Judaism is the religion of the Jews, who make up only about 0.2% of the world's population. Despite a small direct following, it is considered one of the world's major religions because it is the oldest of the Abrahamic religions - monotheistic religions which originated in the Middle East and trace their relationship with God to the ancient patriarch Abraham. Abrahamic religions include Christianity, Islam, and Ba'hai, with total following exceeding one half of the world's population.
Judaism developed through several distinct historic periods. Its origins are in the period of the patriarchs (first half of 2nd millenium BCE), when a nomadic tribe migrated from Mesopotamia to Syria and Palestine and developed a belief in One God who had personally confronted the tribe's patriarch, Abraham, bestowing special favors as well as special responsibilities on the tribe. Abraham was followed by Isaac and Jacob, after whom the tribe, suffering draught and famine, migrated to Egypt and became enslaved. Several generations later, a powerful leader, Moses, is believed to have led the Hebrews (as the tribe was called by then) from Egypt into the promised land of Canaan (Palestine), and to have given them the law that was revealed to him by God. Following the death of Moses, the Hebrews conquered Canaan and established a kingdom there around 1000 BCE. About a century later, the kingdom split in two, the northern kingdom of Israel, and the southern kingdom of Judea. It was in Jerusalem, in the southern kingdom, where the Hebrew religion, centered around the Temple and guarded by the priests (cohens) from the tribe of Levi, matured into Judaism. The name "Jews" properly applies to the Hebrews from that period on.
Judea, the longer lasting of the two kingdoms, was conquered by the Babylonians in early 6th century BCE, the Temple was destroyed, and the Jews forced out of their land, most of them ending up in Babylon. This exile was a key period in Jewish history, when the need to keep their religious and ethnic identity, as well as to explain their misfortune, led to systematic recording of the sacred texts and gave rise to the tradition of their scrupulous study, discussion, and interpretation.
When Persians conquered Babylon at the end of the 6th century, they allowed the Jews to return to Palestine, gave them autonomy, and allowed them to rebuild the Temple, but the Jewish state did not rise to its former strength and rebuilding of the Temple took a long time. It was finally conquered (with the rest of the Middle East) by Alexander the Great in 4th century BCE, ushering the Hellenistic period. The religion of the Jews was firmly established, they enjoyed a brief period of renewed statehood in 2nd century BCE, and Judaism spread to other Hellenistic (Greek-influenced) areas. By some estimates, at the end of 1st century BCE, about 10% of the people of the Mediterranean basin were Jews.
This period of relative autonomy and freedom ended with the Roman conquest around the beginning of the Common Era. The Romans did not directly repress the religion of the conquered peoples, but they were insensitive to local traditions. This caused resentment among the Jews, but they were themselves divided into several sects at the time. One of those sects later broke away from Judaism and became Christianity. Eventually, resentment grew into full-blown rebellion that lasted from 66 to 73 CE and ended in defeat, with many Jews killed and the Temple of Jerusalem destroyed. After another rebellion, from 132 to 135 CE, the Romans forced most Jews out of Palestine, an event that drastically altered the character of the Jewish nation, from geographically concentrated to scattered around the world.
Without the Temple, Jewish worship changed from sacrificial rites to communal prayer and discussion of religious texts. The role of priests was completely assumed by rabbis - learned Jews who were also teachers, religious scholars, and physicians. This led to decentralization that enabled Jewish religion and tradition to survive in isolated communities, but also caused significant differences in religious beliefs and practices to arise among the Jews.
Despite differences, two main texts (or collections of texts), the Tanakh and the Talmud, are considered sacred by virtually all religious Jews.
The Tanakh is also known as the Scriptures or the Hebrew Bible, and best known to Christians as the Old Testament. It was written down, in its final version, during and immediately after the exile of Jews in Babylon, in 6th century BCE, but parts of it are rooted in much older tradition. Judaism views the Scriptures as consisting of three major parts: Torah (Law), Nevi'im (Prophetic Books), and Ketuvim (Writings). Torah is also known under its Greek name, Pentateuch, meaning "five books". Nevi'im consist of historical accounts of the Jewish conquest of Canaan and the rise and fall of the Jewish kingdom, as well as the books of 12 prophets before the Babylonian exile. Ketuvim include Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Lamentations, Chronicles, and the books of Job, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, and Nehemiah.
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