1. How do you think a governments laws might differ from religious laws?

4. Hebrews and Judaism

5. The Beginnings of Judaism
Hebrew history began when God told an early Hebrew leader to travel west to a new land.
Between 2000 – B.C. new groups of people appeared in SW Asia.
They were the a group of simple herders called the Hebrews.
Judaism is the Hebrew religion founded by Abraham.

6. The Prophet Abraham Abraham is considered a Prophet.
Prophets are people who are said to receive messages from God to be taught to others.
According to the most sacred text of Judaism, the Torah, Abraham a Shepard from Ur is considered the first Jew.

7. The Torah & The Hebrew Bible
3 parts make up the Hebrew Bible.
The Torah is the most important & comprised or made up of 5 books.
The Torah contains laws & the history of the Jews until the death of Moses.
The 2nd part is made up of 8 books that describe Hebrew prophets.
The 3rd part is made up of 11 books of poetry, songs, stories, lessons, & histories.

8. Interesting Facts about the Torah
The Torah means “To Teach” in Hebrew.
The Torah contains 613 Commandments.
Jews are not allowed to touch the Torah with their hand, they have to use a pointer.
The paper parchment can’t be decorated only the outside of the scroll.
All Torah’s are hand written

9. Abraham: The First Jew
The Torah says God spoke to Abraham & told him to leave his home of Mesopotamia and west with his family.
Abraham settled in Canaan (KAY-nuhn) on the Mediterranean Sea.
He and his descendants lived their for many years.

10. Hebrews leave for Egypt
It is believed, over the years, a large group of Hebrews left Canaan because of a famine (extreme lack of food), a headed to Egypt.
The Pharaohs or kings of Egypt worried because the Hebrew population grew so quickly.
To stop the Hebrews from becoming too powerful he made them into slaves.

11. Moses Moses was among the Hebrews in Egypt in 1200 B.C.
According to the Torah, God told Moses to free the Hebrews and lead them out of Egypt.
After the Pharaohs refuse Moses, a number of terrible Plagues strike.
Fearful the pharaohs agreed to free the Jews.

13. The Exodus
Moses lead his people out of Egypt in a journey called the Exodus.
For many years, the Hebrews wandered the Sinai Desert trying to return to Canaan around – 1200 B.C.

14. The Ten Commandments While wandering they came across Mt. Sinai.
This is where god gave Moses two stone tablets called the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments are a code of moral laws.
Unlike other laws, the Ten Commandments did not list a series of punishments or crimes.
It provided guidance for worship of God.

15. Exodus 20:2-14 And God spoke all these words:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery.
3 “You shall have no other gods before[a] me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
7 “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.
8 “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. 9 Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. 11 For in six days the Lordmade the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
12 “Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
13 “You shall not murder.
14 “You shall not commit adultery.
15 “You shall not steal.
16 “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

16. Return to Canaan
The Hebrews continued wandering for another 40 years before they returned.
Many small wars broke out as they need to fight armies of Canaanites before they could settle down.
The Hebrews became known as Israelites and developed small and scattered communities with no central government.

17. King David
King David united the Hebrews in the face of war and extinction against the Philistines.
King David is most known for defeating the Philistine giant Goliath.
King David was loved for his military skill and poetry.
He created the capital of Israel, Jerusalem

18. King Solomon Solomon was the son of David and became king in 965 B.C.
He made Israel very rich through trade and built a great temple to honor God in Jerusalem.
This temple became the center of Jewish religious life & a symbol of their faith.

19. The Death of Solomon
After the death of Solomon around 930 B.C. people began to fight for power and Israel tore apart.
Israel split into two kingdoms; Israel & Judah.
The people of Judah became known as Jews.

20. Jewish Beliefs Most important belief, is the belief in one God.
Judaism is the oldest monotheistic religion still practiced today.
Worshiping 1 God = weird
The Hebrew name for God is YHWH, but Jews never pronounce it because it is too holy.

21. Other Jewish Beliefs Education of Jewish religion
Kindness and Fairness
Doing what is proper
Sabbath (Shabbat) = day of rest
Can’t eat pork or Shellfish considered unclean.