Judaism

Judaism
Classification	Abrahamic
Scripture	Hebrew Bible (TaNaKh)
Theology	6th century BCE
Region	Israel, Jewish Autonomous Oblast, diaspora (primarily USA)
Language	Hebrew (liturgical) Yiddish Ladino
Number of followers	14-15 million

Judaism is an Abrahamic and monotheistic religion dating back roughly 3,500 years; practiced by over 15 million people in primarily Israel and the United States. Followers of the faith are called Jews, although this term can also refer to atheists born to a Jewish family (secular Jews). Judaism has had large influences on other Abrahamic religions such as Christianity and Islam. It developed in ancient Israel in the southern Levant, but following persecution from the Roman Empire spread across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and even as far as China.

The most important Jewish text is the TaNaKh (תנ"ך), the canonical collection of ancient books on law, mythology, history and other writings. Its name is an acronym for the three section of the TaNaKh: Torah (תוֹרה) , Nevi'im (נביאים) and Ketuvim (כתובים). Other important texts include the Talmud and Shulchan Aruch. Jews worship a god called Yahweh.

History

Second Temple

Cyrus of the Achaemenid Empire allowed a group of Jewish exiles to travel to Palestine and installed them as the local ruling class. Judaism split into aristocratic sects that collaborated with the Persian rulers and radical sects led by the peasantry. When the Seleucid Empire attempted to replace Yahweh with the Greek god Zeus, the Jews rose up and formed an independent state in the Maccabaean Revolt.

Roman period

The Jews revolted against the Roman Empire in 66, 115, and 132 CE, and the Romans killed tens of thousands of them each time. The first revolt destroyed a revolutionary group inspired by Jesus, while his more conservative followers later formed Christianity. After the last revolt, the Jews became almost entirely a diaspora group.

Beliefs

Jewish identity