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The Destruction Of The Second Temple Of Jerusalem

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Judaism is a unique religion in the sense that it is one of the world’s oldest religions.
The history of Judaism dates back two thousand or far longer depending on one’s viewpoint. The destruction of the Second Temple of Jerusalem is what differentiates each viewpoint. Some believe Judaism to have begun with this obliteration, which brought about the end of the temple-based traditional religion and the extensive dispersion of the Jewish people to lands outside of Israel. Others believe Judaism to have begun over four thousand years ago with the Hebrew people in the Middle East. Abraham is considered the father of the Jewish faith because he is the first to have believed that there is but one God in a time when people worshiped many gods (United Religions Initiative, 2002).
University Synagogue in Irvine, California is a Jewish community “church” that was founded by sixteen Jewish men and women in 1987 and started as a havurah, which means a “small fellowship” in Hebrew. It began with nearly ten people and has grown to over six hundred members to date. In 2004, the havurah moved into the facility it is located in today and it is one of the fastest growing synagogues in southern California today. Cheryl Altman of University Synagogue tells of her Jewish faith as though she were speaking of God Himself. Speaking with her over the phone on June 17, 2015, she described some of the many Jewish holidays and traditions and the events to celebrate each with delight in her voice.
The

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