MIRANDA, PATRICIA MAE T.

GEC09
BSN 4B

My Reflection on Jewish History

How did Judaism start? Is there only one God or more? Who wrote the Bible? When and
why was it so clear it was some kind of a tiny scroll? These questions resemble, in many ways,
our existence as individuals.

The destruction of the nation of Israel founded by King David would appear to be the
end, but it was rather the beginning, for out of the crucible of destruction came a sacred book
known as the Bible and an idea that would change the world: a belief in one God. This is a new
idea, one that nobody has ever had before. Monotheism is well established that something
major happened, which is very difficult to trace now.

Judaism comprises several rituals, practices, and traditions that embody its values and
ways of life. As I watched the documentary on Jewish history, I started to get curious about the
lives of Jews in the past. What makes the Jews believe in one God, which is known as
monotheism, as well? Why does this Bible seemingly feel significant to everyone? What are the
authors of the Bible trying to convey?

As I dig deeper, I finally notice some pieces of evidence that shed new light. In the said
documentary, the Bible has several stories pertaining to Israel’s origin. It starts with Abraham
and God. Abraham doubted and spent his 40 years questioning the polytheistic ideas of his
surrounding culture until he was confident in his theory that all of existence comes from a single
source – a primal infinite Being that we call God. Through writing, teaching, and debates, he started
to turn this confusion and questions into sets of philosophical ideas and principles about
monotheism.

Then, a covenant or sacred contract was established between Abraham and God. He
told to Abraham that his biological descendants will eventually grow into a nation that will live by the
philosophical principles that he had developed and will be given the Land of Canaan as a national
homeland (Genesis 12:1). By sharing his principles from generation to generation, that resulted in
the recognition of the monotheism concept.

Honestly, it is a little bit confusing and, at the same time, it is difficult to accept nowadays to
worship of many gods and/or idols without knowing their origin and the truth behind them. That is
why some scholars and archaeologists look beyond our modern notion of fact or fiction to ask
why the Bible was written in the first place. They realized that those biblical writers were telling
stories of how the monotheistic religion began.