School Project on Judaism

Question

Dear asktherabbi.org,

Hello! I am a 16 year old non-jewish girl who has questions about Judaism. I was assigned to do a project on Judaism for an AP World Studies course that I am taking but I don’t know much about this religion. I was able to answer most of my questions through websites like Khan Academy, humangeography725, and more but I have a few that I can not find the answers for. I ask these questions with FULL respect and a genuine heart. I am very unaware of what is / isn’t offensive in Judaism so if I have said anything disrespectful, please correct me. I’ve left the questions below and I have provided context to my questions in hopes of making them easier to answer.

Context of the question: I was learning about Abraham, according to my sources, most people who follow Judaism believe Abraham was the first and only Jewish person to see God. After seeing God, Abraham was inspired to preach Judaism to his children. When his children matured, they went to spread Judaism into Egypt.

Actual Questions:

Q1: What did God say to Abraham when Abraham saw God?

Q2: Did God’s word inspire Abraham to spread Judaism? Or did Abraham spread it with no outside influence?

Q3: Why did Abraham’s children spread Judaism as well? Did Abraham tell them to?

Q4: Why did Abraham’s children spread Judaism in Egypt out of all places? Weren’t Jewish people enslaved in Egypt?

 

That’s all! Thank you so much for answering if you have. 🙂

Sincerely, The 16 year old Highschooler

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    Q1. The Torah relates that the first time that God spoke to Abraham was to tell him to leave his homeland and to travel to an unknown destination. He would finally know which country he was supposed to settle in, after God would tell him.

    Q2. The Rabbis teach that until the age of seventy-five, Abraham spread the Word of God to all those he met, without ever having been exposed to God’s Presence. He found God through intellectually examining the physical world and coming to the realization that there must be a Creator and Sustainer to the world. It was that message that he spread to everyone who would listen to him. There is only one God who Creates and Sustains.

    Q3. Abraham never told his son Isaac to continue in his ways and teach the concept of Monotheism to others. The Rabbis teach that Isaac was a very different personality to his father. Isaac was intensely spiritual and he had very little connection to the physical world.

    Q4. Abrahams’s descendants didn’t actually go to Egypt to teach the concept of Monotheism to the Egyptians. They travelled to Egypt in search of food and also in search of their brother Joseph who they had sold into slavery many years earlier. What is true, however, is that Egypt was the center of the discovered world at the time and it was certainly a very fitting place for them to try and teach Monotheism.

    Good luck with your project!

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team