History of the Hebrews, Hebrew beliefs, and Judaism in today’s world

Israelite Kings After the Hebrews fought for Canaan and won their land back, they lived in small communities Each small community had its own judge, but there was not a king of all Israelites The Philistines, who lived on the Mediterranean Coast, invaded the Israelites’ lands, and the Israelites decided they needed a leader….

Kings of Israel Saul became the first king of Israel After Saul died, David became king of Israel –King David beat the Philistines and also took over many other lands while he was king, including the city of Jerusalem, which he made the new capital of Israel David’s son Solomon became king after David –Solomon built a huge temple to God in Jerusalem, which became a very important place for the Israelites to worship

Invaders take over… After Solomon died, wars started over who would become king. These wars split Israel into two kingdoms called Israel and Judah The people of Judah were called the Jews Both kingdoms were invaded and the kingdoms fell apart and most of the people moved away –The Assyrians conquered Israel, and the Chaldeans conquered Judah (the Jews)

Invaders take over… When the Chaldeans took over the Jews and Jerusalem, they destroyed Solomon’s Temple and made thousands of Jews go back to Babylon and work as slaves –This time was called the Babylonian Captivity When a group of people called the Persians took over the Chaldeans they set the Jews free and let them go back to Jerusalem –When the Jewish people returned to Jerusalem they rebuilt Solomon’s temple and called it the Second Temple.

Jewish beliefs The people who follow the religion of Judaism are called Jews or Jewish people. The Jewish people are monotheistic, which means they only believe in one god The Hebrew name for God is Yahweh

Jewish laws The Ten Commandments were the most important Jewish laws, but the Jews also followed the Mosaic laws, which they believed Yahweh gave to Moses.

Mosaic Laws There are Mosaic laws for just about everything in Jewish life. Some Mosaic laws: –Jews do not work on holidays or on the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week. –According to the Bible, God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day, so the Jews celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday, the seventh day of the week –Jews cannot eat certain foods like shellfish and pork. The foods they eat have to prepared in a certain way called kosher.

Today’s Jews Jews that still strictly follow the Mosaic laws are called Orthodox Jews Jews that do not follow these old laws are called Reform Jews Conservative Jews are in between Orthodox and Reform

Jewish religious writings The Torah is a group of five books that is the most sacred text of Judaism. –The Torah includes the laws of Judaism and the history of the Jews until the death of Moses The Jews worship in a synagogue, a Jewish place of worship. Jewish religious leaders are called rabbis

Jewish holidays and traditions Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday that celebrates the rededication of the Second Temple Passover is a Jewish holiday to celebrate the Exodus The High Holy Days are the two most sacred of all Jewish holidays –Rosh Hashanah celebrates the beginning of the new year on the Jewish calendar –Yom Kippur is the day when Jews ask God to forgive their sins