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The Evolution Of Judaism. Over Thousands Of Years, The

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The Evolution of Judaism
Over thousands of years, the religion of Judaism has evolved. With years of suffering, persecution, and dispersion the Jews’ religion stays constant. When researching the religion, the history is extremely strong, and the doctrine of the religion dates back thousands of years. With such a vast history, one might want to examine the change into modern society.
“It has been estimated that one-third of our western civilization bears the marks of its Jewish ancestry.”- Hudson Smith, The World’s Religions. 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 …show more content…

We inhale a deep breath of eternity.” - Jonathan Socks
Throughout the history of Judaism, there have been some major turning points. The first major turning point was when God gave them the Torah which is essentially the guide book that tells you how to live a righteous life. The second major turning point was the destruction of the Second Temple by Roman legions under Titus. This lead to the change from a temple oriented religion to a synagogue oriented religion. All commandments pertaining to the temple and the proper ways to worship God via temple became irrelevant. Many additional prayers were added in order to replace the sacrificial offerings that were regularly performed at the temple. The synagogues became the central places of worship instead of the temple, and the Rabbis became the sole representatives of the Jewish people once most of the tasks given to the priests became irrelevant. Many more changes were involved in how the religion was changed and how it was practiced differently by the Jews.
The most dramatic turning point in Judaism took place during WWⅡ. During this war, millions and millions of Jews were murdered. Adolf Hitler and his Nazi Army did not accept Jews and therefore, took all Jews captive. Many Jews were starved or killed in concentration camps they were put into. Every month, millions grew weak and passed away. This was a horrific time for the Jews and others who were put into camps. Other groups of people were thrown into camps, such as:

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