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Western Religions: Judaism |
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The word Jew, derived from Judah, designates the Hebrew people as a religious group, a church, in contrast to the terms Israel and Israelites, which designate them as a racial and national group. The term Judaism refers to the religion of the Jewish people. The Hebrew people, like all the kindred Semites, were cradled in the Arabian desert. They migrated thence in small tribal groups between the fifteenth and twelfth centuries B.C. and settled in Palestine. In this movement, Moses and Joshua were the main figures. Moses led a few small tribes forth from Egypt, where they had been dwelling, federated them with other small tribes of the desert, established for them the worship of Yahweh, founded certain legal institutions that became the nucleus of the later Israelite law code, and settled his followers in southern Palestine. Joshua was the leader of another group of tribes that settled in the central part of Palestine. There the Israelite tribes encountered powerful enemies, especially the Philistines. After a century-long struggle with them, Israel finally triumphed about 1000 B.C., chiefly through the able leadership of David. This struggle welded the originally independent tribes into one compact nation with many national traditions. Among these was the tradition of the descent of all the Israelite tribes from one common ancestor, Abraham, and his descendants, Isaac and Jacob. Israel's real history begins with the entrance of the tribes into Palestine. But we tread firm historical ground only when we reach the time of David. After his conquest of the Philistines, David subdued the surrounding nations. His empire was consolidated by his son Solomon. But a rebellion of the northern tribes, provoked by an obnoxious system of taxation, immediately after Solomon's death in 932 B.C., divided his dominion into the Northern and Southern kingdoms, called Israel and Judah respectively. The Northern Kingdom lasted until 722 B.C., when the Assyrians destroyed the capital, Samaria, and deported a considerable number of people. These mixed eventually with other Eastern nations and disappeared. Tradition speaks of them, though incorrectly, as the Ten Lost Tribes. The Southern Kingdom endured until overthrown by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. Many of the people were carried away into exile in Babylonia, while others, among them the prophet Jeremiah, fled to Egypt. But, while Israel's national existence was brief and ill-starred, during this period the beginning of Israel's chief contribution to human civilization was made. Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and their fellow-prophets gave to the old tribal and national religion a significant reinterpretation. They conceived of Yahweh as Creator of the entire universe, the loving Father of mankind; all men, God's children, therefore, they regarded as brothers, forming one human family. They denounced idolatry, immorality, and social injustice, and proclaimed that above all else God desires that men do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with Him. They thus established the eternal, universal foundations of true religion, ethical monotheism, a universalistic conception of both God and man, and justice and love as the basic forces of human conduct. The main points regarding Judaism are:
The beliefs of Judaism have never been formulated in an official creed; Judaism stresses conduct rather than doctrinal correctness. Its adherents have a considerable measure of latitude in matters of belief, especially concerning the messianic future and immortality. Judaism is a this-world religion; its objective is a just and peaceful world order on earth. This hope is assured by the belief that God is the Lord of history as well as of nature. The basic source of Jewish belief is the Hebrew Bible (called the "Old Testament" by Christians), especially its first five books, called the Torah or the Pentateuch. The Torah was traditionally regarded as the primary revelation of God and his law to humanity; it is considered as valid for all time. Its laws were clarified and elaborated in the oral Torah, or the tradition of the elders, and were eventually written down in the Mishnah and Talmud. Thus, Judaism did not stop developing after the Bible was completed. The traditional Jewish prayer book is an important result of this process of development, reflecting the basic beliefs of Judaism as well as changes in emphasis in response to changing conditions. During the Middle Ages, systematic codes of talmudic law were compiled. Jewish literature -- legal, ethical, philosophic, mystical, and devotional -- is virtually endless.
If you came here from the Jewish Philosophy section of Adventures in Philosophy, you can return to that Index by clicking HERE. |
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