Religion

Judaism

Sacred bookThe Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible: Torah, Prophets and Writings), interpreted in light of the Talmud (a compilation of rabbinic discussions and interpretations).
OriginAround 2000 BC, with God's covenant with Abraham, formalized as national law with Moses at Sinai, around 1446 BC according to biblical chronology (1 Kings 6:1).
FounderAbraham (patriarch of the covenant) and Moses (mediator of the law), with no single founder in the sense of one person who created the religion.
15.8 million
Followers worldwide
0.2%
Of world population
Israel
Where most live
Where most live
United States 6.9M followers Israel 6.8M followers France 603K followers Palestine 476K followers Canada 429K followers England 293K followers Argentina 230K followers Chile 152K followers Australia 130K followers Tunisia 87K followers Hungary 86K followers Belarus 46K followers Uruguay 28K followers Belize 4K followers Wales 3K followers Monaco 1K followers Gibraltar 640 followers Cayman Islands 182 followers

Estimate: the religion's percentage in each country multiplied by the country's population.

What it is
Overview

Judaism is the oldest of the monotheistic religions and the historical root of the Christian faith. It has its origins in God’s covenant with Abraham, shaped by the law given to Moses and by the prophets of Israel, and today it is professed by about 15.8 million people worldwide, roughly 0.2% of the world’s population.

Israel, with about 7.2 million Jews, and the United States, with about 6.3 million, are home to the great majority of the world’s Jews. The rest live in communities scattered across Europe, the Americas and other parts of the world, the result of centuries of diaspora, migration and, in many cases, persecution.

For Christianity, Judaism holds a unique place: the Hebrew Scriptures are part of the biblical canon itself, and Jesus, his apostles and the early church were all Jewish. Even so, centuries of history brought distance and, at times, hostility between the two communities of faith.

Today Messianic Jewish communities exist in many parts of the world, including Israel, where Jews believe in Jesus as the promised Messiah without giving up their Jewish identity. It is a small movement, but a significant one, in a dialogue that spans millennia.

Pillars and practices
1
Keeping the Sabbath
The weekly day of rest, from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, set apart for rest from everyday activities, for prayer and for family gatherings in remembrance of creation and of the deliverance from Egypt.
2
Kosher dietary laws
A set of rules (kashrut) that defines which foods may be eaten and how they must be prepared, including the ban on pork and on all shellfish and other seafood (of water creatures, only fish with fins and scales are allowed) and the separation of meat and dairy.
3
Daily prayer
In observant traditions, prayer is said three times a day (morning, afternoon and evening), often following set liturgies gathered in the prayer book (siddur).
4
Lifelong study of the Torah
Studying the sacred texts and rabbinic interpretations is seen as an ongoing spiritual duty, practiced throughout life, alone or with a study partner (chavruta).
5
Bar and bat mitzvah
The rite of passage that marks religious adulthood, at thirteen for boys (bar mitzvah) and at twelve or thirteen for girls (bat mitzvah), when they become personally responsible for keeping the commandments.
Beliefs and practices
What is believed
Strict and exclusive monotheism
Belief in one God, incorporeal and indivisible, is the very core of the Jewish faith, classically expressed in the Shema prayer: "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one" (Deuteronomy 6:4).
The covenant (brit) between God and the people of Israel
Jews believe they were chosen by God for a covenant relationship that involves both election and the responsibility to live by the divine law and be a witness among the nations.
The Torah as a living law
The law given to Moses at Sinai is not seen as abolished but as a path to be continually studied, interpreted and lived out in daily practice, adapted to each generation through rabbinic tradition.
Waiting for a Messiah who has not yet come
In the traditional Jewish view, the Messiah is a human deliverer still to come, who will bring universal peace and restoration to Israel, a belief that differs directly from the Christian belief that Jesus is already the promised Messiah.
Ethical responsibility and repairing the world
The concept of tikkun olam, repairing the world, expresses the Jewish duty to act with social justice and care for one's neighbor as a practical part of the life of faith.
A variety of movements within Judaism
Today there are different movements, such as Orthodox, Conservative and Reform Judaism, which differ in how strictly they observe traditional law but share the same historical and textual roots.
Dates and practices
Shabbat
The weekly day of rest, from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, the most frequently recurring sacred time in the Jewish calendar.
Rosh Hashanah
The Jewish New Year, marked by the sound of the shofar (a ram's horn) and by ten days of reflection and repentance leading up to Yom Kippur.
Yom Kippur
The Day of Atonement, considered the holiest day of the Jewish calendar, devoted to fasting, prayer and repentance for the sins of the past year.
Pesach
The Jewish Passover, which recalls the exodus of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt, celebrated with the seder, a ritual meal that retells the story of deliverance.
How they live
Keeping the Sabbath
The family gathers for a special meal on Friday evening, with the lighting of candles and traditional blessings, and refrains from work until sunset on Saturday.
Eating kosher
This involves strictly separating utensils and foods for meat and for dairy, and avoiding pork and shellfish (only fish with fins and scales are eaten), followed with different degrees of strictness depending on the family's tradition.
Wearing the kippah and other symbols
Many Jewish men wear the kippah, a small skullcap, as a sign of reverence for God, and some use the tallit (prayer shawl) and tefillin (small boxes containing passages from the Torah) during prayer.
The central role of the synagogue and community
The synagogue is the place of communal prayer, study and community life, led by a rabbi who serves as a spiritual guide and interpreter of the law rather than as a priest in the classical sense.
Emphasis on education and study
Religious education begins early in childhood, with learning Hebrew and the sacred texts, and study remains valued as a spiritual practice throughout adult life.
Brief history
Around 2000 BC
God makes a covenant with Abraham, promising to make him the father of a great nation, an event regarded as the origin of the Jewish people and faith.
Around 1446 BC
The exodus from Egypt and the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai, which formalized the covenant as national law for the people of Israel. The date follows biblical chronology (1 Kings 6:1); many scholars suggest the 13th century BC.
Around 960 BC
King Solomon builds the First Temple in Jerusalem, centralizing the worship and sacrifices of the people of Israel.
586 BC
The Babylonians destroy the First Temple and the Jewish exile in Babylon begins, which also marks the start of the diaspora (the scattering of Jews outside their homeland).
516 BC
The rebuilt temple is completed and dedicated by those who returned from exile, beginning the Second Temple period.
AD 70
The Romans destroy the Second Temple after the Jewish revolt, an event that profoundly transforms Jewish religious practice, shifting the center of the life of faith from the temple to the synagogue and the study of the law.
1st to 19th centuries AD
The Jewish diaspora, which had existed since the exile in Babylon, grows and spreads across Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, with communities going through periods of tolerance and periods of persecution over the centuries.
1939 to 1945
The Holocaust, the persecution and systematic extermination of about six million Jews by the Nazi regime, one of the most defining tragedies of modern Jewish history.
1948
The founding of the State of Israel, an event of great historical and religious significance for the Jewish people after nearly two thousand years of diaspora.
How to engage in dialogue
Countries where it is the majority religion 1
Israel
Unreached peoples of this religion 56 in total
+1

French Jew

352K people
4 unreached locations

+7

Jew

244K people
10 unreached locations

What to pray for
Intercession
For the Jewish people around the world, that they may recognize in Jesus the Messiah promised in the Scriptures they already hold.
For Messianic Jewish communities, for courage and unity amid the isolation they often face.
For Israel, for peace in a region marked by conflict, and for Jewish and Palestinian families affected by war.
For Christians who build relationships with Jewish communities, for sensitivity, respect and genuine love.
For reconciliation between Jews and Christians, overcoming centuries of distance and mutual mistrust.

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