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Judaism Beliefs
Part 1
Judaism Today
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There are about 14 million people who practice Judaism today.
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Most Jews in the world live in the areas of Israel, the United States, and Europe.
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Rabbi- Someone who interprets Jewish Scripture
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Synagogues- Jewish temples of worship. Like churches
13 Articles of Faith
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Belief in these 13 articles is a minimum requirement for being a Jew
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God Exists
God is one and unique
God is incorporeal
God is eternal
Only God should be worshipped
The words of God’s prophets are true
Moses was the greatest of the prophets
God gave his law (the Torah) to Moses on Mt. Sinai
There will be no other Torah
God knows the thoughts and deeds of men
God will reward the good and punish the wicked
The messiah will come
The dead will be resurrected
Common Jewish Traditions
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A quest for meaning in human existence and in the nature of God
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A belief that the Hebrews are God’s “chosen people”
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The importance of history
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More emphasis on practice than beliefs
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More emphasis on life than on the afterlife
3 Jewish Sacred Texts
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Tanakh (Which contains the Torah)
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Talmud
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Midrash
Tanakh
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Refers to the entirety of the Hebrew Bible
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The Torah is only the first part
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Second Part: Nevi’im (Prophets)
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Third Part; Ketuvim (Writings)
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Mostly the same as the Christian Old Testament, but ordered differently
Torah
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Same as the first five book of the Old Testament
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Also called the Five books of Moses or the Pentateuch
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Contains the Ten Commandments and other statements on ethics and proper worship of God
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Five books: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.
Torah’s Major Events
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The Creation of the world
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God’s covenant with Abraham
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The slavery of the Hebrews in Egypt and their exodus
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The revelation of the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai
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The Israelites’ 40 years of wandering in the desert, followed by their conquest of “Canaan”
(Modern day Israel)
Talmud
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A commentary on the Torah and how to interpret and apply it.
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Passed down orally before being written
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Two Parts: Mishnah and Gemara
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Some believe it was taught to Moses by God
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Others believe it to be a Human Invention
Midrash
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Large body of rabbinical material derived from homilies (Spoken Sermons)
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Tradition established in the 4th to 6th centuries B.C.E.
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Often in the form of stories
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Many Midrash collections fill in gaps in the biblical narratives