mmp008's blog

Judaism is based off 5 things. The first is that it is a monotheistic religion, meaning it gives its God human attributes. The name given to the Jewish god is YWHW, (technically, you’re not suppose to say it!) And the Jewish people sing the Shema at the synagogues. The Shema states, “Hear O Israel, YWHH is your God, YHWH is one.”

The second is that it’s a textual religion, meaning that it follows out of the tanak. The Tanak is also known as the Hebrew Bible, it is different than the Christian Bible because the Tanak is only the Old Testament. The Tanak is made up of 3 texts. The Torah, which are the rules for living, is the first the first book. The second is theh Neviim, it is the historical part of the Tanak. And the third book of the Tanak is the Ketuvim, which are the writings. Also in the Tanak there are 4 story covenants. God will never flood the Earth again(Noah). God will provide land and descendants(Abraham). God will be “their God”, people will keep the Torah(Moses). God will give an eternal Kingdom and will dwell in the temple forever(David).

The third is that its a religion of the land. Israel is the place to be. In Israel the North half is lush and green, and the South half is dry and “dead”. There is a lot of fighting in Israel because everyone is fighting over Jersulam, “the holiest of the holiest”.

The fourth is that is a Ritual-Oriented Religion. For example, a daily ritual is Kosher which is appropirate food and dress. A weekly ritual is sabbath and to rest on the sabbath.

The last trait of Judaism  is that it is a nonpilgrimage religion. Some religions that they celebrate yearly is Yon Kippur (Day of Atonement) Yon Kippur is mostly spent praying and fasting for 25 hours in the synagogues. They also celebrate Rosh Hashanah also known as the Jewish New Year.  And lastly the holiday of the Passover which is celebrated to remember Exodus when Moses freed the slaves from the pharoah.