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[German Version] Memra, Aramaic מימר/ mymr or מימרא/ mymr' (from אמר/ 'mr, “say, speak”) means “word,” “speech,” and is found in the targumim (Bible translations: I, 4) in the stereotyped expression “the word of YHWH.” In manuscripts and printings, the tetragram is replaced by the Hebrew letters he or by two yudim, to show that it should not be pronounced but be replaced by Adonai (“Lord”). Thus, this expression is comparable to other paraphrases of God's name in rabbinic tradition, such as maqom (literally “place”, i.e. God's omnipresence), shamaim (“heaven”), ha-gevura (“power,” in…

[German Version] (from the Heb. הלך/ hlḥ; literally “to go, to walk”) described, in rabbinic usage, “the (particular) standardized religious rule, the prevailing precept” (Bacher), and later it also stood for Judaism's entire legal system. In addition to the Haggadah, i.e. the non-legal matters, the Halakhah represents one of the two main strands of rabbinic tradition. In this, the former is not of a legally binding character, and no Halakhah may be derived from the Haggadah. As for the derivation of the term Halakhah, the biblical usage of the verb הלך, as especially encountered in …

[German Version] I. General Preaching (from Lat. praedicare, “proclaim publicly”) is spiritual or religious speech, in contrast, for example, to forensic speech, political speech, or celebratory speech. Its setting is the worship of the community (Ministerial offices), church activities such as evangelism, devotions (Devotion [Attitude]), and ordinations (Consecration/Ordination/Dedication), and – in various forms – the media (see IV below). …

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[German Version] or fringes (Heb. ṣîṣit/ tsitsit) are attached to the four ends of the Prayer shawl (tallit) as a reminder of God’s commandments. The custom of wearing these ¶ fringes or tassels is based on Num 15:37–41, a text that is also part of the Shema (esp. v. 38: “. . . . tell them to sew tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations and to put a blue cord on the tassel at each corner”) and Deut 22:12 (“You shall make tassels on the four corn…

[German Version] I. History of Religion – II. Old Testament – III. Judaism – IV. New Testament – V. History of Theology – VI. Creation and Preservation – VII. Religious Education – VIII. Islam – IX. Science – X. Art History I. History of Religion 1. Fundamentals Life, nature, the environment, the passage of time – these are everyday experiences for any society. But reality also includes the danger that this world may be imperiled or perilous. Chaos and death are part …

[German Version] (Aramaicized form, Aggada), derived from Hebrew נגד/ ngd “to recount,” “to tell,” is already defined in medieval Jewish tradition, mostly negatively, as the non-legal branch of rabbinic literature and was employed as a complement to Halakhah. The source for the Haggadah is the material of the Hebrew Bible, which is presented – sometimes simply retold, sometimes supplemented with many new details – with educational, parenetic, promissory or some other homiletic intention and interpreted i…

[German Version] I. Antiquity The Shema (שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל) is named from the initial words of Deut 6:4–9 (“Hear, O Israel: The Lord your God is one”). Together with the ‘Amida (Prayer: XI, ¶ 1), it is one of the cornerstones of Jewish worship (II, 3.a; Liturgy: VII), being recited during morning prayers ( Shacharit) and evening prayers ( Ma‘ariv); on the basis of Deut 6:7, reciting the Shema is understood as a biblical commandment (cf. also Deut 11:19: “Teach [these words of mine] to your children, talking about them... when you lie down and when you …

[German Version] (Heb. חֲנוֹך/ Ḥanôḥ, Gk Ἐνώχ/ Enṓch) is, according to the source transmitted in Gen 4:17f. and attributed by biblical scholars to the Yahwist (Pentateuch), the son of Cain after whom his father named a ¶ city; in contrast, according to Priestly source (Gen 5:1ff.), as the son of Jared and father of Methuselah, he was a descendant of Seth (the name also occurs in Gen 25:4; 1 Chr 1:33 – son of Midian, grandson of Abraham; Exod 6:14; 1 Chr 5:3 – the eldest son of Reuben, grandson of Jacob; Num 26:5 – ancestor of the Enochites). The genealogy of Gen 5:23–24 …

[German Version] I. The Concept – II. Religious Studies – III. History – IV. Philosophy of Religion – V. Practical Theology – VI. Islamic Mysticism – VII. Hindu Mysticism – VIII. Taoist Mysticism I. The Concept The concept of mysticism is closely linked to the development of the history of relig…

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[German Version] I. Terminology – II.#x2002;Ancient Near East and Old Testament – III.#x2002;Greco-Roman Antiquity – IV. Judaism – V. Christianity – VI. History of Modern Science I. Terminology Cosmology is a specific culture's orientation in space and time as conceived in words, images, and rituals. The orientation combines signs that can be perceived with signs that are set. Only in the complementarity of the construed other does the “natural” phenomenon acquire the meaning of a significant marker. Thus, conventional determinations make of the daily migrating site on the horizon at which the sun rises the four right angles of the “cardinal po…

[German Version] A prayer shawl (Heb. tallit) is a rectangular scarf, usually of wool but today often made of silk, corresponding to the outer garment worn by men during antiquity; eight tassels or fringes (Heb. ziziot) are attached to its four corners as reminders of God’s commandments. The custom of attaching these fringes is based on Num 15:37–41 and Deut 22:12; it is also mentioned in the New Testament (Matt 23:5). Rabbinic literature contains precise regulations governing the fringes (esp. in the extracanonical tractate …

[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Judaism – III. Christianity – IV. Islam I. Religious Studies Casuistry (from Lat. casus, “case”) is a method of practical and dialectical reasoning and argumentation in which the formulation of a specific case that is perceived to be problematic is followed by the application of general moral principles, norms, and guidelines to the specific case at hand. The purpose of this method is to arrive, under changed and changing circumstances, at a well-founded and value-oriented formulation by reflecting on as many aspects and relevant examples of everyday practice as possible, this being done with a view to ¶ determine – in consideration of the relevant historical and social context – what is to be deemed morally correct or a moral duty in the specific case at hand. On account of its systematic and comparative method of finding practical solutions to specific moral problems of everyday life, casuistry is sometimes also referred to as moral taxonomy. Casuistry developed and flourished in various cultures and religions that are characterized by a strongly traditionalistic way of thinking. It is encountered in a fixed written form in casuistic …

[German Version] Shemoneh Esreh, “Eighteen Benedictions,” so called for the number of its berakhot; also called the Amida, “Standing,” since it is recited standing (Prayer: IX, 1), or …

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[German Version] I. Religious Studies – II. Old Testament – III. New Testament– IV. Church History – V. Philosophy of Religion – VI. Dogmatics – VII. Art History – VIII. Practical Theology – IX. Judaism – X. Islam I. Religious Studies Religious conceptions include numinous intermediary beings of the most varied types and origins that mediate between the divine sphere and humanity and also serve higher powers. These are sometimes …

[German Version] feast of “rejoicing in the Torah” on 22 Tishri in Israel (the eighth and last day of the Feast of Booths [Feasts and festivals: III]), on 23 Tishri in the Diaspora. On this day the annual cycle of Torah readings is concluded and immediately begun again, to emphasize that study of Torah never ends. The lector who reads the final section of Deuteronomy is called chatan Tora, “bridegroom of the Torah,” and the lector who reads the first section from Genesis is call…

[German Version] I. Ethiopic Enoch – II. Slavonic Enoch – III. Hebrew Enoch I. Ethiopic Enoch Ethiopic Enoch (or 1 Enoch) contains the most extensive collection of apocalyptic Enoch traditions; they are preserved in their entirety only in Ethiopic, since this book enjoyed special esteem in the Ethiopian Church, and it has even been included in the Old Testament canon since the 15th century. The importance of the book in Second Temple Judaism is indicated by the many text fragments in the original Aramaic found at Qumran, which have laid a new foundation for study of the work. The New Testament also contains …