Download Principles of Judaism

Principles of Judaism
Chapter #1 –Section #3
Key Terms
Jerusalem
Abraham
Moses
monotheistic
covenant
Sabbath
prophet
ethics
diaspora
Jerusalem
Jerusalem
The capital of the independent Jewish state of Judea.
 In 63 B.C. Rome conquered Jerusalem under the Roman
General Pompey.
 A Jewish family of priestly kings had ruled Judea for
about a century, until Pompey turned it into a Roman
province.
 Unlike other peoples of the Roman empire, the Jews
prayed to just one God for guidance and protection.
 Their unique relationship with their God helped shape the
history of the Jews.
 Their ancient beliefs evolved into Judaism, one of the
world’s main faiths.
The Ancient Israelites &
Abraham
The Jews of ancient history were known as Hebrews or Israelites.
Abraham
The story of the Israelites begins in the Torah, the
Jews most sacred text, with a man named Abraham
 Abraham lived near Ur in Mesopotamia (Iraq).
 About 2000 B.C., Abraham and his family migrated,
herding sheep and goats westward into a region called
Canaan (Palestine/Israel).
 Abraham founded the Israelite nation near the eastern
Mediterranean coast.
The Book of Genesis
According to the Book of Genesis, a famine forced many
Israelites to migrate to Egypt.
.
 The Israelites spent more than 400 years there, much of
it as enslaved workers (or paid contractors).g
 Moses, an Israelite finally led his people in their exodus,
or escape from Egypt.
 In time, the Israelites made their way back to Canaan.
The Kingdom of Israel
 By 1000 B.C., the Israelites had set up in Canaan, a
kingdom called Israel.
 David, a strong and clever king united the feuding tribes
of Israel into a single nation.
David and Goliath
by Caravaggio, 1599
David’s son, Solomon, turned Jerusalem into an impressive
capital, with a splendid temple, dedicated to God.
The Ark of the Covenant, which has the original stone
tablets of the ten commandments from Moses, was placed in
the temple.
The Western Wall
Jewish & Christian worshipers at the
Western Wall or Wailing Wall
The Temple Mount
The Chosen People
 The Israelites believed that God had made a covenant, or
promise and binding agreement, with Abraham and his
descendants. (Primary Source – pg. 30)
 God promised to protect the Israelites and provide them a
homeland.
 To fulfill their part of the covenant, the people of Israel
believed they had to remain faithful and obedient to God.
 Thus, the Israelites, and later the Jews saw themselves as
God’s “chosen people”
The Torah
The Torah
 Torah means “instruction” in Hebrew.
 The Israelites developed The Torah as a record of God’s
teachings.
 The Torah consists of 5 books
1. Genesis
2. Exodus
3. Leviticus
4. Numbers
5. Deuteronomy
 God’s teachings set a strict moral standard for the Jews.
The Ten Commandments
 In the book of Exodus, Moses and the Israelites stopped
at Mount Sinai on their way from Egypt to Canaan.
 At Mount Sinai, God gave Moses the Ten
Commandments, a set of ten basic moral laws.
 Moses became the “lawgiver” to the Jews.
Map of the Exodus
Mount Sinai
The Seven Universal Laws
 Applied to all people, not just the Jews.
 They include prohibitions against murder and robbery.
 It commands people to establish courts to enforce other
laws.
 The 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.
The Scattering of the Jews
 The Babylonian Captivity in 586 B.C. marked the start of
the diaspora, or scattering of the Jews.
 Jews in Canaan lived under Persian and Hellenistic rulers
until the 100s B.C.
 Then Romans and General Pompey arrived.
 In 66 A.D. Jews revolt against Roman Rule. By the time
of the Revolt, there were more Jews living outside of
Canaan, than inside their homeland.
 In 70 A.D. Romans destroyed the Jewish temple in
Jerusalem.
 The scattering of the Jews continued for centuries.
The Jewish Diaspora in the 1st Century