Judaism 101

TL;DR: Judaism is the world’s oldest monotheistic religion. It was founded nearly 4,000 years ago by Abraham, the first of the Hebrew patriarchs and a figure revered by two other monotheistic religions—Christianity and Islam. According to the Biblical book of Genesis, Abraham left his home in Mesopotamia, because God called him to start a new nation. He obeyed God and received repeated promises and a covenant that his “seed” would inherit a Promised Land. 

Today, Abraham’s seed has multiplied into 14 million Jews worldwide, with 43% practicing in Israel, another 43% practicing in North America and a smaller percentage practicing in Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Australia. 

Beliefs

Judaism is characterized by a belief in one transcendent God who revealed himself to Abraham, plus a host of prophets and leaders. This creator of the world elected the Jewish people for a unique covenantal relationship with himself and required from them obedience to his teaching, or the law (Torah).

Other core beliefs in Judaism include Ahava (God as the ultimate source of love), Avana (humility), and empathy with those who are victimized.

Most Jewish people believed that their Messiah has yet to come but will one day come to them. Their houses of worship are called synagogues.

Symbols

The symbol for Judaism is called the Star of David. It was almost universally adopted by Jews in the 19th-century as a striking and simple emblem of Judaism in imitation of the cross of Christianity. 

Texts

At the basis of all Jewish sacred texts is the Torah. In its most basic sense, the Torah is the Pentateuch, the five books of Moses, which tell the story of the Creation of the world, God’s covenant with Abraham, the Exodus from Egypt, the revelation at Mt. Sinai, where God enunciated the Ten Commandments), the wanderings of the Israelites in the desert before entering the Promised Land.

The Jewish Bible is known in Hebrew as the Tanakh, an acronym of the three sets of books that comprise it: the Pentateuch (Torah), the Prophets (Nevi’im), and the Writings (Ketuvim). It includes the same books from the Bible’s Old Testament but in a different order.

Holidays

Jewish people celebrate many holidays. You’ve probably heard of Passover, which celebrates Jewish freedom from slavery, Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year which celebrates the birth of the universe and humanity, and Hanukkah, which commemorates the rededication of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabees defeated the Syrian-Greeks over 2,000 years ago.

However, Yom Kippur is considered the holiest day for Jews because it’s a day of fasting,  forgiveness, atonement, and introspection. 

Worship

Jewish people worship in many ways, communally or individually. Jewish people can worship together at a synagogue where there are various services and rites as well as festivals. Worship individually often looks like prayer and study.