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Judaism

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PowerPoint Presentation:
An Overview of Judaism

Judaism is about relationships:

• The relationship between the Hebrew people and their God (a "covenant" relationship - a promised agreement between two parties)

• The relationship amongst the Hebrew people, identity with fellow Jews as an extended "family" (a "Chosen" people)

• Maintaining proper social and moral relationships with other people (what God demands of them) - how to live in this world, in community (the essence of Jewish Law as found in Torah)

The basis of the Jewish religion is its history

• Time and history is most important:

• in individual lives this is demonstrated through the celebration of life cycle events

• in the life of the Jewish people over the millennia - holiday celebrations commemorate historic events in the life of the "community [of Israel]"

• the key event is the Exodus from Egypt recorded in the Biblical book of Exodus: The Passover celebration, Torah and Sinai, elements of the Sabbath service are all linked to this event

• From the earliest of times, the Jewish people have interpreted acts of history in light of God acting through history especially on behalf of the Jewish people: either to promote them or to punish them. History is seen as the story of God’s intervention in the lives of His "Chosen People"

• Six Periods of Jewish history:

• The Patriarchs: Abraham to Moses (19th - 13th cent. BCE)

• Moses to the Hebrew Monarchy (13th - 6th cent. BCE)

• The Babylonian Exile and Post Exilic Judaism (6th cent BCE - 1st cent. CE) ("Second Temple" period)

• Rabbinic period (1st - 7th cent CE)

• Medieval Judaism (7th - 18th cent. CE)

• Modern Judaism (18th cent. - current)