How was Judaism formed?

Answer 1

Judaism was founded in approximately 2000-1500 B.C. in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). Many say that Abraham was the father of the religion, but scholars still debate it today. Some say that Judaism has not one, single founder, but is a religion where beliefs and customs were added over time.

Secular scholarship argues that Judaism began in the southwest Levant as a polytheistic faith that narrowed to monolatrous henotheism by the time of King Josiah (700s B.C.E.) and the finally became monotheism when the Judeans were taken to Babylon in the 500s B.C.E.

Answer 2

Judaism developed in Isreal, around 1500 B.C.

Answer:

According to tradition, Abraham founded Judaism, and Moses later received the Torah from God.
Abraham, tenth generation descendant of Noah, of Hebrew lineage, was the son of Terah, uncle of Lot, father of Isaac, grandfather of Jacob, and ancestor of the Israelites. His story is in Genesis ch.11 (end), through ch.25. Jewish tradition states that he was the first to teach belief in One God; and it is in his merit that Jews continue to exist (Genesis 18:19, and ch.17).
Abraham (18th century BCE) came from ancestry that had been God-fearing a couple of centuries earlier but had afterwards slipped into idolatry (Joshua 24:2). Nimrod, the idolatrous tyrant, had brought Abraham's father (Terah) from the Semitic ancestral seat near the conjunction of the Balikh and the Euphrates, and instated him in a position of power in his army in the royal Babylonian city of Ur, where Abraham was born. Nimrod persecuted any who would question his idolatrous cult.
The Kuzari (Rabbi Judah HaLevi, 1075-1141) states that Abraham was gifted with high intelligence; and, as Maimonides (1135-1204) describes, Abraham didn't blindly accept the ubiquitous idolatry. The whole populace had been duped, but the young Abraham contemplated the matter relentlessly, finally arriving at the conclusion that there is One God and that this should be taught to others as well. This is what is meant by his "calling out in the name of the Lord" (Genesis ch.12). As a young man, he remonstrated with passersby in public, demonstrating to them the falsehood of their idols; and our tradition tells how he was threatened and endangered by Nimrod.
Subsequently, Terah relocated to Harran; and it is here that Abraham began to develop a circle of disciples (Rashi commentary, on Genesis 12:5).
Later, God told Abraham in prophecy to move to the Holy Land, which is where Abraham raised his family.
He continued his contemplations, eventually arriving at the attitudes and forms of behavior which God later incorporated into the Torah given to Moses. Abraham, with God's help, singlehandedly trounced the supremacy of the evil Nimrod. He received God's promise of inheriting the Holy Land (Genesis 13). He strove to raise a family (Genesis ch.15, 17, and 24) which would serve God (Genesis 18:19); and God eventually blessed his efforts, granting him many children (ibid., ch.16, 21 and 25), as He had promised (Genesis ch.17). Abraham founded the Jewish people and lived to see his work live on in the persons of Isaac and Jacob; and he taught many other disciples as well (Talmud, Yoma 28b). He saved the population of the south of Canaan from invading foreign kings (Genesis 14); and he was feared by neighboring kings (ibid., ch.12 and 20). Abraham gave tithes (Genesis ch.14), made a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15 and 17), welcomed guests into his home (Genesis ch.18) unlike the inhospitable Sodomites (Genesis ch.19), prayed for people (Genesis ch.18), rebuked others when necessary (Genesis ch.20), eulogized and buried the deceased (Genesis ch.23), and fulfilled God's will unquestioningly (Genesis ch.22). He became renowned as a prince of God (Genesis 23:6).
All of these forms of behavior were based upon the ways of God, which Abraham comprehended through his contemplations. These, and similar personality traits, were the teachings of Abraham and his descendants.
It is therefore clear why God expresses His love for Abraham (Isaiah 41:8) and calls Himself the God of Abraham (Genesis 26:24), and says that Abraham obeyed Him fully (Genesis 26:5). And this is why, according to our tradition, Abraham is credited with having begun the religion which became known as Judaism. However, Abraham and his descendants observed their traditions voluntarily, until the Giving of the Torah to Moses 3325 years ago, when God made it obligatory.

Answer 3

About 4,000 years ago. And it was developed by the Israelites.

Answer:

According to tradition, Abraham founded Judaism, and Moses later received the Torah from God.
Abraham, tenth generation descendant of Noah, of Hebrew lineage, was the son of Terah, uncle of Lot, father of Isaac, grandfather of Jacob, and ancestor of the Israelites. His story is in Genesis ch.11 (end), through ch.25. Jewish tradition states that he was the first to teach belief in One God; and it is in his merit that Jews continue to exist (Genesis 18:19, and ch.17).
Abraham (18th century BCE) came from ancestry that had been God-fearing a couple of centuries earlier but had afterwards slipped into idolatry (Joshua 24:2). Nimrod, the idolatrous tyrant, had brought Abraham's father (Terah) from the Semitic ancestral seat near the conjunction of the Balikh and the Euphrates, and instated him in a position of power in his army in the royal Babylonian city of Ur, where Abraham was born. Nimrod persecuted any who would question his idolatrous cult.
The Kuzari (Rabbi Judah HaLevi, 1075-1141) states that Abraham was gifted with high intelligence; and, as Maimonides (1135-1204) describes, Abraham didn't blindly accept the ubiquitous idolatry. The whole populace had been duped, but the young Abraham contemplated the matter relentlessly, finally arriving at the conclusion that there is One God and that this should be taught to others as well. This is what is meant by his "calling out in the name of the Lord" (Genesis ch.12). As a young man, he remonstrated with passersby in public, demonstrating to them the falsehood of their idols; and our tradition tells how he was threatened and endangered by Nimrod.
Subsequently, Terah relocated to Harran; and it is here that Abraham began to develop a circle of disciples (Rashi commentary, on Genesis 12:5).
Later, God told Abraham in prophecy to move to the Holy Land, which is where Abraham raised his family.
He continued his contemplations, eventually arriving at the attitudes and forms of behavior which God later incorporated into the Torah given to Moses. Abraham taught disciples (Talmud, Yoma 28b), gave tithes (Genesis ch.14), strove to raise a family (Genesis ch.15, 17, and 24) which would serve God (Genesis 18:19), made a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15 and 17), welcomed guests into his home (Genesis ch.18) unlike the inhospitable Sodomites (Genesis ch.19), prayed for people (Genesis ch.18), rebuked others when necessary (Genesis ch.20), eulogized and buried the deceased (Genesis ch.23), and fulfilled God's will unquestioningly (Genesis ch.22). He became renowned as a prince of God (Genesis 23:6).
All of these forms of behavior were based upon the ways of God, which Abraham comprehended through his contemplations. These, and similar personality traits, were the teachings of Abraham and his descendants.
It is therefore clear why God expresses His love for Abraham (Isaiah 41:8) and calls Himself the God of Abraham (Genesis 26:24), and says that Abraham obeyed Him fully (Genesis 26:5). And this is why, according to our tradition, Abraham is credited with having begun the religion which became known as Judaism. However, Abraham and his descendants observed their traditions voluntarily, until the Giving of the Torah to Moses 3325 years ago, when God made it obligatory.

Answer 4

Palestine! Obviously no one here wants to admit, the Torah explains Jews were exiled because of their disobedience after being freed in Exodus. It was always Palestine, before it was ever Israel. Mount Sinai is in Palestine where Musa (Moses) received the Torah, and where the Messiah walked and gave revelations to the Jews. Majority of events happened in and around Palestine, which is referred to in The Bible and Torah as "Canon" which is now the "so called modern state of Israel" Hiding the truth doesn't make it right.

Answer

I feel it necessary to dispel the above answer as it is rather biased towards the political Islamic state of Palestine and riddled with error, rather than looking at the facts of the origins of Judaism.

Judaism originated in the Middle East long before Israel or Palestine were ever known. The Bible describes Eden as being what we now know as Mesopotamia between the rivers of the Tigris and Euphrates (which still exist), and the cradle of the belief in God. According to the earliest records of the Jewish nation, this was the beginnings of the belief and recognition of God through the symbolic Adam and Eve. Of course, the Jewish nation had not yet formed as you could not describe the nomadic lifestyle of those people as a archetypical organised society. However the first of the real Jews (in religion as well as race) and regarded as the Father of the Jewish nation was Abraham - and he led a nomadic lifestyle thoughout his days, as did his children. It was only later when Abraham's grandson Jacob, whose other name was Israel, had twelve sons, who themselves went on to become the patriarchs of the twelve tribes of Israel, was the name Israel adopted as the name of the nation (and not where they lived).

When Joseph was captured and taken to Egypt and when Jacob and his sons went there too to stay with him, the descendents were still known as Israel despite living in Egypt. (cf Handel's oratorio 'Israel in Egypt') It wasn't until the days of Moses that the Israelites moved to what we now recognise as 'Israel' the land where the Israelites lived until taken into exile in Babylon.

The name Palestine has absolutely nothing to do with the Arabic people or language, despite Palestinians claiming Arabic descent and a right to the land of Palestine as a result. The word itself derives from "Plesheth", a name that appears frequently in the Bible and has come into English as "Philistine". Plesheth was a general term meaning 'roaming', referring to the Philistine's habit of invasion and conquest of the coast from the sea. The Philistines were not Arabs nor even Semites; they were most closely related to the Greeks originating from Asia Minor and Greek localities. They did not speak Arabic. They had no connection, ethnic, linguistic or historical with Arabia or Arabs.

The modern state of Palestine/Israel bears absolutely no resemblance to the original states of those names. People on both sides who claim their 'rights' to the land actually have forgotten history and the origins of the Jewish nation and faith. It is a tragedy that two eminent groups of people cannot get on and live together in harmony whatever their differences in belief and culture. The atrocities committed on both sides in the belief that they are 'right' display an arrogance that betrays the Jewish (and Palestinian) culture, heritage and belief that has lasted for thousands of years. God must look down and weep.

Answer 5

While the Torah, its commands and the principles and beliefs of Judaism remain unchanged, Judaism has evolved as circumstances have necessitated. Here are just a few examples:

1) After the end of prophecy (some 2350 years ago), the Tanakh was sealed by a special Sanhedrin (Rabbinical court). It was the same Sanhedrin which placed our prayers in their permanent form (see Talmud, Berakhot 33a).

2) Purim and Hanukkah were instituted after the relevant events.

3) Certain fasts were instituted in connection with the Destruction of the Temple.

4) After the Destruction of the Temple, the laws of sacrifices were suspended.

5) When circumstances made it impossible, the New Moon was no longer proclaimed by testimony; rather, the fixed calendar was instituted (around 360 CE).

6) The Talmud was put in writing (around 500 CE) when it became too hard to be learned by heart.

7) There are seven formal Rabbinical commands. These are:

Saying the blessings over food (and on various occasions)

Washing one's hands before eating bread

Lighting the Hanukkah-menorah

The Eruv

Saying the Hallel prayer on certain occasions

Lighting the Sabbath candles

Reading the Megillat Esther on Purim.

In addition, there are many Rabbinical decrees, mostly from the Men of the Great Assembly (4th century BCE), as well as later enactments.

The purpose of every one of these is to provide a "fence around the Torah," meaning to shore up something that can benefit from strengthening. An example: not handling electric appliances on the Sabbath, even if they are not connected to any electric socket.

Note that some people have a misconception that ancient Judaism centered around the Temple and sacrifices and that this has been the major change in Judaism. That is an inaccurate way of putting it. Rather, Judaism centers around Torah-observance. This has never changed. The Torah contains many hundreds of commands, hundreds of which are applicable today too. When offering sacrifices was possible, they were offered; and when the Temple was destroyed, those particular commands of the Torah were suspended. It's like a man who lost his arms: he doesn't put tefillin on, but his Judaism hasn't changed.

Answer 6

Tradition states that Abraham (18th century BCE) founded Judaism, and Moses later received the Torah from God.

Abraham, tenth-generation descendant of Noah, of Hebrew lineage, was the son of Terah, uncle of Lot, father of Isaac, grandfather of Jacob, and forefather of the Israelites. His story is in Genesis ch.11 (end), through ch.25. Jewish tradition states that he was the first to actively spread belief in One God; and it is in his merit that Jews continue to exist (Genesis 18:19, and ch.17).

• Link: Abraham's Hebrew ancestry
  

Abraham came from ancestry that had been aware of God a couple of centuries earlier but had afterwards slipped into idolatry (Joshua 24:2).

By the time of Abraham, the area where he lived was full of pagan cults; they were polytheistic, worshiping multiple deities.

• Link: How polytheism began
  

Abraham became the first to advance the idea of ethical monotheism: the worship of One God, and the appropriate ethical code of conduct.

Nimrod, the idolatrous tyrant, had brought Abraham's father (Terah) from the Semitic ancestral seat near the confluence of the Balikh and the Euphrates, and instated him in a position of power in his army in the royal Babylonian city of Ur, where Abraham was born. Nimrod persecuted any who would question his idolatrous cult.

The Kuzari (Rabbi Judah HaLevi, 1075-1141) states that Abraham was gifted with high intelligence; and, as Maimonides (1135-1204) describes, Abraham didn't blindly accept the ubiquitous idolatry. The whole populace had been duped, but the young Abraham contemplated the matter relentlessly, finally arriving at the conclusion that there is One God and that this should be taught to others as well. This is what is meant by his "calling out in the name of the Lord" (Genesis ch.12).

As a young man, he remonstrated with passersby in public, demonstrating to them the falsehood of their idols; and our tradition tells how he was threatened and endangered by Nimrod.
Subsequently, Terah relocated to Harran; and it is here that Abraham began to develop a circle of disciples (Rashi commentary, on Genesis 12:5).

Later, God told Abraham in prophecy to move to the Holy Land, which is where he raised his family.

He continued his contemplations, eventually arriving at the attitudes and forms of behavior which God later incorporated into the Torah given to Moses.

Abraham became the greatest thinker of all time. His originality, perseverance, strength of conviction, and influence, cannot be overestimated.

Abraham, with God's help, trounced the supremacy of the evil Nimrod.

He received God's promise of inheriting the Holy Land (Genesis ch.13).

He strove to raise a family (Genesis ch.15, 17, and 24) which would serve God (Genesis 18:19); and God eventually blessed his efforts, granting him numerous descendants (ibid., ch.16, 21 and 25), in keeping with His promise (Genesis ch.17).

Abraham founded the Jewish people and lived to see his work live on in the persons of Isaac and Jacob; and he taught many other disciples as well (Talmud, Yoma 28b).

He saved the population of the south of Canaan from invading foreign kings (Genesis 14); and he was feared by neighboring kings (ibid., ch.12 and 20).

Abraham gave tithes (Genesis ch.14), entered into a covenant with God (Genesis ch.15 and 17), welcomed guests into his home (Genesis ch.18) unlike the inhospitable Sodomites (Genesis ch.19), prayed for people (Genesis ch.18), rebuked others when necessary (Genesis ch.20), eulogized and buried the deceased (Genesis ch.23), and fulfilled God's will unquestioningly (Genesis ch.22).

He became renowned as a prince of God (Genesis 23:6).

The gravesite of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and their wives (Genesis 49:29-32) is located in Hebron and has been known and attested to for many centuries.

All of the above practices of Abraham were based upon the ways of God, which Abraham understood through his contemplations. These, and similar personality traits, were the teachings of Abraham and his descendants (unlike idolatry, which had no moral character; with worship of the gods accompanied by things such as human sacrifice, "sacred" prostitution, and animal worship).

• Link: Pagan practices
  

It is therefore clear why God expresses His love for Abraham (Isaiah 41:8) and calls Himself the God of Abraham (Genesis 26:24), and says that Abraham obeyed Him fully (Genesis 26:5). And this is why Abraham is credited with having begun the religion which became known as Judaism. (However, Abraham and his descendants observed their traditions voluntarily, until the Giving of the Torah to Moses 3325 years ago, when God made it obligatory.)

Moses was an Israelite, a great-great grandson of Jacob. He was born 245 years after the death of Abraham. The time when Moses was born was when the Pharaoh had ordered his people to kill all Israelite male infants because he (Pharaoh) was afraid that the Israelites would become too strong for him (Exodus ch.1-2).

Moses' mother didn't want him to die. So she made a basket for him and put him in it to float in the Nile reeds. He was found by Pharaoh's daughter, who took pity on him (Exodus ch.2) and raised him as her own son.

• Link: How did Moses know he was an Israelite?
  

Moses was forced to flee after killing a cruel Egyptian taskmaster, and went to Midian, where he wedded the daughter of Jethro.

He eventually achieved the highest level of prophecy (Deuteronomy ch.34) and was called upon by God (Exodus ch.3). He brought the Israelites out of Egyptian slavery (Exodus ch.12). He received the Torah from God (Exodus 24:12) and later recorded it in writing (Deuteronomy 31:24). He went up on Mount Sinai for 40 days and nights (Deuteronomy ch.9-10) and brought down the Two Stone Tablets with the Ten Commandments (Exodus 31:18). He brought the Israelites into the covenant with God (Exodus ch.19 and ch.24), and he oversaw the building of the Tabernacle (Exodus ch.35-40). He was the humblest of men and the greatest of prophets (Numbers ch.12).

See also the other Related Links.

Link: Archaeology

Link: Was Abraham real

Link: Was Moses real

Answer 7

Abraham founded what we call Judaism (Talmud, Yoma 28b). He did so because he saw that his contemporaries were all worshiping idols; and, after deep contemplation he had determined that there is One God and that idolatry is a deviation from the truth.

Abraham taught anyone who would listen, and inculcated his teachings among his family (Genesis 18:19). Later, God gave the Torah to Abraham's Israelite descendants.

See the attached Related Link at greater length concerning Abraham's repudiation of idolatry.