What are the main contributions the hebrews made to world history?

Answer 1

A:Contrary to biblical tradition, scholars now know that the Hebrew people were actually Canaanites who migrated from the regions of the rich coastal cities into the hitherto sparsely populated Canaanite hinterland. Their Canaanite predecessors knew nothing of YHWH (Yahweh, often translated as Jehovah), so he was introduced to the Hebrew people some time after they separated from the Canaanite milieu, becoming the national God of Judah and, probably a little later, of the northern kingdom of Israel.

It is believed that YHWH originated as a storm god among the Midianites of north-west Arabia. Keel and Uehlinger (Gods, Goddesses and Images of God in Ancient Israel) describe Yahweh as initially the Hebrew storm God, but apparently later as a solar God. They say that Yahweh and Baal were nearly indistinguishable in eighth-century Israel, fulfilling the same functions and roles and being conceived of using the same categories. In fact, over the centuries, there seems to have been a great deal of syncretism among the Hebrew gods El, Baal and Yahweh.

The Deuteronomistic reforms of the seventh century BCE, under King Josiah, resulted in an almost complete rewrite of Judah's religious history, as well as that of the former kingdom of Israel. Regardless of private worship, the official religion of Judah was to be monotheistic, based on Yahweh alone. This meant that Baal and Asherah were to be both downplayed and disparaged in the new Hebrew scriptures. Since El and Yahweh had come to be regarded as one and the same God, no such treatment of El would be needed.

The Deuteronomistic reforms were only partly successful, with polytheism continuing up until the Babylonian Exile and possibly beyond, but Yahweh would eventually become the sole deity of Judaism.

Answer 2

No other faith has had as much influence on world religion and history as Judaism. It is the first major faith to believe in only one God. Both Christianity and Islam emerged from Judaism. These three (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam) are known as the Abrahamic religions, named for the father of the Jewish people, Abraham.

More than half the people on earth are Christians (33%) and Muslims (21%). So, even though a tiny percent of the earth's people are Jewish (less a quarter of one percent), the religious influence of Judaism and Jewish history are incalculably vast, from their direct contributions and from birthing the world's two largest faiths.

Answer 3

The long, rich history of Hebrew tradition gives the Western world much of its shape today. Many of the laws, traditions, culture and values are directly attributable to Judaism.
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.
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).
Women's rights also 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). Today's laws giving women equal rights under the law are a by-product of Judaism.
4) Under Israelite law, 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 only mature, land-owning males had any legal status.
5) What is customary to be eaten in Western society 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.
6) 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 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.
7) 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.
8) Cruelty to animals is not acceptable.
9) 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).
10) 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.
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 very good summary of most modern law.
11) 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 every one of the above was instituted among the Hebrews (a.k.a. the Israelites) 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. 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."

Answer 4

When people started to give up on everything like life, their government, state or just the smallest thing, they were looking for faith. They needed someone to go and save them. They wanted answers just somewhere to look; and through that they found God. So really without the Jewish religion it would have been a disaster for many. Probably saved lives and the fate that brought them to such holy people/followers.

Answer:

You have asked a wide-ranging question with many hundreds of details in its answer. I'll provide a few examples.

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.

1) The Jews' monotheistic religious tradition shaped the Western beliefs about God.

2) The 7-day week, including a day of rest for everyone.

3) The concept of morality was also the work of the Hebrews, including the dignity 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).

Women's rights also 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). Today's laws giving women equal rights under the law are a by-product of Judaism.

4) Under Israelite law, 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 only mature, land-owning males had any legal status.

5) What is customary to be eaten in Western society 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. Owls, mice, insects, rats, snakes, cats and dogs are not eaten by most Westerners and it is a direct result of Jewish culture.

6) Parents are responsible for teaching children. 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 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.

7) Infants are to be 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.

8) Cruelty to animals is not acceptable.

9) 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).

10) A robber repays double to his victim, 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.

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 very good summary of most modern law.

11) It is the responsibility of the community to support the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger passing through.

It is important to note that every one of the above was instituted among the Hebrews (a.k.a. the Israelites) 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 5

By giving them the Torah. The Torah played a vast role in the development of the Hebrew religion (Judaism), because it is Judaism. Judaism entails living according to it. The Torah reiterated the teachings of Abraham (Talmud, Yoma 28b) and codified their exact details; and at Mount Sinai, the Hebrews (the Israelites) accepted as obligatory what had until then been national custom. The Torah has shaped our ways of thinking and provided a national legal code:
Practicing kindness and avoiding dishonesty became obligatory instead of merely proper.
Agriculture in the Holy Land included tithes to be given to the Levites and Kohens, thus providing for a scholarly class of people. One of the tithes was given to the poor, thus obviating the existence of starvation.
Immorality and incest were legislated against in detail. Instead of instinct or "crimes against nature," they were subsumed into religious law.

The roles of king, prophet, Kohen, Levite, officers and judges were all provided for in the Torah, thus defining the shape of the society and its institutions and providing certain balances.

The Israelite year was filled out with the Sabbaths and national festivals; and they were imbued with the function of worshiping God instead of being secular celebrations.

The judges were commanded to fear God, instead of relying on their skills of jurisprudence alone.

The laws of the Tabernacle (and later the Holy Temple), and commands to love God and fulfill all of the commandments, were written in the Torah together with (and mixed among) the seemingly mundane laws of testimony and witnesses (etc.), in order to convey the message that for us it is all part of religion. Secular life was a foreign concept. For example, a shopkeeper would be constantly aware of the religious laws of maintaining honest scales, giving a tithe to the poor (maaser kesafim), not overcharging, returning lost objects left behind, etc.; and he would set aside times for the daily prayers.
The above are just a few examples.

Hebrew (Israelite) society wasn't perfect. We are human; and as seen in the Prophets, there were times of backsliding and various pitfalls. But to the extent that the people kept their national laws and tradition, the society was exemplary and created a model which has influenced the Western world down to today.

See also:

Debunking Bible-criticism

Did Josiah change Judaism in any way?

More about the Hebrew Bible

Jewish history timeline

Answer 6

Contrary to biblical tradition, scholars now know that the Hebrew people were actually Canaanites who migrated from the regions of the rich coastal cities into the hitherto sparsely populated Canaanite hinterland. Their Canaanite predecessors knew nothing of YHWH (Yahweh, often translated as Jehovah), so he was introduced to the Hebrew people some time after they separated from the Canaanite milieu, becoming the national God of Judah and, probably a little later, of the northern kingdom of Israel.

It is believed that YHWH originated as a storm god among the Midianites of north-west Arabia. Keel and Uehlinger (Gods, Goddesses and Images of God in Ancient Israel) describe Yahweh as initially the Hebrew storm God, but apparently later as a solar God. They say that Yahweh and Baal were nearly indistinguishable in eighth-century Israel, fulfilling the same functions and roles and being conceived of using the same categories. In fact, over the centuries, there seems to have been a great deal of syncretism among the Hebrew gods El, Baal and Yahweh.

The Deuteronomistic reforms of the seventh century BCE, under King Josiah, resulted in an almost complete rewrite of Judah's religious history, as well as that of the former kingdom of Israel. Regardless of private worship, the official religion of Judah was to be monotheistic, based on Yahweh alone. This meant that Baal and Asherah were to be both downplayed and disparaged in the new Hebrew scriptures. Since El and Yahweh had come to be regarded as one and the same God, no such treatment of El would be needed.

The Deuteronomistic reforms were only partly successful, with polytheism continuing up until the Babylonian Exile and possibly beyond, but Yahweh would eventually become the sole deity of Judaism.