Born in the Middle East:Judaism

Judaism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_Orthodox_Judaism

Founded

• Abraham – 2000 – 1500 BCE in Israel– Established concept of

monotheism (belief in one powerful God)

– Established concept of covenant (special relationship between God and Abraham’s family

http://www.aishcenter.com/abraham-and-expansive-consciousness

Founder

• Moses -1280 BCE– Expanded the concept of covenant to include more

people

– Gave the people The Ten Commandments

Sacred Books

• Torah – The Five Books of Moses – (part of the Hebrew Scriptures)

• Tells the story of the covenant between God and his Chosen People

• Hebrew Scriptures includes the Torah, other parts of the Jewish Bible and the Talmud.

http://frted.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/reading-scripture-the-old-testament-the-torah-and-prophecy/

Practices

• Pray 3x a day facing Jerusalem

• Synagogue

• No pork or other non-kosher foods

• Bar/bat mitzvah at religious adulthood

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jews_Praying_in_the_Synagogue_on_Yom_Kippur

Holy Days

• Saturday – day of prayer and rest

• Fall holidays: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

• Spring holiday: Passover

/items/http://www.johnpratt.comdocs/lds/easter/elijah.html

Beliefs

• Required to live a moral and ethical life as taught in the Torah

• Afterlife – Not historically emphasized; focus is on this life, not the next

Holy Places

• Jerusalem– City of David

– Western Wall (remnants of Second Temple)

http://www.bibleplaces.com/westernwall.htm

Clergymen

• Rabbi – a teacher

http://www.frumsatire.net/2010/10/07/reform-rabbi-admits-hes-not-jewish/reform-rabbi/http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rabbi_Scheinberg_at_a_Bris_Mila_edit.jpghttp://www.vosizneias.com/45900/2009/12/30/edison-nj-after-pattern-of-bias-crimes-rabbi-wants-parents-to-be-responsible/

Diaspora

• The forced exile of Jews from their homeland

• Lost a war against the Romans in 70 CE

• http://www.newvoices.org/opinion?id=0116

Divided into two ethnic groups:

Ashkenazi – European Jews

Sephardic – Spanish-speaking or Middle Eastern

Ethnic Groups

http://www.ziomania.com/ashkenazi/ashkenazi.htm

Religious Sects

• Religiously: Jews divided into three groups:– The Orthodox (Fundamentalists)

– The Conservative (U.S.)

– The Reform (More modern, secular, liberal)