Download Slide 3

Judaism
RELS 110: World Religions
Possible exam
questions
• List as many of Moses Maimonides’ 13 principles as
you can remember, and explain them in a sentence
or two each.
Slide 2.
Divine Name
• Originally, the Israelites’ name for God was
“Yahweh”, written as the consonants YHWH
• Jews stopped pronouncing the name of God
• They would substitute another word, either
• The Name (“HaShem”)
• LORD (all in capital letters to indicate it stands for
the divine name, not the usual word for “lord”).
Slide 3.
Monotheism in
Judaism
• The religion that first developed the concept of
monotheism
• belief in and worship of a single God.
• monotheism developed gradually
• Abraham and other early Jewish figures accepted
the prevailing belief that there were many gods.
• What made the Jews unique: they chose to
recognize and worship only one god who traveled
with them wherever they went.
Slide 4.
Representations of
God in Judaism
• the god of the Jews is an invisible god.
• In the Bible God declared himself to be beyond
depiction or imagination.
• unusual among the cultures in which Judaism
first arose.
• Judaism still ptohibits making images of God.
Slide 5.
The Chosen People
• Jews claimed a special relationship to their God
• He had chosen them to be his people.
• This relationship is referred to as a covenant:
• God made promises to the Hebrew people
• they in turn promised fidelity to him alone.
• this developed into the conviction that this god was in fact the
only God, of the universe and of all peoples.
• Judaism eventually committed itself to a strict monotheism.
• How to combine chosenness with one God for everyone?
• God had chosen the Jews for a special mission in the world.
• Jews feel responsible to a higher standard than other peoples
since they were appointed by God to be “a light to the world.”
Slide 6.
An Ethnic Religion
• Judaism has functioned both as an ethnic group
and a religion
• Many people today consider themselves Jews solely
because of their familial relations and not because
of any religious beliefs or practices they follow.
• The rest of the world, in its turn, has tended to regard
Jews the same way.
• Compare Hinduism, Shinto, Daoism.
• More so in Judaism because it has been a minority
religion
Slide 7.
The Sacred in History
• Other religions had myths and legends, stories
of creation and the interaction of important
ancestors with the gods.
• Judaism made these interactions a continuing
saga of God’s relationship to his chosen people.
• History doesn’t move in cycles; it is linear,
• it had a beginning
• It will some day have an end.
Slide 8.
Orthopraxis
• concern for the people’s ongoing relationship to
God.
• Not so much what individuals believed about
God,
• But how the community related to God.
• most important facet of Judaism became not
orthodoxy, or correct belief, but orthopraxis, or
correct practice.
Slide 9.
Jewish Theology
• Being a good Jew is mostly about following Jewish
law, not about believing anything in particular
about God.
• theology (literally, the study of God) is not as
important as in Christianity.
• Still, Jews have at times articulated Jewish beliefs
about God.
• One of the most famous of these articulations is the
“Thirteen Principles of Faith” authored by Moses
Maimonides, a rabbi who lived in the twelfth century
CE in Spain.
Slide 10.
Thirteen Principles of
Faith
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God is Creator and Guide.
God is One in a unique Way.
God does not have a physical form.
God is eternal.
God and God alone is to be worshiped.
God is all-knowing.
God gives rewards and punishments.
God has revealed his will through the prophets.
Moses is the greatest of the prophets.
The Torah was revealed to Moses.
The Torah is eternal and unchanging.
The Messiah will come.
The dead will be resurrected.
(Moses Maimonides, 13th C.)
Slide 11.
Summary: Basic
Principles of Judaism
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Judaism is best known as the first
monotheistic religion.
Jews developed the doctrine of
monotheism gradually over their early
history.
Judaism is both an ethnic group and a
religion, and the two identities are
brought together in the belief that Jews
are “the chosen people.”
God is believed to be actively involved
in historical events in Judaism,
sometimes in a way that permanently
changes the relationship between God
and God’s people.
Judaism is a religion of orthopraxis,
valuing ritual and the keeping of God’s
laws over holding particular beliefs
about God.
Slide 12.
Quiz fun
Slide 13.
Possible Exam
Question
• What, according to Proverbs, are the differences between
the “wise” and the “foolish” in terms of their (a)
thinking, (b) behaviour, and (c) fortunes?
Slide 14.
Proverbs
• Introduces us to the Material, convictions, worldview shared by
Jews, Christians, Muslims alike.
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Proverbs 12:15: “Fools think their own way is right; the wise listen to
advice”
Same kind of thing we would say today. Sounds the same; meaning a bit
different.
Divides people into two categories: Fool or wise.
An Observation – this is not a command.
Proverbs 12:16: “Fools show their anger at once; but the prudent ignore
an insult.”
Two groups of people: (1) principled; (2) immediate moment.
Proverbs 12:19: Truthful lips endure forever; but a lying tongue lasts
only a moment.
12:21: No harm comes to the righteous, but the wicked are filled with
trouble.
12:22: Lying lips are an abomination; faithful are his delight.
Slide 15.
Proverbs’ View of
Reality
• Concerns are universal, not nation-specific.
• Israel is not mentioned at all.
• Concerns are with this life, not the afterlife.
• With the way of wisdom-created world.
• Stresses importance of human choice
• Like Islam: Sayyed Hossein Nasr: Everything in the
Universe is Muslim except for Man.
• Wise=righteous will prosper; foolish=wicked do not.
• God’s wisdom is reflected in the moral order, as in the
physical order
• “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”
• Wisdom begins by taking God into account.
Slide 16.
Choice (in Proverbs’
worldview)
• Not: a fork in the road, and no one to tell us
one is right and one is wrong.
• Rather: a beautiful intricate rug & a child with
muddy boots.
• It is appropriate to take the boots off.
• We didn’t make the world; it was made a certain
way we didn’t determine.
• Will we respect the way the world is made?
• Will we be insensitive, stupid, mean?
Slide 17.
Judaism video 00-06
1. What is the
significance of
Canaan and
where is it
today?
2. What is
monotheism?
How does it
define Judaism?
Cultural Context of
Judaism
• For roughly the last two thousand years, Judaism has existed
as a minority religion which has been key in the formation of
Jewish identity.
• Jews have faced anti-Semitism in many different lands.
• Historically, the most vicious anti-Semitism was that of
Christians who blamed Jews for the death of Jesus.
• Especially in Europe, Jews were prevented from owning land
or working in many different professions, and were kept in
segregated Jewish neighborhoods called ghettoes.
• The worst and most recent persecution of Jews was the
Holocaust, in which the government of Nazi Germany
attempted to eradicate the European Jewish population under
the pretext that they were racially inferior to other Europeans.
Slide 19.
Game time!
Slide 20.
Summary of Genesis
1-11
• Creation: good, way good.
• Paradise: everything ideal.
• Flood (Noah)
• Gen 8:21: I’m not going to curse them. Why? Not because
they’re good, but because evil is their nature.
• Believe in these stories: literally or not?
• Some do, some don’t. Even early interpreters were divided.
• These stories tell us important things about the human
condition.
• Important convictions are told by the way of story.
• Easy to sum up the basic principles/convictions:
• The Vision of Reality in Genesis 1-11 …
Slide 21.
1. The universe is created
by God and good.
• Huston Smith on “the little word ‘very’ gives a lilt
to the entire religion. The Jews refused to abandon
the physical aspects of existence as illusory,
defective, or unimportant. Fresh as the morning of
creation, they were to be relished with zest.
• In Jewish faith, there is a strict division of creation
and creator.
• Don’t worship nature (Mother Earth). She is sister
earth, a creature, as we are.
Slide 22.
2. Humans are created
in the image of God
• (Genesis 1:27) What does the “image” imply?
• God rules all, so people are given rule over the rest of God’s
earthly creation (Dominion, in 1:28).
• Not exploit/devastate
• Rule is always given to be exercised for the good of those ruled
• OR: People are made with a capacity to enjoy God in ways
other creatures cannot.
• The ideal is someone who “walks with God” – has communion
with God
• OR: people can serve God in ways other creatures cannot.
• Instinctive action vs. moral action: we can do what is right as a
moral choice.
• OR: People can reflect God’s character in ways that other
creatures cannot.
Slide 23.
3. Humans are created
male and female
• For companionship (2:18)
• Propagation (1:28)
• Marriage and family are divine institutions, part
of the ‘order’ of creation.
Slide 24.
4. Humans remain
creatures
• Humans remain dependent on God.
• They need to recognize their limits.
• One command, to remind of limitations
• Tower of Babel
Slide 25.
5. Human existence is
spoiled
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Human existence, and all creation, is spoiled by human pretensions of
autonomy.
• When they think they can make their own rules …
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when they try to do what they themselves want, independently from God …
When humans choose their own interests, not those of creation …
Jews think people have an evil inclination and a good inclination, with a
constant struggle.
People can overcome the evil inclination.
That’s why the solution is guidance regarding what to do. It is not beyond you.
Christians say humans cannot help but sin.
It is such a part of human nature.
A more pessimistic problem; a more radical solution.
Islam: forgetfulness is the problem; in principle we can do it, when reminded.
Adam repented and became a prophet.
Slide 26.
5. Human existence is
spoiled (continued)
• Chaim Pearl:
• “Our stories imply that man has a tendency to sin.
But that is very different from the concept that he
has the destiny to sin.”
Slide 27.
6. God’s commitment to
the goodness of creation
• God’s commitment to the goodness of creation
is expressed both in divine judgement and in
redemption.
• He won’t allow it to be spoiled by humans.
• God is merciful, compassionate, patient.
Slide 28.
The Jewish Scriptures
• The Hebrew Bible is composed of many of the
same books as the Christian Old Testament.
• The Hebrew Bible consists of three major
sections, the most important of which is the
Torah, or first five books of the Bible.
Slide 29.
The Jewish Scriptures
• Torah or Pentateuch: Books of Moses
• Nevi’im “prophets”
• Ketuvim “writings”
Slide 30.
The Jewish Scriptures
• The Hebrew Bible was written between
approximately 900 and 200 BCE.
• The Talmud, which is an interpretation of the
Torah, is regarded as authoritative by the Jewish
religion.
• The Talmud, sometimes called the “oral Torah,”
brings the Torah into conversation with continuing
events in the life of the Jewish people via the
practice of midrash, or “reading scripture forward”
to find its significance for present times.
Slide 31.
Possible Test
Questions
• What is meant by “Torah”?
• What role does “Torah” play in Judaism?
Slide 32.
Torah
• Means “guidance, instruction, law”
• Used for:
• All revelation (all God says to humans)
• The Pentateuch (Genesis, Exod., Leviticus, Numbers,
Deut.)
• Sum of all the commandments God is believed to have
given Moses on Mt. Sinai. Includes:
• “written Torah” in Exodus, Leviticus, some in Numbers and
Deuteronomy
• Supplemented by “Oral Torah”
• Torah is to be the law for a whole community. A community
cannon have various implementations. Not every detail is given
(what is work?). Adapt Torah to new situations.
• Includes Halachah and Haggadah.
Slide 33.
Oral Torah
• Halakhah
• Tells people what they should do.
• Spells out precise terms of Israel’s obligations under the
covenant.
• Haggadah
• Narratives, illustrating and encouraging proper
behaviour.
• Collections of “Oral Torah” include:
• Mishnah
• Talmud(s) – Babylonian and Palestinian
• Midrashim – commentaries on biblical books,
containing both halakhah and haggadah.
Slide 34.
Mishnah
• A collections of laws – hard reading – concise, formulaic.
• Majoring in minors: E.g., Don’t do any work: What
constitutes “work”? The main classes of work are …
separating two threads.
• This is how we serve God – by submitting every detail to
Him.
• Most famous section: Avot (or Aboth, or Pirke Avot)
• Near the beginning of Avot: On three things the world
stands: On Torah, Worship (Service) and Loving Deeds
• It is our part to be faithful, even if we don’t understand.
• The fear of God comes before wisdom.
Slide 35.
Quiz Game
• Hebrew Scriptures
Slide 36.
Possible Test
Question
• Discuss briefly the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) as
a drama of the relationship of God with humanity.
Slide 37.
1. Patriarchal Period
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Abraham & Sarah
Isaac & Rebekah
Jacob & Rachel&Leah
12 sons of Jacob (including Levi, Judah, Joseph)
= the 12 tribes of Israel
Slide 38.
2. Egypt & the Exodus
• Moses & Aaron
• (typical protest against his call, but even more than
usual)
• Pharaoh doesn’t know God
• Plagues
Slide 39.
3. Wilderness & Mt.
Sinai
• Moses & Aaron
• Laws
• Instructions for tabernacle carried out: sanctuary
• How unbelieving Israel was – God kept coming
through
• Jews see this as their past, but also their present.
• E.g., Abraham gets promises of people & land, but
does not possess people or land.
• Or: story of wilderness: don’t be like that generation in
the wilderness because of their unbelief.
• Warning of prosperity and danger of pride. Depend on
God. Don’t adopt religions of other nations.
Slide 40.
4. Conquest &
Settlement
• Joshua & Judges (Also Deborah, Gideon,
Samson, Samuel)
• People who deliver them when they cry out from
oppression.
• A repeated cycle.
• Finally they demand a king.
Slide 41.
5. United Monarchy
• Kings: Saul, David, Solomon
• Saul disobeys God.
• The lineage is taken from him.
• God makes a commitment to David (2 Samuel 7):
• Your sons will be on the throne forever
• Solomon builds the temple in Jerusalem.
• Has women trouble; foreign gods.
Slide 42.
6. Divided Monarchy
• Northern Kingdom (Israel)
• Capital came to be in Samaria
• Various dynasties
• Southern Kingdom (Judah)
• David captured Jerusalem
• Davidic dynasty: 400 years.
• Assyrians captured Samaria in 722 BCE.
Slide 43.
7. Judah Alone
• Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 587 or 586
BCE.
• After a series of prophets had warned them to
reform their ways.
Slide 44.
8. Babylonian Exile
• Nebuchadnezzar (-538) captured Jerusalem and
destroyed the Temple.
Slide 45.
9. Postexilic Period
• Persian king Cyrus conquered the Babylonians
• Cyrus allowed Jews to return to their home
land.
• Ezra (scribe), Nehemiah (rebuilt Jerusalem’s
walls)
• 515 BCE- Second Temple period begins
Slide 46.
Quiz Game
• Ancient History of Judaism
Slide 47.
Possible Test
Question
• Summarize the message of the following prophets to their
contemporaries and the themes in their prophecies that
are important in Judaism:
• Amos
• Isaiah.
Slide 48.
Prophecy
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Prophets are intermediary figures, conveying to ordinary people messages from deity /
spiritual world / supernatural world that aren’t accessible to ordinary people.
Prophecy is a form of intuitive mediation (rather than inductive mediation, which is
recognizing what is there, e.g., divination).
Prophetic activity follows a divine commission (e.g., Amos, Jonah).
Prophecy is more than foretelling the future – this is an element, but not the core.
Social justice – another important characteristic, but it’s note what makes them prophets.
At Sinai, people say to Moses, “We can’t bear to hear the Lord directly; you go and tell us what
he said.”
Early examples of prophets in Israel:
Moses (prototype)
Samuel (also a judge)
Nathan (a court prophet; 2 Samuel 11-12): doesn’t rubber-stamp what the king wants. Tells a
story of a rich man. To pronounce upon rights & wrongs of establishment.
Elijah – Ahab & Naboth (1 Kings 21)
Slide 49.
David & Nathan
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But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord, 12 1 and the Lord sent
Nathan to David. He came to him, and said to him, “There were two men in a
certain city, the one rich and the other poor. 2 The rich man had very many
flocks and herds; 3 but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb,
which he had bought. He brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his
children; it used to eat of his meager fare, and drink from his cup, and lie in his
bosom, and it was like a daughter to him. 4 Now there came a traveler to the
rich man, and he was loath to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for
the wayfarer who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb, and
prepared that for the guest who had come to him.” 5 Then David’s anger was
greatly kindled against the man. He said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the
man who has done this deserves to die; 6 he shall restore the lamb fourfold,
because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”
7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! ” 2 Samuel 11:27-12:15.
Slide 50.
Amos, c. 750 BCE
• The first prophet whose words form the substance of a
biblical book.
• Why? His words were directed to the people as a whole? He
was told to go away, and had no venue?
• Shepherd from the South (Judah) with a message for the
North (Israel)
• Prophetic career in North lasted less than a year (2 years
before earthquake)
• Foretold destruction of Northern Kingdom (prosperous,
complacent). Was vindicated.
• Offended people by parodying and dismissing their piety.
• Alas for you who desire the “day of the Lord” (when
deliverance would come)
Slide 51.
Amos’ Message
• Amos denounces Israel’s neighbours for crimes against
humanity: All nations are responsible before God:
compassion, no war crimes, selling slaves, defiling the
dead.
• This would delight Israel, but then he moves on to
condemn Israel, too. Amos 9:7 says in effect, “You have
no special immunity.”
• Are you not like the Ethiopians to me,
• O people of Israel? says the Lord.
• Did I not bring Israel up from the land of Egypt,
• and the Philistines from Caphtor and the Arameans from
Kir?
Slide 52.
Amos’ Message
• Amos 3:1-2 – your special relationship means a
special responsibility:
• Hear this word that the Lord has spoken against
you, O people of Israel, against the whole family
that I brought up out of the land of Egypt:
• You only have I known
• of all the families of the earth;
• therefore I will punish you
• for all your iniquities.
Slide 53.
Amos’ Message
• Pronounced pending doom on religious people lacking a
social conscience.
• Chapter 6: beds of ivory, sing idle songs, drink wine, but are not
grieved.
• Amos 5:21-24
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I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Slide 54.
Summary of Amos
• Insistence that God is concerned about justice
for all nations (Edomites, etc.)
• Israel’s special relationship entails special
responsibilities.
• Religious worship was acceptable only when
they practices social justice.
• Only when they had compassion on the poor
Slide 55.
“Major” Prophets
• Two of the “major” prophets are assigned for
this course.
• The difference between “major” and “minor”
prophets is the length of the books.
• Isaiah: active before 722 BCE (for over 40
years)
• Commissioning – told in Isaiah 6: vision of Lord in
the temple; seraphim; Holy, Holy Holy.
• Whom will I send? I will. Nobody will listen.
Slide 56.
Isaiah 1:10-17
• Sodom & Gomorrah were sinful cities (see
Genesis 18&19) destroyed before Isaiah’s time.
• Who are Sodom & Gomorrah for him? Sinners in
general? Jerusalem.
• Expect the same kind of judgement as S&G.
• Your offerings are abominations; learn to do good
& seek justice.
• God is looking for justice; failing that he is not
interested in religiosity of people who oppress.
Slide 57.
Ethical Monotheism
• In the past (1880-1960/1970) the religion of the
prophets was reduced (by scholars) to “ethical
monotheism”
• (In contrast to books of the law) against the temple
of Jerusalem. God wasn’t interested in religious
ritual.
• More recently, there has been a backlash against
making the prophets in our own image.
Slide 58.
Isaiah 5
• Song of the Vineyard
• Produced sour grapes – I can’t do anything for it
anymore.
• Looked for righteousness; found oppression.
Slide 59.
Isaiah 11:1-9
• Paradise restored, when Davidic king is
reinstalled.
• The wolf will lie down with the lamb.
Slide 60.
Review
• Amos, c. 750 BCE, Shepherd from the South (Judah) with a
message for the North (Israel)
• Amos’ Message
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Insistence that God is concerned about justice for all nations (Edomites,
etc.)
Israel’s special relationship entails special responsibilities.
Religious worship was acceptable only when they practiced social justice.
• Ethical Monotheism
• Isaiah: before 722 BCE
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Isaiah 6: Commissioning in the temple.
Isaiah 1:10-17: God is looking for justice rather than religiosity.
Isaiah 5: Song of the Vineyard. Looked for righteousness; found
oppression.
Isaiah 11:1-9: Paradise restored, when Davidic king is reinstalled.
Slide 61.
Judaism video 06-24
3. What was
Abraham’s Covenant
with God?
4. What did Moses
contribute to
Judaism after his
meeting with God
on Mount Sinai?
5. What is the Torah?
6. Who are Saul,
David and Solomon,
and what did they do
to help establish a
Jewish homeland?
7. What happened to
the Israelites
between the reign of
Solomon and the
building of the
second Temple?
8. What are the three
parts of the Hebrew
Bible?
Possible Test
Question
• How do the major groupings of Judaism today differ in
practice and beliefs?
Slide 63.
Judaism video 24-
9. How did the
Jews fare under
Roman rule?
10. How did
Judaism change
as it became
synagoguecentered rather
than templecentered after 70
C.E.?
11. What is the
purpose of the
Talmud?
12. What impact
did Islam have
on the evolution
of Judaism?
The Jewish Diaspora
• • The Diaspora, or dispersion from the land of Israel, provoked a
major transition in Judaism from being a religion of temple and
sacrifice to a religion of synagogue and scripture.
• • After the Diaspora, Jews settled throughout Europe and the
Middle East, eventually splitting into two major groups, the
Ashkenazim and the Sephardim, who developed somewhat
different languages and customs.
• • A mystical tradition of Judaism, Kabbalah, developed during the
Middle Ages in Europe.
• • The pressure of living as a stigmatized minority religion in Europe
led Jews to develop more charismatic movements like Hasidism, to
look forward eagerly to the coming of the Messiah, and to begin to
redefine Judaism in ways that would make it fit more easily into
European culture.
Slide 65.
The Jewish Diaspora
• Practice
Slide 66.
Judaism video 35-
13. What is the role of
education in Judaism?
14. What are the diverse
roles of the synagogue
today?
15. What is the
importance of the
Jewish Sabbath?
16. What are the most
sacred of the High
Holy Days during the
Jewish religious year?
17. What three laws
take precedent over
the preservation of a
human life?
18. What does being
kosher mean?
19. How does
Jerusalem serve as a
central theme in
Judaism?
20. What is the Zionist
movement? What was
its main goal?
Psalms: Origins and
Use
• What sorts of things happened in the ancient temple?
• Feasts, hymns, individual sacrifice, confession, vows.
• Psalms were composed / adopted by professional singers
in the temple.
• Appropriate psalms were performed to suit occasion of
the community’s or individual’s worship
• What would be the kind of ceremony at the temple, at
which each Psalm would have been used?
• “I was glad when they said to me, let us go up to the house
of the Lord.” (triumph)
• “Have mercy on me, O God; blot out my transgressions”
(confession)
Slide 68.
Psalms: Origins and
Use
• Each guild of singers (Asa, Korah, etc.) had its
own repertoire of psalms.
• In time, collections of psalms were assembled
into a scroll. Thereafter, used as private as well
as community devotion.
• People for 2000 years have found in the Psalms
what they wanted to say but couldn’t find the
words. A treasured collection.
Slide 69.
Psalms: Themes /
Worldview
• It is fitting and right for God’s creatures to celebrate his
goodness.
• It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your
name, O Most High;” (Ps 92:1).
• Humans are all part of God’s created order
• Whereas human beings are frail and mortal, God is eternal,
faithful, merciful.
• Human life is full of trouble, from which God alone can
deliver.
• God is righteous and will enforce justice in the world.
• This is both a hope for the righteous and a cause for celebration
for the whole world.
• God’s presence is to be enjoyed at his Temple. He himself is
the true reward.
Slide 70.
Judaism in America
• Practice
Slide 71.
Judaism in America
• • More Jews now live in the U.S. than anywhere else in the world.
• • Jews immigrated to the United States in two major waves: the first
group came from Germany, mostly in the nineteenth century, while
the second group came from Eastern Europe and Russia in the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
• • Four branches of Judaism exist in America: Reform, Conservative,
Orthodox, and Reconstructionist.
• • Those who stayed closest to Jewish law remained Orthodox, while
those who were interested in molding Judaism to some extent to
help it flourish in its new environment became Conservative Jews.
• • Marriage between Jews and non-Jews has driven the various
branches of Judaism to grapple with questions of Jewish identity.
Slide 72.
Zionism & the State of
Israel
• • The Zionist Movement inspired the creation of the modern state
of Israel.
• • The first leader of the Zionist Movement, Theodor Herzl, was a
secular Jew.
• • Other possible Jewish homelands were considered by the Zionist
Movement.
• • Israel came to be in its present form through a series of directives
from Great Britain and the United Nations as well as persistent
conflicts with its Arab neighbours.
• • Religious and political conflict persist within Israel today, not only
between Jews and non-Jews, but between different sorts of Jews.
• • Any Jew anywhere in the world is welcome to move to Israel and
become a citizen.
Slide 73.
Zionism & the State of
Israel
• Practice
Slide 74.
Jewish Practice
• • Jews pray and worship both at home and at synagogue.
• • Communal prayer requires the presence of a minyan
(ten Jews).
• • The Sabbath is the most important Jewish holiday and
is celebrated every week as a day of rest.
• • A portion of the Torah is read each week in synagogue
services.
• • Jews respect certain dietary rules known as the laws of
kashrut (kosher).
• • Many Jews do not pray regularly, observe the Sabbath,
attend synagogue, or keep a kosher diet, but they are still
regarded as Jews.
Slide 75.
Jewish Rites of
Passage
• Jews bring their children into the covenant that
God made with Abraham through special
services for infants: brit milah for boys and
naming services for girls.
• Sons are welcomed into the covenant as infants via
circumcision.
• Jews mourn the deaths of their close relatives by
sitting shivah and reciting a special prayer for a
year after the death.
Slide 76.
Bar Mitzvah
• Coming-of-age services (bar mitzvah and bat mitzvah)
mark a transition into religious adulthood for Jews.
• The many obligations placed upon Jews according to Jewish
law are reserved for adults, but traditionally Jewish children
become adults at a comparatively young age: thirteen.
• The bar mitzvah service officially recognizes a boy’s
religious coming-of-age.
• After his bar mitzvah, a Jewish boy, if he is observant, is
expected to wear tallit and tefillin and to pray three times a
day.
• Recently, coming-of-age services have been established
for girls (bat mitzvah).
Slide 77.
Marriage
• A Jewish marriage contract is called a
“ketubah.”
• Jewish weddings include seven blessings and the
breaking of a glass to commemorate the
destruction of the Second Temple, and take
place under a canopy.
Slide 78.
Jewish Holidays
• • The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar that is
corrected each year to stay roughly
synchronized with the solar calendar.
• • The major Jewish holidays are both seasonal
celebrations and commemorations of historical
events.
• • The most recently created Jewish holiday is
Yom Hashoah, a commemoration of the
Holocaust and those who died in it.
Slide 79.
High Holy Days
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The most important holidays of the Jewish year are called the high holy days.
Rosh Hashanah
• They begin with Rosh Hashanah, a New Year’s festival that usually falls in
•
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September.
The hallmark of Rosh Hashanah is the blowing of the shofar, or ram’s horn.
According to Jewish tradition, Jews must attend synagogue so that their names
will be put down in the book of life for the next year.
Rosh Hashanah is a happy day, celebrated with sweet foods like apples and
honey.
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the most solemn day of the Jewish year,
falls ten days after Rosh Hashanah.
On Yom Kippur adult Jews are expected to fast from sundown to sundown, and
to attend synagogue services where they collectively apologize to God for all the
wrongs they have committed in the course of the year.
Slide 80.
Minor Jewish Holidays
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There are a number of minor Jewish holidays commemorating events in the
history of the Jewish people.
Hanukkah
One of the most famous in the United States is Hanukkah, a relatively minor
holiday in the Jewish year that has become important as a way of giving Jewish
children a holiday to celebrate that is full of gifts and lights, as is Christmas,
which also falls in December.
Purim
Late in winter comes the holiday of Purim, which honours Queen Esther and
her cousin Mordechai, who successfully fended off a persecution of the Jews in
Mesopotamia. The Book of Esther, which recounts the story of Purim, is read
aloud in the synagogue. Whenever the name of the villain of the tale, Haman, is
spoken, the congregation reacts with boos and hisses and the grinding sound of
noisemakers called graggers. Purim is also a time for carnivals. Children dress up
as the heroes and villains of the tale or in whatever costumes they wish. There
are often games, mask making, and dancing.
Slide 81.
Jewish Holidays
• Practice
Slide 82.
Women in Judaism
• Women have played important roles in Jewish history as
recorded in the Hebrew scriptures.
• Many Jewish laws do not apply to women.
• The laws of niddah, or sexual purity, are a special
obligation for Jewish women.
• Jewish marriage law protects a woman’s rights in
marriage but limits her opportunities for divorce.
• Jewish feminists have recently challenged and often
changed Jewish tradition to make more room for female
participation, leadership, and equality with men.
• (practice)
Slide 83.
Midterm test question
possibilities for
Judaism
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Multiple Choice (on textbook and lectures)
Passage Identification (on scripture readings and lectures): Proverbs, Genesis,
Exodus, Psalms, Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah
Paragraph questions (on lectures and textbook)
Discuss briefly the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament) as a drama of the
relationship of God with humanity.
What is in each of the three parts of the Jewish scriptures?
What, according to Proverbs, are the differences between the “wise” and the
“foolish” in terms of their (a) thinking, (b) behaviour, and (c) fortunes?
What view of human nature and potential is reflected in the first three chapters
of Genesis?
What is meant by “Torah”? What role does “Torah” play in Judaism?
Summarize the message of the following prophets to their contemporaries and
the themes in their prophecies that are important in Judaism: Amos, Isaiah.
How do the major groupings of contemporary Judaism differ in practice and
beliefs?
List as many of Moses Maimonides’ 13 articles as you can remember, and
explain them in a sentence or two each.
Slide 84.
Covenants
• Formal arrangements establishing terms of
relationship between two parties, based on
solemn undertakings of obligations by one or
both parties
• Divine covenants reflect:
• Divine concern for relationships with humanity
• Divine involvement in history
Slide 85.
Covenants
• Abraham Heschel:
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“Judaism is a religion of history, a religion of time. The God of Israel
was not found primarily in the facts of nature. He spoke through the
events in history. While the deities of other peoples were associated with
places or things, the God of the prophets was the God of events..."
“The term, ‘God of Abraham, Isaac, & Jacob’ is semantically different
from a term such as ‘the God of truth, goodness, & beauty.’ Abraham,
Isaac, & Jacob do not signify ideas, principles, or abstract values. Nor
do they stand for teachers or thinkers… [They] are not principles to be
comprehended but lives to be continued.”
“To be a Jew is to renounce allegiance to false gods; to be sensitive to
God’s infinite stake in every finite situation; to bear witness to God’s
presence in the hours of God’s concealment; to remember that the
world is unreedemed.”
Slide 86.
Divine Covenants
• Made with
• Abraham & his descendents
• Israel at Mt. Sinai
• In a sense, a reaffirmation – they swear they will keep
the ordinances
• David and his descendents (2 Samuel 7:12-16)
• Prophets themselves had prophesied. A covenant
cannot fail, if begun by God.
• On the throne forever. Even if interrupted, it must
have a future. Basis for hope for Messiah in Judaism.
Slide 87.
Sanctuaries of Israel
• Where did people worship?
• Patriarchal Period: Altars at sites of theophanies
• Wilderness Period: Tabernacle /tent of meeting
• Courtyard with bronze altar
• Holy place: lampstand (menorah), table, altar of incense
• Most Holy Place: Ark of the covenant and mercy seat
• Solomon’s Temple (1st Temple period) on Mt.
Zion in Jerusalem
• Resembled tabernacle
• Destroyed 587/586 by Nebuchadnezzar
Slide 88.
Sanctuaries of Israel
• Second Temple (includes Herod’s Temple) 515BCE70CE
• God was said to dwell (Gen. 25) above the ark of the
covenant
• Did they think he actually was confined there?
• Some unsophisticated people probably did.
• Others said God cannot be contained there, yet he has
chosen to meet his people there, in the appointed place.
• It came to be seen that sacrifices were only to be made in
Jerusalem. Therefore festivals also must be celebrated in
Jerusalem: 3 pilgrimage feasts:
• Tabernacles, Weeks, Passover.
• (Only priests could enter the temple. People could only go
to the surrounding court.)
Slide 89.
Sanctuaries of Israel
• Synagogues: Meeting places for people, not
dwelling.
• Perhaps already in exilic period, at least in post-exilic
period.
Slide 90.