1. Chapter 8 – The Hebrews and Judaism
Section Notes
Video
The Early Hebrews
Jewish Beliefs and Texts
Judaism over the Centuries
Judaism throughout the World
Maps
Possible Routes of Abraham and Moses
Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, c. 920 BC
The Dead Sea Scrolls
Jewish Migration after AD 70
Assessment Map
History Close-up
Destruction of the Second Temple
Quick Facts
Chapter 8 Visual Summary
Images
Moses and the Golden Calf
The Dead Sea Scrolls
The Tower of Babel

2. The Early Hebrews The Big Idea
6.3.3
6.3.4
The Big Idea
Originally desert nomads, the Hebrews established a great kingdom called Israel.
Main Ideas
Abraham and Moses led the Hebrews to Canaan and to a new religion.
Strong kings united the Israelites to fight off invaders.
Invaders conquered and ruled the Hebrews after their kingdom broke apart.
Some women in Hebrew society made great contributions to their history.

3. Main Idea 1: Abraham and Moses led the Hebrews to Canaan and to a new religion.
Accounts written by Hebrew scribes describe the Hebrews' early history and the laws of their religion.
The Hebrew Bible traces the Hebrews back to Abraham, who was told by God to settle in Mesopotamia.
After a famine struck Canaan, the Hebrews ended up in Egypt and lived well, causing the pharaoh concern.

4. The Exodus
The pharaoh of Egypt made the Hebrews slaves to stop them from taking over Egypt.
A leader named Moses demanded that the pharaoh free his people.
He refused, and plagues occurred, frightening the pharaoh.
His people were released, so they began their Exodus out of Egypt.
God then gave Moses the Ten Commandments by which to live.
They included worshipping only God and valuing human life.
The Hebrews reached Canaan and settled there in small communities, as the Israelites.

5. Main Idea 2: Strong kings united the Israelites to fight off invaders.
The new threat to the Israelites came from the Philistines.
The Israelites united under Saul, who became the first king of Israel.
The Israelites wanted a single ruler who could lead them in battle.
David became king after Saul. He won many wars.
Solomon became king next, and expanded the kingdom and trade.
He made allies with nearby kingdoms, including Egypt and Phoenicia. Trade with them made Israel very rich.
With the riches that came from this, he built a temple to God in Jerusalem.

6. Main Idea 3: Invaders conquered and ruled the Hebrews after their kingdom broke apart.
After Solomon’s death, revolts broke out over who should be king.
This split Israel into two kingdoms, called Israel and Judah. The people of Judah became known as the Jews.
Both were conquered, and Judah fell to the Chaldeans.

7. Scattering and Conquest
The Jews went through a period of enslavement called the Babylonian Captivity.
The Persians took over and allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem. Some did not return, however, and settled in other parts of the Persian Empire.
Scholars call the scattering of the Jews outside Israel and Judah the Diaspora.
Although Jewish leaders added to the Second Temple under Roman rule, life was difficult.
Heavy taxes were a burden. The Romans were brutal masters with no respect for the Jewish religion or way of life.
Roman rulers appointed the leaders of the Temple. This was more than the Jews could bear.

8. Main Idea 4: Some women in Hebrew society made great contributions to their history.
Hebrew government and society was governed by men. Women had few rights.
They had to obey their fathers and husbands. They couldn’t choose their own husbands.
A woman could not inherit property unless she had no brothers.
Some of them, however, such as Queen Esther, the judge Deborah, and Miriam (the sister of Moses) made great contributions to society.
Some women, such as Ruth and Naomi, were seen as examples of how women should behave. Ruth was devoted to her mother-in-law.

9. Jewish Beliefs and Texts
6.3.1
6.3.2
The Big Idea
The central ideas and laws of Judaism are contained in sacred texts such as the Torah.
Main Ideas
Beliefs in God, education, justice, and obedience anchor Jewish society.
Jewish beliefs are listed in the Torah, the Hebrew Bible, and the Commentaries.
The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal many past Jewish beliefs.
The ideas of Judaism have helped shape later cultures.

10. Main Idea 1: Belief in God, education, justice, and obedience anchor Jewish society.
Belief in one god
Judaism is the world’s oldest and possibly the first monotheistic religion. Monotheism is the belief in only one god.
Belief in education
Teaching children, mostly boys, has always been important to Jewish society.
Belief in justice and righteousness
Jews are expected to be kind and fair in dealing with other people, in a display of justice.
They are also supposed to be righteous and do what is proper.
Belief in obedience and law
They obey moral and religious laws such as the Ten Commandments and Mosaic law.

11. Main Idea 2: Jewish beliefs are listed in the Torah, the Hebrew Bible, and the Commentaries.
This is a collection of five books that make up the most sacred text in Judaism.
Nearly every synagogue has one.
The Hebrew Bible
This is made up of the Torah, the Proverbs, and the Book of Psalms.
It is also made up of eight books that describe the messages of the prophets.
The Commentaries
Because some laws are hard to understand, scholars wrote commentaries to explain them.
They can be found in the Talmud.

12. Main Idea 3: The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal many past Jewish beliefs.
The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in 1947.
It is suspected that they were written between 100 BC and AD 50.
The scrolls included prayers, commentaries, letters, and passages from the Hebrew Bible.

13. Main Idea 4: The ideas of Judaism have helped shape later cultures.
Judaism helped shape the largest religion of Western society today, Christianity, as well as Islam.
Many people still look to the Ten Commandments as a guide and do not work on the weekends, to honor the Sabbath.
People also give to charities, which is largely based on Jewish teachings.

14. Judaism over the Centuries
6.3.5
The Big Idea
Although they were forced out of Israel by the Romans, shared beliefs and customs helped Jews maintain their religion.
Main Ideas
Revolt, defeat, and migration led to great changes in Jewish culture.
Because Jews settled in different parts of the world, two cultural traditions formed.
Jewish traditions and holy days celebrate their history and religion.

15. Main Idea 1: Revolt, defeat, and migration led to great changes in Jewish culture.
The Zealots, a group of people who thought that Jews shouldn’t answer to anyone but God, refused to answer to the Romans and revolted.
During the battles, the Second Temple was destroyed. The Romans finally won in AD 73.
The Romans killed much of the Jewish population as punishment.

16. A Second Revolt
Jews in Jerusalem revolted against the Romans in the 130s.
After winning the second revolt, the Romans declared that any Jew caught in or near the city would be killed. This increased Jewish migration to the Mediterranean region.
Because the Jews no longer had a single temple in which to worship, local synagogues and rabbis became important in guiding their religious lives.

17. Main Idea 2: Because Jews settled in different parts of the world, two cultural traditions formed.
Jewish communities in various parts of the world developed different customs, including language and rituals.
One of the two traditions, Ashkenazim, is made up of Jews who moved to France, Germany, and eastern Europe.
They developed their own language called Yiddish.
Another group of descendants, called the Sephardim, lived in what is now Spain and Portugal.
They mixed with non-Jews, borrowing elements from their culture and producing a golden age of Jewish culture.

18. Main Idea 3: Jewish traditions and holy days celebrate their history and religion.
Hanukkah
This holy day honors the rededication of the Second Temple.
It is celebrated by lighting candles in a menorah.
The eight days represent the amount of time the oil burned during the rededication.
Passover
This is a time for Jews to remember the Exodus.
They eat only flat bread and have a ritual meal called the seder.
High Holy Days
The first two days, Rosh Hashanah, celebrate the beginning of the Jewish new year.
On Yom Kippur, the most holy day, they fast all day and ask God for forgiveness of their sins.

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