Judaism -14 Million Believers – monotheism – (Orthodox 7%, Reformed 42%, Conservative 38%) - the original Abrahamic faith that shares its roots with Christianity and Islam.
1400 BC – Judaism officially begins when Moses receives the Torah, two clay tablets and instructions on how to build the Ark of the Covenant, the Menorah, and other sacred items on Mount Sinai.
Belief – God/YHWH/Yahweh is the one and only God revealed to Abraham in 1850 BC. His son Yitshak (Isaac), and grandson Jacob (Israel) are referred to as the patriarchs of the Israelites or Judaism. All three patriarchs lived in the Land of Canaan, that later came to be known as the Land of Judah/Israel.
Jewish Symbol - The Star of David is a symbol commonly associated with Judaism. King David was the Hebrew King who brought the Ark of the covenant to Jerusalem. He is also the father of King Solomon who built Solomon’s temple on the Temple Mount. The sign is based on the shape of David’s shield. The top triangle strives upward, toward God, while the lower triangle strives downward, toward the real world. In the 17th century, it became a popular practice to put Stars of David on the outside of synagogues, to identify them as Jewish houses of worship in much the same way that a cross identified a Christian house of worship.
Sacred Texts - Torah or TANAKH – “teaching” or “law” also known as the Pentateuch.
TORAH (T) – Teaching, Nevi’im (N) – Prophets, Ketuvim (K) – Writings.
TORAH - five books of Moses: Beresheet – Genesis, Shemot – Exodus, Vayikra – Leviticus, Bamidbar – Numbers, Devarim – Deuteronomy.
Nevi’im - Prophets are direct prophecies or recordings of what God said to the prophets. Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, Malachi, Isaiah.
Ketuvim – Writings are books written by the prophets with the guidance of God. Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Esther, Lamentations, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, Chronicles.
Talmud - Explanations of the Written Torah, were passed down verbally from generation to generation. After the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, it was decided the Oral Torah should be written down so it would not be forgotten.
Mishnah - Six orders containing hundreds of chapters, including series of laws from the Hebrew Scriptures. The Mishnah is a written outline of the Oral Torah.
Gemara - Comments from hundreds of Rabbis from 200 – 500 AD, explaining the Mishnah with additional historical, religious, legal, sociological, etc. material. It often records many different opinions on a topic without giving a definitive answer.
Mitzvot – 613 Commandments
Jewish Calendar - The current date on the Jewish calendar represents the number of years since Creation. This number is determined by adding all the ages of people mentioned in the Bible back to the first day. This does not mean that Jews believe that the universe is only 5,770 years old. Many Jews, from Reform to Orthodox, accept the idea that the first six “days” of creation may not have been the 24-hour days we recognize today. For instance, when God separated the waters that process could have taken thousands of years. A Jewish “day” begins and ends at sunset. It is based on three astronomical phenomena: the rotation of the Earth about its axis (a day); the revolution of the moon about the Earth (a month); and the revolution of the Earth about the sun (a year). These three phenomena are independent of each other.
The moon revolves around the Earth in about 29½ days.
The Earth revolves around the sun in about 365¼ days, that is, about 12.4 lunar months.
The lunar month on the Jewish calendar begins when the first sliver of moon becomes visible after the dark of the moon.
The problem with a strictly lunar calendar is that there are approximately 12.4 lunar months in every solar year, so a 12-month lunar calendar is about 11 days shorter than a solar year and a 13-month lunar is about 19 longer than a solar year. The months drift around the seasons on such a calendar: on a 12-month lunar calendar, the month of Nissan, which is supposed to occur in the Spring, would occur 11 days earlier in the season each year, eventually occurring in the Winter, the Fall, the Summer, and then the Spring again. On a 13-month lunar calendar, the same thing would happen in the other direction, and faster. To compensate for this drift, the Jewish calendar uses a 12-month lunar calendar with an extra month occasionally added. The month of Nissan occurs 11 days earlier each year for two or three years, and then jumps forward 30 days, balancing out the drift. In ancient times, this month was added by observation: the Sanhedrin observed the conditions of the weather, the crops and the livestock, and if these were not sufficiently advanced to be considered “spring,” then the Sanhedrin inserted an additional month into the calendar to make sure that Pesach (Passover) would occur in the spring.
Months of the Jewish calendar are referred to mostly by number in the Bible, but were given names almost identical to the names for the Babylonian months.
Tevet – Dec 2009 – Year 5770 (Jan 2010)
Shevat – Jan – Feb
Adar I – Feb – Mar * Last month of the Jewish year – a time of joy
(Adar II) – Occurs in a leap year
Nissan – Mar – April * Beginning of Jewish year 5771
Iyar – April – May
Sivan – May – June
Tamuz – June – July
Av – July – Aug
Elul – Aug – Sept
Tishrei – Sept – Oct
Cheshvan – Oct – Nov
Kislev Nov – Dec
