Exploring the Foundations and Practices of Judaism

Judaism is a monotheistic religion that believes in a one single power god, that has been practiced for thousands of years. Judaism is one of the oldest religions started around 1812 B.C. and is the smallest religion with only 12 million followers worldwide. This religion began with the start of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and God, and has lasted throughout the ages. In Judaism, many different things are practiced compared to other religions; such as the food, and the one holiday that is known by most people.

At the start of the Judaism religion, three men; Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac known as the Patriarchs, are the ancestors of Judaism. Spiritually and physically. They were the founders of Judaism, and Jewish people are their descendants. As a young

Thus making the pig, camel, hare, and the rocky badger non kosher, for they lack one of the requirements need to be kosher. Jews can eat anything that has fins and scales, which leaves out shellfish, because of their lack of scales and fins. The ritual slaughtering of the animal has a name of shechitah, and the person performing it is called shochet. The method of the slaughter is to cut a quick, deep stroke across the throat with a perfectly sharp knife that has no nicks or unevenness. For the animal, this method is painless, and is considered the most humane way to slaughter an

One of the most known holidays is Chanukkah, or when roughly translated to english, Hanukkah. Hanukkah is known as the festival of rededication, and the festival of lights. It is an 8 day celebration, beginning on the 25th day of Kislev in the Jewish months. Hanukkah is not as important as many other Jewish holidays, but because of its closeness to Christmas, it is the most known holiday of the Jewish religion. Each night one candle is added from right to left, and of the 8 days, one candle is lit on a menorah after a blessing is said. The candles are lit left to right, using the shammus candle, or the candle that is in the middle of the 8 other candles. The gift-giving is not traditionally a part of hanukkah, but with Jews being in close contact with Christians, gift-giving has been added because of the jealousy between Jewish children and Christian children. One other tradition of the holiday is playing with the dreidel, a gambling game with a top. The dreidel was used in Antiochus’ oppression, for those who wanted to study the torah, which was illegal in that time. They would conceal their activity by playing the gambling game with a top whenever an official or inspector was within their sight. The dreidel is marked with 4 Hebrew letters: Nun, Gimel, Hei, and Shin. The letters stand for a phrase about a miracle. “Nes Gadol Hayah Sham” which is referring to the miracle of the oil,