The Sunday Mail
JUDAISM is one of the oldest religions in the world and it shares some beliefs with other world religions like monotheism, Christianity and Islam although there are sharp differences between the faiths in certain areas, a Harare based Judaism adherent has said.
An official from the Hebrew congregation who declined to be named said the religion uses the Hebrew Bible as its sacred text and it teaches several doctrines — such as those about God, the Messiah, human beings, and the universe — which are very important to Jews.
He added that many of the world’s religions have hope in a future heroic figure who will rescue the righteous, judge the wicked, and restore peace to the world (Krishna in Hinduism, Maitreya in Buddhism and the Second Coming of Christ in Christianity). “In Judaism, this figure is the Messiah of whom Christians say is Jesus. Jewish sacred texts and literature have little to say about what happens after death, which may seem surprising to non-Jews since the sacred texts of Christianity and Islam, both of which have their foundations in Judaism, elaborate rather fully about the afterlife,” said the official.
He added that Judaism has no creed and beliefs of individual Jews.
“The great twelfth-century Rabbi Maimonides gathered ‘13 Articles of Faith’ that he believed every Jew ought to adhere to, and this is often used as a summary of core Jewish beliefs,” he added.
He elaborated that the term “Jewish” can be used to describe a race and a culture, rather than a religion.
“So some who identify themselves as Jewish may have little interest in the beliefs of Judaism. In Judaism, ultimate reality is a single, all-powerful God.
“It is this belief that made the Jews unique among other ancient Semitic peoples and that became the legacy Judaism has passed on to the entire world,” he said.
