By: Nick Collins, James Hughes, Yves Ishimwe, Ryan
Mermelstein, and Jacob Shippel.
In the Jewish religion, there is only one God who completed all of creation.
Although there are many names for the Jewish God, this God is a single entity.
Some of these names are:
1) Adonai- my lord
2) Hashem- the name
3) The Eternal One
4) Yah (Yahweh)- Mighty God of Right Now
5) Avinu- our father, our king
The 13 basic beliefs of Judaism are:
1) God exists
2) God is one and unique
3) God is incorporeal
4) God is eternal
5) Prayer is directed to God alone
6) The words of the prophets are true
7) Moses’ prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the prophets
8) The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings in the Talmud) were given to Moses
9) There will be no other Torah
10) God knows the thoughts and deed of men
11) God will reward the good and punish the wicked
12) The Messiah will come
13) The dead will be resurrected
● Yarmulke- circular cloth that Jewish men wear on
their head during prayer out of respect and to be closer to God
● Sabbath/Shabbat- from Friday night to Saturday night, the
Sabbath is celebrated, and on the Sabbath Jewish people have a day of rest and
relaxation and some go to Temple for services
● Kosher- being Kosher, some Jewish people are and some are not, means that a Jew
has accepted the complex lifestyle of many dietary restrictions providing a good,
clean life
● Tallit/Tzitzit- when reading the Torah, a man or woman must wear tallit which is a
long-blanket like sheet with fringes on the end called Tzitzit
Rosh Hashanah- The Jewish new year.
(The ten days in between are referred to as the days of atonement.)
Yom Kippur- A day devoted to repenting ones sins from the past
year through fasting.
Sukkot- A harvest festival commemorating the wandering of the children amongst the
desert,and the harvest of fruit when they arrived to their destination.
Shavu’ot- The commemoration of the giving of the Torah and first fruits to the
people/temple.
Passover- Commemorates the Exodus after years and years of slavery
Hannukah- The day celebrating a suspected day of oil lasting eight days following the
the destruction of the Second Temple
Tu Bishvat- a day celebrating the “New Year of the Trees”
● Historically, women were not treated with as much respect as they
are today.
● In history (as well as certain movements), women were not
permitted to read the Torah, sit with any men throughout the time
of prayer at synagogue, or be clergy members (“Jewish
Administration”).
● In certain modern movements, women are able to read the torah, sit
with men during prayer, and be a part of the clergy.
● God has an undefined gender, but is commonly referred to as a
male.
● The Torah (contains Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy and received by Moses on Mt. Sanai)
● Nevi’im (Book of the prophets.)
● Talmud (Explanation of Jewish law)
● Jewish people do not actively seek converts.
● Not a universalizing religion.
● The Jewish faith diffused through the people who were
continuously scattered and persecuted against.
● Judaism had influence in much of Europe,
Western Asia, and Northern Africa at the time.
● Dates back more than 4000 years
● Founded by the prophet Abraham
● Originates in Canaan (modern Israel/Palestine)
● Influence found in Egypt due to enslavement
circa 1300 BCE
● The Jewish kingdom fell to the
Neo-Assyrians and Babylonians and forced Jews to flee
● Jewish culture and religion spread
throughout Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa due to Diaspora
● Under Roman rule, Jews practiced freely,
but revolts in Judaea led to conflict
● Judaism came in contact with Christianity between 45 and 55 C.E
● The Jew, Paul, spread the word about Christianity through Syria-Palestine,
Anatolia, and Greece.
● Paul was a Jew from Greece and because of his Hellenistic background, he was
able to travel through Syria-Palestine, Anatolia, and Greece.
● He gathered non-Jewish people while preaching Christianity and establishing
churches.
● Today Christianity is the largest religion with 2.3 billion people.
Similarities:
1)Monotheistic
2)Believe in the universe, people, and the afterlife
3)Have a sacred text
4)Both sacred texts called the Bible
5)Believe in angels & demons
6)Holy city is Jerusalem
7) Founded in Palestine
8)Jesus died by crucification
Differences:
1)Founder of Judaism was Moses or Abraham
while the founder of Christianity was Jesus.
2)Believed the birth of Jesus was a normal birth
whereas in Christianity Jesus had a virgin
birth.
3)Denied resurrection of Jesus; Christianity
affirmed the resurrection of Jesus
4)Original language for Judaism is Hebrew; For
Christianity it is Aramaic and Greek
5)The Bible in Judaism is the Jewish Bible, yet
the Bible in Christianity is a combination of
the Jewish Bible and the New Testament
Similarities:
1)Monotheistic
2)Have a sacred text
3)Have strict monotheistic beliefs
4)Denied the resurrection of Jesus
5)Believe in angels and demons
Differences:
1)Sacred text for Judaism is the Bible; Sacred text
for Islam is the Qur'an(Koran)
2)Judaism founded in Palestine; Islam founded in
Saudi Arabia
3)Believed that Jesus had a normal birth; Islamic
belief say that Jesus had a virgin birth
4)Judaism's believes Jesus died by crucification;
Islamic beliefs say that he did not die but
ascended to heaven
5)Judaism denies of the second coming of Jesus;
Islam affirms the second coming of Jesus
"Comparison of Islam, Judaism and Christianity." Comparison Chart: Islam, Judaism and Christianity. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept.
2014. <http://www.religionfacts.com/islam/comparison_charts/islam_judaism_christianity.htm>.
"Judaism 101." Judaism 101. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2014. <http://www.jewfaq.org/index.shtml>.
"Library." Judaism Origins, Judaism History, Judaism Beliefs. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.patheos.com/Library/Judaism.html>.

PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 15 Sept. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/jews.html>.