INTRODUCTION TO WORLD RELIGIONS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS

COMMONALITIES OF ABRAHAMAIC RELIGION

1. Share common roots to the patriarch Abraham
2. Belief in one god
3. Belief in heaven and hell
4. Belief in prophets as instruments of god in propagating his word to people
5. Belief in angels as messengers of god to humanity
6. Belief in judgement day

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF JUDAISM

 Jews - Semites people called Hebrews whose origin can be traced in the desert lands of Arabia (Brown, 1975)
 Pentateuch – first five books of the Jews
- source of the origin of people and beginning of the Jews
 Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac – three founding patriarchs of the Jews which are both physical and spiritual forebears of the Jewish
people found in Genesis 12 – 50 of their scripture
- God entered into a covenant with Abraham promising him that he would become the father of a great nation and wo uld
possess vast tracts of land
- Abram – original name of Abraham (patriarchs are depicted as nomads)
 Born in the city of Ur of Chaldeas around 1800 B.C.E.
 Abraham – meaning “father of many nations”
 Greatest test –God commanded Abraham that he sacrifices his son Isaac at an altar in Mount Moriah
 Canaan – Israel, Jordan, and Syria
 Hagar – Egyptian housemaid of Sarai, mother of Ishmael
 Ishmael – ancestors of the Arabs
 Sarah – meaning “princess” or noblewoman
 Isaac – the heir to God’s covenant and the ancestor of the Jewish people
 Jacob and Isau – sons of Isaac and Rebecca
 Jacob – Israel meaning “the one who wrestled with God”
 Jews – children of Israel
 Sons of Jacob
 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Zebulum, Issachar, Dan, Gad, Asher, Naphtali, Joseph the Dreamer, and
Benjamin
 Book of Genesis – ended with a great nation emerging from Abraham’s descendants
 Book of Exodus – started begins with them crying out for deliverance from Egyptian bondage
 Jochebed – mother of Moses secretly placed her youngest child in a woven basket and sent him down the Nile River
 Bithia – pharaoh’s daughter, found the child and reared him as her own
 At the age of forty, Moses killed one of the Egyptians in defense of a slave and fled to Sinai desert where he spent
the next forty years as shepherd.
 Mount Horeb – Abraham’s God revealed himself to Moses as he spoke through a burning bush that was not
consumed.
 Yahweh – God’s name revealed to Moses
 Commanded Moses to return to Egypt and demand the release of Israelites from slavery
 Ten Miraculous and Horrific Plagues
 Passover – an important Jewish festival
 Red Sea – Yam Suph or Sea of Reeds
 Exodus – Yahweh’s intervention to deliver his chosen people
 Giving of Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai
 Moses eventually united the different tribes into one group and consecrated to the worship of one living god.

SOCIO-POLITICAL DYNAMICS OF JUDAISM

 Kingship as the ideal form of government
 Covenant between the ruler and the ruled is equally important as well
 Tribal Federation – various tribes and institutions shared political power
 Communal living
  Rabbi – teacher and interpreter of the Jewish law and customs
 For the Jews, Politics, Society, Culture, and Religion are interconnected
 Judaism is not only a religion but a way of life.

SACRED SCRIPTURES OF JUDAISM

 Tanakh or Mikra – Hebrew Bible – People of the Book
- Authority, guide, and inspiration of the many forms of Judaism that evolved throughout the different periods of time in
various places
Three Principal Sections
1. Torah – “teaching” –Five Books of Moses (Old Testament / Tanakh – Written Torah)
- First “Five Books” or the Pentateuch authored by Moses – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy
- Contains basic laws for Jewish self-understanding
- Narrates the history, religious statues, and moral regulations for individuals and society, ceremonial rites and creation
stories by Yahweh, the origin and growth of mankind.
- 613 mitzvot or laws found within the Torah that guide the Jewish people in their daily living
- 248 positive and 365 negative commandments within the Torah
- Laws about family, personal hygiene, diet as well as duties and responsibilities to the community
2. Nevi’im – “Prophets”
- Earlier Prophets
- Later Prophets
- Twelve Minor Prophets
- Prophets serve as spokespersons who criticize the hypocritical practices of Jewish rituals
3. Ketuvim – “Writings”
- Contain works on poetry, temple ritual, private prayer, philosophical exploration, and other canonical works.

 Talmud – “Oral Torah” - study

 All studies and interpretations done by Jewish rabbies or teachers of the Torah
 Authoritative collection of rabbinic interpretations of the sacred scriptures
 Contains 63 tractates that is often printed over 6,200 pages long
 Fountain of religious thought and inspiration similar to Pentateuch
a. Mishnah – restatement of the law by respected opinion
- 2nd century when oral law was compiled and written
b. Gemara – it includes legends, folklores, and sayings

BELIEFS AND DOCTRINES

 Actions are more significant than beliefs
 Worship on one god, the practice of good deeds, and the love of learning
 There is one everlasting god who created the universe in its entirety and remains the master of it
 Human beings were created by God who provided them the capacity to decide what is right and wrong, and gave
them the freedom and responsibility for their own actions
 All humans are created equal
 God communicate to humans through revelations, humans can also commune to him by means of prayers and
meditations
 Jew is someone whose mother is a Jew, although some sectors recognize the children of Jewish fathers as Jews
too
 A person may also convert to Judaism, but he or she has to undergo numerous rituals

ARTICLES OF FAITH
 Moshe ben Maimon – “Rambam or Moses Maimonides”
Jewish Principles of Faith
1. God exists.
2. God is one and unique.
3. God is incorporeal.
4. God is eternal.
5. Prayer is to be directed to God alone and to no other.
6. The works of the prophets are true.
 7. Moses’ prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the prophets.
8. The Written Torah and the Oral Torah were given to Moses.
9. There will be no other Torah.
10. God knows the thoughts and deeds of men.
11. God will reward the good and punish the wicked.
12. The Messiah will come.
13. The dead will be resurrected.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
 Set of absolute laws given by God to Moses at Mount Sinai
 Official beginning of Judaism
 Found in Exodus and Deuteronomy

The Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:2-17

1. You shall have no other gods before me.
2. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the
waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God,
punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but
showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
3. You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone
4. Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is
a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your
male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any fore igner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made
the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore
the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant,
his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.

See also The Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy 5:6-21.

WORSHIP AND OBSERVANCES

- Jewish community utilizes a lunar calendar with twelve months, each beginning at the new moon of 29 or 30
days.
SABBATH/ SHABBAT
- Commemorates God’s completion of the creation of the universe and his rest after the six day toil
- It begins a few minutes before sunset on Friday and runs until an hour after sunset on Saturday (25 hours)
- Kiddush – “sanctification” is recited over wine or grape juice on the Sabbath Day
- Havdalah – “division” – done by dousing wine on candles and smelling sweet spices
THE DAYS OF AWE
- Tishri – 7th day of the month in the ecclesiastical year of the Jewish calendar
- Days of Awe (Yamim Noraim) – first ten days of the Tishri
- Rosh Hashanah – first two days of “Days of Awe” – the New Year
 Marks the start of the ten-day penitence leading to the Yom Kippur
 Distinguished from other days by blowing a ram’s horn trumpet (shofar) in the synagogue and eating
apples dipped in honey – for a sweet new year
 All Jews must undergo self-reflection and make amends for all the sins they have committed.
 The day of judgement wherein God assesses one’s deeds and decides what lies ahead of him or her in
the following year
 These deeds are recorded in the “Book of Life” and sealed on Yom Kippur
- Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) – the tenth day of “Day of Awe”
  The most sacred and solemn day in the Jewish calendar that brings the period of repentance to its
conclusion
 Kol Nidre – “all vows” – eve of the day which are the opening words of a prayer
 Music and words are the most powerful single item in the Jewish liturgy
 A day of fasting and praying for absolution of one’s sins
 It provides every Jew an opportunity for both personal and communal repentance
 One must also refrain from eating and drinking, even water
 Additional restrictions include washing and bathing, using perfumes, wearing leather shoes,
and engaging in sexual relations
 Jewish wear white during this holiday
PILGRIMAGE FESTIVAL
- Shalosh Regalim – three pilgrimage festivals
1. Pesach (Passover) – eight-day festival that originally marked the beginning of the barley harvest
 Commemorate and recreate the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt
 seder – festive meal is celebrated wherein the story of Exodus is narrated by the heads of the family to
the children
2. Shavuot (Weeks or Pentecost) – two-day festival that was originally a celebration of the wheat harvest
 Commemorate the revelation of the Torah to Moses at Mount Sinai
3. Sukkot (Tabernacles) – nine-day festival commemorating the autumn harvest and the forty years of the
Israelites’ stay in the desert wilderness
 Sukkah – temporary booths build in the homes with a roof through which one can see the stars in the
sky
 An attempt to recreate Israelite life in the desert
OTHER IMPORTANT DAYS
- Hanukkah – “Festival of Lights” or “Feast of Dedication”
 Celebration to commemorate the victory of the Jewish fighters against the Seleucid Empire in 165
B.C.E.
- Purim – “Feast of Esther”
 Celebrates the deliverance of the Jews during the Persian Empire
- Independence Day of the State of Israel

JEWISH MONTHS AND FESTIVALS

Nisan (March or April) Tishri Kislev (November or December)
14 – Passover Eve 1 – Rosh Hashanah 25 – Hanukkah begins up to the
15-21 – Passover 10 – Yom Kippur second of Tebet (December or
Iyyar (April or May) 15 – Sukkot January)
5 – Israel’s Independence Day 21 – Hashanah Rabbah Adar (February or March)
Sivan (May or June) 22 – Shemini Atzeret 14 – Purim
6, 7 – Shavout 23 – Simchat Torah

HALAKHA
- “the path that one walks”
- Jewish religious laws taken from the Written Torah and Oral Torah including the 613 mtzvot
- Includes ways on what to do as they wake up in the morning, what foods to eat, what clothes to wear, who to
marry, and how to observe Sabbath day and holy days.
SYNAGOGUES
- Jewish temples of worship, instruction, and community fellowship that contain separate rooms designed for
specific activities such as praying and studying.
- Have seats facing an elevated platform with one or two lecterns or chairs
- Ark of Covenant – facing Jerusalem
THE TEMPLE
First Temple
- Solomon – son of David
- Builder of the First Temple (1000 BCE) – Solomon’s Temple
 - Holy of Holies – most important part (where the Ark of Covenant was kept)
- The Ark of Covenant contains the Ten Commandments and the Pentateuch
- Destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587 BCE
- Allegedly located at Mount Zion or Temple Mount
Second Temple – completed in 349 BCE
- Lasted for 420 years
- Western Wall – Wailing Wall (Kotel) – site of prayer and pilgrimage for the Jews
Third Temple – will be established before the coming of the messiah (anointed one) prophesized in the book of Ezekiel and
will be known as Ezekiel’s Temple

SUBDIVISIONS OF JUDAISM
Three Divisions of Judaism
1. Reform
- Liberal or Progressive Judaism
- Subject religious laws and customs to human judgements
- Allowing women to sit together with men unlike with other denomination and even become rabbis
- Allowing the giving of service in English and Hebrew
2. Orthodox
- the most traditional which adheres to the authority of Torah as given by God to Moses at Mt. Sinai
- Rejects other movements as undesirable deviations from the original Jewish religion
3. Conservative
- Seeks to conserve the traditional elements of Judaism while at the same time allowing for modernization that is
less radical than Reform Judaism
- Traditional Judaism without fundamentalism

 Hasidism/ Hasidic Judaism

- Emerged in Germany in Twelfth century
- A spiritual movement that gives prime importance to the asceticism and experience as a result of love and
humility before God.
- Baal Shem Toy (Master of the Good Name) – established it in Poland
- Reaction to the excessive legalistic nature of Judaism during 18 th century

 Kabbalah
- Attempts to penetrate deeper into God’s essence itself
- Believe that God moves in mysterious ways
- Also hold that genuine knowledge and understanding of the inner process is achievable
- Zohar – “Splendor” or “Radiance”
 Important commentary on the Torah that first appeared in Spain in the thirteenth century

Source: Ong, J., dL. Jose, M.D., (2016). Introduction to world religions and belief systems. Quezon City: Vibal Group, Inc.

Prepared by: GLEN DAVE S. HORBINO

Teacher II, Iloilo National High School