Today almost 14 million people identify themselves as Jews and 3.5 billion others follow the belief system. But how did Judaism start? About 4,000 years ago, a man named Abraham was born during an era where many gods were worshiped, but he believed that there was only one god. The religion grew out an agreement between God, Abraham, Abraham's children and their successors. Then it started to grow form there.

The beliefs of Jewish people all revolve around monotheism, which is the belief of one God. To the Jews, belief is a way to show the light of your actions. Anything they do, they do it with God. Judaism encourages people to find their own personal relationship with God. The heart and faith of Jewish people is in a Hebrew Bible called the teaching of the Torah. It has books that are named Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Judaism is separated into branches called sects. The biggest orthodox, then there are three more; conservative, reform and reconstructionist.

Jewish people have many celebrations and holidays. Many of them are unknown by non Jewish people but some of them are. Hanukkah ( Festival of Lights) is a known 8 day holiday around the world and It is celebrated to remember the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem following the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucids in the Second Century BCE. Yom Kipper is the holiest day in the Jewish year. The holiday focuses attention upon acknowledging their sins against others and against God.