Download Judaism PowerPoint - Geography For Life

Origins of Judaism
• Basic Beliefs, Observances
• and Symbols
Basic Beliefs
• Monotheism
• Most basic belief
– Mono = one
– Theism = belief in God
• Midrash (Jewish legend)
– Abraham smashed all father’s idols and
blamed the idols
– Father responded, “They are just
wood and stone”
– “If you really believe that idols are only
stone and wood why do you worship
them?”
Chosen People
• Believe God chose Jewish
people for a special
responsibility
– Torah and mitzvot
– Passing special messages to the
rest of the world
• Does not mean Jews
believe they are better than
other people
Messiah
• Hebrew word = anointed
– Christ = messiah (Greek)
• Torah
• Human being who will bring the world to
a time of complete peace in which every
person will recognize and worship one
God
• Messiah will gather all Jews to Israel,
Temple rebuilt, resurrection of the dead
• Originally written in Hebrew
– Written/read from right to left
• Part of the Tanakh (Jewish Bible)
– Torah
• First 5 books of Christian Bible – Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
– Nevee’eem
• Books of prophets like Joshua, Samuel, Isaiah
– Ketuvim
• Writings like Proverbs, Psalms, Ester. etc
Observances
Tzedakah (charity)
• Prayers
• Asked to give certain
percentage to charity
• Obligated to pray 3 times a
– Usually 10-15% of income
days – morning, afternoon
and evening
• Shema
– Important statement of Jewish
belief
• Amidah
– Silent prayer to ask God for
certain things
• Specialty prayers when
praying with a minyan
Kashrut (dietary laws)
• Kosher – proper to eat
• Only split-hooved animals that
chew cud
• Certain types of fowl
• Fish with fins and scales
• Forbidden to mix dairy and
meat in same meal
• Animals killed in specific way
• Shabbat (the Sabbath)
• Sundown on Friday til dark on
Saturday
– Shabbat meal with challah (braided
egg bread)
• Time set aside to rest
– Symbolic of God’s 7th day of rest
• Refrain from creative acts
which change the state of the
world
Bar/Bat Mitvah
• Boy = 13 years plus one
day
• Girl = 12 years plus one
• Become responsible for
observing all of mitzvot of
Judaism
• Literally means ‘son (or
daughter) of the
commandments
B’nai Mitzvah
• The first picture is my sister,
Brittany, and I holding a Siddur, our
prayer book. The vast majority of
the service is done using this book.
• Behind us is the Ark, which is open
and you can see parts of four
different Torahs inside it
• I am wearing a Tallit, which is
received by men during the
Bar Mitzvah - in order to
read from the Torah, men
must wear a Tallit, and since
we are allowed to read from it
for the first time during our
Bar Mitzvah, we receive the
Tallit then too
• The next photo is me reading my
portion again - note that I am using a
pointer (I'm sure it has a formal name),
this is because even with the privilege
of reading from the Torah, we still
aren't supposed to touch the
text/paper
• Kiddushin = sanctification
• Marriage
• Public ceremony to commit themselves
to each other
– Ketubah = Jewish marriage contract signed
by 2 witnesses
– Agree to cherish, honour and maintain each
other
• Bride wears veil –symbolic of
Rebekah and traditions of
modesty
• Marriage
• Takes place under a chapah = wedding
canopy
– Represents home that bride and groom will create
together
• 7 special blessings
• Break the glass recalling destruction of
Temple
Death
• Torah teaches that human beings
were created when God took a
clod of earth, formed it into a human
figure and breathed life into it
• Tradition teaches that body
should be returned to earth as
quickly and naturally as
possible
– Do no permit cremation or
embalming
– Use coffins made entirely of wood
– Most funerals take place within a
day or two
– Body dressed in plain linen
garments by Havra Kadisha = ‘the
holy society’
• Shiva = seven
–
–
–
–
First seven days following the funeral
Mourners prohibited from excessive grooming
Customary to cover the mirrors in the home
Allows mourners to focus on their grief
• Recite the mourners Kiddish (prayer)
– Reaffirms one’s belief in God even after tragedy
Symbols
• Synagogue
• Jewish house of worship
• Also serves as community
and education center
• Main services on Friday
night and Saturday morning
• Rabbi is religious leader and
speaks weekly Torah
• Bimah (raised platform) at front
of the sanctuary
• Aron Kodesh (holy ark) which
holds the Torah scrolls
• Ner Tamid (eternal light) above
the Aron representing constant
presence of God
Symbols
• Kippah
• Sometimes called a
Yarmelka or skullcap
• Signifies that human beings
are beneath, or dependent,
on God
Tallit
• 4-cornered garment worn
during morning prayers
– Tzitzit (fringes) tied to the
corners
– To remind Jews of the
commandments of the Lord
• Tallit Katan (small Tallit)
– Small undershirt worn all day
• Mezuzah
• Attached to right side of
doorpost as you enter a room
• Has first 2 paragraphs of the
Shema on it
– Prayer for peace in the home
Symbols
Star of David
• 6-pointed star only popular in
last 200 years
• Named for King David, who
has shield with star on it
• Magen David (shield of
David) appears on flag of the
state of Israel
Holidays and Celebrations
• Jewish Calendar
• Lunar calendar
Tishri
Heshvan
Kislev
Tevet
– Every month begins with
(sept-oct) (oct-nov) (nov-dec) (dec-jan)
appearance of new moon
– Month is 29-30 days long
Shebat
Adar
Nisan
Iyar
– 12 month lunar year is shorter than (jan-feb) (feb-mar) (mar-apr) (apr-may)
solar year
– Every 2-3 years, Jewish calendar
Sivan
Tammuz
Ab
Elul
adds a ‘leap month’ to adjust
(may-june) (june-july) (july-aug) (aug-sept)
calendar
• Based on number of years
since creation
• Each day begins at sundown
Holidays and Celebrations
• Rosh Hashanah
• One of two High Holy Days
• Jewish New Year
– Usually in Sept or Oct
• Ram’s horn blown to
symbolically ‘wake up’ people to
lead better lives
• Eat apples and honey as a wish
for a sweet new year
• Beginning of the 10 Days of
Repentance
– End on Yom Kippur
• Reflect on actions during the
past year, seek forgiveness
and make a plan to improve
Holidays and
Celebrations
• Yom Kippur
• One of two High Holy Days
• Day of Atonement
– Marks end of 10 Days of
Repentance
• Devoted to fasting and prayer
– Fast which lasts from sundown to
nightfall the following day
• Ram’s horn blown to mark end
of fast
• the Passover
• Israelites smeared lamb’s blood
on doorpost
• To avoid 10th plague God sent
to Pharaoh
– Death of all first-born Egyptian
children
• Angel of death literally ‘passed
over’ their homes
Pesach (Passover)
the Exodus
• No time for the bread they
were preparing to rise
• Took ‘unleavened’ bread
during their escape
• Jews today eat ‘matzah’
during Passover week
– Unleavened cracker-like bread
– Represents bread of poverty
Pesach (Passover)
• Seder
• A pilgrimage festival during
Nisan in late March or April
• Gather to share special meal
– Special foods to remind them about
hardship of slavery and miracle of the
Exodus
– Seder plate containing 5 (or 6) items
of food
• Maror
– Bitter herb – bitterness of slavery
• Charoset
– Mixture of apples, walnuts, cinnamon and
wine – mortar use to build Egyptian cities
• Z’roah
– Roasted bone – Passover offering
• Beitzah
– Roasted egg – new life in springtime
• Tell story of Passover from
special book called a
Haggadah
• Karpas
– Green vegetable, dipped in salt water –
tears of slavery
• Hazeret
– Bitter vegetable – bitterness of slavery
• King Antiochus, Syrian
King, forbade Jews to
keep Shabbat or keep
traditions
Hanukkah
– Tried to force Jews to
worship Greek Gods
– Destroyed the Temple • Mattityahu (Mattathias) and 4
– Inspectors destroyed
sons refused to obey King’s
Torah scrolls and killed
orders
those who disobeyed
– Fled to hills and fought against Syrians
– Led by Judah, called Maccabee
• Hebrew for ‘hammer’, because of his
strength
– Poorly equipped and outnumbered but
they WON
• Defeated Syrians and recaptured
Jerusalem
Hanukkah
• Festival of Lights
• Occurs in December
– Giving gifts is common
• Temple cleansed of idols and
rededicated
• Small container of lamp oil
found, enough for 1 day
– Burned for 8 days!
• Menorah
Symbols
– 8-branched candle holder
– candle lit each night
• Shamash
– Nineth candle used to light other candles
• Driedel
– Top used in spinning game
Judaism
Today
Jerusalem
• King David
– Made Jerusalem the Capitol in 996
BCE
– Brought Tabernacle and Ark of the
Covenant
• Solomon
– Built Temple on Mount Zion to replace
mobile Tabernacle
– Destroyed in 586 BCE by King
Nebuchadnezzer
• Exiled Jewish popluation
• Temple rebuilt (516) and
destroyed again (446)
• Western Wall
• Only part remaining of 2nd
Temple
• Became holiest of Jewish
places
• People write notes and leave
them in cracks of the wall
Judaism Today
• Jewish Population
• Today there are over 18
million followers of Judaism
scattered throughout the
world
• A large number of those
people live in the Jewish
nation of Israel
– Over six million live in the
United States
•
A driedel is a four-sided top. Each
side has a Hebrew letter on it: nun,
gimmel, hay and shin. These four
letters stand for the Hebrew words
that mean “a great miracle happened
there “.
Driedel Game
• The players sit in a circle. Each
player receives an number of
tokens (candy, nuts, coins) and
puts 1 token from his/her pile into
the center. Everyone takes turns
spinning the dreidel. The letter
on top when the dreidel stops
spinning tells what to do.
• Nun:
– Do nothing
• Gimmel:
– Take the center pile
• Hay:
– Take half the center pile
• Shin:
– Give half of your pile to the center pile
Players that lose all their tokens are out.
The last player with tokens is the winner.