Page 386 - ILIAS ATHANASIADIS AKA RO1

Although set apart from other people, they believed God called on them to be a
“light to the Gentiles” and lead them to accept the God of Israel as the only

God.

An important part of Jewish Scripture was the Torah, or Pentateuch,
comprising five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and

Deuteronomy) that were believed to have been given to Moses by God.

For Jews and their spiritual descendants, those books contain God’s law,
which covers many aspects of ordinary life: it requires that males be
circumcised, regulates diet, mandates days of rest for humans and animals alike

(Sabbaths and festival days),

Requires pilgrimage and sacrifice, stipulates recompense and atonement
following transgression, and specifies impurities and required purification

before entry to the Temple.

Moreover, it provides both rules and principles for the treatment of other
people: for example, calling for the use of honest weights and measures in

trade and for “love” (that is, upright treatment) of both fellow Jews and
foreigners (Leviticus 19).

The laws governing worship (sacrifice, purification, admission to the Temple,

and the like) were similar to the religious laws of other people in the ancient
world.

Judaism was different because in most other cultures divine law covered only

such topics, but in Judaism it regulated not only worship but also daily life and
made every aspect of life a matter of divine concern.

Since both faith and practice were based firmly on the five books of Moses

modified slightly over time, they were shared by Jews all over the world, from
Mesopotamia to Italy and beyond.

The common features of Jewish faith and practice are reflected in the decrees

from various parts of the ancient world that allowed Jews to preserve their own
traditions, including monotheism, rest and assembly on the Sabbath, support of

the Temple, and dietary laws.