* Heresy in Orthodox Judaism

The Books of the Bible are listed differently in the canons of Judaism and the Catholic, Protestant, Greek Orthodox, Slavonic Orthodox, Coptic, Georgian Orthodox, Armenian Apostolic, Syriac, Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox churches, although there is substantial overlap.

Rather, it is sometimes employed by unaffiliated groups to indicate a range of beliefs and practices more liberal than is affirmed by the Orthodox, and more traditional than the more liberal Jewish denominations ( Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism ).

Working with this 1990s trend of diversity and institutional growth, Conservative Judaism remained the largest denomination in America, with 43 percent of Jewish households affiliated with a synagogue belonging to Conservative synagogues ( compared to 35 percent for Reform and 16 percent for Orthodox ).

The movement is supported by the Masorti Foundation for Conservative Judaism in Israel, an American organization that provides funding to Masorti programs, which are disadvantaged by the Israeli government's practice of funding only Orthodox institutions.

Concerning the degree of revelation of Torah, Conservative Judaism rejects the Orthodox position of a direct verbal revelation of the Torah.

They believe that the Orthodox Jewish movements, on the theological right, have erred by slowing down, or stopping, the historical development of Jewish law: " Conservative Judaism believes that scholarly study of Jewish texts indicates that Judaism has constantly been evolving to meet the needs of the Jewish people in varying circumstances, and that a central halakhic authority can continue the halakhic evolution today.

See also under Modern Orthodox Judaism.

Conservative Judaism accepts that the Orthodox approach to halakhah is generally valid.

Some Modern Orthodox leaders cooperate and work with the Conservative movement, while haredi (" Ultra-Orthodox ") Jews often eschew formal contact with Conservative Judaism, or at least its rabbinate.

* Orthodox Judaism

The three largest Jewish denominations — Orthodox Judaism, Conservative Judaism and Reform Judaism — maintain the belief that the Jews have been chosen by God for a purpose.

Orthodox Judaism deliberately makes it very difficult to convert and become a Jew, and requires a significant and full-time effort in living, study, righteousness, and conduct over several years.

* Admiel Kosman, Between Orthodox Judaism and nihilism: Reflections on the recently published writings of the late Rabbi Shimon Gershon Rosenberg, Haaretz, Aug. 17, 2012.

Within Modern Orthodox Judaism, there is no one committee or leader, but Modern Orthodox rabbis generally agree with the views set by consensus by the leaders of the Rabbinical Council of America.

Orthodox Judaism holds that Halakha is the divine law as laid out in the Torah ( First five books of Moses ), rabbinical laws, rabbinical decrees and customs combined.

See Orthodox Judaism, Beliefs about Jewish law and tradition.

This is considered wrong, and even heretical, by Orthodox and Conservative Judaism.

The Eastern Orthodox view of the origin of icons is generally quite different from that of most secular scholars and from some in contemporary Roman Catholic circles: " The Orthodox Church maintains and teaches that the sacred image has existed from the beginning of Christianity ", Léonid Ouspensky has written.

Orthodox Judaism maintains the traditional prohibitions.

The Eastern Orthodox Church maintains that Mary Magdalene, distinguished from Mary of Bethany and the " sinful woman ", had been a virtuous woman all her life, even before her conversion.

The exact forms of what later came to be called Judaism during the times of Moses or during the eras of the Mishnah and Talmud cannot be known today, but Orthodox Jews believe that contemporary Orthodox Judaism maintains the same basic philosophy and legal framework that existed throughout Jewish history, whereas the other denominations depart from it.

Orthodox Judaism maintains the historical understanding of Jewish identity.

Orthodox Judaism also maintains a strong prohibition on interfaith sexual relations and marriage.

The Russian Orthodox Church also maintains a Convent of the Ascension on the top of the Mount of Olives.

Orthodox Judaism maintains that the privileges and status of kohanim stem primarily from their offerings and activities in the Temple.

The monastery, just across the line in Whitfield County, maintains a cemetery for Orthodox Christians.

Standing against the modern ecumenist movement is the traditional Orthodox Church which staunchly maintains there is but one Church, and Orthodoxy is the Church.

Agudah was the first Orthodox Jewish group to open a Washington Office, in 1988, and maintains ongoing relations with the White House and executive agencies, as well as with the U. S. Congress, on numerous domestic and foreign issues.

Orthodox Judaism maintains that Jews are obliged to accept the 13 Principles of Faith as formulated by Maimonides in his introduction to Chapter Helek of the Mishna Torah.

Shingon or Orthodox Esoteric Buddhism maintains that the expounder of the doctrine was originally the Universal Buddha Mahavairocana but the first human to receive the doctrine was Nagarjuna in India.

The Montenegrin Orthodox Church maintains that Serbian Orthodox Church usurped its churches and other property in Montenegro in the early 20th century, following the annexion of Montenegro by Serbia.

The MOC maintains claims that the SOC Metropotanate was installed in Montenegro only after the autocephalous Montenegrin Orthodox Church was dissolved in 1920 against the constitution and canon law.

The traditional history of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church also maintains that Joktan's sons would take no part in the tower building, and that they were thus allowed to preserve the original Ge ' ez language — which their descendants, the Agazyan, carried across the Red Sea into Ethiopia as they mixed with the Cushitic and Agaw people to form the hybrid Habesha race.

In Orthodox Judaism, opinion is generally split between a view that maintains that those Biblical rules related to ritual purity that are possible to observe in the absence of a Temple and a Red heifer remain in force and Jews remain Biblically obligated to observe such of them as they can, and a view that Biblical ritual impurity requirements apply only in the presence of a Temple in Jerusalem and the current rules represent only rabbinic ordinances, practices decreed by the Rabbis in memory of the Temple.

The Eastern Orthodox Church maintains a daily cycle of seven non-sacramental services:

Through the internet, it maintains a number of international and ecumenical email discussion groups, as well as promoting the work of the Joint Commission for the Dialogue between the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches through an important website.

However, in 1962 the London Beth Din and the Chief Rabbi Israel Brodie, who formed the leadership of the United Synagogue, the UK's Orthodox establishment, refused to allow his appointment on grounds of heresy because in his 1957 book We Have Reason to Believe, Jacobs had rejected the conception of a literal, verbal revelation of the Torah.

Orthodox Jews maintain Halakha is derived from the divine law of the Torah ( Bible ), rabbinical laws, rabbinical decrees and customs combined.

Although Orthodox Judaism acknowledges that rabbis made many decisions and decrees regarding Jewish Law where the written Torah itself is non-specific, they did so only in accordance with regulations given to them by Moses on Mount Sinai ( see Deuteronomy 5: 8-13 ).

All Orthodox authorities, however, agree that only later Rabbinical interpretations are subject to reconsideration, and hold that core sources of Divine written and oral law, such as the Torah the Mishnah and the Talmud, cannot be overridden.

Orthodox and many other Jews do not believe that the revealed Torah consists solely of its written contents, but of its interpretations as well.

* Orthodox Judaism holds that both the Written and Oral Torah were divinely revealed to Moses, and that the laws within it are binding and unchanging.

It holds that the Torah is a divine document written by prophets inspired by God and reflecting his will, but rejects the Orthodox position that it was dictated by God to Moses.

This is often commemorated by having the new adults, male only in the Orthodox tradition, lead the congregation in prayer and publicly read a " portion " of the Torah.

The main difference between the Orthodox Jews of Britain and the newly founded Masorti movement was and still is a theological one: it concerns the authority of the Torah.

While Jacobs found that statement to be compatible with Orthodox Judaism, the Chief Rabbi condemned his views as denial of the divine origin of the Torah.

Orthodox Judaism is the approach to religious Judaism which adheres to the interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin (" Oral Torah ") and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and Acharonim.

Orthodox Jews are also called " observant Jews "; Orthodoxy is known also as " Torah Judaism " or " traditional Judaism ".

Orthodox Judaism's central belief is that Torah, including the Oral Law, was given directly from God to Moses and applies in all times and places.

Most Orthodox men ( including many Modern Orthodox ), even those not in Kollel, will study Torah daily.

The Orthodox Jewish movements generally consider all non-Orthodox Jewish movements to be unacceptable deviations from authentic Judaism ; both because of other denominations ' doubt concerning the verbal revelation of Written and Oral Torah, and because of their rejection of Halakhic precedent as binding.

Orthodox Judaism holds that the words of the Torah, including both the Written Law ( Pentateuch ) and those parts of the Oral Law which are halacha leMoshe m ' Sinai, were dictated by God to Moses essentially as they exist today.

According to Orthodox Judaism, Jewish law today is based on the commandments in the Torah, as viewed through the discussions and debates contained in classical rabbinic literature, especially the Mishnah and the Talmud.

Orthodox Jews will also study the Talmud for its own sake ; this is considered to be the greatest mitzvah of all ; see Torah study.

For instance, Orthodox Judaism holds that the Torah was received from God on biblical Mount Sinai, and Muslims consider the Qur ' an to have been revealed word by word and letter by letter.