Judaism Rituals Relationship With God/Torah

¶ … Judaism Rituals

Relationship with God/Torah

Jews believe that there is only one God and that they were chosen to have a special relationship with Him. They believe that God is everywhere, and that they can pray to him if they have difficulties.

Jews believe that there is only one God and that the Jewish People were specially chosen to receive God's guidance (BBC).

The most important religious document for Jews is the Torah, which is made up of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy (Rich, 2005).

Old Testament History

Judaism is over 3,500years old. Very early in their history they became enslaved by Egypt. The great leader Moses led them out of slavery and into the wilderness.

Ten Commandments

Commandments

Judaism teaches that God gave the Jews 613 commandments, not merely ten. The biblical passage known to most people as the "Ten Commandments" is known to Jews as the Aseret ha-Dibrot, the Ten Declarations, and is considered to be ten categories of commandments, rather than ten individual commandments (1).

4. Jerusalem

Jews believe that Jerusalem is the site of an ancient temple. They believe that one wall, the Western Wall of the old temple, still remains. Often Jews go to this wall to pray (Rich, 2005). The wall is a reminder of just how old their religion is.

5. The Nation of Israel

The word "Israel" has several meanings to Jews. First, they believe that it is the land God promised to Abraham and his descendants. It also stands for their first homeland. It is also another word for the name "Jacob," and finally, it is the name of the modern country in the Middle East with a mostly Jewish population and government (Rich, 2005).

6. Different Sects of Judaism

There are three main kinds of Judaism

Reform Judaism believes that although Judaism and its laws were inspired by God, the religion should be allowed to change over time. Reform Jews choose which laws they think are appropriate for modern life (Rich, 2005).

Conservative Judaism teaches that the laws are binding but that laws can be modified and changed over time (Rich, 2005).

Conservative

One of the major movements of Judaism, accepting the binding nature of Jewish law but believing that the law can change (1).

Orthodox

One of the major movements of Judaism, believing that Jewish law comes from God and cannot be changed (1).

7. The Holocaust

8. & 9. Sacred Practices and/or Holidays (1).

Judaism > Customs

Customs

Every week religious Jews observe the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day, and keep its laws and customs.

The Sabbath begins at sunset on Friday and lasts until sunset on Saturday.

The Sabbath is commanded by God

God commanded the Jewish People to observe the Sabbath and keep it holy as the fourth of the Ten Commandments.

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 of that first week, so Jews rest from work on the Sabbath.

Jews often call the day Shabbat, which is Hebrew for Sabbath, and which comes from the Hebrew word for rest.

A reminder of the Covenant

The Sabbath is part of the deal between God and the Jewish People, so celebrating it is a reminder of the Covenant, and an occasion to rejoice in God's kept promises.

A gift from God

Most Jewish people look forward to Shabbat all week. They see it as God's gift to his chosen people of a day when they take time out from everyday things to feel special.

Shabbat is a time with no television, no rushing to the demands of the telephone or a busy work schedule.

People don't think about work or other stressful things.

It's an oasis of calm, a time of stillness in life.

Sabbath Greetings

The traditional Sabbath greetings are Shabbat Shalom (Hebrew), or Gut Shabbos (Yiddish).

A family time

Shabbat is very much a time when families come together in the presence of God in their own home.

Singles, or others with no family around may form a group to celebrate Shabbat together.

Sabbath Customs

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.

People dress up for Shabbat and go to considerable trouble to ensure that everything is really nice to obey the commandment to make the Sabbath a delight.

Sabbath candles are lit and there are Sabbath blessings, prayers, songs and readings.

It's traditional for parents to bless their children on Shabbat.

The blessing for daughters asks that they become like the four matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah, while sons are blessed to grow up like Ephraim and Menasheh, two brothers who lived in harmony.

Some of the family will have been to synagogue before the Sabbath meal, and it's likely that the whole family will go on Saturday.

Holy days

The Calendar

The Jewish calendar is a combined moon and sun calendar, unlike the conventional Western (or Gregorian) calendar.

The result is that Jewish festivals move about the Western calendar from year to year. The Jewish calendar also starts each day in the evening.

This is because when God was creating the world he started each day in the evening.

Sabbath -- the Holy Day

One day each week is set aside as the Sabbath, (in Jewish circles it's usually called Shabbat).

Once again this is something that God instructed the Jews to do.

The High Holy Days

The High Holy Days come in Autumn, at the start of the month of Tishri. This is the most spiritual period of the year for Jews, a time for looking back on the year just passed, and for taking action to get right with God and with other people. It runs from Rosh Hashanah for ten days until Yom Kippur.

The dates in the Hebrew calendar are 1 Tishri-10 Tishri. Because Hebrew dates begin at sunset, the events begin on the evening before the festival day.

Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year festival and commemorates the creation of the world.

Days of Awe or Repentance are the 10 days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur during which everyone gets a chance to repent.