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- Reform Judaism: The First Modern Jewish Sect. In the 1800s, with the spread of enlightenment ideas in Europe, many Jews wanted to apply a more scientific background to their lives and promote morality based on a “reformed” and “modernized” Jewish tradition.
- Orthodox Judaism: The Reactionary Jewish Sect. Orthodox Judaism is a major current in Judaism that advocates the traditional belief that the written Torah and the Oral Torah were given to Moses on Mount Sinai, emphasizing the full commitment to the chain of accepted rulings of Jewish Law (Halakha).
- Conservative Judaism: A Compromise Jewish Sect. Conservative Judaism (also known as traditional Judaism and positive-historical Judaism) advocates that the authority of tradition derives first of all from its acceptance by the people and the community over the generations and less from its origin in revelation.
- Hasidic Judaism: A Mystical Jewish Sect. Although not a sect by itself but a group within Orthodox Judaism, Hasidic Jews are among the most prominent Jewish communities today.
- Defining Sectarianism
- When Did Second Temple Sects Begin?
- Why Did Sects form?
- Sects and The City
- Commonalities Among The Sects
- Identity, Purity, and Boundaries
- Law and Study
A notable development in Hasmonean times was the emergence of identifiable religious sects. The term “sect” requires some clarification, as it usually is used in regard to Christian groups that periodically broke way from the Church for social and ideological reasons. In this period, only the Essenes of Qumran come close to fitting that definition....
All evidence points to the beginning of the Hasmonean era [2nd century BCE] as the time when the number of Second Temple sects crystallized. While some scholars have posited the existence of these sects, or perhaps more accurately proto‑sects, as early as the fourth and third centuries, such theories are entirely speculative as there are no data to...
Religious sectarianism was indeed an unusual occurrence within ancient Judaism. Neither before the second century B.C.E. nor after 70 C.E. did the same range of organized sects exist among Jews, and thus the situation that first crystallized under the Hasmoneans was indeed sui generis. The historical circumstances of the middle second century wou...
Jerusalem was the focus of much of this sectarian activity. The Sadducees, by virtue of their being priests and involved in Temple affairs, were clearly based in the city. So, too, were the Pharisees […] The struggle between the Pharisees and Sadducees throughout this period seems to indicate that each group was well represented in Jerusalem. Moreo...
The various sects in Hasmonean Jerusalem shared a number of characteristics with one another, although they also differed in significant ways. We will deal with these similarities and differences, respectively. Common to the groups was the fact that they were all voluntary frameworks. People searching for religious messages and inspiration may hav...
In choosing to belong to one particular sect, individuals were establishing their personal and collective identity vis-à-vis others. Thus each sect meticulously erected walls around itself to separate its members from other sects, ordinary Jews, and non‑Jews. This social separation was rigorously mandated and articulated in a variety of ways. The ...
With the publication of several halakhic[legal] scrolls and fragments, we have become more aware of late of the degree to which Jewish law was a pivotal factor in the self‑definition of the sects, as reflected in rabbinic literature. This has helped refocus attention on the importance of legal matters–and not only theological issues–in defining and...
The sect emphasizes the importance of intellectually grasping the dynamics of the hidden divine aspect and how they affect the human psyche; the very acronym Chabad is for the three penultimate Sephirot, associated with the cerebral side of consciousness.
Though resistant to active participation and affiliation with Israel’s mostly secular democracy, haredi political groups function with the aim of aligning Israel’s policies with halakhah, or Jewish law, as well as insuring that haredi schools and institutions continue to receive government funding.
- Raysh Weiss
- Tzvi Freeman
- The Hasidic Movement Is About Love, Joy and Humility. Hasidim belong to a movement that was founded by Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov, who taught love, joy and humility—both in our service of G‑d and in our treatment of fellow human beings.
- Hasidic Jews Are Mystics. The teachings of Hasidism are an extension of the Kabbalistic writings of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, Rabbi Isaac Luria and others.
- Not All Hasidim Are the Same. Every Hasidic group has its own unique flavor and focus. For example, the Hasidic groups influenced by the masters of Pshischa (notably Gur Hasidim today) value simplicity, austerity and a devotion to the stark, unvarnished truth.
- Hasidic Jews Use Technology. Hasidim use mobile phones, drive cars and use other forms of technology. Why not? After all, the sages taught that “All that G‑d created in His world, He only created for His honor.”
There are a number of distinct sects, most headed by a charismatic rabbi, or rebbe, including Chabad, Satmar, Ger and Skver. Yeshivish. Sometimes also known as Litvish, these haredi Jews are heirs of the mitnagdim (literally “opponents”) who rejected the the rise of Hasidic Judaism in Europe.
The Jewish groups themselves reject characterization as sects. Sects are traditionally defined as religious subgroups that have broken off from the main body, and this separation usually becomes irreparable over time.
