Judaism : Religion And Religion

The dynamic nature of Judaism offers a successful living religion as a result of its strongly withheld characteristics. Through essential characteristics such as central beliefs, sacred texts, writings, ethical teachings and rituals and ceremonies, Judaism offers a dynamic nature and liveable religion that connects an individual and society with its roots. The way this living religion advances and grows is because of its dynamic characteristics as a whole. Importantly, these characteristics combined form the true nature of the religion rather than separately.

The monotheistic religion of Judaism is a very complex and in many cases, strictly traditional way of life for over 13 million people all around the world. Many of their core beliefs are very similar to Christianity; however, an abundance of their rituals and practices are unlike any other religion. Even after visiting a Jewish Synagogue it is still difficult to mentally grasp and have a true understanding of everything Judaism stands for. Because of the many traditions and beliefs Judaism possess, it is not easy to define. The seven dimensions of religion created by the world renowned religious scholar Ninian Smart helped establish a simple way to break down and describe the essence of faith for any

The Jews were the most powerful culture back in the ancient times. This was a threat to others. The Hebrews had their own homeland before they became Jews. The homeland was the center of trade, commerce, and cultural exchanged, through the three major areas, Asia, Europe, and Africa. These areas were also a common place for conflict groups war with one another(rabbi,yaaca,2008).The Jews are to themselves and they do not push their beliefs on other people. They have been persecuted throughout history. The cities have been destroyed to the ground by hated armies, the temples have been tarnished to the ground several times, and have been put out by Jerusalem many times. The

Judaism is one of the monotheistic religions. It is one of the most ancient. They believe in one god. They also believe Messiah will come, the dead will be resurrected, and the word of the prophets are true. Judaism was the first tradition to teach monotheism, the belief that there’s only one God. “As Judaism evolved, the idea of God evolved, too, focusing on One unknowable, universal, image-less Being, Who, because the universe is framed in Love, requires justice of human beings” ("Taking a Look at Jewish Religious Beliefs"). Early Jewish history is told in the Hebrew bible. Their holy book is the Torah. Their faith usually carried them through the tough times they experienced in life. Judaism teaches that maintaining the following of Jewish teachings will bring blessings. Almost everything a Jewish person does can become an act of worship. “Because Jews have made a bargain with God to keep his laws, keeping that bargain and doing things in the way that pleases God is an act of worship. And Jews don't only seek to obey the letter of the law - the particular details of each of the Jewish laws - but the spirit of it, too. A religious Jew tries to bring holiness into everything they do, by doing it as an act that praises God, and honours everything God has done. For such a person the whole of their life becomes an act of worship. Being part of a community that follows particular customs and rules helps keep a group of people together, and it's noticeable that the Jewish groups that have been most successful at avoiding assimilation are those that obey the rules most strictly - sometimes called ultra-orthodox Jews” (BBC "Religions - Judaism: Jewish beliefs" 2009).

I am a very spiritual person and am always interested in learning about other religions, especially the three monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I feel I have an adequate knowledge of Christianity and Islam, but I do not know much about Judaism. This paper will focus on the questions I have about Judaism. I have always wanted to know the fundamental beliefs of Judaism. I want to know how many Jews there are in the United States and in the world. I often see Orthodox Jewish men wearing yarmulkes and prayer shawls, and I wonder what is the purpose of wearing these. And finally, I wanted to know what is the role of women in Judaism.

Judaism originated a very long time ago, it is a part of the Bronze Age Polytheistic Ancient Semitic religions. The Jewish calendar goes back more than 5000 years, most scholars date the beginning of the religion of the Israelites to the known founder, Abraham, whose life is generally dated around 2000 to 1800 B.C.E. Abraham came to believe that the universe was the works of a single creator, and taught this to other believers. Therefore, Judaism is the first recorded religion to advocate monotheism, meaning there is only one God. Both Christianity and Islam found some of their roots in Judaism, about 2,000 years after Abraham, Jesus was born into Judaism. Then after Jesus, Muhammad could trace his ancestry back to Abraham. Judaism has three essential parts the written Torah, the recognition of Israel, which are the descendants of Abraham, as uniquely holy people chosen by God, and also it is a requirement that Israel lives in accordance with God's laws as it’s said in the Torah.

According to Smith, The World's Religions Judaism chapter, Judaism is a monotheistic religion to Jewish people.

Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world. Jewish people have suffered persecution through the holocaust, they were left with nothing. No leader or land to call their own as everything was taken from them.

Judaism is a monotheistic religion that believes in the one and almighty God of The Bible. Judaism is not a race, but a religion that believes in the laws of the Old Testament that is in some ways similar to Christianity.

During the time of Moses, the Israelites had many types of customs. Some types of customs are shown in Exodus, Genesis, Deuteronomy, Leviticus,and Numbers. The Israelites only believed in one God, which is called monotheism (Ancient Civilizations, p.201 ). The Israelite faith became the religion known as today as Judaism.

Judaism, while there are many, is one of the oldest surviving religions in the world. Judaism is a way of describing an approach to serving God. It is the term used to describe the religious life of Israel. Judaism is a way of life that has been observed by the Jewish people for almost 3,300 years, starting when the ancestral Father of Israel, Abraham was chosen by God. Jews deem themselves as descendants of Abraham and Sarah, Rachel and Jacob and Leah, Zilpah and Bilhah, and Isaac and Rebekah. Orthodox Judaism is the strictest commitment to the traditional beliefs and traditions of all the Jewish observances. It originated in response to the Jewish practice introduced by the Reform movement. Orthodoxy asserts that both the The Torah, which is the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, and the Oral Torah, which is the interpretive Talmud are authoritative regarding observance and Jewish doctrine, instructing modern Orthodox Jews to maintain and support ancient Jewish law.

Religions all around the world are very complex, with many different values and beliefs. This is one of the reasons why I wanted to take this course and learn more about Judaism. When completing the exercise in class, I was able to see what different perspectives and thoughts others had on the religion. While listening to the interviews, I began to grasp different values that seem to be well recognized in Judaism. The one that stood out to me the most was the holidays. Many of my peers stated that they valued the holidays the most, which made me want to learn more about it. It also made me wonder if bonding together, as family and friends, is a great value in this religion. Other interviews sparked up different thoughts for me as well,

Judaism has approximately 14 million adherents across all seven continents of the world (Rich, “Jewish Population”). Of the world’s 7 billion people, Judaism only makes up about 0.2% of the world’s population. However, for its small size it receives a disproportionately large amount of publicity. This could be due to the unfortunate fact that Jews throughout history tend to face a large amount of discrimination and persecution or because of their relation to the two largest religions in the world, Christianity and Islam. In my pursuit to understand Judaism, I learned about this small, but widely recognized, religion’s deep-rooted history, sacred traditions, and intentional worship-style.

Judaism is a religion that goes back many centuries. The earliest know account of this religion dates around 2000 B.C.E. This is the approximate time a man named Abraham made a covenant with God that also extended to his descendants. It was not until the first century C.E. that classical Judaism came into being. Until that time these people were called Israelites. Besides Abraham, the main figures in Judaism are Isaac, Jacob and the prophet Moses. Still, followers of Judaism only believe in one true god and do not worship anyone or anything else. They even avoid spelling the word God to not risk disrespecting His name.

Judaism, which is made up of a few separate groups, was very common at the originating of Christianity. The common ground (shared beliefs) for these sects was the belief in One God and that this One God had made a covenant with the people of Israel. The foundation of this covenant was called “The Torah.” The Pharisees and Sadducees were the two main groups the Bible focuses on around the time of Jesus, along with the Zealots, the Hellenists, the Lawyers, and the Essenes, who we only read about in sources outside of the New Testament.