JUDAISM: An overview, from Rabbi Tovia Singer.
A compelling and charmingly presented Q & A overview of Judaism, this; and one which frames some very interesting points:
A little under 4000 years ago, this monotheistic faith was started by Abraham.
What was to become the faith of Judaism, was, and remains, a religious ideology held by a very small number of people: a people, we are told, specifically chosen by God.
Yet the monotheistic ideology of this people inspired other faiths (specifically Christianity and Islam), so that today the sacred text of this people - The Torah - is held to be sacred by around half of the people in the world; and the monotheistic God of Judaism is worshipped by those people too.
The influence that this people and the monotheism that they Introduced has had on the history of the world and the development of civilization is immense.
The Rabbi points out that this small nation has survived for thousands of years - during which it has survived oppression and attacks the world over - while throughout history, mighty empires have come and gone...
Thus is just another of the many, many reasons why I find the study of religion - and all its associated subjects - to be the most fascinating, and my favourite, area of study...
And why I shake my head in bewilderment at people who dismiss the study of religion as irrelevant... Or worse - dismiss it by referring to modern, brutally simplistic, boiled-down anti-religion rhetoric and propaganda...
HAPPY HANUKKAH
...And a brief description of what this Jewish Festival of Light is all about...
The Hanukkah story is part of Jewish history from the era of Greek occupation of Israel - and Greek rule over the Jewish inhabitants, from around 331 BCE: Before Christian Era), when Alexander The Great conquered the region, to 160 (BCE), when the revolt led by the Maccabees (167 - 160 BCE) successfully reclaimed Israel, Jerusalem and The Jewish Temple for the Jews.
Once the land and the temple had been reclaimed, the temple had to be immediately purged of its defiling by the Greek rulers, purified, and rededicated to God.
In this post-revolution state of destruction and carnage,there was a scarcity of many things in Jerusalem, including the lamp oil that was needed for the lamps that would light the temple while the purification and rededication was being carried out.
A vial of oil was found but it clearly didn't contain nearly enough to light the temple for long enough to complete the tasks...
The workers made do - and would work extra hard and hope to complete as much of the work as possible while the lamplight lasted...
To the amazement of all, this small amount of oil kept the lamps burning for as long as it took to complete the tasks if purification and rededicating the temple to God: nine days in all.
A miracle was proclaimed...
... And the events have been celebrated ever since, as Hanukkah...
The story of Hanukkah is recorded in the Torah, in TheBook of Maccabees. Part of the story of the Maccabean revolt, describes how the Greeks would attack the Jewish Maccabee army during Shabbat (Sabbath): knowing that the Jews were forbidden to do any work at all on that day: including fighting in self defence...
The Maccabees appealed to the Jewish priesthood about this; and the priests took council and prayed to God for guidance... After which they declared that God would allow necessary work - certainly fighting in self defence - to be carried out on Shabbat...
It was a change in rigid policy in Judaism...
The Book of Maccabees is excluded from the King James Version of the Christian Bible: the version favoured by some Protestant Christian Churches...
(I found this imagine online. It's from a site called 'parenting.firstcry.com'. My acknowledgement and thanks to that site, and to the creator of the image (possibly one and the same; otherwise: identity unknown to me. )