Orthodox Judaism

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Orthodox Judaism is the more traditional form of Judaism in the modern world. It holds that both the scripture of the Torah and mouth-to-mouth traditions later written down in the Talmud etc., were actually and literally given by God, and that past rabbis handed them over without change and were always faithful in deciding how they applied to reality. Because of this, Orthodox Judaism is very careful in holding to the tradition of past rabbis, and is very conservative on how current rabbis may decide what the law is in new cases. Orthodox Jews consider themselves as the only truly faithful Jews and reject all the new non-Orthodox forms of Jewish thought, religious or secular, that came to be in the last 250 years (since the Jewish community lost its powers to enforce people, and Jews began to be citizens of the modern state). Even so, they are a product of new times just like everyone else: Their community organizations were created so they could separate from other Jews because those stopped being religious. The Orthodox also had to make very new ways of thinking and acting to deal with the big changes.

As of 2001, Orthodox Jews and Jews affiliated with an Orthodox synagogue, accounted for approximately 50% of British Jews (150,000), 25% of Israeli Jews (1,500,000) and 13% of American Jews (529,000).^[1] (Among those affiliated to a synagogue body, Orthodox Jews represent 70% of British Jewry^[2] and 27% of American Jewry).^[1]

Its followers must usually promise the following:

Not to commit murder, idolatry (worship of idols)
Not to engage in certain sexual practices prohibited by the bible
Observe the shabbat. Jews must not work on a shabbat.
Eat only certain things. These dietary laws are known as Kashrut.
Taharat Hamishpacha, the laws of family purity, restricting sexual relations for a prescribed time around menstruation and after childbirth.
Circumcision for males.

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 American Jewish Religious Denominations Archived 2012-01-18 at the Wayback Machine, United Jewish Communities Report Series on the National Jewish Population Survey 2001-01, (Table 2, pg. 9)
↑ "Synagogue membership in the United Kingdom in 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2013-06-17.

Other websites

Your Complete Guide to Brochos
Origins of Orthodox Judaism Archived 2005-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
The different Orthodox Jewish groups Archived 2012-04-15 at the Wayback Machine
The State of Orthodox Judaism Today
Orthodox Judaism in Israel
Orthodox Jewish population growth and political changes Archived 2006-12-12 at the Wayback Machine
Information on Orthodox Jewish culture

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[AJRD-1] 1.0 ^1.1 American Jewish Religious Denominations Archived 2012-01-18 at the Wayback Machine, United Jewish Communities Report Series on the National Jewish Population Survey 2001-01, (Table 2, pg. 9)

[2] "Synagogue membership in the United Kingdom in 2010" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-06-06. Retrieved 2013-06-17.

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