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Understanding World Religions
What is Judaism?
VHS 296 WHA
What is Judaism?
There are 1._________ million Jews in the world today, almost 2.________ million of them live in the
United States.
The story of the Jewish religion begins almost 3._____________ years ago in the lands of the Middle
East.
The Jewish people trace the beginning of their history to a man named 4.____________________.
5. _______________________ is the first major monotheistic religion.
As the Jewish sacred writings tell the story, Abraham’s descendents were enslaved in the land of
6.____________________. God chose a man to lead the people out of slavery and back to the land
they believed God had promised them and their descendents. This promise land was a place named
Canaan. The chosen man was 7._____________________.
What is the center piece of Jewish law? 8.______________________________
During the Middle Ages in Spain the Muslims who ruled tolerated the 9.________________________
religion. The result was a Golden Age of science and Arts.
The persecution of 10. ________ during the Middle Ages was the beginning of the prejudice now
known as 11. _____________________________________.
By the end of WWII, 2 out of every 12. ____ Jews in Europe had been killed. At least 13. ______
million Jews along with as many non-Jews. This is the world tragedy known as the
14.______________________________.
In 1948, three years after the end of WWII the independent state of 15. ___________________ was
founded.
Sacred Writings
The 16. ___________________ is the story of the Jewish people’s journey to understand what God
expects of them.
Along with the Torah, Jews study the word of the Talmud. The 17. ____________________ is a
collection of rules and interpretations that they have developed to help put Gods law into practice.
The sacred writings of Judaism are housed in a place of 18. ____________________. That place can
be called a Synagogue, 19. __________________, or Shul. It is a place for worship services,
studying, or community life.
Place of worship
The synagogue serves three purposes:
1. place of 20. _________________________
2. assembly for 21. ________________________________
3. 22.___________________of prayer
There are daily services and Sabbath or Shabbat services on 23. ________________________ or
24. _________________ morning.
The 25. ________________ teaches the lessons of the Torah.
The lessons of the Torah include what Jews believe are the laws of God. The heart of those
26. _______________________________________________ are found in the Ten Commandments.
Beliefs
Today, there are 27. __________________________________ main branches of Judaism in the
United States alone. They are Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative.
Practices
The Sabbath begins at sunset on 28. ______________________ and ends at sunset on Saturdays.
29. ___________ Mitzvah or 30. _____________ Mitzvah ceremonies mark the coming of age of a
Jewish child and happen when a child reaches the adult part of their life.
Holidays
Rosh Hashanah is the celebration of the Jewish 31._______________________________.
Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement and comes at the end of the 32._____________day of Rosh
Hashanah.
Hanukkah celebrates the 33. ______________________ in ancient Israel over the tyrants who tried to
destroy the Jewish religion.
Passover commemorates the time in history when Jews were 34. __________________ from slavery.
Christianity and Islam both trace their beginnings to Abraham and their teachings owe a lot to the
teachings of the 35. _________________________ Bible.
Answers
1. 14
2. 5
3. 4,000
4. Abraham
5. Judaism
6. Egypt
7. Moses
8. Ten Commandments
9. Jewish
10.
Jews
11.
anti-semitism
12.
3
13.
6
14.
Holocaust
15.
Israel
16.
Torah
17.
Talmud
18.
worship
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
temple
study
community
place
Friday
Saturday
rabbi
laws and beliefs
three
Friday
Bar
Bat
New Year
10
victory
freed
Hebrew