Judaism Primer

Holidays, history, beliefs, culture, and more

Learn everything you need to know about Judaism, including information about the religion, Jewish history, scholars, and holidays.

compiled by Amanda Kudler and Erin Teare

Jewish Holidays The Jewish Calendar Jewish Holiday Dates Hanukkah Passover Purim Rosh Hashanah Shavuot Shemini Atzeret Simchat Torah Sukkoth (Feast of Tabernacles) Tu Bishevat Yom Hashoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) Yom Kippur Quizzes & Crosswords & Hangman Passover Quiz Jewish Holidays Quiz Hanukkah Hangman  New! Glossary of Jewish Terms See also: Yiddish Glossary Afikomen Aliyah Brith (Bris) Bar Mitzvah Bat Mitzvah B'nai B'rith Cantor Challah Haggadah Halakah Hasidism Haskalah Huppah Gefilte fish Glatt Kosher Kabbalah Kaddish Kashruth Kosher Laws Kosher Laws for Passover Kosher-style Ketubah Midrash Minyan Mishna Mitzvah Phylacteries (Tefellin) Rabbi Seder Shalom Shofar Synagogue Tallit Yahweh Yarmulke Yizkor

People and Religion

• Jews
• Judaism (concise)
• Judaism (in-depth)
• Sephardim
• Ashkenazim
• Branches of Judaism
• Israel's Lost Tribes
• Chinese Jews
• Diaspora

Languages

• Hebrew
• Yiddish
• Yiddish Glossary
• Ladino

Jewish Statehood

• Israel: Country Profile
• Israel: Encyclopedia
• Map of Israel
• Israel's 60th Anniversary
• Zionism
• Balfour Declaration

Peace Process

• Middle East 2009
• Middle East 2008
• Middle East 2007
• Middle East 2006
• Middle East 2005
• Middle East 2004
• Middle East 2003
• Middle East 2002
• Arab-Israeli Wars
• Middle East 2001
• Middle East 2000
• Middle East 1999
• Middle East 1998
• Middle East
• Map of the Middle East

Pogroms, the Holocaust, and Other Persecutions

• The Spanish Inquisition
• Pogrom
• Encyclopedia: Holocaust
• Timeline: Holocaust

Notable Jewish Scholars

• Judah Abarbanel
• Baal-Shem-Tov
• Akiba ben Joseph
• Elijah ben Solomon
• Isaac ben Solomon Luria
• Abraham Geiger
• Judah ha-Nasi
• Theodor Herzl
• Hillel
• Vladimir Jabotinsky
• Moses Mendelssohn
• Rashi
• Solomon Schechter
• Shammai
• Ezer Weizman
• Maimonides (Rambam)

Biblical and Historical Documents

• Torah
• Pentateuch
• Old Testament
• Talmud
• Kabbalah
• Dead Sea Scrolls

Recommended Websites

• Judaism 101
• Ask the Rabbi
• The American Jewish Committee
• National Yiddish Book Center