How are events in the history of Judaism important?

Answer 1

The important events in the history of Judaism include:

• The founding of Western monotheism by Abraham
  
• The giving of the Torah, which includes the Ten Commandments.
  

The long, rich history of Judaism gives the Western world much of its shape today. Many of the laws, traditions, culture and values are directly attributable to Judaism. Here are a few examples:
1) The Jews' monotheistic religious tradition (Deuteronomy 6:4) shaped the Western beliefs about God.
2) The 7-day week (Exodus ch.20), including a day of rest for everyone. This weekly rest was a concept unique to the Israelites.

3) The concept of morality (Leviticus ch.18-19) was also the work of the Hebrews, including the dignity (Genesis 5:1) and value of a person (whereas idolatry had tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the idols were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior).

4) Women's rights were carefully maintained in Judaism. Israelite women could own property, could initiate court cases, could have their own servants, and could own fields and businesses; and the Torah specifies marital rights for women (Exodus 21:10).

5) Under Israelite law, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, poor person, etc., could initiate legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm. Compare this to those societies in which only mature, land-owning males had any legal status.

6) The Western diet is a reflection of much of the Judaic dietary law. With the exception of the pig, Western society does not eat species not contained in kosher law (Deuteronomy ch.14). Owls, mice, insects, rats, snakes, cats and dogs are not eaten by most Westerners and it is a direct result of Jewish culture.

7) Parents are responsible for teaching children (Deuteronomy ch.11). Illiteracy among Israelites, in every generation, was rare. Universal education in the Western world is taken for granted today, yet this is a recent development. In Judaism, however, it goes back for more than 3300 years. Judaism has always maintained that education is the highest goal of man in his pursuit of godliness. This tradition has now been passed on to Western culture.

8) Infants are to be cherished, protected and cared for, whether or not they turned out to be the gender you were hoping for. Compare this to societies in which unhealthy babies, or females, were killed.

9) Cruelty to animals is not acceptable.

10) Government is accountable to a higher authority. In other ancient societies, the monarch was all-powerful. Among the Israelites, however, the king was under the constant scrutiny of the Divinely-informed prophets, who didn't hesitate to castigate him publicly for any misstep in the sight of God. And, other than for the crime of rebellion, the king couldn't punish any citizen by his own decision. He was obligated by the Torah-procedures like everyone else (Talmud, Sanhedrin 19a).

11) A robber repays double to his victim (Exodus 22:3), or works it off. Cutting off the hands of a robber is a punishable crime. Debtors are not imprisoned or harmed. They are made to sell property and/or work to repay what they owe. Compare this to the Roman practice by which anyone could accuse a man of owing them money and the debtor could be killed (Roman "Twelve Tables of Law" code, 3:10).

12) Western jurisprudence in general is based in part upon Judaic Torah-observance. A quick look at the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the laws that follow (Exodus ch.21-23) gives a summary of most modern law.

13) It is the responsibility of the community to support the poor (Deuteronomy ch.15), the widow, the orphan, and the stranger passing through (Exodus 22:20-21).

It is important to note that all of the above were instituted among the Hebrews (a.k.a. the Israelites) thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's one example: Infanticide was practiced among classical European nations until it was stopped by the influence of Judaism and its daughter-religions. Professor and former President of the American Historical Association, William L. Langer (in The History of Childhood): "Children, being physically unable to resist aggression, were the victims of forces over which they had no control, and they were abused in almost unimaginable ways."

See also:

More about Judaism's impact

How did Jewish ideas spread?

List of important people and events

Answer 2

History is the record of events known to have occurred and of the people who shaped those events. In the broad scheme of world history, the history of Judaism is not really important. In fact, we know remarkably little about the history of Judaism, although somewhat more about the history of Israel. Our main source of history remains the Old Testament (Tanakh), but historians realise that much of what is written here is not history in the sense of being a reliable record of actual events. Many events described in The Bible may not be history, in the sense of having really occurred, but they have shaped Jewish belief for well over two thousand years and have been passed on to Christianity and Islam.

Judaism has had an enormous effect on Western thought because Christianity developed out of Judaism two thousand years ago, and even today remains the dominant religion of most Western nations. Islam is also indebted to Jewish tradition.

Answer 3

Judaism is a civilization that has witnessed numerous proud and noble empires rise and fall, outliving all of them, as well as building its own states subject to the same laws. Its members have been part of a select group that has inordinately contributed to the strength and vitality of the human endeavor. Its values of promoting both reason and faith have led to strong and resurgent societies that can easily adapt to change without losing their culture. Jewish Civilization has consistently valued the material world and its improvement while never succumbing to the rampant materialism of modernity or Confucianism.

However, these Jewish perspectives of encouraging dissent and disagreement without supporting discord or chaos and standing as perpetual Others, gifted with the unique ability to comment on the rest of the world, did not come from a vacuum. Understanding the reasons for this behavior and to seek to replicate its positive attributes is key to creating a better tomorrow and the history of the Jewish people is one of the most effective and useful lenses to lead to this understanding.