Download Chapter 7 Section 2

Chapter 7 Section
2
Jewish Beliefs and Texts
The Big Idea
The central ideas and laws of Judaism are
Geography and Early China
contained in sacred texts such as the Torah.
Main Ideas
• Beliefs in God, education, justice, and
obedience anchor Jewish society.
• Jewish beliefs are listed in the Torah, the
Hebrew Bible, and the Commentaries.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls reveal many past Jewish
beliefs.
• The ideas of Judaism have helped shape later
cultures.
Jewish Beliefs Anchor
Their Society
• Religion is the foundation upon which the Jews base
their whole society.
• In fact, much of Jewish culture is based directly on
Jewish beliefs.
• The central concepts of Judaism are belief in God,
education, justice and righteousness, and
observance of religious and moral law.
Belief in One
God
• Judaism is the world’s oldest and
possibly the first monotheistic
religion.
• Monotheism is the belief in only one
God.
• The Hebrew name for God is YHWH
• In the ancient world where most
people worshipped many gods, the
Jews’ worship of only God set them
apart.
Belief in Education
• Teaching children, mostly
boys, has always been
important to Jewish society.
• In ancient Jewish
communities, older boys
studied with professional
teachers to learn their
religion.
Justice and Righteousness
• Jews are expected to be kind and
fair in dealing with other people,
in a display of justice.
• They are also supposed to be
righteous and do what is proper.
• Follow the Ten Commandments
• For Jews, righteous behavior is more
important than formal ceremonies.
Observance of Religious and
Moral Law
• Observance of the law is closely related to justice and
righteousness.
• The Jews believe that God is holy and everything and
everyone properly related to Him must also be holy
• Holiness includes purity and separation
Observance of Religious and
Moral Law
• The Jewish laws consist of the Ten Commandments
and the Mosaic Laws.
• The Mosaic Laws consisted of moral laws, ceremonial laws,
civil laws, and social laws.
Mosaic Law
• The Mosaic Law consists of yearly
religious events that contains the
Sabbath, the Sabbath year, jubilee,
Passover, and the festival feasts.
• Various instructions were given
with regard to clean and unclean
things and how Israel was to live a
holy life that would set them apart
from other nations.
Mosaic Law
• God provided for five different
offerings, all were designed to
remind worshippers of the holiness
of God, the fact that sin had to be
dealt with, and that for forgiveness a
substitute blood sacrifice was
needed.
• The basic principle underlying
all the blood sacrifices was
atonement by the substitution of
an innocent life for the guilty.
Mosaic Law
• In token of this substitution, the
offerer laid his hand upon the
victim’s head, thus indentifying
himself with it as his
representative.
• To signify his acceptance of the
just penalty of death, the offerer
himself slew his victim and then
turned it over to the priest for the
completion of the ceremony.
• The Day of Atonement was a
special offering for the entire
nation by the High Priest
Tabernacle
• Israelite tribes worshipped God in a tent-like structure
called a tabernacle.
• This tent was taken down and moved from place to place. In
Canaan, Israelites erected the tent in a place called Shiloh.
• The Hebrew Bible says the tabernacle housed the Ark of the
Covenant.
• The ark was a gold-covered wooden chest that held stone slabs,
which the Israelites believed were the Ten Commandments.
The Temple
• The Tabernacle was replaced by the First (built by
Solomon) and Second Temple (built by Jews returning
from Babylon).
• The Tabernacle and the Temple was the dwelling place
of the Lord; contained the ark; for offerings of incense
and sacrifice; for prayer and worship; and a refuge
Western Wall
• After the Jews revolted against Rome in 66 AD. The
Roman captured Jerusalem and destroyed the Second
Temple.
• The only structure left is the Western Wall, which many
come to this wall to pray.
Mosaic Law Today
• Today, Orthodox Jews still strictly follow the Mosaic
Law (except for some ceremonial and civil laws).
• Reform (Liberal) Jews choose not to follow many of
the Mosaic Laws.
• Conservative Jews believe that the law is both binding
and subject to change.
Jewish Texts
• The laws and principles of
Judaism are described in several
sacred texts, or writings.
• The main texts are the
Torah, the Hebrew Bible,
and the Commentaries.
The Torah
• This is a collection of five
books that make up the
Torah, the most sacred
text in Judaism.
• Readings from the Torah are
central to Jewish religious
services today.
The Torah
• Nearly every synagogue,
or Jewish house of
worship, has a Torah
• Synagogue means
“gathering-togetherplaces.”
• Synagogues were
developed after the Jews
returned from exile, and
built wherever they
settled in communities.
The Hebrew Bible
• The Hebrew Bible is called the Tanakh, and
consists of the Torah, the Prophets, and the
Writings.
• The Hebrew Bible is the Old Testament in the Christian Bible
• The Books of the Prophets made up of eight books that
describe the messages of Jewish prophets.
• Prophets were individuals who represented God and spoke for
him to the Jews. They spoke of future events as a warning and
they often spoke out against the society in which they lived.
The Hebrew Bible
• The Writings is 11 books of poetry, songs, stories,
lessons, and history.
• For example it contains the Book of Daniel, Proverbs, and the
Book of the Psalms.
Commentaries
• For centuries scholars have studied the Torah and Jewish
laws.
• Because some laws are hard to understand, scholars
wrote commentaries to explain them.
• Between 200 and 600 AD, the Talmud was produced
as a series of commentaries and lessons for
everyday life.
Scrolls Reveal
Past Beliefs
• The Dead Sea Scrolls were
found in 1947 and it is
suspected that they were
written between 100 BC and
AD 50.
• The scrolls included prayers,
commentaries, letters, and
passages from the Hebrew Bible.
• Scholars were excited about this
finding, which helped them learn
about the lives of ancient Jews
Judaism and Later Cultures
• Jewish ideas have greatly influenced other cultures,
especially those in Europe and the Americas.
• Historians call European and American cultures the
Western world to distinguish them from the Asian
cultures to the east of Europe.
Judaism and Later Cultures
• Judaism helped shape the largest religion of
Western society today, Christianity, as well as Islam.
• Islam, believes that they, like the Hebrews, were decedents of
Abraham.
Judaism and Later Cultures
• How are Jewish ideas reflected in our society?
• Many people still look to the Ten Commandments as a
guide.
• Obeying parents, not to murder, and not to lie or cheat.
Judaism and Later Cultures
• Other Jewish ideas can also be seen in how people live
today.
• For example many people do not work on the weekends in
honor of the Sabbath.
• People also give to charities, which is largely based on
Jewish teachings.
Questions pages 208-213
Cambridge answer in a complete sentence
1. What is monotheism, and why did this belief set the
ancient Hebrews apart?
2.
3.
4.
5.
What is the Jewish view of justice and righteousness?
What is the Torah?
What are the three parts of the Hebrew Bible?
What two major religions have been influenced by
Judaism?