- The Jewish religion finds its origins in the ancient Middle-Eastern region of Mesopotamia, nearly 4,000 years ago. The religion's founding is attributed to Abraham, who is considered a patriarch of the faith along with his descendants Isaac and Jacob. The Jewish religion espoused that there was only one Supreme Being at a time when the surrounding peoples' belief systems contained several deities.
- Today, there are around 14 million people in the world who claim Judaism as their system of belief, most of whom are located in Israel, the United States and Europe. The United States contains about 5 million adherents, as does Israel, with the other 4 million in Europe. The Tanakh -- the written part of Jewish Law and teachings which contains the Torah -- along with the Talmud -- the spoken part -- comprise the sacred Jewish text.
- The Orthodox movement is made up of several groups who believe in the completeness of the Torah and that G-d is its direct source. Reform Jews do not believe the Torah was written by G-d, but rather by several different sources. Conservative Jews believe that the Law can adapt to modern times, while a smaller sect, Reconstructionism, holds that preservation of the Jewish culture is more important than belief in any personal deity as actively involved with Jewish history. This not an all-inclusive list of the differences between the sects.
- Passover, which marks the Jews' exodus from Egypt, is celebrated in April with, among other things, a ritual dinner called a seder. Rosh Hashanah marks the Jewish New Year, while Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement, is a time of making reparations to G-d for wrongs committed over the past year. Chanukkah is a celebration of the Jews' uprising against the Greeks, followed by the re-dedication of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem; it is celebrated with the lighting of candles on a menorah.
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