Download Judaism is the oldest of the Abrahamic religions. The term

JudaismistheoldestoftheAbrahamicreligions.Theterm“Abrahamic”describesthreefaiths:Judaism,
Christianity, and Islam. All trace the origins of their traditions to Abraham, described in the Hebrew
Bible usedbybothChristians andJews.Accountsvaryinthe Qur’an, theholy book ofIslam.Thereis
somedisputeaboutwhetherAbrahamisahistoricalfigurewholivedinthenineteenthcenturyB.C.E.
AbeliefinOneGod
WhatdotheAbrahamicfaithshaveincommon?Theyshareabeliefinasingle,all‐powerfulGodasthe
creatorandsustaineroftheuniverse.Thisviewwasnotalwaysthecase;earlierJewishtextsmaintain
thattheGodofAbraham,Isaac,andJacobwasjustoneamongmanygodsandgoddessesoftheancient
MiddleEast.Thischangedabout700B.C.E,however.Bythatmonotheismhadbecomecommonplacein
Judaism.ItalsobecametrueinChristianityandIslam.
IneachoftheAbrahamicfaiths,Godistheabsolutepower,anditisthebelievers’unwaveringdutyto
followGod’swaysintheirdailylives.Islamputsspecialemphasisonsuchunquestioningobedienceto
God. By way of contrast, Christianity and Judaism have a scriptural tradition of questioning, arguing,
anddebatingwithGod.
OriginsandDevelopment
The Covenant between God and Abraham that represents the start of Judaism appears in the
AuthorizedKingJamesVersionoftheBible,Genesis12:1‐3:
“NowtheLordhadsaiduntoAbram,gettheeoutofthycountry,andfromthykindred,andfromthy
father’shouse,untoalandthatIwillshewthee:AndIwillmakeoftheeagreatnation,andIwillbless
thee,andmakethynamegreat;andthousshaltbeablessing.”
Abraham
ThehistoryoftheJewishpeoplebeginsinBronzeAgetimesintheMiddleEastwhenGodpromiseda
nomadleadercalledAbramthathewouldbethefatherofagreatpeopleifhedidasGodtoldhim.
JewsregardAbraham(ashewaslatercalled)asthefirstPatriarchoftheJewishpeople.
Abraham was the first person to teach the idea that there was only one God; before then, people
believedinmanygods.
Ironically,Abraham'sfather,Terah,hadmadehislivingsellingidolsofvariousgods.
Otherfaiths
Abrahamisasignificantcharacterinotherreligions‐notonlyChristianitybutIslamtoo.
MuslimsknowAbraham asIbrahim,andregardhimasanimportantprophetoftheirfaith.Ibrahim's
firstsonIshmael,knownasIsma'il,isregardedasthefatheroftheArabpeople.
ThestoryofAbrahamandhisdescendantsisfoundinthebookofGenesis.WefirstmeethiminGenesis
chapter11,althoughatthisstagehisnameisAbram.Thereisverylittlebiographicaldetailabouthim
apartfromthefactthathewasashepherdandcamefromUrinMesopotamia‐moderndayIraq‐after
whichheandhisfamilymoved,withhisfatherTerah,toHaran.
Thisisapolytheisticage,anagewhenpeoplebelievedinandworshippedmanygods.Yetwithinthis
atmosphere, Abram answers the call of God and it is because of this that he accepts and realises the
realityoftherebeingonlyonetrueGod.
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IntheJewishtraditioncalledMidrash(aHebrewwordwhichmeans'interpretation'andrelatestothe
way readings or biblical verses are understood), there are a number of stories about Abraham
smashing his father's idols when he realizes that there can be only one God of heaven and earth. It
doesn't matter whether the stories are true or not. They acknowledge that Abraham was the first
persontorecognizeandworshiptheoneGod.Andso,monotheismwasborn.
AtthebeginningofGenesischapter12,GodaskedAbramtoleavehishomeandcountryandhemakes
Abramthreepromises:thepromiseofarelationshipwithGod,numerousdescendentsandland.
The only problem is that both Abram and his wife, Sarai (later called Sarah) are old people and
childless.Theywillhavetoleavetheirhomelandandtheydon'tevenknowwhothisGodis!Theyseem
tobeanalmostimpossiblesetofpromisesforGodtokeep.ButtheamazingfactaboutAbramisthathe
doeswhatheisasked.Therearenosignsormiracles;hehasnoscripturesortraditionsonwhichto
draw, so Abram has to place his trust in this nameless God. Consequently, Abram has gone down in
historyasamanoftremendousfaith.Asaresultofhisobedience,GodchangeshisnametoAbraham,
meaning'fatherofthepeople'.
TheultimatetestofAbraham'sobedience,however,comesinGenesis22whenheisaskedtosacrifice
hissonbySarah‐Isaac.GodhadpromisedthatAbraham'sdescendantswouldcomethroughIsaac,so
theleveloffaithhedisplaysisquiteastonishing.AbrahamtrustsGodandtakeshisson,asdirected,upa
mountain.Attheverylastminute,GodintervenesandsparesIsaac'slifebyprovidinganotheranimal(a
ram)forsacrifice.ThetestiscompleteandGodoncemorereiterateshispromisestoAbrahamofland,
descendantsandapersonalrelationship.
AccordingtotheBible,Abrahamishumanity'slastchancetoestablisharelationshipwithGod.Atthe
beginningoftheBibleinthecreationnarratives,AdamandEvesetintrainapatternofdisobedienceto
God'scommandswhichtakesroot.EvenaftertheGreatFlood,inwhichonlyNoahwassaved,humanity
onceagaincomesperilouslyclosetoalienatingthemselvesfromtheircreatorGod.Theybuildthetower
ofBabel(Genesis11),atowerthatseemslikeitwillalmostbreakthroughtotheheavensandGodagain
intervenesandscattersthepeopleacrosstheearth.
Manyscholarsbelievethesestorieswerewrittentoexplaintopeoplewhytheworldislikeitisandwhy
humansareliketheyare.Whatisourplaceintheworld?Whydowedie?Theyaddressquestionsoflife
anddeath,ratherthanbeingsimplyexplanationsabouthowtheworldwascreated.
At the end of Genesis 11, we are provided with a genealogy and Abraham becomes the new hope
throughwhichGodwilltryandcreateapeopletolivebyacertainsetofvalues.Theimportantthingto
learnhereistheuniquenessoftheCovenantrelationshipbetweenGodandAbraham.Forthefirsttime,
weseethebeginningofatwo‐wayrelationship:GoddoingsomethingforAbraham,andAbrahamdoing
somethingforGod.TheblessingsofGodarepassedonfromonegenerationtoanother.
The story of Abraham is about obedience to the will of God ‐ not blind obedience, because the Bible
storiestellusthatAbrahamfrequentlychallengedGodandaskedquestions.Butintheend,hetrusted
this God who had made such extraordinary promises and in so doing formed a very special and
personalrelationshipwithGodwhich,believerswillargue,hascontinuedthroughtothepresentday.
Moses
ThemidwivesgotaroundPharaoh’sedictwithsomesuccess,sothePharaohsteppedupthecampaign
andorderedthateverynewbornsonbecastintotheriver.TheIsraelites’daughterswerespared.
OneJewishmotherdecidedtohidehernewbornson.Shemadeanarkfrombulrushes,puttheboyinit,
andlaiditbytheriverbank.ThedaughterofPharaohcametotherivertowashherselfandwhenshe
walkedalongthebank,shesawthearkandtoldoneofhermaidstofetchit.ThePharaoh’sdaughter
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openedthearkandsawababyboy;itwascryingandshehadcompassion.Thechildbecameherson
andshenamedhimMoses.
When Moses was fully grown, he saw an Egyptian slave master beating an Israelite. Moses killed the
slavemasterandhadtofleeEgypt.HesettledinaruralfarmingareacalledMidian.Aroundthesame
time, Pharaoh died during a time of great suffering for the Israelites. God remembered his covenant
withAbraham.Helookedonthepeopleandhadrespectforthem.
Moseswastendingtohisworkinthedesertwhenhecametoamountain.Anangelappearedtohimin
theformofabush.Theflameburnedintentlybutdidnotconsumethebush.Avoicethencamefromthe
bushandtoldMosesthathehadbeenchosentodeliverthepeoplefromtheEgyptiansandtakethemto
anotherlandflowingwithmilkandhoney.GodcommandedMosestoreturntothenewPharaoh.
Pharaoh, as expected, refused the demands of Moses. As punishment, God sent ten plagues to the
Egyptians,noneofwhichhadanyeffect.Finally,onedid:itbroughtdeathinonenighttothefirstborn
sonofeveryEgyptianfamily.
After this final plague, Pharaoh let the Israelites go. Then, he had second thoughts and sent his army
afterthem.TheycaughtupwiththeIsraelitesatthebanksoftheRedSea.Thearmypreparedtodestroy
them, but God parted the Red Sea so the Israelites could get safely across. Once the Israelites were
safelyontheotherside,thePharaoh’sarmygavepursuit.GodmadetheRedSeacloseagain,drowning
theentirearmy.
TheTenCommandments
Moses was now the leader of a large number of contentious people on the move, and he had some
problems.Beingpursuedwasone ofthem;the otherswerehunger,thirst,and rebellion.Fortunately,
GodwasstillcommunicatingwithMosesandissuinginstructions.
AboutthreemonthsafterleavingEgypt,theIsraeliteswerecampinginthewildernessofSinai.Godtold
Moses to go up to the top of the mountain. There, God reveled to Moses the Ten Commandments,
writtenontwotabletsofstone.Theydeathwiththepeople’srelationshipwithGodandeachother.God
alsogaveMoseshundredsofmoredetailedrulesandlaws.TheTenCommandmentsformthebasisof
alltheJewishlaws.Theyhavehad,andcontinuetohave,immenseinfluenceonmanyotherreligionsas
well.
PursuingthePromiseLand
Deuteronomy31tellsthatwhenMoseswas120yearsold,theLordcametohimandtoldhimhewas
abouttodieandhewouldnotreachthe“PromiseLand”.GodcommandedMosestowritedowntheLay
(orTorah)andgiveittoLevites.Moses’commanderJoshuawasappointedbyGodtosucceedasleader
of the Israelites. Mosesthen climbedup Mount Pisgah, whichoverlooked Canaan,the Promised Land
thathewouldneverenter.Moseswasneverseenagain,andhowhediedremainsamystery.
The two tablets containing the laws of God was given to Moses were housed in a gold‐plated chest
called The Ark of the Covenant. The Israelites carried the Ark with them before they settled in the
PromisedLand,andfromtimetotimetookitintobattle.ItwastakentoJerusalembyKingDavid,and
waseventuallyplacedintheTemplebyKingSolomon.PlacedinsidetheTabernaclewithintheTemple
of Jerusalem, the Ark was seen only by the high priest of the Israelites on Yom Kippur, the Day of
Atonement.ThefinalfateoftheArkisunknown.
As time went on, the Israelites were ruled by a series of kings: Saul, David (who wrote many of the
psalmsintheBible),andDavid’sson,Solomon.AfterSolomon’sdeath,thekingdomofIsraelsplitintwo
and formed Judah and Israel. Throughout the centuries that followed, the Israelites were exiled to
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Babylon, although some came back. In 63 B.C.E., the Romans conquered the land and gave it a new
name:Palestine. Three yearslater,theJewsrevoltedagainst Rome,butweredefeated. Thetemplein
Jerusalem,whichwasrebuiltaftertheIsraelitesreturnedfromexileinBabylon,wasfinallydestroyedin
70C.E.
Abraham,whomayhavelivedabout3,000yearsago,isrecognizedasthefatheroftheJewishpeople.
GodmadeacovenantwithAbrahamthathisdescendantswouldbeGod’schosenpeople.Fortheirpart,
believers must obey God’s laws. The laws were given to Moses by God, on Mount Sinai. The Ten
Commandments are but a fraction of the 613 Mitzvot or commandments. These statements. and
principles of laws and ethics are all contained in the Torah or Five Books of Moses. The Mitzvot are
knownascommandmentsof“LawsofMoses.”Theyconsistofamixtureofpositivecommandmentsof
performsomeact(toloveGodandtoemulateHisways)andnegativecommandmentstoabstainfrom
certainacts(nottoprofaneHisnameortestHimunduly).
Althoughnumericallyamodest‐sizedreligion(about20millionadherents),Judaismhasprovidedthe
historicalfoundationfortwooftheworld’slargestreligions:ChristianityandIslam.
Writings:TheCentralBeliefs
Judaismisareligionofethicalmonotheism.Godisuniqueandtheultimateauthority,buttheutterand
essential backbone of the entire religion is the Torah. comprised of the first five books of the Bible,
attributedtoMoses.
InadditiontotheTorah,theHebrewcanonincludestheNevi’imorthebooksoftheprophets.Nevi’im
aregenerallydividedintotwosections:theformerprophets(comprisedoftwenty‐twobooks)andthe
latterprophets,ofwhichtherearetwelve.Thewritingsofthetwelveminorprophetsarecopiedonto
one scroll, so that they can be counted as one entry, so to speak. The total number of books in the
Hebrewcanonisthirty‐nine,whichwasthenumberofscrollsonwhichtheywereoriginallywritten.
TheTorah
The Torah, the most important section of the Jewish Bible, is a series of narratives and laws that
chronicle the beginning of the world through the death of Moses. Jewish people and Christians agree
thatMoseswastheauthoroffivebooks.ThestudyoftheTorahisconsideredanactofworshipforthe
Jews; it is read religiously each Sabbath. Over the course of a year, the entire Torah will be read on
Sabbathandfestivaldays.Therearedailyandweeklyclassesandgroupsforthosewhowishtostudy
theTorah.
TheTalmud
TheTalmud,whichmeansstudyorlearning,isareferencetotheinterpretationsoftheTorah.Itisthe
supremesourcebookoflaw,asittakestheruleslistedintheTorahanddescribeshowtoapplythemto
different circumstances. It’s not actually a legal code—there are other works for that—but it is the
ultimatesourcematerialusedtodecidedallmattersofJewishlaw.
TheMishnahisthefirstpartoftheTalmud.
ThereisaconfessionoffaithcalledaShema,madeupofthreescripturaltextsfromDeuteronomyand
Numbers, that demonstrates the power and demands emanating from the Jewish God. Because the
originalrequirementtostudytheTorahnightanddaywasunderstandablytough,theShemabecame
thesubstituteasaminimumrequirement.ItissaidthatpiousJewshopetodiewiththewordsofthe
Shemaintheirlips.Hereisashortextract:
Andyeshallteachthem(thesewords)toyourchildren,talkingtothemwhenthousittestinthyhome,
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andwhenthouwalkestbytheway,andwhenthousitdown,andwhenthourisestup...rememberand
doallMycommandments,andbeholyuntoyourGod.IamtheLordyourGod,whobroughtyououtof
thelandofEgypt,tobeyourGod:IamtheLordyourGod
ThefifthoftheTenCommandmentssaysthatnobodyshallworkontheSabbath.TheJewishSabbath,
Shabbat, starts at dusk on Friday and ends at dusk on Saturday. The synagogue has services Friday
nightandSaturdaymorning.JewsstarttheSabbathbydressing up for agood meal andmaybesome
singingandcelebration.SaturdaystheygovisitingfriendsandfamilyandsitaroundreadingtheTorah.
AceremonycalledHavdalahmarkstheendoftheSabbathonSaturdayevening.Thefamilygathers,a
candleislit,andaboxofsweet‐smellingspicesispassedaround.IfdinnerisservedafterHavdalah,it
musthavebeenpreparedearlierbecausecookingisnotpermittedontheSabbath.
Synagogues
ThesynagogueisthecenterofJewishcommunitylife.Ithasthreetraditionalfunctions:houseofprayer
whereservicesareheldontheSabbathsandfestivaldays;houseofassemblywhereJewishpeoplecan
meetforanypurpose;andhouseofstudywheretheTorahandTalmudarestudied.Childrencanalso
come to learn Hebrew and the Torah. Public congregational prayers are said at the synagogue every
weekday. Prayers can only take place if there are at least ten men present in the synagogue. It is a
Jewishman’sdutytoattendprayersasoftenaspossible.
ArabbihasnomoreauthoritytoperformritualsthananyothermemberoftheJewishcommunity; a
synagoguecanexistandoperatequitewellwithoutone.However,arabbiisusuallyemployedbythe
congregation to run things and settle disputes regarding Jewish law. Generally, a rabbi has been
formally educated in Halaklah (Jewish law). When a person has completed the necessary course of
study,heorsheisgivenawrittendocumentknownasasemikhah,confirminghisauthority.Arabbi’s
statusdoesnotgivehimtheauthoritytoconductreligiousservices;anyknowledgeableJewcanleada
religious service. However, rabbis are the spiritual leaders of the Jewish community. Many areas,
particularly in the United States, rabbis carry out pastoral counseling, hospital and military
chaplaincies,andteachinginJewishSchools.
Conclusion
Judaism is the original of the three Abrahamic faiths, which also includes Christianity and Islam.
AccordingtoinformationpublishedbyTheJewishPeoplePolicyPlanningInstitute,therewerearound
13.1millionJewishpeopleintheworldin2007,mostresidingintheUSAandIsrael.Accordingtothe
2001census267,000peopleintheUKsaidthattheirreligiousidentitywasJewish,about0.5%ofthe
population.

JudaismoriginatedintheMiddleEastover3500yearsago.
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JudaismwasfoundedbyMoses,althoughJewstracetheirhistorybacktoAbraham.
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JewsbelievethatthereisonlyoneGodwithwhomtheyhaveacovenant.
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InexchangeforallthegoodthatGodhasdonefortheJewishpeople,JewishpeoplekeepGod’slaws
andtrytobringholinessintoeveryaspectoftheirlives.
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Judaismhasarichhistoryofreligioustext,butthecentralandmostimportantreligiousdocument
istheTorah.

Jewishtraditionalororallaw,theinterpretationofthelawsoftheTorah,iscalledhalakhah.

SpiritualleadersarecalledRabbis.
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JewsworshipinSynagogues.
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6millionJewsweremurderedintheHolocaustinanattempttowipeoutJudaism.

There are many people who identify themselves as Jewish without necessarily believing in, or
observing,anyJewishlaw.
REVIEWQUESTIONS&ACTIVITIES
1.
WhatdidGodtellAbramtodoinGenesis12:1?
2.
What promised did God made to Abram if he would follow what God told him to do? Please
summarizeinyourownwords.Genesis12:2‐3.
3.
If God made a deal with you, what kind of promise would you want Him to make with you in
today’sworld?Listthem.
4.
Create an autobiography of Abraham. Read Genesis chapters 12 through 25 and write a
humorous,creativeandinterestingstoryofAbraham.
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