The History of Judaism
Judaism is a monotheistic religion, in which a singular god communicates to believers by sending prophets, as well as punishing people for bad actions and rewarding those for doing good. As of 2019, there are around 14.5 million Jews worldwide. But, the question is, how was Judaism founded?
Jewish history begins with a man named Abraham. When God had revealed himself to Abraham, he would become the founder of Judaism.
Abraham’s descendants would later become major figures in Jewish history. His son Isaac and grandson Jacob would eventually grow up to find land and name it Israel, as a result, future generations are labeled as Israelites.
Long after Abraham introduced God to the people of Israel, a man named Moses came to free the Israelites, who had been enslaved in Egypt for hundreds upon hundreds of years before Moses led them out by the word of God. Soon, Moses received a message from God about the “Ten Commandments,” these will later play a huge role in not only Judaism but in Christianity as well.
The Israelites lived in a fair amount of harmony amongst one another for about 800 years until King David ruled Israel in 1000 B.C. King David’s son, Solomon, would build the first holy temple in Jerusalem (called Solomon’s Temple). Solomon’s Temple was a major house of worship for Judaism before it fell apart in 931 B.C. After the fall of the Temple Jerusalem would divide into two different regions.
First Israel; the population accepted Solomon as their king. However, the Kingdom of Judah did not accept Solomon. Later, they would split off from the kingdom to create a new following.
Jewish people in Israel rarely saw peace throughout their lives. This all started with being enslaved in Egypt before Moses had freed them.
The temple built by Solomon would be destroyed by the Babylonians around 587 B.C., the Babylonians would also exile Jews as they came across them.
A second temple, named Herod’s Temple, was built about 70 years after the Babylonians destroyed Solomon’s Temple. Herod’s Temple did not last during the Roman persecution of Jews that occurred in 76 B.C. The Romans destroyed the temple in cold blood.
The destruction of the Herod’s Temple hurt the Jewish faith. The Jews had no house of worship to go to anymore.
An infamous example of Jewish persecution was the Holocaust. The leader of Germany, Adolf Hitler, and his officers organized the Holocaust during WWII. This event killed about 6 million Jews. This event would be known as one of the largest genocides in history. The Holocaust was not the only massacre of the Jewish population. In history, three other large massacres of Jews have occurred.
The Granada Massacre in 1066, this is event occurred when a Muslim army attacked a Jewish palace and killed over 4,000 Jews.
The First Crusade was another large massacre that affected the Jewish community. The war was only between the Christians and Muslim religions, but many Jews were caught in the crossfire as well.
The Spanish Expulsion, also known as the Alhambra Decree, was the third and final large massacre of Jews. The Alhambra Decree stated that everybody in Spain must convert to Christianity, but the Jewish population disagreed heavily. Up to 200,000 Jews were kicked out of Spain, as well as thousands of people dying as they tried to escape Spain and reach safety.
The sad event of the Holocaust led to the formation of the primarily Jewish state today. Throughout the persecution of Jews in Europe, many people fled out of fear of capture and death. The movement of ‘Zionism’ led the Jewish population fleeing to Palestine for safety.
Zionism is derived from the Hebrew word ‘Zion’, meaning Jerusalem and the Greek suffix ‘-ism’, designating something an honor.
Zionism wanted the Jewish people to reclaim their homeland in Jerusalem, where Judaism had been founded many centuries ago. They wanted a reestablishment of identity.
Israel is known to be a highly contested spot as the Jewish, Muslim, and Christian faiths all have areas considered sacred in Jerusalem, some do overlap as well.
Zionism had been steadily growing for centuries, but as the late 19th century was coming to an end, the early 20th century was approaching and anti-semitism was growing just as fast.
One major spark occurred in 1894 when Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish French Army Officer, was falsely accused of treason and put to death. This event caused outrage from the Jewish populations everywhere, they called it discrimination and prejudice.
After World War II, many Jews still lived in Palestine. Palestine was under Great Britain's rule. In 1948, Britain released rule and Israel and gave Israel freedom in being its own state. Disputes over Israel still occur today, these conflicts mostly involve their borders with Palestine.
The Jewish religion has a deep-rooted history of discrimination and perseverance. Judaism’s past will lead the way to many religions, the most common religion is Christianity. Judaism started out with Abraham and the prophecies. Through all the conflicts and torture the Jews have overcome, Judaism continues to be the second most common religions practiced in the U.S., and in the top 10 worldwide.
