All About Judaism

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All About Judaism!
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What is Judaism?

• Judaism, founded between 2000 BC and 1500 BC is
  believed to be the first monotheistic religion!
• Monotheism is the belief in one god.

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Who Founded Judaism?

• Abraham is considered the founder of Judaism.
• Abrahams descendants, the Hebrews, practiced
  Judaism
• Moses is also considered a founder because of his
  involvement with God and the 10 Commandments

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The Names of Judaism

• People who practice Judaism can be called
• Jewish
• Jews
• Hebrews
• Israelites (if they live in Israel!)

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Jewish History

• Abraham founded the religion and moved from
  Mesopotamia (the fertile land between the Tigris
  and Euphrates Rivers) to Canaan.
• Some Jews moved to Egypt where they prospered!
• The Pharaoh was nervous of the Jewish prosperity
  and enslaved them!

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Jewish History

• When the Pharaoh was asked to release the slaves
  and chose not to, his lands were faced with 10
  plagues. Soon after he changed his mind and let
  the Jewish slaves go.
• Moses, on Gods command, led the Jews out of
  Egypt. This later became known as the Exodus.

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Jewish History

• After years of wandering around Southwest Asia,
  the Jews settled in Canaan and became known as
  the Israelites.
• Conflict over the land of Israel led the country
  to split into two and the Jews moved to Judah,
  which is why they became known as Jewish!

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What do Jews Believe?

• There is only ONE GOD (this means they are
  monotheistic)
• Believing in only one god was considered odd
  during this time period. Many people did not
  agree with this!

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What do Jews Believe?

• The Law
• The Ten Commandments- These are laws that are set
  out to promote justice and righteousness.
• Mosaic Law- This is the law given to Moses from
  God. These are laws that set forth rules on the
  daily religious practices of Jewish people.

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What do Jews Believe?

• Justice and Righteousness
• Jews believe that all people should be treated
  fairly and everyone, even criminals, deserve
  justice.
• Jews are expected to help others that are in need
  AND are required to be fair in all business
  transactions.
• Being just and righteous is extremely important
  to Jews!

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Where do Jews Worship?

• Jews worship in a Synagogue and attend their
  religious services on Saturdays.
• Worship services in a Synagogue are led by a
  Rabbi.

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What do Jews Read?

• The Torah (the main book of study)
• The Torah contains the information that God gave
  Moses.
• The Torah is the most important book in the
  Jewish religion.
• The Torah is so sacred that no one is allowed to
  touch it! In order to read the Torah, you must
  use a pointer (a yad).

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What do Jews Read?

• The Hebrew Bible
• The Hebrew Bible includes the following (1) The
  Torah, (2)8 books from the prophets, (3)The Book
  of Psalms- 11 books of poetry and songs.
• The Commentaries
• A Cliff Notes version of the Hebrew Bible.
• This makes it easier to understand the teachings
  of Judaism!

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What do Jews Celebrate?

• Hanukkah- The Festival of Lights!
• Hanukkah celebrates the miracle of light. It is
  said that there was a time when there was not
  enough oil to give off light for more than one
  day. Miraculously, the oil available produced
  light for 8 days!
• It is common to see a Menorah burned during
  Hanukkah to celebrate this miracle. The Menorah
  can have either 7 or 9 candles.

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What do Jews Celebrate?

• Passover
• Passover is a holiday that recognizes and
  celebrates the Exodus, when Moses led the Jews
  out of Egypt.
• During Passover Jews eat Matzo bread, and
  un-risen bread, since it is said during the
  Exodus the bakers left without having time to
  cook their bread properly.

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What do Jews Celebrate?

• Rosh Hashanah
• Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year.
• This is the holiest day of the year for Jews.
• Jews spend most of this day in the synagogue.
• Yom Kippur
• Yom Kippur is a day to reflect on your sins.
• Jews must fast until sun down on Yom Kippur.
• These are the two high holy days!

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What do Jews Celebrate?

• Bar Mitzvah (Boys- Age 13), Bat Mitzvah (Girls-
  Age 12)
• When Jewish boys and girls reach their Bar
  Mitzvah or Bat Mitzvah they are expected to begin
  following the commandments.
• Jewish families often throw a party to celebrate
  their childs Bar or Bat Mitzvah.

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Fast Facts

• Jews DO NOT believe in Jesus as the Son of God!
  They do think of him as a prophet.
• Jews are also considered to be truly
  monotheistic, because they only believe in one
  god- Yahweh (Jews do not speak this name!).
• Jews DO NOT believe in an afterlife. They are
  more concerned about the present.
• Jews can be found all around the world!