Judaism

Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. It is one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths and one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. The tenets and history of Judaism are the major part of the foundation of other Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam.

Introduction

According to both traditional Jews and critical historical scholars, a number of qualities distinguish Judaism from the other religions that existed when it first emerged, including monotheism and the laws to be followed in daily worship beyond the temple sacrifices typical of religious cultures of that time.

Related Topics:
Monotheism - Laws - Temple - Sacrifice

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Monotheism

The notion of monotheism is derived directly from the Torah (the Hebrew Bible), where God incorporates it into the Ten Commandments: "...I am the Lord your God. Do not have any other gods before Me. Do not represent gods by any carved statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land. Do not bow down to or worship them. I am God your Lord, a God who demands exclusive worship".

Related Topics:
Monotheism - Torah - Hebrew Bible - God - Ten Commandments

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Thus the belief in the existence of God, that God exists for all time, that God is the sole creator of all that exists, that God determines the course of events in this world, is the foundation of Judaism: "I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt..." To turn from these beliefs is to deny God and the essence of Judaism, according to the Jewish understanding of the Ten Commandments. Furthermore,

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one is required to believe in God and God alone. This prohibits belief in or worship of any additional deities, gods, spirits or incarnations. The idea of God as a duality or trinity is heretical for Jews to hold; it is considered akin to polytheism.

Related Topics:
Spirits - Duality - Trinity - Polytheism

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To deny the uniqueness of God, is to deny all that is written in the Torah: "You shall have no other gods besides Me...Do not make a sculpted image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above." It is also a prohibition against making or possessing objects that one or other may bow down to or serve, such as crucifixes or icons, and any forms of paintings or artistic representations of God. One must not bow down to or serve any being or object but God. (See Ten_Commandments#Jewish_interpretation)

Related Topics:
Torah - Bow down to or serve - Crucifix - Icons - Ten_Commandments#Jewish_interpretation

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The significance of the idea is that an omniscient and omnipotent God created humankind as recorded in the Book of Genesis, in the Creation according to Genesis starting with the very first verse of : "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth," a marked contrast with polytheistic religions in which the gods are limited by their preoccupation with personal desires irrelevant to humankind, by their limited powers, or by the interference of other powers. In Judaism, God is unlimited, fully capable, and fully available to care for Creation.

Related Topics:
Book of Genesis - Creation according to Genesis - Polytheistic

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Practical worship and the laws

Second, the Torah (i.e., The Hebrew Bible) specifies a number of laws, known as the 613 mitzvot, to be followed by the Children of Israel. Other religions at the time were characterized by temples in which priests would worship their gods through sacrifice. The Children of Israel similarly had a Temple in Jerusalem, a caste of priests, and made sacrifices — but these were not the sole means of worshiping God.

Related Topics:
Torah - Hebrew Bible - 613 mitzvot - Children of Israel - Temples - Temple in Jerusalem - Caste - Priests - Sacrifices

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As a matter of practical worship (in comparison to other religions) Judaism seeks to elevate everyday life to the level of the ancient Temples' worship by worshipping God through the spectrum of daily activites and actions. It has traditionally maintained that this is how the individual would merit rewards in the afterlife, called gan eden (Hebrew: "Garden of Eden") or olam haba ("World to Come"), though Judaism does not have a single concept of the afterlife, nor is the afterlife the focus of Jewish practice.

Related Topics:
Hebrew - Garden of Eden - Olam haba

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