Jews believe that God has given them a special job which is to repair the world. Their job is to make the world a better place with more good in it. They must use the things in the world to increase good and come closer to God. They call this “"tikkun olam"” – repairing the world. Jews see themselves as God’s partner and that they must repair the world in any way they can – to find ways to lessen suffering of people and animals, to make more peace, bring respect between people and protect the earth’s environment from destruction.
Jews do not try to convince other people to believe in Judaism. Jews believe they have a special job to show the world that God exists, but people do not have to be Jewish to follow God. All people can serve God by following the Seven Commandments (rules) given to Noah. But, Judaism accepts people who choose to change their religion to Judaism.
Jews believe that God tells them in the Torah the way of life that they must follow. The Torah says God wants the people of Israel to walk in His ways, to love Him, and to serve Him, and to keep God’s commandments (Deut. 10:12–13). Actions are more important than beliefs and beliefs must be made into actions.
These actions are called “"mitzvot"” in Hebrew (singular: a "mitzvah" מִצְוָה). Sometimes they are called “laws,” "rules" or “commandments”. Many people think of a mitzvah as "a good act," or "a good thing to do." There are 613 "mitzvot" in the Torah. Jews believe that the Torah gives "mitzvot" for all people; all people must keep seven laws that were taught to Noah and his children after the flood. The Jews must keep 613 mitzvot, which are listed in the Torah. The rabbis counted 365 "mitzvot" that Jews must not do (negative "mitzvot"), and 248 "mitzvot" that Jews must do (positive "mitzvot"). Some "mitzvot" are for everyday life, and some are only for special times, such as Jewish holidays. Many of the 613 "mitzvot" are about the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and cannot be done now, since the Temple was destroyed.
Some of the "mitzvot" are about how people must act to other people. For example, they must give charity to a poor person, or help a person who is in danger. They must not steal or lie. These are ethical and moral "mitzvot".
Some "mitzvot" are about how people must act towards God. For example, they must respect God’s name, or not work on the Sabbath. These are religious or ritual "mitzvot". Jews believe that God tells them to do both ethical and religious acts.
Jews see "mitzvot" as acts that sanctify – bring holiness – to the world and bring people and the world closer to God. Jews do the "mitzvot" to sanctify the physical world and the things in it, such as food and drink, clothing, and natural activities such as sex, work, or seeing beautiful sights. Before doing many acts, such as eating, Jews say a blessing – a short prayer – that God makes and gives a person the things that they need for life. In Judaism, life is most holy and important. A Jew must stop doing other "mitzvot" of the Torah to help save another person’s life.
Jews believe that they must do the "mitzvot" with happiness and joy because the Bible says “Serve God with joy; come before God with singing” (Psalms 100:2). Doing a "mitzvah" helps a person come close to God and that makes the person happy. A group of Jews called the Hasidim say this is the best way to live. They say that worrying takes people away from joy and they will not see the beauty and good in the world.
Many "mitzvot" in the Torah are about the Land of Israel. The Talmud and later books call these "mitzvot" “commandments connected to the Land” because Jews can only do them in the Land of Israel. For example, Jews give gifts to the poor or the priests from their fields every year, take fruit or animals to the Temple in Jerusalem, and must stop working on the land every seven years (the “shmittah” – sabbatical year).
The Land of Israel is holy in Judaism. A Jewish belief is that God created the Earth from Mount Moriah in Jerusalem in the Land of Israel, and He is always closest to this land. Jews believe that this land is where God told the Jewish people to build a society to serve Him, and many "mitzvot" (commandments) in the Torah are about the Land of Israel.
The Jewish people believe their history as a nation begins with Abraham. The story of Abraham in the Torah begins when God tells Abraham to leave his country. He promises Abraham and his descendants a new home in the land of Canaan. This is now known as the Land of Israel. It is named after Abraham's grandson, Jacob, who was also called Israel and who was the father of the twelve tribes. This is where the name “Land of Israel” comes from. The land is also called “the Promised Land” because in the Torah, God promises to give the land to the children of Abraham (, , , ).
The rabbis of the Talmud understood from the Torah () that it is a “mitzvah” for Jews to live in the land of Israel. They saw living outside of Israel as not natural for a Jew. Jews often called the land outside of Israel "galut." This is usually translated as "diaspora" (a place where people are scattered), but the word more closely means "exile".
The story of leaving Egypt, called the Exodus, is very important in the way the Jewish people understand the world. The Torah tells how God took a group of slaves, the Israelites, from slavery, and tells them how to be His partner to build the world. Jews see this story as a model for the whole world. In the future, the whole world will change, and all the people of the world will serve the one God. This will be God’s kingdom on Earth. They believe the whole of Jewish history, and world history, is part of this process.
The prophets taught that God would send a person to the world who would help all the people of the world see that God is the maker, king of the world and has supreme power. This person is called the Messiah. The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word "mashiah", which means "the anointed one". The Book of Isaiah says the Messiah will be a just king who will unite the Jewish people and lead them in God's way. The Messiah will also unite all the people of the world to serve God. People will act with justice and kindness, and the whole world will be filled with peace.
Jews still wait for the Messiah to come. They believe that this will be a person. Other Jews believe in a future time when justice and peace will come through the cooperation of all people and the help of God.
Jews believe that to know what God wants them to do, they must study the books of Torah and its laws and do what they teach. These include both laws about how to behave to other people and how to serve God.
The two most important groups of books in Judaism are the Bible and the Talmud. The beliefs and actions of Judaism come from these books. Jewish teachers and scholars wrote more books, called commentaries. They explain and say more about what is written in the Bible and Talmud.
The Torah is the most important of all Jewish writings. The first five books of the Hebrew Bible (known to Christians as the "Old Testament") make up the Torah. The Torah contains the basic laws of Judaism and describes the history of the Jews until the death of Moses. Jewish tradition says that God told Moses what to write in the Torah, which is also called the Five Books of Moses. Religious Jews believe that Moses brought the Ten Commandments and the Torah down from Mount Sinai. The Ten Commandments are special because they were heard by all of the Jewish people at Mount Sinai. However, in traditional Judaism, all of the 613 "mitzvot" in the Torah are equally important.
Jews divide the Hebrew Bible into three parts and call it the Tanakh. The three parts are the Torah, which is the first five books; the Nevi'im, which are the books of the prophets; and the Ketuvim, meaning the Writings, which are other books of history and moral teachings.