RELG 204 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Baal Shem Tov, Theodor Herzl, Shtetl
6 Sep 2016
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Lecture 1 tri-apartheid division: culture, ethnicity, religion these are the 3 factors the define people until the 20th century: fishman says this basically sticks together until modern times because people tried to separate them. Judaism starts with abraham: first patriarch, very strong faith in monotheism, he is the founder of monotheism (believe in one and only one g-d) there is not physicalize to g-d. 2000 bce (before common era before christ) for jews monotheism is connected to the rejection of idolatry in a pagan world. Problematic because monotheism does not ask to kill children. Isaac goes down to egypt and they gain a lot of followers. they become a large entity. the torah tells us that by the time the jews get to mount sinai, 3-4 million jews living in egypt at this time. they pose a threat to pharaoh and the way of egyptian life. g-d sends them a redeemer, moses, who leads them out of egypt.
