Judaism

The world’s oldest monotheistic religion, one that believes in a single god, is Judaism. Still one of the largest practiced religions today, Judaism’s history begins in the Middle East and shares many similarities with the other major monotheistic religions of Christianity and Islam.

The core of Jewish beliefs, as well as details about it, is contained in a sacred text called the Torah. The Torah dates the beginning of the faith around 2000 BCE with the experiences of a man named Abraham. Abraham moved his family to a land called Canaan, near ancient Phoenicia and modern-day Israel. The Israelites, as Abraham’s family became known, believed Abraham had entered into a covenant, or promise and agreement, with the one and only God. This covenant promised the Israelites a favored relationship with God and a land of their own in return for Abraham’s faith.

According to the Torah, the Israelites were eventually driven into Egypt by famine in their homeland. Here they were enslaved for several centuries before being led away by a prophet named Moses. It is Moses who is credited with writing the first five books of the Torah. These books begin with the creation of the world and end with the death of Moses, directly before the Israelites return to the promised land. They also cover specific obligations, like the celebration of Passover, and civil laws, like the Ten Comandments.

Around 1000 BCE, the Israelites returned to the land near Canaan. There were once twelve tribes of Israel, but around this time, they became united under one king, Saul. The second king of Israel, David, established the capital at Jerusalem, and his son Solomon grew it into a magnificent city and constructed a great temple. Upon Solomon’s death, the kingdom was split into the northern Kingdom of Israel and the southern Kingdom of Judah. Each kingdom was overtaken by major empires of the time - Israel was conquered by the Assyrians and Judah by the Babylonians.

The Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s Temple in 587 BCE, and the Jewish people were exiled from the city. At this time, the keepers of the faith instituted changes in order to keep it alive. Rather than being centered on a temple, worship took place within small communities. These communities established teacher-leaders who would some to be known as rabbis, a title still in use today. Over time, Jewish people moved away from their promised land and spread across Europe, North Africa, and western Asia in what is called a diaspora. Today, Judaism is practiced all over the world by millions of people in many different ways. Diverse communities have developed unique traditions over the centuries, and there are several movements within Judaism. Therefore, there is no monolithic Jewish experience or even a consistent set of practices.