Judaism is the world’s oldest monotheistic religion dating back 4000 years. The word judaism is derived from the tribe of judas. The father of judaism is the bibllicalavram (abraham) who recognizes the one god
While rejecting the idolatry, which had been practiced, by his father and the country . A central tenet of judaism is individuals must make the first move in matters spiritual by themselves, but once they have initiated such change then god responds and furthers their endeavours . With jews worldwide population of just about 12 million, assimilation become a major issue for judaism.
The greatest jewish philosopher, maimonides who integrated rabbinical thought with aristotelian logic, wrote a highly influential work, codifying jewish law, called the mishnehtorah . The torah (the first five books of the hebrew bible) is believed to be god’s revelation to the jewish people. Their religious history largely consists of a progressive unfolding of the ways of the torah which presents a moral code, the essence of which is captured in the ten commandments and an idealized way of life intended to bring holiness in the world.
Acentral paradox in judaism is that god is believed to be both unknowable in his infinite essence and yet recognizable as a personal presence in our lives . He may also be known through the events of history . The core beliefs of judaisminclide four major areas i. E. The nature of god , the relationship of god to human kind , the centrality of torah study and the importance of society. All human beings possess divinity in the form of soul . Anything that we do must be governed by the code of conduct and the ideals of life to bring holiness within self and for realization of god.
Ideally , a period of meditation to erase distracting thoughts from the minds should precede prayer, which is supposed to be “the service of the heart”. This is possible only through concentration on inner intent. The prayer, the words of which are a matter of the tongue, becomes reverent only when it is offered from the heart, as the meaning is a matter of the heart alone.
Message
The essence of judaism is summarized by hillel who said-“that which is hateful to you , do not do for your fellow humans”.