Important Figures
Abraham
Abraham was the founder of Judaism. The story of his life is recorded in Genesis, which is the first part of the Bible and the Torah. Abraham wasn't always called Abraham. During his early life he was called Abram. Abraham was born in Ur. Unlike the people of Ur, he believed in one God. Because of his different beliefs, he and his family left Ur and went to Canaan. God promised Abraham that Canaan would belong to him and his descendants. Abraham then made a covenant with God. As part of this covenant, God promised Abraham that he would have many descendants and his descendants would live in Canaan. In return, Abraham promised that he and his descendants would remain faithful to God. God also changed his name from Abram to Abraham, which means father of many nations. As a symbol of their covenant, God commanded Abraham to circumcise all males in his family. Abraham and his wife Sarah kept trying to have a child, but they were too old, but God didn't forget their covenant. When Abraham and Sarah were very old, God gave them a son. Their son's name was Isaac. When Isaac was young, God commanded Abraham to sacrifice Isaac. This was a tremendous test of his faith because Isaac was his only son, and the only son he would ever have. Abraham remembered his covenant and took Isaac to the top of a mountain and placed him on an altar. Just before he was about to kill Isaac, God told him to stop. Isaac was not sacrificed. Isaac went on to have children and start the fulfillment of God's promise to Abraham.
God
The Jews believe that their God created the universe and everything in it. God made a covenant with Abraham, and that covenant started Judaism. God promised the Jews a messiah and said that he would be a descendant of David.
Moses
Moses is one of the most important figures in Judaism because he lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt which was the beginning of the Israelites’ return to Canaan. When Moses was a baby, his mother put him in a basket and hid him in the Nile. The Egyptian princess found him and raised him with help from Moses’s mother. Moses killed an Egyptian man and fled Egypt. When he was away from Egypt, God talked to him through a burning bush. God told him to go back to Egypt and lead his people to the land that was promised to Abraham. Moses went back and told the pharaoh to let the Israelites go. The pharaoh refused and increased the amount of labor that the Israelites were forced to do. Then there were ten plagues that afflicted the Egyptians but not the Israelites. After the tenth plague, which killed the pharaoh’s son, the pharaoh decided to let the Israelites go. Shortly after making this decision, he changed his mind and sent his army after them. God led them to the Red Sea where he told Moses to raise his staff and part the sea. Moses did, and the Israelites walked through the area where the waters were parted. After all of them crossed the waters flowed back in and drowned the Egyptians. The Israelites departure from Egypt is called the Exodus. They spent the next forty years in the desert. When they were in the desert, Moses went up on mount Sinai and made a covenant with God. This covenant consisted of the Ten Commandments. The Israelites did make it to Canaan, but Moses did not.
King Solomon
Solomon was the son of David and was king of Israel. Solomon was responsible for the creation of the Temple and palace in Jerusalem. He divided Israel into 12 states. Solomon formed a close alliance with King Hiram of Tyre. They did a lot of peaceful trading with each other. Once Solomon died, there was unrest in Israel. He was a good king and one that created order in Israel when he was alive.
Isaac
Isaac was the only son of Abraham and Sarah. He married Rebecca and they had twins together. These twins were Jacob and Esau. Isaac is important to Judaism because he continued the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham.
Jacob
Jacob was the son of Isaac and the younger brother of Esau. He tricked Isaac into giving him his blessing. This made Esau very angry because he was supposed to get his father’s blessing because he was older. Jacob ran away from Esau and went to see his uncle. On the way to his uncle, God gave jacob a dream. God promised to protect and bless him and bring him home. He fell in love with his uncle’s daughter Rachel, but his uncle made him marry his older daughter Leah. After 20 years, he finally decided to return home. On the way home, God changed his name to Israel. Israel went on to have 12 sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel.
David
David was the second king of Israel and was arguably the best. He ruled Israel for about 40 years which is longer than any other king of Israel. When he was young, he attacked the Philistine giant Goliath who was about 10 feet tall. This famous story says that David attacked Goliath with only a sling and five stones. He shot a stone that hit Goliath’s head and killed him. David was a hero for this and became more popular. After the king of Judah, Saul, was killed in battle, David became king. After seven and a half years of ruling Judah, he was made king of all of Israel. During his rule, he conquered all of Israel’s neighboring threats. He united the people of Israel and made Jerusalem the capital. He made Jerusalem a sacred city by moving the Ark of the Covenant, which contained the tablets with Ten Commandments inscribed on them, to Jerusalem as well. When David died, his son Solomon became king. David is very important to Judaism because God promised that the Jews’ messiah would be a descendent of David. He was also important because he unified Israel and made Jerusalem the capital and a center of the Jewish faith. Jerusalem is still a the main city of Judaism today because of David.
Jesus
Christians believe that Jesus was the messiah that God had promised, but the Jews don’t. They believe that he was a blasphemer. Whether or not Jesus was their messiah, the Jews are still waiting for their messiah to come. Jesus is what separates Judaism from Christianity. The Jews believe that he was a human, not the messiah.