Judaism is a monotheistic religion. Jews believe there is one God who created and rules the world. This God is omnipotent (all powerful), omniscient (all knowing) and omnipresent (in all places at all times). God is also just and merciful.

It is believed that each person is created in the image of one God. Therefore, all people are created equal.

Furthermore, our likeness to God is in our intellectual ability to understand. Judaism believes that people have freewill and are responsible for the choices made.

Judaism is an ethical religion. When the Israelites accepted the Ten Commandments from God at Mount Sinai, they committed themselves to following a code of law which regulates both how they worship God and how they treat other people.

Scriptures

The word “torah” in Hebrew means law, doctrine, teaching, custom, theory, instruction, system, definition or designation in English.

The Hebrew term Sefer Torah (”book of Torah”) refers to a formal written scroll of the five books, traditionally written by a specially trained Torah scribe under very strict requirements.

The term Torah is sometimes also used in the general sense to also include both Judaism’s written law and oral law, encompassing the entire spectrum of authoritative Jewish religious teachings throughout history, including the Mishnah, the Talmud, the Midrash, and more.

The five books of the Torah are:

• Genesis
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy

Traditional Jews and Christians believe that their modern theological views come from the Bible which is considered “God’s living word.” For both Jews and Christians, the Hebrew Bible forms the base upon which everything else is built. The traditional Jewish and Christian faithful believe that God is “single and unique” and the only member of his species because they believe the Bible tells them so. According to the official view, while subsequent understandings-such as the Talmud and New Testament-may offer greater inspiration for their respective traditions, these additional truths enhance and explain the Hebrew Bible, not contradict it.

From a believing Judaic perspective, “the Bible is the core, the very heart and soul of the total Jewish spiritual heritage.” Holtz suggested: “Jewish literature…should be seen as a kind of vast inverted pyramid. The Bible is at the base…” Likewise, traditional Christians accept the Hebrew Bible as authoritative as well. One Evangelical Protestant has said: “…the Bible has a real authority in itself as the authentic embodiment of God’s self-disclosure.”