Judaism

Judaism is one of the world's oldest religions. It began more than 3,000 years ago in the ancient Middle East, in a land that is now part of Israel and the surrounding region. People who follow Judaism are called Jews. There are about 15 million Jews in the world today. Most live in Israel and the United States.

Judaism teaches that there is only one God. This idea is called monotheism. At a time when most people in the ancient world worshipped many gods, the early Jews believed in just one. Christianity and Islam later grew out of this same belief. Together, the three religions are sometimes called the Abrahamic faiths, because all three trace their roots back to a man named Abraham.

The most important Jewish text is the Torah. The Torah is made up of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. Jews believe these books were given to a leader named Moses about 3,300 years ago. The Torah contains stories, history, and 613 rules called mitzvot. The rules cover how to treat other people, what to eat, and how to keep holy days. Jews also study a long collection of writings called the Talmud, which explains and discusses the Torah.

The Jewish house of worship is called a synagogue. A teacher and leader called a rabbi often guides the community there. Inside, a special cabinet holds handwritten Torah scrolls. The scrolls are written in Hebrew, the ancient language of the Jewish people. Jewish boys and girls often celebrate becoming responsible for following the rules at age 13 or 12, in a ceremony called a bar mitzvah for boys or a bat mitzvah for girls.

The Jewish week ends with a day of rest called Shabbat, which lasts from Friday evening to Saturday night. Families light candles, share a special meal, and rest from work. Other holidays include Passover, which remembers the escape of the Jews from slavery in ancient Egypt, and Hanukkah, the eight-day festival of lights. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish new year, and Yom Kippur is the most serious day of the year, set aside for thinking about mistakes and asking forgiveness.

Jewish history includes long periods of suffering. Jews were forced from their homeland many times and often faced harsh treatment in other countries. The worst event was the Holocaust during World War II, when the Nazi government in Germany murdered about six million Jews. After the war, in 1948, the modern country of Israel was created as a Jewish homeland. Jewish communities now live in nearly every country on Earth.