Principles of Judaism

28

Sources of the Democratic Tradition

Vocabulary Builder

3

3

SECTION

Standards-Based Instruction

Standards-at-a-Glance

• History-Social Science

Students have learned about Greek and Roman principles. Now they will study some moral and ethical principles of Judaism.

• Analysis SkillsCS3

Students use a variety of maps and documents to interpret human movement, including major patterns of domestic and international migration, changing environmental preferences and settlement patterns, the frictions that develop between population groups, and the diffusion of ideas, technological innovations, and goods.

• English-Language Arts

Writing 2.4

Prepare to Read

Build Background Knowledge

Ask students what Judaism is.

(the religion of the Jews)

Then ask where Jewish reli-gious laws are written down.

(the Hebrew Bible; the Torah; the Old Testament)

Set a Purpose

■

WITNESS HISTORYWITNESS HISTORY

Read the selection aloud or play the audio.

AUDIO

Witness History Audio CD,

God’s Promise

Ask

What is the agreement between God and the people of Israel?

(God will help the Israelites increase their numbers and will give them land in return for obedience to God’s laws.)

Ask students to predict whether the Israel-ites would always obey God’s laws.

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Focus

Point out the Section Focus Question and write it on the board. Tell students to refer to this question as they read.

(Answer appears with Section 3 Assessment answers.)

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Preview

Have students preview the Section Standards and the list of Terms, People, and Places.

■

Have students read this section using the Structured Read Aloud strategy (TE, p. T21). As they read, have students fill in the table showing events in the history of the Jews.

Reading and Note Taking Study Guide,

p. 10

Use the information below and the following resources to teach the high-use word from this section.

Teaching Resources, Unit 1,

p. 7;

Teaching Resources, Skills Handbook,

p. 3

High-Use Word Definition and Sample Sentence

invoke, p. 30

vt.

to call on a god for help and supportTo help ensure a good harvest, Roman farmers would

invoke

the gods of rain and fertility.

L3

L3

WITNESS HISTORYWITNESS HISTORY AUDIO

33

Positive Events Negative Events

Principles of JudaismStandards Preview

H-SS 10.1.1 Analyze the similarities and differences in Judeo-Christian and Greco-Roman views of law, reason and faith, and duties of the individual.

Terms, People, and PlacesJerusalemAbrahamMosesmonotheisticcovenant

Sabbathprophetethicsdiaspora

Reading Skill: Understand Effects The writer’s of the Hebrew scriptures believed that obedience to God’s laws brought positive effects. Disobedience brought negative effects. As you read, keep track of positive and negative events in the history of the Jews. List the events in a chart like the one below, arranged in chronological order.

In 63 B.C., Rome conquered yet another outpost of the Greek worldin the eastern Mediterranean. The Roman general Pompeymarched his army into Palestine and captured Jerusalem, thecapital of the independent Jewish state of Judea. A Jewish familyof priestly kings had ruled Judea for about a century. Now Pompeyturned Judea into a Roman province.

Unlike other peoples of the Roman empire, the Jews prayed tojust one God for guidance and protection. Their unique relationshipwith their God helped shape the history of the Jews. Their ancientbeliefs evolved into Judaism, one of the world’s main faiths. Theancient history of the Jews helps explain how Jews became wor-shippers of one God, even in the face of Roman persecution.

Early History of the JewsThe Jews of ancient history were known as Hebrews or Israelites(people of Israel). Much of what we know about them comes fromthe Torah, their most sacred text. The story begins with a mannamed Abraham.

A Migrating People According to the Torah, Abraham livednear Ur in Mesopotamia. About 2000 B.C., he and his familymigrated, herding their sheep and goats westward into a regioncalled Canaan. (Canaan and Palestine refer to roughly the sameregion, whose boundaries shifted over time. These names arederived from the occupants of the region—Canaanites and laterinvaders known as Philistines. The Israelites would give it a thirdname, Israel.) Here, near the eastern Mediterranean coast, Abra-ham founded the Israelite nation.

Lithograph, or print, of Abraham

God’s PromiseAccording to the Hebrew Bible, God made an agreement with Abraham, who was the father of the people of Israel. Here God restates that agreement to Abraham’s children:

“ I will fulfill the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven, and will give to your descendants all these lands; and by your descendants all the nations of the earth shall bless themselves: because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws.”

Focus Question Why did the concept of law mean so much to the Jewish people?

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Chapter 1 Section

3

29

History Background

Teach

Early History of the Jews

H-SS 10.1.1

Instruct

■

Introduce: Key Terms

Ask students to find the name

Moses

(in blue) in the text and explain who he was, according to the Torah. Point out that exile and the return to Canaan, or Palestine, are recurrent themes in Jewish history. Ask students what else they might have read about Moses.

(Sample: He received the Ten Commandments from God.)

■

Teach

Explain that the Torah, the Jews’ most sacred text, is the main source for the history of the Israelites. Ask

According to the Torah, who founded the Israelite nation?

(Abraham)

What other peoples ruled over the Israelites?

(the Egyptians, Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians)

Which of these dominant groups treated the Israelites poorly?

(The Egyptians enslaved them; the Babylo-nians forced many of them into exile.)

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Quick Activity

Have students create a timeline on the board of the early his-tory of the Jewish people. You may wish to have them add entries to their time-line as they move through the section.

Independent Practice

Ask students to work in groups to learn more about the Western Wall in Jerusa-lem. Ask each group to prepare a short presentation for the class.

Monitor Progress

As groups of students research and write their presentations, circulate to make sure they are locating information about the wall.

Answers

Their history is a series of migrations, includ-ing Abraham’s journey to Canaan, the exodus from Egypt, and the Babylonian captivity.

Caption

Sample: It is both a historic and current symbol of their faith.

Dead Sea Scrolls

In 1947, Bedouin shepherds dis-covered several ancient scrolls rolled up in jars in desert caves near the Dead Sea. In the years that fol-lowed, further searches by archaeologists turned up hundreds more leather and papyrus manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts left in the area by a Jewish community nearly 2,000 years ago. Written in Hebrew,

Aramaic, and Greek, the Dead Sea Scrolls, as they came to be called, comprise a variety of documents, including many parts of the Hebrew Bible. The manu-scripts provide valuable historical evidence of Jewish religious beliefs and worldview during the Hellenistic and early Roman periods of Jewish history.

L3

A famine later forced many Israelites to migrate to Egypt. They spentmore than 400 years there, much of it as enslaved workers. An Israelitenamed Moses finally led his people in their exodus, or escape, fromEgypt. In time, the Israelites made their way back to Canaan.

The Kingdom of Israel By 1000 B.C., theIsraelites had set up, in Canaan, a kingdomcalled Israel. David, a strong and clever king,united the feuding Israelite tribes into a sin-gle nation.

David’s son Solomon turned Jerusalem intoan impressive capital, with a splendid templededicated to God. Solomon won fame for hiswisdom and understanding. He also tried toincrease Israel’s influence by negotiating withpowerful empires in Egypt and Mesopotamia.

Division and Conquest Israel paid a heavyprice for Solomon’s ambitions. His buildingprojects required such high taxes and so muchforced labor that revolts erupted soon after hisdeath about 922 B.C. The kingdom then splitinto Israel in the north and Judah in the south.

Weakened by this division, the Israelitescould not fight off invading armies. In 722 B.C.,Israel fell to the Assyrians, warriors from Mesopotamia who used ironweapons. The Babylonians, also from Mesopotamia, later displaced theAssyrians. In 586 B.C., Babylonian armies captured Judah. Their ruthlessking, Nebuchadnezzar, destroyed the great temple. He forced many Israel-ites into exile near Babylon.

Years later, when the Persian ruler Cyrus conquered Babylon, he freedthe Israelites from captivity. Many returned to their homeland, whichbecame known as Judea, and they became known as Jews. There theyrebuilt a smaller version of Solomon’s temple. Yet, like other groups inthe region, they continued to live under Persian rule.

Standards Check What role did migration play in the history of the Israelites? H-SS 10.1.1

God’s Covenant With the IsraelitesYou have just read an outline of Israelite history. To the Israelites, historyand faith were interconnected. They did not separate their religiousbeliefs from their social, economic, or political lives. Each event in theirhistory reflected God’s plan for them. In time the Israelites came to seethemselves as a religious group. They began to collect their stories in whatwould become the Hebrew Bible. The religion we know as modern Judaismbegan after many of the exiles returned from Babylon to Palestine.

One God The beliefs of the Israelites differed in basic ways from thoseof nearby peoples. The Israelites were monotheistic, believing in oneGod. Their belief in this one God dominated their lives. At the time, mostother people worshiped many gods. A few religious leaders spoke of a sin-gle powerful god. However, their ideas did not have the lasting impactthat Israelite beliefs did.

The Western WallToday, the Western Wall in Jerusalem is all that remains of the great temple of the Israelites. Here, Jewish men gather at the wall to pray. Why do you think the Western Wall is sacred to Jewish people around the world?

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Solutions for All Learners

God’s Covenant with the Israelites

H-SS 10.1.1

Instruct

■

Introduce: Vocabulary Builder

Have students read the Vocabulary Builder term and definition. Ask stu-dents what historical circumstances might have caused the Israelites to

invoke

God.

(the famine and resulting migration to Egypt, enslavement in Egypt, exodus from Egypt, warfare)

■

Teach

Point out to students the vital importance for the Israelites of the cov-enant with God. Ask

How does the Torah present this covenant?

(as a binding agreement by which God prom-ises to protect the Israelites, or Jews, and provide them a homeland in return for obedience to God’s laws)

How is the Torah related to the covenant?

(According to Jewish belief, the Torah incorporates God’s laws.)

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Analyzing the Visuals

Direct stu-dents to the photos on this page. Tell them that the Dead Sea Scrolls contain parts of all but one book of the Hebrew Bible and that they have had a great impact on scholarly study of the Bible and Jewish history. Point out that scholars are still working to restore and read all the scrolls. Ask

Why do you think work on the scrolls has taken more than 50 years?

(The bulk of the ancient scrolls, written mainly on leather and papyrus, consist of small, brittle fragments that must be handled with great care. Advances in technology will probably aid scholars in their analysis.)


Viewpoints

To help students better understand the Hebrew Bible, have them read

The Dead Sea Scrolls

and complete the worksheet.


p. 12

Monitor Progress

To review the section so far, ask students to reread the black headings and summa-rize the information under each one.

Answer

Jews believed in one God. They believed that they had to uphold a covenant with God to obey God’s laws.

L1

Special Needs L2

Less Proficient Readers L2

English Language Learners

Invite students to create a web diagram to show infor-mation about the Torah. Start by having them read the subsection titled “The Torah.” They should then write the word

Torah

in a center circle and begin connecting details to it such as “written Torah” and “oral Torah.” Encourage students to show as much detail about the Torah as they can. They should be able to use their

diagrams to discuss or present an oral report about the Torah.

Adapted Reading and Note Taking Study Guide

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Adapted Note Taking Study Guide, p. 10

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Adapted Section Summary, p. 11

L3

The ancient Israelites prayed to God to save them from their enemies.Many other ancient peoples had also invoked particular gods as specialprotectors. They thought, however, that such gods remained tied to cer-tain places or people. By the time of Isaiah, the Israelites expressedbelief in one God as supreme.

The Chosen People The Israelites believed that God had made acovenant, or promise and binding agreement, with Abraham and hisdescendants:

Primary Source

“ I will make nations of you, and kings shall come forth from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your descendants after you. And I will give to you, and to your descendants after you, the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlast-ing possession; and I will be their God.”—book of Genesis

God promised not only to protect the Israelites but also to provide them ahomeland. To the Israelites, Canaan became this “promised land.” To ful-fill their part of the covenant, the people of Israel believed that they hadto remain faithful and obedient to God. The Israelites also believed thatGod had chosen them to spread God’s teachings among all the nations of

the world. Therefore, the Israelites and later the Jewssaw themselves as God’s “chosen people.”

The Torah Early in their history, the Israelites real-ized how important it was for them to obey God’s laws.As a result they developed the Torah, their most sacredtext, as a record of God’s teachings. In Hebrew Torahmeans “instruction.”

The Torah consists of five books—Genesis, Exodus,Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. These writings,the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, give an earlyaccount of the Israelites. For example, the book of Gene-sis tells how God told Abraham to leave his home in Urand migrate to Canaan. The book of Exodus tells howGod commanded Moses to lead the Israelites out of sla-very in Egypt.

The Torah can be read as a history, yet it is much more. Incorporatedwithin the stories are God’s teachings, the laws that Jews believe mustbe obeyed in order to fulfill the covenant between God and his chosenpeople. Those teachings set a strict moral standard for the Jews. BothAbraham and Moses, models of faithfulness, sought to carry out God’scommandments.

The meaning of the word Torah goes beyond the written Torah of thefive books. It also includes the oral Torah. The oral Torah consists ofunwritten laws as well as commentaries on the written Torah. Thosecommentaries arose through many generations of discussion by Jewishscholars and rabbis. The oral Torah added an element of flexibility toJudaism, allowing it to adapt to changing circumstances.

Standards Check How did the Jews’ beliefs differ from those of other nearby peoples? H-SS 10.1.1

Vocabulary Builderinvoke—(in VOKE) vt. to call on a god for help and support

The Dead Sea ScrollsThe Dead Sea scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in 11 caves near the shore of the Dead Sea. They include over 900 documents, many of which are in fragments. The scrolls appear to be the library of a Jewish group who hid them during the war between the Jews and the Romans. Below, two researchers study the scrolls with the aid of digitally-enhanced images.

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Chapter 1 Section

3

31

History Background

Teachings on Law and Morality/The Scattering of the Jews

H-SS 10.1.1

Instruct

■

Introduce: Key Terms

Ask students to find the key term

ethics

(in blue) in the text and define it. Encourage stu-dents to consider what kinds of state-ments might appear in a code of ethics for their school. Write their responses on the board.

■

Teach

Explain that the Israelites saw a strong link between law and morality. Ask

What are some of the laws that Jews obeyed?

(each of the Ten Com-mandments; other laws dealing with everyday matters or criminal acts)

What important role did the proph-ets play in keeping Jews obedient to God?

(They cautioned Jews to act ethically, reminding them that to do otherwise is to break the covenant and risk tragic consequences.)

What demo-cratic traditions echo the preach-ing of Jewish prophets?

(political equality and the rule of law)

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Quick Activity

Ask students to con-sider how Jews in the Diaspora kept their culture and religion alive. Divide the class into groups to discuss this question briefly and come to some con-clusions. Then lead a discussion.

(Sam-ple: They carried with them their sacred scriptures.)


Invite students to create a short slogan whose message reflects Jewish teachings on law or morality.

Monitor Progress

■

As students create their slogans, circu-late to make sure they are focusing seriously on relevant Jewish teachings.

■

Check Reading and Note Taking Study Guide entries for student understanding.

Answer

the Ten Commandments, found in the Torah’s Book of Exodus

The Ten Commandments

The Hebrew Bible tells how Moses received the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets directly from God. When Moses returned to where the rest of the Israelites had camped, he found that they had abandoned their faith. Moses shattered the two tablets. God then com-manded him to carve two new tablets, on which the same words were inscribed. These tablets were later

placed in a gold-plated wooden chest called the Ark of the Covenant. After the Israelites finally settled in Canaan, they occasionally carried the Ark—a symbol of God’s power—into battle. Eventually, King David returned the Ark and the tablets to Jerusalem, where his son Solomon put them in a sacred room inside the temple. Nobody knows where the Ark of the Covenant is today.

L3

History Background

Teachings on Law and MoralityFrom early times, the concept of law was central to the Israelites. TheTorah set out many laws. Some dealt with everyday matters such ascleanliness and food preparation. Others defined criminal acts. TheTorah also established moral principles.

The Ten Commandments According to the book of Exodus, Mosesand the Israelites stopped at Mount Sinai on their way from Egypt toCanaan. There, God renewed the covenant and gave the Ten Command-ments directly to Moses. This set of ten basic moral laws lies at the coreof Judaism. For his role in bringing these Commandments to his people,Moses became “lawgiver” to the Jews. The Torah, in which the Ten Com-mandments appear, is also known as the five books of Moses.

The first four Commandments stress religious duties of the individ-ual toward God, such as keeping the Sabbath, a holy day for restand worship. The rest set out rules for individual conduct towardother people. They include “Honor your father and mother,” “Youshall not murder,” and “You shall not steal.”

The Seven Universal Laws The Ten Commandments spellout fundamental laws that God expects Jews to follow. A simi-lar set of rules, called the Seven Universal Laws, applied to allpeople, not just Jews. Like the Ten Commandments, theyinclude prohibitions against murder and robbery. One of thelaws differs, however. It commands people to establish courts toenforce the other laws. This idea of universally accepted moral andethical principles backed by a system of justice is a source of the mod-ern concept of basic human rights in international law.

An Ethical Worldview Jews have a responsibility to obey God’s laws.Yet they also have the freedom to make individual moral choices—even if they choose to disobey the law. According to the Biblicaltext, disregard for the law brings punishment from God. Theancient Jews linked periods of widespread disobedience withtragic historical events.

Often in Jewish history, spiritual leaders emerged to inter-pret God’s will. These prophets, such as Isaiah and Jeremiah,warned that failure to obey God’s law would lead their people todisaster. For example, Isaiah, who lived in Judea in the 700s B.C., pre-dicted the catastrophe that came in the form of the Assyrian invasion. Hepleaded with the Israelites to avoid this tragedy by returning to the stan-dards of behavior acceptable to God.

Other prophets also preached a strong code of ethics, or moral stan-dards of behavior. They promoted not only personal morality but a mor-ally just community, calling on the rich and powerful to protect the poorand weak. The book of Genesis declares: “God created man in his ownimage.” This idea later passed into Western culture as political equality,or equality before the law. Unlike many ancient societies whose peoplelooked on their ruler as a god, Jews saw their leaders as fully human andbound to obey God’s law. In this way, Judaism contributed to the rise ofanother important democratic concept, the rule of law.

Standards Check What is the source of basic moral laws that Jews must obey? H-SS 10.1.1

Moses the LawgiverThis sculpture of Moses by Michelangelo showsthe Israelite leader holding the stone tablets upon which the Ten Commandments were inscribed. This set of ten moral laws lies at the core of Judaism.

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Assess and Reteach

Assess Progress

■

Have students complete the Section Assessment.

■

Administer the Section Quiz.


p. 4

■

To further assess student under-standing, use

Progress Monitoring Transparencies,

3

Reteach

If students need more instruction, have them read the section summary.

Reading and Note Taking Study Guide,

p. 11

Adapted Reading and Note Taking Study Guide,

p. 11

Spanish Reading and Note Taking Study Guide,

p. 11

Extend

Ask students to look through newspapers or newsmagazines to find stories about political conditions in modern Israel and Palestine. Invite students to apply what they have learned in this section of the text by writing an essay about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the search for peace. In their essay, they should address both sides of the issue.

Answer

It began with the exile to Babylonia, after which some Jews chose not to return to Canaan.

Section 3 Assessment

1.

Sentences should reflect an understanding of each term, person, or place listed at the beginning of the section.

2.

The Jewish faith was based on a covenant with God in which they agreed to obey God’s laws. They associated the failure to obey those laws with tragic historical events.

3.

Sample: The Israelites migrated in and out of their homeland.

4.

The Torah explains the covenant, describes historical events related to the covenant, and presents God’s teachings, or laws, which Jews must follow to avoid breaking the covenant.

5.

Judaism promoted equality and the rule of law.

6.

military defeat, first by the Babylonians and later by the Romans

●

Writing About History

Students should present valid, logical points to describe how widespread, unacceptable conduct leads to tragic consequences.

For additional assessment, have students access

Standards Monitoring

Online

at

Web Code mza-0133.

L3

L3

L2L1

L2

L4

AssessmentStandard H-SS 10.1.1E-LA W 2.4

2, 3, 4, 5, 6Quick Write

33

The Scattering of the JewsThe Babylonian Captivity, in 586 B.C., marked the start of the diaspora(dy AS pur uh), or scattering of the Jews. When the captivity ended, notall Jews returned to Canaan. Some stayed in Babylon, and othersmigrated elsewhere in the Middle East and Mediterranean regions.

Jews in Canaan lived under Persian and Hellenistic rulers until the100s B.C., when a Jewish family formed an independent kingdom. ThenPompey and the Romans arrived, as you have read. Influenced by Helle-nism, some Jews had taken up Greek ways. Others had resisted culturalchange, keeping traditional Jewish customs. Those two groups oftenclashed.

In this tense atmosphere, new Jewish groups arose. One of thosegroups developed under the followers of a Jew named Jesus and becamea new religion, Christianity.

Roman mismanagement led to further disturbances throughout theregion. In A.D. 66, sporadic incidents turned into a full-blown Jewish revoltagainst Roman rule. Four years later, the Romans destroyed the Jewishtemple in Jerusalem.

By the time of the revolt, the num-ber of Jews outside Canaan farexceeded those living in the home-land. The scattering of the Jews con-tinued through the following centuriesand Judaism spread through the Mid-dle East and into Europe. Still, forJews everywhere Canaan, later calledPalestine, remained the center of theirculture and religion.

Standards Check How did the scattering of the Jewish people begin? H-SS 10.1.1

Standards Monitoring OnlineFor: Self-quiz with vocabulary practiceWeb Code: mza-0133

Terms, People, and Places

1. For each term, person, or place listed at the beginning of the section, write a sentence explaining its significance.

2. Reading Skill: Understand EffectsUse your completed chart to answer the Focus Question: Why did the concept of law mean so much to the Jews?

Comprehension and Critical Thinking

3. Make Generalizations How could you characterize the history of the Israelites in a single sentence?

4. Analyze Information How is the Torah related to the covenant?

5. Determine Relevance What impor-tant democratic ideas did Judaism promote through its ethical view of the world?

6. Synthesize Information How did the breaking of the covenant bring about the diaspora?

Writing About History

Quick Write: Use Valid Logic Think about how the prophet Isaiah might have tried to persuade the Israelites to return to standards of conduct acceptable to God. What valid, logical points might he have made in order to get them to change their behavior?

The Plunder of the Temple in JerusalemAfter defeating the Jewish people in battle in A.D. 70, Roman soldiers carried off precious objects from the temple.

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Principles of Judaism

Documents

Transcript of Principles of Judaism