Which common feature of most ancient religions did the Jews reject?

Answer 1

Idolatry and polytheism.

Dictionaries define "Judaism" as The monotheistic religion of the Jews, since the founding principle of Judaism was and is the belief in One God, creator of the universe. This was the teaching which was spread by Abraham, and has continued since then. From Judaism, belief in One God has spread through the Western world.

Answer 2

Features common to most religions of the ancient Near East included polytheism, the use of divine images ('idols') and both human and animal sacrifices.

At first, there was little difference between the religion of the Israelite people and the religions of their neighbours. Mark S. Smith (The Early History of God) 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. He says that in the Judges period, Israelite divinities may have included Yahweh, El, Baal and perhaps Asherah as well as the sun, moon and stars. Archaeologists have found numerous images of the gods, apparently including Yahweh, from the period of the Judges and the early monarchy. We know that human sacrifice was practised and actually continued to be practised occasionally until the late monarchy in Judah. Such human sacrifices are reported, for example, of King Ahaz (8th century BCE; 2 Kings 16:3) and King Manasseh (7th century BCE; 2 Kings 21:6).

Change came about during the late monarchy. From around the seventh century BCE, the archaeological evidence is that Judaism became aniconic - after this time, archaeologists can find no artefacts that depict Hebrew deities. The Bible implicitly credits King Josiah of Judah with introducing monotheism, although it appears that this innovation did not last beyond his death. Nevertheless, scholars agree that Judaism was becoming monolatrous and that it had rejected even the existence of other gods by the time of the Babylonian Exile. It also appears that the Babylonian Exile brought about a revulsion towards human sacrifice, although animal sacrifice was reintroduced after the Return from Exile.

Answer 3

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.

See: Israelite monotheism

Their belief in One God set the Israelites 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:

Israelite culture

Answer 4

Polytheism and its attendant idolatry.