The Encyclopedia of World Religions

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Jewish state failed. As a result, Jews were barred from even entering the city of Jerusalem. These events posed a challenge: how to syn thesize from traditions that could no longer be practiced a religion for those living in exile. The challenge fell to the RABBIS , who specialized in the study of the T ORAH . In response, they created Judaism as we know it today. Their efforts are pre served in writings known as the Mishnah and the Talmud. Mishnah is a Hebrew word meaning teaching or repetition. According to the rabbis, M OSES did not write down all of the instructions he received from God on Mount Sinai. Rather, he memorized some instructions and handed them down orally. It is this oral Torah that was recorded in the Mish nah. Tradition says that the Mishnah was recorded around the year 200 C . E . by the leader of the Jews in Palestine, Judah ha-Nasi ( c. 135– c. 220). The Mishnah has six “orders” or parts. These are further divided into 63 tractates and 531 chap ters. The six orders discuss (1) agriculture, (2) appointed times, such as festivals and Sabbaths, (3) women, especially in relation to marriage and divorce, (4) damages, that is criminal and civil law, (5) ordinary Temple procedures, and (6) regulations concerning purity. As the North American scholar Jacob Neusner has pointed out, a good deal of the Mishnah discusses the Jerusa lem Temple, even though the Temple was in ruins and Jews could not set foot in Jerusalem. These portions of the Mishnah do not describe how one should live today. Rather, they preserve the heri tage of the past and stand as a sign of hope for the future. Other portions of the Mishnah discuss

taboo A prohibition. The term taboo derives from the Polynesian word tapu, which means “for bidden.” In Polynesia, objects are tapu because they contain mana. Mana is a sacred, effective energy that one needs to treat with care. At the end of the 19th century, anthropolo gists generalized these Polynesian notions. They theorized that religion—and MAGIC —began when people recognized mana in objects and established taboos. These ideas influenced important thinkers like Sigmund F REUD and Émile D URKHEIM . Scholars now recognize that tapu and mana are specific to Polynesia, not universal. But people continue to use the word taboo for prohibitions, especially religiously significant ones. All societ ies have a taboo against incest, although not every society defines incest the same way. Many soci eties have taboos against certain foods ( see DIET AND RELIGION ). And by tradition, many indigenous Australian men were never allowed to meet their mothers-in-law. People often try to explain taboos in terms of natural causes. Thus, one forbids incest to avoid genetic defects. Sociologists also see taboos as important ways to create order in society. Talmud (with Mishnah) In J UDAISM , the author itative codification of and commentary on the oral T ORAH . In 70 C . E ., Roman troops destroyed the Tem ple in J ERUSALEM . This event made it impossible to practice the religion of ancient Israel and Judah. That religion centered on presenting offerings and SACRIFICES to G OD at the Temple. Then in 135 C . E . Bar Kokhba’s attempt to create an independent

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