Can someone please tell me the difference between all these different kinds of Jews...like Hassidic and?

Question

Talmudic and mosaic and all of them? they confuse me.

Answer 1

In Judaism overall there is the Orthodox, conservative, reform and reconstructionist split, listed in order of their adherence to halachah with Orthodox being the only group to adhere to the complete Halachah, Conservative dropping what they consider are just rabbinic additions - including the Gemorrah and ONLY going according to the Torah and Mishnah, but even then they have questionable practices from the Orthodox viewpoint. Reform is even more modernised and Reconstructionist- while I know they are more modernised then Reform I don't really know much about since they are not represented at all in South Africa.

Within Orthodox you have the following major divisions:
Mitnagdim- literal translation of those oppossed. This is a label that only dates back a couple of hundred years when the Chassidic movement started. Initially Chassidus was considered heretical and those who wanted to identify there opposition adopted this label (including the major rabbis at the time). In time Chassidus dropped those parts which were questionable and moved into the mainstream, but the label still stuck.
Within Mitnagdim you have
Modern Orthodox- guys like me- we observe all the laws but are more integrated into the secular world in our dress and jobs.
Orthodox - tend to be more formally dressed and more conservative than Modern Orthodox but there are no major differences just a few differences in customs
Hareidi- also often referred to as Ultra-Orthodox. These are the guys that people often think of when they think of the proototypical Jew- the guys with the big beards, black coats and hats and who are more comfortable conversing in yiddish than in any vernacular of the country they live in (and yep- that applies to Israel since they view hebrew as the Holy Language and don't use it for secualr discussion but only for prayer and religious study).
Al the mitnagdim when studying Kaballah- they put a lot of restrictions on it- and use the understanding of Rabbi Isaac Luria

Chassidim- this group developed from a mystic named the Baal Shem Tov who focussed more on the spiritual connection rather than the here and now. They study the mystic side far more intensely than the mitnagdim who view needing to know about the spiritual as a "nice to know but not essential" as oppossed to shas (the entire Jewish body of law excluding Kaballah and a couple of mystic books) as being the most important since that is what is important to us here on earth. Their understanding of the Kaballah differs from the mitnagdim- as the Baal Shem Tov disagrees with the Arizal in quite a few areas. Within Chassidus there are a large number of sub-units- but their dress is pretty much the same as that of the ultra-orthodox (and the two are often lumped together in discussions and therefore the usage of Hareidi rather than ultra-orthodox frequently). For those in the know, the type of hat/coat/ manner in which the sideburns are worn are often indicators of which chassidic sect a person belongs to. (perosnally I can identify a handful of sects like this- but by no means all.)

The above largely applies to Ashkenazi Jews- mainly Jews of Eastern European descent. The other mainly grouping is Sephardi Jews- those from Spain and the Middle east. Within Sephardi there are splits as well- the differences often coming regions
Temeni: Jews from Yemen
Moraccai: Jews from Morocco
Sfard: The main generic classification within this group.

Ashkenazi and Sefardi Jews tend to have a lot of different customs but agree on the interpretation of the majority of the laws. Differences do exist as most Ashkenazi interpretations follow the ruling of the Rambam and Talmud Bavli, while Sephardi Jews often follow Rabbeinu Tam and, while they agree with the primacy of talmud Bavli, they give a lot more weight to the Talmud Yerushalmi than the Ashkenazi Jews do.

There are other affiliations- but they would often be subsumed into the other categories and just be areas in which slightly different customs exist (called a Nusach) So within Ashkenazi you have a Nusach Polin (Poland), Litvak (Lithuania), Yekke (Germany) and so on. Often these nusachs are not used in favour of the generic Ashkenazi nusach (so while many South African Jews are Litvak, no shul here actually uses Nusach but prayers are said in nusach Ashkenaz.

Conservative/Masorti: Both of these share the similarity that they believe the Torah to be divinely inspired but they see the oral law to merely be human interpretations by wise men and subject to reinterpretation by modern Rabbis. As such they do not observe many of the laws and customs that orthodox Jews do. As such, while there conversions are accepted by refrom, they are NOT accepted by Orthodox Jews. Like Reform, they accept both matrilineal and patrilineal descent with the same issues arising as with Reform and Orthodox.

Renewal/Reconstructionist/Reform/Progressive
What links these three is the common belief that the Torah is not a divinely inspired document and thus merely a good guideline on achieveing spirituality. They are the most liberal of the Jewish branches and people converted by them are NOT recognised as Jews by the other streams of Judaism. Also, they accept both patrilibeal and matrilineal descent making soe of those born as Jews in this branch not to be accepted as Jews by orthodox Jews who only accept matrilineal descent.

The similarity between all of them is recognising a single, indivisible God as the creator of the world. Also, all recognise the Torah as central to Judasim (though to different degrees as explained above). Aside from that- the only similarity is their total rejection of Messianic Judaism as being Judaism in any form!

MESSIANIC JUDAISM/JEWS FOR JESUS
Both of these are deemed as nothing more than Christian sects using deceitful means to convert Jews. EVERY Jewish denomination denounces these sects as Christians and nothing more. However, by Jewish law, once a Jew, always Jew- whether born or converted. Thus once a person is Jewish they are always judged by Jewish standards, and if they revert/convert to a different religion they are still considered Jewish by Jewish law. BUT, someone practising a religion other than Judaism is considered outside of the community, may not be a member of the community, receive any community honours, be a representative for the community, be buried in a Jewish cemetary, marry a Jew or be treated as a Jew for the purposes of the laws of mourning. However, since they never stop being a Jew- they merely have to repent, return to Judaism( and, in some communities, go to mikveh in order to once again be a full member of the community.)

Answer 2

Hassidim are Orthodox Jews who follow the mystical teachings and worship style of the Baal Shem Tov and are in many different groups and dynastic families of devotion( like Lubavicher) and they often wear tradition shetel clothing.

A Talmudic Jew is one who studies and observes the Talmud, a collection of biblical commentaries,legal,ethical and ritual rulings by varied respected rabbis until about AD500CE. Talmud means study and it consists of the Mishna and its Gemara. There are two Talmuds: the Bavli or Babylonian Talmud and the Yerushalmi or Palestinian Talmud.

Mosaic means pertaining to Moses. Mosaic Oral Tradition or Oral Torah is the oral passing down of the revelation given to Moses by God in and by which the Written Torah and the whole Tanak ( Christian Old Testament) is interpreted and applied. Christians have the Apostolic Oral tradition by which the New Testament came about and in and through which the Bible is interpreted by Pre-Reformation Christians.The Mosaic Law is the "Full Torah" applied by the rabbis.

Most Jewish religious movements consider themselves Mosaic( of the Tradition of Moses),even the Sadducees and the Medieval Karaites who rejected Pharisee Oral Tradition.

Modern Jewish religious movements include the Orthodox,which adheres to a strict and traditional interpretation and practice of theJewish Tradition, the Reform, who sought to modernize and "make reasonable and adaptable" the Jewish tradition,the Conservative(Masorti),who sought to bring back halakic observance when they thought the Reform went too far and the Reconstructionist(Kaplan), that emphasizes the Jewish cultural and peoplehood aspects of Jewish tradition. There is also the Liberal in the UK which is like Reform and other groups like Traditional which tends to see Conservative as too liberal,especially in moral areas and in (perhaps ) "novel'things like women rabbis.

Answer 3

Perhaps the simplest answer is to break Judaism into four tenants:
Orthodox
Conservative
Reform
Hasidim

What follows are a portion of what may be found at the link:

Orthodox Judaism is the most traditional expression of modern Judaism. Orthodox Jews believe the entire Torah - including "Written," the the Pentateuch, and "Oral," the Talmud) was given to Moses by God at Sinai and remains authoritative for modern life in its entirety.

Conservative Judaism may be said to be a moderate position between Orthodox and Reform Judaism. It seeks to conserve the traditional elements of Judaism, while allowing for modernization to a less radical extent than Reform Judaism.

Reform Judaism is the most liberal expression of Judaism. In America, Reform Judaism is organized under the Union for Reform Judaism (known as the Union of American Hebrew Congregations until 2003), whose mission is "to create and sustain vibrant Jewish congregations wherever Reform Jews live."

Hasidic (or Chasidic) Judaism arose in 12th-century Germany as a mystical movement emphasizing asceticism and experience born out of love and humility before God. The austere religious life of these early Hasids ("pious ones") is documented in the Sefer Hasidim ("Book of the Pious").

Answer 4

There are three main ones, Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. Hassidic are ultra-Orthodox. Hassidic wear garb with fringes, have beards, ect. and are mostly in New York, some in LA and large cities.

Reform is the most liberal, and it mostly resembles a regular church. Conservative is in between.

Answer 5

They are all hated by muslims.
Makes no difference to murderers.

Answer 6

maybe this will help.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_denominations#Modern_divisions_or_.22denominations.22