Judaism1

by Jared and Taylor
 * Judaism[[image:http://www.tpub.com/content/religion/14229/img/14229_72_1.jpg width="138" height="156" align="right"]]**

Origins
 * Remember when Moses recieved the Ten Commandments from God and gave them to the Israelies? this is when Judaism began.
 * They describe the start as "Hashem", or God giving the nation of Israel the Ten commandments.
 * Remember the forty years the Israelites spent in the desert because of their denial of God? this is when they "practiced" Judaism.
 * They describe this practice as wondering in the desert for forty years as Moses read to them from the Torah.
 * The desert they wondered in was the Siani Desert.

Key Beliefs
 * One of the first is an easy one, the belief in God.
 * Another is the Covenant that God made with Abraham.
 * A man named RamBam came up with 13 principles of faith. They are as follows:
 * 1) God exists
 * 2) God is one and unique
 * 3) God is incorpreal
 * 4) God is eternal
 * 5) Prayer is to be directed to God alone and no other
 * 6) The words of the prophets are true
 * 7) Moses' prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the prophets
 * 8) The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings now contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses
 * 9) There will be no other Torah
 * 10) God knows the thoughts and deeds of man
 * 11) God will reward the good and punish the wicked
 * 12) The Messiah will come
 * 13) The dead will be resurrected
 * A thing to notice is that several of these beliefs are similar to Christian views, such as points 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, 12, and 13.

Religious Practices
 * The Mitzvot
 * Its literal meaning is "commandments", refering solely to the commandments in the Torah.
 * The 613 Commandments:
 * Maimonides, a Jewish philosopher, made a list of all the commandments he found in the Bible. Here is a full list: []
 * The Rabbinic Law
 * It is simply considered to be a binding of the Mitzvot; however, this law can be changed, though it is rare that it ever does change.
 * 3 types of Rabbinic Law:
 * 1) gezeirah - is used to prevent any unintentional breaking of the mitzvot
 * 2) takkanah - is a compilation of laws that were created by rabbis and not found in the Torah
 * 3) minhag - is used to prolong religious holidays (at least, that is how it seems to be interpreted)
 * The Synagogue
 * Fundamentally, this is the Jewish house of prayer.

Sacred Texts
 * Tanahk
 * Torah
 * Talmud
 * Midrash
 * Responsa
 * Zohar

Sacred Places
 * The Western Wall
 * Jerusalem
 * Rachel's Tomb
 * Tomb of King David
 * Old City

Interesting Facts
 * Judaism is the only religion that has lost its sacred land and regained it yet again.
 * The Sabbath begins on Friday, sundown, and ends on Saturday, sundown.
 * Judaism is one of the oldest religions.

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