Chapter Three
Judaism: Discovering Our Religious Roots
I) A People of the Promise
A) Like a Marriage Bond
B) God’s Covenant: A Special Bond with a Whole People
C) Our People, Our Family, Our Roots
D) The Need for a Sense of the Past
E) More Than Just History
II) The Beginnings of a People
A) Abraham, Father of a Biblical Faith
1. The Covenant Begins
2. The One God
B) Abraham’s Descendants, the Israelites
1. Patriarchs and Matriarchs
2. Joseph in Egypt
(Timeline of Biblical History)
III) From Slavery to Freedom
A) Moses, the People’s Greatest Leader
1. The Revelation of a God Yahweh
2. The Exodus: Escape from Slavery
3. The Passover Feast
B) In the Desert
1. The Sinai Covenant
2. A Law That Frees
3. Wandering for Forty Years
(The Ten Commandments)
IV) The Promised Land
A) Taking Over the Land
B) A Kingdom for the Israelites
1. The United Kingdom Under David
2. Things Break Down
3. Prophets: Calling the People Back to God
(Jeremiah, the Young Prophet)
V) Crushing Defeat and Painful Exile
A) The Babylonian Exile
B) Renewal in the Midst of Exile
1. A Sabbath for the Jews
2. People of the Book
a) Writing and compiling of the people’s stories.
b) The Book of Genesis
c) The meaning of the Creation stories
(Song of a Sorrowful People)
VI) After the Exile
A) The Faithful Practices of Judaism
B) A Series of Oppressors
1. The Greeks
2. The Romans
3. The Longing for a Messiah
4. Groups Among the Jews
5. What Happened Just After Jesus?
(Social Classes at the Time of Jesus)
C) Jesus: Fulfillment of the Longing for a Messiah
VII) A Refection on Judaism
Tuesday,October 19
1. Read and mark first section of this chapter.
2. Begin chart in back of spiral.
3. Review some key ideas, highlighted above.
4. Some reasons why the study of Judaism is worthwhile.
- It is a major world religion, a culture, the history of a great people.
- Abraham is the Patriarch of the three of the world's great religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
- As Christians, our salvation history begins in Judaism; a major part of our Sacred Writings, our Old Testament, are the Sacred Writings of Judaism.
- Jesus was a Jew. If we are going to really know and understand Jesus, his message and his teachings we need to know and understand the context of his life, which is Judaism.
- Many Christian Catholic practices are rooted in Judaism; many of our beliefs, our sacraments, our liturgies and liturgical calendar, our prayers and so much more.
5. End class by reading and marking last section of chapter “A Reflection on Judaism”
CHAPTER THREE REVIEW QUESTIONS
- Describe how the bond between God and a person of faith is like a marriage bond. How is God’s faithfulness different from the faithfulness of marriage partners?
- How is Judaism related to Christianity?
- What is Abraham’s story? Why is he considered so important in salvation history? Who are his descendants?
- How did the Israelites end up living in Egypt, what was their life like there, and why did they leave? What was their destination? What happened during the Exodus?
- What occurred on Mount Sinai? Why did the Israelites experience the Mosaic Law as freeing them rather than burdening them?
- What was the Israelites’ desert experience like? How long did it take them to reach the Promised Land? Describe an experience you have had in which hardships and even feeling the absence of God may ultimately have helped you trust God more deeply.
- Briefly describe three different factions of Jews who were active around the time of Jesus. What happened to the Jewish community after Jesus?
- Summarize the extraordinary features of Judaism throughout history that make Judaism “a light to the nations.” Also, what does the history of the Jews show about the qualities of God?
- Do not forget to read the boxes: "The Ten Commandments," "Jeremiah, the Young Prophet," "Song of a Sorrowful People" and "Social Classes at the Time of Jesus."
Key question of this chapter:
Why is it important for a Christian to know and understand Judaism?
This is a basic 3rd Quarter exam essay question.
vocabulary
| covenant | polytheism | monotheism | Israel | Yahweh | Exodus | Promised Land | Passover | Sinai Covenant | Law | Mosaic Law | Ten Commandments | patriarchs | Moses | Palestine | Holy Land | David | Solomon | Temple | prophets | Sabbath | Remnant | suffering servant | Messiah | Jesus | Pharisees | Sadducees | Zealots | Essenes | the poor