Judaism was a parent of Christianity, and we probably know more

about it than any other religion, excluding our own, right off the top of our

heads. The ancestors of the Jews, called the Israelites, established a

kingdom in Canaan-the land of Milk and Honey. The Israelites first began

to see themselves in a special relationship with their God at about 1000

B.C.E. God had selected them to be a Chosen People. God had offered the

Chosen People a covenant, or special agreement. In this covenant, the

Israelites promised to worship only God, and in return God promised them

preservation throughout history and the land of Canaan. Canaan was later

called Judah, Israel, and Palestine.

Central to the understanding of the Jewish convenant is the

prosperous herdsman who heard and followed God’s call, Abraham.

Abraham answered God’s call and led his family from Ur of the Chaldees to

Canaan. Abraham mad a son, Isaac, and a grandson Jacob who also

inherited the convenant. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were called the

patriarchs, or the founders of Judiasm.

Moses, being one of the great religious leaders in history, God

revealed his name Yahweh to him. Yahweh means “to be” in Hebrew. The

events recorded in Exodus indicate that through Moses a new and deeper

understanding of God was revealed. The worship of Yahweh was unknown

before Moses. The Israelites as a whole began to realize that the God of

Moses was a very “jealous God,” who would not tolerate worship of any

other god.

As the book of Exodus opens, we find that the Israelites are slaves in

the land of Egypt. Exodus became the heart and soul of Judaism. Moses

is the key character in Exodus and one of great religious leaders in history.

The Exodus story is one that is very touching.

The persecution of the Jews in the 1930’s was horrible and will be

remembered forever. After being crushed in the economic disaster in the

Great Depression and being totally defeated in WWI, the time was perfect

for Hitler to take anti-Semitism, or hatred for Jews-to a whole different

level. Jews all over became victims of Hitler’s awful laws such as those in

Poland, Europe, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Germany. It was an awful

time for the Jewish people and in camps all over Germany and Poland Jews

were being murdered by starvation, disease, beating, mutilation, infection,

gassing, and burning. Six million Jews, or about one-third of the entire

Jewish population of the world was completely wiped out. Only fifty

thousand Jews remained after the war. The faith of the Jewish people was

tested greatly during the Holocaust.

The vivid living faith of the Jewish people is shown through their

mant festivals and celebrations throughout the year. Besides the Sabbath

observance, the Jewish year is filled with yearly festivals. They are all

based on the Jewish lunal calendar. Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish new

year, which is celebrated in October, opens ten “Days of Awe”. There is a

celebration at the beginning and end of the two days. Yom Kippur is the

“Day of Atonement”. It is considered the most holy day of the year and is

the closest to repentance. Five days after Yom Kippur, the Feast of

Tabernacles, or Sukkoth, is celebrated. This is a week long feast in the fall

celebrating God’s presence when the Israelites were in the desert. The

Rejoicing of the Torah closes the Sukkoth. Hanukkah is the Festival of

Lights and is celebrated in December. It commemorates the restoration of

the Temple after it was destroyed by the Syrians. Purin celebrates Esther’s

success to find a plot to massacre all Jews in the Persian Empire. One of

the most important spring holy days is Pesach, or the Passover. There are

many special foods associated with this holiday, especially those served at

the seder (ceremonial meal). Fifty days after the Seder, the feast of the

Pentecost which remembers the giving of the Law of Moses fifty days after

the Passover. The Jewish calendar year is filled with many feasts and

special ceremonies.

There are three branches of Judaism. Orthodox Judaism is the

oldest and largest of the three branches. It has the full tradition of

Judaism. It calls itself the “Torah-True Judaism” because of its strict

adherence to the law of Moses. This stance seems to influence and shape

tis approach to theology. The second branch of Judaism is Reform. The

Reform branch is extremely liberal and call their houses of worship

“temples” and have begun to ordain female rabbis. They believe that the

Mosaic law should not be followed to closely. The reform Jews still only

believe in one God. The last branch of Judaism is the conservative branch

which lies in the middle of the Orthodox and the reform branches. They

retain the essentials of Judaism and hold that personal conscience must

be the final rule of life, and the always try to apply the Jewish tradition to

modern day life. Sometimes the conservative Jews are often times

professionals in the arts.

Sorry this paper is longer than 500 words Miss. Bolen!!

Word Count: 851