Published in the United States of America by Cherry Lake Publishing Ann Arbor Michigan www cherrylakepublishing com Content Adviser Alexander Kocar Princeton University Reading Adviser Marla Conn MS Ed Literacy specialist Read-Ability Inc Photo Credits goldnetz Shutterstock cover 1 Nicku Shutterstock 5 Olan Shutterstock 6 Lawrle Cate Flickr 8 Renata Sedmakova Shutterstock 11 Freedom Studio Shutterstock 12 Everett Historical Shutterstock 14 Peter Hermes Furian Shutterstock 16 CREATISTA Shutterstock 19 Robert Hoetink Shutterstock 21 Golden Pixels LLC Shutterstock 22 Lucky Business Shutterstock 24 Monkey Business Images Shutterstock 27 francesco de marco Shutterstock 28 Copyright 2017 by Cherry Lake Publishing All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means without written permission from the publisher Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names Marsico Katie 1980 author Title Judaism by Katie Marsico Description Ann Arbor Michigan Cherry Lake Publishing 2017 Series Global citizens world religions Identifiers LCCN 2016033584 ISBN 9781634721608 hardcover ISBN 9781634722261 pdf Classification LCC BM573 M37 2017 DDC 296 dc23 LC record available at https lccn loc gov 2016033584 ISBN 9781634722926 pbk ISBN 9781634723589 ebook Includes bibliographical references and index Cherry Lake Publishing would like to acknowledge the work of the Partnership for 21st Century Learning Please visit www p21 org for more information Printed in the United States of America Corporate Graphics ABOUT THE AUTHOR Katie Marsico is the author of more than 200 children’s books She lives in a suburb of Chicago Illinois with her husband and children
TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1 History Roots of the Religion 4 CHAPTER 2 Geography Mapping How Faith Formed 10 CHAPTER 3 Civics Organization and Ideas 18 CHAPTER 4 Economics Funding a Faith 26 THINK ABOUT IT 30 FOR MORE INFORMATION 31 GLOSSARY 32 INDEX 32
CHAPTER 1 History Roots of the Religion Since people began recording history they have written about the idea of a power greater than themselves Thousands of years later various beliefs in God or sometimes several gods still shape human culture Religion is the system people use to organize such beliefs Religion also standardizes ceremonies and rules for worship God’s Agreement with Abraham Judaism or the Jewish faith is one of the world’s oldest surviving monotheistic religions Monotheism is the belief that there is only one true God The history and legends about the Jewish people stretch back to about the 20th century bce and were recorded in writing An important figure in the founding of Judaism was a man named Abraham who lived in the ancient Middle East 4 21st century skills library
The ancient Hebrews were wanderers before settling in Canaan According to Jewish scriptures also called the Old Testament Abraham was righteous and didn’t worship any false gods or idols God therefore chose to form a covenant or agreement with him As part of their agreement God ordered Abraham to journey into Canaan This historic region was located in southwestern Asia along the eastern part of the Mediterranean Sea near modern-day Israel God told Abraham that he would become the father of a holy nation within the land of Canaan In addition God promised to Global Citizens World Religions 5 55
