Jewish

*Golden Menorah*

## Religious Modifiers

Manpower in True Faith provinces +25%Production Efficiency +10%

Local Missionary Strength -6.0%Local Resistance to Reformation +25%

## Religion Mechanics

Defender of the Faith

**Jewish** refers to the monotheistic religion of the tribes of Israel, mainly the Tribes of Levi and Judah.

Uses Defender of the Faith mechanics which allow the aforementioned Defender of the Faith to garner bonuses the more autonomous nations on the map follow the True Faith.

The Defender of the Faith mechanics are divided in five levels, from having one nation minimally (Level 1), to having at least 50 following the True Faith (Level 5).

The Jewish religion is very hardy for would-be conquerers or reformers to convert due to their religion's natural debuffs against both the conqueror's missionaries and their innate resistance to the Reformation.

### Background

The Jewish people of Israel were an oddity in the Ancient World for worshipping only one God. The Mosaic narrative being hardly historical evidence, most historians assume that the Israelites migrated into Canaan following an henotheistic pantheon that was eventually completely removed once the Levites assumed monopoly over the religious rituals of the Jewish tribes.

Jews believe they were chosen by the One True God above all else, Yawheh (also called Adonai and Elohim), to worship him and bring worship of him to the rest of the Earth, of which Israel would be the religious cornerstone. Jews have a living Covenant with God sealed with the Ark of Alliance and are sworn to turn away from false gods and vices so as to remain pure in the eyes of their deity.

Jews have an interest with genealogy caused by this chosen status. It is tradition to name the ancestors of prophets and kings of the Jews as to identify how they relate to the Patriarch of the Jewish people, Abraham.

Yawheh transmits his will via the aforementioned Prophets: most of the Prophets were sent to Israel in times of great spiritual duress to remind Israel of their duties in the Covenant when they stray away from their promise.

At the time of the start of Imperium Universalis, the Jewish faith is still heavily reliant on oral tradition to transmit the religious corpus of stories and laws of the people of Israel, the Torah, to the population, and worship relies heavily on the First Temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem, who host all of their religious practices.

Judaism would only develop into a formalized institutional religion after the coming of Christianity: the first Torah would be written somewhere during the First or Second Century AD, and the Rabbinic schools would cement the religious traditions of the Jewish faith somewhen during the Fourth Century.

### Gameplay

*See also: Judah*

The Jewish Faith is an absolute minority in Imperium Universalis, only beaten in its status as an underdog by its sister faith, Samaritanism, as at the very least Judaism has a playable nation with its faith; Judaism starts despised by its neighbor due to its heathen faith and the extremely low count of jewish nations insure that it can't properly use its only religious mechanic, Defender of the Faith, before doing some heavy lifting and conversion of its own. Judaism is best used by extremely assimilating nations due to its bonus Manpower from True Faith provinces, and nations with a very high output of trade goods due to its Production Efficiency Boost. The religion synergizes well with Diplomatic ideas to support a high count of vassals from which to abuse the Defender of the Faith mechanic, and necessitates Religious and Assimilation Ideas to be remotely capable of using its modifiers and its mechanic properly.