Judaism TerminologySacred Scripture= Hebrew Bible-also known to Jews as the Tanak [Tanach] and the world calls it the Old Testament.

Abraham-founder of Judaism

Sarah-Abraham's wife

Hagar-Sarah's slave or handmaiden and mother of Abraham's first son, Ishmael

Bilhah and Zilpah-slaves of Rachel and Leah, Jacob's wives

Ishmael-first son of Abraham and Hagar [Sarah's slave]...he becomes the first of the Arab paople or nation

Isaac-second son of Abraham, this son is with Sarah, Abraham's wife...he is considered the first of the Israelite people and the Abrahamic Covenant carries on through him rather than is older brother Ishmael

Rebekkah-wife of Isaac, mother of Esau and Jacob Esau and Jacob-twin sons of Isaac and Rebekkah...Esau is oldest and first of the Edomite people...the Abrahamic Covenant will not carry on through him, rather through his younger brother [younger by minutes, they are twins]..

Leah and Rachel-daughters of Laban and wives of Jacob. Leah is the oldest and Rachel is Jacob's beloved Joseph and Benjamin-Jacob and Rachel's only 2 children

Asenath-Egyptian princess and wife of Joseph and mother of Manasseh and Ephraim Manassah and Ephraim-sons of Joseph and Asenath.

Moses-born in Hebrew slave home, raised in royal palace, becomes savior/deliverer of his people

Joshua-Moses' right hand man while in Sinai desert after the Exodus from Egypt...he will lead the people into the Promised Land

Saul-fist king of Israel, anointed by God's prophet Samuel

David-2nd [official] king of Israel, husband of Saul's daughter Michal, father of Israel's 3rd king, Solomon

Samuel-prophet of God...anointed both Saul and David per God's instructions as told in the Biblical account

Nathan-prophet of God, anointed Solomon as 3rd king of Israel Solomon

Cyrus the Great-Persian king who freed exiled Jews from Babylon and allowed them to return to their home, the Promised Land Babylon-modern day Iraq Babylonian Exile-where Jews were taken after first Temple is destroyed and they were taken captive

Ark of the Covenant-structure that held 10 Commandments and other artifacts and was kept in the Tabernacle during the time in the Sinai desert and until it was housed at the first Temple First Temple-built by Solomon, David's son Second Temple-built by returning exiled Jews coming out of Babylon

Tabernacle-structure made of series of tenting that was set up in desert while people were in Sinai for 40 years

Herod the Great and the Second Temple-enlarged and made a much more grand second temple...the temple that stood during the lifetime of Jesus of Nazareth

Covenants and what were they? 1. God and Adam/Eve 2. God and Noah 3. God and Abraham 4. God and Moses 5. God and David Provisions of 3rd Covenant: Abraham would be father of many nations; God would give his descendants Promised Land Importance of Circumcision-ritual given by God to Jewish people as sign that they were his chosen ones Twelve Tribes of Israel-12 sons of Jacob Israel-nation AND name of Jacob 10 Plagues in Egypt-listed in Exodus...happened prior to Moses liberating Hebrew slaves Parting of Red Sea-God's miraculous intervention for Hebrew's escape from Egyptian army Mt. Sinai-where God gave Moses the 10 Commandments

Ten Commandments-juris prudence or law for God's people

Diaspora-literally means scattering in this case, the scattering of the Jews...when they do not live in their Promised Land as in when they were taken captive to Babylon

Torah, Neviim, Ketuviim-three divisions of the Tanak [Tanach] or Hebrew Bible: Torah=LAW Neviim=stories of PROPHETS Ketuviim= WRITINGS [anything that is not about the law or of the prophets Prophets-God's mouthpieces...men chosen by God to speak for him on earth and tell the people what they were doing wrong or right...their moral voice

Judaism Lecture #1 FOUNDER: ABRAHAM Sacred Scripture/Texts: Torah [the first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible [what most of the world calls the Old Testament] One of the most perplexing problems that arises in any discussion of Judaism is its' definition.

If we were to define Judaism as we define any other religion, we might say that a Jew is anyone who adheres to a certain set of Jewish religious beliefs or practices. Indeed, in many cases this may be a very effective definition. Unfortunately, the issue has been clouded, so it is not always so simple. In most cases when we mention a Jew or one is Jewish, we could be describing their religion, their nation, their homeland, their worldview, etc.

Judaism is a monotheistic religion, meaning that they believe in ONE god and ONE god only. They believe in a God of creation, not the BIG BANG theory, not evolution, but creation…a creation that came about simply by God speaking everything into existence. This story is found in the first book or document of the Hebrew Bible [Old Testament], called Genesis.

Genesis means the beginning and it is where you have the cosmology or creation myth [story] for all three of the major monotheistic religions of the world; Judaism, Christianity, Islam. When it is said New Testament versus Old Testament…for the Jewish Nation, there is NO old or new testament. The New Testament is studied and adhered to by Christianity, but the Old Testament is also part of Christianity's sacred scripture. For the Jew, there is NO new testament, there is ONLY the one testament [statement of faith, stories of the people] and that is what they call the Hebrew Bible. They call it the Hebrew Bible because it was originally written in Hebrew and the first five books of the Hebrew Bible are collectively called the Torah.

The Hebrew Bible is also called the Tanak [Tanach] which is an acronym for: T=Torah the Law N=Neviim or stories of the PROPHETS and K=Ketuviim, writings, anything that was not law or a story about a prophet was the writings, such as Esther, Ruth, Proverbs, Psalms and many others. For ancient Judaism, the Torah was the basis of sacred scripture: Torah also means the LAW; the basis for the LAW is the Ten Commandments that God gave Moses on Mt. Sinai.

Judaism is based on the assumption that there is a covenant or contract between ONE God and the Jewish people, they are His chosen people according to something called the Abrahamic Covenant or Covenant between God and a man called Abraham. The Hebrew Bible or Old Testament to Christians, mentions God appearing to or talking with Abraham and other patriarchs. It also describes the ways in which He destroys the enemies of the Jewish people and punishes them when they are disobedient. Prophets, or men who represented the  voice of ancient Israel often denounced the wicked ways of all classes of people, including kings, and called on them to comply with the terms of God's covenants. The prophets also offered hope in troubled times, to all of the Jewish people. Islam too, sees Abraham as a great prophet.

Abram was born in Ur of the Chaldees part of ancient Mesopotamia. His father was named Terah. He was born into a land and a household of polytheistic, idol worshippers. As an adult, he married his half sister, Sarai. They moved to a town called Haran. Later in life Abram heard a voice telling him to gather all that he owned, people, things, everything and leave the city and follow the voice. The voice was the voice of God. God later named Abram, Abraham and Sarai, Sarah. God made a COVENANT or Contract with Abraham.

What we know as the Old Testament and what the Jewish people call the Hebrew Bible, is a series of 5 covenants: 1. Is between God and Adam and Eve 2. Is between God and Noah 3. Is between God and Abraham [this is the one we are interested in for Judaism] 4. Is between God and Moses 5. Is between God and David [Jews feel that this covenant has yet to be fulfilled because one of its' provisions is that the Jewish Messiah would come from the House of David and they are still waiting for their Messiah.]

The Abrahamic Covenant had several provisions or conditions, for this class you are only responsible for the following: 1. God told Abraham that if he followed and obeyed that Abraham would be the father of many nations. 2. God told Abraham that He would give him land, Promised Land, land of milk and honey [land that was rich in natural resources…one only has to look at the history of Israel and know how that is true]. It would be their land forever, until the end of time. 3. God gave a MITZVAH, or commandment: Abraham' s people would be God's chosen people and God would give them a that would set them apart and show the world that they were His chosen ones. It was circumcision. The story of Abraham's circumcision can be found in Genesis 17.

Abraham and Sarah did not have a child soon. By tradition, if one could not conceive, then they could give their slave [handmaiden] to their husband with the purpose of having children and those children then would be considered the wive's children. So, Sarah gave her maid, Hagar to Abraham. Hagar conceived right away and the child was male and they named him Ishmael. Some years later, Sarah too had a son and they named him Isaac. Sarah wanted the birthright, or the inheritance of the covenant to go to her son Isaac, rather than to Ishmael [again, by tradition, all inheritance went to the first-born son, in this case the inheritance was the inheritance of the provisions of the Covenant], so she banished Hagar and Ishmael from the community. God found them in the desert and sent them back with the promise that Ishmael would be the first of a great nation, it was the Arab nation.

Isaac became the first of the nation of Israel. It is at this point that we don't see mention of Hagar or Ishmael again. The birthright/inheritance and Jewish nation/religion will now come through Abraham and Sarah's son, Isaac. So, the covenant and its' provisions would go through the line of Isaac, not Ishmael. Isaac married Rebekkah and they had twin sons named Esau and Jacob. As they got older, Rebekkah and Jacob plotted to fool Isaac and tricked him into giving the birthright or inheritance to Jacob rather than Esau.

Jacob fled to his Uncle Laban's, near Haran [which is where Abraham and Sarah started out]. Jacob fell in love with Laban's daughter Rachael. Laban had another, older daughter, Leah. Jacob asked for Rachael's hand in marriage. Laban told him he would allow him to marry Rachael if he would work for Laban for 7 years. Jacob toiled for 7 yrs. and the wedding took place. Laban had fooled him, however and married him to Leah, since she was older. You might wonder how did Jacob NOT know of this trickery! Even today, in the Middle East, most brides are completely covered except for their eyes at their wedding ceremony and we suspect that is how Leah was presented to Jacob at the wedding. Just as Jacob had tricked his brother Esau and won the birthright/inheritance of the covenantal provisions, now it is Jacob who is tricked. Jacob was furious, but Laban was cool and he told Jacob that if he still wanted to marry Rachel that he had to work another 7 years. Jacob worked those 7 years.

So, Jacob was married to sisters, Leah and Rachael. Leah gave him children right away, but Rachael had a difficult time conceiving. Like their ancestor Sarah, both girls at some point sent their slaves, Bilhah and Zilpah to Jacob so that more children could be born. Between Leah, Rachael and their maids, Jacob had 12 sons. Those twelve sons became known as the Twelve Tribes of Israel and they were the foundation of the Jewish Nation.

It is at this point that we no longer need to follow the bloodline of Abraham because it is the 12 tribes that are the backbone and establishment of the Jewish Nation. Rachael had been [according to the Biblical account], Jacob's favored wife. She had two sons with Jacob. Her oldest son was named, Joseph and her youngest was Benjamin. Rachel died giving birth to Benjamin. The other sons [of Leah, Bilhah, and Zilpah] were jealous of Rachael's two boys. If Rachael was Jacob's favored wife, then those two boys were his favored sons as well. Jacob even made his son Joseph a coat of many colors and presented it to him, cementing in the other son's minds that their father loved Joseph more than them.

As the boys grew, they conspired to rid themselves of Joseph and they plotted and succeeded in selling Joseph to traveling merchants who took him to Egypt as a slave. While in Egypt, Joseph ended up in prison where it was discovered that he had the ability to interpret people's dreams. The Pharaoh [king of Egypt], had at that time, been experiencing a recurring dream and none of his staff of fortunetellers, seers, etc. could tell him what it meant. Then someone told him of a man named Joseph who was in prison who could interpret dreams. Joseph was summoned and he told the Pharaoh that his dream mean that there was a famine coming to the land. There would be seven years of plenty and then seven years of famine where many would die if something was not done. Joseph then presented a plan to store grain, food, and other survival items. Sure enough, the famine hit and only the Egyptians were prepared! Because of this, Joseph was made second in command to Pharaoh of all of the Egyptian empire. He married an Egyptian princess named Asenath and they had two sons together, Manasseh and Ephraim. [all of this story can be found in Genesis, first book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament].

By now Joseph's father Jacob [who God has renamed Israel], and the rest of the family are in the Promised Land [land from the Abrahamic Covenant] and they are starving from the famine. Jacob sends all of his sons except Benjamin to Egypt to beg for food. None of them have any idea that Joseph lives there and that he will be their savior. The boys had told their father that they had lost Joseph while out hunting and that they had found his coat. They had presented Jacob with the coat of many colors that they had drenched in animal blood to convince their father that Joseph must be dead. So for all of those years [possible 20-30] Jacob thought his son was dead and his brothers had no idea what had happened to Joseph. But when they traveled to Egypt for their father, it was Joseph that they were to meet. They did not recognize their brother [probably because he looked like an Egyptian, with the dark eye liner makeup and hair pieces, etc., plus several decades had passed], but Joseph recognized his brothers. In the end, Joseph forgave all of them telling them that it was God's will for him to be sent to Egypt for this time to save the people. After his death, the Hebrews [Jews] became slaves again. They were worked relentlessly and it was into this atmosphere that the fourth covenant comes into play. The covenant between God and a man named Moses. The story of Moses takes us out of Genesis and into the second book of the Hebrew Bible [Old Testament], Exodus.

Recap for Lecture #1The beginning of Judaism, Christianity and Islam owe the birth of their people and religion to the act of obedience of one man, Abraham. God called, Abraham obeyed. Judaism teaches that the ONE god of Judaism is a god of creation and a god that wants to be involved in the lives of His creations, human beings.

Because of this desire for involvement, the Hebrew Bible recounts the relationship of God through five covenants or contracts with His human children.] Covenant between God and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden; 2] Covenant between God and Noah; 3] Covenant between God and Abraham; 4] Covenant between God and Moses; 5] Covenant between God and David. Adam and Eve broke their contract with God in the Garden of Eden when they broke the rules and ate from the Forbidden Tree. God exiled them from the Garden and eventually God became so disgusted with the degradation of humanity that he decided to start over again. He found a new partner to make a contract with, Noah. God told Noah to build an Ark and collect animals. God had decided that Noah was the only righteous man alive. Noah obeyed and God destroyed earth and everything/everyone in it with a flood. Only Noah, his family and animals survived and as they came out of the Ark after the flood, they were given the mandate to repopulate the earth. Noah had three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. It is believed that one later descendant of Shem was the principal in the third covenant with God, the Abrahamic Covenant. The covenant/contract between God and Abraham is considered pivotal to the Jews. It is a covenant that is considered ETERNAL….the Promised Land is theirs FOREVER and perhaps that is why it has historically been fought over constantly. The next contract was with a man named Moses who God chose to liberate His people from Egyptian slavery. One of the 12 sons of Jacob, Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers and he was taken to Egypt. Though he became a great man in Egyptian history, it is how the Hebrew or Jewish people/nation ended up in slavery in Egypt. Moses is called upon to take them out and lead them back to their Promised Land. The last covenant is with David, the 2 nd King of Israel. It is the ONLY covenant that is considered Unfulfilled [it has not happened yet for the Jews]. In it, this covenant says that someday a Messiah/Savior will come to save the people and that savior will come from the bloodline of David].

As we will see, later on that Messiah or savior is thought by many to be Jesus of Nazareth…but for the Jewish Nation, Messiah has not yet come and they are still awaiting that occurrence. The Abrahamic Covenant is the most important in studying the birth of Judaism because it establishes the nation and the eventual religion. It establishes the persons who will be the backbone of the people that God calls His chosen and He gives them laws [10 commandments] to follow. It will give rise to the building of a Temple a place of worship and community for the Jewish people.

Judaism Lecture #2Moses was born into a Hebrew slave home in Egypt. Pharaoh had decreed that all male children under the age of 2 were to be killed. Moses' mother put him into a basket and put it in the Nile River. His sister Miriam watched as Pharaoh's sister [ or some female in the palace that was related to the Pharaoh] found him and adopted him into the royal household. He got the best education and lived in the palace. As an adult he killed an Egyptian soldier who was abusing a Hebrew slave. He fled and

was not heard from for many decades. He settled in the land of Midian [it is near the tip of modern day Jordan].

There Moses meets and marries the daughter of a man named Jethro. Her name was Zipporah and she and Moses lived a quiet and we presume a happy life until one day, Moses noticed a strange bush that was burning and the bush spoke to him. It was not actually the bush that spoke to him, rather it was the voice of God speaking from the bush. Moses experienced a theophany! [check terminology lists]. God told Moses that the plight of the Hebrew people had become unbearable in Egypt, God called upon Moses and told him that he must go back to Egypt and get the people out of slavery, to take them into the desert, it was time for them to go the promised land, the land that was part of the covenant with Abraham so many years before. Moses was not so thrilled….he had made a comfortable life for himself with Zipporah and he was getting on in years and he did not want to go traipsing off to Egypt.

God reminded him that he had been saved from death in the Nile, he had been given the best of educations in the royal Egyptian household…i n other words, God had prepared him for this time and he must go! Moses went to Egypt, but Pharaoh did not want to let the people go.

God brought about a series of plagues upon the land. Finally, the evening before the last plague, God told Moses to tell the Hebrew people to stay in the for the night. They were to paint their door frames with the blood of a lamb so that the Angel of Death would PASSOVER them and they would not die, and they were to stay in their homes NO MATTER what they heard. That last plague claimed the life of Pharaoh's son and Pharaoh had had enough and he told Moses to take the people and get out of Egypt.

The Hebrews had to leave in a hurry before Pharaoh changed his mind. They were in such a rush that they had no time for their daily bread to rise, so they had to take flat, unleavened bread with them. [leavening is an agent that causes bread to rise…today we use things like yeast or baking powder to allow rising]. From this short period of time came not only a remembrance that has been passed down from generation to generation in Jewish families, but an example of Sacred Time [recoverable time, circular time]…PASSOVER is recovered each year to remind the people that they were passed over from death and taken out of slavery by their God. Also, to celebrate Passover, part of their Seder [Passover] meal is matza [unleavened, flat bread] in remembrance of the time that they did not have time for their bread to rise. [see your terminology list from the first class on sacred time].

The people fled and during the race out of Egypt, Pharaoh indeed changed his mind about letting the people go and he sent his army to bring them back. As the Hebrews were about to cross a body of water, the army neared. God miraculously parted the water, allowing the people to cross over on dry land and then closing it and drowning the Egyptian army. The Hebrews then wandered in the desert for 40 yrs. During that time, Moses met with God on Mt. Sinai and received the 10 commandments. They carried them in the desert in what they called the Ark of the Covenant and set it up in a tabernacle [series of tenting] every evening. [this story can be found in the second book of the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible, called Exodus]. This entire group was divided into 12 tribes or groups that represented the original 12 tribes of Israel. At the end of the 40 yrs. as they were on the outskirts of the Promised Land, Moses was allowed to view the land, but not allowed to enter. Today Mt. Nebo, near modern day Jordan is a tourist attraction where Moses viewed the Promised Land and also where he died. Joshua took the people on into the land. The land was divided among the 12 tribes. God called upon Samuel a prophet to anoint the first King of Israel, King Saul.

Samuel also anointed the second king, David. David was, like Saul a military man. As mentioned earlier, the land was divided into 12 tribes. The northern portion of land was the tribe of Israel and the southern was tribe of Judah. King David made his capital in the middle of these two sections of land. He named it Jerusalem [another name is the City of David]. ---in actuality, David was at first made king of Judah only [southern portion of the land and Saul's son Ishbosheth was made king of Israel by Saul's army commander Abner…b ut Ishbosheth was never ANNOINTED by one of God's prophets and

he reigned for only a few years then David became king of all of Israel …most never saw Ishbosheth as a legitimate king therefore, most say that David was 2 nd king after Saul…this story is found in II Samuel in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament.

It was David's desire to build a great Temple to house the people's most sacred possession, the Ark of the Covenant which housed the Ten Commandments, but it was his son Solomon who built it in 957 BCE. He became the king of Israel and he was anointed by the prophet Nathan. Solomon's Temple was enormous and fantastic. It was also destroyed in 586 BCE by the Babylonians and the people were scattered [sent out of Jerusalem, called DIASPORA] to Babylonia [modern day Iraq].

Judaism Recap Lecture #2This week we met a man named Moses who would become the Deliverer and Law Giver of Judaism. Exodus opens with the descendants of Abraham, crying out for deliverance from their enslavement by the Egyptians.

The key figure in this drama of salvation is Moses. When the Israelites fled Egypt, lead by Moses, they were pursued by the Pharaoh [king of Egypt] who had changed his mind about their release. The waters of the Sea of Reeds or Red Sea were parted b y God and the people crossed over on dry land. When the Egyptians attempted to follow, the waters swallowed them and they drowned.

This event, along with the Passover became part of Jewish history…a n act in which God intervened to deliver his chosen people because He is a God who wants to be an active participant in the lives of His creations [concept repeated in Christianity and Islam]. At Mt. Sinai, God gave Moses the 10 Commandments, laws to govern His chosen ones.

Basically the commandments stress obedience and loyalty to God and decent behavior toward members of the community. Exodus, Leviticus and portions of Numbers and Deuteronomy elaborate codes of that law. THE TEMPLE: Solomon, King David's son became king after his father, David and it was Solomon who built the first Temple. This glorious structure was destroyed by the Babylonians and the people were taken out of their Promised Land into what is today, Iraq. There they lived, worked and raised families until Cyrus the Great of Persia [modern-day Iran], freed them and they returned to their land to rebuild the Temple, the second Temple.

In short, Judaism at its birth was based on the story of obedience by Abraham to leave his hometown and follow the voice that he heard and recognized as God's. From that act of obedience, Judaism, Christianity and eventually Islam would be born.

The Jewish people believe that they are God's chosen people by virtue of the Abrahamic Covenant. They are also, arguably one of the most persecuted people in history. Judaism is hard to define, but is defined simultaneously as religion, culture, race, nation. I hope you are enjoying our journey through Judaism in preparation for its offspring, Christianity.

Abraham's Family TreeAbraham'sFamilyTree.doc 

Class, for your convenience, attached above is Abraham's Family Tree up to the establishment of the 12 tribes of Israel [also known as 12 sons of Israel (Jacob).  Please read the birthright promises side rather than the sceptre promises side.

Mrs. S