Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people. Hebrew bible is the holy book of Judaism. This bible describes Jews as “God’s chosen people.” Let’s take a look at some of the interesting facts about Judaism below.

Fact 1) Judaism is one of the oldest religions in the world – It is one of the oldest living religions in the world. Also, this was the first religion based on monotheism. If we trace the origin of Judaism, our quest will end in Abraham. Notably, it was the first religion based on ethical monotheism. Judaism played a great role in the development of Islam and Christianity. Also, it made a huge impact on western civilization – Christianity. When we take the case of all of the major Western religions, we can see that all of them found their roots in Judaism.

Fact 2) Judaism is the only religion that has lost and regained its holy land – The movement was referred to as ‘Zionism’. The movement got its name from the Mount Zion in Jerusalem, a symbol of Jewish homeland. This idea has been there ever since the Biblical times. The references of this movement can be found in the book of Genesis. The ancient land mentioned in this book is now situated in the border of present-day Israel and Palestine.

Fact 3) Hebrew is the original language of Judaism and it is still used by Jews – Jewish Bible was written in Hebrew language. Jewish Bible had significant cultural and religious impact thereafter. This is considered to be one of the world’s most dazzling literary works. Hebrew is unique in many ways. First and foremost, it is a language that boasts of 3,000 years of history. Though there are significant differences between modern and classical Hebrew, learning one language will make it easy to learn the other one. Hebrew is the primary language of Israel, one of the leading high-tech economies in the world.

Fact 4) Jews men are supposed to wear a skullcap named Kipa – This skullcap is also known as Yarmulke. It’s a small dish-shaped cap, which men wear to fulfill a requirement quoted in the Talmud. According to Talmud, wearing the skullcap is an act of piety. The word Yarmulke also means “awe of the king”. According to Shulchan Aruch, it is an important custom they should follow at the time of prayer.

Fact 5) Jews Are forbidden to eat foods that are unclean – Jewish people are supposed to follow strict dietary laws. The term Kosher (Kashrut in Hebrew) explains the dietary laws for Jews. They are not supposed to eat foods that are considered to be “unclean”, according to Torah.

Fact 6) Orthodox Jews are supposed to follow 613 commandments outlined in the Torah – As we all know, Christianity has only 10 commandments. But when it comes to Jews, they are supposed to follow all these 613 commandments, given in the Torah.

Fact 7) Jewish children will become responsible for their actions once they become 13 – According to Jewish holy books, Jewish children will become responsible for their actions once they turn 13. Usually, this is celebrated with a ceremony. They celebrate the transition from childhood to adulthood with a celebration. Boys become bar mitzvah while girls become bat mitzvah when they turn 13.

Fact 8) The seventh day of the week is the Sabbath for Jews – For Jews, Sabbath means a day of rest. This is significant because G-d rested after six days of creating the world.

Fact 9) Jews have a numerology system called Gematria – They assign numerical value to letters with this system.

Fact 10) Ancient Jewish court comprised of 71 rabbis – This ancient chief court of law was referred to as Sanhedrin.