Belief Systems There Are Numerous Term Paper

The Hebrew were the ancestors of Jews, and the ancestry has been traced back to the times of Abraham, in 2200 BC, when Abraham left his home in Mesopotamia and served to influence his followers, also known as Hebrews, to found an entire nation on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea that they called Israel. The Hebrew were monotheistic, that is, they only believed in one single God, and also that they were among the very few 'chosen people' of God. It is said that he Hebrew escaped to Egypt from a devastating famine, and consequently were captured and enslaved by the Egyptians. It is also said that God sent down ten deadly plagues onto the people of Egypt to force them to release the Hebrew slaves. (Mr. Dowling's Judaism Page)

When the Hebrew managed to escape, it is said that Moses, who was the Hebrew leader, parted the Red Sea juts in time to let them pass onto the other side, and letting the sea envelop the Egyptian army that was following them. It was at this time that Moses was allowed to read the 'Ten Commandments' of God, and it is these Ten Commandments that form the basis of Jewish as well as Christian principles and thoughts. Over the years the Hebrew were forced to leave Israel and settle elsewhere, and eventually, after the Israel nation was created in 1948, most Hebrews settled down there.As a people, the Jews have suffered the maximum amount of mistreatment at the hands of various leaders and others over the ages.

In certain despicable acts carried out by man against man, like the 'pogroms', that are nothing but organized massacres, and the Holocaust, another massacre that managed to virtually eliminate more than six million Jews in Germany. The Jews read the 'Torah' that is the Holiest book for them, and observe a weekly Shabbat that lasts from sunset time on Friday to sunset time on Saturday. The leader is called a 'Rabbi' that also means 'Master'. The interesting fact is that the Torah is considered to be a Holy Book by Christians too, and it is included in the Old Testament of the Bible. The Talmud is another Holy Book of Judaism, and is a collection of the rules and the customs that are to be followed by Jews in their daily lives. Judaism is a great influence on the remaining Jews all over the world that numbers less than 2.3 million in all of Europe, and the beliefs and principles will always remain a part of the lives of both Jews and Christians everywhere in the world. (Mr. Dowling's Judaism Page)

References

Buddhism: an Introduction. Retrieved at http://www.pbs.org/edens/thailand/buddhism.htm. Accessed on 1/7/2004

Mr. Dowling's Judaism Page. Retrieved at http://www.mrdowling.com/605-judaism.html. Accessed on 1/7/2004.....