Judaism: history, beliefs, and practices

Judaism

The Jewish religion is one of the oldest faiths that still exist in the modern world. Those who practice the religion have celebrated more than five thousand years according to their calendar. This group has a history of prejudice and persecution that extends even into the modern historical moment. In a time when political correctness and fear of offense are of primary concern to a large percentage of the population, crimes against Jewish people and attitudes of prejudice against them still prevail in many countries of the world, particularly in the Middle East where adversarial nations have vowed to wipe Judaism and the Jewish nation state Israel off the world map.

The origins of Judaism can be traced back to approximately 2000 BCE with the writings of Abraham who is considered the father of the Jewish religion. According to the Jewish texts, the modern Jewish person is descended from ancient people of what is now Israel. Before this, the land was known as Canaan (Dever 99). All persons of Jewish heredity can supposedly trace their lineage back to the original tribes of this region, providing both voracity and historicity to the religion.

The thesis or purpose of the religion is to guide people according to principles by which they can improve their own lives and behaviors, but also behave kindly to others (Cohen 7). Unlike many other ancient religions, Judaism is a monotheistic religion with one god and therefore the belief was that this one god had direct relationships with human beings on the earth (Sarna). Human beings raised in the religion thus held the belief that their actions would either be punished or rewarded because of this direct relationship and were more dedicated to the rules and restrictions of the religious laws. The religion created the Ten Commandments and the thirteen principles of faith. Both lists explained to Jewish people what was expected of them as followers and by extension what was verboten.

In the modern historical era, people of the Jewish faith have continued to struggle with antagonistic groups who hold anti-Semitic beliefs. Anti-Semitic behaviors are not merely found in the Middle East, but can be found around the world (Ariel 191). Racial and religious prejudices are punished throughout the United States, but actions against people of the Jewish faith are not prosecuted as often as other hate crimes. Instances of institutionalized prejudice, such as the depiction of ancient Jews in Mel Gibson's Passion of the Christ are not combated as racist or prejudicial depictions of other minority groups. This inherent persecution has made its way into the psychology of the Jewish population to a great degree and it is found that many people of the Jewish faith maintain strong ties to members of their same religion. All of these considerations have affected the sociology of the Jewish people in modern times.