The history of judaism
The Jewish Bible is centered around historical narrative, and most Jewish holidays are meant to connect modern Jews with the historical ancestors and traditions of the religion. Judaism is said to be traced back all the way to the creation of mankind. It is more aimed that the Jewish origin began with Abraham and the Hebrews. In reference to the Torah, Abraham's home was the northern Mesopotamian town of Harran It is said that under God's command, Abraham migrated to the region of Canaan (modern day Israel and Lebanon)
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The holocaust
One of the most historical moments of the Judaism religion is the Holocaust. During the 1920's and 1930's, anti-semitism was common in Europe. Adolf Hitler arose to power in 1933 as the German chancellor and head of the Nazi party. Hitler began a prolonged wave of anti-Jewish activity that ended in many, many sufferings. The German chancellor believed a number of irrational notions, which included a theory of racial classes imagining Jews and Gypsies to be subhuman polluters of a pure but mythical Aryan race. Hitler was a man who strived for both racial purity and political revenge. There was Nazi control all throughout Holland, Norway, northern France, and Czechoslovakia after the annexation of Austria and the invasion of Poland in 1939. As a result of the Nazi domination, the persecution of the Jews began to arise. There were some Jews able to emigrate, mainly North America, but those who could not were defenseless, and were trapped once World War II was declared. Hitler had many plans to exterminate the European Jews, and made them all wear yellow stars in public in order to identify them. The Jews were divided into two groups of people strong enough to work, while the rest, who were mostly women, children, the sick, and elderly, were to be killed immediately. First, these people were shot to death, but then matters went even further with gas chambers and crematoria were meant to kill them and incinerate their bodies. The group of Jews who were kept as workers were kept alive, but lived in horrifying conditions by starving, partly clothed, and attacked by all kinds of vermin and disease; therefore, very few survived. By the end of World War II in 1945, about 12 million Jews had died in concentration camps. The Holocaust is one of the greatest crimes ever committed against humanity.
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ANNE FRANK
One of the most well-known figures of Jewish history is Anne Frank. She was a teenage girl who she and her family were forced to hide from the domination of the Nazis throughout World War II. During her time in hiding, she kept a diary of her experience. Frank wrote about different things, such as the beauty of nature, being in hiding, and even falling in love with the son of the other family they shared their hiding place with. In August of 1944, Nazi soldiers found the hiding place, and took everyone away to a concentration camp; everyone, except Frank's father, died in March of 1945. |
Citations:
- History of Judaism. Religion Fact. http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/history.htm. Accessed: 22 March 2015
- Molloy, Michael. Experiencing the World's Religions: Tradition, Challenge, and Change. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill Higher Education, 2010. Print.