The Old Testament clearly shows that the Israelites were God's "chosen" people and while there are many events showing the destruction of other civilizations, conversion was certainly acceptable to the thinking of the Old Testament. Judaism is not a religion of conversion, but it is not opposed to welcoming those who will obey the laws of tradition and worship Yahweh. The attitude of the Bible is that the Israelites had committed many sins, but would always be forgiven by God. This is evident in Isaiah 4:1 which states, “Israel needs to be comforted and will receive more from God” (NIV Isaiah 40:1). While Judaism and the doctrines and texts had many violent moments, there were also peaceful solutions to many of the stories, and respecting the laws of the Jews, even when dealing with those who were outside of traction. While some Jewish laws called for the elimination of evil, which may have referred to those who worshiped idols or who held power over tribal peoples, there were also ways to address these issues that required peace on the part of people considered “Chosen ” from God. Jewish law and violence often depended on who enforced it and how it was interpreted. There was still the tradition of allowing interpretation and prophecy in the Old Testament. The Old Testament adopted by Christians is not called that by the Jewish people. The Tenakh, and the first five scrolls, being the Pentateuch, were studied by the holy men of the Jewish tradition, and the interpretation was always being revised. There are also other books that record the events of the Jewish tribes, the Apocrypha, which will not be taken into consideration for the purposes of this article. However, this is a collection of stories that bring light to... middle of paper... to join them, like Ruth, they too were not involved in destroying what they saw as external to them. own ways. They simply chose to remain separatists. Even today, Jews are in diaspora, and some remain “orthodox” while others reform. There is assimilation and they have always faced it. Like thousands of years ago, things haven't changed much. Jewish law is not that of destruction or conversion, but that of maintaining one's ways and insisting that no one interferes with this. As their God's "chosen" people, they believe it is their right to hold what they see as divine providence and promised lands and ways. References. Works Cited The Bible, New International Version. Rubenstein, R. (1992) After Auschwitz: History, Theology and Contemporary Judaism, Johns Hopkins Jewish Studies. 2nd edition.