JUDAISM

QUARTER 1: MODULE 4

MENCHIE NICOLE C. VARGAS

PAULA GRACE BLANCO

GEZEL ANN ARANJUEZ

ELPEDIO GALIGO

JAMES MARCO GARCIA

JUDAISM
• An ancient monotheistic religion that traces its origin as an organized belief system
during the Bronze Age in West Asia.
• It is one of three Abrahamic religions that also include Christianity and Islam.
• It is the way of life of the Jewish people.
• In the current times, Judaism is often considered a “religion," but there are no
equivalent words for “Judaism” or for “religion” in Hebrew, though there are words for
“faith,” “law,” or “custom” but not for “religion”.
• As a way of life, it includes the social, cultural, and religious history of a widespread
and diverse community, including people who do and do not think of themselves as
“religious.” (Pluralism Project, Harvard University)
 ORIGIN OF JUDAISM
• Judaism is anchored upon God’s revelation to Abraham that He is the creator and
ruler of the universe, (Losch 2001).
• God chose Abraham and his family from all the people living on earth as recorded in
Genesis 12. After a series of tragic events to humankind, God entered into a covenant with
Abraham promising him that he would become the father of a great nation and would
possess vast tracts of land. Abraham, in return, must remain devoted to the covenant.
Later on, he was succeeded by his son Isaac, his grandson Jacob, and Jacob’s twelve sons
(Hopfe, 1983)
• Abraham’s grandson, Jacob (Israel), had twelve sons – quoted as the “children of
Israel” – who became the founders of Israel’s twelve tribes spent their last years and died
not in Canaan, the Promised Land, but in Egypt, driven there by famine.
• Jacob’s son, Joseph, became a senior administrator in Egypt and died there. It happened
that a new king, without knowledge of Joseph, came to power (Exodus 1:8) and the
enslaved the Israelites.
 ORIGIN OF JUDAISM
• An Israelite named Moses who grew up in the Egyptian court escaped to Sinai where
God spoke to him from a burning bush.
• He was told by God to rescue the people of Israel and bring them to the promised land.
He demanded the pharaoh of his people’s release. The pharaoh refused the demands
and only after ten horrible plagues did, he finally consent and freed them.
• It took the Hebrews three months to reach Mount Sinai, where God gave Moses
the moral law (the Ten Commandments) and an instruction for the construction of a
tabernacle – a sacred tent – that was erected on the first anniversary of the Israelites’
escape from Egypt.
• They stayed for almost a year and the tabernacle was dismantled when they left Sinai
on the way to the promised land.
GOD
• The Israelites were also polytheists like most people in the ancient Middle
East. Though they worshipped a national god.
• Jews were later to deem their God’s name too holy to pronounce and did
not preserve its original vowels, so it became known only by its four
consonants: YHWH (probably pronounced “Yahweh”). YHWH was also
known by several other names, including El and Elohim, which means
God.
JEWS
• Jews have been regarded as “people,” “nation” (though, for most of its
existence, one without a native country), “race,” and “culture.” It has
been defined in may terms. They are also referred to as the “chosen
people”.
SACRED TEXTS
The Hebrew Bible is divided into three principal sections, namely: the Torah, Nevi’im,
and Ketuvim.
1. Torah (“Teaching”)
• When printed it is sometimes called “Chamisha Chumshei Torah” (literal translation
“five five-sections of the Torah”), and informally a Chumash.
• It covers the period from creation to 2288 (1273 BCE) and is composed of the first
“Five Books” or the Pentateuch traditionally believed to have been authored by
Moses through divine instruction in Sinai.
• The subsequent four books are Shemot (“Names” or Exodus), Vayikrah (“And God
called” or Leviticus), Bamidbar (“In the desert” or Numbers), and Devarim
(“Words” or Deuteronomy). These books recount the story of the Jews' enslavement
in Egypt, their liberation from Egypt under Moses, their stay in the desert, and their
eventual return to the promised land, Canaan.
TORAH AND MITZVOT
• The Torah refers to the “Five Books of Moses”. It says God wants the
people of Israel to walk in His ways, to love Him, and to serve Him, and to
keep God’s commandments (Deut. 10:12–13). Actions are more important
than beliefs and beliefs must be made into actions.
• These actions are called “mitzvot” in Hebrew (singular: a mitzvah).
Sometimes they are called “laws,” "rules" or “commandments”. Many
people think of a mitzvah as "a good act," or "a good thing to do."
SACRED TEXTS
2. The Nevi’im (“Prophets”)
• Is subdivided into Earlier Prophets, Later Prophets, and twelve minor
prophets. Prophets served as spokespersons who criticize the hypocritical
practices of Jewish rituals.
3. Ketuvim (“Writings”)
• forms the third section of the Tanakh that contains works on poetry,
temple ritual, private prayer, philosophical explorations, and other
canonical works
SACRED TEXTS
• Another sacred writing of Judaism is the Talmud (or the “Oral Torah”)
which means “study.” All studies and interpretations done by Jewish
rabbis or teachers of the Torah are contained in the Talmud. In short, the
Talmud is an authoritative collection of rabbinic interpretations of
the sacred scriptures. It contains materials of law and moral codes.
• The Pentateuch is the single most important scripture for the Jewish
people that became the source of their inspiration and direction for
centuries. It became the foundation of other essential Jewish
writings, such as the Talmud and Mishnah.
DOCTRINES
• Ten Commandments (Mitzvot). It is also known as the Decalogue. The
Decalogue comprises the most fundamental rules of Israel’s covenant.
• The Mitzvot refers to the divine commandments given by God in the
Torah. The mitzvot traditionally consist of 613 commandments (taryag
mitzvot). As direct instructions from God, although many of these have
to do with Temple ritual which was central to Jewish life and worship
when the Torah was written, the mitzvot are far more than rituals and
customs.
DOCTRINES
• The number 613 mitzvot was first given in the third century CE by
Rabbi Simlai, who divided it into 248 positive commandments (what
to do) and 365 negative commandments (what not to do).
• Since this figure was first announced, many have undertaken to
enumerate the 613 commandments. Easily the one with the most
lasting significance is the 12th-century list by Maimonides in his
Book of the Commandments.
SECTS
A wide array of Jewish communities has developed independently, distinguishable by
their varying practices in matters that are not considered central ideas within Judaism,
such as Maimonides' list of the Jewish principles of faith.
1. Kabbalah and Hasidism.
• Kabbalah is the term for the mystical tradition within Judaism. It is a cryptic Jewish
subculture running within and among the mainstream cultures of rabbinic Judaism,
medieval Jewish philosophy, and modern rationalism.
• Hasidism on the other hand, was founded in Eastern Europe partially as a response
to earlier forms of Kabbalah Hasidism. It means hasid (“pious follower”), a
movement of the common folk, stressing populism and social welfare at a time when
the official Eastern European Jewish community, the kehillah, was corrupt and
declining. The Hasidic community was headed by a new type of rabbinic leader, the
tzaddik or rebbe.
SECTS
2. Orthodox Judaism
• The most traditional of modern Judaism that adheres to the authority of the entire
Torah as given to Moses by God at Mount Sinai.
3. Conservative Judaism
• It seeks to conserve the traditional elements of Judaism while at the same time
allowing for modernization that is less radical than Reform Judaism.
4. Reform Judaism
• It has served as the foundation for many subsequent Jewish responses to
modernity. It is considered the most liberal expression of Judaism that subjects
religious laws and customs to human judgment. To a certain extent, it was developed
due to internal changes in Judaism as well as other factors operating within
society.
ISSUES
Judaism, being the oldest monotheistic religion, were marginalized because of political
and economic disadvantages throughout history. Its concept of one God is something
new thus, making the life of every Jew struggle with hardships and desperate acts to
survive.
• Diaspora
➢ Galut is the Hebrew word for “exile” and refers to the repeated exile of the Jewish
people from their homeland in Israel.
➢ Some Jews have chosen to live outside Israel for centuries; in ancient times they
formed communities in the Near East and eventually around the Mediterranean. But
the Jewish community has also been driven into exile by force, notably to Babylonia
(first after the fall of Jerusalem in 586 BCE and, later, in a far more devastating move
after the Romans' near-total destruction of Judea in 135 CE). The exile in Babylonia
gave rise to the first permanent Jewish community outside of Israel.
ISSUES
• Anti-Semitism and the Holocaust
➢ Though external to the Jewish tradition, the phenomenon of anti-Semitism is
central to the Jewish experience.
➢ In the early Diaspora, Jews' unusual monotheism, radical approach, and collective
unity often evoked social tensions with neighbors in the ancient world. Such writings,
although unique to their own context, authorship, and socio-political perspective,
would lay the foundation for centuries of negative stereotyping.
➢ Toward the end of the 19th century, a new political movement gave an extreme
answer: the Jews must be eliminated from society. This movement was termed
anti-Semitism, influenced in its most extreme form by pseudoscientific theories of
race and eugenics which labeled Jews the inferior “Semitic” race.
ISSUES
• Israel and Zionism
➢ The Jewish tradition of peoplehood, in combination with the age-old
yearning to return to Zion (the ancient Hebrew name for the holy
mountain top in Jerusalem), have produced the modern ideological
movement of Jewish nationalism: Zionism.
➢ Its great achievement has been the establishment of a modern Jewish
state in Israel. Zion came to symbolize the cherished homeland of
Israel, and Zionism became the modern coinage for the new politics
of Jewish national revival. Indeed, for many Jews the modern rebirth of
Israel is the fulfillment of centuries of remembrance.
ISSUES
• Israel-Palestine War
➢ The establishment of Israel was more than a political event; it was a cultural turning
point.
➢ The establishment of Israel had at long last created a haven for Jews in danger;
Holocaust survivors, Jews from Arab countries, Soviet Jews, Ethiopian Jews, and
many other refugees found both safety and unity in the new homeland. Moreover, the
creation of a modern Jewish state re-established the reciprocal relationship
between the Diaspora and Israel that had existed in ancient times.
➢ The creation of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948, triggered an invasion by the
neighboring Arab countries that was soundly defeated by the Israeli army. By the time
armistice agreements were signed in 1949, Israel held more land than had been
allotted to it under the UN partition plan.
ISSUES
• Israel-Palestine War
➢ About 800,000 Arabs had also fled or been expelled from the area that
became Israel.
➢ Arabs and Palestinians generally oppose Zionism, as the explicitly Jewish
character of the Israeli state means that Jews have privileges that others
don't. For instance, any Jew anywhere in the world can become an Israeli
citizen, a right not extended to any other class of person.
➢ Arabs, then, often see Zionism as a species of colonialism and racism
aimed at appropriating Palestinian land and systematically disenfranchising
the Palestinians that remain. Arabs who already lived there and in
neighboring countries felt that was unfair and didn't accept the new
country.
HOPE Y’ALL
LEARNED
SOMETHING!
QUARTER 1: MODULE 4: JUDAISM

MENCHIE NICOLE C. VARGAS

PAULA GRACE BLANCO

GEZEL ANN ARANJUEZ

ELPEDIO GALIGO

JAMES MARCO GARCIA