Small in size but huge in impact, the religion of the Jews has formed the historical and intellectual foundation for Christianity and Islam, the first and second largest religions in the world.  Discover Judaism.

By Mark D. Harris

Nearly 4,000 years ago, a wealthy Sumerian rancher and his family left Ur on the Persian Gulf and travelled to Haran in northern Mesopotamia. With him came a rejection of the prevalent polytheism of the time and an unshakeable conviction that there was only one God. Every civilization, from the Bantu to the Chinese, worshipped gods of the air, the sun, the storm, various animals, ancestors, and host of other “deities.” This man opposed them all. Later, he and his barren wife, along with servants and other household members, moved southwest to Canaan.

The man’s name was Abram, later Abraham (c. 1800 BC). His wife’s name was Sarai, later Sarah. Their belief in the one true God, and Him only, laid the foundation for the Hebrew people, the Old Testament, the Messiah, the New Testament, and the Church. Additionally, the Quran, the umma, and the Dar al Islam had strong Jewish and Christian influences.

The ancient Hebrew religion revealed in the Old Testament (Jewish Bible) guided all twelve tribes of descended from Jacob, Abraham’s grandson. Over the centuries, the tribes consolidated, with Simeon mixing into Judah. Many tribes were destroyed, such as when the Assyrians eliminated the ten northern tribes. By the beginning of Roman dominance over Palestine, only the tribe of Judah remained prominent. With the destruction of the Second Temple under Herod, little of the ancient Hebrew religion was left.

Modern Judaism grew out of the destruction suffered by the Jews over the centuries. it focuses on rabbis, synagogues, prayer, and Torah reading rather than temple sacrifices. Social action is also a major part of modern Judaism

Holy Books

The primary scripture, the Torah, includes the first five books of the Jewish Bible, which were given in written and oral form by God to Moses on Mount Sinai. Since the Jewish Bible is equivalent to the Christian Old Testament, and the Old Testament precedes the New Testament, the Torah also comprises the first five books of the Christian Bible.

The Tanach includes all written Hebrew scriptures, including the Torah (law), Nevim (prophets), and Ketuvim (writings). The Tanach is known as the Bible to Jews and as the Old Testament to Christians. Both Jews and Christians consider the Tanach to be scripture in a way that nothing else is.

The Mishnah is the written record of oral law which expanded into the Talmud. The Talmud is a commentary on the Mishnah. The Talmud is actually a record of rabbinic debates on the Torah from the destruction of the Temple (AD 70) and of Judea (AD 135) to the fifth century. Modern Judaism is divided into three primary schools, including Orthodox, Conservative, and Reformed.

Beliefs

As Abraham their forefather, Jews believe that there is one, personal, eternal, and self-existent God. His name is YHWH. YHWH is the God of Israel who saved Israel from the Egyptians, the Assyrians, the Babylonians, and other nations throughout its history. The common thread of Judaism is the desire to maintain Jewish identity to keep the Jewish race alive.

Reformed and Conservative traditions deny that the sin of Adam and Eve brought sin into the entire human race, a belief which Christians recognize as the doctrine of Original Sin. Instead, Jews have three main approaches to understanding “salvation.”

1. Individual atonement comes from repenting, praying, and doing good works.
2. Simply being ethnically Jewish guarantees Jews admittance to heaven.
3. The sufferings of all Jews justify the salvation of each individual Jew. The idea is that since the Jews as a nation have suffered so much, each individual Jew benefits.

Like in most other faiths, Jews with more good deeds than bad, taking the corporate Jewish suffering into account, are thought to spend eternity in Paradise. People of middling goodness might be reincarnated. Some Jews believe that sinners are tormented, while others hold that they are annihilated.

Living

Jewish Halakah (laws) include civil and criminal justice, family law, ethics, manners, social institutions, and worship. Halakah influence or even control every area of life for observant Jews. Halakah for Jews is similar to Sharia for Muslims, although Jews want to apply Halakah only to themselves while Muslims want to apply Shariah to everyone.

Circumcision, the removal of the male foreskin, sets Jews apart from other peoples. Ceremonies also serve to keep the Jews distinct. For example, the Bar (age 13) and Bat (age 12) Mitsvah are coming out ceremonies for Jewish boys and girls (respectively). At the end of the Bar or Bat mitzvah, the community grants their young Jews the freedoms and responsibilities of adulthood, including marriage and keeping the Law.

The Star of David is the symbol of the nation of Israel. The Holocaust in World War II was a defining period for modern Judaism. Zionism is the belief that Jews must have a homeland, and the Jewish homeland must be in Palestine. Kabbalah is Jewish mysticism, analogous to the Sufi tradition in Islam, the Tantric tradition in Buddhism, and the mystic tradition in Christianity.

Conclusion

Judaism only boasts about 15 million adherents, but its shadow lies long over the world. The Nazi Holocaust and the sad history of persecutions over the ages fill the history books with tales of terrible suffering. Even today, conflicts between Jews and their Muslim neighbors fill the headlines. There is no end in sight.

Judaism is not the same as the religion known to Christians through the Old Testament. Likewise, the modern state of Israel is not the historical state of Israel. The modern state of Israel is also not the perfect restoration of Israel which was promised in the Christian Bible. Nonetheless, Christians must reach the Jews with the good news of Jesus Christ. Someday, as promised in Romans 11, the Jews will become all the God made them to be.