Download A tour through Judaism

So we’re on a pilgrimage through
Let’s become religiously savvy
Israel!
Things you didn’t know about Judaism
Israel – the land of the Jews
 The significance of Israel
 Key Teachings
 Beliefs
 Sacred Text
 Divergent groups
 Practices
The significance of Israel
 Proclaimed in 1948
 2005 – 6.9 million people
 80% Jews
 Muslims
 Christians
 Druze
Hybrid system of
limited intervention
by government in
religious affairs.
HENCE
There is not a formal
separation between
religion and state.
Israel – an Active Religious State
 Active Religious State: the state supports the religion while
maintaining a level of independence from it
 No constitution- instead a series of basic laws
 Guarantee access to and prohibit the desecration of holy sites
 Laws are enforced on the population under the ‘status quo’ agreement ( on the
Sabbath and other Jewish religious holidays businesses must close; buses/airlines
do not operate and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish neighbourhoods are closed to
vehicles.
 Has a declaration of independence
 Right of Return
Introduction
 Judaism is around 3500 years old and is the oldest of the world's three great monotheistic
religions (religions with only one God). It's also the smallest, with only about 12 million
followers around the world.
Who is a Jew? Traditionally, any
person whose mother is a Jew is
considered Jewish. This means
 Its holy city is Jerusalem.
there are both religious or
observant Jews, and secular Jews.
 The Jewish calendar is lunar and based on 29 or 30 days therefore they have 12.13
months.
Beliefs and Key Teachings
G-D

Jews believe that there is a single G-d

God in Hebrew scripture is understood as
 The clan of G-d of Abraham and his descendants
 As the city G-d of Jerusalem

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he competed with other city gods in the wider Mesopotamian area

rituals at his temple addressed him as ‘G-d of the Jews’, that is as a National G-d
G-d is
 omnipotent (all powerful)
 omnipresent (all present)
 and omniscience (all knowing).

Judaism turn to sacred text -way to live: moral law

To be a Jew is to be a person of law

Halachah: the Jewish legal tradition, grounded in the 613 commandments (mitzvot) of the Torah
Who is a Jew?
 Word ‘Jew’ used in two ways
 Person is born a Jew
 Follower of the Jewish religion – Judaism
Jews believe there is one eternal G-d
Refer to G-d as Adonai
Beliefs and Key Teachings
Covenant
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The initial Covenant was between G-d and Abraham
‘ancestor of a multitude of nations’ (Gen 17:5)
continued through the Patriarchs
renewed by Moses at Mount Sinai
Ten Commandments -basic code of law
The Covenant is important -expresses the essence of the laws.
The Covenant from Sinai summaries the complex laws from Leviticus Dietary,
 behavioral and
 Other prescriptions in the Torah codify an entire way of life.
 Laws ensures tradition is maintained
 Jews await the Messiah
 Believe in heaven, but G-d determines where they go after life on earth
From Adam to Moses
Abraham and Sarah
Sacred Text

The Tanak is the twenty-four books that make up the
Hebrew Scriptures

Broken into three parts
1. Torah
2. Neviim

3. Ketuvim
Hebrew is read right to left.
Torah (The teaching)
Neviim (The Prophets) Ketuvim (The
Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus
Numbers
Deuteronomy
Joshua
Judges
Samuel
Kings
Isaiah
Jeremiah
Ezekiel
The Twelve Minor
Prophets
Yad or pointer
used to read
the Torah
Writings)
Psalms
Job
Proverbs
Ruth
Song of Songs
Ecclesiastes
Lamentations
Esther
Daniel
Ezra-Nehemiah
Chronicles
Sacred Text
 divinely inspired
 source of all wisdom
 The Hebrew Scriptures completed around 100CE
 However: books within them 100’s – 1000’s of years older than 100CE
Divergent
Groups
Orthodox
•
•
•
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Full observant and
adhere to
traditional laws
Most Jews belong
to this group
‘traditional’
Judaism
Refer to
themselves as
‘observant’ right
belief and right
practice
Distinguished by its
traditional forms of
worship in Hebrew
Ultra- Orthodox
•
Divergent group
within Orthodox
who reject much
of the modern
world
Conservative
•
•
Derived from a
less radical group
broken away
from Progressive
Judaism around
1885
Is sympathetic to
modern Western
ways of thinking,
but more
traditional than
Progressive
Judaism
Progressive
•
Reform Judaism
• Liberal Judaism
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Influenced by social,
scientific, ethical and
other human
developments (adapts to
the norms of modern
society)
Began in 1810 in Germany
Religious services in the
local language of the
community
Some prayer still in Hebrew
Allowed to sing with
accompaniment of
organ
Men and women sit
together during worship
Females ordained – 1972
Women make up half the
population in rabbinical
classes
Mystical
Kabbalah
•
•
Hasidim
 http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/mar/27/ultra-orthodox-judaism-defectors-newyork
 http://www.abc.net.au/compass/s4191928.htm
Corner-stone of Judaism
 Torah
 Land
 People
 Love of G-d
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRdfX7ut8gw
Practices
Synagogue
 Jews worship in synagogues or temples.
 Images of G-d absent
 Men and women usually sit separately depending on group
 Synagogue worship – focus on reading and venerations of the Torah and 613 mitzvot of the
Torah
 Progressive Jews – Temple
 Worship is led by a Rabbi- usually male but can be female in the Progressive groups
 Friday evening is time for worship and is referred to as the Sabbath – begins Friday evening
when 3 stars appear in the sky and end Saturday evening (25 hours)
Sabbath
 to cease or rest
 No work allowed reference to early biblical laws (Lev 23: 2-3, Ex
20:8-11) and symbolically associated with creation (Gen2:2-3)
and central relationship of covenant (Ex 31:16)
 Seder meal an important part of the Shabbat celebrations
 Not allowed to operate machinery

http://www.chabad.org/generic_cdo/aid/323422/jewish/Candle-Lighting.htm
Bar Mitvah
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=IjrQcItNQac
 Son of the Commandment
 13 – an adult within tradition
 Minyan – 10 good men
 Formal preparation – classes, passage from Torah: taught to wear tefflin and tallit
A tour through Judaism
The Passover Seder meal
pesah
 Pesah commemorates the Exodus from Egypt and the creation of
Israel as a nation. It symbolises the saving action of God in history and
also marks the time of the barley harvest.
 In the time before the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple, the
Passover lamb was eaten on the first day of Pesah, and psalms,
hymns and prayers were shared. In contemporary times the Passover
sacrifice has been replaced by a family festive meal, called the
seder meal. During this meal the story of the Exodus is retold and Jews
recite prayers that complement the different stages of the story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYgGXklXoCU&feature
=fvwrel
 The Seder is a fifteen-step, family-oriented tradition and the focal points
of the meal are:
• Eating matzah, the flat unleavened bread.
• Eating bitter herbs to commemorate the bitter slavery endured by the
Israelites.
• Drinking four cups of wine or grape juice, a royal drink, to celebrate
freedom.
• The recitation of the Haggadah, which is a liturgy that describes in detail
the story of the Exodus from Egypt. The Haggadah is the fulfilment of the
biblical obligation to recount to Jewish children the story of the Exodus
on the night of Passover.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCy4_DaacI&feature=relmfu
Yom kippur
 Yom Kippur is the most sacred and solemn day of the Jewish
year, and it brings the Days of Repentance to a close. On
Yom Kippur, God makes the final decision on what the next
year will be like for each person. The Book of Life is closed and
sealed, and those who have properly repented for their sins
will be granted a happy New Year.
 Yom Kippur is marked by Jews in several ways:
• They abstain from food or drink for 25hrs
• They do not wear perfume
• They abstain from sexual intercourse
• They do not wash
• They do not wear leather shoes
 The most important part of Yom Kippur is the time spent in the
synagogue. Even Jews who are not particularly religious
attend synagogue on Yom Kippur, the only day of the year
with five services.
 The first service, in the evening, begins with the Kol Nidre
prayer. Another element in the liturgy for Yom Kippur is the
confession of sins (vidui). Sins are confessed aloud by the
congregation and in the plural. The fifth service is "Neilah",
which brings the day to a close as God's judgement is finally
sealed.
 At the end of the service the shofar is blown for the final time.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LsAcI4dXK48
sabbath
 Every week religious Jews observe the Sabbath and keep its laws and
customs. The Sabbath begins at nightfall on Friday and lasts until
nightfall on Saturday.
 The idea of a day of rest comes from the Bible story of the Creation.
God rested from creating the universe on the seventh day, so Jews
rest from work on the Sabbath. God also commanded the Jews to
observe the Sabbath and keep it holy as the fourth of the Ten
Commandments.
 Jews often call the day Shabbat, Hebrew for Sabbath, which means
‘rest’. The Sabbath is a reminder of the Covenant that God made
with the Israelites, and so it is an occasion to rejoice in God's kept
promises.
 In order to avoid work and to ensure that the Sabbath is special, all
chores like shopping, cleaning, and cooking for the Sabbath must be
finished before sunset on Friday.
 Sabbath candles are lit at sunset on a Friday. The woman of the house
usually performs this ritual. It is an integral part of Jewish custom and
ceremony.
 After the candles are lit, Jewish families will drink wine. Sabbath wine is
sweet and is usually drunk from a special goblet known as the Kiddush
Cup. The drinking of wine on the Sabbath symbolises joy and celebration.
 It is also traditional to eat challah, a soft bread in the shape of a braid.
Under Jewish law, every Jew must eat three meals on the Sabbath. One
of the meals must include bread. Observant Jews will usually eat challah
at the beginning of a Sabbath meal.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GW-frPw2oI&feature=related