Understanding Judaism: Intriguing Features and Complexities

Judaism is one of the main religions in the world today along with Christianity and Islam. The three religious beliefs share similar patriarchs and origins that have roots to Abraham. The differences that exist between Islam and Judaism are apparent, however, these are less distinct when a comparison is made between Christianity and Judaism. Regardless of the similarities that exist in the two religions, Judaism has many interesting and sometimes puzzling features. The paper will illustrate the features that I found interesting in Judaism and those that are more difficult to grasp and understand. Unlike Christianity that can be traced back to one founder, Judaism does not have a single founder, and there are in fact some different religious

The Torah on the other hand is only the first five books in the Tanakh. Another interesting factor is during the compilation of the Torah; Moses received Ten Commandments to add to the Torah that originally contained six hundred and thirteen other commandments. This further raises an interesting question as it is difficult for Christians to follow just Ten Commandments in the modern world, and the Jews on the other hand have to follow six hundred and twenty three commandments! One can’t help but wonder how this is

However, after many years the Jews were given permission by the Persians to return to Jerusalem where they proceeded to build the second temple. During the time when the Roman rule came, the Jewish people were waiting for the Messiah to arrive. There was an uprising of zealots that opposed the Roman militants. There was a destruction of the temple and the only remaining part of this temple is the Western Wall. Another interesting factor is that the status of being Jewish is not only religious, but also ethnic. That is to say, one can be ethnically Jewish despite not holding these religious beliefs. The Jewish perspective of God is that he is omnipotent and omnipresent. The Jewish religion is monotheist and possesses the belief that exists outside of time. One other religious perspective is that the Jews have a different calendar to the Christian one. There are also many different holidays in the Jewish calendar and their year begins with Rosh Hashanah. In addition, the Jews also engage in the celebration of liberty from Egyptian rule in the past with Passover or Pesach. The celebration is accompanied by a Seder