Jewish Religion - A history of a very old belief
The Jewish religion is the belief of Jews, with around fifteen million followers as of 2006. It is one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. The values and history of the Jewish religion is a major part of the foundation of other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity, Islam, as well as Samaritanism and the Bahá’í Faith.
The Jewish religion believes that the world was created by a single, all-knowing God, and that all things within that world were designed to have meaning and purpose as part of a divine order. According to the teachings of Judaism, God’s will for human behavior was revealed to Moses and the Israelites at Mount Saini. The Torah, or commandments, which regulate how humans are to live their lives, were a gift from God so that they might live in according to His will.
According to the traditional Jewish religion, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Jews and revealed his laws and commandments to them in the form of the Torah. The practice of the Jewish religion is devoted to the study and observance of these laws and commandments, as written in the Torah.
According to the Orthodox Jewish religion and most religious Jews, the Biblical patriarch Abraham was the first Hebrew. Literature records that Abraham was the first to reject idolatry and preach about God. God then promised he would have children, even in his old age. Abraham’s first child was Ishmael and his second son was Isaac, whom God said would continue Abraham’s work and inherit the Land of Israel after having been exiled and redeemed. God sent the patriarch Jacob and his children to Egypt, where after many generations they became salves. God then sent Moses to redeem the Israelites from slavery in which he led them out of Egypt, God led the Jews to Mount Sinai and gave them the Torah, eventually bringing them to the land of Israel, the Promised Land.
There are three basic branches of the Jewish religion which form the basis for the lifestyle and beliefs of Jews. First is the Orthodox, traditionalists who observe most of the traditional dietary and ceremonial laws of Judaism; Conservatives do not hold to the importance of a political state of Judaism, but place more emphasis on the historic and religious aspects of Judaism, doctrinally somewhere between Orthodox and Reform; and finally, Reform, the liberal form of the Jewish religion, which is culture and race oriented with little agreement on doctrinal or religious belief.
It is important to note that most Jews do not believe that Jesus was the Son of God. They believe that the one that was prophesied about in the Old Testament has yet to come to this earth. Some Jews, however, do believe in Jesus Christ.
If you would like for information about the Jewish religion and how it compares to other Christianity and other religions, do some searching online or visit your local library.