Religion and Theology

Judaism is a religion mostly practiced by the Jewish people and has its origins from the Hebrew bible. The Hebrew bible is similar to the Christian bible in as far as the Old Testament is concerned, in fact, The bible has all the content that the Old Testament in the Christian bible has, but they differ in the naming and arrangement of the various books.  Given similarity between the two books in terms of content, it is easy to note that one similarity between the Christian and Hebrew religion is that they are both Abrahamic meaning that its followers descended or are believed to have descended from Abraham.

Followers of Judaism believe in the existence of one God (monotheists), and that this God is the one that created the universe and each of them has a chance of having a personal relationship with him. They see Gods favor in everything that they do and to thank God for that favor they obey Gods laws and always try to live their lives as holy as possible. By so doing, the followers hope to develop a personal relationship with their God and keep him happy.

History of sacred texts
The Hebrew religion is rich in sacred texts. Sacred texts are those writings that were written by the early prophets to convey messages from God. These texts can be considered as the source of most of the mainstream religions because they are usually cited by those who practice the religion as a way of proving certain facts. The most important sacred text in the Hebrew religion is the Tanakh otherwise known as the Hebrew bible. This is a collection of books written by the earlier prophets under the inspiration of God. The book is a collection of 39 books, and has the same content as the Old Testament but cannot be termed as such in the context of Judaism because the term means acceptance of the new testament.

Another important book, but similar to the Tanakh is the Torah. This book contains the first five books of the Tanakh. These books have the account of the creation of the world, Gods special call to Abraham and Moses activities. It is regarded as the most important book in the synagogue (Hebrew temple) and has been read publicly since 450 BCE. An explanation of the Torah structures is found in another text known as The Talmund. The book is believed to have been revealed to Moses alongside the Torah but the message was kept orally till the years between 2nd century and 5th century CE, the time it was written down. Due to the fact that it was meant to explain the Torah, the document is also known as Oral Torah

Midrash is another book that has been compiled from sermons. It is a collection of sermons (known as drash in Hebrew) that were compiled between the fourth and the sixth centuries. In line with the trend of teachings of those days, the book has a lot of stories, parables and creative insights. Judaism also has an ancient text known as responsa, which was written to respond to any questions regarding Jewish law. The book was compiled around the middle ages and continues to be updated even today. The book is dynamic and is designed to respond to all matters that may arise in the modern day. The modern responsa is written in response to modern issues such as artificial insemination and cosmetic surgery. The mystical side of the Hebrew God is dealt with in a collection of text known as Zohar. Zohar was written towards the end of the 13th century by Spanish. The texts climax in terms of popularity was in 1492 when Jews were expelled from Spain.

Judaism considers the Ten Commandments as the code that governs their relationship with God and fellow human beings. They believe that by accepting them in Mt. Sinai they committed themselves to that code of conduct and therefore to the Judaism followers, these commandments form a very important pillar in their relationship with God. According to them, the commandments are divided in to two, the first five and the second five. They believe the first five commandments were written on the left side of the tablet and are concerned with the relationship between man and God. The second five commandments were written on the right side of the tablet and govern mans relationships with others.

Jerusalem
Judaism considers Jerusalem as the holiest city, same as the Christians and the Muslims. This coincidence has led to Jerusalem being a battlefield of many religion inspired battles. The followers of Judaism believe that the twelve tribes of Israel were first united from Jerusalem some three thousand years ago. The union happened during King Davids reign. King David made Jerusalem the capital of Israel and remained so for the next one thousand years. The followers of Judaism see Jerusalem as the source of Israel and have so much attachment to the city that they cannot imagine Israels existence without Jerusalem. This combines two pertinent issues that are dear to Judaism. They always see the state of Israel as their homeland, yet they do not consider Israel existent without Jerusalem.

Different sects of Judaism
Judaism has three sects namely, reformed, conservative and orthodox. The reformed sect started in the 19th century in Europe. This sect believes that both written and oral laws are products of human hands but consider the key pillars of Judaism important to the Jewish people. They believe in equality between the sexes and lay emphasis on the learning, obligation and duty. The orthodox sect consists of followers who are intent on keeping the Torah in its entirety. They see the Torah as the only correct teaching and are therefore reluctant to amend any sections of it. This sect can be termed as the extremist in terms of Judaism. The conservative sect seeks to walk the middle line between the extremism of the orthodox sect and the modernism of the reformed sect. This sect emerged in the 1840s after a group of followers broke away from the reformed group, which they had considered as diluting the Judaism beliefs in excess. They ordained the first woman rabbi in 1985 and continue to strike a balance between modernity and religion. They observe dietary laws and the Sabbath as well, something that demonstrates their commitment to Torah teachings.

Holocaust
From time immemorial, Jews have experienced persecution. However, none of the persecutions came close to one that happened during the period of the Second World War. This persecution was driven by the German leader known as Adolf Hitler. He considered Jews as inferior and the source of problems in Germany and Europe as a whole. He therefore deployed massive state machinery to get rid of the Jews. During the period, an estimated 6 million Jews were killed in what came to be known as the Holocaust.

Sacred practices
Judaism has code of sacred practices that its followers follow to align themselves with the will of their God. The first practice is the observation of halakhah, which governs both the religious and daily life of a Jew. This code dictates how one dresses, what he eats and how to help the poor. Observance of this is considered gratitude to God. Worship in a synagogue is also another paramount sacred practice. There is guidance as to how worship and prayer should be observed in the synagogue. In addition to this, there is the kashrut, which is also known as the Jewish dietary law.

Holidays and Judaism today
The Jews have three important holidays, Sabbath, the two holy Days (Hashanah and Yom Kippur) and the three pilgrimage festival. During these holidays, it is forbidden for one to work.
Today, Jews are distributed world over with Israel and the US holding over 80 of the world Jewish population. The religion has seen a significant reduction of those who practice extremist Judaism, with a majority now fusing their religion with modernity.