The Jewish Religion: Traditions, Practices, And Symbolisms
Quite often an individual will assume that Judaism as merely the religion of the Jewish people, but if they probe further they will find it to be so much more than that. The principles of Judaism are the absolute system of living for devout Jewish people; ones that embrace faith, order, and numerous cultural traditions. All through their nearly 4,000 years of documented history, the early Hebrews and their descendants have demonstrated extraordinary resourcefulness and durability. Despite numerous disturbing encounters with different civilizations, from ancient Mesopotamia to Western Christianity and contemporary secular societies, devout Jewish people have effectively kept close to many of their time-honored customs as they held fast to their monotheistic beliefs. The recorded history of Judaism, cultural and religious, begins with the story of their God, the Creator of their world, choose the Hebrew people for the special relationship they would have with Him.
The Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, recounts the old Hebrew stories of the Jewish patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The sacred writings of the people of Israel describe how the first patriarch of Judaism, Abraham, is called by God to establish a new nation in an unspecified land. In these accounts God leads Abraham to an area known at that time as Canaan. Today, Canaan is called Palestine or Israel, and is considered by the faithful Jewish people to be the land that was promised to Abraham as reward for his steadfast obedience to the commands of God. In Jewish tradition it is said that upon reaching Canaan Abraham entered into a divine covenant with God, one that stipulated that Abraham and his descendents would always possess the land that God had shown him. In the Old Testament of the Christian Bible, which is similar to the Tanakh in every way, a second promise is made when God says to Abraham “… I will make of thee a great nation.” (Genesis 12:2, King James Version). This third feature of the...
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