Judaism<br>&nbsp;

Judaism is the religion Jewish people, it is the oldest monotheistic religion but differs from the others because the authority is not attributable to any person, but to the Scriptures and traditions. According to Judaism, God is one and only, omnipotent, generous, has no body and the only one to be glorified as the creator and ruler of the universe. According to Jewish belief, God made a covenant with the Jewish people and revealed His laws, the first five books have been revealed to Moses. These books are never changed or supplemented. As a whole, the Jews believe that the actions and behavior of a person are of fundamental importance because beliefs are the result of acts. The Judaism affirms the inherent goodness of the world and human beings as God's creation; it does not accept that people have inherited the sin of Adam and Eve. The Jews can consecrate their lives through the execution of the " Mitzvah", the Divine Commandments. The 613 commandments in Leviticus and other books regulate the rules of Judaism.


The center of worship of ancient Judaism was the temple of Solomon that was rebuilt in Jerusalem in -995. The first Solomon's Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians in -587 and rebuilt in -516 after the decree of Cyrus the Great, who allowed the Jews to return to their city. In -322 Alexander the Great conquered Jerusalem and Judea became a province of the Macedonian Empire. In the following years the area was dominated by the successors of Alexander (Ptolemies and Seleucids), in -168 Seleucid king turned the temple of Jerusalem to the temple of Olympian Zeus banning Jewish customs. One of the Jewish tribes, the Maccabees organized an uprising and in -164 occupied Jerusalem; they created a new Jewish state and restored the temple of Solomon. There were many Jewish groups in -150, with the Essenes, Pharisees and Sadducees being the most important. In -76 broke out a conflict for the throne of Judea’s between two siblings and a civil war between Saddoceans and Pharisees. The Roman General Pompey and the -63 conquered Jerusalem, the Romans founded the Roman province of Judea.


In 26 AD Roman Pontius was appointed as a Roman ruler, while in the northern province of Galilee appeared a Jewish ascetic and preacher with the name John the Baptist; he preached the coming of the Divine Judgment, and baptized to the Jordan River those who were ready to repent; among them, was Jesus from Nazareth.

Back to the Story of Humankind