The History of Judaism and the Sabbath: Home

The religion of the Jewish people is Judaism. Judaism has more than 14 million followers throughout the world, more than a third of whom live in the United States. Many other Jews live in Israel, a country at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea.

Along with Christianity and Islam, Judaism is one of the three major monotheistic religions of the world. It shares with them the belief in one God who is the creator and ruler of the universe and the lord of human history. Of the three, Judaism is much the oldest. According to biblical tradition, the origins of the faith can be traced back at least 3,000 years to Abraham, the patriarch who is considered the father of the Jewish faith, and his descendants who formed the nation of Israel.

The Bible is an important book to both Jews and Christians. However, the Bible of Judaism is different from the Bible of Christianity, even though they include some of the same writings.

A synagogue is a place of worship for people of the Jewish religion. Jews also use synagogues as places to meet and study. Synagogues have played an important role in preserving the Jewish religion and culture throughout history.

Moses is a central figure in Judaism. He was the prophet who led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt. He also helped them form a special relationship with God. Moses is important to Christianity and Islam too because of his role in communicating God’s laws.

Judaism is one of the oldest religions of the world. It was founded around 2,000 B.C. when Abraham, considered the father of Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, decided to follow one God, Yahweh. He left his home in Ur, and traveled across what is now the Middle East.

During the period of early Judaism (6th century BCE - 70 CE), Judean religion began to develop ideas which diverged significantly from 10th-to-7th-centuries BCE Israelite and Judean religion. In particular, this period marks a significant movement towards monotheism, the codification of traditions central to religious identity (i.e. the Hebrew Bible), and new ideas regarding the worship of Yahweh.

The Sabbath is commanded by God
Every week religious Jews observe the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day, and keep its laws and customs.
The Sabbath begins at nightfall on Friday and lasts until nightfall on Saturday. In practical terms the Sabbath starts a few minutes before sunset on Friday and runs until an hour after sunset on Saturday, so it lasts about 25 hours.

In Judaism and Christianity, the Sabbath is the day of the week set aside for worship and rest. In Hebrew—the language of ancient Israel—the word is Shabbat, which comes from a term meaning “cease” or “rest.” The Jewish Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday and lasts until sunset on Saturday.

Shabbat is the most important day of the week for Jews, because it is a day on which we remember that God created the world and everything in it. God created the world in six days, but on the seventh day, Shabbat, He rested, and, like Him, we also rest on Shabbat. The name Shabbat comes from the root Shin-Bet-Taf, which means ‘to end’ or ‘to rest’. In English, Shabbat is known as ‘Sabbath’ although Jews mostly use the Hebrew name, Shabbat (also pronounced ‘Shabbos’ by Ashkenazi Jews). Shabbat is so important that it is the only ritual that is mentioned in the Ten Commandments.

Shabbat is the name of the day of rest in Judaism. Shabbat happens on the seventh day (Saturday) of every week. In Judaism, the day is defined with the cycle of the sun: The day begins and ends at sunset, not midnight. So the seventh day of the week, Shabbat, begins Friday when the sun goes down, and ends Saturday night after it gets dark. The idea of Shabbat comes from the Bible's story of Creation. In that story, God creates the Universe and everything on Earth for six days. On the seventh day, He stops work. In the same way, Jews work on the first six days of the week and rest on the seventh day, Shabbat.