2. JUDAISM Ch 1 sec 3

3. I. The Ancient Israelites A. The Israelites started from a man named Abraham, who lived in Ur in Mesopotamia. B. He moved to Canaan and his family grew there until a famine forced them to Egypt.

4. I. The Ancient Israelites C. They became slaves of the Egyptians until Moses led them out of Egypt back to Canaan. D. Eventually they set up a kingdom, headed by David, that united the tribes of Israel.

5. I. The Ancient Israelites E. The kingdom split under David’s grandson into Israel, the 10 northern tribes, and Judah, the 2 southern tribes. F. Israel was conquered by Assyria and its people were carried into captivity. G. Judah was conquered by Babylon and its people were carried into captivity.

6. I. The Ancient Israelites H. The Persians conquered the Babylonians, and then allowed the Jews to go back to Judea. I. They stayed there until the Romans drove them out after they rebelled.

7. II. Israel’s Religion A. Judaism is a monotheistic religion, meaning that they only believed in one god. B. Practically all of the cultures around them practiced polytheism.

8. II. Israel’s Religion C. The Israelites believed that God had made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. D. God promised to protect them and to give them a homeland of their own. They had to obey God and His commandments.

9. II. Israel’s Religion E. The Torah is the written law of God given to the Israelites. F. It consists of the first 5 books of the Hebrew bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy.

10. II. Israel’s Religion G. The Torah describes the history of the Jewish people, as well as the laws and commandments of God for the Jewish people. H. It also includes the oral traditions and commentaries on the five books.

11. III. Law and Morality A. For the Jews, there is a strong link between the law and morality. B. The Ten Commandments are moral codes for the people to follow. C. The first four deal with people’s relationship with God. D. The next six deal with people’s relationship with each other.

12. III. Law and Morality E. The Ten Commandments were specifically for the Jews to follow. There were also 7 universal laws that all people were to follow. F. The Jews had freedom under the law to do what they wanted, but they had to accept the consequences.

13. III. Law and Morality G. God sent prophets to warn the Jews and to remind them of their duty to obey the laws. H. Also, people were viewed as being equal in the eyes of God, so they should be equal under the law as well. I. Rulers were not above the law, but bound by it also.

14. In your notebooks