Meaning and Definition of Judaism | Concept and What is.

What is Judaism?

Judaism is the oldest monotheistic modern religions, comprising a number of beliefs and practices whose base is located in the Bible Hebrew or Tanakh; also we can say Judaism, a term that has fallen into disuse and dates from about two thousand years before Christ, when Abraham emigrated in direction to Palestine by indication of a God who communicated with him and who claimed to be the only God (because all its ancestors revered and worshiped many gods-false). It was never a single cult, on the contrary, there were many ways of interpreting Judaism and God's will, as is the case today with all the great monotheistic religions or not.

First talk about the origin of the word: "Judah" is one of the twelve sons of Jacob, the biblical Patriarch, giving rise to the tribes of ancient Israel. Today, Judaism is synonymous with Judaism. An ancestor of Abraham called them people who belonged to the people of Israel Hebrew for "Heber" and amounted to "foreign" because for generations they were nomadic.

The Hebrew term was used during the Babylonian exile as the tribes were merged, and the Kingdom of Judah was the last to fall while maintaining its identity. Then it is in Babylon where called Jews for the first time, however the identity of the tribes still remained until the year 79 a.d. when the Romans under the command of Titus destroyed the Kingdom and will lose the historical records that are kept in the temple built by Herod "the great". Without those records, there was no certainty about a tribe belonged such or which people, this ultimately helped establish a sense of belonging to the Jewish nation even during this very long exile.

Abraham descend many Nations and so many interpretations of his legacy. However, Judaism has its main bases in the Torah (part of the Tanakh, which means teaching, lighting or law), the books attributed to Moses that Christians are called the Pentateuch. Beyond the details from these documents and traditions, which have been subject of debate among scholars, by the old tradition, is undeniable that the figure of Moses is that a difference between the superstitions that had before it and the one religion more formal and orderly, Masini de be that marks the transition between being a people of esclavos-nomadas and a nation rooted with its formal structure.

Other writings will come but the core and heart of the Jewish religion is going to be his Torah and the ten commandments that encloses it. There is an oral tradition, that reportedly reaches also Moses, which gives rise to the "Talmud" and an exegesis (impartial interpretation of a text) very complex and wide. The Talmud is a collection of arguments between "rabbis" (teachers), which has two versions: the Jerusalem and Babylon. Although his old no doubt know editorially last dates back to the 5th century of ours was.

Following with the history, eventually will be schisms, first political and later religious to divided the Hebrews and their cult, is itself born of the Jewish identity. For the beginning of the Christian era, there were several streams which interpreted the Mosaic law and trying to make a particular, profit as always occurs in all human structure.

The nation is destroyed by the Roman Empire and the Jews are scattered around the world (the so-called diaspora) and begins a re-interpretation of what it means to be Jewish, and their identity as a nation inserted between other Nations.

Judaism, such as the other great religions influence the cultural, social and even political life of his believers, but in a way more intimate and profound to the point of merge and be a kind of culture and very particular society. Today, as in ancient times, there are several currents within Judaism, but keeping very strong roots both with its law as well as the countries where are born. With the State of Israel was thought to unify all the Jews, but many have felt that their roots in each country are as solid as his Torah. Being the smallest of the monotheistic religions modern is that more influence given to the others: Christianity and islam, which originate from it.

Translated for educational purposes.