How did prophets affect Jewish beliefs?

Answer 1

Monotheism, the Ten Commandments, the Torah and the Prophets.
Judaism values all individuals; men, women, and children. The wealthy have no privileges; and the poor are valued, supported and their opinions listened to. (Compare this to those societies in which only mature, land-owning males had any legal status.)
Judaism applied laws, and rules of moral behavior, to all its members equally. The laws of Moses form much of Western legal background.
Quote:
"I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation ... fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations" (John Adams, 2nd President of the United States).
"Certainly, the world without the Jews would have been a radically different place. Humanity might have eventually stumbled upon all the Jewish insights, but we cannot be sure. All the great conceptual discoveries of the human intellect seem obvious and inescapable once they had been revealed, but it requires a special genius to formulate them for the first time. The Jews had this gift. To them we owe the idea of equality before the law, both Divine and human; of the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person; of the individual conscience and of the collective conscience and social responsibility" (Paul Johnson, Christian historian, author of A History of the Jews and A History of Christianity).

• The Jews' monotheistic religious tradition (Deuteronomy 6:4) shaped the Western beliefs about God.

• The 7-day week (Exodus ch.20), including a day of rest for everyone. This weekly rest was a concept unique to the Israelites.

• 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 (unlike idolatry, which had no moral character whatsoever; with worship of the gods accompanied by practices such as human sacrifice, "sacred" prostitution, and animal worship).

• 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).

• 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.

• The Western diet reflects some 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.

• 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.

• 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.

• The Torah forbids cruelty to animals.

• 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).

• 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).

• Western jurisprudence is based in part upon Judaic Torah-observance. The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20) and the laws that follow (Exodus ch.21-23) gave rise to a significant portion of modern law.

• 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."

Answer 2

The father of the Hebrews was Abraham. He was chosen by God. God told Abraham and his people to move to Canaan, also called the "Promised Land." This is one part of the history of the Hebrews and is very well known. It has defined the belief of the Hebrews that there is only One God. Believing in One God is known as "Monotheism."

Answer:

The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) stresses to us that history is a lesson in the interactions between God and people. From our history we've learned how our obeying or disobeying God has brought about changes (for example: the prosperity in the land during the time of Joshua, as opposed to the events of the First Destruction).

Answer 3

The Israelite prophets were extremely learned and pious individuals, men and women, whose superlative level of piety merited them with visions from God. They had to be humble, yet speak with authority. They had to love their people, yet not hesitate to rebuke with caustic words if commanded to by God.
The prophets were called upon by God to guide the people and to guide the king. While the king had authority in matters of state, and the Sanhedrin (Sages) had say in Torah-rulings and halakha (law), the prophets spoke in matters of ethics, belief, loyalty to God, and behavior. They rebuked the people at God's command, they predicted events which God revealed to them, they taught through Divine inspiration, and they provided optimism and hope with the prophecies of eventual Redemption.
Some of the prophetical chapters (or books) detail Israelite history, some exhort the people to improve their spiritual level, some predict events, or warn (especially concerning the First Destruction), some serve to comfort the nation, some speak of prayer and love of God, and some speak of life, experience and wisdom.

Note that the Prophets came to strengthen Torah-observance, not to change anything. The latest of the Prophets said "Remember the Torah of Moses My servant" (Malachi 3:22).

And earlier: "Be strong, to keep all that is written in the Torah of Moses" (Joshua 23:6).

Answer 4

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. Link: History of Judaism

• A weekly day of rest for everyone.

• The concept of morality (Leviticus ch.18-19), including the dignity (Genesis 5:1) and value of a person (unlike idolatry, which had no moral character whatsoever; with worship of the gods accompanied by practices such as human sacrifice, "sacred" prostitution, and animal worship).
Link: Morality

• Israelite women could own property, could initiate court cases, could have their own servants, and could own fields and businesses.

• Under Israelite law, everyone had recourse to the courts.

• Parents are responsible for teaching children (Deuteronomy ch.11). Illiteracy among Israelites, in every generation, was rare.

• Infants are to be cherished, protected and cared for, whether or not they turned out to be the gender you were hoping for. Infanticide was practiced among classical European nations until it was stopped by the influence of Judaism and its daughter-religions.
• Link: Infanticide was practiced

• 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.

• A robber repays double to his victim (Exodus 22:3), or works it off. 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 debtors could be killed (Roman "Twelve Tables of Law" code, 3:10).

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

• See also other the other Related Links.
  

Link: More about Judaism's impact

Link: How did Jewish ideas spread?

Answer 5

It is a Jewish attitude that setbacks are a nudge from God (Genesis 42:21-22), while successes are tests and opportunities. Thus, every event is seen as a message from Above. In addition, the many fulfilled prophecies increase our belief in God and the Torah.

Answer 6

The Prophets came to strengthen Torah-observance, not to change anything. The latest of the Prophets said "Remember the Torah of Moses My servant" (Malachi 3:22).
And earlier: "Be strong, to keep all that is written in the Torah of Moses" (Joshua 23:6)."It shall come to pass in the end of days, that many peoples shall say: 'Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and He will teach us His ways, and we will walk in His paths.' " (Isaiah 2:2).

The Israelite prophets were extremely learned and pious individuals, both men and women, whose superlative level of piety merited them with visions from God. They had to be humble, yet speak with authority. They had to love their people, yet not hesitate to rebuke with caustic words if commanded to by God.

• Link: Why did the Prophets rebuke?
  
• Link: Why did some people not listen to them?
  

The prophets were called upon by God to guide the people and to guide the king. While the king had authority in national matters of state, and the Sanhedrin (Sages) had say in Torah-rulings and halakha (law), the prophets spoke in matters of ethics, of belief, of loyalty to God, and behavior. They rebuked the people at God's command, they predicted events which God revealed to them, they taught through Divine inspiration, and they provided optimism and hope with the prophecies of eventual Redemption.

Some of the prophetical chapters (or books) detail Israelite history and past events, some exhort the people to improve their spiritual level, some predict events and/or warn (especially concerning the First Destruction), some serve to comfort the nation, some speak of prayer and love of God, and some speak of life, experience and wisdom.

See also the other Related Links.Link: A list of the Israelite prophets

Link: Why did prophecy end?

Link: History of the Hebrew Bible

Link: Some fulfilled prophecies

Answer 7

It is a Jewish attitude that setbacks are a nudge from God (Genesis 42:21-22), while successes are tests and opportunities. Thus, every event is seen as a message from Above.

Answer 8

Well the history of Jews affected there belief because the Jews were so cryterrier to Jesus and his acts they changed