Judaism Origins

What is a Jew? Hard to define in terms of religious beliefs – Multiple beliefs and schisms within religion – Hasidic to Reform to Atheist – Hitler defined as race – But, European Jews, African Jews, South American Jews, Oriental Jews Linguistic and Ethnic Terms – But, many spoken and written languages Therefore, many differences among Jews; however, generally, unifying feature is belief in one God, who, through historical events, has chosen the Jewish people as his agents

Biblical Patriarchs After a series of disastrous encounters with mankind (Adam & Eve, Flood, Cain & Abel, Tower of Babel) God chose to only communicate with one nation; descendants of Abraham

Abraham According to Genesis, Abraham was promised he would become the father of a great nation, possess a land and become a blessing to all people if he were faithful to his part of a covenant with God – Circumcision – Land of Israel – Others to come later Read story of Abraham

Isaac Son of Abraham – Test of Abraham’s faith; sacrifice on altar Read story of Isaac

Jacob (Israel) Son of Isaac Had 12 sons; Joseph and his coat of many colors Read story of Jacob

Is it True? Historians doubt the historical accuracy of the biblical patriarchs however, their names, and ways of life fit in with history of the beginning of the second millennium BCE Bible does not reflect a systematic presentation of religious beliefs and practices of patriarchs, but reveals a great deal about their theology…

Worship of One God Guider of destinies “El” in ancient times and still used in prayer El Shaddai-God of mountains El Elyon-God most high El Olam-God everlasting Jews use different names for G-d to identify different characteristics. YHWH Adonai Hashem

Moses Endangered as infant by forces of evil and is miraculously delivered to Pharaoh’s palace; rescued and reared by Pharaoh’s daughter. Named Moses; Egyptian (historical accuracy) After recognizing his Hebrew heritage and killing an Egyptian in defense of a slave, Moses was exiled to the Sinai Desert where he lived for forty years as a shepherd

Moses Continued… Burning bush, but not consumed God declared he was God and Moses was to lead the Israelites out of bondage Return to Egypt Series of Plagues-frogs, vermin, blood, death of the first born, etc.. “Let My People Go” Able to gain release of slaves; Story of Passover, matzah and bitter herbs Red Sea; death of Egyptians

Exodus Arguably the most important event in Judaism Covenant: God promised Abraham a great nation from his seed and they would have a homeland Canaan. The entire world would be blessed by this nation. Genesis closes with a great nation springing up from the descendants of Abraham, but they were not in Canaan – Egypt; bound as slaves Therefore, the Exodus from Egypt and slavery, the journey to Canaan and the conquest of the land had to be accomplished before God’s promise to Abraham could be fulfilled

The Passover Story Events and characters from the Exodus became the heart and soul of Judaism. God acted to save his chosen people, the Israelites, miraculously delivered them from slavery, revealed to the leaders the divine name and brought them to Canaan

The Land of Israel The Israelites originally lived in a tribal society. In times of crisis, the Hebrew Bible states that God provided great men and women, called judges to lead the tribes. Eventually, the religious leader Samuel was appointed as the first king, Saul.

The Kings of Israel The second king, David, expanded the Kingdom of Israel and established a dynasty. Jerusalem was made the capitol around 1000 BCE. David’s son, Solomon, built the first temple in Jerusalem, the most sacred place in Judaism and the center of Jewish religious life throughout existence.

Conquering Kings Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Babylonians destroyed the center of the Jewish faith – the first temple and the Jewish people were exiled. Then the Persians allowed the Jews to return and rebuild – only to be destroyed again around 70 CE by the Romans.

Rooting in a Homeland Jewish people did not exile this time, instead they stayed put and adapted their ancient traditions. Temple rituals were replaced by prayer services in synagogues. Although the temple was destroyed, Jews still consider it’s location as the holiest place on earth and Jews turn towards it for their prayer services.