Judaism: origin, history and beliefs –

Along with Christianity and Islam, Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions in existence. Born in the Middle East, it comprises a series of traditions, ritual practices and representations that correspond to the Jewish people. We will teach you in this post everything related to the Judaism, origin, history and beliefs.

Origin of Judaism

The origin of Judaism it goes back to when Abraham was commanded by Jehovah to leave Ur (his hometown) for the Promised Land, Canaan. However, when he arrived in Hebron he died at the age of 175. Later, his son Isaac became the second patriarch, his grandson Jacob was the third. The latter had 12 children who were distributed throughout Canaan, originating the 12 tribes of Israel.

His descendants were enslaved for 400 years, but when Moses arrived, God commissioned him to free the people of Israel from Egypt. After 40 years exiled in the desert, they returned to the Promised Land. There are currently around 14 million Jews spread over the world (43.6% in the United States and 40.6% in the Middle East).

history of judaism

People say that Judaism dates back to 1000 BC. The people, having nowhere to settle, lived outside of ancient Egypt. At first they were polytheists, but their prophets departed from that and assumed they had only one God, to whom they declared absolute obedience through the 10 Commandments.

The Jewish Bible called Torah, says that God made a pact with Abraham, in which from his descendants the chosen people would emerge. Of the 2 sons that Abraham had, Ishmael was illegitimate because he had him with a slave and Isaac was legitimate because he had him with his wife Sarah. The Arabs and Muslims come from the sons of Ishmael and the descendants of Isaac, specifically Jacob, what is now known as Israel. Jacob had 12 sons, called the 12 tribes, one of which is Judah.

When the tribe of Israel occupied Palestine, where the descendants of Judah settled, it was renamed Judea. The state of Israel did not exist physically, but after the Second World War, in 1945. Due to the conflict between Muslims and Arabs for wanting to be the people chosen by God, they have had frequent wars.

Judaism beliefs

However, What do the Jews believe? What are the basic principles of Judaism? Currently in the world there are 5 main groups of Judaism, these are: Conservatives, Orthodox, Reconstructionists, Reformed and Humanists. The beliefs of each differ drastically. Between the traditional beliefs of Judaism is it so:

  • God is the only one to be worshipped, the creator of the universe.
  • The first 5 books of the Bible were created by Moses inspired by God. They are books that will never be questioned in the future.
  • God communicated with the Jewish people through Prophets.
  • It is God who watches over the actions of all human beings. The good ones are seen by Him in a pleasant way, but the bad ones are punished.

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