Judaism

Origins And Sacred Texts

Judaism and the Jews
The followers of Judaism are
called Jews.
Judaism and Jews were derived
from the word Judah, which was
the name of the fourth of the 12
sons of Jacob.
Each of the 12 sons of Jacob
became an ancestor of a certain
tribe. The tribe Judah, therefor,
was one of the 12 tribes of Israel
(for Jacob was also called Israel)
The term Jews or Yehudi in
Hebrew reffered to the members
of the tribe of Judah.
Jews are also called Hebrews
and Israelites.
They are called Hebrews
because they are descendants
of Abraham (the grandfather of
Jacob)
They are called Israelites
because they are descendants
of Jacob, who was also called
Israel.
Abraham and his
descendants
Two persons are considered founders
of Judaism, Abraham (2000 BCE) and
Moses (1391-1271 BCE)
It was with Abraham that God made
a covenant.
It was through Moses that God made
His commandments known to the
people.
Abraham was the first patriarch
(which originally means “father-
source”) among the three
patriarchs of the Jewish people.
The second was Abraham’s son
Isaac.
The third was Isaac’s son Jacob.
Abraham Isaac married Jacob
Rebekah and -Leah
they had twins, -Rachel
-Sarah Esau and -the maidservants
Jacob. Jacob of each of his to
• Isaac wives
being younger
(Heir of still became • 12 sons
Abraham) the heir, he had (Reuben,
a dream in Simeon, Levi,
-Hagar (maid which God Judah, Zebelun,
Issachar, Dan,
servant) approved of Gad, Asher,
• Ishmael him being the Naphtali, Joseph,
(Arab Nation) heir of Isaac. and Benjamin)
• 1 daugher
(Dinah)
The Hebrew Bible and
other sacred writings
The sacred writings of Jews are
divided into the primary and the
supplementary ones.
The primary are those found in the
Hebrew Bible or scriptures known as
Tanakh.
The supplementary ones are called
Talmud and Midrash.
The Hebrew Bible is a
collection of particular books
which were once separate
scrolls.
The word Bible, in fact, was
derived from the Greek word
biblia, which means books.
Thus a bible, strictly speaking,
means a collection of books.
The Tanakh
The particular books of the Hebrew
bible are classified into three
groups: the Torah (The Teachings),
Nevi’im (The Prophets), and the
Kethuvim or Ketuvim (The Writings)
T-N-K (Tanakh) the vowel “a” was
added to the first Hebrew letters of
each of the names of theses
particular books.
The Nevi’im
The Nevi’im consists of
materials from what are called
former prophets (or major
prophets) and latter prophets
(or minor prophets). There are
in total 22 books comprising
the Nevi’im. Each book is
named after its respective
prophet.
The Kethuvim
The Kethuvim consists of
materials that are generally
based on human knowledge
and experience, some of
which reflect Greek, Persian,
and Egyptian influences that
greatly influenced the
Israelites.
The Particular Books
The following are the books
under the three particular
books of the Tanakh.
-Torah
-Nevi’im
-Kethuvim
TORAH (The Teachings)
Genesis,Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deutoronomy
Nevi’im (The Prophets)
(Former Prophets)
- Joshua, Judges, First and Second
Samuel, and First and Second Kings
(Latter Prophets)
- Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the
Twelve (treated as one book) consisting
of Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah,
Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,
Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi
Kethuvim (The Writings)
Psalms, Proverbs, Job, and the
Festal Scrolls: Song of Songs,
Ruth, Lamentations,
Ecclesiastes, and Esther,
Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and
First and Second Chronicles
The Talmud
The Talmud is a set of books
consisting of the Mishnah and
Gemara, which are
commentative and interpretative
writings.
The Mishna refers to Oral Torah
and the Gemara is a collection of
legal and ethical commentaries
on the Mishna.
The Talmud has two versions, the
Babylonian Talmud and the
Palestinian Talmud, produced by
the rabbis (Jewish Teachers) form
Babylonia and Palestine,
respectively.
The Midrash
The Midrash examines the
nonliteral meanings of the
Tanakh.
They are mostly stories that relate
to words, themes, or stories in the
Tanakh.
Sometimes a Midrash changesthe
general understanding of a
biblical story
 Activity
Writea short reflection
paper about the movie The
Ten Commandmends in
your one whole sheet of
paper.
 The Basic Doctrines
The 613 Mitzvot (in Hebrew)
The basic doctrines and
practices of Judaism are
mainly defined by the Torah,
which contains the
commandments Moses
received from God on
Mount Sinai.
Ten Commandments
1. “I am the Lord your God,
who brought you out of
Egypt, out of the land of
slavery. You shall have no
other gods before me.”
 2. “You shall not make for yourself an
image in the form of anything in
heaven above or on the earth beneath
or in the waters below. You shall not
bow down to them or worship them; for
I, the LORD your God, am a jealous
God, punishing the children for the sin
of the parents to the third and fourth
generation of those who hate me, but
showing love to a thousand generations
of those who love me and keep my
commandments.”
 3. “You shall not misuse the
name of the LORD your God,
for the LORD will not hold
anyone guiltless who misuses
his name.”
 4. “Remember the Sabbath day by
keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and
do all your work, but the seventh day is a
sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you
shall not do any work, neither you, nor your
son or daughter, nor your male or female
servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner
residing in your towns. For in six days
the LORD made the heavens and the
earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but
he rested on the seventh day. Therefore
the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and
made it holy.”
5. “Honor your father and
your mother, so that you
may live long in the
land the LORD your God is
giving you.”
6. “You shall not murder.”
7. “You shall not commit
adultery.”
8. “You shall not steal.”
9. “You shall not give false
testimony against your
neighbor.”
10. “You shall not covet your
neighbor’s house. You shall
not covet your neighbor’s
wife, or his male or female
servant, his ox or donkey, or
anything that belongs to
your neighbor.”
 The Thirteen Principles
of Faith
Contains the core beliefs of
Judaism, which include
monotheism, the Mosaic Law,
God’s rewards and punishment
for human deeds the coming of
the Messiah and the
resurrection of the dead.