Judaism: Faith of our Fathers

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Judaism Faith of our Fathers
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The Land of the Jews

• Palestine eastern end of Mediterranean Sea
• Home of Phoenicians, the Philistines, and the
  Hebrews
• Where did the name Palestine come from?
• Canaan Land of the Hebrews
• Located within region of Palestine

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Palestine, c.1200 BC
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The Search for a Promised Land

• Palestine
• Crossroads of empire
• Assyria and Babylon to East
• Egypt to West
• Connection to trade routes
• Mediterranean Sea
• Red Sea
• Canaan
• Region between Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea
• Hebrews believed Canaan was promised to them by
  God

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The Torah

• Holy Book of Judaism
• First 5 books of Old Testament (Written Torah or
  Tanakh)
• Five Books of Moses
• Genesis,
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy

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Abraham, Father of 3 Faiths

• Story of Abraham
• Chosen by God as father of Hebrews
• Shepherd in city of Ur
• Citizen of what civilization and region?
• Commanded by God to move tribe to Canaan

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Genesis 121-2

• Go from your country and your kindred and your
  fathers house to the land that I will show you.
  I will make of you a great nation, and I will
  bless you, and make your name great.
• Why would Abraham obey this command?

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Loyalty to God!

• Abraham Prepares to Sacrifice Issac

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Leaving Ur

• 1800 BC
• Abraham moves family and followers to Canaan
  after much wandering through Mesopotamia
• 1650 BC
• Hebrews relocate to Egypt for a short time, then
  back to Canaan

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Abrahams Travels
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The God of Abraham

• The first monotheistic faith
• God known as Yahweh in Hebrew Scripture
• In Hebrew (yod) ? (heh) ? (vav) ? (heh) or ????
  (YHWH)--ee-ah-oo-eh
• The true name of God is never to be spelled out
  or spoken aloud!
• G-D, Adonai ("my Lord"), or Hashem (the Name)
• WHY?
• 3rd Commandment!
• Not a physical being forbidden to create an
  image of Him!
• 2nd Commandment!

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The Covenant

• Yahweh has power over all peoples everywhere
• Yahweh promises to protect Hebrew people because
  Abraham promised to worship Him

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Drought in Canaan

• 1650 BC
• Famine and drought plagues Canaan
• How might Hebrews respond?
• Migrate to Egypt
• Eventually enslaved

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The Exodus

• 1300-1200 BC
• The Exodus
• Flight of the Jews from Egypt
• Led by Moses
• The New Covenant
• Moses receives Ten Commandments from Yahweh on
  Mt. Sinai
• Forms basis of civil, religious law in Judaism
• Hebrews honor commandments, Yahweh protects
  Hebrews

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Ten Commandments

• "I am the Lord your G-d, Who has taken you out of
  the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery
• "You shall have no other gods but me"
• 3. "You shall not take the name of your Lord in
  vain
• 4. You shall remember and keep the Sabbath day
  holy"

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Ten Commandments

• "Honor your father and mother"
• "You shall not murder"
• "You shall not commit adultery"
• "You shall not steal"
• "You shall not bear false witness against your
  neighbor"

• "You shall not covet your neighbor's goods. You
  shall not covet your neighbour's house. You shall
  not covet your neighbour's wife, nor his
  manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his bull,
  nor his donkey, nor anything that is your
  neighbour's."

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On the Ten Commandments

• Jewish Interpretation
• First 4 Commandments deal with God and Man
• Second 6 deal with relations between people
• Catholic and Protestant versions differ from each
  other and from Jewish version!
• Accepted in Islam, but believed incomplete

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The God of the Hebrews

• Is also the God of the Christians and Muslims!
• Known as the Abrahamic Faiths!

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Wandering the Desert

• Moses leads the Jews through Sinai Desert for 40
  years
• Eventually return to Canaan and establish twelve
  tribes of Israel
• Self-governing united in times of need
• The Prophets
• Large number of prophets in Hebrew history
• Functioned as religious teachers
• Taught about Ten Commandments

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Some Prophets

• Moshe Rabeinu
• Most important in Hebrew history!
• Who is he?
• Female Prophets
• Sarah, Miriam, Deborah, Esther
• Samuel
• Jonah
• Isaiah
• John the Baptist
• Daniel

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Teachings of the Prophets

• Centered around ethical monotheism
• Right conduct and worship of one God
• He has told you, oh mortal what is good and
  what does the Lord require of you but to do
  justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly
  with your God?
• Micah, 68

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The Kingdom of Israel

• 11 of 12 tribes weaken in Canaan
• Leaves one large tribe
• Tribe of Judah
• Hebrews come to be known as Jews, religion Judaism

The Symbol of the Tribe of Judah
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Building the Kingdom

• 1020-922 BC
• Hebrews unite under three kings
• Saul, David, Solomon

Saul
David Whose head?
Solomon
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Saul and David

• Saul
• Chosen for military ability
• David
• Son-in-law of Saul
• Unites tribes, establishes Jerusalem as capital

David captures Jerusalem
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Solomon the Wise

• Son of David and Bathsheba
• Rules 962 to 922 BC
• Greatest King of Hebrew History
• Built trade empire
• Beautified Jerusalem
• Built Temple to house Ark of the Covenant
• What was in the Ark?
• Built beautiful palace
• Considered wisest man in history

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The Temple of Solomon

• Bronze Pillars
• Gold covered cedar walls
• Hall decorated with brass and gold
• Destroyed by Babylon in 586 BC

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Israel Collapses

• Revolution!
• Building projects of Solomon led to forced labor,
  high taxes
• Jews in Northern Israel revolt after death of
  Solomon (922 BC)
• North becomes known as Israel
• South becomes known as Judah
• Kingdoms fight each other, other civilizations
  for 200 years

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The Destruction of Palestine

• 738 BC
• Israel, Judah pay tribute to Assyria as a bribe
• 722 BC
• Assyria conquers Israel
• 586 BC
• Judah collapses at hands of Babylon (who had
  conquered Assyria and beat Egypt)
• King Nebuchadnezzar
• Destroys Temple of Solomon

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The Babylonian Captivity

• Survivors of Judah exiled to Babylon
• Forced to live as slaves
• Maintain religion despite problems!
• 539 BC
• Persians conquer Babylon
• King Cyrus of Persia
• Jews allowed to return to Jerusalem
• 40,000 return many stay in Babylon!
• WHY STAY?

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Returning to Jerusalem

• 515 BC
• Second Temple completed
• Destroyed by Romans in 70 BC
• 445 BC
• Walls of Jerusalem rebuilt

The Wailing Wall
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The Crossroads of Empire

• Israel and Jerusalem never regain lost glory
• Persians, Greeks, Romans all control land of
  Palestine at various points

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The Diaspora

• Jews have maintained culture and traditions for
  over 3,000 years
• Diasporamigration of Jews by force or desire
  throughout world
• What does this tell us about Jewish culture and
  religion?