Diaspora Judaism in modern times is commonly divided into the following denominations:
Orthodox Judaism (includes Hasidic Judaism, Haredi Judaism (also known as Ultra-Orthodox Judaism) and Modern Orthodox Judaism)
Conservative Judaism. Outside of the USA it is known as Masorti Judaism. "Masorti" is its official title in the State of Israel as well, although most Israelis use the word to mean something entirely different (see below).
Reform Judaism (Outside of the USA also known as Progressive Judaism, and in the U.K. as Liberal Judaism)
Reconstructionist Judaism
Reform Judaism, originally formed in Germany as a reaction to traditional Judaism, stresses integration with society and a personal interpretaion of the Torah. The original intent was to keep Jews "in the fold" who might otherwise leave the religion and community.
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism holds that the Torah was written by God and Moses, and that the original laws within it are binding and unchanging. While Orthodox Judaism is in many senses what Judaism has been since the Middle Ages, its formation as a movement was a direct response to the formation of Reform Judaism.
Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism was created as a middle ground between Orthodox and Reform Judaism. In the philosophy of this movement, the Torah, while unchanging, is subject to interpretation, and a certain amount of integration with society, or assimilation, is to be expected.
Reconstructionist Judaism started as a stream of philosophy within Conservative Judaism, and only later became an independent movement. Its approach to the existence of God, the mutability of the Torah, and the importance of community traditions, places it on similar ground to the Reform and Conservative movements. Yet at the same time, there are elements far more radical than anything Reform Judaism has undertaken and more traditional than Conservative Judaism.
All of the above denominations exist, to varying degrees, in the State of Israel. Nevertheless, Israelis tend to classify Jewish identity in ways that are strikingly different than diaspora Jewry.
Most Jewish Israelis classify themselves as "secular" (hiloni) or as "traditional" (masorti). The former term is more popular among Israeli families of western origin, and the latter term among Israeli families of "eastern" origin (I.e. Middle East, central Asia and North Africa). The latter term, as commonly used, has nothing to do with the official "Masorti" (Conservative) movement in the State of Israel (see above). There is a great deal of ambiguity in the ways these two terms are used. They often overlap, and they cover an extremely wide range in terms of ideology and religious observance.
The term "Orthodox" is unpopular in Israeli discourse (among both "secular" and "religious" alike). Nevertheless, the spectrum covered by "Orthodox" in the diaspora exists in Israel, again with some important variations. The "Orthodox" spectrum in Israel is a far greater percentage of the Jewish population in Israel than in the diaspora, though how much greater is hotly debated. Various ways of measuring this percentage, each with its pros and cons, include the proportion of religiously observant Knesset members, the proportion of Jewish children enrolled in religious schools, and statistical studies on "identity".
What would be called "Orthodox" in the diaspora includes what is commonly called dati (religious) or haredi (ultra-Orthodox) in Israel. The former term includes what is called "Religious Zionism" or the "National Religious" community, as well as what has become known over the past decade or so as haredi-leumi (nationalist ultra-Orthodox), which combines a largely haredi lifestyle with nationist ideology.
Haredi applies to a populace that can be roughly divided into three separate groups along both ethnic and ideological lines: (1) "Lithuanian" (non-hasidic) haredim of Ashkenazic origin; (2) Hasidic haredim of Ashkenazic origin; and (3) Sephardic haredim. The third group is the largest, and has been the most politically active since the early 1990s.
The Traditional Jewish Bookshelf
Some of these categories overlap, and some books have features that pertain to more than one category. Therefore, in order to make this outline as useful as possible, the link to some individual books may appear under more than one category.
The Hebrew Bible and the history of Jewish Bible study, which includes:
Masorah
Rabbinic Targum
Jewish Biblical Exegesis
Rabbinic literature
The Mishnah and its commentaries.
The Tosefta and the Minor Tractates
The Talmud
The Jerusalem Talmud and its commentaries
The Babylonian Talmud and its commentaries
Midrashic Literature
Halakhic Midrash
Aggadic Midrash
Halakhic literature
Major Codes of Jewish Law and Custom
The Mishneh Torah and commentaries
The Tur and commentaries
The Shulkhan Arukh and commentaries
Books of the Mitzvot (lists of the 613 commandments)
Other books on Jewish Law and Custom
The Responsa literature
Jewish Thought and Ethics
Jewish philosophy
Jewish ethics and the Mussar Movement
Kabbalah
Hasidic Judaism
Classical Jewish Poetry (Piyyut)
Jewish Liturgy, including the Siddur
1 -[Judaism]
2 -[Judaism : Jewish denominations]
3 -[Judaism : Jewish Faith]
4 -[Judaism : Jewish philosophy]
5 -[Judaism : Jewish sects and denominations]
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