QUICK LOOK IN DEPTH RESOURCES/LINKS
- PRACTICED BY
Approximately 14 million people
- MAJORITY OF FOLLOWERS IN
United States and Israel
- FOLLOWERS CALLED
Jews
- DAY OF WORSHIP
Sunset on Friday-Sunset on Saturday
- FOUNDER
Abraham
- DEITY/DEITIES
G-d(Jewish tradition prohibits the spelling of the full name of the deity)
- SACRED TEXT(S)
The Torah To define Judaism, one must begin with the word. Judaism is many things to many people. Throughout history, it has been called a religion, a culture, a race, a nation and an ethnic group. Tracey R. Rich, author of "jewfaq.org" says, "we share common ideas, ancestry, and culture, but there is also room for diversity in each of these areas. The most important part of being a nation is that sense of interconnectedness." For the purposes of this web site, Judaism shall refer to the religious practice. As there are many movements of Judaism, the beliefs presented here should be regarded as common to most Jews.
Jews believe in One, non-human, Creator G-d. They believe that He revealed the teachings of the Torah and subsequent writings to Moses. The Torah is and will be the only Torah. Jews believe that G-d has communicated to the Jewish people through Prophets. People are seen as inherently good and their good deeds are seen and judged by G-d, rather than their beliefs. Practitioners of the Jewish faith perform mitzvot, or divine acts to become closer to G-d. Original sin does not exist in Judaism, no there is no concept of savior. Jesus is viewed very differently in different movements of Judaism, but he was definitely not the Messiah. Jews believe that the Messiah will come and gather the Jews in Israel, where the dead will be resurrected.
Relationships are of extreme importance in Judaism, and are the basis of many of its scriptures. The Torah teaches how man should interact with man, with G-d, with nature, and with Israel. The interpretation of these teachings drives the differences between Jewish movements, in much the same way as Christian movements.
http://www.religious tolerance.org/judaism.htm Author: B.A. Robinson, Copyright © 1995 to 2002 incl. by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance Latest update: 2002-AUG-17
http://www.jewfaq.org/ Author: Tracey R Rich, © Copyright 5759-5761(1998-2001)
Copyright ©2003, Jason Coleman
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