Judaism: The Covenant Between God and Abraham

Today we discussed the Jewish belief in the covenant between God and Abraham (we learned that a "covenant" is an agreement, in which two people make promises to each other). 

According to the Torah, God told Abraham that his descendants would be the Chosen People, and that they would be as plentiful as the stars in the sky, if they followed the one true God and if they obeyed his commandments.

Here is a part of the story, from the Torah:

And God took Abraham outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." 

And He said to Abraham, "So shall your descendants be."

Students often ask whether Jews believe that they have broken the covenant with God.

The answer is yes: Jews believe that all people have broken the covenant with God, and they believe that God's messiah will eventually come to Earth in order to save believers from their wrongdoing.

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For today's musical selection, we listened to a Christmas medley by The Piano Guys. 

Several students said they really enjoyed the original rendition, so I'm posting another video here:

Finally, thanks to Biruk for today's interstellar religion question: If aliens exist, do they believe in the same religions as people on earth?