How does judaism differ from other religions?

Answer 1

Judaism, firstly, was the first monotheistic religion. It is a religion that requires strict observance to laws that govern every aspect of life. Not only is Judaism a practicable religion, a Jew is regarded as any person born to a Jewish mother, regardless of his observance level. Once a Jew, always a Jew - and this differs from other religions.

Answer 2

In many ways. Here are a few.

• It goes back, unchanged in its fundamental premise, 3800 years.

• It has had no qualms with questioning and argument. On the contrary, the entire system of the Talmud is to reexamine and debate about everything, from the ways of God himself, down to the most simple custom.
• It began by God speaking to the entire assembled nation of over two million people (Exodus ch.19-20).

• It pioneered in legislating rights for women, orphans, the poor, and other groups.

• It has had close to 100% literacy among its adherents throughout history.
• Some of its greatest leaders were indigent, who studied together with the more wealthy scholars and were given equal honor.
• It has contributed vastly disproportionately to wider society, in scholarship and achievements, in ethics and morality, in invention and in leadership.

Answer 3

they only belif in one God

Answer:

Judaism differed from other ancient religions in the following ways:

1) It was the only religion in which God spoke to the entire assembled nation (Exodus ch.19) of over two million people.

2) It made a complete break from the surrounding idolatry. Their monotheism (belief in One God) set the Jews apart because other ancient nations did not share it. We've heard (for example) of the Greek mythology and Roman mythology. What not everyone is aware of is that idolatry 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.

Compare that to God, who reveals His attributes in the Torah as wise, kind, holy, and pure. God is One, so the command to imitate His attributes (Deuteronomy 8:6) was (and is) a straightforward matter once one is even minimally familiar with the Torah.

Accordingly, Judaism was:

3) The only ancient religion in which a large percentage of its adherents were literate and scholars.

4) It was the only religion in which the people were ruled by God, with no need for a king, for several centuries (see Judges 8:23 and 1 Samuel 8:4-7).

5) The concept of morality was also the work of the Hebrews' religion, including the dignity and value of a person. It is the responsibility of the community to support the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger passing through.

6) Under the law of Judaism, everyone had recourse to the courts. A child, widow, wife, etc., could initiate legal action against any citizen to redress perpetrated harm. Compare this to those societies in which (at most) only mature, land-owning males had rights.

7) 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.

8) A robber repays double to his victim, or works it off. Unlike in many other ancient societies, in Judaism 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.

It is important to note that every one of the above existed in Judaism thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's just one example: Aristotle, who was among the greatest of the Greeks, and Seneca, the famous Roman, both write that killing one's young babies is perfectly acceptable.

Answer 4

It's hard to pin point one clear difference, but there is a collection of things which make Judaism individual. Firstly, many religions worship several different gods, but Judaism has only one God. Islam and Christianity are the two other well known religions which have only one God. These three religions are all called 'Abraham religions' as they all trace back to Abraham.

The Arabs are often believed to be descendants of Ishmael (Abraham's other son). The Bible clearly says that the blessing of Abraham was only passed onto Isaac and his children, but Islam denies this and claims they are the chosen people instead of Isaacs's descendants (which are the Hebrews).

Christianity started in Israel, with the same God and a Jewish Messiah (even descendant from the royal line from King David). The messiah was known by the Hebrew name 'Yeshua', which was latter translated to 'Jesus'. Christianity was also originally very similar to Judaism in many ways (many even say first century Christianity was a sect of Judaism). However there were some differences; most notably Judaism believes in a Messiah, however they did not believe Yeshua (Jesus) was him. Secondly they did not believe the Messiah could be God. Over time these differences grew as Christianity adopted a more Western worldview as well as its own traditions and church laws which differed quite strongly from Judaism.

If you view Judaism as beginning with Adam and Eve then it is also the oldest (or some might say one of the oldest) religions in the world.

The one thing that is probably most unique is the fact that they have been exiled from their land repeatedly, had their culture and religion attacked so much, had a language reform, and still returned to their original country, language and culture time after time; no matter how much political or military opposition they faced. I don't think anyone can really explain how that is possible unless God helped them. It's completely unheard of for a people group to do that.

Answer 5

At the time of Abraham the Hebrew, the area where he lived was full of pagan cults; they were polytheistic, worshiping multiple deities. Abraham was the first to advance the idea of ethical monotheism: the worship of One God, and the appropriate ethical code of conduct.
The Israelites differed from other ancient peoples in the following ways:
1) It was the only religion in which God spoke to the entire assembled nation (Exodus ch.19) of over two million people.

2) It made a complete break from the surrounding idolatry. Their monotheism (belief in One God) set the Jews apart because other ancient nations did not share it. We've heard (for example) of Greek mythology and Roman mythology. What not everyone is aware of is that idolatry tended to go hand in hand with cruel, licentious and excessive behavior, since the caprices which were narrated concerning the pagan gods were adopted as an excuse to imitate those types of behavior.

Compare that to God, who reveals His attributes in the Torah as wise, kind, holy, and pure. God is One, so the command to imitate His attributes (Deuteronomy 8:6) was (and is) a straightforward matter once one is even minimally familiar with the Torah.

(See: What do Jews believe God is like?)

Accordingly, Judaism was:

3) The only ancient religion in which a large percentage of its adherents were literate and scholars.

4) It was the only religion in which the people were ruled by God, with no need for a king, for several centuries (see Judges 8:23 and 1 Samuel 8:4-7).

5) The concept of morality was also the work of the Hebrews' religion, including the dignity and value of a person. It is the responsibility of the community to support the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger passing through.

6) Under the law of Judaism, 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 rights.

7) 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).

8) A robber repays double to his victim, or works it off. Unlike in many other ancient societies, in Judaism 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, 3:10).

It is important to note that every one of the above existed in Judaism thousands of years earlier than in other nations. Here's just one example: Infanticide was practiced in classical European nations until Judaism and its daughter-religions put a stop to it.

See also:

Were the Israelites monotheistic?

Israelite culture

Answer 6

In many ways. Here are a few.

• It goes back, unchanged in its fundamental premise, 3800 years.
  

Link: Jewish timeline

• It has had no qualms with questioning and argument. On the contrary, the entire system of the Talmud is to reexamine and debate about everything, from the ways of God himself, down to the most simple custom.
  
• It began by God speaking to the entire assembled nation of over two million people (Exodus ch.19-20).
  

Link: Can the accuracy of the Torah be demonstrated?

• It pioneered in legislating rights for women, orphans, the poor, and other groups.
  

Link: Jewish ethics

• It has had close to 100% literacy among its adherents throughout history.
  
• Some of its greatest leaders were indigent, who studied together with the more wealthy scholars and were given equal honor.
  
• It has contributed vastly disproportionately to wider society, in scholarship and achievements, in ethics and morality, in invention and in leadership.
  

Link: Jewish contributions

• Its eternal nature has been noted even by non-Jewish writers.

Link: Judaism's eternity

Answer 7

1) It was the first
2) It doesn't accept Jesus or Mohammed as prophets

Answer 8

In ancient times, Judaism was the only monotheistic religion.

Answer 9

It's Monotheistic. One God only .

Answer 10

It is the one true religion.