The Principles of Judaism

The Principles of Judaism

The Israelites were a group of Semiticspeaking people. Their religion of Judaism would influence the later religions of Christianity and Islam.

The Jews of ancient history were known as Hebrews or Israelites (people of Israel). Much of the information that we know about them comes from the Torah, the Jews most sacred religious text. The story begins with a man named Abraham.

According to the Torah, Abraham lived near Ur in Mesopotamia. About 2000 B.C., he and his family migrated the into a region called Canaan. Here near the eastern Mediterranean coast Abraham founded the Israelite nation. The book of Genesis tells that a famine forced many Israelites to migrate to Egypt. They spent 400 years there

An Israelite named Moses finally led his people in their exodus, or escape, from Egypt. In time they made their way back to Canaan.

By 1000 B.C. the Israelites had set up in Canaan, a kingdom of Israel. King David was able to unite the feuding Israelites tribes into a single nation. David s son Solomon turned Jerusalem into an impressive capital with a splendid temple dedicated to God. Solomon won fame for his wisdom and understanding. He also tried to increase Israel s influence by negotiating with powerful empires in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Israel paid a heavy price for Solomon s ambitions. His building projects required high taxes and so much forced labor that revolts erupted soon after his death about 922 B.C. The kingdom then split into Israel in the north and Judah in the south. Weakened by this division, the Israelites could not fight off invading armies. In 722 B.C., Israel fell to the Assyrians.

The Babylonians later displaced the Assyrians. In 586 B.C. Babylonian captured Judah. Their King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple and forced the Israelites into exile near Babylon. This became known as the Babylonian Captivity. Later the Persian ruler Cyrus conquered Babylon and freed the Israelites. Many returned to Judah and became known as Jews

God s Covenant With the Israelites To the Israelites, history and faith were interconnected. They did not separate their religious beliefs from their social, economic, or political lives. Each event in their history reflected God s plan for them. In time the Israelites came to see themselves as a religious group. They began to collect their stories in what would become the Hebrew Bible. The religion of modern Judaism began after many of the exiles returned from Babylon to Palestine.

Judaism is unique among the religions in ancient western Asia and Egypt in being monotheistic. This god was not fixed to any one place. Yahweh was lord of the whole world. He was above everything in nature. He watched over his people and punished them for wrong doings, but was merciful too. Since Human beings were gods special creatures, they were expected to rise above nature. In Judaism if they failed to do so, they have done wrong, or sinned.

Jewish ideas can be traced in three aspects of their religion- the covenant, law, and the prophets. In Jewish tradition God made a covenant or contract with his people when Moses ( The Law Giver ) lead them out of bondage into the promised land. God would guide them as long as they followed the Ten Commandments. 11

The first four Commandments stress the religious duties of the individual toward God, such as keeping the Sabbath, a holy day for rest and worship. The rest of them are rules for individual conduct toward other people. They include Honor your father and mother, and You shall not steal

The Ten Commandments spell out the fundamental laws God expects Jews to follow. A similar set of laws that God expected Jews to follow, the Seven Universal Laws, applied to all people, not just Jews. They included prohibitions against murder and robbery. One difference between it and the Ten Commandments was it commanded people to establish courts to enforce the other laws. This idea of universally accepted moral and ethical principles backed by a system of justice is a source of the modern concept of basic human rights in international law 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Prohibition of Idolatry Prohibition of Murder Prohibition of Theft Prohibition of Sexual immorality Prohibition of Blasphemy Prohibition of eating flesh taken from an animal while it is still alive Establishment of courts of law

The Prophets were the second important element of Jewish tradition. Jews believed that God sent prophets, or religious teachers, as a voice to speak to his people. The prophets flourished from roughly 900 B.C. to 500 B.C., a time that coincided with threats to the Israelites or even their conquest.

The message of the prophets was that that the Jews had not been faithful but if they turned from evil, God would be merciful. Unjust actions brought punishment. Some prophets preached a strong code of ethics, or moral standards of behavior. The cried out against social injustices. They condemned the rich for making their neighbors suffer. The rich should share with their neighbors and care for the unfortunates.

Judaism was also unique because it gave all people access to God s wishes. Gods wishes were delivered by the prophets and were written down in the Torah (the Jewish Bible). As a result, no leader could claim that he alone knew them. The book of Genesis declares: God created man in his own image. This idea later passed into Western culture as political equality, or equality before the law. Unlike many ancient societies whose people looked on their ruler as god, Jews saw their leaders as fully human and bound to obey God s law. In this way, Judaism contributed to the rise of another important democratic concept, the rule of law.

The Diaspora The Babylonian Captivity, in 586 B.C., marked the start of the diaspora, or scattering of the Jews. When the captivity ended, not all of the Jews returned to Canaan. Some stayed in Babylon and others migrated elsewhere in the Middle East and Mediterranean.

Jews in Canaan lived under Persian and Hellenistic rulers until the 100s B.C. when a Jewish family formed an independent kingdom. Then in 63 B.C. the Roman general Pompey marched his army into Palestine and captured Jerusalem. He turned Judea into a Roman Province.

Influenced by Hellenism, some Jews had taken up Greek ways. Others had resisted cultural changes, keeping traditional Jewish customs. These groups often clashed. In this tense atmosphere, new Jewish groups arose. One of these developed under the followers of a Jew named Jesus and a new religion, Christianity.

Roman mismanagement led to further disturbances throughout the region. In A.D. 66, sporadic incidents turned into a full-blown Jewish revolt against Roman rule. Four years later the Romans destroyed the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

By the time of the revolt, the number of Jews outside of Canaan far exceeded those living in the homeland. The scattering of the Jews continued through the following centuries and Judaism spread through the Middle East and into Europe. Still for Jews everywhere, Canaan, later called Palestine, remained the center of their culture and religion. It is only after World War 2 and the holocaust was there renewed calls for the creation of a new Jewish nation in the Promised Land.