Judaism, as it is most commonly known and referred to, is also entitled as the Children of Israel and as the Hebrews. They were a special people with whom G-d chose to be an example to all of humanity. G-d truly had favor with them throughout countless centuries. The teachings that are within the Books of Moses, known has the Torah or Pentatuch, lays out the ideal society for humanity.
It is where the societal setup and laws as well as the punishments for breaking those laws were just. While by today's standards they seem cruel and inhumane, if you lived within such a society, all your basic needs were met. One who did not have means of providing shelter or food for themselves, was cared for by the Community. So when if such a person was caught stealing bread, then the punishment of losing a hand for such an act was truly justified.
G-d wanted humanity to care for one another and take responsibility for their actions. With H-m as the pinnalce of the society, the Hebrews flourished. They had no enemy that they could not defeat, and they had plenty for all of society. We can read in their histories of victories against their enemies even when the odds were against them. They truly lived in the land of milk and honey. Which is one of the reasons the neighboring city-states waged war against them. But as we continue to read those very histories, we see from time to time that the Hebrews were defeated and taken into slavery once again. It was only after a generation or two had passed, that the Hebrews repented for their actions against G-d, that they were freed to return to their home land.
It is this repeated story of how G-d demands us to follow H-s guidance and we continually fail. As time goes by, G-d sends another Prophet to straighten the way. Before G-d does this however, we receive prophecies of the one(s) to come so that we can see who is of H-m and who is not. Unfortunately, in todays age, there are some of the Hebrews who look at those prophecies as stories. I suspect that the reason behind this, is because those promises, those covenents, were not completed within our time frame, but in G-d's. They can not see how G-d fulfilled the promises made not only to Abraham, but to their entire nation. We must use these teachings to truly understand what G-d desires of us and to see how G-d is truly the Creator of all.
