Christianity’s Older Brother: more Different than he Seems

Did you know Jews, Israelites, and Hebrews are the same group of people? Many people are not aware of how fascinating the Jewish religion is. Part of society also confuses the Jewish religion with the Christian religion. This makes sense as the religions share the Torah [or Old Testament for Christians]. Although Christianity and Judaism started in the same region, Judaism includes a unique origin and has extraordinary traditions.

Judaism began almost four thousand years ago in the Middle East with a couple named Abraham and Sarah, according to chabad.org. God selected the duo to relocate to a new land that would later become the Land of Israel. Furthermore, if they dedicated themselves to Him, their ancestors would number the stars. Their children would be taught the ways of the Jewish religion to honor God. Therefore, the partners obeyed God. Later on, in history, their great-great-grandchildren moved to Egypt. There, they were enslaved by the Pharaoh. After four hundred thirty years of slavery, Moses came to liberate them. With God’s help, Moses sent twelve plagues upon Egypt that finally helped the Jews break free. They escaped traveling to the promised land. This escape is celebrated through an event called Passover. Christians also celebrate Passover. Thus, the early history of Judaism was born.

In addition to learning from their holy book, the Torah, there are many Jewish traditions. People following the Jewish religion follow the laws of kosher. Kosher, a Hebrew word, is defined as “fit.” These rules tell Jews how they should eat. Only certain animals are allowed to be eaten. The most common forbidden animals are pork and shellfish. However, their religion doesn’t just affect the way they eat but also their daily lives. Jewish men and [post bar mitzvah] boys wear a pair of black leather boxes holding Hebrew parchment scrolls. One is for the head, and the other is for the arm. The three main parts of this include the box, the strap, and their scrolls. These boxes are called Tefillin, and they’re meant to teach male Jews that dedicating their lives to God needs to start with what they say, what they do, and what they think. In conclusion, though there are many other traditions, these are the two I found the most interesting.

In particular, there is one main difference between Christianity and Judaism: Jews do not believe Jesus to be the Messiah. Consequently, they don’t celebrate holidays that commemorate Jesus’s birth, death, or resurrection. Instead, they celebrate other holidays. One such holiday is the eight-day holiday of Hanukkah. Hanukkah is celebrated nowadays to remember the defeat of the cruel Syrians and to bring the temple back to life. It lasted eight days because the little oil they found in the temple miraculously lasted eight days. In summary, though there is one main difference between Judaism and Christianity, it leads to many others.

To sum it all up, Judaism is an engrossing religion. This religion includes an origin in the Middle East and has many compelling traditions. Their origin and traditions impact their daily life greatly in both their eating habits and schedule. Based on these facts, do you understand Judaism more?

Did you like this example?

8211

342