Among the oldest existing religions in the world
Hinduism and Judaism are among the oldest existing religions in the world. The two share some similarities and interactions throughout both the ancient and modern worlds.
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Hinduism and Judaism are among the oldest existing religions in the world. The two share some similarities and interactions throughout both the ancient and modern worlds.
Scholarly efforts to compare Hinduism and Judaism were popular during the Enlightenment era, in the process of arguing the deistic worldview. [1] Hananya Goodman states that Hinduism and Judaism have played an important role in European discussions of idolatry, spirituality, primitive theories of race, language, mythologies, etc. [2]
Both religions were regarded by some scholars to be ethnic religions, and not promoting conversions. Adherents of both religions, however, are found across the world. [3] Both religions share common elements in regard to a complicated system of laws, purity codes, and dietary restrictions, for defining their communities. [4]
Judaism has been compared with Hinduism by Osho Rajneesh [5] and Steven Rosen in their books. They cite the similarities between Brahmins and Jews who viewed themselves as "God's chosen people". Rosen adds that Brahmins had a "community of priests" while Jews had a "Kingdom of Priests". [6]
David Flusser says that the record of Abraham has many similarities with a certain story from the Upanishads, stating that "One can easily discover parallels in the Upanishads to the Abraham legend". [7] [8]
American biologist Constantine Samuel Rafinesque (1783–1840) in his book The American Nations discusses linguistic and traditional similarities between the two religions. In one chapter he writes:
Our Noah- is thus NH (pr NOE) which the Jews since pronounced NUH, and even Mnuh! Exactly the same name as given him by the Hindus! And all meaning repose, with many collateral meanings, lawgiver, collecting people, assembly humanity & c. The laws of M'nu are preserved by the Hindus : to him is also ascribed the substance of the Vedas, and the whole Mosaic history till near his own death. But the Hindus have many- M'nus; Adam and Seth were such, by the names of Adimo and Satya. [9]
Barbara Holdrege analyzed the comparative analysis in her writing, about the role of scriptures in Brahmanical, Rabbinic, and Kabbalistic traditions, and noted that cosmological conceptions of sacred scripture in which Veda and Torah are portrayed not merely as restricted corpus of texts, but as a multileveled cosmic reality that encircle both historical and transmundane dimensions. She adds further that sacred status, authority, and function of scripture in these traditions are to a certain extent shaped by these conceptions and thus such a study is essential for understanding the role of Veda and Torah as the paradigmatic signs of their respective traditions. [10]
Judaism, notable for its monotheistic conception of God, has some similarities with those Hindu scriptures that are monotheistic, such as the Vedas. [11]
Different Hindu sects have a variety of beliefs about the nature and identity of god, believing variously in monotheism, polytheism, pantheism, and panentheism. According to the Mahabharata, and some Vaishnavite Puranas, Narayana is the supreme deity. [12] The Vaishnavite sect considers Vishnu or Krishna to be the supreme god, [13] [14] while Shaivites consider Shiva to be the supreme god, keeping in mind the Agamas, certain Upanishads and the Pashupati seal; the latter being discovered amongst the remains of the Indus Valley Civilization. [15]
In Judaism, God is an absolute one, indivisible and incomparable being who is the ultimate cause of all existence. In Hinduism, gods are considered to have a similar status to another when distinct, [16] but is to be seen as "aspects or manifestations of a single, transcendent god", [16] or an "impersonal absolute". [16]
Bernard Jackson points out the extent to which legal regulations, customs, and royal ordinances in Halakha in the Jewish tradition and Dharmaśāstra among Hindus are binding on members of their respective societies. Jackson adds that both Jewish and Hindu law evidence a great sensitivity to the interplay of local custom and authoritative law. He says that in both religions, the writing down of a collection of norms did not necessarily mean that all or even most norms were intended to be enforced, and that the laws connected with royal authority were not necessarily statutory. Wendy Doniger states that Hinduism and Judaism are alike in their tendency toward orthopraxy rather than orthodoxy. [17]
Ancient trade and cultural communication between India and the Levant is documented in the Periplus of the Erythraean Sea and the accounts surrounding the Queen of Sheba in the Hebrew Bible.
Bhavishya Purana is regarded by a number of scholars to have predicted Judaism's prophet Moses, and similar parallels are found in the Vedas. [18]
The trade relations of both communities can be traced back to 1,000 BCE and earlier to the time of the Indus Valley civilisation of the Indian subcontinent and the Babylonian culture of Middle East. A Buddhist story describes Indian merchants visiting Baveru (Babylonia) [19] and selling peacocks for public display. Similar, earlier accounts describe monkeys exhibited to the public. [20]
The Torah has also been helpful for understanding relations between these two traditions. [21] Geographical analysis of Israel suggests that the authors of Torah were talking about India, where the selling of animals such as monkeys and peacocks existed. [22] Trade connections between India and Mediterranean Jewish communities continued, and later, the languages of these cultures started to share linguistic similarities. [23]
Some of the leading figures in the field of Indology like Theodor Aufrecht, Theodor Goldstücker, Theodor Benfey, Charles Rockwell Lanman, Salomon Lefmann, Gustav Solomon Oppert, Betty Heimann etc. were of Jewish descent.
Jews never faced persecution by Hindus, neither are there any records of Hindus facing persecution at the hands of Jews as both communities share a history of being oppressed, discriminated & forced to convert. The creation of Israel as a Jewish state by Zionists was supported by Hindu nationalists who wanted to make undivided India a Hindu state, most notably M. S. Golwalkar, who said:
The Jews had maintained their race, religion, culture and language; and all they wanted was their natural territory to complete their Nationality. [24]
The world's first Jewish-Hindu interfaith leadership summit, led by the World Council of Religious Leaders, Hindu organisations in India and Jewish organisations in Israel, as well as the American Jewish Committee, was held in New Delhi in February 2007. [25] The summit included the then Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger, the American Jewish Committee's International Director of Interreligious Affairs David Rosen, a delegation of chief rabbis from around the world, and Hindu leaders from India. [26] [27] [28] During the summit, Rabbi Metzger stated:
Jews have lived in India for over 2,000 years and have never been discriminated against. This is something unparalleled in human history. [26]
Swami Dayananda recognized the similarities of both religions and pointed to the belief in One supreme being, non-conversion, oral recitation of the Veda and the Torah, and the special importance of peace and non-violence. Savarupananda Saraswatiji explained that "Both the Hindu and Jewish communities have a lot in common, we need to discover and nurture these areas for the benefit of millions of people." [29] This meeting included Rabbis such as Daniel Sperber, Yona Metzger, and others. They affirmed a number of points, one of which was:
Their respective traditions teach that there is one supreme being who is the ultimate reality, who has created this world in its blessed diversity and who has communicated Divine ways of action for humanity, for different people in different times and places. [30]
In 2008, a second Hindu-Jewish summit took place in Jerusalem. [31] [32] Included in the summit was a meeting between Hindu groups and then Israeli President Shimon Peres, where the importance of a strong Israeli-Indian relationship was discussed. [32] The Hindu delegation also met with Israeli politicians Isaac Herzog and Majalli Whbee. [32] Hindu groups visited and said their prayers at the Western Wall, and also paid their respects to Holocaust victims. [32] In 2009, a smaller Hindu-Jewish interfaith meeting organized by the World council of Religious Leaders, Hindu American Foundation and the American Jewish Committee was held in New York and Washington. [31] Hindu and Jewish representatives gave presentations, and participants wore lapel pins combining the Israeli, Indian, and American flags. [31]
About 5,000 Jews reside in India today. [33] The Bnei Menashe are a group of more than 9,000 Jews from the Indian states Manipur and Mizoram who have resided in India since as early as 8th century BCE. [34] On 31 March 2005, Sephardi Rabbi, Shlomo Amar, one of Israel's two chief rabbis, accepted the Bnei Menashe's claim of being one of the ten lost tribes considering their devotion to Judaism. His decision was significant because it paved the way for all members of Bnei Menashe to enter Israel under Israel's Law of Return. [35] In the past two decades, some 1,700 Bnei Menashe members have moved to Israel. Israel has reversed the policy of immigration for the remaining 7,200 Bnei Menashe.
There are some who profess a belief in both religions: they regard themselves as Hinjew, a portmanteau of Hindu and Jew. [36] [37] [38]
Many Jews take vipassana and yoga as a supplement to traditional Hasidic musical meditation and dynamic meditation. [39]
According to a report by the Pew Research Center conducted in the US, of all religious groups, Hindus and Jews remain the most successful at retaining their adherents and are the two most educated groups. [40]
Christianity began as a movement within Second Temple Judaism, but the two religions gradually diverged over the first few centuries of the Christian era. Today, differences of opinion vary between denominations in both religions, but the most important distinction is Christian acceptance and Jewish non-acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah prophesied in the Hebrew Bible and Jewish tradition. Early Christianity distinguished itself by determining that observance of halakha was not necessary for non-Jewish converts to Christianity. Another major difference is the two religions' conceptions of God. Depending on the denomination followed, the Christian God is either believed to consist of three persons of one essence, with the doctrine of the incarnation of the Son in Jesus being of special importance, or like Judaism, believes in and emphasizes the Oneness of God. Judaism, however, rejects the Christian concept of God in human form. While Christianity recognizes the Hebrew Bible as part of its scriptural canon, Judaism does not recognize the Christian New Testament.
Judaism is an Abrahamic monotheistic ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people. Judaism evolved from Yahwism, an ancient Semitic religion of the late Bronze Age to early Iron Age, likely around the 6th/5th century BCE. Along with Samaritanism, to which it is closely related, Judaism is one of the two oldest Abrahamic religions.
In Judaism, the Seven Laws of Noah, otherwise referred to as the Noahide Laws or the Noachian Laws, are a set of universal moral laws which, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a covenant with Noah and with the "sons of Noah"—that is, all of humanity.
Messianic Judaism is a syncretic Abrahamic new religious movement that combines various Jewish traditions with belief in Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah. It is widely considered to be a sect of Evangelical Christianity, including by all major groups within mainstream Judaism, but the movement considers itself Jewish. Belief in Jesus as a messianic figure and as divine is considered by Jews to be one of the most defining distinctions between Judaism and Christianity.
Religious pluralism is a set of religious world views that hold that one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus recognizes that some level of truth and value exists in other religions. As such, religious pluralism goes beyond religious tolerance, which is the condition of peaceful existence between adherents of different religions or religious denominations.
Comparative religion is the branch of the study of religions with the systematic comparison of the doctrines and practices, themes and impacts of the world's religions. In general the comparative study of religion yields a deeper understanding of the fundamental philosophical concerns of religion such as ethics, metaphysics and the nature and forms of salvation. It also considers and compares the origins and similarities shared between the various religions of the world. Studying such material facilitates a broadened and more sophisticated understanding of human beliefs and practices regarding the sacred, numinous, spiritual and divine.
Jewish religious movements, sometimes called "denominations", include diverse groups within Judaism which have developed among Jews from ancient times. Today in the west, the most prominent divisions are between traditionalist Orthodox movements and modernist movements such as Reform Judaism originating in late 18th century Europe, Conservative originating in 19th century Europe, and other smaller ones, including the Reconstructionist and Renewal movements which emerged later in the 20th century in the United States.
The Bene Israel, also referred to as the "Shanivar Teli" or "Native Jew" caste, are a community of Jews in India. It has been suggested that they are the descendants of one of the Ten Lost Tribes via their ancestors who had settled there centuries ago. Starting in the second half of the 18th century, after they were taught about normative Sephardi Judaism, they migrated from villages in the Konkan region where they had previously lived to nearby cities throughout British India—primarily to Mumbai where their first synagogue opened in 1796 but also to Pune, Ahmedabad, and Karachi, where they gained prominent positions within the British colonial government and the Indian Army.
Religious Zionism is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as Dati Leumi, and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the first part of that term: Datiim. The community is sometimes called 'Knitted kippah', the typical head covering worn by male adherents to Religious Zionism.
Ger toshav is a halakhic term used in Judaism to designate the legal status of a Gentile (non-Jew) living in the Land of Israel who does not want to convert to Judaism but agrees to observe the Seven Laws of Noah, a set of imperatives which, according to the Talmud, were given by God as a binding set of universal moral laws for the "sons of Noah"—that is, all of humanity. A ger toshav, especially one who decides to follow the Noahic covenant out of religious belief rather than ethical reasoning, is commonly deemed a "Righteous Gentile", and is assured of a place in the World to Come .
The history of the Jews in India dates back to antiquity. Judaism was one of the first foreign religions to arrive in the Indian subcontinent in recorded history. Desi Jews are a small religious minority who have lived in the region since ancient times. They were able to survive for centuries despite persecution by Portuguese colonizers and nonnative antisemitic inquisitions.
The Bnei Menashe is a community of Indian Jews from various Tibeto-Burmese ethnic groups from the border of India and Burma who claim descent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, allegedly based on the Hmar belief in an ancestor named Manmasi. Some of them have adopted Judaism. The community has around 10,000 members.
The Bene EphraimBnei Ephraim, also called Telugu Jews because they speak Telugu, are a small community living primarily in Kotha Reddy Palem, a village outside Chebrolu, Guntur District, and in Machilipatnam, Krishna District, Andhra Pradesh, India, near the delta of the River Krishna. They claim to be descendants of the Tribe of Ephraim, of the Ten Lost Tribes, and since the 1980s have learned to practice modern Judaism.
Several groups of people have claimed lineal descent from the Israelites, an ancient Semitic-speaking people who inhabited Canaan during the Iron Age. The phenomenon has become especially prevalent since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. The country's Law of Return, which defines Jewishness for the purpose of aliyah, prompted many individuals to claim Israelite ancestry with the expectation that it would make them eligible for Israeli citizenship through their perceived Jewish ethnicity. The abundance of these claims has led to the rise of the question of "who is a Jew?" in order to determine the legitimacy of one's Jewish identity. Some of these claims have been recognized, while other claims are still under review, and others have been outright rejected.
Noahidism or Noachidism is a monotheistic Jewish religious movement aimed at non-Jews, based upon the Seven Laws of Noah and their traditional interpretations within Orthodox Judaism.
The Ten Lost Tribes were the ten of the Twelve Tribes of Israel that were said to have been exiled from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire c. 722 BCE. These are the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Manasseh, and Ephraim — all but Judah, Benjamin, and some members of the priestly Tribe of Levi, which did not have its own territory.
Shavei Israel is an Israel-based Jewish organization that encourages people of Jewish descent to strengthen their connection with Israel and the Jewish people. Founded by Michael Freund in 2002, Shavei Israel locates lost Jews and hidden Jewish communities and assists them with returning to their roots and, sometimes, with aliyah. The organization's team is composed of academics, educators and rabbis.
Since the 1990s, the Republic of India and the State of Israel have had a comprehensive economic, military, and political relationship. In 1947, India voted against the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, but nonetheless recognized Israeli sovereignty in 1950. Israel opened a consulate in Bombay in 1953. Collaboration gradually increased as Israel became a key Indian ally amidst the India–Pakistan conflict; Israel supplied India with armaments, ammunition, and intelligence during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and the Indo-Pakistani War of 1999. Full diplomatic relations were established in 1992, when India opened an embassy in Tel Aviv and Israel opened an embassy in New Delhi. Both countries are members of the I2U2 Group, formed in October 2021, and have stated that they have a strong bilateral relationship, sharing similarities in spirit and facing common challenges, increasingly cooperating in the industrial and technological sectors.
Indian Jews in Israel are immigrants and descendants of the immigrants of the Indian Jewish communities, who now reside within the State of Israel. Indian Jews who live in Israel include thousands of Cochin Jews and Paradesi Jews of Kerala; thousands of Baghdadi Jews from Mumbai and Kolkata; tens of thousands from the Bene Israel of Maharashtra and other parts of British India and the Bnei Menashe of Manipur and Mizoram.
The history of the Jews in Mumbai, India, began when Jews started settling in Bombay during the first century, due to its economic opportunities. The Jewish community of Bombay consisted of the remnants of three distinct communities: the Bene Israeli Jews of Konkan, the Baghdadi Jews of Iraq, and the Cochin Jews of Malabar.
Lord Krishna is one of the most revered and honored of all the Dharmic Gods. As it is explained and concluded in a variety of Vedic texts, Krishna is the Supreme Personality of Godhead. In other words, as it is said in Sanskrit, krsnas tu bhagavan svayam (Srimad-Bhagavatam 1.3.28) Krishna is the source of all other incarnations and forms of God., SB 1.3.28 Archived 2019-10-22 at the Wayback Machine
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