Rabbinic Judaism

Rabbinic Judaism (Hebrew: יהדות רבנית, romanized: Yahadut Rabanit), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabbinic Judaism, which flourished from the 1st century CE to the final redaction of the Talmud in c. 600. Mainly developing after the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple (70 CE), it eventually became the normative form of Judaism.

Rabbinic Judaism has been an orthodox form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Babylonian Talmud. It has its roots in the Pharisaic school of Second Temple Judaism and is based on the claim that Moses at Mount Sinai received both the Written Torah (Torah she-be-Khetav) and the Oral Torah (Torah she-be-al Peh) from God. The Oral Torah explains the Written Torah, and the rabbis claimed that it was they who possessed this memorized and orally transmitted part of the divine revelation. At first, it was forbidden to write down the Oral Torah, but after the destruction of the Second Temple, it was decided to write it down in the form of the Talmud and other rabbinic texts for the sake of preservation.

Rabbinic Judaism contrasts with the non-Rabbinic forms which emphasize the Tanakh over the Talmud, including the defunct Sadducee Judaism as well as with Karaite Judaism, Ethiopian Judaism, and Samaritanism, which do not recognize the Oral Torah as a divine authority nor the rabbinic procedures used to interpret Jewish scripture (e.g., the Hebrew Bible). Although there are now profound differences among Jewish denominations of Rabbinic Judaism with respect to the binding force of Halakha (Jewish religious law) and the willingness to challenge preceding interpretations, all identify themselves as coming from the tradition of the Oral Law and the rabbinic method of analysis.

In 332 BCE, the Persians were defeated by Alexander the Great. After his demise and the division of Alexander's empire among his generals, the Seleucid Kingdom was formed. During this time, currents of Judaism were influenced by Hellenistic philosophy developed from the 3rd century BCE, notably among the Jewish diaspora in Alexandria, culminating in a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible known as the Septuagint. An important advocate of the symbiosis of Jewish theology and Hellenistic thought is Philo.

Hellenistic culture had a profound impact on the customs and practices of Jews, both in Judea and in the diaspora. These inroads into Judaism gave rise to Hellenistic Judaism in the Jewish diaspora, which sought to establish a Hebraic-Jewish religious tradition within the surrounding Hellenist culture and language.

There was a general deterioration in relations between Hellenized Jews and other Jews, leading the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes to effectively outlaw the observance of Judaism, replace the High Priest Jason with Menelaus—who had bribed Antiochus for the position—and syncretize the Temple worship of the God of Israel with the worship of Zeus. Consequently, the Jews who rejected Hellenism revolted against the Greek ruler, forming a Jewish kingdom of varying degrees of autonomy or independence ruled by the Hasmonean dynasty, which lasted from 110 BCE to 37 BCE. The Hasmonean dynasty eventually disintegrated into a civil war. The competing leaders appealed to Rome for intervention, which in time led to a total Roman conquest and annexation of the region (see Iudaea province).

Nevertheless, the region's cultural issues remained unresolved. The main issue separating Hellenistic and other Jews was the application of biblical laws in a Hellenistic melting pot culture.

Hellenistic Judaism spread to Ptolemaic Egypt from the 3rd century BCE, becoming a notable religio licita throughout the Roman Empire until its decline in the 3rd century concurrent with the rise of Gnosticism and early Christianity.