Hasan A. Yahya, Ph.Ds, a writer from the Unholy Land
The concept of the divine word of God was to be a central concept of Judaism, later adopted by both Christianity and Islam. This article answer the question: Where do we come from according to Judaism?
The story of creation according to Jeduaism as in (Genesis 1-3): In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light;” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind, and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights-the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night-and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm, and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the air and over the cattle, and over all the wild animals of the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.”
So God created humankind in his image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth and subdue it; and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” (6) And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation. These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created. (920 words) www.askdryahya.com
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Source::http://www.wsu.edu:8080/~wldciv/world_civ_reader/world_civ_reader_1/hebrew_creation.html
Article 320: God’s Creation according to Judaism
Why Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights
Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights. It is celebrated by the kindling of lights over the festival’s eight days. These lights should be placed in a doorway or window to publicize the festival and the miracle of the oil. The main miracle that is celebrated throughout the eight days of the festival was the miracle of the oil for the Temple Menorah. Only enough oil for one day was found to light the eternal flame, but the oil burned for eight days.
Hanukkah can also be seen as a celebration of the victory of the forces of light over the forces of darkness. The Temple was rededicated having been cleared of idols and pagan altars. It also symbolises the spiritual light of Judaism prevailing over the Hellenism that was becoming common by Jews at the time.
Hanukkah is symbolised by the burning of candles in a menorah or Hanukkiah. The Hanukkah menorah is a candelabra containing eight lights for each of the eight days plus the shamash or guard. The first night of the festival is marked by kindling a single flame in the Hanukkiah. Each successive night an additional flame is kindled. On the second night two flames are lit, three on the third night and so on until the eighth night when all eight flames are burned.
The Hanukkiah is placed in a window or doorway. It should be visible to the world, allowing the light of Judaism to be spread around the world.
The use of lights not only to commemorate the miracle, but to publicise it is a true reflection of Hanukkah’s other name The Festival of Lights.
The Syrian Greeks had desecrated the temple and most of the oil had been contaminated. Only one container of pure oil was found. Only the purest sanctified oil could be burned in the sacred menorah. There was only enough oil to burn for one day, but the one-day supply of oil burned for eight days.
It is the miracle of the oil that is commemorated each year. But this was preceded by some major events. The most powerful army in the world was in control of Judea. Jerusalem was in the hands of the Greeks under Antiochus. Unlike his predecessor, Antiochus would not tolerate the practice of Judaism, and the Temple was used for the slaughter of forbidden animals and the practice of Hellenistic Pagan rituals.
Jews living in the land were becoming Hellenised. Taking on the path of least resistance, they began taking on Greek customs, religious rituals and Greek names.
Judah Maccabee and his four brothers formed a guerrilla army called the Maccabees to take on this formidable force. The Maccabees won a stunning victory over the Greek-Syrian army. The military victory of a small band of rebels over a powerful fighting machine must be a huge miracle. It allowed the holy Temple to be rededicated and for the daily services to re-commence. The miracle of the oil is the last of the miracles that occurred at this time and made it possible for the Temple to function for a full eight days until fresh supplies of pure oil could be sourced.
The entire celebration centres on the light – the light of the oil, the light of the candles. Judaism would rather focus on this miracle rather than that of a military victory. The victory is a victory of the forces of light representing G-d’s law over the idolatrous forces of darkness. The foods enjoyed over Hanukkah represent foods cooked in oil. The menorahs are placed in windows or doorways to publicise this victory of light over darkness to the whole world.
Hanukkah is truly the Festival of Lights.
A Short History Of Judaism
It has been worked away which about 80% in the world’s population trust in 1 religion a treadmill more (along with you’ll locate a large amount of them), but about 70% of those are adherents for that massive 4. Some biggest religions are: Christianity, Islam, Hinduism along with Buddhism. Judaism may be the precursor of each and every Islam along with Christianity.
The Hebrew Bible retells the in the World combined with the story in the passage in the people from creation, by simply approach to the flood for that arrival inside the Promised Land, or from Mesopotamia to Canaan, led by Abraham.
The descendants of Abraham along with his people happen to be enslaved with the Egyptians along with didn’t handle to flee till Moses led them of imprisonment. Throughout this trip, Moses received the Ten Commandments from God along with they continued being the bedrock of Jewish law along with custom despite the fact that there’s undoubtedly the Jewish mode of life has built using this era inside the Tenth Century right before Christ.
The sacred writings in the Hebrew Bible or Masorah are separated into twenty-four books. Nevertheless, exactly the same texts are divided up into thirty-nine books inside the Christian Bible’s Old Testament. The Torah or perhaps the Law was becoming written right now nevertheless it was amended along with updated among the Tenth along with Fifth Centuries right before Christ.
Moreover for the Hebrew scriptures, there’s a wealthy tradition of ancient oral commentary named the Talmud, that’s actually a colossal compilation from the Oral Law. The Talmud could be the accepted authority for Orthodox Jews.
Judaism could be the oldest monotheistic religion acknowledged for the West. Jews supported 1 God whenever all of the acknowledged World supported pantheism or perhaps a large amount of gods like the Ancient Greeks. The God within the Jewish language is Yahweh in addition to believe that which Yahweh agreed a covenant together with his women and men to deal with them for good so extended because they remained loyal exclusively to him.
Inside the Jewish faith, sin may be the unashamed disrespect of God’s