Judaism Today (Part 2)

Our quote for today is from Anne Graham Lotz. She said, "Abraham is such a fascinating figure. Three world religions -- Judaism, Christianity, and Islam -- all claim him as a patriarch. He was raised in a religious home. And yet he rejected religion in order to pursue a personal relationship with God."

In this podcast, we are making our way through Garry R. Morgan's book, "Understanding World Religions in 15 Minutes a Day."

"It is impossible to understand modern Judaism without knowing the events and experiences of the Jewish people since the time of Moses. In its number of followers, Judaism is among the smallest of the world's living religions, with slightly more than fourteen million adherents globally, yet it exerts a proportionally larger influence on world affairs today, in part because of the modern state of Israel, formed in 1948.

"Many people, particularly Christians familiar with the Old Testament—the Hebrew Scriptures—think of Judaism in terms of what they've read in Exodus or Deuteronomy. Therefore, we must note that modern Judaism is Rabbinic, or Talmudic. Without a temple or sacrificial system, much of the Law cannot be followed. Over many centuries, influential rabbis have reflected and written on how to practice the Jewish faith under changed circumstances. The Talmud is the collection of those reflections and the basis for modern Judaism.

"Jewish life today is primarily lived out in the home and secondarily in the synagogue. Practicing Judaism is more about daily life than about specific beliefs or formal rituals, although these do exist..."