1. Origins of Judaism Chapter 3, Section 4

2. Lay of the Land Palestine was cultural crossroads due to location Canaan (area of Palestine), ancient home of the Hebrews Between Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea Canaan was land promised to the Hebrews by God, according to Bible

3. Hebrews on the Move The Torah, 1 st 5 books of Bible, contains most of what we know of early Hebrews God chose Abraham as “father” of the Hebrews Torah says that Abraham was shepherd from Ur, & that God commanded him to move his people and flocks to Canaan Most likely happened around 2000 B.C.; his descendents than moved again around 1650 B.C. to Egypt

4. Abraham’s God Yahweh, Abraham and his descendant’s God, travelled with them on their long journey These people were unlike other groups of religions in this region, they prayed to only ONE god, known as Monotheism They proclaimed Yahweh as the one and only God God was not a physical being God and Abraham made a covenant together, stating Yahweh promised to protect the Hebrews while Abraham promised to obey him

5. “Let My People Go” Hebrews originally given places of honor in Egyptian kingdom Over time they were forced into slavery “Exodus” occurred between 1300 – 1200 B.C., this was the Hebrews fleeing Egypt Celebrate this flight every year during Passover Moses is the one who led the Hebrews out of Egypt; considered greatest figure in Jewish history

6. The New Covenent Moses climbed atop Mt. Sinai to pray There he spoke with God and when he descended, he brought with him the Ten Commandments on two stone tablets These became basis for civil and religious laws of Judaism This was form of a new covenant between God and the Hebrew people

7. The Land & People of the Bible Hebrews wandered the Sinai Desert for 40 years Returned to Canaan after Moses’ death Frequently fought with their neighbors over the land Difficult to settle in this area because they were used to a nomadic way of life with simple technologies

8. Hebrew Law & Judges When settled in Canaan, organized 12 tribes which lived in separate territories and were self-governing God would raise up judges in times of emergency, who would unite the tribes and provide leadership One of the most prominent of these judges was a woman, Deborah 10 Commandments were part of a larger code of laws delivered to Moses Code resembled Hammurabi’s Code, but was softened by God’s mercy Prophets then came and later interpreted the code

9. The Prophets Constantly urged Hebrews to stay true to their covenant with God Taught Hebrews had duty both to worship God and to live justly with one another

10. Israel Rises to Power Hebrew’s position in Palestine was constantly threatened by the Philistines Only tribe that remained after exile was the Judah, Hebrews later became called Jews and their religion Judaism Between 1020-922 B.C., united under three able kings, Saul, David and Solomon New kingdom was known as Israel This 100 year period was Israel’s greatest period of power and independence

11. The Three Kings Saul was the 1 st of the three kings Largely chosen because he was successful in driving out the Philistines Bible portrays him as a tragic man Saul was followed by David Son-in-law of Saul Extremely popular leader, united tribes, established Jerusalem as capital Solomon was the last of the three Son of David Most powerful of the 3 kings Beautified Jerusalem Built a great temple, to glorify God; this temple was home of the Ark of the Covenant, contained the tablets of Moses’ s law

12. Division Because of Solomon’s major building ideas, cause the kingdom much financial strain Men also forced into labor once every three months, which cause a lot of problems Jews in north revolted after Solomon’s death; resulting in the kingdom dividing into two; Israel in the north and Judah in the south Next 200 years saw a lot of confusing times for the two divisions

13. Babylonians Take Captives Both Israel and Judah were forced into paying tribute, money paid by a weaker power to a stronger power, to Assyria Assyrians attacked the Jews anyway and the entire northern kingdom fell to the Assyrians by 722 It took another 150 years for the southern kingdom to fall Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, ran Egyptians out of Syria and Palestine, and attacked Jerusalem twice He destroyed Solomon’s temple; any survivors were deported to Babylon where they were held for about 50 years, The Babylonian Captivity Persian king, Cyrus, conquered Babylon and allowed some 40,000 exiles to return to Jerusalem First thing they did was rebuild their great Temple to Yahweh