What are the important Jewish idea in your society?

Answer 1

Here are some Jewish ideas:

-- Nobody can make you work for him on all 7 days of the week.

-- If somebody works for you, you have to pay him the same day.

-- Get married, and have children.

-- Teach your children. If you're not educated well enough to teach them, then hire

someone to teach them. Everybody learns to read. Boys and girls. No exceptions.

-- Keep your fruit scale, your gas pump, and your tape measure calibrated and accurate.

When someone buys from you, deliver the full amount that you sell.

-- You can take eggs and hatchlings from the nest to eat. But shoo the mother bird away

before you take them.

-- When you're hungry and that steak on your plate sure looks good, stop for a

second and say some words of gratitude for it before you dig in. And after you

polish it off and you're feeling better and you're calm and relaxed and kind of proud

of yourself that you pull in enough to eat like this whenever you feel like it, stop and say some more words of gratitude for it. Frankly, the reason

you have as much as you have is not because you're so great.

-- The law of the land you live in is your law.

-- Pray regularly. Make it a habit.

-- Learn something regularly. Make it a habit.

-- Be holy. Don't worry about 'how'. You don't make yourself holy. Gcd does that.

You were born holy and it's yours to lose. Just don't mess it up.

-- It's a wonderful thing to give something to charity, when you've taken care of

your own needs, and you've got a little extra left over, and the spirit moves you,

and you feel it in your heart. But there are people who can't wait that long. Give

now. If you have anything, give something. There are widows, orphans, drifters,

and all kinds of others who have nothing. Their survival is your job.

-- Do not steal. If one person steals from another person and he's caught at it,

he pays back double to the person he stole from. If he can't afford it, too bad.

He works it off.

-- Driving along one day and you see a guy off the side of the road with his truck

loaded and it broke down. Stop and help him with the load and with the truck.

Doesn't matter if you feel like it. That's what you do.

-- Got something good to say about another person ? Don't say it while he's in the

room. Got something bad to say about another person ? Don't say it unless he's in

the room. Actually, your goal should be to avoid talking to people about other people.

It's a tough thing to avoid.

-- Don't kill. And don't stare at your neighbor's wife and daydream.

Answer 2

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.

• Cruelty to animals is not acceptable.

• 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 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 summary of most 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 practicedamong 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 3

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.

• 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).

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."
Link: Infanticide was practiced

• See also other the other Related Links.
  

Link: More about Judaism's impact

Link: How did Jewish ideas spread?

Answer 4

They celebrate a holiday called Passover to remember how God passed over (spared) their homes during the tenth plague and then delivered them from Egypt.

Answer 5

For us religious Jews, all of Judaism is important.