Dennis PragerFounder, PragerU · Founder of PragerU | NYT best-selling author

The Foundations of Judaism

21 Jun 2025 · 1 min

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In this brief monologue, Dennis Prager outlines what he describes as Judaism’s two foundational events: the Creation of the world and the Exodus from Egypt. He states that these two moments are the self‑identified pillars of Jewish faith, serving as the divine and human narratives that give Judaism its meaning. Prager draws a parallel to Christianity, noting that just as Christianity hinges on the crucifixion and resurrection, Judaism would lose its core identity if either the Creation or the Exodus were merely mythic rather than historical. The talk emphasizes the centrality of these events for Jewish self‑understanding and communal remembrance.

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Judaism rests on two events. This is not my take. This is Judaism's take about itself. It rests on two events: creation and Exodus. And it's constantly said that this is done in remembrance of the creation of the world. This is done in commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt. That, that is correct. That is, that those are the two foundations. It's like, sort of, I think it's analogous to crucifixion and resurrection in Christianity. And if they, if one of them didn't happen, then you sort of lost Christianity. If the Exodus from Egypt didn't happen, it's just a story, you've sort of lost Judaism. So that's, that's the way in which I mean it. It is the central human story. The central divine story is the creation of the world.