Download 10: Judaism - White Rocket Books

Judaism
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Who is a Jew?
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Cannot only be defined religiously,
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Or racially,
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Or linguistically or ethnically—
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Because there are many kinds of people who consider themselves Jews,
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And they come from many places,
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And believe different things.
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Judaism as a religion:
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Belief in the oneness of a God,
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(YHWH)
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Who works in and through historical events,
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And has chosen the Jewish people as agents.
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The Patriarchs
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After the Biblical disasters,
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God chose to communicate with only one nation—
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The descendants of Abraham.
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Genesis 12-50
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He would father a great nation if he were faithful to a covenant with God.
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Isaac (son), Jacob (grandson), and twelve great-grandsons
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Practices
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Worship God by burning animal sacrifices on an altar.
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Some basic animistic practices.
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Circumcision.
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Keeping a Sabbath day.
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Moses
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Abraham’s descendants
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in slavery to Egypt.
Moses–
Raised by Pharaoh’s family
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Discovers his Israelite heritage
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Is exiled
Exodus
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Moses returns to Egypt at God’s command
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(the burning bush)
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to free the Israelites
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God sends10 plagues,
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including death to the firstborn of each family
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“Passover”
Escape from Egypt:
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Parting of the Red Sea
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The Burning Bush:
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Plagues of Egypt:
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Parting the Red Sea:
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Ten Commandments
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God gives them to Moses on Mt. Sinai.
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pg. 246
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Stress obedience and loyalty to God.
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Decent behavior to one another.
This, plus other legal material in the first five books (Pentateuch)—
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Central for Judaism,
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A religion of the law.
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Jews primarily concerned with obedience to the laws of God.
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The Ark of the Covenant
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A coffinlike box
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Contained the sacred relics of the Exodus
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Most sacred treasure of the Israelites
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Lost when Solomon’s temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, 586 BC
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David
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First truly effective “king” of the Israelites.
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Captured Jerusalem and made it the capital.
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Made it one of the most important and disputed cities in the world.
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Made the religion more formal in practice.
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Solomon
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Son of David.
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Built the temple in Jerusalem.
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Burning of animal sacrifices.
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Prophets
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Healed the sick, cursed, blessed, and worked other miracles.
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Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Micah:
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Boldly denounced social injustices
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Bade the Israelites to return to God
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Beautiful, poetic language
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Their messages were written into the Bible.
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Babylonian Captivity
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922 BC:
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A rebellion splits the nation in half.
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Northern half is destroyed by the Assyrians in 721 BC and vanishes
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“The Lost Tribes.”
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Southern half (Judah) conquered by the Babylonians, 586 BC.
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The people become slaves in Babylon
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But maintain their identity
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Led by a prophet/priest: Ezekiel
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Ezekiel, by Raphael
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“The One True God”
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Ezekiel says that YHWH was not just in Jerusalem but “mobile.”
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Isaiah says that YHWH was no longer just the god of the Israelites—
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Is “the one true God” for all the people of the world
The mission of the Jews:
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Present his message to all the nations.
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Rebuilt Jerusalem
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Persia frees the Jews from Babylon
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Many return to Jerusalem
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Ezra:
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Priest who began process of canonizing books as the word of God.
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God no longer spoke through prophets but through his book.
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Second temple built in 6th Century BC.
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The Second Temple
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King Herod the Great (37-4 BC)
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Restores and decorates the second temple
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Far more elaborate than before.
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Just after it is finished, the Romans destroy it in 70 AD.
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Wall of the Second Temple
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Diaspora
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Scattering of the Jewish people all over the world.
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Forced on them, or by choice.
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Synagogue
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“Assembly”
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Can exist wherever there is a copy of the Torah (scripture),
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Came about during the Diaspora,
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And ten adult Jewish males.
When Jews could no longer worship at the temple.
Rabbi:
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Studies scripture
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Teaches the community
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Works from an accepted body of opinion
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The Talmud
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The repository of Jewish legal material, sermons, history, and folklore.
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Includes the Mishna:
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Completed in the 5th / 6th Centuries.
A collection of Jewish legal commentary and disputes.
And the Gemara:
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Literature dealing with every area of Jewish life.
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The Messiah
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An expected savior, to be sent by God.
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Some thought of him in spiritual terms.
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Others expected a military general who would defeat the Romans,
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And sit on David’s throne in Jerusalem as a king.
The split between Judaism and Christianity:
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The nature of Jesus.
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Peter and Paul allowed non-Jews to become Christians,
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beginning in the 1st Century.
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Were not required to keep the laws of Judaism.
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Orthodox Judaism
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Largest group.
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Strives to protect traditional Jewish culture and religion.
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Kosher food laws.
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Strict observance of the Sabbath.
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Hebrew language in worship.
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Reform Judaism
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Beginning in 1843.
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To make Judaism more modern.
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Services more like Protestant services.
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Declared the Talmud has no authority over modern Jews.
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Seek no messiah.
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No “homeland” but the land of their birth.
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Speak less Hebrew in worship.
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Secular or nonobservant Jews
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Have Jewish heritage and culture,
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But don’t share the religious beliefs or practices.
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They celebrate Jewish holidays,
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but not as religious events.
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Zionism
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Movement to find or create a Jewish state.
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Theodor Hertzl
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Most wanted it to be in Palestine.
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Jews begin buying land there, around 1900.
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Leads to conflict with Arabs already on that land.
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The state of Israel is declared in 1948.
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The Holocaust
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Nazi persecution and murder of the Jews of Europe.
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6 million killed between 1933 and 1945.
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Profound and lasting impact on Judaism.
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The world didn’t seem to care.
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Led to the push for Israeli independence.
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Jewish Holy Days
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Sabbath
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Passover
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Rosh Hashanah
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Yom Kippur
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Day of Attonement
Chanukah
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new year
Eight-day festival of lights (falls near Christmas)
Bar Mitzvah
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A boy’s 13th birthday– “becomes a man” in the community.