Judaism is one of the oldest religions known to mankind, with a history that stretches back some 4000 years.
In fact, Judaism is the oldest of what are known as the monotheistic religions, which means that Jewish people have always prayed to only one God who is the eternal ruler and creator of the world and everything in it.
According to the Ancient Jewish Scriptures, sometime before 2000 years BC, the God of the ancient Israelites bequeathed to them the one divine covenant through the auspices of Abraham, before promising him that he would become the father of a great nation. This therefore made Abraham the first Patriarch, of whom there were three, Abraham, Isaac and Joseph.
The story of their lives and the events surrounding them are told in the book of Genesis, which is the first book of the Torah as well as being the first book of the Old Testament of the Bible that is used by the Christian religion.
Judaism is also the 'parent' religion to both Christianity and Islam; although there would definitely be some of the latter faith who would most probably deny this nowadays. Nevertheless, Judaism is an Abrahamic religion -- faiths that hold Abraham to be the Patriarch, as are both Christianity and Islam, so the connection is essentially undeniable.
As you will read in the following pages it is not always easy to define exactly what Judaism is, and to define precisely what Jewish people believe, simply because Judaism is made up of many different movements, all of whom have beliefs that differ from each another in some way.
Nevertheless, as a general observation, most Jewish people believe that, as an ethnic grouping, the Jews were chosen by God to bring His message to the world, hence the belief that the Jews are Gods chosen people.
Despite this fact, the history of Judaism has been one of extreme hardship and persecution throughout the ages, from slavery in Egypt to the Holocaust in Europe thousands of years later. These events form an intrinsic part of the character of the Jewish people, and are therefore something that requires an essential understanding.
Daniel Cohen is an expert on advising people how to convert to Judaism - or how not to if the situation warrants it. He offers a free report on the essential factors that you must know from http://www.becomeajew.org - Don't even think about starting to convert without reading it first.
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