Judaism
Jewish history began about 4000 years ago in the part of the world that today we call the Middle East. No one person ever "began" Judaism. The beliefs that became the Jewish faith came about gradually. However, some people were important in making it happen. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, known as the patriarchs are both the physical and spiritual ancestors of Judaism. They founded the religion known as Judaism and their descendants are the Jewish people. According to the Jewish tradition, Abraham was the first to believe there was only one God and left his home to go on a journey because he believe that was what God wanted him to do. He began to teach his beliefs to others. God promised Abraham that one day his descendants would posses a country called Canaan, which came to be known as the promise Land. Judaism has no dogma, no formal set of beliefs that one must hold on to be a Jew. In Judaism, actions are far more important than beliefs, although there is certainly a place for belief within Judaism. Jews believe that there is only one God, who is external. He is always present everywhere and he knows everything . He made everything, including the world and everything in it. He cares about everything that he made a
nd listen when people pray to him. The believe prayer is to be directed to God alone and to no other, when Jews pray to God they call him Adonai, this means Lord. Jews think that God's name is very important, so they use it with great respect. They never use it carelessly. Jewish believes the words of prophets are true and that Moses' prophecies are, and Moses was the greatest of the Prophet. They believe the written Torah and Oral Torah were given to Moses and there will be no other Torah. They believe in the return of the Messiah and that the dead will be resurrected. Unlike many other religions, Judaism does not Focus much on abstract cosmological concepts. Although Jews have certainly considered nature of God, man, the universe, life and the afterlife at great length, there is no mandated, official, definitive belief on these subjects, outside of the very general concept discussed above. There is substantial room for personal opinion on these matters. The Concept of Salvation from sin as it is understood in Christianity has no equivalent in Judaism. Salvation from sin is unnecessary in Judaism because Judaism does not belief that mankind is inherently evil or sinful or in need of Divine Intervention in order to escape external damnation. In fact, Judaism does not even believe in external damnation. When the Torah speaks of God as our Redeemer, it is not speaking of salvation or redemption from sin; rather it speaks of salvation from the very concrete day-to-day problems that we face, such as redemption from slavery in Egypt or salvation from out enemy in war. Passover is perhaps the most popular Jewish festival. It celebrates something that happened 3000 years ago. Passover reminds the Jews of three things; 1. God is good-he helped his people, 2. Death "Passover" the house of the Jew, 3.The Jew passed through the sea of Reeds when they were leaving Egypt. Sha'vout, the feast of Pentecost is held seven weeks after the feast of Passover. It celebrates Jews beliefs that God gave the Ten Commandment to Moses. Hanukkah is a winter festival. It usually falls in December, and it lasts for eight days. It is sometimes called the festival of lights. Hanukkah reminds the Jews of events that happened over two thousand years ago. When they celebrate the fest
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Approximate Word count = 1533
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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