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Judaism
Judaism is one of the oldest religions still existing today. The Jewish population is estimated at 14 million, with about 3 million living in Israel.
It began as the religion of the small nation of the Hebrews, and through thousands of years of suffering, persecutions, dispersion, and occasional victory, has continued to be a profoundly influential religion and culture.
Mark Twain Passage
If statistics are right, the Jews constitute less than one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky Way.
Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk.
His contributions to the world's list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and had done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it.
The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed, and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished.
The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?
Mark Twain
History of Judaism
A Video By The Chicago Police About Judaism
This video is an excellent explanation of the Jewish faith to someone who may know little about it. It was created to teach diversity to the Chicago Police Force.
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What is Judaism
Judaism is a set of beliefs and practices originating from the saga of the ancient Israelites, as embodied and codified in the Hebrew Bible as later further explored and explained in the Talmud and other texts. Judaism presents itself as the covenantal relationship between the Children of Israel, and God.
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What is a "covenantal" relationship?
A covenant is a binding agreement. In short, the Jews believe they have a deal with God. Read on for more.
Judaism is among the oldest religious traditions still being practiced today, and many of its texts and traditions are central to other Abrahamic religions; namely, Christianity and Islam.
Followers of Judaism are called Jews, and while Judaism is open to converts, the Jewish collective is regarded as an ethno-religious group, for reasons derived from the sacred texts that define them as a nation, rather than followers of a faith.
In modern Judaism, central authority is not vested in any single person or body, but in sacred texts, religious law, and learned Rabbis who interpret those texts and laws.
According to Jewish tradition, Judaism begins with the Covenant between God and Abraham, the patriarch and progenitor of the Jewish nation.
A covenant is a relationship initiated by God, to which a body of people responds in faith. The covenant with the Jewish people is to be found in the books of the Jewish Bible.
THE COVENANT
Q. What is meant by a covenant with God?
= A. A covenant is a relationship initiated by God, to which a
body of people responds in faith.
Q. What is this Covenant?
= A. This Covenant is the one given by God to the Hebrew
people.
Q. What did God promise them?
= A. God promised that they would be his people to bring all the
nations of the world to him.
Q. What response did God require from the chosen people?
= A. God required the chosen people to be faithful;
to do justice,
to love mercy, and
to walk humbly with their God.
Q. Where is this Covenant to be found?
= A. The covenant with the Hebrew people is found in the books which we call the Holy Scriptures, the Bible..
Q. Where in the Scriptures is God’s will for us shown most clearly?
= A. God’s will for us is shown most clearly in the Ten
Commandments
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Throughout the ages, Judaism has adhered to a number of religious principles, the most important of which is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent, transcendent God, who created the universe and continues to govern it.
According to Jewish tradition, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Israelites and their descendants, and revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah. Judaism has traditionally valued Torah study and the observance of the commandments recorded in the Torah, and as expounded in the Talmud.
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