Judaism

Judaism
יַהֲדוּת Yahăḏūṯ
Collection of Judaica (clockwise from top): Candlesticks for Shabbat, a cup for ritual handwashing, a Chumash and a Tanakh, a Yad, a shofar, and an etrog box.
Type	Ethnic religion
Classification	Abrahamic
Scripture	Hebrew Bible Traditions: Talmud Exegesis: Midrash
Theology	Monotheistic
Region	Israel and worldwide as minorities
Language	Biblical Hebrew and Biblical Aramaic
Founder	Abraham and Moses (according to tradition)
Origin	1st millennium BCE 20th–18th century BCE (traditional) Judah Mesopotamia (traditional)
Separated from	Yahwism
Separations	Samaritanism Mandaeism Christianity
Number of followers	c. 14.8 million (referred to as Jews, 2025)

Judaism (Hebrew: יַהֲדוּת, romanized: Yahăḏūṯ) is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant, which they believe was established between God and the Jewish people. The religion is considered one of the earliest monotheistic religions.

Judaism as a religion and culture is founded upon a diverse body of texts, traditions, theologies, and worldviews. Among Judaism's core texts are the Torah (Biblical Hebrew: תּוֹרָה, lit. 'Teaching'), the Nevi'im (נְבִיאִים, 'Prophets'), and the Ketuvim (כְּתוּבִים, 'Writings'), which together compose the Hebrew Bible. In Modern Hebrew, the Hebrew Bible is often referred to as the Tanakh (תַּנַ׳׳ךּ, Tanaḵ)—an acronym of its constituent divisions—or the Miqra (מִקְרָא, Miqrāʾ, '[that which is] called out').

In addition to scripture, Jewish religious texts include the Oral Torah (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבְּעַל־פֶּה, Tōrā šebbəʿal-pe, 'Torah by the mouth'), comprising the Mishnah, Talmud, Tosefta, and Jewish legal Midrashim (מִדְרָשִׁים, 'Studies' or 'Expositions'); Halakha (הֲלָכָה, 'the Way'), or Jewish law; Aggadah (אָגָּדָה, 'Narrative'); and responsa. The Hebrew word Torah specifically refers to the Five Books of Moses, but it can also be used as a general term for the entire body of rabbinic literature and any teachings based on those texts, and encompasses a variety of interpretations. Judaism's texts, traditions, and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam. By way of its relationship to Christianity, the dominant religion in the West, Judaism has had an indirect, yet significant role in the development of Western culture.

There are a variety of Jewish religious movements, most of which emerged from Rabbinic Judaism, which holds that God revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in both the Written Torah (תּוֹרָה שֶׁבִּכְתָב, Tōrā šebbīḵṯāv) and Oral Torah. Historically, all or part of this assertion was challenged by groups like the Sadducees and practitioners of Hellenistic Judaism during the Second Temple period; the Karaites; and among segments of the modern non-Orthodox denominations. Some modern branches of Judaism, such as Humanistic Judaism, may be considered secular or nontheistic. Today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism (including Haredi and Modern Orthodox Jews), Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between these groups are their approaches to Halakha (Jewish law), rabbinic authority, and Rabbinic literature, and the significance of the State of Israel. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Halakha are explicitly divine in origin, eternal, and unalterable, and that they should be strictly followed. Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditionalist interpretation of Judaism's requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that Halakha should be viewed as a set of general guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. Historically, rabbinical courts known as batei din (בָּתֵּי דִּין, 'houses of judgement'; sing. beit din) enforced Halakha. Batei din are still existent, but the practice of Judaism is mostly voluntary. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization but in the Jewish texts and the rabbis and scholars who interpret them.

Jews are an ethnoreligious group including those born Jewish and those who have converted to Judaism. In 2025, the world Jewish population was estimated at 14.8 million, although religious observance varies from strict to non-existent.