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Jewish monotheism has become the heritage of the Western world. Before Judaism, ancient religions believed in polytheism.

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 the only ancient religion in which a large percentage of its adherents were literate and scholars.
  • 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).
  • The concept of morality was also the work of the Israelites' religion, including the dignity and value of a person. It was/is the responsibility of the community to support the widow, the orphan, the poor, and the stranger passing through.
  • 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.
  • Government was 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.
  • A robber had to repay double to his victim, or work 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.
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