 Judaism began about 4000 years ago with the Hebrew

people in the Middle East.

 Abraham, a Hebrew man, is considered the father of the
Jewish faith
 He promoted the central idea of the Jewish faith: that there is
one God.
 At the time many people in the Middle East worshipped many
gods.
 It is said that Abraham and his wife Sarah, who were old
and childless, were told by God that their children would
be as plentiful as the stars in the sky and that they would
live in a land of their own -- the Promised Land. This
gradually came true.
 Abraham's son, Isaac had a son, Jacob, also called Israel.
 In this way the descendants of Abraham came to be known as
the Israelites.
 God promised the Israelites he would care for them as long as
they obeyed God's laws.
 While still travelling, the Hebrews lived in Egypt where they
were enslaved.
 Moses, a Hebrew, was chosen by God to lead the Hebrew
people out of Egypt.
 Moses led the Hebrew people out of the Sinai Desert toward
the promised land.
 At Mt. Sinai, God gave Moses the Law which would guide the
Israelites to today.
 The laws were called the Ten Commandments and form the
basis of the Torah, the book of Jewish law.
 It took many years for the
Israelites to finally get to
what they thought was the
Promised Land - Canaan.
 After some fighting the Jews
established the Israelite
kingdom.
 After many years, Canaan was
conquered by the Assyrians,
the Babylonians and then
eventually the Romans.
 The Israelites once again
found themselves enslaved,
this time by Babylonians.
 The Israelites were then taken over by
Romans who destroyed much of what
had been built in Jerusalem by the
Israelites.
 Most of the Jews were scattered all over
the region and eventually moved from
place to place to avoid persecution which
continues to this day.
 The dispersion of the Jews is called the
Diaspora.
 The worst persecution of the
Jews was during World War II
by the Nazis who murdered
more than six million Jews or
a third of the world's Jewish
population. This was called
the Holocaust.
 Beginning in the 1880's Jews
began returning to their
homeland in growing
numbers, this time to avoid
persecution where they lived.
 After World War II, many
Jews believed that for the
Jewish people and culture to
survive, Jews needed to live in
their own country where all
Jews from anywhere in the
world would have the right to
live and be citizens.
 In 1948, Palestine was
divided up and a Jewish
state of Israel was formed
in the land that was once
called Canaan, surrounded
by countries with
predominantly Muslim
populations.

 Since Muslims also claimed

rights to the land where the
Jews were living, there was
conflict, which continues to
this day in the Middle East.
 Today nearly fourteen million Jewish
people live all over the world.
 Approximately half of them live in the
United States,
 one quarter live in Israel,
 a quarter are still scattered around the
world in countries in Europe, Russia,
South America, Africa, Asia and other
North American and Middle Eastern
countries.
 Anyone born to a Jewish mother is
considered a Jew.
 Jewish people believe in
the Torah, which was the
whole of the laws given to
the Israelites at Sinai.
 They believe they must
follow God's laws which
govern daily life.
 Later legal books, written
by rabbis, determine the
law as it applies to life in
each new place and time.
 MIQRA (“that which is read”)
 Also known as the TaNaKh
 TaNaKh - acronym for three
collections of twenty-four Biblical
Books:
 Torah
 Nevi’im,
 Ketuvim
 TORAH
 Instructions or teachings of ADONAI
 Also called the PENTATEUCH
 Collection of the First FIVE books attributed to MOSES
 GENESIS
 EXODUS
 LEVITICUS
 NUMBERS
 DEUTERONOMY
 2nd Section of TaNaKh (8 Books)
 Historical Narratives about Israel’s wavering
fidelity to the covenant with Adonai
Former Prophets Latter Prophets
Joshua Isaiah
Judges Jeremiah
Samuel Ezekiel
Kings Twelve Prophets

 These prophets reprimanded the people for failing

to live according to the demands of the Covenant
 Collection of Eleven Books
 Consists of poetry and worldly wisdom
Poetic Five Scrolls Other Books
Books (Historical Narratives)

Psalms Song of Songs Daniel

Proverbs Ruth Ezra - Nehemiah
Job Lamentations Chronicles
Ecclesiastes
Esther
 Jews are deeply TEXTUAL
 Possession and Reverence for Books are a
characteristics of the Jewish People
 Religious books are not just thrown away or
discarded when they become obsolete
 They honorably bury them
 The oral TORAH – the verbal instructions of
God handed to Moses
 The Talmud consists of commentaries on
the Torah by Jewish Rabbis
 These Oral Torah was later compiled in the
 Misnah – Short work in Hebrew
 Gemara – Longer work in Aramaic
 JUDAISM
MAJOR DIVISIONS
There are three basic groups of Jewish people
who have a different understanding of the
interpretation of the Torah.
 Orthodox Jews believe that all of the practices
in the Torah which it is practical to obey must
be obeyed without question.
 It regards the Torah, both Written and Oral, as
literally revealed by God on Mount Sinai and
faithfully transmitted ever since. The TORAH
permits no Modification
 It advocates a strict observance of Jewish Law,
or halakha,
 Obeying the dietary, purity, ethical, and other
laws of halakha is the hallmark of Orthodoxy.
 Other key doctrines include
 belief in a future bodily resurrection of the
dead,
 divine reward and punishment for the
righteous and the sinners,
 the Election of Israel as a people bound by a
covenant with God, and
 an eventual reign by a salvific Messiah-King
who will restore the Temple in Jerusalem.
 Also known as Masorti Judaism
 Views Jewish law, or Halakha, as both
binding and subject to historical
development.
 Seeks to integrate the best of Jewish
Tradition with the best of Modernity
 Open minded in interpreting Jewish values
according to the demands of changing times
 Also known as Liberal Judaism or
Progressive Judaism
 Emphasizes the following:
 evolving nature of the faith,
 the superiority of its ethical aspects to the
ceremonial ones,
 and belief in a continuous revelation, closely
intertwined with human reason and
intellect, and not centered on the theophany
at Mount Sinai.
 Regards Jewish Law as non-binding and the
individual Jew as autonomous,
 Characterized by the following:
 openness to external influences and progressive
values.
 commitment to racial and gender inclusivity
and equality
 Considers a child to be Jewish as long as the
father and mother are Jewish and the child is
raised as a Jew
 Permits women to become Rabbis, Cantors,
and Synagogue Presidents
 Allows people with Homosexual
orientations to participate in the synagogue
JUDAISM
Creed
 There is only One Supreme Personal God
 God Created the Universe
 God is Infinite
 God is beyond human understanding and
imagination
 God Revealed Himself to Moses and the
Other Prophets
 God of history
 God is referred to as: To guard the Holiness of God’s
Name the Hebrew Word
 Elohim ADONAI is substituted for
YHWH.
 YHWH God’s Name is most holy that
 Adonai out of reverence pious Jews say
HaShem to refer to God in
 HaShem (The Name) prayer and in conversation
 The Thirteen Articles of Faith
By Moses Maimonides

God alone is the Creator God gave the Torah to Moses

The Torah is Perfect, not subject to

God is absolutely One
change. And no other will be given
God Knows all the thoughts and deeds
God has no body or bodily shape
of human beings

God rewards and punishes according

God is the First and The Last
to one’s deeds

God alone deserves worship, God’s Messiah will come at an

obedience and praise unexpected time

The words of God’s Prophets are true The Dead will be resurrected

The Prophecy of Moses, the first and

greatest prophet and father of all
prophets, is true
“ Now if you will pay careful attention to what
I say and keep my covenant, then you will be
my own treasure from among all the
peoples, for all the earth is mine; and you
will be a kingdom of cohanim (priests) for
me, a nation set apart. These are the words
you are to speak to the people of Israel
(Exodus 19:5-6, CJB)
This covenant may be considered as the
existential root and core of JEWISH identity,
purpose, and destiny.

Under this covenant, all Jews are brothers and

sisters who are expected to reflect God’s
Holiness for their fulfilment of the
COMMANDMENTS (Mitzvah)
“For I am Adonai… your God. Therefore, you are to
be holy because I am Holy.”
Leviticus 11:45, CJB