If we bear all this suffering and if there are still Jews left, when it is over, then Jews, instead of being doomed, will be held up as an example. (Anne Frank)
Thinking about the musings from Day 30: The Basics Of Judaism…
I would submit to you that there is a strong case to be made for a single God to be in charge of everything, rather than many gods being in charge of many things. I would further submit to you that this rationale makes sense on two different levels:
1) On a personal level, it makes more logistical sense to depend on a single God vs. a theoretical infinite number of gods, for every little thing in my personal life and;
2) On a universal level, (literally), it makes more logistical sense again to depend on a single God vs. a theoretical infinite number of gods, for every little thing going on simultaneously in the universe.
At this point, it does not matter whether you are leaning towards many gods, (polytheism), or a single god, (monotheism), belief system. In either case, the continuity still remains the same…
Someone Upstairs Runs The Show.
Let’s continue with more on Judaism.
What is a historical fact is that Abraham is the father of Judaism, and eventually, Christianity and Islam, (which I will eventually cover in the days to follow). The reason that Abraham can be connected with these 3 belief systems is simple, they are all monotheistic.
In addition to being familiar with Abraham, it would be just as important to be familiar with Moses, a descendant of Abraham, when familiarizing oneself with Judaism.
Around 1,400 BCE, Moses was born in Egypt, in what was perhaps the greatest superpower known at the time, the Egyptian Empire. Moses was born at a time where the Israelites, (Hebrews, later known as the Jews), were living under oppression simply because their growing population while living in Egypt for almost the last 400 years, was perceived as a threat by the Egyptians, who were concerned of eventually becoming a minority in their own empire. To prevent this from becoming reality, the Egyptians enslaved the Israelites in hopes of controlling them as evidenced in the Torah, the first five books of the Old Testament in the Bible. From Exodus 1:7-14:
7 And the children of Israel were fruitful, and increased abundantly, and multiplied, and waxed exceeding mighty; and the land was filled with them. 8 Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph. 9 And he said unto his people, Behold, the people of the children of Israel are more and mightier than we: 10 Come on, let us deal wisely with them; lest they multiply, and it come to pass, that, when there falleth out any war, they join also unto our enemies, and fight against us, and so get them up out of the land. 11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses. 12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel. 13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: 14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, was with rigour.
Under these harsh conditions, Moses is born. After fleeing Egypt for murdering an Egyptian slave master for treating one of his fellow Jews harshly, Yahweh revealed himself to Moses when he was around age 80, as documented in Exodus 3:1-14, also known as ‘Moses and the Burning Bush’:
3 Now Moses kept the flock of Jethro his father in law, the priest of Midian: and he led the flock to the backside of the desert, and came to the mountain of God, even to Horeb. 2 And the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed. 3 And Moses said, I will now turn aside, and see this great sight, why the bush is not burnt. 4 And when the Lord saw that he turned aside to see, God called unto him out of the midst of the bush, and said, Moses, Moses. And he said, Here am I. 5 And he said, Draw not nigh hither: put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground. 6 Moreover he said, I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God. 7 And the Lord said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; 8 And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. 9 Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. 10 Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt. 11 And Moses said unto God, Who am I, that I should go unto Pharaoh, and that I should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt? 12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain. 13 And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them? 14 And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.”
Now although you may be tempted to be more intrigued with the burning bush situation, a definite pyrotechnics wonder to be sure, I would submit to you that there is something be said in these verses that is way more important than a whole forest of burning bushes…
I AM THAT I AM.
I didn’t put those words in ALL CAPS. That is how they appear in the King James Version, (KJV), and also in at least these other bible translations:
American Standard Version (ASV), 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV), The Message (MSG), New International Version (NIV), New Living Testament (NLT), and the World English Bible (WEB).
I AM THAT I AM.
If that doesn’t stop you in your tracks to think about, nothing will. The monotheistic god of the Jews, Yahweh, has told the descendant of Abraham, the father of the Jews…
I AM THAT I AM.
Ok, so what? What is so special about this Moses fellow?
Biblical scholars have concluded the following historical highlights, (or are they lowlights?), regarding Moses:
Moses was a murderer;
Moses was a fugitive and was on the run for at least 40 years;
Moses who had a speech impediment;
Moses was called into the service of Yahweh when he was at least 80 years of age.
Despite these limitations of Moses, Exodus 20:1-17 shows that Moses was going to be the one chosen to eventually lead the Jewish people to freedom. Freedom, known as the Ten Commandments:
20 And God spake all these words, saying, 2 I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me. 4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; 6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. 7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. 8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: 10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. 12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. 13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery. 15 Thou shalt not steal. 16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. 17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
It is interesting to note that despite the limitations of Moses, Yahweh still chose him to deliver this message:
I AM THAT I AM.
It is noted in the Torah that Moses and the Jews wandered in the desert for 40 years. After about 400 years after the death of Moses, the Kingdom of Israel will eventually be founded by King Saul, achieve its height under King David, and ultimately fall with King Solomon.
The fall happening around 3,000 years ago.
The Kingdom of Israel will not be rebuilt until 1948.
So now that we have a better understanding of the religion of Judaism, does it make sense when applying syllogism to it?
That will be covered next….
Do not feel discouraged if you are having a difficult time after two days, trying to understand the belief system of Judaism. Do not feel discouraged if you are still undecided after two days, as whether or not the Judaism belief system is valid or not. Instead, embrace the idea that after two days are in fact two days closer to perhaps finding the truth. Embrace the idea that after two days of Judaism, perhaps there is a rank order between the polytheistic, philosophical, and monotheistic, belief systems.
10 For whoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend in one point is guilty of breaking the whole law. (James 2:10 KJV)
Was today’s blog a little confusing at times? Was the content perhaps a little overwhelming? Did you feel lost not understanding some or most of the subject matter?
Those feelings are totally understandable and it is ok to have one or more of those feelings. Remember that you are reading Day 31: The Basics Of Judaism – Part 2.
If you haven’t been in class since the first day of school…or when the project began…or when the contract was first signed, etc., these feelings make perfect and logistical sense.
Please feel free to go back to where all of this began: