The people of Israel have always caused envy, hatred andadmiration from Europeans. Even those who lost their state and were forced to wander for nearly two thousand years, its representatives did not assimilate among other ethnic groups, but retained both their national identity and culture based on a deep religious tradition. What is the faith of the Jews? Indeed, thanks to her, they survived many powers, empires and entire nations. They went through everything - power and slavery, periods of peace and discord, social well-being and genocide. The religion of the Jews is Judaism, and it is thanks to him that they still play an important role on the historical scene.
The religious tradition of the Jews is monotheistic, that is, it recognizes only one god. His name is Yahweh, which literally means "the one who was, is and will be."
Today, the Jews believe that Yahweh is the creator andthe creator of the world, and they consider all other gods to be false. According to their creed, after the first people had fallen, the sons of man forgot the true god and began to serve idols. To remind people of himself, Yahweh called a prophet by the name of Abraham, who was predicted to become the father of many nations. Abraham, who descended from a pagan family, received the revelation of the Lord, denied the former cults and went to wander, led from above.
In the Torah - the Sacred - the writings of the Jewstells how God tested Abraham’s faith. When that son was born from his beloved wife, the Lord commanded to sacrifice him, to which Abraham responded with unquestioning obedience. When he had already raised the knife over his child, God stopped him, regarding such submission as deep faith and devotion. Therefore, today, when the Jews are asked about the faith of the Jews, they answer: "The faith of Abraham."
According to the Torah, God fulfilled his promise and from Abraham through Isaac produced a large Jewish people, also known as Israel.
The worship of Yahweh by Abraham’s first descendantswas, in fact, Judaism and even monotheism in the strict sense of the word. In fact, the gods of the biblical religion of the Jews are numerous. What distinguished Jews from other pagans was the unwillingness to worship any other gods (but, unlike monotheism, they recognized their existence), as well as a ban on religious images. Much later than the time of Abraham, when his descendants had already multiplied to the scale of an entire people, Judaism as such took shape. Briefly about this narrated in the Torah.
By the will of fate the people of the Jews fell into slavery toEgyptian pharaohs, most of whom treated him rather badly. In order to free his elect, God called a new prophet - Moses, who, being a Jew, was brought up at the royal court. After performing a series of miracles known as the Egyptian executions, Moses led the Jews into the wilderness to bring them to the promised land. During this journey on Mount Sinai, Moses received the first commandments and other instructions regarding the organization and practice of the cult. Thus arose the decorated faith of the Jews - Judaism.
Being in Sinai, Moses among othersRevelations received from the Almighty a guide to the device of the Tabernacle Tabernacle - a portable temple, designed to offer sacrifices and other religious rites. When the years of wandering in the wilderness were over, the Jews entered the promised land and established their statehood in its open spaces, King David set out to replace the tabernacle with a full-fledged stone temple. God, however, did not approve of David’s enthusiasm, and he entrusted the mission of building a new sanctuary to his son Solomon. Solomon, becoming king, began to fulfill the divine command and rebuilt an imposing temple on one of the hills of Jerusalem. According to tradition, this temple stood for 410 years, until the Babylonians destroyed it in 586.
The temple was a national symbol for the Jews,the banner of unity, fortitude and physical guarantor of divine protection. When the temple was destroyed, and the Jews were captured for 70 years, Israel’s faith shaken. Many began to worship the pagan idols again, and the people were threatened with dissolution among other tribes. But there were also zealous supporters of fatherly traditions, who advocated the preservation of the former religious traditions and social order. When in 516 the Jews were able to return to their native lands and rebuild the temple, this group of enthusiasts led the process of reviving Israeli statehood. The temple was restored, worship and sacrifices began to take place again, and along the way, the religion of the Jews itself acquired a new face: Scripture was codified, many customs were streamlined, and official doctrine took shape. In the course of time, several denominations arose among the Jews, differing in their doctrinal and ethical views. However, their spiritual and political unity ensured a common temple and worship service. The epoch of the second temple lasted until the year 70 n. e.
In 70 AD e., during the fighting during the Jewish war, the warlord Titus began to besiege, and later destroyed Jerusalem. Among the affected buildings was a Jewish temple, which was completely destroyed. Since then, the Jews were forced, according to historical conditions, to alter Judaism. Briefly, these changes also affected the dogma, but mainly concerned the subordination: the Jews no longer obey the priestly authority. After the destruction of the temple, there were no priests left, and the role of spiritual leaders was assumed by the rabbis, the teachers of the law - the laity, who have a high social status among the Jews. From that time to this day, Judaism is represented only in such a rabbinical form. The role of synagogues, local centers of Jewish culture and spirituality, came to the first place. Divine services are performed in the synagogues, scripture is read, sermons are pronounced and important rites are performed. They set up yeshivas - specialized schools for the study of Judaism, the Jewish language and culture.
It is important to keep in mind that with the temple in 70 ADe. Jews lost and their statehood. They were forbidden to live in Jerusalem, as a result they were scattered in other cities of the Roman Empire. Since then, the Jewish diasporas are present in almost every country on all continents. Surprisingly, they were quite resistant to assimilation and were able to carry their identity through the centuries, no matter what. Nevertheless, it must be remembered that with the passage of time Judaism changed, evolved and developed, therefore, answering the question "What is the religion of the Jews?" e. and 15th century Judaism er., for example, is not the same thing.
As already mentioned, the creed of Judaism, according toat least modern, is classified as monotheism: both religious scholars and Jews themselves insist on this. The faith of the confession of the Jews consists in recognizing Yahweh as the only god and creator of all things. The Jews themselves see themselves as the special chosen people, the children of Abraham, on whom the special mission rests.
At some point in time, most likely inthe era of the Babylonian captivity and the second temple, Judaism adopted the concept of the resurrection of the dead and the Last Judgment. Along with this, ideas about angels and demons — the personified forces of good and evil — appeared. Both of these doctrines originate from Zoroastrianism and, most likely, it was through contact with Babylon that the Jews integrated these teachings into their cult.
Speaking of Jewish spirituality, it can be arguedthat Judaism is a religion briefly described as a cult of traditions. In fact, traditions, even the most insignificant, are of tremendous importance in Judaism, and severely punished for their violation.
The most important of these traditions is the custom of circumcision, without which a Jew cannot be considered a full-fledged representative of his people. Circumcision is done as a sign of the covenant between the chosen people and Yahweh.
Another important feature of the Jewish imageLife is strict Sabbath observance. The Sabbath day is endowed with extreme holiness: all work is forbidden, even the simplest, like cooking. Also on Saturday, you can not just have fun - this day is provided only for peace and spiritual exercises.
Some believe that Judaism is a world religion.But actually it is not. Firstly, because Judaism is for the most part a national cult, the path to which for non-Jews is rather difficult, and secondly, the number of its followers is too small to speak of it as a world religion. However, Judaism is a religion with global influence. From the womb of Judaism came two world religions - Christianity and Islam. And the numerous Jewish communities scattered throughout the world have always exerted a particular influence on the culture and life of the local population.
However, it is important that Judaism itself is today insideself is heterogeneous and therefore, in answering the question of what religion among the Jews, it is also necessary to clarify its course in each particular case. There are several such insider groups. The main ones are represented by the orthodox wing, the movement of the Hasidim, and the Reformed Jews. There are also progressive Judaism and a small group of Messianic Jews. However, the last Jewish community excludes from the Jewish community.
Говоря об отношении ислама к иудаизму, нужно, First, note that Muslims also consider themselves children of Abraham, although not from Isaac. Secondly, Jews are considered the people of the book and the bearers of divine revelation, albeit outdated, from the point of view of the Muslims. Reflecting on the faith of the Jews, the adherents of Islam recognize the fact of worshiping the same god. Thirdly, the historical relations between Jews and Muslims have always been ambiguous and require separate analysis. It is important that in the field of theory there is much in common between them.
С христианами у иудеев всегда отношения evolved uneasy. Both sides disliked each other, which often led to conflicts and even bloodshed. Today, however, the relationship between these two Abrahamic religions is gradually improving, although still far from ideal. The Jews have a good historical memory and remember Christians as oppressors and persecutors for over one and a half thousand years. For their part, Christians blame the fact of the crucifixion of Christ for the Jews and connect all their historical hardships with this sin.
In a small article it is impossible to comprehensivelyconsider the topic of what faith the Jews have in theory, in practice, and in relations with adherents of other cults. Therefore, I would like to believe that this small review will encourage further, deeper study of the traditions of Judaism.
