MUSCLES: Judaism

INTRO: What country do you think a Judaism is mostly practiced in? Many people would think Israel, well really there is more people that live in the U.S. than Israel that practice Judaism.

FOUNDER,FOLLOWERS

AND LOCATION:

This religion named Judaism, was founded in 2000 B.C. by Abraham. There are many followers around the world that believe in this religion. Most of these followers are in Israel, Europe, and also the United states. There is approximately 14 million in the world that believe in Judaism and the numbers are still growing.

HOLY TEXT

They practice out of texts that are called Tanakh and Talmud. The books of the Tanakh include the following: Torah (law), Nevi'im (Prophets), and the Ketuvim (Writings). Judaism is similar to Christianity in many ways. One way they are alike is that they are also monotheistic.

JUDAISM HOLIDAYS:

Judaism have very many important religious holiday's and celebrations. One holiday they celebrate is Hanukkah, also known as Chanukkah, this holiday is probably the Jewish holiday which non-Jews are most familiar with. It has the same date as Christmas, but is

not the same as Christmas, it is a celebration of God creating of a temple in Jerusalem. They also celebrate Pesach, which is the passover and the Rosh Hashanah is a holiday which is the Jewish new year.

RITUALS/ CUSTOMS

The religion Judaism is a very serious religion and they have special rituals. Judaism revolves around one God and obey his commandments by doing daily prayer. They respect God and his ways and teachings, Jews also believe that divorce is a tragedy and a very bad sin. They also see death as a sign of God's plan and is a good part their life.

DRESS/CLOTHING:

There are some Jews who dress in a manner that reflects a Torah-true life. These Jews believe so much that they dress the Judaism part. These believers get this style from the Torah and an example is this; “Do not round the corner of your head, neither shall you destroy the corners of your beard." They also believe in sideburns and this a symbol to show to everyone that they are Jewish. The Jewish followers also wear black clothes because in olden days the leaders of the city identified the low class Jews by having them wear black

clothes. Also the black clothes represent a symbolic expression divrai yirah shomayim, which

means "fearing heaven." Guys also wear a small hat that is called a kippa or a yarmulka. This symbolizes respect for God.

HIERARCHY/ORGANIZATION:

The hierarchy of Judaism comes from the Rabbi, the Rabbi is like the quarterback of the team, he teaches the ways of the Torah like a QB directs a team. It also has a system, and this is called a Synagogue, which has a president and a council. These include the high priest and such, these are the hierarchy positions of Judaism religion.