2. About 3500 years old, Judaism is the mother religion of Christianity and Islam. Jews believe they were chosen by God to practice and teach monotheism: the chosen people. Monotheism: belief in and worship of only one god.

3. Abraham was the father of the Hebrew people, and Moses was the law-giver. The Law refers to the Torah: the commandments of God to His chosen people.

4. The Torah was originally the Ten Commandments and now includes the Hebrew Bible (the Old Testament). The Torah also includes the Talmud, a very complex philosophical text to interpret law and discuss all fields of knowledge.

5. The Law has 613 mitzvoth or commandments to guide the Jew through life. At age 13 boys participate in bar mitzvah. In some types girls celebrate bat mitzvah. Various prayers are to be recited morning, afternoon, or evening.

6. Three divisions of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. Many Jews “keep kosher,” or only eat certain foods prepared in certain ways. This would be mandatory for Orthodox Jews and voluntary for Reform.

7. The rabbi is the spiritual leader and counsels the congregation on law and ritual. The rabbi in the picture is wearing the traditional white prayer cloth.

8. Destruction of Solomon’s temple at Jerusalem in 586 BC caused the Jewish people to be scattered: Diaspora. Western or wailing wall of Solomon’s temple.

9. Jews did not have a homeland again until Israel was founded in the Holy Land in 1948.

10. Days vary because the Jewish calendar varies from the Christian one. The Sabbath (holy day) commemorates Creation - sundown Friday to sundown Sat.

11. Yom Kippur (Sept. 10) - Day of Atonement Hanukah/Chanukah - Festival of Lights - celebrates oil that lasted 8 days. Passover (March 15-22) commemorates the Exodus from Egypt over 3,000 years ago. Rosh Hashanah (New Year - early Sept.) - mourning the fate of the Jews. dreidel

12. Hitler blamed Germany’s problems on the Jews and persecuted them during WWII. The Holocaust claimed the lives of around 6 million Jews in concentration camps. There are only about 15 million Jews in the world - it is not a missionary religion.