Biblical Judaism

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Biblical Judaism

• Unit 4 Judaism

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Covenant with Abraham

• The Patriarchal Period (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob)
  was the time of the establishment of a covenant
  where in God agreed to love humanity and humanity
  agreed to love God rather than the many Gods of
  Polytheistic Mesopotamia.
• 1. idea that Jews
• represented God's
• Chosen People
• 2. idea of a Promised
• Land

3
Slaves in Egypt

• When a severe drought struck Canaan, the
  decedents of Abraham were forced to move to Egypt
  where they flourished.
• Eventually, the Egyptians turned on the Hebrews
  and enslaved them. By the time Ramses II became
  Pharaoh, slavery was a fact of Hebrew life, with
  liberation a distant, idealistic dream.
• Moses emerged as a liberator - born a Hebrew
  Slave and later adopted by the Pharaoh's family,
  Moses grew up in the imperial court.

4
Moses A Prophet

• We all know the story of Moses and how he was
  able to have the Jews freed (the Ten Plagues on
  the Egyptians in order to convince the Pharaoh to
  let the Hebrew people go)

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Passover

• The tenth Plague called on the angel of death to
  descend on Egypt and take the first-born of al
  who lived in the region. God instructed Moses to
  tell the Hebrews that they could escape this
  plague by smearing lamb's blood over their doors.
  
• In this way, death would "pass over" their homes
  because the blood would be a sign that the house
  belonged to a descendant of Abraham. This event
  is celebrated in the Jewish festival of Passover.

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Gods Covenant with Moses

• God provided his people with the commandments
  that would allow them to keep the covenant - the
  Ten Commandments emphasized the nature of God's
  existence as well as the laws that the people
  would need to follow in order to keep their
  covenant with God. The Passover, the Exodus, and
  the Ten Commandments serve as specific renewals
  of the covenant between God and the people.
• 1. Nature of God's existence
• 2. Law

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Judges Kings

• The Jews lived a nomadic existence in the Sinai
  for forty years until they reached the land of
  Canaan. This marks the beginning of the biblical
  period of Judges and Kings.
• First the Jews were lead by people referred to as
  Judges - Judges were like tribal leaders or
  Chieftains who led the people through periods of
  crisis. Judges were charismatic (charming) and
  inspiring people, were either men or women, and
  helped the Jews establish a sense of identity.

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• By about 1000 BCE, the Jews began to long for a
  king to lead them. God eventually agreed to give
  Saul the status of King because of the growing
  threats form a neighbouring tribe, the
  Philistines.
• Saul was succeeded by David, whose kingship
  marks the highpoint of Jewish imperial history.
  After wining some decisive victories against his
  enemies, David eventually established Jerusalem
  as his capital city.
• His son Solomon built a temple that would serve
  as the centre of worship for the Jewish faith for
  the next millennium. However, after the death of
  Solomon, the kingdom broke up.
• Around 921 BCE, the northern tribes separated
  from the southern tribes (who took the name of
  Israel). The southern tribes, centered on
  Jerusalem, which became known as Judah. The era
  of the kings was coming to an end outside forces
  would soon impose themselves on the Hebrews again.

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The Exile

• Jewish autonomy and independence would be
  dramatically altered by two military conquests.
  In 721 BCE, the Assyrians invaded and captured
  the territory of Israel. The invading troops not
  only took the land but also evicted many of the
  region's citizens, scattering Israel's
  population.
• Then in 586 BCE, Babylonian invaders captured
  Judah and destroyed Solomon's Temple. 10,000
  Jewish community leaders were captured and sent
  into exile in Babylon. This event is known as the
  Exile or the Babylonian Captivity. They were held
  there until Cyrus the Great of Persia released
  them in 538 BCE, when he defeated the
  Babylonians.
• With the temple destroyed and the Jews dispersed,
  Jews had to find a new way to honour God - placed
  of worship, now know as synagogues, were created.
  Furthermore, the time of the Exile marked the
  beginning intense scholarly analysis of scripture
  and the emergence of teachers known as Rabbis who
  sought to interpret the Bible to make it more
  comprehensible to the average person. Finally,
  the period of Exile saw the development of the
  belief in a divine kingship characterized by a
  Messiah - Jews living in captivity hoped for the
  coming of a great king that would lead them out
  of oppression.

10

• After the conquest of Babylon, the Jews were
  encouraged to return home. In 515 BCE, a second
  temple was completed.

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The Diaspora

• By the third century BCE, the majority of Jews
  lived in the Diaspora, so they created new
  standards for their faith traditions.
• In 332 BCE, Alexander the Great conquered much of
  the known world including Persia, Egypt and
  India.
• Thus Jews in those regions fell under the
  influence of Greek Culture, a process called
  Hellenization.
• Jews embraced Greek culture to the point that the
  Bible was translated into Greek.

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Maccabean Revolt

• In 168 BCE, the Greeks converted the Temple into
  a shrine to the Greek god Zeus - growing
  dissatisfaction with the Greek ruling culture
  amongst the Jewish population lead to a group of
  rebels, called the Maccabees, to lead a revolt
  against the Greeks.
• By 164 BCE, the Maccabees were in control of
  Jerusalem and the temple was restored. The
  Maccabees would rule until the Roman conquest.

13
The Romans

• In 64 BCE, Jerusalem was conquered by the Romans.
  By this time, several Jewish sects emerged. The
  growing sophistication of Jewish belief, combined
  with the harshness of Roman rule, lead to a
  renewed emphasis on the coming of the Messiah.
• Heavy taxation, unfair administration of justice,
  and Roman control of both the temple and the high
  priest soon proved too much for the Jews.
• In 66 CE, the Jews revolted and eventually gained
  control of the temple and a Roman fortress. Rome
  responded with force. In 70 CE, the temple was
  destroyed and the Jews were to once again reform
  their ways.

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Rabbinic Judaism

• Without the temple, Priests of old were replaced
  by rabbis and synagogues became the main venue
  for worship.
• Prayer practice that took place at the temple,
  now focused on the Jewish home and in the
  Synagogue.
• During this time, the Mishnah, and latter the
  Talmud became established.

15

• The Jewish experience from the Exile to the Roman
  occupation is one of inspiring fortitude and an
  unfailing will to preserve the faith. By the
  Middle Ages, Judaism had established deep
  intellectual and spiritual roods that would
  ensure its survival.

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ISU Work

• Read pages
• Jewish History (pg. 30-31)
• Abraham (pg. 32-33)
• Moses (pg. 34-35)
• AND answer the following questions
• What did Abraham believe?
• What happened to the country when David was king?
• What did all the prophets believe?
• What title do Jews give Abraham?
• What is a nomad?
• Why do you think the people of Ur worshipped
  their gods with human sacrifices?
• What work did God have for Moses?
• What were the plagues?
• What was Gods second promise?
• Explain what the Covenant is, and why it is
  important to Jews.

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HRT 3M1 - Homework

• Read pages 217-224 and answer questions 1-4 of
  Check your Understanding