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{{Jews and Judaism}}
'''[[Schism (religion)|Schism]]s among the [[Jew]]s''' are cultural as well as religious. They have happened as a product of historical accident, geography, and [[theology]].
==First Temple era==
Based on the historical narrative in the [[Bible]] and [[archeology]], Levantine civilization at the time of [[Solomon's Temple]] was prone to [[idol worship]], [[astrology]], worship of reigning kings, and [[paganism]]. (Some of the divinities or idols worshipped included [[Ba'al]] and possibly [[Asherah]].) This was in direct contrast to the teachings in the [[Torah]], and was condemned by the ancient Biblical [[prophet]]s who attacked those Israelites and Judeans who became idol worshipers. The split by the [[Kingdom of Israel]] from the [[Kingdom of Judah]] was completed by [[Jeraboam]] who crowned himself king, and built a northern temple with calf-like idol images that were condemned by the Judeans of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]]. After the destruction and exile of the northern [[Kingdom of Israel]] by [[Assyria]], the temptations to follow non-Judaic practices continued, so that according to the narratives of [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]] and others, it brought about the failure, destruction, and exile of the southern [[Kingdom of Judah]] by [[Babylonia]]. [[Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon|Nebuchadnezzar]] had additional reasons for taking over Judah and turning its inhabitants into exiles, including challenging its great rival [[Egypt]].
==Second Temple era==
[[Image:Menorah7a.png|100px|left|framed|The seven-branched [[Menorah]] stood in the Temple and is an ancient symbol of Judaism. A nine-branched version of it became the symbol of [[Hanukkah]] celebrations following the [[Maccabees]]' victory over the Greeks.]]
This was a time when the Jews lived under [[Persian Empire|Persian]], [[Timeline of Ancient Greece|Greek]], and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] power and influence. The main internal struggles during this era were between the [[Pharisees]] and the [[Sadducees]], as well as the [[Essenes]] and [[Zealots]]. The [[Pharisees]] wanted to maintain the authority and traditions of classical Torah teachings and began the early teachings of the [[Mishna]], maintaining the authority of the [[Sanhedrin]], the supreme Jewish court. The [[Sadducees]] sought to adapt to more [[Hellenistic]] ideas, as espoused by [[Philo]] of Egypt. The [[Essenes]] preached a reclusive way of life. The [[Zealots]] advocated armed rebellion against any foreign power such as [[Rome]]. All were at violent logger-heads with each other, leading to the confusion and disunity that ended with the destruction of the [[Second Temple]] and the sacking of [[Jerusalem]] by [[Rome]].
==Samaritans==
One small sect of [[Samaritan]]s is still extant. The Samaritan faith and that of other Jews diverged over two millennia ago. They consider themselves to be ''Bene Yisrael'' ("Children of Israel"), a term used universally by Jewish denominations for the Jewish people as a whole but do not call themselves ''Yehudim'' the usual Hebrew word for Jews considering it to denote only mainstream Jews. Modern mainstream Judaism regards them as a Jewish sect.{{Fact|date=October 2007}}
==Nazarenes==
The most famous schism in Jewish history was the split between the followers of [[Jesus]] (who were known as ''Notzrim'' or [[Nazarene]]s) attributed to the [[Council of Jamnia]], with the claim by his disciples that he was the long-awaited Jewish [[Messiah]], and the majority [[Pharisees]] (Predecessors to [[Rabbinic Judaism]]) who rejected this claim.
The eventual [[Antinomianism|abandonment of the Law of Moses following Christ's ministry]] by Jesus' [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciples]] and their [[Homoousian|belief in his deity]], along with the [[New Testament|publication of holy texts]], ensured that [[Christianity]] and Judaism would become different and often conflicting religions, see also [[Christianity and Judaism]]. The New Testament depicts the [[Saducees]] and [[Pharisees]] as Jesus' opponents, whereas the Jewish perspective has the Pharisees as the justified followers of the rabbis who upheld the [[Torah]], or what Christians refer to as the [[Old Testament]] as a mark of their having supplanted the Jews' position. This is known as [[Supersessionism]], a teaching strongly rejected by Judaism. Recently, some Christian churches have rejected or softened their teachings on supersessionism. See also [[New Covenant]] and [[Origins of Christianity]].
==Karaite Judaism==
{{main|Karaite Judaism}}
Karaite Judaism is a [[Jewish denominations|Jewish denomination]] characterized by reliance on the [[Tanakh]] as the sole [[sacred text|scripture]] and rejection of the [[Mishnah]] and [[Talmud]] as [[halakha]]. Karaites had a wide following between the 9th and 12th centuries, (they claim that at one time they numbered perhaps 10 percent of Jewry), but over the centuries their numbers have dwindled drastically. Today they are a small group, living mostly in [[Israel]]; estimates of the number of Israeli Karaites range from as low as 10,000 to as high as 40,000<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_402.html#2209 Judaism, continued...] from [[Adherents.com]]</ref><ref>[http://www.turkiye.net/sota/karaisr.html Karaims of Israel]</ref><ref>[http://qumran.com/Karaite%20Information/israels_karaites.htm qumran.com]</ref><ref>[http://qumran.com/Karaite%20Information/karaite_true_believers.htm qumran.com]</ref>.
There is a divergence of views about the historical origins of [[Karaite Judaism]]. Most scholars and some Karaites maintain that it was founded at least in part by [[Anan ben David]], whereas other Karaites believe that they are not the historical disciples of [[Anan ben David]] at all, and point out that many of their later sages (such as Ya'acov Al-Kirkisani) argued that most of Anan's teachings were "derived from Rabbanite Lore".
The state of Israel, along with its Chief Rabbinate, ruled that Karaites are Jews, and while critical differences between [[Orthodox Judaism]] and Karaite Judaism exist, American Orthodox rabbis ruled that Karaism is much closer to Orthodoxy than the Conservative and Reform movements, which may ease issues of formal conversion.
==Sabbatians and Frankists==
{{main|Sabbateans|Sabbatai Zevi|Jacob Frank}}
In [[1648]] [[Sabbatai Zevi|Shabtai Tzvi]] declared himself to be the long-awaited Jewish [[Messiah]] whilst living in the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Vast numbers of Jews, known as [[Sabbateans]], believed him; but when under pain of a death sentence in front of the Turkish [[sultan]] [[Mehmed IV]] he became an [[apostasy|apostate]] to Judaism by becoming a [[Muslim]], his movement crumbled. Nevertheless, for centuries, small groups of Jews believed in him, and the [[rabbi]]s were always on guard against any manifestations of this schism, always suspicious of hidden ''"Shebselach"'' (Yiddish for "little Sabbatians," a play on the word for "young dumb sheep"). Indeed, when the movement of [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidism]] began attracting many followers, the rabbis were once again suspicious that this was Sabbatianism in different garb. It would take many centuries to sort out these complex divisions and schisms and see where they were headed.
After his mysterious death somewhere in the area of Turkish [[Albania]], groups of Jews continued to be clandestine followers of Shabtai Tzvi even though they had outwardly converted to [[Islam]], these Jews being known as the [[Donmeh]]. Jewish converts to Islam were, at times, therefore regarded with great suspicion by their fellow Muslims.
A few decades after Shabtai's death, a man by the name of [[Jacob Frank]] claiming mystical powers preached that he was Shabtai Tzvi's successor. He attracted a following, preached against the [[Talmud]], advocated a form of licentious worship, and was condemned by the rabbis at the time. When confronted by the [[Poland|Polish]] authorities, he converted to [[Catholicism]] in [[1759]] in the presence of [[August III the Saxon|King Augustus III of Poland]], together with groups of his Jewish followers, known as "Frankists". To the alarm of his opponents, he was received by reigning European monarchs who were anxious to see their Jewish subjects abandon Judaism and [[apostasy|apostacise]]. The Frankists eventually joined the Polish nobility and gentry.
==Hasidim and Mitnagdim==<!-- This section is linked from [[Hasidic Judaism]] -->
{{main|Hasidic Judaism|Mitnagdim}}
:''Note: While the name "Hasidim" has gained popular and positive approval, the name "Mitnagdim" has fallen out of popular usage and may even be regarded as offensive by some''.
{{npov}}
The arrival of Rabbi [[Israel ben Eliezer]] ([[1698]]-[[1760]]), known as the ''Baal Shem Tov'' ("Master [of the] Good Name"), on the scene of Jewish history in [[Eastern Europe]] would herald the commencement of a sea-change in what is known today as [[Haredi Judaism]]. Even though he did not write books, he succeeded in gaining powerful disciples to his teachings that were based on the earlier expositions of Rabbi [[Isaac Luria]] ([[1534]]-[[1572]]) known as the ''Ari'' who had based much of his [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] teachings on the [[Zohar]]. The ''Baal Shem Tov'' came at a time when the Jewish masses of Eastern Europe were reeling in bewilderment and disappointment engendered by the two notorious Jewish [[false messiah]]s [[Sabbatai Zevi]] ([[1626]]-[[1676]]) and [[Jacob Frank]] ([[1726]]-[[1791]]) in particular.
The ''Baal Shem Tov'' witnessed Frank's public [[apostasy]] (''shmad'' in Hebrew) to [[Christianity]], which compounded Zevi's earlier apostasy to [[Islam]]. The ''Baal Shem Tov'' was thus determined to encourage his influential disciples to launch a spiritual revolution in Jewish life in order to reinvogorate the Jewish masses' connections with [[Torah Judaism]] and to vigorously motivate them to bind themselves to the joyous observance of the [[613 mitzvot|commandments]], [[Jewish services|worship]], [[Torah study]], and sincere belief in [[Names of God in Judaism|God]], so that the lures of Christianity and Islam, and the appeal of the rising [[secular]] [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], to the Jewish masses would be weakened and halted. To a large degree Israel succeeded in Eastern Europe.
Already during his lifetime, and gaining momentum following his death, the ''Baal Shem Tov's'' disciples spread out to teach his mystical creeds all over Eastern Europe. Thus was born [[Hasidic Judaism]] (Hasidism). Some of the main movements were in: [[Russia]] which saw the rise of the [[Chabad-Lubavitch]] movement; [[Poland]] which had the [[Ger (Hasidic dynasty)|Gerrer Hasidim]]; [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]] had [[Bobov (Hasidic dynasty)|Bobov]]; [[Hungary]] had [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)|Satmar Hasidim]]; and [[Ukraine]] had the [[Breslov (Hasidic dynasty)|Breslovers]], and many others that grew rapidly gaining literally millions of adherents, until it became the dominant brand of Judaism in Eastern Europe in the century following the ''Baal Shem Tov's'' death. The Jewish masses flocked to this new inspired brand of mystical [[Judaism]], and retained their connections to their Jewish heritage and way of life.
[[Image:Vilna Gaon portrait.gif|right|framed|Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna, the [[Vilna Gaon]], leader of the ''[[Mitnagdim]]''.]]
Only when this new religious movement reached [[Lithuania]] did it meet its stiffest resistance among the [[Lithuanian Jews]] (also known as ''Litvaks''). It was Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer ([[1720]]-[[1797]]), known as the [[Vilna Gaon]] ("Genius [of] [[Vilna]]"), and those who followed his classic stringent [[Talmud]]ic and [[Halakha|Halakhic]] scholastism, who put up the fiercest resistance to the [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidim]] ("Righteous [ones]"). They were called ''[[Mitnagdim]]'', meaning "[those who are] oppose/d [to the Hasidim]".
The ''Vilna Gaon'', who was himself steeped in both [[Talmud]]ic and [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] wisdom, analyzed the theological underpinnings of this new "[[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidism]]" and in his view, concluded that it was deeply flawed since it had elements of what may be roughly termed as [[panentheism]] and perhaps even outright [[pantheism]], dangerous aspirations for bringing the [[Jewish Messiah]] that could easily be twisted in unpredictable directions for Jewry as had previously happened with the [[Sabbatai Zevi|Zevi]] and [[Jacob Frank|Frank]] religious "revival" [[fiasco]]s, and an array of complex rejections of their religious ideology. The ''Vilna Gaon's'' views were later formulated by his chief disciple Rabbi [[Chaim Volozhin]] ([[1741]]-[[1821]]) in his work ''[[Nefesh HaChaim]]''. The new Hasidic leaders countered with their own religious counter-arguments, some of which can be found in the ''[[Tanya]]'' of Chabad-Lubavitch. Much of the debate remains obscure.
[[Image:Schneur Zalman of Liadi.jpg|right|thumb|Rabbi [[Shneur Zalman of Liadi]] founder of [[Chabad-Lubavitch]].]]
However, regardless of the unpopularity of the move, the ''Vilna Gaon'' and the scholars of the [[Beth din]] ("[Jewish] religious court") of Vilna went so far as to place at least one severe [[cherem]] upon the Hasidim, officially "excommunicating" them from [[Judaism]], which they in turn copied and did likewise to the ''mitnagdim''. The ''Vilna Gaon's'' strongest opposition was to the founder of [[Chabad-Lubavitch]], Rabbi [[Shneur Zalman of Liadi]] ([[1745]]-[[1812]]) and to the founder of Breslov Rabbi [[Nachman of Breslov]] ([[1772]]-[[1810]]). Physical fights broke out in Vilna with each side trying to gain the favor of the Russian authorities and declaring the other side to be beyond the pale of Judaism.
The bitterness and animosity bettween the two camps ran deep, and basically whoever joined one wing, did not attend or pray in the same [[synagogue]]s as the other wing, nor have the same Torah teachers, and they would generally not marry into each other's families, which is still more or less the rule today where there is a high degree of internal communal structure.
Little of the split between Hasidim and Mitnagdim remains within the modern Haredi world. When confronted by mutual threats, such as from the secular Jews of the [[haskalah]], or by the onslaught of [[Communism]] and [[the Holocaust]], or faced by secular [[Zionism|Zionists]], Hasidim and Mitnagdim do work together. When the outside world does not threaten them, their battle of ideas resumes as an intellectual debate. Each group has its own unique method of [[yeshiva]] study and communal life, no matter where they establish themselves. They tend to live in different neighborhoods that are still within commuting distance, although even these differences are quickly disappearing.
In modern-day [[Israel]] Hasidim support the [[Agudat Israel]] party in the [[Knesset]] (Israel's parliament) and the non-Hasidic Mitnagdim support the [[Degel HaTorah]] party. ''Degel HaTorah'' is led by Rabbi [[Yosef Shalom Eliashiv]] in [[Jerusalem]]. Agudat Israel and Degel Torah have formed a political alliance. There is also another large community that follows the rabbinical teachings of the [[Edah Charedis]]. These include the [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)|Satmar Hasidim]] and the ''perushim'' communities which do not support any groups that participate in the Israeli government or in Israeli including elections.
==Orthodox versus Reform, East versus West==
{{main|Relationships between Jewish religious movements}}
From the time of the [[French Revolution]] of [[1789]], and the growth of [[Liberalism]], added to the political and personal freedoms granted by [[Napoleon]] to the Jews of Europe, many Jews chose to abandon the foreboding and isolating [[ghetto]]s and enter into general society. This influenced the internal conflicts about religion, culture, and politics of the Jews to this day.
Some Jews in [[West Europe|Western Europe]], and many Jews in [[United States|America]], joined the religiously liberal new [[Reform Judaism]] movement, which drew inspiration from the writings of modernist thinkers like [[Moses Mendelson]]. They coined the name "Orthodox" to describe those who opposed the "Reform". They were criticized by the [[Orthodox Judaism]] rabbis such as [[Samson Raphael Hirsch]] in Germany, and condemned, particularly by those known today as followers of [[Haredi Judaism]], based mainly in [[East Europe|Eastern Europe]].
There was thus also created a cultural [[schism (religion)|schism]] between the more westernised [[English language|English]], [[German language|German]] and [[French language|French]]-speaking [[Western Europe]]an Jews and their more religiously observant [[Yiddish]] speaking [[Eastern Europe]]an brethren whom they denigratingly labelled ''Ost Yidden'' ("Eastern Jews"). These schisms and the debates surrounding them, continue with much ferocity in all Jewish communities today as the Reform and Orthodox movements continue to confront each other over a wide range of religious, social, political and ethnic issues.
==References==
<references />
==See also==
*[[Jews in apostasy]]
*[[Jewish heretics]]
==External links==
*[http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=157109 What's the difference between Orthodox, Conservative and Reform?]
*[http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=42624 Jewish Identity]
{{Jewish history}}
[[Category:Jewish denominations]]
[[Category:Jewish history]]
[[Category:Jewish theology]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism-related controversies| ]]
[[Category:Judaism]]
[[Category:Schisms in Judaism|*]]
'''[[Schism (religion)|Schism]]s among the [[Jew]]s''' are cultural as well as religious. They have happened as a product of historical accident, geography, and [[theology]].
==First Temple era==
Based on the historical narrative in the [[Bible]] and [[archeology]], Levantine civilization at the time of [[Solomon's Temple]] was prone to [[idol worship]], [[astrology]], worship of reigning kings, and [[paganism]]. (Some of the divinities or idols worshipped included [[Ba'al]] and possibly [[Asherah]].) This was in direct contrast to the teachings in the [[Torah]], and was condemned by the ancient Biblical [[prophet]]s who attacked those Israelites and Judeans who became idol worshipers. The split by the [[Kingdom of Israel]] from the [[Kingdom of Judah]] was completed by [[Jeraboam]] who crowned himself king, and built a northern temple with calf-like idol images that were condemned by the Judeans of [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]]. After the destruction and exile of the northern [[Kingdom of Israel]] by [[Assyria]], the temptations to follow non-Judaic practices continued, so that according to the narratives of [[Jeremiah (prophet)|Jeremiah]] and others, it brought about the failure, destruction, and exile of the southern [[Kingdom of Judah]] by [[Babylonia]]. [[Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon|Nebuchadnezzar]] had additional reasons for taking over Judah and turning its inhabitants into exiles, including challenging its great rival [[Egypt]].
==Second Temple era==
[[Image:Menorah7a.png|100px|left|framed|The seven-branched [[Menorah]] stood in the Temple and is an ancient symbol of Judaism. A nine-branched version of it became the symbol of [[Hanukkah]] celebrations following the [[Maccabees]]' victory over the Greeks.]]
This was a time when the Jews lived under [[Persian Empire|Persian]], [[Timeline of Ancient Greece|Greek]], and [[Roman Empire|Roman]] power and influence. The main internal struggles during this era were between the [[Pharisees]] and the [[Sadducees]], as well as the [[Essenes]] and [[Zealots]]. The [[Pharisees]] wanted to maintain the authority and traditions of classical Torah teachings and began the early teachings of the [[Mishna]], maintaining the authority of the [[Sanhedrin]], the supreme Jewish court. The [[Sadducees]] sought to adapt to more [[Hellenistic]] ideas, as espoused by [[Philo]] of Egypt. The [[Essenes]] preached a reclusive way of life. The [[Zealots]] advocated armed rebellion against any foreign power such as [[Rome]]. All were at violent logger-heads with each other, leading to the confusion and disunity that ended with the destruction of the [[Second Temple]] and the sacking of [[Jerusalem]] by [[Rome]].
==Samaritans==
One small sect of [[Samaritan]]s is still extant. The Samaritan faith and that of other Jews diverged over two millennia ago. They consider themselves to be ''Bene Yisrael'' ("Children of Israel"), a term used universally by Jewish denominations for the Jewish people as a whole but do not call themselves ''Yehudim'' the usual Hebrew word for Jews considering it to denote only mainstream Jews. Modern mainstream Judaism regards them as a Jewish sect.{{Fact|date=October 2007}}
==Nazarenes==
The most famous schism in Jewish history was the split between the followers of [[Jesus]] (who were known as ''Notzrim'' or [[Nazarene]]s) attributed to the [[Council of Jamnia]], with the claim by his disciples that he was the long-awaited Jewish [[Messiah]], and the majority [[Pharisees]] (Predecessors to [[Rabbinic Judaism]]) who rejected this claim.
The eventual [[Antinomianism|abandonment of the Law of Moses following Christ's ministry]] by Jesus' [[Disciple (Christianity)|disciples]] and their [[Homoousian|belief in his deity]], along with the [[New Testament|publication of holy texts]], ensured that [[Christianity]] and Judaism would become different and often conflicting religions, see also [[Christianity and Judaism]]. The New Testament depicts the [[Saducees]] and [[Pharisees]] as Jesus' opponents, whereas the Jewish perspective has the Pharisees as the justified followers of the rabbis who upheld the [[Torah]], or what Christians refer to as the [[Old Testament]] as a mark of their having supplanted the Jews' position. This is known as [[Supersessionism]], a teaching strongly rejected by Judaism. Recently, some Christian churches have rejected or softened their teachings on supersessionism. See also [[New Covenant]] and [[Origins of Christianity]].
==Karaite Judaism==
{{main|Karaite Judaism}}
Karaite Judaism is a [[Jewish denominations|Jewish denomination]] characterized by reliance on the [[Tanakh]] as the sole [[sacred text|scripture]] and rejection of the [[Mishnah]] and [[Talmud]] as [[halakha]]. Karaites had a wide following between the 9th and 12th centuries, (they claim that at one time they numbered perhaps 10 percent of Jewry), but over the centuries their numbers have dwindled drastically. Today they are a small group, living mostly in [[Israel]]; estimates of the number of Israeli Karaites range from as low as 10,000 to as high as 40,000<ref>[http://www.adherents.com/Na/Na_402.html#2209 Judaism, continued...] from [[Adherents.com]]</ref><ref>[http://www.turkiye.net/sota/karaisr.html Karaims of Israel]</ref><ref>[http://qumran.com/Karaite%20Information/israels_karaites.htm qumran.com]</ref><ref>[http://qumran.com/Karaite%20Information/karaite_true_believers.htm qumran.com]</ref>.
There is a divergence of views about the historical origins of [[Karaite Judaism]]. Most scholars and some Karaites maintain that it was founded at least in part by [[Anan ben David]], whereas other Karaites believe that they are not the historical disciples of [[Anan ben David]] at all, and point out that many of their later sages (such as Ya'acov Al-Kirkisani) argued that most of Anan's teachings were "derived from Rabbanite Lore".
The state of Israel, along with its Chief Rabbinate, ruled that Karaites are Jews, and while critical differences between [[Orthodox Judaism]] and Karaite Judaism exist, American Orthodox rabbis ruled that Karaism is much closer to Orthodoxy than the Conservative and Reform movements, which may ease issues of formal conversion.
==Sabbatians and Frankists==
{{main|Sabbateans|Sabbatai Zevi|Jacob Frank}}
In [[1648]] [[Sabbatai Zevi|Shabtai Tzvi]] declared himself to be the long-awaited Jewish [[Messiah]] whilst living in the [[Ottoman Empire]]. Vast numbers of Jews, known as [[Sabbateans]], believed him; but when under pain of a death sentence in front of the Turkish [[sultan]] [[Mehmed IV]] he became an [[apostasy|apostate]] to Judaism by becoming a [[Muslim]], his movement crumbled. Nevertheless, for centuries, small groups of Jews believed in him, and the [[rabbi]]s were always on guard against any manifestations of this schism, always suspicious of hidden ''"Shebselach"'' (Yiddish for "little Sabbatians," a play on the word for "young dumb sheep"). Indeed, when the movement of [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidism]] began attracting many followers, the rabbis were once again suspicious that this was Sabbatianism in different garb. It would take many centuries to sort out these complex divisions and schisms and see where they were headed.
After his mysterious death somewhere in the area of Turkish [[Albania]], groups of Jews continued to be clandestine followers of Shabtai Tzvi even though they had outwardly converted to [[Islam]], these Jews being known as the [[Donmeh]]. Jewish converts to Islam were, at times, therefore regarded with great suspicion by their fellow Muslims.
A few decades after Shabtai's death, a man by the name of [[Jacob Frank]] claiming mystical powers preached that he was Shabtai Tzvi's successor. He attracted a following, preached against the [[Talmud]], advocated a form of licentious worship, and was condemned by the rabbis at the time. When confronted by the [[Poland|Polish]] authorities, he converted to [[Catholicism]] in [[1759]] in the presence of [[August III the Saxon|King Augustus III of Poland]], together with groups of his Jewish followers, known as "Frankists". To the alarm of his opponents, he was received by reigning European monarchs who were anxious to see their Jewish subjects abandon Judaism and [[apostasy|apostacise]]. The Frankists eventually joined the Polish nobility and gentry.
==Hasidim and Mitnagdim==<!-- This section is linked from [[Hasidic Judaism]] -->
{{main|Hasidic Judaism|Mitnagdim}}
:''Note: While the name "Hasidim" has gained popular and positive approval, the name "Mitnagdim" has fallen out of popular usage and may even be regarded as offensive by some''.
{{npov}}
The arrival of Rabbi [[Israel ben Eliezer]] ([[1698]]-[[1760]]), known as the ''Baal Shem Tov'' ("Master [of the] Good Name"), on the scene of Jewish history in [[Eastern Europe]] would herald the commencement of a sea-change in what is known today as [[Haredi Judaism]]. Even though he did not write books, he succeeded in gaining powerful disciples to his teachings that were based on the earlier expositions of Rabbi [[Isaac Luria]] ([[1534]]-[[1572]]) known as the ''Ari'' who had based much of his [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] teachings on the [[Zohar]]. The ''Baal Shem Tov'' came at a time when the Jewish masses of Eastern Europe were reeling in bewilderment and disappointment engendered by the two notorious Jewish [[false messiah]]s [[Sabbatai Zevi]] ([[1626]]-[[1676]]) and [[Jacob Frank]] ([[1726]]-[[1791]]) in particular.
The ''Baal Shem Tov'' witnessed Frank's public [[apostasy]] (''shmad'' in Hebrew) to [[Christianity]], which compounded Zevi's earlier apostasy to [[Islam]]. The ''Baal Shem Tov'' was thus determined to encourage his influential disciples to launch a spiritual revolution in Jewish life in order to reinvogorate the Jewish masses' connections with [[Torah Judaism]] and to vigorously motivate them to bind themselves to the joyous observance of the [[613 mitzvot|commandments]], [[Jewish services|worship]], [[Torah study]], and sincere belief in [[Names of God in Judaism|God]], so that the lures of Christianity and Islam, and the appeal of the rising [[secular]] [[Age of Enlightenment|Enlightenment]], to the Jewish masses would be weakened and halted. To a large degree Israel succeeded in Eastern Europe.
Already during his lifetime, and gaining momentum following his death, the ''Baal Shem Tov's'' disciples spread out to teach his mystical creeds all over Eastern Europe. Thus was born [[Hasidic Judaism]] (Hasidism). Some of the main movements were in: [[Russia]] which saw the rise of the [[Chabad-Lubavitch]] movement; [[Poland]] which had the [[Ger (Hasidic dynasty)|Gerrer Hasidim]]; [[Galicia (Central Europe)|Galicia]] had [[Bobov (Hasidic dynasty)|Bobov]]; [[Hungary]] had [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)|Satmar Hasidim]]; and [[Ukraine]] had the [[Breslov (Hasidic dynasty)|Breslovers]], and many others that grew rapidly gaining literally millions of adherents, until it became the dominant brand of Judaism in Eastern Europe in the century following the ''Baal Shem Tov's'' death. The Jewish masses flocked to this new inspired brand of mystical [[Judaism]], and retained their connections to their Jewish heritage and way of life.
[[Image:Vilna Gaon portrait.gif|right|framed|Rabbi Eliyahu of Vilna, the [[Vilna Gaon]], leader of the ''[[Mitnagdim]]''.]]
Only when this new religious movement reached [[Lithuania]] did it meet its stiffest resistance among the [[Lithuanian Jews]] (also known as ''Litvaks''). It was Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer ([[1720]]-[[1797]]), known as the [[Vilna Gaon]] ("Genius [of] [[Vilna]]"), and those who followed his classic stringent [[Talmud]]ic and [[Halakha|Halakhic]] scholastism, who put up the fiercest resistance to the [[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidim]] ("Righteous [ones]"). They were called ''[[Mitnagdim]]'', meaning "[those who are] oppose/d [to the Hasidim]".
The ''Vilna Gaon'', who was himself steeped in both [[Talmud]]ic and [[Kabbalah|Kabbalistic]] wisdom, analyzed the theological underpinnings of this new "[[Hasidic Judaism|Hasidism]]" and in his view, concluded that it was deeply flawed since it had elements of what may be roughly termed as [[panentheism]] and perhaps even outright [[pantheism]], dangerous aspirations for bringing the [[Jewish Messiah]] that could easily be twisted in unpredictable directions for Jewry as had previously happened with the [[Sabbatai Zevi|Zevi]] and [[Jacob Frank|Frank]] religious "revival" [[fiasco]]s, and an array of complex rejections of their religious ideology. The ''Vilna Gaon's'' views were later formulated by his chief disciple Rabbi [[Chaim Volozhin]] ([[1741]]-[[1821]]) in his work ''[[Nefesh HaChaim]]''. The new Hasidic leaders countered with their own religious counter-arguments, some of which can be found in the ''[[Tanya]]'' of Chabad-Lubavitch. Much of the debate remains obscure.
[[Image:Schneur Zalman of Liadi.jpg|right|thumb|Rabbi [[Shneur Zalman of Liadi]] founder of [[Chabad-Lubavitch]].]]
However, regardless of the unpopularity of the move, the ''Vilna Gaon'' and the scholars of the [[Beth din]] ("[Jewish] religious court") of Vilna went so far as to place at least one severe [[cherem]] upon the Hasidim, officially "excommunicating" them from [[Judaism]], which they in turn copied and did likewise to the ''mitnagdim''. The ''Vilna Gaon's'' strongest opposition was to the founder of [[Chabad-Lubavitch]], Rabbi [[Shneur Zalman of Liadi]] ([[1745]]-[[1812]]) and to the founder of Breslov Rabbi [[Nachman of Breslov]] ([[1772]]-[[1810]]). Physical fights broke out in Vilna with each side trying to gain the favor of the Russian authorities and declaring the other side to be beyond the pale of Judaism.
The bitterness and animosity bettween the two camps ran deep, and basically whoever joined one wing, did not attend or pray in the same [[synagogue]]s as the other wing, nor have the same Torah teachers, and they would generally not marry into each other's families, which is still more or less the rule today where there is a high degree of internal communal structure.
Little of the split between Hasidim and Mitnagdim remains within the modern Haredi world. When confronted by mutual threats, such as from the secular Jews of the [[haskalah]], or by the onslaught of [[Communism]] and [[the Holocaust]], or faced by secular [[Zionism|Zionists]], Hasidim and Mitnagdim do work together. When the outside world does not threaten them, their battle of ideas resumes as an intellectual debate. Each group has its own unique method of [[yeshiva]] study and communal life, no matter where they establish themselves. They tend to live in different neighborhoods that are still within commuting distance, although even these differences are quickly disappearing.
In modern-day [[Israel]] Hasidim support the [[Agudat Israel]] party in the [[Knesset]] (Israel's parliament) and the non-Hasidic Mitnagdim support the [[Degel HaTorah]] party. ''Degel HaTorah'' is led by Rabbi [[Yosef Shalom Eliashiv]] in [[Jerusalem]]. Agudat Israel and Degel Torah have formed a political alliance. There is also another large community that follows the rabbinical teachings of the [[Edah Charedis]]. These include the [[Satmar (Hasidic dynasty)|Satmar Hasidim]] and the ''perushim'' communities which do not support any groups that participate in the Israeli government or in Israeli including elections.
==Orthodox versus Reform, East versus West==
{{main|Relationships between Jewish religious movements}}
From the time of the [[French Revolution]] of [[1789]], and the growth of [[Liberalism]], added to the political and personal freedoms granted by [[Napoleon]] to the Jews of Europe, many Jews chose to abandon the foreboding and isolating [[ghetto]]s and enter into general society. This influenced the internal conflicts about religion, culture, and politics of the Jews to this day.
Some Jews in [[West Europe|Western Europe]], and many Jews in [[United States|America]], joined the religiously liberal new [[Reform Judaism]] movement, which drew inspiration from the writings of modernist thinkers like [[Moses Mendelson]]. They coined the name "Orthodox" to describe those who opposed the "Reform". They were criticized by the [[Orthodox Judaism]] rabbis such as [[Samson Raphael Hirsch]] in Germany, and condemned, particularly by those known today as followers of [[Haredi Judaism]], based mainly in [[East Europe|Eastern Europe]].
There was thus also created a cultural [[schism (religion)|schism]] between the more westernised [[English language|English]], [[German language|German]] and [[French language|French]]-speaking [[Western Europe]]an Jews and their more religiously observant [[Yiddish]] speaking [[Eastern Europe]]an brethren whom they denigratingly labelled ''Ost Yidden'' ("Eastern Jews"). These schisms and the debates surrounding them, continue with much ferocity in all Jewish communities today as the Reform and Orthodox movements continue to confront each other over a wide range of religious, social, political and ethnic issues.
==References==
<references />
==See also==
*[[Jews in apostasy]]
*[[Jewish heretics]]
==External links==
*[http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=157109 What's the difference between Orthodox, Conservative and Reform?]
*[http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=42624 Jewish Identity]
{{Jewish history}}
[[Category:Jewish denominations]]
[[Category:Jewish history]]
[[Category:Jewish theology]]
[[Category:Jews and Judaism-related controversies| ]]
[[Category:Judaism]]
[[Category:Schisms in Judaism|*]]