JUDAISM

Judaism is one of the oldest monotheistic

religions in the world which originated in
West Asia.

Judaism is a monotheistic religion along with

other two Abrahamic religions namely
Christianity and Islam.

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 HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND
The ancestors of the Jews were groups of
Semites called Hebrews whose origin can
be traced in the deserts of Arabia
(Brown,1975).

Pentateuch- the First Five Books of the

Hebrew Bible where the origin of the
Jewish people and the beginning of
Judaism are recorded.
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 Three notable
founding figures
1. Abraham
- Judaism is anchored upon God’s
revelation to Abraham that He is the
creator and ruler of the universe, and that
He loves His creatures and demands
righteousness from them (Losch, 2001).
-God choses Abraham and his family from
all people living on earth as recorded in
Genesis 12.
- After a series of tragic events involving humankind, God
entered into a covenant with Abraham promising him that he
would become the father of great nation and would possess
vast tracks of land.
-Abraham’s original name was “Abram” who was born in the
city of Ur of the Chaldeasaround1800 B.C.E.
- Initially, Abraham and his wife Sarai were childless. -
Ishmael was the son of Abraham from Sarai’s Egyptian
handmaid Hagar. However, Ishmael was not the heir to the
God’s promise.
-God changed Sarai’s name to “Sarah”, meaning
“princess” or “noblewoman.” Abram’s name was
changed to “Abraham” or the father of many.
- Later in their old life, they had their own son who
became the heir to God’s covenant and ancestor of the
Jewish people. He was named Isaac.
 2. Isaac
- During his childhood, God
commanded Abraham to sacrifice
him at an altar in Mount Moriah.
His father obeyed God’s most
difficult trial. However, as God
proves Abraham’s obedience, an
angel stopped him from sacrificing
his son. A ram was instead
sacrificed in place of Isaac.
- Isaac was married to Rebecca and
they got twin sons namely Jacob
and Esau.
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3. Jacob
-He is always in constant strife with his
twin, Esau. - He bought Esau’s birthright
and tricked his father Isaac into giving
him Esau’s blessing as the eldest son
(Bowker, 1997).
- He fled to his uncle’s house to escape
Esau’s fury. Later on, Jacob returned home
and reconciled with Esau.
-A close encounter with an angel merited him a change of
name from Jacob to “Israel” which means “the one who
wrestled with God”.
-The Jewish people are referred to as the “children of
Israel.”
-Among four different women, Jacob fathered twelve sons
and one daughter. The twelve sons who became the
ancestors of the tribes in Israel were Reuben, Simeon, Levi,
Judah, Zebulun, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali,
Joseph, and Benjamin.
Who is Moses and what is his
important role in Judaism?

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➢ The Book of Exodus begins with Abraham’s descendants
crying out for deliverance from Egyptian bondage (Hopfe, 1983).
➢ In this period, Moses played a significant part to the lives of
Jewish people.
➢ Moses was a son of a woman from Levi’s tribe named
Jochebed who secretly placed him in a woven basket and sent
him down the Nile River. The pharaoh’s daughter, Bithia, found
the him, rescued him and reared him as her own.
➢ Jochebed volunteered to nurse the child, now named
Moses, who was raised within the Egyptian royal family.
➢ At the age of forty, Moses killed an Egyptian in defense of
a slave and fled to the Sinai desert where he spent the next
forty days as a shepherd (Hopf,1983).
➢ On Mount Horeb, Abraham’s God revealed himself to
Moses as he spoke through a burning bush that was not
consumed.
➢Revealing God’s name as “Yahweh,” he commanded
Moses to return to Egypt and demand the release of
Israelites from slavery.
➢ After his initial refusal, the Egyptian pharaoh
conceded after the ten miraculous and horrific plagues
were inflicted by God upon Egypt and its people, most
especially the plague on the firstborn.

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➢ The Israelites were banished from
Egypt with Moses leading them across the
Red Sea. When the pharaoh changed his
mind and began to pursue the fleeing
Israelites, Moses parted the Red Sea that
allowed them to cross the water and reach
the dry lands of Sinai. Meanwhile, the
pursuing Egyptian chariots were drowned
after the waters receded. This event called
Exodus became part of Jewish history that
manifested Yahweh’s intervention to
deliver his chosen people (Hopfe, 1983).
➢ Another significant event in Jewish history was the giving of
the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. These supreme laws,
which are basic to the Jewish people, were communicated to the
Israelites through Moses during their time in the wilderness.
➢ The Ten Commandments are a set of absolute laws given by
God to Moses at the biblical Mount Sinai that shall govern the
life of every Israelite. Most of the scholars consider this period as
the official beginning of Judaism as an organized and structured
belief system.
 THE TEN COMMANDMENTS IN
EXODUS 20:2-17
1. “I am the LORD your God, who brought you out
of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. “You shall not make for yourself a carved image
– any likeness of anything that is in heaven
above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in
the water under the earth; you shall not bow
down to them. For I, the LORD your God, am a
jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon the children to the third and fourth
generations of those who hate Me, but showing
mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and
keep My commandments.
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3. “You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the
LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
4. “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and
do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the LORD your
God. In it you shall do no work: you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor
your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your
stranger who is within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the
heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh
day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it
5. “Honor your father and your mother, that your days
maybe long upon the land which 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 bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall
not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor
his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor
anything that is your neighbor’s.”
“As a student and a member of the
community, how important is it to follow
certain commandments just like how
Jews follow their Ten Commandments?”
 SACRED SCRIPTURES
+ Hebrew Bible (Tanakh or Mikra)- the written Torah, authority,
guide and inspiration of the many forms of Judaism.
+ Hebrew Bible is divided into three principle sections namely,
TORAH, NEVI’IM, and Ketuvim
+ Torah (Teaching)- foundational text and composed of five
books; GENESIS, EXODUS, LEVITICUS, NUMBERS,
DEUTERONOMY,
+ Pentateuch- five books of Moses
+ Nevi’im (Prophets)- is subdivided into earlier
prophets and later prophets. They served as
spokepersons who criticize the hypocritical
practices of Jewish people
+ Ketuvim (Writings)- contains works on poetry,
temple ritual, private prayer,
+ Talmud (Oral Torah)- is an authoritative collection of
rabbinic interpretations of sacred scriptures
+ Mishna (restatement of the law by respected opinion
+ Gemara –includes legends, folklores and sayings
Beliefs and Doctrines
+ In Judaism, actions are more significant than beliefs
+ It focuses on the worship of one God, practice of
good deeds and love of learning
+ There is one everlasting god who created the
universe in its entirely and remains the master of it
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES

+ Sabbath- most important day . It begins a few

minutes before sunset on Friday and runs until an
hour after sunset on Saturday or almost 25 hours.
WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES