The most widespread religions in the world - Christianity and Islam - originate from the religious traditions of Judaism. Therefore, it is important for an educated person to understand what Judaism is as a creed.
Judaism is a religion that originated in the first millennium BC among the Jewish tribes. This doctrine is considered one of the first monotheistic beliefs. Judaism was gradually formed from tribal beliefs with a tangible influence of Zoroastrianism. Judaism was able to survive as a religion largely due to the fact that it had a stable written tradition. The first holy book of the Jews was the Torah, otherwise called the Pentateuch of Moses. It describes the creation of the world according to the tradition of the Jewish tribes, the history of the Jewish people and their relationship with God, and also gives laws, both religious and secular, that are binding on those professing the faith. Representatives of Judaism consider the Torah to be a text given from above, however, modern historians consider these texts to be the fruit of the work of many generations of authors, which is confirmed by the presence in the text of references to the realities of different historical periods. Subsequently, the Torah was supplemented with texts dedicated to prophets and hagiographers, consisting of psalms, parables and the Book of Job. On the whole, the Jewish scripture was called Tanakh. By its textual component, the Tanakh is almost completely consistent with the Old Testament. By the 2nd century AD, the Tanakh was supplemented by the Talmud - a collection of religious and legal norms of the Jewish religion. Together, these two books became the theoretical basis for the functioning of Judaism as a religion. The basic principles of Judaism, described in sacred literature, include strict monotheism, as well as the perception of God as an almighty source of good on earth. Unlike many traditional religions of the Ancient World, Judaism emphasized the value of the human person and the possibility of its interaction with God. It was confirmed by the very creation of man in the image and likeness of a deity. Belief in the coming of the Messiah, which will mean the beginning of the kingdom of God, can also be considered an integral part of Judaism. Unlike such monotheistic religions as Christianity and Islam, Judaism did not strive and does not strive for proselytism, in other words, for missionary work. Religious authorities emphasize that this is primarily a national religion. Nevertheless, an outsider of a different nationality can become a member of a religious community if he undergoes a special rite - conversion, after proving the seriousness of his intentions. … Self-government existed in Jewish communities around the world, which led to the emergence of numerous religious movements, often quite different from each other in dogmatic terms. In the modern world, Judaism is most widespread as a religion in Israel. Also, a significant number of adherents of this doctrine live in the United States, Russia and Western Europe. Jewish communities have even existed in Africa since antiquity.
