3. Judaism overview Founded: 13th Century BCE
Founder: Moses, who emancipated the Jews from slavery in Egypt and later established a ‘covenant’ between his people and Yahweh on Mount Sinai
Traditionally, it is held that Abraham and his descendants established Judaism before Moses, however the 10 Commandments are now considered by many to be the foundation upon which Judaism rests.
Roots: dating back approximately 4000 years= origins of Judaism, Islam and Christianity
Place: Palestine (sometimes called Canaan; now Israel
Sacred Books: Old Testament (which consists of the Five Books of Law, the historical books, the Prophets and other writings). The most sacred are the Five Books of the Law= called the TORAH
Symbols: Menorah and Star of David
Adherents: Smallest major world religions, making up 0.2 % human race

4. Ancient Israel Birthplace of Judaism is also
birthplace to Islam and Christianity

5. What is in a name?
Hebrew means “From across”- name given to Abraham and his followers
Israelites: Abraham’s grandson Jacob renamed Israel which means “he who has wrestled with God”. His descendants were called “Israelites”
Jews: named after Jacob’s son Judah, ancient father of tribe of King David’s dynasty

6. Tracing Roots of Israel’s History
Nomadic tribes wandered into Palestine from east in approximately 1900 BCE
Mesopotamian society dominated by polytheism
God (Yahweh) appeared before Patriarch Abraham and told Abraham “to go and raise a great nation”
This began the monotheistic tradition of the Hebrew faith with the establishment of the “Covenant”, “Chosen People” and “Promised Land”
Abraham settled in Canaan
Story: Sacrifice of Abraham

7. Patriarchs to Judaism Abraham
God told Abraham to go to Haran then Canaan and “make of him a great nation”
Began monotheistic tradition
Covenant with God
The story of the Sacrifice of Abraham

8. Moses & Exodus: “Let My People Go!”
Moses received revelations from God: burning bush, rod / staff, 10 plagues, parting of the Red Sea
End of 13th century BCE- Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt during Rames II reign called the EXODUS
Moses led the 12 Tribes of Israel to Mount Sinai where Yahweh gave him the 10 Commandments, uniting the Hebrews under one God
Moses and Hebrews searched for the “Promised Land” or the land of milk and honey, however they wandered in the desert for 40 years

11. Key Concepts
Covenant
solemn and binding agreement between God and Abraham (humanity) as God as the Creator and the Chosen people
Chosen People
Jews considered themselves to be God’s Chosen People as God chose Abraham and led him to monotheism
Jews were instruments of God’s will
God chose Jews (humanity); humanity must choose God
Promised Land
Gained significance during Moses’ life as Hebrews sought to keep covenant and develop a community in the Promised Land. Jews believe this is Israel.

12. Development of Judaism
Judges: tribal leaders
Kings: King Saul, King David, King Solomon (built temple)
Division: Northern tribes = Israel; Southern tribes = Judah
Prophetic Tradition: word of God spoken through prophets “Love God and keep the covenant with Him”
Exile in Babylon= Temple of Solomon destroyed; creation of synagogues and rabbis and concept of Messiah “anointed one”
Diaspora: dispersal of Jews outside of Israel and Hellenization
Maccabean Revolt: temple rededicated to God
Expansion of Roman Empire and rule: destroying of the temple leaving only the Western Wall; rabbinic Judaism (interpretative commentaries)

13. Key Beliefs Monotheistic Oneness of Creator God
Human obligation to worship God
God is immaterial and indivisible
God is refered to as YHWH or YAHWEH “I am that I am”
Lineage
People are born a Jew (through mother) or can convert (gerut)
Mitzvah
act of performing a good deed or commandment (ie. 10 Commandments)
Bible contains total of 613 mitvoth (some positive, some negative)

14. Beliefs continued Jesus
View of Jesus = born a Jew a preacher and teacher
Jesus was not the Son of God; the Messiah is still to come
Suffering
suffering is heightened because as the Chosen People, Jews expect to suffer for all of mankind
Death and Afterlife
on death, body returns to earth (dust to dust) but soul return to God who gave it
body will be Resurrected and reunited with soul at a later time (therefore no cremation)

15. TORAH
Consists of Five Books of Moses written on parchment scroll in ancient form by hand and kept in Ark
Torah means “law” but more accurate is “revelation”, “teaching” or “instruction”
Torah is divided into 54 sections and one portion is read each week (2 weeks of year have a double portion) so that the entire Torah is read from beginning to end in a year

16. Sacred Texts
Tanukh
Jewish Bible, consisting of Torah (Law of Moses), the Prophets, and the Writings
Talmud
Second most important source of rabbinic Jewish law based on Mishnah, which complements and interprets the Torah and applies scripture to everyday life and observance
Mishnah
Early rabbinic teachings on how to live according to Torah

17. Practices Holy Ark & Torah Blessings and prayer Minyan Kashruth
Shabbat
Circumcision
Shofar
Bar / Bat Mitvah
Marriage
Death & Shiva

18. Holidays
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Hanukkah
Passover
Sukkot

19. Symbols
Star of David= shape of King David’s shield; symbol adopted by Zionists
Menorah= ancient source of light
7 branched= Sabbath
9 branched= Hanukah

20. Denominations
Orthodox
Reform
Conservative
Reconstructionist
Messianic

21. Western Wall Old City in Jerusalem
Section Temple Mount which has remained intact since the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple (70 CE)
It became a center of mourning over the destruction of the Temple and Israel's exile
it became known in European languages as the "Wailing Wall".

22. Judaism In Modern World
Anti Semitism
in Ottawa and the World
Zionism
movement originally for re-establishment of Jewish nation in Israel
Holocaust
(Heb., sho'ah) which originally meant a sacrifice totally burned by fire
the annihilation of the Jews (6 million) and other groups of people of Europe (5 million) under the Nazi regime during World War II
Middle East Conflict
Issue of who has the rightful claim to Jerusalem