History

Judaism is around 3500 years old. The history of Judaism is inseparable from the history of Jews themselves.

The early part of the story is told in the Hebrew Bible.

Picture shows detail from Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur by Maurycy Gottlieb, 1878.©

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History of Judaism

An overview about the history of Judaism, from its beginnings until the present day.

The First Covenant

The covenant between God and the Jewish people is a thread running throughout the early parts of the Bible, and one of the vital pillars of Judaism.

Abraham

Jews regard Abraham as the first Patriarch of the Jewish people. The story of Judaism begins when God promised him that he would be the father of a great people.

The Second Covenant

The covenant that God gave at Mount Sinai reinforced the covenant that God had given to Abraham.

Moses

The father of the Jewish people who received the Ten Commandments from God.

Joshua

Joshua is the Bible's most famous warrior. He is remembered for destroying the walls of Jericho using only trumpets.

Joseph

Joseph was sold into slavery but managed to become advisor to the Egyptian Pharaoh because of his gift for interpreting dreams.

David

David was the first king in Jerusalem whose reign was later looked back on as a golden era. He is known both as a great fighter and as the source of poems and songs, some of which are collected in the book of Psalms.

Isaiah

Very little is known about the prophet Isaiah. He is thought to have lived in Jerusalem, have access to the royal court and to have been well-informed about affairs of state.

The Holocaust

Over 11 million people died in the systematic genocide of the Jewish people carried out by the Third Reich.

York pogrom, 1190

Before the Jews were expelled from England in 1290, a particularly intense sequence of pogroms - anti-Jewish massacres - took place.

Readmission of Jews to Britain in 1656

During 2006 Jewish communities throughout the country will be celebrating one of the most remarkable turning points in English history-the anniversary of their re-admission into Britain.

Expulsion of Jews from France in 1306

During the first half of the 13th century in France the attitude of the Church towards Jews hardened and on 22 July, 1306 King Philip IV expelled all Jews from his kingdom.

Judaism and slavery

The Torah does not promote slavery, but neither does it condemn it. The Torah laid down laws that regulated the practice so it became, in theory, more humane.

British Jews and the Dream of Zion

Jonathan Freedland explores the complex relationship between British Jews and the Jewish homeland on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the creation of the state of Israel.