the Messiah. In Judaism, emphasis is placed on human relations with the one
God. Cultural good deeds performed by Jews enhance that relationship. The one God is seen as
the savior and protector of all the Jewish people. The actual name of God in Judaism is a
number of different names. The proper Jewish name for God is the set of Hebrew letters
corresponding to Y-H-W-H. However, Jews seldom use this name, for it is seen as too holy to
speak out loud. Jews reading the biblical text will use the term Adonai (Lord) when coming to
this name. Other names for God include Elohim, El, ElElyon (The Supreme God), or El
Shaddai (The All-Powerful God). Rabbinical literature also has it own terminology when
referring to God. It is important to note that unlike Christianity, the existence of all of these
different names for God do not represent that the Jewish God is a single God in separate forms,
yet rather, the same consistent God of their theological history.
In order to fully understand the Jewish concept of monotheism, we must understand the
structure of the basic Judaic system. God is linked with Israel through the Torah, which is divine
self-disclosure through speech. This relationship is stabilized through Israel's loyalty to the one
God. Consequently, along another line of thought, The obedience of Israel through the Torah's
commandments (Mitzvot) brings reality to its perfection, with the coming of the Messiah.
Though speculative, it would seem that the intersection of these two linear concepts has allowed
Jews to continue to practice their religion with general consistency, although cultural factors
have at times forced them to make adaptations to their practices. One of these cultural factors
was the Hellenistic period. Hellenistic cultural traditions penetrated beyond the forms of Jewish
thought to the core of the Jewish theological vocabulary. Although Hellenism ...