Download Judaism overview

Overview
 Judaism is both the traditional
religion and culture of the
Jewish people.
 Non-Jews (known as Gentiles)
can convert to Judaism,
although converts are not
sought out.
 The Jewish ancestors, as well
as their language and culture
are referred to as Hebrew.
 Judaism follows the Torah,
which are the five accepted
books of the Old Testament
(Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus,
Numbers, and Deuteronomy).
 Three Patriarchs: the physical
and spiritual founders of
Judaism. Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob.
Patriarch 1: Abraham
 The founder of Judaism (and by
extension Christianity and Islam)
is Abraham.
 Born in the city of Ur in
Babylonia around 1800 BCE.
 His father Terach was an idol
merchant.
 Idols were worshipped as gods,
not as representations of gods.
 Abraham questioned the
validity of worshipping
inanimate idols. He believed
that the universe was the work
of a single creator.
 He would share his views with
others.
Abraham tried to convince his father, Terach, of the folly of idol worship.
One day, when Abraham was left alone to mind the store, he took a
hammer and smashed all of the idols except the largest one. He placed
the hammer in the hand of the largest idol. When his father returned and
asked what happened, Abraham said, "The idols got into a fight, and
the big one smashed all the other ones." His father said, "Don't be
ridiculous. These idols have no life or power. They can't do anything."
Abraham replied, "Then why do you worship them?"
 According to Hebrew
tradition, God took notice
that Abraham had figured it
out, so He contacted him.
 God made a deal with
Abraham; if he left his home
and family he would be the
founder of a great nation.
 The concept of a nation in
Judaism is slightly different to
the classical terminology.
Rather than be a political
territory, nation refers to a
community of people with a
shared history and identity.
 Abraham agreed to this, and
the covenant was
established between God
and the Hebrews.
 The covenant is one of the
fundamental principles that
underlies Judaism.
 Covenant (b’rit) means ‘contract’.
This is a mutual agreement that the
Hebrews have responsibilities to
God, just as God has responsibilities
to the Hebrews.
 Abraham was given several tests of
loyalty and sincerity by God to test
if he was up to the task. The first
was his leaving home.
 Leaving the city to wander Israel for
many years, Abraham was
promised by God that he would
make this land the home of his
descendents.
 Problem was that by now Abraham
was 100 years old and had no kids.
Plus his wife Sarah was 90.
 Sarah knew she was too old to
give Abraham a son, so she
gave him her Egyptian
maidservant Hagar as
consolation.
 Abraham and Hagar had a son
Ishmael, who according to
both Judaism and Islam is the
ancestor of the Arabs.
 God remembered that he
made a promise, so he made it
possible for Abraham to have a
son by Sarah. This son’s name
was Isaac.
 Isaac is seen as the ancestor of
the Jewish people, so the
conflict between Arabs and
Jews is like a rivalry between
half-brothers.
Woah, stop!
God was only
joking! Pretty
funny, eh?
HALP!
Patriarch 2: Isaac
 As the final test of Abraham’s
faith, God instructed him to
tie his son Isaac to an alter
and sacrifice him.
 Both Abraham and Isaac
were ok with this, and the
deed was about to be done
when God sent an angel to
stop them.
 Abraham sacrificed a ram
instead.
 Human sacrifice abhorred by
God. A common practice in
those times (Baal).
 Isaac went on to have twin
sons, Jacob and Esau.
Patriarch 3: Jacob
 The twins were at war with each
other even before they were
born.
 Isaac favoured Esau because of
his skills as a hunter, while
Rebecca favoured Jacob
because he was more spiritually
minded.
 Esau wasn’t interested in his
ancestry, and sold his birthright to
Jacob for some soup.
 As an old man, Isaac was tricked
by Rebecca into giving Jacob a
blessing that was meant for Esau.
Esau was angry about this (and
his lost birthright), which forced
Jacob to leave.
 While out wandering, Jacob
married Rachel, Leah, Bilhah and
Zilphah. With these wives Jacob
fathered 12 sons and 1 daughter.
 After years of living abroad,
Jacob decided it was time to
go home and reconcile with
Esau.
 Jacob prepared a bunch of
gifts for his brother, and sent
his wife and kids to deliver
them before he himself
arrived.
 That night, Jacob was
jumped by some guy and
they fought until dawn.
 Turns out the assailant was an
angel, who gave Jacob the
name Israel (One who has
wrestled with God).
 Israel went and met Esau,
and they reconciled.
 To this day the Jews refer to
themselves as the Children of
Israel, as in the children of
Jacob.
Afterlife
 Followers of Judaism believe
that death is not the end.
However, what happens in the
afterlife is fairly open to
interpretation.
 For the most part, the Jewish
concept of the afterlife is the
same as Christianity.
 There are also suggestions that
reincarnation is a valid
occurrence after death.
 Like Christianity and Islam, there
are denominations of Judaism.
 Reform
 Conservative
 Orthodox
What is diversity within a
faith or culture?
Orthodox
 Orthodox Jews follow a
traditional interpretation of
Judaism.
 Maintain halakhah;
traditional Jewish laws based
on Old Testament
commandments,
commandments issued by
Rabbis, and binding customs.
 Fundamentalist belief in the
Torah.
 Dress differently and maintain
a separate lifestyle from the
mainstream.
Reform
 Do not believe that the Torah
was written by God.
 Accept that the Bible was
written by separate human
sources.
 Take critical approach to
Biblical study.
 Retain ethics and culture of
Judaism, but do not exactly
follow the commandments.
 Liberal and agnostic Jews
identify themselves as
reformist.
Conservative
 Middle ground between
Orthodox and Reform.
 Maintains that Bible is the
truth of God, but was
transmitted through human
authors.
 Believe Jewish law should
change and adapt
according to changing
society.
Synagogue
Menorah
Rabbi
Star of
David
Can you think about
ways that Judaism is
like Christianity
What is Judaism?
Judaism is the world’s oldest religion – it is around 2,000
years older than Christianity!
There are around 13.2 million Jews living in the world today
– nearly half of these live in a country called Israel.
Judaism and Christianity both
have very important symbols....
The Jewish symbol is the Star
of David, a six-pointed star
that we draw by drawing two
triangles, different ways up.
It is named after the Jewish
king David, who defeated the
giant Goliath.
Can you think of the
symbol that represents
Christianity? Clue: there’s
one in your school hall!
The symbol of the cross represents
Christianity, just like the Star of
David represents the Jewish
religion.
Both Judaism and Christianity
have important holy texts as
well....
The holy book
that
Christians
read is called
the Bible
The Torah
The Jewish holy
book is written in
the language of
Hebrew. It is on a
large, decorative
scroll and has the
same stories as
the first five
books of the
Christian Old
Testament – so it
tells of Noah’s
Ark, Adam and
Eve and Moses. It
is called....
What About Worship?
When Christians want to worship God they go to the
church.....
Jews go to a holy building to
worship as well. They come in
many shapes and sizes and
can be decorative or very
plain. They are called....
Synagogues
A Rabbi
A Jewish holy man is
called a Rabbi – he
takes the services
and ceremonies in
a synagogue, just
like a priest or
vicar would in a
Christian Church.
Here is a Rabbi reading the Torah
Do Jews
pray?
What do you notice
about this Jewish man
praying?
At school we pray to God during collective worship
and at the end of the day. Jewish people pray too –
mainly in their homes and in the synagogue.
Did you notice what he was
wearing?
This man is
wearing a
special shawl
called a tallit
or a tallis, and
also a special
hat called a
skullcap, or a
kippah.
Why do they wear these?
Kippahs and tallits are
worn to cover the
head – sometimes all
the time, but mainly
inside the
synagogue. This is so
Jews always have
something dividing
them from God
above them in
heaven – so God will
not be offended.
Can you think of anything like
this in Christianity?
Although Christians
do not have any
traditions exactly
like this, in many
churches, women
and men must
both make sure
their shoulders
are covered – as a
mark of respect
to God.