Judaism : Introduction To The Region

“In the beginning,” the Bible relates, “God created the heavens and the earth.” Nineteen generations and a flood later, Judaism began with a man called Avram. According to Genesis 17, God appeared to Avram when he was 99 years old, telling him “thou shall be the father of a multitude of nations” and dubbing him Avraham (Abraham), from Ab, “father,” and raham, Arabic for “multitude.” The covenant between God and Avraham was sealed with Avraham’s circumcision, and the covenant between God and the Jewish people is symbolically reaffirmed with the ritual circumcision (brit mila) of Jewish males when they are eight days old.

Avraham’s descendants eventually migrated to Egypt to escape famine, but were bound into servitude. After the exodus from Egypt, the Hebrews spent 40 years wandering in the desert, during which time God gave the Torah to Moshe (Moses) at Mt. Sinai. In approximately 1200 BC, the Hebrews settled in the land of Canaan.