The Routledge Dictionary of Judaism (Routledge Dictionaries) Book

This dictionary addresses the religion that finds in the Torah - God's revelation to Moses at Mount Sinai - the full and complete account of what God wants from humanity. In the perspective of this religion, of Judaism, God's presence is located especially in Israel, the people who know God and who, forming God's kingdom in the Torah, stand in a covenanted relationship with God. By "Israel" Judaism thus means the people that came into being at Sinai by accepting the Torah; they are the heirs and descendants of the patriarchs and matriarchs, of Abraham and Sarah, Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Leah and Rachel. Israel, the people, and Judaism, their religion, as they are referred to here, thus represent supernatural categories, not to be confused with the ethnic group, the Jewish People and its culture, or with the nation-state, the State of Israel. In these pages, the authors speak of the "Israel" of the liturgy and holy books of the religion, Judaism.