Did Judaism begin in 622 BCE?

Answer 1

Jewish tradition is that what is now called Judaism began with Abraham, around 1800 BCE.

AnswerScholars say that Judaism as we know it emerged in stages. In spite of the biblical Exodus tradition, they say that the Hebrew people were actually Canaanites who migrated internally and peacefully from the rich coastal cities into the hitherto sparsely populated hinterland. As Canaanites, or former Canaanites, they inherited the gods of their forebears. Thus the first stage of Hebrew belief was polytheistic. Mark S. Smith (The Early History of God: Yahweh and the Other Deities in Ancient Israel) says that according to the available evidence, Israelite religion in its earliest form did not contrast markedly with the religions of its Levantine neighbours in either number or configuration of deities. Keel and Uehlinger (Gods, Goddesses and Images of God in Ancient Israel) describe hundreds of artefacts found in Israel and Judah throughout the entire monarchical period, showing that polytheism was ubiquitous in the region throughout the period.

Perhaps in the seventh century BCE, the official religion of Judah probably became monolatrous, although the people themselves remained polytheistic until the Babylonian Exile. A major step towards modern Judaism was the Book of Deuteronomy, supposedly found in the Jerusalem Temple during renovations that took place around 622 BCE.

Monotheistic Judaism is generally believed to have taken hold during the Babylonian Exile, although a minority opinion among scholars is that polytheism continued to some extent well beyond this time. It is during the Babylonian Exile that new concepts such as angels, Satan, heaven and, for a period, hell were introduced to Judaism. A major step was the completion of the Torah (the Christian Pentateuch), incorporating religious laws apparently unknown in pre-Exilic times.

The religion of the period that follows is generally known as Second Temple Judaism. This shared many rituals with the past and with neighbouring countries, including animal sacrifices.

The destruction of the Jerusalem Temple in 70 CE brought Second Temple Judaism to an end. Rabbinical Judaism developed out of the maelstrom that followed, and was a significant departure from what had gone before.

Answer 2

Abraham is believed to have lived (if he lived) at about this time. If you consider Abraham to be the beginner of Judaism, then yes, Judaism begins in 1800 B.C.E. Most scholars place the latest date of Judaism's formation at around 550 B.C.E., which is 1,250 years later.

Answer 3

There are various traditions about when Judaism started. For example, Moses is often credited with starting Judaism around 1400 BCE, during the Exodus from Egypt. However, over 90 per cent of scholars are reported as believing that there was no Exodus from Egypt as described in The Bible, and therefore no Moses. Scholars say that monotheistic Judaism was introduced during the seventh-century-BCE reign of King Josiah of Judah.

Answer:The tradition of the Jewish people, and the Torah Sages and Talmud, has always been that Abraham founded Judaism. He lived 3800 years ago. This tradition is implicit in many passages in the prophets (e.g. Isaiah 41:8) and throughout the Talmud (e.g. Yoma 28b) and is clearly borne out by a reading of Genesis, even without commentaries.

God calls himself "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" no fewer than eighteen times in the Torah, and that is how we address Him every day in the Shemoneh Esrei prayer.

However, Abraham and his descendants observed their traditions voluntarily, until the Giving of the Torah to Moses 3325 years ago, when God made it obligatory.

Abraham (18th century BCE) came from ancestry that had been God-fearing a couple of centuries earlier but had afterwards slipped into idolatry (Joshua 24:2). Nimrod, the idolatrous tyrant, had brought Abraham's father (Terah) from the Semitic ancestral seat near the conjunction of the Balikh and the Euphrates, and instated him in a position of power in his army in the royal Babylonian city of Ur. Nimrod persecuted any who would question his idolatrous cult.

The Kuzari (Rabbi Judah HaLevi, 1075-1141) states that Abraham was gifted with high intelligence; and, as Maimonides (1135-1204) describes, Abraham didn't blindly accept the ubiquitous idolatry. The whole populace had been duped, but the young Abraham contemplated the matter relentlessly, finally arriving at the conclusion that there is One God and that this should be taught to others as well. This is what is meant by his "calling out in the name of the Lord" (Genesis ch.12). As a young man, he remonstrated with passersby in public, demonstrating to them the falsehood of their idols; and our tradition tells how he was threatened and endangered by Nimrod. Later in life, God said to Abraham in prophecy to move to the Holy Land, which is where Abraham raised his family.

He continued his contemplations, eventually arriving at the attitudes and forms of behavior which God later incorporated into the Torah given to Moses (Talmud, Yoma 28b).

Answer 4

According to traditional chronology, God gave us the Torah in 1312 BCE. Judaism was founded five centuries earlier by Abraham (Talmud, Yoma 28b).