Before proceeding to our lesson, Judaism, let’s have first a review on
the three Abrahamaic Religions. ( Below are symbols of the 3
Religions )
A B R A H A M A IC R E L IG IO N S
JUDAISM
CHRISTIANITY
ISLAM
Known as the first monotheistic religions of the world. They
are called Abrahamaic religions because they all trace their origins to
the great patriarch Abraham and his descendants. Since these religion
came from the same region, it is not surprisingly that they share
common beliefs, foremost of which is the belief that they share
common roots to the patriarch Abraham.
Aside from this, they also share certain similarities such as
belief in one god. They also believe in heaven and hell; in prophets as
instruments of god in propagating his words to the people; in angels
as messengers of god to humanity; and in judgement day, among
others.
Today, Christianity is considered as the most popular religion
of the world based on the number of adherents, followed by Islam.
Indeed, these Abrahamaic religions have largely influenced the world
today.
Judaism
Judaism is an ancient monotheistic religion that traces its
origin as an organized belief system during the Bronze Age in
West Asia.
It is the religion professed by the Jews as the “people of the
Book” in reference to their sacred text written covering nearly a
thousand years and formalized as a canon of teaching by the end
of the first century C.E.
The Torah:
The most important text of the Jewish people. It contains the
“the Five Books of Moses” and many sacred laws. The Jews
consider themselves as the people chosen by God to serve as an
exemplar of devotion and purity to humankind. The basic laws
and teachings of Judaism come from the Torah, the first five
books of the Hebrew Bible.
The teachings of Judaism:
The most important teaching of Judaism is that there is one
God, who wants people to do what is just and merciful. Judaism
teaches that a person serves God by studying the scriptures and
practicing what they teach. Both Christianity and Islam
developed from Judaism.
These teachings include both ritual practices and ethical laws.
Judaism teaches that all people are created in the image of God
and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. Thus, moral
and ethical teachings are as important in Judaism as teachings
about God.
The covenant with God is a special agreement that Jews believe
God made with Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish people.
According to the Bible, God promised to bless Abraham and his
descendants if they worshiped and remained faithful to God. God
renewed this covenant with Abraham’s son Isaac and Isaac’s son
Jacob.
Jacob was also called Israel, and so his descendants became
known as the children of Israel or the Israelites. God later gave
the Israelites the Ten Commandments and other laws through
their leader, Moses. These laws explained how the Israelites
should live their lives and built their community.
Unlike Christianity and many other religions throughout the
world, Judaism does not actively try to convince others to adopt
its beliefs and practices. However, under certain circumstances, it
does accept people who choose to convert to Judaism.
Elements of Judaism:
a. Founder’s: Abraham (2000 B.C.) and or Moses (1391-1271 B.C.)
b. Sacred Texts: Torah, , Poetry, Prophets, Talmud, Mishna
c. Doctrines: Ten Commandments, 618 Rules
d. God: Yahweh / Jehovah
e. Sects: Orthodox , Conservatives, Reform Liberals
f. Issues: Antisemitism, Zionism, Holocaust
The Messiah:
Traditionally, Jews believed that God would send a
Messiah to save them. The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word mashiah,
which means the anointed one. The Book of Isaiah describes the Messiah as a
just ruler who will unite the Jewish people and lead them in God’s way. The
Messiah will correct wrongs and defeat the enemies of the people.
The Sacred Writings:
Judaism has two major collections of sacred writings, the
Bible and the Talmud. These works provide the basis for Judaism’s beliefs and
practices.
The Bible:
The first Five Books of the Hebrew Bible make up the
Torah, the most important of all Jewish scriptures.
The Talmud:
The Talmud is a collection of legal;, ritual, and ethical
writings, as well as Jewish history and folklore. It serves primarily as a guide to
the civil and religious laws of Judaism.
The Mishnah:
The oral laws of the Torah, scholars of this Mishnah were
comments recorded in the Gemara, which was written between 200’s and 500’s.
the Mishnah and Gemara together made up the Talmud.
The Branches of Judaism:
a. Orthodox Judaism – continues traditional Jewish beliefs and
ways of life. They strictly observe all traditional Jewish laws,
including dietary rules and the laws for keeping the Sabbath.
Orthodox Jews pray three times daily-in the morning, in the
late afternoon, and after sunset. The men wear hats or
skullcaps (yarmulkas or kipot) at all times as a sign of respect
to God.
b. Reform Judaism- began during the early 1800’s. at the time,
some Jews started to question the traditional teachings of
how the sacred writings of Judaism came into being. They
considered the oral law a human creation rather than the
revelation of God, and so its authority was weakened for
them. They founded the Reform Judaism, claimed that
Judaism is defined principally by the Bible.
c. Conservative Judaism developed during the mid-1800’s. They
consider Talmud as much an authority as the Bible. However,
they believe that Jewish practice may be changed to fit the
times. They believe that in this way, Judaism can remain
relevant for each generation. The Conservative movement
requires observance of most traditional Jewish laws and
customs.
The Selected Issues of Judaism:
a. Women in Judaism
Women’s role in the Jewish religion is determined by the
Tanakh, the oral Torah and the Jewish customs.
b. Jewish Diaspora and the Zuionist Movement
The Zionists believed that Jews as the chosen people of
God will be reunited from dispersion or exile back to their
rightful homeland.
Diaspora- the dispersion of Jewish communities outside
Israel in history. The term Zion, , also a Jewish synonym
for Jerusalem, came from a name of a mountain where
Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem was located. Zionists are
the supporters of thbis movement.
c. Holocaust
From the Greek word that means “ sacrifice by fire”. In
history, Holocaust pertains to the methodical,
bureaucratic, and state-sponsored persecution and
execution of around six million Jews undertaken by the
NAZI regime and its collaborators from 1933 to 1945.
Heinrich Himmler, Adolf Hitler’s chief of police directly
responsible for the Holocaust.
The Anti- Semitism
The term Anti-Semitism pertains to hostility towards
and discrimination against the Jewish people that was
strongly felt in France, Germany, Poland, and Russia in
the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The term was
popularized in Germany. The planned extermination of the
entire Jewish race during the time of the holocaust was
the most extreme form of anti – Semitism. Other forms of
anti – Semitism activities include the persecution and
massacre of Jews throughout history.
