to do a lot of stand-up comedy in institutions of isolation and forgotten people I used to tell the joke but it was really my learning disability that my parents they sent me to yeshiva and I was taught to read and write from right to left and then they sent me the public school in between all that so that I had to learn to read and write from left to right so I tell them I’m dyslexic by religion but ultimately the only way I was ever able to learn was my dad who work 12 to 14 hours a day and still found time to 2 to tutor me on a daily basis The reason I bring this up is I learned a few things that I really didn’t know and I think you should take a bow for that because as much as everybody seems to hate social media blah blah blah it is such a blessing to live on YouTube a third of my life and learned so much and you did a great job thank you very much Avi

There is one branch more worth to mention. That branch has nothing to do with Judaism, a product of the rabbinical thought at the Academy in Yavne around year 90 AD. That branch originates directly from mosaism and is messianic by nature. Yet, it has nothing to do with trinitarian Christianity. Jews have continued to join that movement over the past centuries because its main message was unlimited, unconditional love; a mystical category that cannot be described easily during the talmudic discussions

About humanistic Judaism, it’s kind of funny when people see this as a surprising thing. I think that’s because people insist to see Judaism strictly as a religion, rather than a people. But we are, in fact, a people. Our religion is part of our civilization’s culture, it permeates various aspects of life, but we’re a people after all. Most of jews in the world are not religious or spiritual and even don’t observe any aspect of Jewish religion. Since ancient times Judaism approaches the issue of Jews who don’t believe in God and it isn’t really something new among the Jews. That said, there are those who don’t believe in God but want to keep traditions, because they’re our traditions after all; there are also religious observants who are atheists; there are spiritual Jews, which believe in God, but don’t seek for connection with God through Jewish practices. Most of Jews in Israel, for example, are secular Jews, in general non believers and non practicing. I’m sure in the U.S. is also like this, but when a Jew is not a practicing one, we can’t actually figure out that he or she is a Jewish person, again because of the fact that people want to see Judaism strictly as a religion, which is not 🙂

Your images for conservative Judaism look more like orthodox jews (you use the same image when discussing haredi). Your images for orthodox Judaism are of hasidic jews (the “ultra orthodox”) rather than modern orthodox. Except for your image of the family in front of the candles. If that was an orthodox family the man would have a beard and be wearing a kippa (yalmuke) on his head; the woman would have her head covered with a veil. Humanistic Judaism and reconstructionist are similar in that BOTH reject the more spiritual/theological aspects of Judaism and observe Judaism more culturally. One other “branch” to discuss here might be secular Judaism. Though this is basically just non-practicing jews, so not really a formal “branch”, but just a significant number of jews today (especially in the USA).

A few other, much smaller movements which are truer separate branches of Judaism (the major movements in this article all stemming from normative rabbinic Judaism) the same way that Sunni, Shia, Ibadi, etc. are separate branches of Islam: Ethiopian (disappeared with the migration of Ethiopian Jews to Israel), Karaite, Samaritan.

Reform, conservative and their offshoots and sub groups, are religions created by Jews, with many Jewish adherents, however they are not Judaism.. They are separate Jewish religions based on Judaism… What is called ‘Orthodox’ (a term invented by the reformation that occurred among Ashkenazim) is simply Judaism, and there are branches of it…

I’m human and I love learning about my fellow human family. Oh, I have many labels too, but first and foremost we are all human and all family regardless of whether one believes we are descended from a single pair of humans brought about by a grand creator, or, like me, you adhere to a more scientific perspective, we are all family. As has been said by so many in so many ways, there is more that unites us than divides us.

About the name of the conservative stream (you don’t use sect in this context): the name comes from “to conserve / to preserve”, since it’s main goal is to preserve/conserve the traditional way Jewish Law evolved, that is, discussing, reinterpreting, adapting and eventually changing certain laws or aspects of the law in order to combine observant life and modern day life. The name doesn’t express political views in anyway, it’s a religious terminology, not a political one.

“Humanistic” Judaism can also be explained by the fact that we Jews aren’t only a religion. We are a people. So there can even be atheist “Jews”. This included some of the founders of modern Israel, who were non-observant Jews such as Ben Gurion. Also, some of the categories you list – one can be more than one. For instance – Chabad is both Hasidic (Haredi) and Orthodox. Different Hasidic groups can often be differentiated (at least the men) by different types of hats. For instance, Satmar and Lubavitch, and Belz Hasidim all wear different types of hats. Different Hasidic groups are often named for the place their ancestors lived in Eastern Europe. For instance, Belz was in Galacia (Poland), Lubavitch was a town in Russia, and the Satmar were in Satu-Mar in Hungary. Also, Lubavich had a rebbe, but he had no children, so there is no new rebbe at the present time, nor is there a plan for any successor. (I attended his leviah (funeral) in Crown Heights).

Sephardic, Ethiopian, Karaite, Kabbalist, and Messianic Jews were missing (though most Orthodox do not recognize Messianics as Jews). It is amazing to me that the Orthodox will accept atheist Jews, Buddhist Jews, and even pagan Jews as Jews, but will not accept Messianics, even though the Messianics are far more aligned with them in virtue and practice.

I am also Jewish and you got it mostly right. There are a few small points where I would have said it differently, but overall an excellent piece. But there is one point that both you and a lot of Jews don’t get, as to who is practicing Judaism and who isn’t. There are 613 commandments in Torah. Many are rational, (don’t steal, don’t murder, etc). And then there are those that are beyond reason, (don’t eat pork). The differences between branches of Judaism are mostly along the commandments that are beyond reason. All the rational ones are accepted. It is how one goes about observing the commandments that are beyond reason is one of the main things that distinguish between the branches of Judaism.

This was a good article. Though there are still some groups I don’t understand fully. I hear things about the Jesuit order and the Ashkenazi’s and even Kazarian versions and I know what some people say about them, but people are often wrong and I’d like to just get a better understanding of all of it. I’ve had close friends who are orthodox, and also humanist in their beliefs, the orthodox called themselves, orthodox humanist friend. They had wasn’t Jewish religiously or ethnically, but said because of everything that happened with the holocaust he just decided to associate himself with Jewish culture and just like you said he does Jewish holidays and celebrate thousand seasons of his Jewish but not religiously just culturally and base. Is it based on sympathy because of what he said, was based in what happened during the holocaust. That always an odd to me and I figured that was just him but that’s basically what you were talking about. Also, I know some Jews follow the Torah, but not the Talmud and I’ve course I’ve heard all kinds of things about who wrote the Talmud and heard parts about them worshiping other gods when they wrote it, and something called the Jewish encyclopedia, and then about groups of Jews, that had a heavy Babylonian influence who rewrote the Talmud or updated it and I hear these generalizations, but I don’t understand the actual differences. 🤔 As a Christian, I see the Talmud is kind of relative to what we would call the old testament, and I kind of see Christians as Jews in someways.

Man, I am not sure how you did your research. I would have consulted a rabbi or another online Jewish historian, like Henry Abramson. You forgot to mention the anti-Zionist sects of Judaism like Satmar. The US has an anti-Zionist Jewish congregation in Chicago that no one attends in person, lol. The Palestinians love them. Many of these sects you mention can all be regarded as reform. I think Chabad needed more explanation as they are growing quite fast.

It is important to note that Rabbi means teacher. A rabbi has no special standing and in the US is usually hired and fired by the congregation. Hasidic jews venerate their chief rabbi for his knowledge and ability interpret the Jewish Law. The only Rabbi that had special role and authority was the Cohen Gadol, who performed special ceremonies at the Temple in Jerusalem. The Cohens were the priestly class who were direct male descendants of Aaron, Moses’ brother. An unusual aspect of Judaism is that with no temple or religious court, each Jew interprets the law in his own way

Very good. But this approach is “from the leaves.” Judaism is like a tree. There are branches, sub-branches, sub-sub-branches, etc. So, “from the trunk,” the first branch, so old and distant that it isn’t considered Judaism, are the Samaritans. These are the remnants of the Northern state of Israel, which formed after the united state (also Israel) was split in two after the death of king Solomon. Then the Northern state (Israel) was conquered by Assyria, and the Southern (Juda) — by Babylonia, forever separating the people. Samaritans attach no importance to Jerusalem. The next branch is the Ethiopian. Ethiopian Jews separated long ago, and retained all sorts of things long forgotten by other Jews. Such as animal sacrifice. They gave no idea about the Talmud. This branch is quickly dying as Ethiopian Jews in Israel are switching to more common branches. The next branch are the Karaim. They are Jews who have renounced the Talmud. The next split is between the Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews. Although “Sephardic'” really means “Spanish,* it refers to many, maybe most Jews in the world. “Ashkenazi” refers to the Jews of Northern Europe, who have migrated to the US, Canada, Australia, etc. at the end of 19th and through the 20th centuries. The main difference between them is in pronouncing Hebrew letters and words, which leads to different pronunciation of prayers. Other differences include which foods are considered kosher. Sephardic Jews might be considered Orthodox rather than ultra-Orthodox, although I am not sure Within the Ashkenazi there are the Mitnagdim and the Hasidim.

Absolutely love this! I have notes though. Just want to add something as a queer Jew to make sure there are not any anti-semitic ideas accidentally floating up. Number one you were surprised about nontheistic jews… Actually, thats the Majority! Every Israeli prime ministers except for 3 has been an athiest. We are not just a religion, we are a culture. You talked about Reconstructionist Judaism admitting the first openly gay rabbinical students… then you kind of freaked out lol, that this was a huge move. Yes… it was. But we really need to put this into context. This was not just “a big step for Judaism” as you put it. This was a big step for religion in the West period. Judaism had LGBT rabbis and LGBT marriages before ANY christian denomination did! They even were performing LGBT marriage before neo-pagan groups. The only group that did it before Reform and Renewal Judaism was the Unitarian church (which is not a strictly christian faith, though many members do identify as such, but not all) The idea that Jewish people are backwards is pretty antisemitic (you are not! The article is great, its just a pitfall of stereotypes) But first off, Jewish renewal did it first. Second off, the reform movement AND Conservative movement now universally accept gay marriage (Conservative movement will sometimes refuse to ordain the marriage if one of the partners is not Jewish and will not convert. Reform and Renewal will ordain the marriage regardless). Lastly our Talmud has recognized 6 genders for over one thousand years!

There are also Messianic Jews. Some of them are very similar to Christians in doctrines which have added many traditions over time. Even Rabbinic Judaism has added many traditions and replaced Mosaic or Sinaictic Judaism. But there are Hebrew Roots Messianics who practice the faith of Avraham, Isaac, Jacov and Jesus/Yeshua. He really was Jewish and He kept Sabbath and only clashed with religious leaders over traditions they had added to Tanakh. Correcting these deviations from Judaism as given at Sinai was His first messianic mission. Both Christianity today and Rabbinic Judaism have added to Torah and/or subtracted from it. He was most likely born in the Fall during the Feast of Tabernacles or Booths/Sukkot. The holidays Yahweh gave His people are dress rehearsals in a sort of symbolic object lesson/play to depict the 2 comings of Messiah prophesied about in Genesis 49:10-12. First the young lion, then the roaring lion. First Messiah ben Joseph, the suffering servant, then Messiah ben David, the conquering King! The 7 appointed times given by Yahweh are dress rehearsals for depicting the two comings of Messiah. The sinless lamb of God dies and is buried 1. Feast of Unleavened bread 2. Passover/Pesach As a ‘dead’ seed (of the tree of life) buried in the earth and 3 days later, rising again, bearing fruit (with other seeds)… 3. Feast of Firstfruits 50 days later, the harvest has grown. The disciples gather to celebrate harvest at the Feast of Weeks/Shavuot/Pentecost. 4. He fulfills the beginning of the New covenant by writing His LAW on believing hearts, by His Spirit.

You caould have divided Chabad into two groups. 1. Those who followed the late Rabbi Schneeson, and 2. Chabad that does not follow Schneeron. These two groups hate each other. The latter claim that those who follow Schneerson are Pagan. I am inclined to agree. Schneerson has been elevated to being a God. In Judaism there is only one God – not the Lord and Rabbi Schneerson.

A couple of thoughts on Humanistic Judaism. Whether its a true branch of judaism or not is up for Jews to decide not me. But when does one faith tradition become another? Well as an Atheist, if an Atheist started believing in a God, I’d see that as like “oh theyre no longer an atheist”. Humanism is broader than atheism. It can include non atheists so I think you can believe in Judaism and Humanism. Idk if you can be an Atheist and a member of Judaism tho and thats not up for me to decide. Theres branches of Hinduism that are atheistic, polytheistic, and monotheistic. Perhaps Judaism could operate similarly. Christianity kinda does. Trinitarian Christianity is arguably both polytheistic and monotheistic. Mormonism is polytheistic. And Unitarians exist. But at what point does Judaism go from being Judaism into being a separate faith? Messianic Jews are Christians so while they keep their ethnic and cultural identity, are they still members of Judaism?

I only thought that they’re were two different sects of the Jewish religion, no ten. I always just heard that they’re two. Jews and Orthodox Jews. I heard that one group believed that Jesus did exist and was the true Messiah and the other ones didn’t believe that Jesus was nothing more than a magician of some sorts. This was informing but didn’t really answer my question as to which ones believed that Jesus was the true, real and only Messiah and which ones didn’t. But thanks, it’s help enlightened me a bit.

Acts 17:24-31 NKJV — “God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands. “Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. “And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, “so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; “for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’ “Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising. “Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent, “because He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Thank you for this very well done summary. You missed Messianic Judaism and Karaite Judaism. True Messianic believers are Torah observant vs. Christianity that teaches YHVH’s Torah has been done away with. Karaites go only by the Tanakh (Hebrew or Old Testament scriptures). They do not bring in oral law or teach from books outside of scripture as far as we understand.

Well, unfortunately, I find this article a kind of discrimantive about Judaism. It DID NOT mention any word about Sephardic judaism, who are the majority of Jewish either in Israel or in the US. But the ignorance of Occident about Eastern cultures and religions is not new. Please refer to Orientalism of Edward Said.

If you are serious about learning about Judaism, contact your nearest synagogue (of whichever flavor appeals) and ask about taking a conversion class/program with no intention of conversion whatsoever. That’s ok with us, once you clearly provide the confidence that you’re not there to make trouble. It’s a little dismissive to “enjoy learning things about it” – it reminds me of 19thC European “Orientalists” who spent their time finding “amazing” things about Asians… not learning about them, not understanding their language or culture, not learning how they looked at the world or at their own lives, but rather being superior-feeling outsiders looking for exotic examples to say wow about. It’s trivializing. Take the time to do it for real, or leave it alone. We’re not a TV special that comes on once in while. Also your images are FREQUENTLY mismatched with the group being discussed. Seriously, you discredit much of your well-researched (but horribly mispronounced – work on that) information by showing a very different group in your article. Also you left out Sephardim, Mizrachim, and Mugrevim altogether. Very Ashkenormalizing. That’s an easy mistake in America, but an appalling mistake all the same.

You are wrong sir. There are many Orthodox Jews that are atheistic. The Jewish religion is based mainly off tradition not on a central belief in God. Yes they may believe in a monotheistic style of a God but you do not have to believe in God. You have to keep the tradition and you have to keep the law in order to be a orthodox/conservative Jew which are probably the only true Jewish sects you have named off. There are tons of practicing Jews that do not believe in a God. The Sadducees did not believe in God.

Im an Israeli Jewish fro Tunisian origin. You are talling ONLY ABOUT YHE USA!!!! there are many more you didnt mention Masortiim is differeny and is the the most of Isarel Nationan reliogious Sacular Mostly you forgot all about the north african and Arab state Jews, and Ethiopian and so on… You relate ONLY TO ASHKENAZY!!

Reconstructionist Judaism Jewish revival I would find this kind of weak, but it comes to Torah studies and Talmudic studies in finding and building a relationship with God Humanistic Judaism I have trouble taking this sick and it’s believe seriously as if it doesn’t deal with any kind of scriptural basis that it’s just basically a cultural club, without any relationship with God At this point why don’t you throw in messianic Jews or Jews for Jesus ( Christians)

Repent Israelites all praise to the most high YAHAWAH AND HIS SON YAHAWASHI🛸🤴🏽🦁⌛️ The so called black man, Latino, and Native Americans are the Israelites. Yahawah chosen people. Deuteronomy 7:6 “For thou art an holy people unto the LORD thy God: the LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” Revelation 2:9 “I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.” Revelation 3:9 “Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie: behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.”

You missed Karaite Judaism and Samaritans or Samaritan Judaism an Gaaz or Ethiopian Judaism. Karaite Judaism is equal to Saduceens sect while Gaaz Ethiopian Judaism is closest to Essen sect. Salam or prostrating yourself in prayer Muslim took from Karaite Judaism. Actually Muslims prayer of prostrating is actually Jewish Karaite Judaism way of praying. So you can say that Islam is actually “Reform Judaism.” Jewish believes and praying adapted for non Jews. Making more inclusive and easier to follow for general masses.Quran is in nutshell explanation of the Bible. Please note not all Jews would agree that Samaritan Jews are Jews . Their belief is part of Judaism and Israel secular State recognise them as Samaritan Jews. So by Western academia Samaritans belief is Yahwism belongs to the Judaism. They believe in Torah 5 books of Moses. So it is classified by Western academia as such. Of all of this the most interesting is orginal Ethiopian Judaism or Gaaz. This is closest to the ancient Essen or Ossim sect of Judaism. They have some exotic books and ancient Torah based calendar

YOU TUBE AND FACEBOOK MANAGEMENT PLEASE STOP SHOWING TOO MUCH …TOO MUCH OF JUDAISM articleS…ETC …ETC. READING THE BIBLE IS ENOUGH INFO. …IT IS GETTING REALY RIDICOULOUS AND BORING HOW ABOUT STARTING TO SHOW SOME EDUCATION OF FAR EASTERN HISTORY-RELIGIONS BEFORE YEAR 2000 .THANKS IN ADVANCE RESPECTFULY !!!

Excellent presentation. In addition to the groups that you mentioned, there is a phenomenon that is identified as Crypto Judaism, these individuals identify as descendants of Jews that were forced to convert to Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition. These people feel a connection to their ancestry and some choose to make a return to Judaism, Rev Zalman Shachter-Shalomi, was a supporter of the Crypto return. Another group is Messianic Jewry: Jews that believe in Jesus. They proselytize to the Jewish Nation first, then to the rest of the word. In the Jewish Community, there are differing opinions. A strong argument can be made that the Messianic and Humanistic movements are not within the definition of Jewish. Truth be told, as much as we like to generalize and throw labels, Jewish people are encouraged to think independently, question our beliefs, put them to practice and make them our own. There’s a saying in our country we number 4 million, yet we have 4 million and one opinions. Even members of the same movements are often moved to engage in spectacular debate as to interpretation of Torah, Talmud and Halachah.