Introduction
Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish People and is one of the world's oldest religions. Judaism makes up the cultural system of Jewish law, custom, and practice of the whole individual and community. It is a system in which everyone is under God's rule. Judaism originated in the Middle East and has spread throughout all parts of the world because of both voluntary migrations and forced exile or expulsions. The total world Jewish population is about 15 million, most of whom live in the United States, Israel, and the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republic.
Central Beliefs
With the many historical forms of Judaism, they all share similar characteristics. The most essential characteristic is the belief in one God who created the universe and continues to rule it. The God who created the world revealed himself to the Israelites at Mount Sinai. The content of that revelation makes up the Torah, God's will for humankind stated in his commandments. A second major concept in Judaism is that of the covenant, or agreement, between God and the Jewish people. The Jews would acknowledge God, agreeing to obey his laws. God, in turn, would acknowledge Israel as his chosen people.
Jewish People believe that goodness and obedience will be rewarded and sin punished by God’s judgment after death. Then at the end of times, God will send his Messiah to redeem the Jews and deliver them to their Promised Land. Although all forms of Judaism come from the Hebrew bible, Judaism is mainly derived from the rabbinic movement during the first centuries of the Christian era. At the turn of the 3rd century, the rabbis, or Jewish sages, produced the Mishnah, the earliest document of rabbinic literature.
Worship and Practices
From tradition, Jewish pray in a congregation three times a day. The study of Torah, the revealed will of God, also is considered an act of worship. The Torah is read religiously each Sabbath. The Sabbath is spent in prayer, study, rest, and family feasting. Over the course of a year, the entire Torah will be read on Sabbath and festival days. The Jewish year includes five major festivals— Passover, Shabuoth, Sukkot, Rosh Hashanah, and Yom Kippur—and two minor ones— Hanukkah and Purim.
Torah
The Torah is the foundation of Jewish religion and law and refers to the Five Books of Moses, the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. But the word "torah" can also be used to refer to the entire Jewish bible. The body of scripture known to non-Jews as the Old Testament is considered the Jewish Torah. The text of the Torah is more or less the same in Jewish translations as the text in the Christian Bible. The differences in the translations are very minimal. Also, there are some occasional, slight differences in the numbering of verses between the two.
Links
Israel Sites
