LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Israelite: God Yahweh
built 288 days ago
In this short, accessible and readable book, Professor Soggin gives an account of all the features of Israelite and Jewish religion in the biblical period. After a radical assessment of the nature of the sources and the problems of using them historically, he discusses the origin of monotheism and Israel's belief in its one God Yahweh. Then follow accounts of the three most important features in Israelite religion: the Jerusalem temple and its worship, the covenant, and sacrifices. The main festivals are discussed and there are chapters on the Sabbath and the new moon, the sabbatical year and the year of jubilee, and the calendar. The book ends with an account of changes brought about after the exile and the development of Middle Judaism, and the collapse of the old Israelite system of worship after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 CE.
Source:
Earlier forms of this blessing thanked the LORD for not being created a Gentile (shelo asani goy), though most traditions have changed the wording to affirm God’s creation in terms of Jewish identity as an Israelite. Incidentally, the term goy is not necessarily derogatory, since Israel itself is referred to as a goy (Deut 4:7-8, 2 Sam 7:23, Isaiah 1:4, etc.).
Source:
Until fifteen years ago, the Canaanite goddess Asherah received little attention within the study of Israelite religion. She was deemed a foreign, deviant scourge rejected by the leaders of Israelite society.20 Recently discovered inscriptions... have placed Asherah at the center of an important debate: Did Yahweh, the Israelite deity, have a consort?21 The inscriptions are not without their own ambiguity and interpretative problems.22 Nonetheless, it has become increasingly apparent that we must answer this question in the affirmative: in both popular and official circles, ancient Israelites worshiped both Yahweh and his consort, Asherah.23
Source:
These two amulets, worn by the deceased, provide an entry into a number of aspects of ancient Israelite religion. They show the interplay between family religion and state religion, linking domestic burial practice with the religion of the Jerusalem Temple, where priests recited the priestly benediction during the sacrificial rites; they show how domestic religion placed Yahweh in the protective role of helper and dispeller of evil; they show the importance of the covenant to individual Israelites; and they suggest that the dead too belong to Yahweh's covenant and require Yahweh's protection.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
God Yahweh