Judaism: History, Beliefs, and Religious Practices

Judaism emerged from the religious milieu and rejected the pantheistic model. They did not believe everything was divine and should be worshipped as a god as the Egyptians did. Instead of claiming there is a God like most major religions, they clearly stated we are not God. In a pantheistic model, everything is divine and considered a God in which they emerged from.

However, they denied that belief and stated there is a Transcendent God who chose them to be his chosen people. Judaism differs from all the other religious systems and is considered one of the most Unique religions in the world because of this belief and the way they emerged from. However, Judaism does share a slight similarity between Christianity and Islam. These religions rose up in the Middle East around 2000 BC and were based through Abraham. All three major religions are considered an Abrahamic religion because they state that their religion began with Abraham. Judaism has also considered itself as a Historical religion, which is dealing beyond intuition.

By stating they are a historical religion, they are claiming God showed himself to the Jewish people of acts in saving them. They claim God revealed himself to them so they can spread knowledge about him to the rest of the world and were God’s chosen people. As stated previously, it all started with Abraham. In the Old Testament of the Jewish scriptures, it states that God is going to bless Abraham and save him. Several years later, it is stated that God expanded this promise of saving Abraham into saving all of those who practice the religion Judaism. Abraham is Isaac’s second born son in which the seed of who is able to be saved is considered plural.

Since Judaism believes the seed plural and based off of Abraham, this divides the major beliefs between Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. After 1,823 years it would seem impossible for culture and religion to survive without a possession of land to call its own. However, Judaism managed to go through horrific persecutions for hundreds of years and was able to maintained their identity through it all. It all started in 125 AD when the Jews revolted against the Roman Emperor. Not only was the city of Jerusalem destroyed, they were banished from Israel. Modern day Israel was claimed by the Jews in 1300 BC and because of the Roman Emperor Hadrian, they no longer had a possession of land to practice and claim its heritage, culture, and religion.

In 1290 AD, Jews were yet again exiled from a country. King Longshanks emerged propaganda against the Jews. He was in heavy debt and the Jews were wealthy bankers, so he found an easy escape in just going against the Jews so he could avoid paying the debt. They were exiled from another country yet again because of a king who selfish act on not wanting to pay his debts. It took 300 years for them to be accepted back into England with the exception of doctors, but this is just another example of how they were persecuted. In the 20th century during World War II, millions of Jews were killed in acts of genocide.

Two-thirds of all Jews in Europe were killed due to propaganda portraying them as the reason Germany lost World War I. This was the final straw on all persecutions towards Jews. After the world came to realize the horrific events that happened during the Holocaust, Jews were finally able to go back to Israel. In a matter 1,823 years, it seems extraordinary for Jews to still have their identity intact. This is one of the strongest logical pieces of evidence to support the fact they are Gods chosen people. Since ethics is a major component in Judaism, Moses is believed to be the great lawgiver of Israel. The Ten Commandments and the fact Moses is honored in Israel as a lawgiver gives Judaism high credibility in its claim. This is an example of how seriously Judaism takes the area of ethics.

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