The volumes in the new series Religions of the World surveys religions that have had a major impact on the history of the world and that continue to play a role in relationships between nations and ethnic groups. All aspects--including roots and founding, primary beliefs and cultural activities, the way the faiths are viewed by the rest of the world, and the experience of growing up as a member of the religion--are be examined. As one of the world's most ancient religions, Judaism serves as a foundation for the belief systems of two other major faiths--Christianity and Islam. Although the Jews have faced a long history of persecution, they have managed to survive and to maintain their religion with many of its original practices intact.