 I mean, this place isn't terrible, but it could be a lot better. Oh, you can trim the trees, make it look prettier, maybe, you know, have some nice pure water fountains around. It'd be great if there was like a snack bar that just gave out great foods for free. I'm not asking too much, right? It'd be nice to have a little live music stands out or art exhibits. It'd be great to have some art exhibits just in random places. And, you know, still having the beauty of nature all around us, but to have it a little bit more manicured. It'd be great if we could have all that. It'd be great to have paradise. Well, you know, we don't have paradise. We have this. And it's not terrible, but, you know, we have to make our way through. We have to work really hard. We have to try to attain the land or die along the way, struggle. We might get some moments of something nice, but we're always got to pay for it and we're always going to have or, you know, always have to work for it. We can never just be given to us. It's kind of difficult. It could be a lot better. Well, you know, according to Judaism, say, yeah, of course it could be better, right? Of course, there could be paradise. Of course, we could live together in peace and harmony and love where we would simply enjoy existence, where we would have relationship with the divine, with Adonai. That'd be really fantastic. In fact, you know, Judaism says we had that. We did. And we're trying to get it back. So this video is, I'm trying to explain some of the basics of Judaism. Now, Judaism, you know, covers a wide, you know, diverse group of peoples with diverse group of beliefs, but it seems at its core, one faith. And I'm going to do my best to encapsulate all that in this video. I'm probably not going to do the best job, but I'm going to do the best that I can. Let's take a look. This is more like it. This is a great place. Look at it. It's beautiful. It's manicured. It's managed. It's still natural. It's still nature. We've got plants and animals and water all around us and it's gorgeous. The trails are all the sidewalks, not trails anymore, not rocky trails, but the sidewalks are smooth and easy to walk. There's beautiful sights all around. And now this is definitely an improvement. It's not like the other park was bad. Not saying bad. But compared to this, wow. That other park, you got to walk up and down hills and, you know, maybe your footing isn't all that great. Here it's 80 aches and accessible. It's really easy to walk around these trails. It's meant to be walked at a casual place to be an entirely pleasant experience. You can still get your exercise here. You can power walk if you want to. But not the dangers or the turmoil or the toil. This place is beautiful. Actually, butterflies. I don't know if you can see there's a butterfly right there. Birds around me. Well, I'm drawing this comparison to illustrate the difference between our world now and the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden is a paradise. A paradise. And it's from this that the story of Judea really begins. It's really easy to misunderstand the Genesis account. I mean, there's all kinds of fights now about, you know, whether Genesis is true or science is true. Frankly, they're telling two very different stories. And the point of each story is very different from the other. Genesis is not meant to give an account of the causal laws of nature and how the universe expanded. And the Big Bang theory is not intended to give an account of your relationship to the divine. That's the difference between these two. Genesis is supposed to tell you your relationship to the divine. The Big Bang is supposed to tell you the causal laws that were at work and the causal mechanisms that were at work at the formation of the universe. These two are not contrary to each other. But like I said, it's really easy to misunderstand the Genesis account. It's very easy to misunderstand the Genesis account. And if you misunderstand it, you're not going to get Judaism. But in the Garden of Eden, the Garden of Eden was a paradise. It was amazing. Everything you could possibly want. All your joys and happiness can be found in the Garden of Eden. Even Adam and I. Adam and I was present in the Garden of Eden. We used to commune with Adam and Eve. Imagine hanging out with the smartest, nicest, genuinely gentle and loving person you ever could hang out with. You still haven't got enough of what it means to hang out with Adam and Eve. So Adam and Eve had the Garden. And they were given everything in the Garden by Adam and Eve. Their existence. They were given a place to live. Food, water, sustenance. They were even given worthwhile labor. A career, so to speak. They were supposed to tend the Garden and take care of it and everything in it. They were the lords over the Garden. That didn't mean they could do whatever they wanted. It means that they were responsible for it. And what happened is they ate, and it was they, ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. This is not very well understood. After all, nobody here is a 5th century Hebrew. 5th century BCE Hebrew. But it's probably something like this, that when they ate of the knowledge of good and evil, basically they said, we can do fine on our own. We don't need you Adam and Eve. We can do this. That's one way of understanding it. But the basic point of the Garden of Eden, the basic point of the Genesis account there, is to say that Adam and Eve gave us everything. And we turned away from Adonai. We established this, we had this relationship. Adonai established this relationship with us. Everything we could ever want. And then we turned our backs on it. We left behind Adonai. And according to Judaism, Adonai has been trying to re-establish that relationship ever since. So before we continue with this kind of story Judaism, I just want to say a couple of things about Adonai. Adonai is how the Hebrews refer to the divine. Well, I'm not going to say that. There is the name for the divine. Adonai shared it with the Hebrews as part of this relationship. But that name is sacred. That name is sacred. So out of respect, I will not use the name either. That name is reserved for very, very special and sacred occasions. Adonai is kind of like something like Lord. You know, we might say, you know, sir, something like that. And so, you know, that's why there are other terms available. But from what I understand, Adonai is something you can use to refer to the divine without being offensive. If I made a mistake in that, I deeply apologize. So, you know, there's a couple of things to understand about Adonai before we really continue, just to kind of describe how Adonai is different from everything else that we study so far this semester. So first of all, Adonai brought everything else into existence. Everything that you see around you or know or understand, that was brought into existence by Adonai. Adonai is the creator. So Adonai brought everything into existence, but Adonai is not part of existence. It's not part of, or it's just a part of creation. Adonai exists, but Adonai is not part of creation. Creation depends upon Adonai, but Adonai does not depend upon creation. Adonai is perfect. From this, it follows a few things, right? Since Adonai brought everything into creation. Creation, well, creation is familiar, right? We interact with creation all the time. Adonai is not. I can smell, taste, touch, see, hear. Creation cannot taste, touch, smell here. Adonai. Creation has descriptions, literal descriptions. Adonai does not. Creation is limited, finite, has edges and borders, has a location, has a time. Adonai does not. Adonai does not have limits. All these things exist and have unlimited existence. Adonai has an existence without limits. These things all have a time. Adonai does not. So Adonai brought all of creation into existence, but Adonai is not part of existence. So any literal description of Adonai is going to miss the mark. It's going to fail in some regard. So at best what we can do is give metaphorical descriptions of Adonai. And we can understand the actions of Adonai, at least to an extent. We can understand that Adonai created everything around us, without really understanding how that creation happened. We can understand Adonai's actions, or that Adonai acted in history, without really understanding how that happened, or, you know, the forces at work, that sort of thing. So those are two things. First, that Adonai brought creation into existence, and as a consequence of that, Adonai is completely unfamiliar to existence. But there's one last thing, according to the Hebrews, that we know about Adonai. And that is that we, humanity, it's a very special place at Adonai's heart. So this last claim about Adonai that I mentioned, that we have a special place in Adonai's heart, is pretty much what we're getting at, when the Judaism is getting at, when it says that humanity is created in the image and likeness of Adonai. Now, exactly what this means is not easily understood. I mean, there have been lots of attempts in history to try to get at this idea. But, you know, so we're intelligent like Adonai and everything else isn't, or we're compassionate like Adonai and everything else isn't. Okay. But, you know, whatever that's supposed to mean in terms of intelligence or emotion or anything like that, what it's supposed to convey is that we are unique in creation and that we can have a relationship with Adonai. That there can be something like a common understanding, that there can be agreement, that there can be love and exchange between us and Adonai, that we can love Adonai back in some way that Adonai loves us, right? I mean, not perfectly, right? We can't love exactly like Adonai. That's beyond our capabilities. But we can do something for Adonai just as Adonai has done something for us. And, you know, what has Adonai done for us? Well, everything. It was the garden for growing up. And even after we left the garden, Adonai still gives us a chance to come back to establish this relationship. And that's something that we can do in return is accept this gift of Adonai's and follow Torah. All right. So, as I was saying, the last claim about Adonai is that we have a special relationship. And this is what's supposed to be conveyed when Judaism in Torah, when it says that humanity, people, you and I are created in the image and likeness of Adonai. We have a special place in Adonai's heart. Unfortunately, it's not always the case that Adonai has a special place in ours. Abraham's role in Judaism cannot be underestimated. He is the one who formed the covenant with Adonai to begin with. The promise Adonai made that his children would be the chosen people. So, he's the, you know, kind of the linchpin in the entire faith. Without Abraham, there wouldn't have been a Judaism. So, Abraham was kind of going on with Abraham. Actually, before the covenant with Abraham, before the covenant with Adonai, he was Abram. Abram is, I've got my facts straight here, means something like great father, something like that, which was a little ironic since Abram didn't have any children. Abram was a righteous man, meaning he was moral. He had a special place in Adonai's heart because he was basically a good guy. He was living a good life and treated others with charity and kindness. He was like the genuine nice person. So, Abram was a righteous man. And Abram was approached by Adonai, and Adonai said, look, you've done well. I am going to reward you. It will be your children with whom I will form the covenant. It will be your children who will be the chosen people, and I will make your descendants as many as the stars. And at that point, Adonai changed Abram's name to Abraham. Abram means something like great father. Abraham means something like really great father over thousands of something. My grasp of Hebrew is not the best. Sorry about that. But it's an even more grand title. So, Abraham formed this covenant with Adonai, and he was overjoyed. He was very glad to be the father of the chosen people. And it's this covenant, this promise that Adonai made with Abraham. It's this promise to which the Hebrews cling. That is a difficult looking path. It's rocky, it's narrow, you can't deviate from it. If you make a misstep, you can kind of screw up. Well, that's a lot like Torah. It's a rocky path, it's difficult, but that's the way to the top. That's how you get to the top of the hill. That's how you reach your goal. That's Torah. Torah is hard. It is. It requires a lot of you. It's easy to mess up. There are 613 commands. Now, nobody can follow all of them because not all the commands can apply to everybody. There's some commands for priests, there's some commands for different stations in life. But it's still very difficult, but there's a prize at the end. Torah is how we rectify relationship with Adonai. Torah is the law given by Adonai. It is also a gift. It's hard. It might be difficult to see how Torah is a gift because it is so hard. Why not just give us the easy ways? Well, we're trying to make it up to Adonai. We're trying to re-establish this relationship with Adonai. That, by the way, we messed up. And again, Adonai did not have to give us Torah. Adonai was not under an obligation to give Torah. Adonai is honoring a promise that we broke. It's honoring a promise made to Abraham. And the Torah, as I said, Torah is the law. It's the moral code. It's the way of life. It deals with every aspect of life. It's not any of these other paths, right? You can go down in any of these other paths that are smooth and easy on you, but they won't take you to the top. They won't help you rectify that relationship with Adonai. If you want to do that, you take Torah. The shema is, you know, I mean, one way to think of it is this kind of profession of faith for the Hebrews. But I think it's even more in that, right? It's kind of the call to live the life according to Torah from the beginning. Now, hero Israel. That's what shema means, hero Israel. And the command is pretty straightforward. Love the Lord your God with all your soul, all your heart, and all your means. In other words, do everything you possibly can for the sake of, and only for the sake of Adonai. On top of that, teach this to your children and your children's children, and have them teach it to their children and their children's children. So pass down the life according to Torah. You know, the Lord your God, Adonai is one, right? There's only one God, and this is Adonai. Have nothing else, right? To kind of paraphrase something. Have nothing else before the Lord your God, before Adonai. Okay. And this is, you know, kind of what the shema says is, you know, in everything you do, right? You know, they say, have it before your face, ornament yourself with it, put it above your doorpost. A lot of this is, you know, some folks take this to be literal, which is fine, right? But it's at the very least saying, have it part of your, every part of your life, right? Have it, have the shema, have the call to living the life according to Torah, to reunite yourself with Adonai, have that saturate every part of your life. That is what you're supposed to do. Because, you know, you don't want to be here. We want to be back in the garden. The Hebrews consider themselves the chosen people of Adonai. Now, you know, to cast aside any misconceptions, that doesn't mean that according to the Hebrews, they're better than everybody else. No, that's not what it means at all. That doesn't even mean that they're given certain luxuries or privileges or pleasures above everybody else's increase. That's not what it means either. The Hebrews are the chosen people of Adonai, in the sense that Adonai has given them a gift. And it's Torah. And this gift is the way that we can re-establish our relationship with Adonai. The Hebrews haven't given this. Now, this doesn't mean, again, to forestall anything. This doesn't mean that they are now privileged above anybody. In fact, it's kind of a burden. It doesn't even mean that they're going to be given a wonderful life here outside of the garden. No! In fact, you look at the history of Judaism, they've suffered a lot. The Babylonian exile, servitude in Egypt, or slavery, I should say, in Egypt, they've been oppressed by pretty much every culture around. They've been kicked around a lot. The Holocaust, they're almost wiped out during the Holocaust. Lots of terrible things have happened to the Hebrews. The rest of us say, so you're the chosen people and the Hebrews say, yeah, that's right. We've been given Torah and suffering through all of this while keeping Torah is how we re-establish that relationship with Adonai, how we prove our place at Adonai's side, how we earn our place back with Adonai. That's how you do it. So, yes, the Hebrews consider themselves the chosen people because it's up to them to do this. It's worth noting that Adonai wasn't obligated to make the Hebrews the chosen people. He wasn't obligated to make any people the chosen people. We're the ones that screwed up the relationship in the garden, not Adonai. So, even having a chosen people giving away to re-establish that relationship, that's a gift. That's a gift. So, yeah, the Hebrews, right? They say they're the chosen people in the sense that they've been chosen to set things right with Adonai. Eschatology is a really fancy word for theory of salvation. How is this all going to be to our benefit? How are we going to pay off? How are we going to be saved? To use a word. For the Hebrews, the future looks bright. Things are going to work out in the end. It's tough now. It's a hard road right now. We're walking Torah right now. Or at least some of us are. Not necessarily me, but some people are. Some people are walking Torah. But they're at least trying to, right? You look at the history of Judaism, the Hebrews acknowledge like, well, we really haven't done it so far. We keep messing up time and time again. But, you know, hey, there's a long future in front of us. And the Hebrews, all things considered equal, are optimistic. But for the Hebrews, the future looks bright. There will come a time when we will walk according to Torah, where we will be reunited with Adonai. Now, the story varies from people to people time to time, but basically something like a savior, a Messiah is going to come, a king. A king will come and rule over the nation. The rule over the nation of the Hebrews. And at this point, right, it pays to be the chosen people, because they will set the example for everyone else, right? They will be the nation among the nations that really did the job, that really sat down and reunited us with Adonai, that did the hard work of following Torah. And other nations will follow the chosen people. Now, again, it's not just some arbitrary honor conferred upon them. It is done out of love on the part of Adonai. It's also not an obligation. Then just like, right, it's because of Abraham. Adonai is honoring that promise to Abraham. Abraham, like I said, was a really good guy. And he set the pace for everyone else. So for the Hebrews, yeah, it's tough now, but the future looks bright. Yes, there's hardships, but it's going to get better. Follow Torah and you'll find your place. You'll get your place back at Adonai's side. To summarize the faith of Judaism, especially in a 20-minute video, it could be a very daunting task. But I think in the briefest terms, it's basically this. Judaism has faith in perfection and a creator that has no limits, that created purely, not out of obligation or duty or anything, but purely as a gift to creation itself. There's no way that Adonai can benefit from creation, because there's no benefit that Adonai can have. So Judaism has faith in this sort of creator. And that Adonai is perfect, is limitless, is complete love. Whereas we are imperfect, we're limited, and we love at best incompletely, if not following short of the mark more than a few times. Yet despite our feelings, Adonai has reached out to us, has given us an opportunity to re-establish a relationship with Adonai. Adonai has given us the garden we cast to the side. Adonai has given us a second chance with Torah. And it's hard, but that's our chance. Adonai didn't have to do this as under no obligation, but that's our chance. We can get back to this relationship with our loving Creator. But it's up to us to do our part. Adonai has already done his part. It's up to us to do ours.