By: Becky Theobald And Kayla Davis

 It is not clear of how Judaism was practiced but many believe that Orthodox practices are closest to the original practices.  Orthodox Jews believe in a strict interpretation of the Torah both written and oral and believe it still apply to today.  Follow Kosher Dietary Laws  Daily Prayers and Ablutions (washing)  Sexually Purity  Extreme study of the Torah  Gender Segregation in the Synagogue

 God is one: during a service the Torah is lifted while the congregation says “ This is the Law which Moses set before the children of Israel”, then Deuteronomy 6:4 is read “ Hear O Israel : the Lord our God, the Lord is One.”  To God alone my one offer prayer and People can atone for sins. The scripture for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (The Days of Awe) says that prayer to God, repentance and dutiful giving of charity atone for sin.

 God chose the Jewish people to be in a unique covenant with God. In Genesis chapter 9: 8 ‘ God says “ I am establishing my covenant with you and your descendents after you and every living creature.”’

 After the Maccabean revolt Judaism broke off into three sects or “movements”.  The Essenes: devoted to strict discipline, mystical and ascetic group, it is believed that this group influenced Christianity.  The Sadducees: They were religiously conservative but socially liberal. The movement was made up of the priests and the aristocrats of Jewish society.

 The believed in the written torah and not the oral, they evolved from the Greek Hellenistic elements of Judaism and the adopted the Greek culture. The Temple and its sacrificial services were at the center of their worship.  The Pharisees: believed in both the written and oral torah. They felt both were equally binding and left open to interpretation by the rabbis, people with sufficient education to make such decisions.

 They also believed in education for all and devoted themselves to studying the torah.  After Judea was conquered by Rome a fourth group appeared: the Zealots.  The Zealots: were not a religious nationalistic movement. They favored war against Rome, and believed that death was preferable to being under Roman control. The Pharisaic school of thought is the only one that survived the destruction of the Temple during their “war” with Rome.

 After the destruction of the Temple, there was no large-scale, organized difference of opinion within Judaism.  It was basically the same as what we now know as Orthodox Judaism.  There were some differences in practices and customs between the Ashkenazic Jews of Eastern Europe and the Sephardic Jews of Spain and the Middle East, but these differences were not significant.

 With the split between the Essenes, Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots it caused different opinions on outside forces. These opinions caused tension with Rome that sparked a war with the Zealots. Because of this war a main temple that was used by all four groups was destroyed.  Also with the split the original practices of judasim were lost and it can only be assumed what these practices were, how the were done, and when the were used.

 Today within the United States there are sects of Judaism.  Reform : Racially and culturally oriented, little consensus of religious or doctorial belief, “liberal”.  Conservative: put more emphasis on the historic and religious aspects of Judaism, does not hold to the importance of a Jewish political state.  Orthodox : Up hold most of the traditional dietary and ceremonial laws of Judaism, “Traditionalist

 If Abraham were to look at Judaism today he may recognize the practices of orthodox sect because this sect’s practices are “supposed” to be the closets to the unknown original practices. But if Abraham were to look at the other sects like the Reform and Conservative he probably would not recognize because they are liberal in their views and practices, the Abraham would have been.

 Rich, Tracey. "Table of Contents." Judaism 101. N.p., Web. 12 Nov  Robinson, B.A. "Judaism: Beliefs, practices,." religioustolerance.org. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance, 02-JAN Web. 12 Nov  Wenner, Sara. "Basic Beliefs of Judaism." MNSU. Minnesota State University Mankota, Web. 12 Nov < m/beliefs