Characterizing Judaism

How would you characterize Judaism? Describe its history as a culture and religion in relation to the Roman Empire.

Judaism is the first of the three monotheistic (believing in one God) great world religions. The ancient Hebrews began with Abraham and his covenant with God making them the “chosen people”, and granting them ethnic and territorial identity (the promised land), and offering them divine protection from it’s enemies. The idea of the covenant is fundamental to Judaism. Jews have certain obligations to God, and God has certain obligations to Jews. Genesis 17 states that circumcision is the mark of the covenant between God and Israel on the male Jew. Abraham left Mesopotamia and traveled to the land of Canaan with his followers and this journey was the birth of the Hebrews. Subsequent to Abraham, his son Isaac, and grandson Jacob continued with the covenant.

Judaism is known as a religion as well as a culture, and does not easily fit into a category such as religion, race, ethnicity or culture. That is because Judaism is the religion and culture of the Jewish people. Judaism has a 4000-year-old history, and during that time Jews have experienced slavery, exile, conquest and occupation, and has been influenced by ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian and Hellenic cultures.

Cultural Jews identify to their heritage through customs, language, food and Jewish holidays. There are absolute atheists who still consider themselves Jewish and follow the traditions. Many people who call themselves Jews do not believe in the religion at all; in fact more than half the Jews in Israel call themselves secular. They do not believe in God or the religious beliefs of Judaism. Although they may partake and celebrate some of the holidays, they do not consider these religious activities. The sacred text of Judaism is the Torah, and the Torah states that Jews are a group of people with a common history, a common ancestor, (with the exception of converts) and a sense that we are all connected to each other.

The Jews had lived in Rome in peace under the leadership of Julius Caesar and Augustus. Jews were allowed to worship in their synagogues, and collect taxes from the congregants to sustain the temples. However, when the Romans occupied Israel, the treatment of the Jews became increasingly unreasonable. The Romans had appointed High Priests to the Temples that were working with Roman authority. The Great Revolt began as a result of anti taxation protests and attacks on Jewish citizens. The Jews were victorious in the battle of Beth Horon, however the Romans appointed general Vespasian who invaded Jerusalem and crushed the Jewish rebels. The revolts had a catastrophic impact on the Jews, turning them from a major population in the Eastern Mediterranean into a persecuted and scattered minority.