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The legendary origins of Judaism can be found in the writings of the Hebrew Bible.
Dating back almost 4000 years, Judaism traces it's spiritual origins to "the Patriarchs
" Abraham, his son Isaac, and Isaac's son Jacob. It was with Abraham that God made a covenant to protect Abraham's descendents in exchange for exclusive worship (that they would bow down to no others gods but this one). It is from Jacob that the name Israel originates (see Gen. 35:10). Jacob's twelve sons migrated from the "Holy Land" (the "Land of Israel") to ancient Egypt. There, in Egypt for more than 400 years, the Hebrew people were enslaved under Pharaoh. Through the leadership of Moses, the Hebrew people gained their freedom and made their way to Mt. Sinai where they received their Torah ("teaching" or "Law") from God. Thus is Moses considered the greatest prophet of God. Ultimately the Hebrew people made their way back to their ancestral homeland where they settled for some 600+ years, creating a great civilization ruled over by Kings such as Saul, David and Solomon. They built a grand temple in the ancient city of Jerusalem.
At this time, the Hebrew religion was focused on performance of Temple rites such as animal sacrifices as atonement for sin. These rites were presided over by priests (a hereditary role). There were also prophets through whom God spoke to the people, directing their lives toward righteousness and adoration of the "One True God" in a time and place when surrounding peoples worshipped many localized deities of limited power. Hebrew sages provided poetic expression of praise for their God.
In due time, foreign powers took over political control of the "Holy Land". First, under the Assyrians, the Hebrew people were divided - thus resulting in the "ten lost tribes of Israel". Then, under the Babylonians, the remaining Jews were exiled to a foreign land in Persia, far from their temple in Jerusalem. Within fifty years the Persians came into power and the Hebrew people were able to return to their homeland and rebuild their temple, thus restoring the Temple rites and priestly role.
However, during exile and continuing thereafter, a new form of Judaism was in development - one that relied more on Torah and living a righteous life, guided by rabbis (teachers) rather than priests, and study of God's teaching in synagogues (places of assembly) rather than Temple rites. This is the Judaism that remains today for, after the Persians, the Greeks came into power. And then, by the time of Jesus (a first century Jew) the Romans were in power. By the year 70 CE the Romans had destroyed the second Temple and, by the year 135 CE, had once again exiled the Hebrew people from their homeland. It was not until more than 1800 years later - in the year 1948 - that the Hebrew people once again regained self rule in their ancient homeland - the Land of Israel.
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