JUDAISM

HISTORY
Judaism was formed when Abraham made a
covenant with God in Canaan in circa 2000
BCE.
Abraham was born under the name Abram in
the city of Ur in Babylonia in circa 1800 BCE.
He was the first one to spread the belief that
the entire universe was the work of a single
Creator, and he began to teach this belief to
others.

HISTORY
The Covenant God made with Abraham
was that if Abraham followed Gods rules
and teachings, He would bless him with
kids as many as the stars and his own
land to own or the promised land.

THREE BASIC GROUPS

1. Orthodox Jews- all practices in Torah must
be obeyed with no question
2. Conservative and Reform Jews- ancient
laws and practices should be interpreted to
fit the modern life with more focus on
community practices than on ritual practices
3. Reform Jews- allow men and women to sit
with each other; speak in Hebrew and local
language in services

CREED
Judaism has no dogma, no formal set of
beliefs that one must hold to be a Jew. In
Judaism, actions are far more important
than beliefs, although there is certainly a
place for belief within Judaism.

CREED
Rambams 13 Principles Of Faith
1.God exists
2.God is one and unique
3.God is incorporeal
4.God is eternal

5. Prayer is to be directed to God alone and

to no other
6. The words of the prophets are true
7. Moses' prophecies are true, and Moses
was the greatest of the prophets
8. the Written Torah (first 5 books of the
Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings now
contained in the Talmud and other writings)
were given to Moses

9. There will be no other Torah

10. God knows the thoughts and deeds of
men
11. God will reward the good and punish the
wicked
12. The Messiah will come
13. The dead will be resurrected no other
Torah

-Torah (Hebrew Bible): first five books of

Tanakh (Christian Old Testament) about
creation, Gods call to Abraham, 10
commandments of Moses
-do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah,
they do not believe that the Messiah will be
divine
-human beings are created in the image of
God
-the sacred name of God as revealed to
Moses in the Torah is YHWH

-believe that a Jew is someone who is the

child of a Jewish mother; although some
groups also accept children of Jewish fathers
as Jewish
-they believe they are God's chosen people
-they believe that Israel is their promised land
-Jewish Festivals such as Passover and
Hannukah
-There will be three groups on the Day of
Judgment: one of thoroughly righteous

CODE
Judaism Morality revolves around:
Justice
Righteousness
Kindness
Compassion

CODE
Halakhah (Jewish Law)
Comes from Torah (commandments and
other rules)
Comes from rabbis (backed up the
commandments)
From customs

CULT
Characteristics of Jewish Worship
In the Jewish religion, recitation of prayers is the central characteristic of
worship.
They pray mainly for:
Thanksgiving
prayers of praise
prayers that ask for things
When Jewish pray, they spend time with God. To pray is to serve God
with your heart, obeying God's commandment:
...to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and
with all your soul
Deuteronomy 11:13

CULT
"Torah" refers to the Five Books ofMoses: Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. But the
word "torah" can also be used to refer to the entire
Jewish bible, or, it can also refer to the whole Jewish law
and teachings.

Rites and Ceremonies:

-The very first rite of Judaism is the circumcision of all
baby boys at the age of eight days.
-The soul of the uncircumcised Jew is believed to perish
with his body.

CULT
Sense of sacredness: Kashrutis the body ofJewishlaw
dealing with what foods we can and cannot eat and how
those food must be prepared and eaten. "Kashrut"
comes from the Hebrew root Kaf-Shin-Reish, meaning fit,
proper or correct.
-It also requires menstruating women to avoid intimate
contact with their husbands until a week after the end of
their period and following their immersion in amikvah,
or ritual bath. It symbolizes purification

CULT
Jewish Meditation is understood as:
promoting a greater closeness to God
disciplining the mind, so that one has greater
ability to focus mentally
bringing an awareness of those regions of the
mind that had previously been 'unconscious'
heighten one's understanding of the Torah

CULT
According to Judaism...
Everyones created by God and therefore is linked
to Him.
We should nurture the Divine Spark within us.
Reject intermediaries.
Revelations of God cannot be limited to one
document, person or time.
Ritual without ethics is not only fruitless, but
idolatrous and anti-religious.

CULT
The world is a work in progress.
Judaism deeply values the search for truth.
The severest consequence of evil doing is that it
separates one from God.
Judaism teaches us the importance of embodying
democratic values and stresses the significance
of education towards fulfilling our mission.
Fulfill our obligations and our promise as a
people.

CONTRIBUTION TO REALITY
leading a righteous life
from Hillel the elder:What is hateful to you, do not
do unto others.
loving
kindness
The Jewish idea of righteousness ("tzedakah")
gives the owner of property no right to withhold
from the poor their share.
The Jewish tradition gives great stress to
reverence for parent