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Chapter 8 – The Hebrews and Judaism
Section Notes
Video
The Early Hebrews
Jewish Beliefs and Texts
Judaism over the Centuries
Judaism throughout the World
History Close-up
Destruction of the Second
Temple
Quick Facts
Chapter 8 Visual Summary
Maps
Possible Routes of Abraham and
Moses
Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, c.
920 BC
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Jewish Migration after AD 70
Assessment Map
Images
Moses and the Golden Calf
The Dead Sea Scrolls
The Tower of Babel
The Early Hebrews
6.3.3
6.3.4
The Big Idea
Originally desert nomads, the Hebrews established a great
kingdom called Israel.
Main Ideas
• Abraham and Moses led the Hebrews to Canaan and to a
new religion.
• Strong kings united the Israelites to fight off invaders.
• Invaders conquered and ruled the Hebrews after their
kingdom broke apart.
• Some women in Hebrew society made great contributions
to their history.
Main Idea 1:
Abraham and Moses led the Hebrews to
Canaan and to a new religion.
• Accounts written by Hebrew scribes describe the Hebrews'
early history and the laws of their religion.
• The Hebrew Bible traces the Hebrews back to Abraham,
who was told by God to settle in Mesopotamia.
• After a famine struck Canaan, the Hebrews ended up in
Egypt and lived well, causing the pharaoh concern.
The Exodus
• The pharaoh of
Egypt made the
Hebrews slaves
to stop them
from taking over
Egypt.
• A leader named
Moses demanded
that the pharaoh
free his people.
• He refused, and
plagues
occurred,
frightening the
pharaoh.
• His people were
released, so they
began their
Exodus out of
Egypt.
• God then gave
Moses the Ten
Commandments
by which to live.
• They included
worshipping only
God and valuing
human life.
• The Hebrews
reached Canaan
and settled there
in small
communities, as
the Israelites.
Main Idea 2:
Strong kings united the Israelites to fight off
invaders.
• The new threat to the
Israelites came from the
Philistines.
• Solomon became king
next, and expanded the
kingdom and trade.
• The Israelites united under
Saul, who became the first
king of Israel.
• He made allies with nearby
kingdoms, including Egypt
and Phoenicia. Trade with
them made Israel very
rich.
• The Israelites wanted a
single ruler who could lead
them in battle.
• David became king after
Saul. He won many wars.
• With the riches that came
from this, he built a temple
to God in Jerusalem.
Main Idea 3:
Invaders conquered and ruled the Hebrews
after their kingdom broke apart.
• After Solomon’s death, revolts broke out over who should
be king.
• This split Israel into two kingdoms, called Israel and
Judah. The people of Judah became known as the Jews.
• Both were conquered, and Judah fell to the Chaldeans.
Scattering and Conquest
• The Jews went through a
period of enslavement called
the Babylonian Captivity.
• Although Jewish leaders added
to the Second Temple under
Roman rule, life was difficult.
• The Persians took over and
allowed the Jews to return to
Jerusalem. Some did not
return, however, and settled in
other parts of the Persian
Empire.
• Heavy taxes were a burden.
The Romans were brutal
masters with no respect for
the Jewish religion or way of
life.
• Scholars call the scattering of
the Jews outside Israel and
Judah the Diaspora.
• Roman rulers appointed the
leaders of the Temple. This
was more than the Jews could
bear.
Main Idea 4:
Some women in Hebrew society made great
contributions to their history.
• Hebrew government and society was governed by men. Women
had few rights.
• They had to obey their fathers and husbands. They couldn’t
choose their own husbands.
• A woman could not inherit property unless she had no brothers.
• Some of them, however, such as Queen Esther, the judge
Deborah, and Miriam (the sister of Moses) made great
contributions to society.
• Some women, such as Ruth and Naomi, were seen as examples
of how women should behave. Ruth was devoted to her motherin-law.
Jewish Beliefs and Texts
The Big Idea
The central ideas and laws of Judaism are contained in
sacred texts such as the Torah.
Main Ideas
• Beliefs in God, education, justice, and obedience anchor
Jewish society.
• Jewish beliefs are listed in the Torah, the Hebrew Bible,
and the Commentaries.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal many past Jewish beliefs.
• The ideas of Judaism have helped shape later cultures.
6.3.1
6.3.2
Main Idea 1:
Belief in God, education, justice, and
obedience anchor Jewish society.
• Belief in one god
– Judaism is the world’s oldest and possibly the first monotheistic
religion. Monotheism is the belief in only one god.
• Belief in education
– Teaching children, mostly boys, has always been important to Jewish
society.
• Belief in justice and righteousness
– Jews are expected to be kind and fair in dealing with other people, in a
display of justice.
– They are also supposed to be righteous and do what is proper.
• Belief in obedience and law
– They obey moral and religious laws such as the Ten Commandments
and Mosaic law.
Main Idea 2:
Jewish beliefs are listed in the Torah, the
Hebrew Bible, and the Commentaries.
The Torah
• This is a
collection of five
books that make
up the most
sacred text in
Judaism.
• Nearly every
synagogue has
one.
The Hebrew
Bible
• This is made up
of the Torah, the
Proverbs, and
the Book of
Psalms.
• It is also made
up of eight books
that describe the
messages of the
prophets.
The
Commentaries
• Because some
laws are hard to
understand,
scholars wrote
commentaries to
explain them.
• They can be
found in the
Talmud.
Main Idea 3:
The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal many
past Jewish beliefs.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947.
• It is suspected that they were written between 100 BC and
AD 50.
• The scrolls included prayers, commentaries, letters, and
passages from the Hebrew Bible.
Main Idea 4:
The ideas of Judaism have helped
shape later cultures.
• Judaism helped shape the largest religion of Western
society today, Christianity, as well as Islam.
• Many people still look to the Ten Commandments as a
guide and do not work on the weekends, to honor the
Sabbath.
• People also give to charities, which is largely based on
Jewish teachings.
Judaism over the Centuries
6.3.5
The Big Idea
Although they were forced out of Israel by the Romans,
shared beliefs and customs helped Jews
maintain their religion.
Main Ideas
• Revolt, defeat, and migration led to great changes in
Jewish culture.
• Because Jews settled in different parts of the world, two
cultural traditions formed.
• Jewish traditions and holy days celebrate their history and
religion.
Main Idea 1:
Revolt, defeat, and migration led to great
changes in Jewish culture.
• The Zealots, a group of people who thought that Jews
shouldn’t answer to anyone but God, refused to answer to
the Romans and revolted.
• During the battles, the Second Temple was destroyed.
The Romans finally won in AD 73.
• The Romans killed much of the Jewish population as
punishment.
A Second Revolt
• Jews in Jerusalem revolted against the Romans in the
130s.
• After winning the second revolt, the Romans declared that
any Jew caught in or near the city would be killed. This
increased Jewish migration to the Mediterranean region.
• Because the Jews no longer had a single temple in which
to worship, local synagogues and rabbis became important
in guiding their religious lives.
Main Idea 2:
Because Jews settled in different parts of the
world, two cultural traditions formed.
• Jewish communities in various parts of the world
developed different customs, including language and
rituals.
• One of the two traditions, Ashkenazim, is made up of Jews
who moved to France, Germany, and eastern Europe.
• They developed their own language called Yiddish.
• Another group of descendants, called the Sephardim, lived
in what is now Spain and Portugal.
• They mixed with non-Jews, borrowing elements from their
culture and producing a golden age of Jewish culture.
Main Idea 3:
Jewish traditions and holy days celebrate
their history and religion.
Hanukkah
• This holy day
honors the
rededication of the
Second Temple.
• It is celebrated by
lighting candles in
a menorah.
• The eight days
represent the
amount of time the
oil burned during
the rededication.
Passover
• This is a time for
Jews to remember
the Exodus.
• They eat only flat
bread and have a
ritual meal called
the seder.
High Holy Days
• The first two days,
Rosh Hashanah,
celebrate the
beginning of the
Jewish new year.
• On Yom Kippur, the
most holy day,
they fast all day
and ask God for
forgiveness of their
sins.
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