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  "title": "On Redemption",
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    "article": {
      "slug": "editors-desk-comparative-on-redemption",
      "title": "On Redemption",
      "deck": null,
      "summary": "",
      "level": "deeper",
      "sectionSlug": "editors-desk",
      "tags": [
        "redemption",
        "teshuva",
        "christianity",
        "messiah"
      ],
      "publishedAt": "2026-07-06T02:19:03.001Z",
      "wordCount": 1657,
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    "section": {
      "slug": "foundations",
      "title": "Foundations of Belief"
    },
    "image": null,
    "blocks": [
      {
        "type": "lede",
        "body": "A meditation on the Jewish doctrine of [teshuva](/glossary.json#letter-T), the Jewish Messianic expectation, and what Christianity inherited and what it altered.",
        "text": "A meditation on the Jewish doctrine of teshuva, the Jewish Messianic expectation, and what Christianity inherited and what it altered."
      },
      {
        "type": "summary",
        "body": "Summary. Jews believe in redemption — but believe it was given to humanity from the beginning, in the very fabric of creation, accessed through teshuva (repentance). The [Tanakh](/glossary.json#letter-T)'s Messianic expectation is specifically about [Geulat Yisrael](/glossary.json#letter-G) — the redemption of Israel from tyranny into worldwide peace — not about individual atonement, which God already provided. Jesus's claim violated monotheism, did not fulfill the Messianic criteria, and proposed a redemption Jews already had. The article ends generously: if Christians find God through their path, may God bless them with it.",
        "text": "Summary. Jews believe in redemption — but believe it was given to humanity from the beginning, in the very fabric of creation, accessed through teshuva (repentance). The Tanakh's Messianic expectation is specifically about Geulat Yisrael — the redemption of Israel from tyranny into worldwide peace — not about individual atonement, which God already provided. Jesus's claim violated monotheism, did not fulfill the Messianic criteria, and proposed a redemption Jews already had. The article ends generously: if Christians find God through their path, may God bless them with it."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "The Article (Verbatim)",
        "text": "The Article (Verbatim)"
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "On Redemption",
        "text": "On Redemption"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "May God bless Christians. In the midst of this current outbreak of antisemitism, Judaism has the love and friendship of so many Christians. The two faiths have more in common than not. And for my part, if Christians find accessing God's redemption through the person of Jesus of Nazareth to be their user-friendly path, I would not begrudge them, and I don't believe God would either. One of the beauties of Judaism (but it has its downside) is that it isn't an evangelical faith. Jews are living the program that God prescribed for them. They do not consign other peoples to hell for their various beliefs and ways of living. (Indeed, hell itself is a redemptive process in Judaism. The [Talmud](/glossary.json#letter-T) teaches that sinners are delivered into a state of \"[Gehenna](/glossary.json#letter-G)\" to be cleansed, more than punished.)",
        "text": "May God bless Christians. In the midst of this current outbreak of antisemitism, Judaism has the love and friendship of so many Christians. The two faiths have more in common than not. And for my part, if Christians find accessing God's redemption through the person of Jesus of Nazareth to be their user-friendly path, I would not begrudge them, and I don't believe God would either. One of the beauties of Judaism (but it has its downside) is that it isn't an evangelical faith. Jews are living the program that God prescribed for them. They do not consign other peoples to hell for their various beliefs and ways of living. (Indeed, hell itself is a redemptive process in Judaism. The Talmud teaches that sinners are delivered into a state of \"Gehenna\" to be cleansed, more than punished.)"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Christianity was built on the innovations—the good ideas—of Judaism. And Judaism not being a proselytizing faith, it fell to Christianity to popularize these ideas. The world owes Christianity a debt for mining the innovations of Judaism, and bringing them to peoples far and wide. This has formed the basis of Western civilization—and is the reason we say \"Judeo-Christian values\".",
        "text": "Christianity was built on the innovations—the good ideas—of Judaism. And Judaism not being a proselytizing faith, it fell to Christianity to popularize these ideas. The world owes Christianity a debt for mining the innovations of Judaism, and bringing them to peoples far and wide. This has formed the basis of Western civilization—and is the reason we say \"Judeo-Christian values\"."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "It would be lovely, though, if more Christians knew these good ideas to have come from Judaism, and knew Judaism for the innovative, dynamic, compassionate, tolerant faith that it is (rather than by the rhetorical and unflattering caricatures of the New Testament).",
        "text": "It would be lovely, though, if more Christians knew these good ideas to have come from Judaism, and knew Judaism for the innovative, dynamic, compassionate, tolerant faith that it is (rather than by the rhetorical and unflattering caricatures of the New Testament)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "One of these good ideas, and perhaps the biggest and most significant, is the joint concept of repentance and redemption. Because of New Testament passages like John 1:29, \"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!\" and John 14:6, \"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,\" many Christians see Jesus as having innovated redemption.",
        "text": "One of these good ideas, and perhaps the biggest and most significant, is the joint concept of repentance and redemption. Because of New Testament passages like John 1:29, \"Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!\" and John 14:6, \"I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me,\" many Christians see Jesus as having innovated redemption."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "But Judaism teaches that God has three activities: creation, revelation, and redemption (\"geulah\" in Hebrew). In fact, the holiest day of the year for Jews—as prescribed by the [Torah](/glossary.json#letter-T) (the first five books of the Old Testament) and the Talmud (the extensive Jewish book containing the \"oral law\", and rabbinical commentaries)—is [Yom Kippur](/glossary.json#letter-Y), the \"day of atonement\", on which Jews reflect on the year passed, repent for our sins, and thank God for redeeming us from them.",
        "text": "But Judaism teaches that God has three activities: creation, revelation, and redemption (\"geulah\" in Hebrew). In fact, the holiest day of the year for Jews—as prescribed by the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament) and the Talmud (the extensive Jewish book containing the \"oral law\", and rabbinical commentaries)—is Yom Kippur, the \"day of atonement\", on which Jews reflect on the year passed, repent for our sins, and thank God for redeeming us from them."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "A related, but distinct, belief of Judaism is \"Geulat [Yisrael](/glossary.json#letter-Y)\", or \"redemption of Israel\". The Talmud records a dispute on this: Rabbi Eliezer holds that Israel is redeemed only if it repents, while Rabbi Yehoshua holds that redemption comes regardless ([Sanhedrin 97b](https://www.sefaria.org/Sanhedrin.97b)).",
        "text": "A related, but distinct, belief of Judaism is \"Geulat Yisrael\", or \"redemption of Israel\". The Talmud records a dispute on this: Rabbi Eliezer holds that Israel is redeemed only if it repents, while Rabbi Yehoshua holds that redemption comes regardless (Sanhedrin 97b)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "A rich body of commentary ascribes Messianic undertones to portions of the Torah. For example, [Parshat Vayechi (Genesis 47-50)](https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.47-50) includes the blessings and prophecies of Jacob (whose name, at his death, was Israel). The 11th century French scholar [Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki](/glossary.json#letter-R) (\"Rashi\"), the 13th century Spanish kabbalist [Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman](/glossary.json#letter-R) (\"Nachmanides\"), and the 20th century Ukrainian-born [Hasidic](/glossary.json#letter-H) leader [Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson](/glossary.json#letter-M) (the \"Lubavitcher [Rebbe](/glossary.json#letter-R)\") all ascribe Messianic symbology to this passage, including equating the name \"Shiloh\" with the Messiah, Judah being a symbolic precursor to the Messiah, and the foreshadowing of the exodus from Egypt as an archetype for eventual Geulat Yisrael—the redemption of Israel. And the [Midrash](/glossary.json#letter-M) (Bereishit Rabbah) and the Talmud (the Pesachim [tractate](/glossary.json#letter-M)) explain that Jacob intended to reveal the time of the Messiah's coming (or at least, \"when the complete redemption would arrive at the end of days\"), but was prevented by God's will.",
        "text": "A rich body of commentary ascribes Messianic undertones to portions of the Torah. For example, Parshat Vayechi (Genesis 47-50) includes the blessings and prophecies of Jacob (whose name, at his death, was Israel). The 11th century French scholar Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (\"Rashi\"), the 13th century Spanish kabbalist Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (\"Nachmanides\"), and the 20th century Ukrainian-born Hasidic leader Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (the \"Lubavitcher Rebbe\") all ascribe Messianic symbology to this passage, including equating the name \"Shiloh\" with the Messiah, Judah being a symbolic precursor to the Messiah, and the foreshadowing of the exodus from Egypt as an archetype for eventual Geulat Yisrael—the redemption of Israel. And the Midrash (Bereishit Rabbah) and the Talmud (the Pesachim tractate) explain that Jacob intended to reveal the time of the Messiah's coming (or at least, \"when the complete redemption would arrive at the end of days\"), but was prevented by God's will."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Nevertheless, the word \"[messiah](/glossary.json#letter-M)\" (מָשִׁיחַ) is found in the Torah only in connection with priestly anointings. The idea of a (capital \"M\") Messiah, does not appear in the Torah's text even once (though, as noted, later commentary and oral tradition ascribe it to the subtext). The overt concept of a Messiah was introduced by Isaiah following the Assyrian defeat of the Kingdom of Israel around 700 BCE, and the exiling of its 10 tribes. Messianism emerged from a hope for eventual reunification of Israel and Judah, and deliverance from tyranny. It was very specifically that. It dealt with Geulat Yisrael—the redemption of Israel from tyranny, and deliverance into a period of worldwide peace—and not teshuva, the redemption of the individual from sin.",
        "text": "Nevertheless, the word \"messiah\" (מָשִׁיחַ) is found in the Torah only in connection with priestly anointings. The idea of a (capital \"M\") Messiah, does not appear in the Torah's text even once (though, as noted, later commentary and oral tradition ascribe it to the subtext). The overt concept of a Messiah was introduced by Isaiah following the Assyrian defeat of the Kingdom of Israel around 700 BCE, and the exiling of its 10 tribes. Messianism emerged from a hope for eventual reunification of Israel and Judah, and deliverance from tyranny. It was very specifically that. It dealt with Geulat Yisrael—the redemption of Israel from tyranny, and deliverance into a period of worldwide peace—and not teshuva, the redemption of the individual from sin."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "With the emergence of the Talmud (then with gusto much later, part-and-parcel with the Hasidic movement) a broader theology took form surrounding the Messiah, and was woven into the liturgy. The oral tradition underlying the Talmud certainly existed, in some form, during the time of Jesus of Nazareth. But most of its commentaries did not.",
        "text": "With the emergence of the Talmud (then with gusto much later, part-and-parcel with the Hasidic movement) a broader theology took form surrounding the Messiah, and was woven into the liturgy. The oral tradition underlying the Talmud certainly existed, in some form, during the time of Jesus of Nazareth. But most of its commentaries did not."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "So, one can well imagine the indignation of Jews when Jesus arrived and claimed to be a divine son of God (which violates the foundational tenet of monotheism and the First Commandment), the Messiah (though he was not performing the first and founding function of the Messiah, to restore Israel and free it from Roman tyranny), and who, to boot, was claiming to offer redemption from sin—something only God can do, one of God's three functions, and something God had already promised and delivered.",
        "text": "So, one can well imagine the indignation of Jews when Jesus arrived and claimed to be a divine son of God (which violates the foundational tenet of monotheism and the First Commandment), the Messiah (though he was not performing the first and founding function of the Messiah, to restore Israel and free it from Roman tyranny), and who, to boot, was claiming to offer redemption from sin—something only God can do, one of God's three functions, and something God had already promised and delivered."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "And all this in a climate where Messianic claims were almost common—and were dangerous, drawing Roman ire, and bloodshed. Roughly contemporary with Jesus, there were: the Samaritan Prophet, Judas of Galilee, the Teacher of Righteousness, Simon of Perea, the Egyptian Prophet, and Athronges.",
        "text": "And all this in a climate where Messianic claims were almost common—and were dangerous, drawing Roman ire, and bloodshed. Roughly contemporary with Jesus, there were: the Samaritan Prophet, Judas of Galilee, the Teacher of Righteousness, Simon of Perea, the Egyptian Prophet, and Athronges."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Imagine a prophet appearing, now, and claiming that the redemption offered by Jesus could only be accessed through himself, that the atoning act of Jesus wasn't powerful enough to reach man except by the path of this new prophet. What would the response be, among Christians, I wonder?",
        "text": "Imagine a prophet appearing, now, and claiming that the redemption offered by Jesus could only be accessed through himself, that the atoning act of Jesus wasn't powerful enough to reach man except by the path of this new prophet. What would the response be, among Christians, I wonder?"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "There is also, sometimes, confusion surrounding the ancient Israelite rituals of animal sacrifice prescribed in the Torah; a misunderstanding that these rituals, themselves, are believed to have been directly redeeming, or that they served as a \"type\" (a model, or precursor) for the blood sacrifice of Jesus as an atoning act. But these rituals were simply a set of \"[mitzvot](/glossary.json#letter-M)\", or \"holy acts\", among many other mitzvot, that involved the giving up of something valuable in order to draw our minds to God, and bring us closer to God. And then, God redeems us.",
        "text": "There is also, sometimes, confusion surrounding the ancient Israelite rituals of animal sacrifice prescribed in the Torah; a misunderstanding that these rituals, themselves, are believed to have been directly redeeming, or that they served as a \"type\" (a model, or precursor) for the blood sacrifice of Jesus as an atoning act. But these rituals were simply a set of \"mitzvot\", or \"holy acts\", among many other mitzvot, that involved the giving up of something valuable in order to draw our minds to God, and bring us closer to God. And then, God redeems us."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "It isn't at all that Jews don't believe in redemption, or that Jews live doctrines that are somehow precursors to redemption. It's that we believe that God accounted for redemption from the beginning, in the very fabric of creation—and did not (and would not) have applied it as an afterthought, particularly (with respect) through an act of human sacrifice. During the High Holy Days, the most important time of the Jewish year, we contemplate our errors, commune with God, ask God for forgiveness, and then thank God for our redemption, and resolve to be better people in the coming year. This is the holiest time of every year, the real Jewish Christmas, the only day of the year that many non-observant Jews will and do attend synagogue, and the very center of the Jewish faith. So it has been since receiving the Torah (or its core ideas, at the very least) at Sinai over three thousand years ago.",
        "text": "It isn't at all that Jews don't believe in redemption, or that Jews live doctrines that are somehow precursors to redemption. It's that we believe that God accounted for redemption from the beginning, in the very fabric of creation—and did not (and would not) have applied it as an afterthought, particularly (with respect) through an act of human sacrifice. During the High Holy Days, the most important time of the Jewish year, we contemplate our errors, commune with God, ask God for forgiveness, and then thank God for our redemption, and resolve to be better people in the coming year. This is the holiest time of every year, the real Jewish Christmas, the only day of the year that many non-observant Jews will and do attend synagogue, and the very center of the Jewish faith. So it has been since receiving the Torah (or its core ideas, at the very least) at Sinai over three thousand years ago."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "But, again, Judaism is not an evangelical faith, and so its doctrines are not proliferated, and not widely understood. And so it goes that for two thousand years, Christianity has (brazenly and, it could be said, a little bit presumptuously) claimed the innovation and ownership of redemption. Jews are not jealous of their beliefs, so this in itself is arguably a net good. Except that Christianity has made those ideas more complicated, and drawn focus away from God and onto a new and wider polytheistic pantheon involving the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; for some, the addition of a cadre of intercessory saints and virgins; for others, even the addition of Adam as a creationary deity. (I once heard a devout Spaniard tell me, \"I believe in the Virgin Mary, and none of this Jesus nonsense.\" Though, indeed, no faith should be judged by its fringes.)",
        "text": "But, again, Judaism is not an evangelical faith, and so its doctrines are not proliferated, and not widely understood. And so it goes that for two thousand years, Christianity has (brazenly and, it could be said, a little bit presumptuously) claimed the innovation and ownership of redemption. Jews are not jealous of their beliefs, so this in itself is arguably a net good. Except that Christianity has made those ideas more complicated, and drawn focus away from God and onto a new and wider polytheistic pantheon involving the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost; for some, the addition of a cadre of intercessory saints and virgins; for others, even the addition of Adam as a creationary deity. (I once heard a devout Spaniard tell me, \"I believe in the Virgin Mary, and none of this Jesus nonsense.\" Though, indeed, no faith should be judged by its fringes.)"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "But in the end, the most important thing is that everyone finds access to God's redemption. Escaping the mire, the guilt, the resentment, anger, pain, and bad habits of sin and error is at the heart of human individual improvement and social evolution. Whether through Jewish teshuva, or through Christian atonement, may God bless us all with it.",
        "text": "But in the end, the most important thing is that everyone finds access to God's redemption. Escaping the mire, the guilt, the resentment, anger, pain, and bad habits of sin and error is at the heart of human individual improvement and social evolution. Whether through Jewish teshuva, or through Christian atonement, may God bless us all with it."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Where Denominations Diverge",
        "text": "Where Denominations Diverge"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The article's framing is [Orthodox](/glossary.json#letter-O) in its theology of teshuva and its strict reading of monotheism. Conservative and [Reform](/glossary.json#letter-R) agree that Jesus is not the Messiah and is not divine; the broader articulation of redemption is shared across denominations, though Reform's modern emphasis on social action expands the operational meaning of [geulah](/glossary.json#letter-G) (redemption) toward [tikkun olam](/glossary.json#letter-T).",
        "text": "The article's framing is Orthodox in its theology of teshuva and its strict reading of monotheism. Conservative and Reform agree that Jesus is not the Messiah and is not divine; the broader articulation of redemption is shared across denominations, though Reform's modern emphasis on social action expands the operational meaning of geulah (redemption) toward tikkun olam."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Sources Cited in the Article",
        "text": "Sources Cited in the Article"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Torah: [Bereshit 47–50 (Parshat Vayechi)](https://www.sefaria.org/Genesis.47-50).",
        "text": "Torah: Bereshit 47–50 (Parshat Vayechi)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Talmud Bavli, Pesachim 56a](https://www.sefaria.org/Pesachim.56a).",
        "text": "Talmud Bavli, Pesachim 56a."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Bereshit Rabbah 98:2](https://www.sefaria.org/Bereshit_Rabbah.98.2).",
        "text": "Bereshit Rabbah 98:2."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Yeshayahu (chapters introducing the Messianic doctrine).",
        "text": "Yeshayahu (chapters introducing the Messianic doctrine)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rashi, Ramban, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe — commentaries on Vayechi.",
        "text": "Rashi, Ramban, and the Lubavitcher Rebbe — commentaries on Vayechi."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Mishnah Yoma 8:9](https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Yoma.8.9) (teshuva and Yom Kippur).",
        "text": "Mishnah Yoma 8:9 (teshuva and Yom Kippur)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Messianic Era: Geulah (גְאוּלָּה) - The Line Between Exile and Redemption](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/5809724/jewish/Messianic-Era-Geulah.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "Messianic Era: Geulah (גְאוּלָּה) - The Line Between Exile and Redemption — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[\"You Will Return to the Lord, Your G-d\" - The Commandment of Teshuvah](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/4134855/jewish/You-Will-Return-to-the-Lord-Your-G-d-The-Commandment-of-Teshuvah.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "\"You Will Return to the Lord, Your G-d\" - The Commandment of Teshuvah — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Sanhedrin 97.b](https://steinsaltz-center.org/portal/library/Talmud/Sanhedrin/chapter/97.b) — Steinsaltz Center.",
        "text": "Sanhedrin 97.b — Steinsaltz Center."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Who Was Rashi? (4800-4865)](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/111831/jewish/Who-Was-Rashi.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "Who Was Rashi? (4800-4865) — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Further Reading",
        "text": "Further Reading"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Michael Skobac and Tovia Singer — Jews for Judaism resources.",
        "text": "Michael Skobac and Tovia Singer — Jews for Judaism resources."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "David Klinghoffer, Why the Jews Rejected Jesus.",
        "text": "David Klinghoffer, Why the Jews Rejected Jesus."
      }
    ],
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    "glossary": {
      "geulat-yisrael": {
        "term": "Geulat Yisrael",
        "hebrew": "גְּאֻלַּת יִשְׂרָאֵל",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "\"The redemption of Israel\" — the hoped-for national redemption of the Jewish people, a recurring theme of the liturgy and of Jewish thought.",
        "moreSlug": "editors-desk-comparative-on-redemption"
      },
      "hasidism": {
        "term": "Hasidism",
        "hebrew": "חֲסִידוּת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The mystical revival movement founded by the Baal Shem Tov in 18th-century Eastern Europe, teaching that God can be served with joy in every act and every person. Its communities, each led by a Rebbe, remain a major force in Jewish life.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-hasidism-vs-mitnagdism"
      },
      "mashiach": {
        "term": "Mashiach",
        "hebrew": "מָשִׁיחַ",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Messiah — literally \"the anointed one\" — a future human king from the line of David who, in Jewish belief, will gather the exiles, rebuild the Temple, and usher in an era of universal peace.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "menachem-mendel-schneerson": {
        "term": "Menachem Mendel Schneerson",
        "hebrew": "מנחם מנדל שניאורסון",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The seventh Lubavitcher Rebbe (1902–1994), who transformed Chabad from a single Hasidic court into a worldwide outreach movement and is revered by Chabad Hasidim as the great teacher of the present generation.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "midrash": {
        "term": "Midrash",
        "hebrew": "מִדְרָשׁ",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Literally 'inquiry' — the rabbinic genre of creative biblical interpretation, filling gaps in the text, drawing out moral lessons, and reading Scripture in surprising directions.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-facts-midrash"
      },
      "orthodox-judaism": {
        "term": "Orthodox Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Orthodox Judaism holds Halacha as fully binding and the Shulchan Aruch as its canonical code; it spans Haredi and Hasidic communities as well as Modern Orthodoxy, and is the starting point from which this Field Guide is written, even as it engages seriously with other denominations.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "ramban": {
        "term": "Ramban",
        "hebrew": "רמב״ן",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (1194–1270), also called Nachmanides — a leading halachist and Torah commentator of medieval Spain who was also a trained Kabbalist, and whose guarded mystical readings (marked 'al derekh ha-emet') helped bring Kabbalah from the margins into the rabbinic mainstream.",
        "moreSlug": "gilgul-neshamot-the-journey-of-the-soul-gilgul-neshamot-in-jewish-thought"
      },
      "rashi": {
        "term": "Rashi",
        "hebrew": "רש״י",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040–1105) of Troyes, France, is the single most influential commentator on the Tanakh and the Talmud; his terse, page-anchoring commentary appears alongside almost every printed edition of both. A New Jew encounters Rashi constantly — in every Chumash, on every page of Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-judaica-mezuzah"
      },
      "rebbe": {
        "term": "Rebbe",
        "hebrew": "רֶבִּי",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "A Hasidic master — the spiritual leader of a Hasidic community, revered as guide and intercessor; in Chabad usage, 'the Rebbe' refers to Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "reform-judaism": {
        "term": "Reform Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Reform Judaism treats Halacha as a source of values and meaning rather than binding law, emphasizing individual autonomy, ethical monotheism, and tikkun olam; it was the first movement to fully recognize patrilineal descent and ordain women as rabbis.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "talmud": {
        "term": "Talmud",
        "hebrew": "תלמוד",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The vast rabbinic work — the Mishnah together with the Gemara's discussion of it — that develops the Oral Torah into Jewish law and thought. It is the central text of Jewish study after the Bible itself.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "tanakh": {
        "term": "Tanakh",
        "hebrew": "תנ״ך",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Hebrew Bible, named for the initials of its three sections: Torah (the Five Books), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings) — twenty-four books in the traditional count.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-tanakh-in-one-article"
      },
      "teshuvah": {
        "term": "Teshuvah",
        "hebrew": "תשובה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Literally 'return' — repentance: the turning away from wrongdoing and back toward God and one's better self. It stands at the heart of the season from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, and is available all year.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "torah": {
        "term": "Torah",
        "hebrew": "תּוֹרָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Five Books of Moses — the scroll at the center of Jewish life — and, more broadly, the whole of Jewish teaching. 'Learning Torah' can mean anything from Chumash to Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "yisrael-the-name": {
        "term": "Yisrael",
        "hebrew": "ישראל",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Yisrael, the name given to the patriarch Yaakov after he wrestled with a divine being (Bereshit 32:29), means roughly \"one who wrestles with God\" and became the name of the Jewish people as a whole — a people defined, on this reading, by struggle and engagement rather than easy certainty.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew"
      },
      "yom-kippur": {
        "term": "Yom Kippur",
        "hebrew": "יום כיפור",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Day of Atonement — the holiest day of the Jewish year, a 25-hour fast devoted to prayer, confession, and repair of one's relationships with God and with other people.",
        "moreSlug": "holidays-yamim-noraim-yom-kippur"
      },
      "gehinnom": {
        "term": "gehinnom",
        "hebrew": "גֵּיהִנּוֹם",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Jewish tradition's place of purification after death (sometimes rendered \"Gehenna\") — understood classically not as eternal damnation but as a temporary cleansing of the soul, traditionally lasting no more than twelve months.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife"
      },
      "geulah": {
        "term": "geulah",
        "hebrew": "גְּאוּלָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Redemption — the tradition's word both for God's past rescues, above all the Exodus, and for the ultimate future redemption of Israel and the world.",
        "moreSlug": "editors-desk-comparative-on-redemption"
      },
      "masechet": {
        "term": "masechet",
        "hebrew": "מַסֶּכֶת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "A tractate — one of the 63 subject-organized volumes of the Mishnah and Talmud, such as Berakhot (blessings) or Shabbat.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "mitzvah": {
        "term": "mitzvah",
        "hebrew": "מִצְוָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "A commandment — one of the Torah's 613 divine instructions, and by extension any religious duty or good deed. The plural is mitzvot.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-613-mitzvot"
      },
      "tikkun-olam": {
        "term": "tikkun olam",
        "hebrew": "תיקון עולם",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "'Repair of the world.' The phrase begins in rabbinic enactments made 'for the sake of an ordered world,' deepens in Kabbalah into cosmic mending, and in modern usage names the Jewish commitment to social repair.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-tikkun-olam"
      }
    }
  },
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      "href": "/sections/foundations.json"
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}