Religion of Covenant

• Implies that God will keep his end of the bargain, but Israelites need to keep theirs

• God sees them as a holy nation, a treasured possession

• Huge emphasis on group identity

• Covenant: a sacred family bond

History of the Chosen People

• After the time of the Babylonian Exile, they were called “Jews” due to the tribe of Judah being the one captured

• Belief that if they are God’s Chosen People, God knows what is going on with them and can help them

• God is loving, all powerful, all just, all merciful, providential, but the Jewish people must live up to their end of the covenant

• Classical Judaism

  • 66 CE: Jewish War to overcome the Romans

  • 70 CE: temple in Jerusalem was destroyed

  • 600 CE: Islam comes to power

    • Diaspora: dispersion; Jewish people having to live away from their ancestral homeland

• Medieval Judaism (700s-1700s CE)

  • Jewish people thrived in Spain

  • Famous teachers: Maimonides (philosopher), and Zohar (mystical)

  • Lived under Muslim rule in Spain and Africa and Christian rule in Europe

    • Under Muslim regime

    • Under Christian regime

Central Teachings

• Avoid pronouncing full name of God—too holy to say or write

  • YHWY in Hebrew (“Yahweh”)

• Shema: hear o Isreal the Lord is our God, the Lord alone

  • Recited twice daily: morning and evening

  • Huge change to polytheistic world

  • Good, moral god, which most polytheistic gods were not

  • Humans are good

  • The world, matter, is good

  • You have free will, not fate

• Torah: the first five books of the Old Testament

  • Instruction, law

  • Hebrew bible has three parts: Torah (T), Prophets (N), Writings (K)

    • Tanak: the whole Hebrew scriptures

  • Pentateuch: the Greek term for the first five books of the bible

    • Greek version; things are lost in translation

  • All three of these words are, to some extent, synonymous

  • Moses is the author according to tradition

  • Contains 613 laws, 10 Commandments are most famous

  • Every synagogue has an ark with the Torah in it

  • Prophets (one who speaks for)

  • Other writings

    • Poetry, wisdom literature, short stories, and historical accounts

• Mishnah and Talmud

  • Rabbi: a teacher of the Torah, the leader of a Jewish congregation

  • Mishnah: a collection of teachings of Rabbis for 400 years

    • Written down in 200 CE

  • Talmud: commentary on the Mishnah