Why did Judaism become so important?
116766
Obviously every religion is important to the practicioners thereof.  However, you may be more interested in why it became important to world history.  Any short answer to that question would be a vast oversimplification.  That said, we can note that Jewish thought, in particular the concepts of righteous living and monotheism, is one of the three foundational pillars of Western thought.   Monotheism is self explanatory, but let me explain at little about the idea of righteous living.   The Greeks taught that excellence was a principal goal in life.  Christianity, which grew out of Judaism, taught that we should "love our neighbor as ourselves."  But the idea of righteousness as a standard by which we are judged, and a goal in itself, is in the West anyway largely the outgrowth of Judaism.     These three concepts of life were incorporated into Roman society, in the case of Jewish thought both directly, as the Jews lived in numerous Roman communities at various times, and indirectly through Christianity.  When Roman culture was spread throughout Europe, these strands of Jewish thought thus went with it.
380321
Hinduism and Judaism looks like they generated around the same time.\nFor more info;\n\nhttp://ask.yahoo.com/20011106.html
78124
Judaism has many aspects: to be Jewish is an identity that is ethnic, national, and religious.\n\nChristians are not Jews. Firstly, Jews themselves do not regard as such, which in and of itself disqualifies us. \n\nSecondly, St. Paul called those of us from a gentile background "gentiles." What he felt he had converted them to did not convert them into Jews, and indeed, he expressed his objection to some Judaizing members of the church, such as the Jerusalem Christians who visited once in a while.\n\nNot even Jews believe that having favour with God requires one to be Jewish. As to our own religion, the early Christians pinned their entire salvific hopes on faith in Christ... that is why St. Paul so famously said, "circumcision is nothing, and uncircumcision is nothing."\n\nWhile Christians would certainly believe Jesus founded Christianity in the moment he said, "You are Peter, and on this rock I found my church," it is important to note that the word "Christian" would not originate for another ten years or more, in the church at Antioch.
996568
The 13 Articles of Faith\nAs noted above, Judaism has no creed and beliefs of individual Jews can vary widely. However, the great 12th century rabbi Maimonides put together "13 Articles of Faith" that he believed every Jew ought to adhere to, and this is often used as a summary of common Jewish beliefs. Full article » \n\nJewish Beliefs about God\nIn Judaism, ultimate reality is a single, all-powerful God. It is this belief that made the Jews unique among other ancient Semitic peoples and that became the legacy Judaism has passed on to the entire Western world. God's name in Hebrew is YHWH, which simply - but significantly - means "I am." Full article » \n\nJewish Beliefs about the Messiah\nMany of the world's religions have hope in a future heroic figure who will rescue the righteous, judge the wicked, and restore peace to the world (Krishna in Hinduism, Maitreya in Buddhism and the Second Coming of Christ in Christianity). In Judaism, this figure is the messiah. Full article » \n\nJewish Beliefs about Human Nature\nWhen Genesis 2:7 says "God formed man," it uses the Hebrew word vayyitzer ("formed"). The Talmud finds special meaning in the unique spelling of the word in this context, with two yods instead of one. The two yods, the rabbis explain, stand for the two impulses found in humans: the yetzer tov and the yetzer ra. Full article » \n\nOlam Ha-Ba: Jewish Beliefs about the Afterlife \nJewish sacred texts and literature have little to say about what happens after death, which may seem surprising to non-Jews since the sacred texts of Christianity and Islam, both of which have their foundations in Judaism, elaborate rather fully about the afterlife. Full article »
365582
Because the Romans conquered Judea and took it from the Greeks. Many Romans settled there and brought their household goods with them. Lots of Jewish merchants traded with Roman merchants and inevitably some of those goods ended up in Jewish hands. When they went into hiding, they brought their goods with them. And there they lay, waiting for an archaeologist to dig them up.
250400
It gave the Jewish people a common language, so they could stay in touch even when they were separated by political boundaries.  This helped them take care of one another, especially when the Inquisition came after them.
494030
Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people with around 15 million followers as of 2006 [1]. It is one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths and one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. The values and history of the Jewish people are a major part of the foundation of other Abrahamic religions such as Samaritanism, Bahá'íism, Islam, and Christianity .\n\nJudaism has seldom, if ever, been monolithic in practice, and has not had any centralized authority or binding dogma. Despite this, Judaism in all its variations has remained tightly bound to a number of religious principles, the most important of which is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, omnibenevolent, transcendent God, who created the universe and continues to be involved in its governance. According to Jewish thought, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Jewish people, and revealed his laws and commandments to them in the form of the Torah. The practice of Judaism is devoted to the study and observance of these laws and commandments, as written in the Torah.\n\nJudaism does not fit easily into conventional Western categories, such as religion, ethnicity, or culture, in part because most of its 4,000-year history predates the rise of Western culture, or occurred outside of the West. During this time, Jews have experienced slavery, anarchic and theocratic self-government, conquest, occupation, and exile; they have been in contact with, and have been influenced by ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenic cultures, as well as modern movements such as the Enlightenment (see Haskalah) and the rise of nationalism. Thus, Talmud professor Daniel Boyarin has argued that "Jewishness disrupts the very categories of identity, because it is not national, not genealogical, not religious, but all of these, in dialectical tension."\n\nAccording to traditional Judaism and modern scholars, a number of qualities distinguish Judaism from the other religions that existed when it first emerged. One characteristic was monotheism. The significance of this idea, according to critical historian Yehezkal Kaufman, lies in that Judaism holds that God created, and cares about, humankind. In polytheistic religions, humankind is often created by accident, and the gods are primarily concerned with their relations with other gods, not with people.
964225
It was the killing of people of Jewish decent by people of Christian decent.  People who were Jewish were killed if they did or did not subscribe to a particular relgious tradition, and most of the people who did participate in the Holocaust were Christian.  I am not saying that there were not heros of all religions at the time- but there were Christian who did kill.  \n\nThat said- Christianity does have a lot of blood on it's hands, as do many religions.  Crusades, Witch Burnings, and Genicides.  They are even happening today... a religion doesn't protect it's followers from turning evil.
422125
I am not Jewish, but I would say that their culture puts a great deal of emphasis on learning, education and scholarly pursuits. The Torah (first five biblical books) means law or teaching. So law and teaching are highly valued and an essential part of their heritage.
618424
There are a couple of facets to an answer to this question.\n\nThe first is hard to explain and if you are interested email me and I will try.\n\nSecondly it is our educational background and emphasis. Next to G-d the most important thing in a typical Jewish family is education. For non-observant Jews education is the most important thing. 85% of College-age Jews are in College. Pick a Ivory league School and check the Jewish Population (Usually about 27% of enrollment) then consider that there are only 5.5 million Jews (About 2% of the population) in the USA.\n\nFYI: 27% of Nobel Prizes won by Americans were won by Jews.
542959
simply because they are dedicated.\ndedicated to their country, to their religion, to their own people.\ni am a muslim and i admire jews for many things.
117264
It isn't.  The Jewish bible and its precepts were far more influential in the development of Western civilization.  Just look at all the universities with Hebrew lettering in their official seals.
776870
Given that so many wars have started, and continue because of religious beliefs, I would say religion is extremely important in society.  Anything that can evoke the kind of passion necessary to maintain the level of intensity needed to sustain a war is important.
540699
Because the Jews in Israel love land way more than peace. It has nothing to do with Religion-it's all about greed, war and intolerance.
1013299
This question has been asked many times over the centuries. There are some who believe that Christ was pointing the way to a greater knowledge of God, not to Himself as the Savior of mankind. Some Christians have converted to Judaism after having pondered this point.
973260
G-d spoke to the Jews through Abraham, Moses, and the other prophets, and chose them to be just a little smarter than those around them in the pagan world.  Modern day Judaism serves the function of doubting where former pagans have taken the concept of G-d.
1114422
Jewish education, holidays, tradition and life cycle events are the foundation of Humanistic Judaism.  While the important role of God in Jewish history and tradition is recognized, and spirituality is greatly valued, Humanistic Judaism holds that supernatural authority should play no role in human affairs; the branch is non-theistic in observance and content.