The Destruction Of The Second Temple Of Jerusalem

Judaism is the religion and culture of the Jewish people. The word “Judaism” derives from the Greek Ioudaismos, a term first used in the Intertestamental Period by Greek-speaking Jews to distinguish their religion from Hellenism. The unifying principles of Judaism are an identity by covenant with God as His “chosen

Judaism is one of the world’s oldest religions founded 3500 years ago in the Middle East and remains an important faith today. Judaism encompasses the religion, philosophy, culture and way of life of the Jewish people. The history of the Jewish people begins with Abraham. Abraham was the first to forsake polytheism and idol worshipping for the belief in one God. Abraham descendants lived in peace until a new Pharaoh in Egypt felt threatened by the Jews so he made them slaves. It is said that God instructed Moses to lead the decedents of Abraham out of Egypt and to the Promised Land. They came to Mt. Sinai where God first appeared to Moses in a burning bush, Moses ascended Mt. Sinai and according to tradition returned with the Ten Commandments along with other laws as a covenant with the people of Israel. (Young) Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship that God established with the Children of Israel.

Judaism being the oldest out of these three dominant religions was developed in the “third millennium BCE” (130). Canaan is where the Hebrews first prospered, until around 1500 BCE. At this time a famine struck, and influenced the Jewish people to move to Egypt. Egypt was lead by the Hyksos, which shared languages and cultural beliefs with the Hebrews. In Egypt “the Hebrews thrived over the next few centuries, until the Egyptian overthrew the Hyksos and enslaved the Hebrews” (130). At that time Moses (a man lead by God), rallied the Hebrews and helped them escape the slavery they endured in Egypt.

Judaism was founded by Abraham, although Jews trace their history all the way back to Moses. Judaism history, beliefs, and traditions were recorded in the Hebrew bible as early as the 8th century B.C. and is considered one of the oldest religions that still exists today. There are 3 main branches of Judaism: Orthodox; Conservative; and Reform. Orthodox focuses on the traditional teachings of the Jewish law, while Conservative Jews allow a little bit of change to help them adapt to society. Then Reform Judaism believes that there should be a lot of change and adaptation to the modern world today. Additionally, Judaism is one of the three Abrahamic Religions. The Abrahamic Religions include Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. There are approximately 14 million people who identify themselves as Jews. Most of them live in the U.S. and Israel. The state of Israel was founded in 1948. Jews are the descendants of an ancient people called the Hebrews. The Hebrews’ country fell to a series of conquerors and the Jews scattered across the world. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt and they wandered the wilderness for 40 years, trying to get to the promised land,

By religious belief, Jewish people trace their origin all the way back to Abraham, who spread the message of the Oneness of God. However, the documented origin of Judaism started with the conquest of Joshua in 1250 B.C. The presence of Jews in

Judaism is the first oldest out of the three religions that there is. Abraham is the founder of Judaism, and it was founded in Mesopotamia. It has three main locations, Israel, Europe, and the United States. They have their worship day on Saturday instead of on Sunday or Wednesday like a lot of the other religions. They also live by these things called 13 articles of

Although the exact age of the Jewish faith is debatable, one thing is certain, it is a faith with an extensive, and at times tumultuous, history. Throughout the history of Judaism, Jewish people have faced ongoing persecution and discrimination. Despite these conflicts, the faith is alive, strong, and growing. Like many religions faced with adversity, Judaism has had to accommodate the ever-changing world to maintain their faith. One significant moment of change, the falling of the Second Temple, had the opportunity to destroy Judaism for good, but the Jewish people came together and reformulated their religion in order to save their faith.

As one of the largest religions in the world, Judaism has often been critiqued, assessed, analyzed and researched for hundreds of thousands of years. Judaism has helped establish a rich tradition and culture for the Jewish people. Throughout these hundreds of thousands of years the Jewish people have been able to rely on a stable sanctuary for prayer, community activities, and intellectual stimulation. This sanctuary is often named the Synagogue but takes on many other names such as the shul and the temple. Through the Synagogue the Jewish people have been able to continue to develop their culture, community affairs, and provide a safe intellectual home for all friends and followers of Judaism.

Over 14 million people affiliate themselves Judaism but few people truly understand what it actually means to be a Jew. The basic beliefs of this religion are built upon the Holy book the Torah which; are the first 5 books of the Old Testament. Many Jews trust and run their lives by this collection of books but others don’t find it credible resulting in the different denominations of Judaism: Reform, orthodox, conservative, and messianic. Despite all of the denominations of Judaism, all followers share the belief that there is only one God who is the creator of the universe and the source of all moral authority (Silfkin). The Jewish perspective of God, mankind, and the Tanakh define the worldview.

It has now been a full year since I began my position at Congregation Sinai. Thank you all again for an amazing first year. When I was interviewing I gave an adult education lesson on the destruction of the 2nd Temple. We have just completed the fast day Tisha B’Av. Tisha B’Av (9th of Av) is the date given by our sages for the destruction of both Temples, so again it feels like I have come full circle.

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.

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.

The people of Israel, also known as Jews trace their origin to Abraham, who established Judaism in 1900 BCE. Abraham established the belief that there is only one God, the creator of the universe. There are 3 different branches of Judaism, each with different approaches to religious life: Orthodox; Conservative; and Reform. Jewish life is rich in traditions, rituals and holidays, which commemorate the past, celebrate the present, and express hope for the future.

Judaism began as early as 7th century BCE as the religion of the small nation of the Hebrews (which would later become the Jews). It was originally practiced by believing that there is only one God, known as

Judaism is known to be a monotheistic religion, that is historic religion of Jewish people, which is said to be one of the oldest religions that fall under the monotheistic religion that believes in God, and that God is an all-knowing, all-powerful God that created the world as well as everything that is in it (Voorst,2013). Judaism foundation started in the original covenant made between Abraham and God, circa 1900 BCE, when Abraham was called to leave his home in Ur and travel to Cannan, which was later known as Palestine and Israel, the land which God promised to give to his descendants (Swartz,2005). Years later, there was a second covenant with Moses, who led the Jews out of slavery in Egypt, exodus back to the lands of Canaan. At Mt Horeb also known as Sinai, is where God gave the Jewish people the Ten Commandants as was as other rules to live by which are found in the Torah, as well as the first five books of the Bible, marking the beginning of Judaism as a structured religion (Swartz,2005).