judiasm religion?

Question

I was wondering if anyone could tell em on how Judiasm got started and the history of it. The most famous people in the religion. What makes this religion stand out from others. Or any other information about this religion??thanks so much!

Answer 1

Judaism officially began when the Levitical laws were established as outlined in the Pentateuch otherwise known as the Torah. The most famous Jewish leaders throughout history were Moses, Joshua, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Solomon and Elijah. It is one of the oldest religions in the world dating back to the 5-6 century BC. The Jewish people are a special people. As a Christian, I look favorably upon them due primarily to their history and the fact that I believe they are God's chosen people. However, Jews believe that their Messiah is still due to appear. And this is what separates Jews from Christians. Jesus Christ is the true and only Messiah but Jews think differently.

Answer 2

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, known as the Patriarchs, are both the physical and spiritual ancestors of Judaism. They founded the religion now known as Judaism, and their descendants are the Jewish people. Of course, technically, it is incorrect to refer to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob as Jews, because the terms "Jew" and "Judaism" were not used generally to refer to this nation until hundreds of years after their time.

According to Jewish tradition, Abraham was born under the name Abram in the city of Ur in Babylonia in the year 1948 from Creation (circa 1800 BCE). He was the son of Terach, an idol merchant, but from his early childhood, he questioned the faith of his father and sought the truth. He came to believe that the entire universe was the work of a single Creator, and he began to teach this belief to others.

Also according to Jewish Tradition, there is this great story: Abram tried to convince his father, Terach, of the folly of idol worship. One day, when Abram was left alone to mind the store, he took a hammer and smashed all of the idols except the largest one. He placed the hammer in the hand of the largest idol. When his father returned and asked what happened, Abram said, "The idols got into a fight, and the big one smashed all the other ones." His father said, "Don't be ridiculous. These idols have no life or power. They can't do anything." Abram replied, "Then why do you worship them?"

Answer 3

I'm not Jewish, but I think it all started with Abraham! And also what Angry American said! Famous people, pretty much everyone in the bible! Ruth was a convert! There's something that makes this religion prominent, but I just can't think what! you're most welcome!

Answer 4

Judaism is one of the oldest religions on Earth. There are about 13 million followers of Judaism, called Jews. There are Jewish rules for most parts of life. These guidelines are taught in both written and oral traditions.

The Jewish scriptures say that Judaism began with a man named Abram who lived in the city of Ur. At this time, each city had its own gods and prayed to statues, but Abram strongly believed that there was really only one God who was not a statue, so he moved with his family away from Ur, started a new religion, and began to be called Abraham. These scriptures also say that Angels taught Abraham a new holy language, which Jews believe is the language today known as Hebrew. Hebrew has continued to be the language of Judaism until today. Abraham's grandson Jacob is said to be the one who first had the name of "Israel".

According to the scriptures, at one time, the Hebrew people lived in Egypt as slaves. God told the Hebrew leader Moses to help free them. God sent many terrible problems to the Egyptians to convince their Pharaoh to free the Hebrews. Finally, the Pharaoh permitted the Hebrews to go, but then decided to send the Egyptian army after them. The Hebrews escaped when God made the waters of the Red Sea open a path for them. The waters then returned and drowned the Egyptian army. The Scriptures say that after this, Moses met with God on the mountain called Mount Sinai and received the Ten Commandments from God.

The Hebrews or Israelites, in twelve tribes, began a country called Israel in the area where Abraham had lived. They fought many wars against other peoples in the area. The name 'Jew' actually only means the members of one of these tribes, Judah.

Later this country broke apart into two kingdoms, Israel and Judah. Israel was conquered by Assyria in the 8th century BC, and the people were taken away. Later Judah was conquered by Babylonia in the early 6th century BC, and its people were taken captive to Babylon. They were allowed to go home again when Babylon was conquered by Persia. Some Jewish people also lived in other countries.

By the time of Jesus, Judah (then called Judea) was ruled by the Roman Empire. During this time, the main language of Judea was Aramaic. The Jews did not like the Roman government or customs, and often made trouble for the Romans. About forty years after the death of Jesus, the Romans destroyed Judea's capital city, Jerusalem.

After this, the Jewish people did not have their own country for about 1,900 years. This time is called the Diaspora. They lived in many other countries. Jews living in Spain and Portugal used the language Ladino (also called Judeo-Spanish). Jews living in Germany, Poland, and Russia used the language Yiddish. Even today, Jews that do not live in Israel are often said to live in the Diaspora.

The Jewish people have always believed that they have a special mission from God. They do things in their own special ways, such as having special rules about food and eating, not working on the Shabbat -- from sunset on Friday, until sunset on Saturday -- keeping their own holidays, and not marrying people from other religions. Because of this, people in many different times and countries have thought that the Jews were strange, and maybe dangerous.

Many countries have made laws that the Jews could not work in some jobs or live in some places. Sometimes Jewish people were killed because of their religion.

During the 1930s and 1940s, the Nazi, or National socialist government of Germany conquered most of Europe. They treated the Jews very badly, because they said that the Jews caused most of the problems in the world. The Nazi government killed more than six million Jewish people. Before they were killed, many of the Jews were made to be slaves, and some of them were forced to help in the killing and slavery of the others.

In 1948 after World War II, the United Nations made the country of Israel for the Jews in Palestine in the Middle East. The land had been part of the Ottoman Empire before World War I. Then Britain controlled the area under the oversight of the United Nations.

Many people who lived in the Middle East were angry because the land was given to the Jewish people. On 1948, the day Israel was created, many near-by Arab countries invaded to destroy Israel. Israel stopped the attackers. Israel now says more land in the area is part of their country. The Arab Palestinians disagree and say they are being occupied by Israel.

There have been many wars since, including in 1967, 1973, and current conflict between Palestinians and Israel. In the world today, there is still not peace between Israel and its neighbors.

Answer 5

There is a terrific book called "Judaism For Dummies"

Check it out =)

Answer 6

Here's a link.