WHAT IS JUDAISM?

BASIC FACTS
Founders: Abraham (2,000 B.C.) and/or Moses
(1391-1271 B.C.)
Sacred Texts: Torah, Pentateuchm Poetry,
Talmud, Misnah
Doctrines: Ten Commandments, 618 Rules
God: Yahweh/Jehovah
Sacred Space: Temple and Synagogue
Sects: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Liberal
Issues: Anti-Semitism, Zionism, Holocaust
Judaism

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish

people. It is an ancient, monotheistic,
Abrahamic religion with the Torah as
its foundational text. It encompasses
the religion, philosophy, and culture
of the Jewish people.
WHAT IS TORAH?
Torah

Torah has a range of meanings. It can

most specifically mean the first five
books of the 24 books of the Tanakh,
and is usually printed with the
rabbinic commentaries.
The law on which Judaism is founded
( torah is Hebrew for “law”). This law
is contained in the first five books of
the Bible (see also Bible) (Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and
Deuteronomy). Torah can also refer to
the entire body of Jewish law and
wisdom, including what is contained
in oral tradition.
Judaism
The history of the Jewish people begins in Bronze
Age times in the Middle East when
God promised a nomad leader called Abram that
he would be the father of a great people if he did
as God told him. Jews regard Abraham (as he was
later called) as the first Patriarch of the Jewish
people.
 WHO IS ABRAHAM?

Abraham, originally Abram, is the

common patriarch of the three
Abrahamic religions. In Judaism, he is
the founding father of the Covenant,
the special relationship between the
Jewish people and God; 
Abraham founded Judaism,
and Moses later received the Torah
from God.
 WHO IS MOSES?

One of Judaism's great figures is the

man called Moshe Rabbenu('Moses our
teacher') in Hebrew. The first five
books of the Bible are traditionally
ascribed to him. Moses is the channel
between God and the Hebrews,
through whom the Hebrews received
a basic charter for living as God's
people.
 WHAT IS TORAH, AGAIN?

The Torah is written in Hebrew, the

oldest of Jewish languages. It is also
known as Torat Moshe, the Law
of Moses. The Torah is the first section
or first five books of the Jewish bible.
However, Tanach is more commonly
used to describe the whole of Jewish
scriptures.
The Torah is part of the larger text
known as the Tanakh or the 
Hebrew Bible, and supplemental oral
tradition represented by later texts
such as the Midrash and the Talmud.
Judaism's texts, traditions and
values strongly influenced later 
Abrahamic religions, including 
Christianity, Islam and the 
Baha'i Faith.
 THE 10
COMMANDMENT
S
Thou shalt have no
other Gods before
me
Thou shalt not make
unto thee any graven
image
Thou shalt not take the
name of the Lord thy
God in vain
Remember
the sabbath
day and
keep it holy
Honour thy
father and
thy mother
Thou shalt not kill
 Thou shalt not
commit adultery
Thou shalt not steal
 Thou shalt not bear
false witness against
thy neighbour
Thou shalt not covet
any thing that is thy
neighbour's
 JEWISH DIASPORA

The Jewish diaspora or exile refers

to the dispersion of Israelites or
Jews out of their ancestral
homeland and their subsequent
settlement in other parts of the
globe. 
THE RISE
OF THE
PROPHET
S
 BASIC
TEACHING
S OF
JUDAISM
The main teachings
of Judaism about
God are that there
is a God and there
is only one God.
Only God created
the universe and
only he controls it.
Judaism also
teaches that
God is
spiritual and
not physical
 The three main
principles of faith in
Judaism are: belief in a
single, incorporeal and
eternal God who created
the entire universe, a set
of moral principles that
require people to treat
one another with with
dignity and love
 The
Thirteen
Principles of
Jewish Faith
 1. God
alone is the
creator
 2. God is
unique and
one
 3. God is
incorporeal
and
incoparable
4. God is
first and
last
5. We are to
pray alone
6. The words
of the
(Hebrew)
prophets are
true
7. Moses is
the Chief
prophet
8. The torah
has been
Divinely
preserved
 9. Torah
cannot be
changed
10. God alone
is the creator
 11. God
rewards the
righteous
 12. The
messiah will
come
 13. The
messiah will
come