Judaism
What do Jews believe?
- 613 commandments to follow in the Torah.
- Rules of Kosher
- E.g. Kosher food so as an orthodox Jew they do not mix meat and milk at all.
- Orthodox Jews try and follow as many rules as possible. Do not allow women to take the
lead in worship. You need 10 adult men before you can hold a service called a “minion”.
- However, reform Jews do not try to fulfil all the rules.
- Monotheistic religion
- Synagogue can be used for school called as “shaw”.
- Men sit downstairs in Orthodox.
- Women sit downstairs in Orthodox.
- Men under 13 would be with women and then men.
- Kippahs remind you that God is above you and reminder that God is always there.
- They follow the 10 commandments.
- Torahs kept in the Ark its on the wall closest to the city of Jerusalem.
Orthodox Jews
- They try to keep their religious observations as close to the Torah possible
- The torah came from God and it cannot be changed.
- God is the law giver and so they will try to observe the 613 MITZVOT.
- They believe the rules are absolute and unchanging so should be observed.
- Any technology should be considered within the parameters of the mitzvot.
- Society may change by Jewish teachings do not.
- The sabbath day is Saturday for Jews so from Friday when the sun goes down to Saturday
night.
Reform Jews
- These jews have decided to move away from the traditional Orthodox teachings.
- Believe that ethical laws of the Torah are binding.
- Other laws like found in the TALAMUND (a book of teaching and stories) reflected their time
and place of writing so they should not be followed absolutely.
- They do not believe that the Torah should be taken literally although it does have authority
as the religions should move with the times.
- They will use their individual reasoning and conscience to help them decide what to do in
certain situations as well as the Torah.
Secular Jews
- These Jews do not believe in God but regard the teachings in the Torah as sacred.
- They are born Jewish because of their parents but do not follow their religious practices or
teachings of Judaism although they may celebrate traditions.
Maimonides- 12 century scholar, the 13 principles of faith , “Fundamental truths”
1) God exists, is perfect and created everything in existence.
2) Belief in God’s unity
3) God does not have a physical body and so is not affected by needs as humans.
4) God is eternal.
5) Only God should be worshipped.
6) God communicates with people through prophets.
7) Moses is the most important prophet.
, 8) The torah was given to Moses by God
9) The torah is God’s laws and cannot be changed.
10) God is all knowing and knows everything that is going to happen.
11) God will reward God and punish evil.
12) The belief that the Messiah will come.
13) The dead will be resurrected.
Importance of 10 commandments
-Found in Exodus
-They must be kept by every Jew regardless of age, gender, location. They are a necessity.
-They are central to Jewish practices. Lifestyles should be based on rules
-The commandments are in two section:
Commandments 1-4 are duties concerning humans and God.
The second six all deal with relationships between people.
1) Jews celebrate the festival, Pesach as it demonstrates the deliverance of the Israelites from
slavery in Egypt
2) The Shema displays how their is only one God. Which reflects do not worship false idols
3) Jews do not right the name of “God “ out ever and is name must be respected which
symbolises “ do not take the name of God your Lord in vain”
4) Jews keep the Sabbath Day holy as they have shabbat which is their rest day
5) Honor your father and mother is displayed as Jews have the “blessing of children ceremony”
each week”
6) WITHIN MARRRIAGE, sex is seen as important. In Genesis 1:22 God commands men and
women populate the earth and make it holy. Adultery is seen as wrong and this is one of the
3 mitzvot never to be broken even in order to save a life.
7) Honesty and trust are seen as important for any civilised society so do not steal
8) The saving of life “Pikuach Nefesh” is an important belief in Judaism. Jewish practice allows
mitzvot to be broken to save a life. All life is to be created by God. Therefore murder is
completely wrong.
9) Tzedakah/justice is important in Judaism. So do not testify false witness.
10) In Judaism you must always be content about what you have. In Talmud it says envy is and
“evil eye”” while a “good eye” is happy at other successes.
Other Names for God
- Elohim “God”
- Yhvh “Lord, probably said Yawah but too holy to say the name”.
- Adonai “my lord”
- Ha’shem “the name”
- The Talmud teaches that there is 3 parts of every human, mum, father who provide physical
and the soul.
The Shema
- The central prayer in Judaism that affirms one belief.
- It sums up the beliefs of Judaism in the prayer.
,- Kids first prayer
- People will say it daily.
“Hear O Israel
The lord our God is one
Love the lord your God
With all you heart, strength “
Synagogue – Jewish place of Worship
- Not photos of God
- Not statues at all or representations of human beings to reinforce that it is God and only God
to be worshipped.
- However, many colourful glass windows and theory may appear decorative.
Monotheism
- God is the creator (Created God “ex nihilo”, “in the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth”.)
- God is the law giver ( he revealed the laws, duties to the prophet Moses. 10 commandments
found in exodus provide framework of how God wanted society to function, by obeying Gods
laws you are strengthening your relationship with God)
- God is a judge- God of justice and mercy, he will judge each and every person fairly. God is
just, he does what’s right. “You are not a God that has pleasure in wickness”
- God is omniscient “He knows how many hairs are on your head”.
- Omnipotent “he created the world in 6-day ex nilho”.
- Omnipresent “God sees everything as he is everywhere”.
Jewish beliefs about creation
- Many Jews believe that the world is for too complicated and perfect to be a product of
chance so it leads to the conclusion that there must be a creator.
- Each week they celebrate the Shabbat, they have a constant reminder of God’s creation.
Mitzvah
, - God was very angry at all the bad human behaviour except from Noah and sent him an ark to
save him from the flood.
Rosh Hashanah/ Yon Kippur
- New Year- Rosh Hashanah in september
10 days to make all wrongs right to Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
All Jew take day of work and go to synagogue and forgive and start new year sin free in front of
God.
It celebrates creation, remembers that God will judge every person.
Talmud describes how God will bring out his scales, good deeds weigh out bad things
Torah/ Talmud/ Tanakh
Christians Old Testament is the Jewish scripture however they call it the Tanakh because to them
it is current and useable.
It was from what Jesus taught, Jews
Torah- Law book, 613 mitzvot’s for orthodox. Believe Torah and Talmud are equal in power
Reform Jews- Torah= divinely inspired by God, do the 613 mitzvot’s from POV from the 21 st
century. They do not really use the Talmud
Nevi’im- book of prophets
Ketuvim- Writings
If you need advice look at Torah
Scholars- Many scholars have devoted life to study the Torah and discussed issues.
Talmud- Oral Tradition
What do Jews believe?
- 613 commandments to follow in the Torah.
- Rules of Kosher
- E.g. Kosher food so as an orthodox Jew they do not mix meat and milk at all.
- Orthodox Jews try and follow as many rules as possible. Do not allow women to take the
lead in worship. You need 10 adult men before you can hold a service called a “minion”.
- However, reform Jews do not try to fulfil all the rules.
- Monotheistic religion
- Synagogue can be used for school called as “shaw”.
- Men sit downstairs in Orthodox.
- Women sit downstairs in Orthodox.
- Men under 13 would be with women and then men.
- Kippahs remind you that God is above you and reminder that God is always there.
- They follow the 10 commandments.
- Torahs kept in the Ark its on the wall closest to the city of Jerusalem.
Orthodox Jews
- They try to keep their religious observations as close to the Torah possible
- The torah came from God and it cannot be changed.
- God is the law giver and so they will try to observe the 613 MITZVOT.
- They believe the rules are absolute and unchanging so should be observed.
- Any technology should be considered within the parameters of the mitzvot.
- Society may change by Jewish teachings do not.
- The sabbath day is Saturday for Jews so from Friday when the sun goes down to Saturday
night.
Reform Jews
- These jews have decided to move away from the traditional Orthodox teachings.
- Believe that ethical laws of the Torah are binding.
- Other laws like found in the TALAMUND (a book of teaching and stories) reflected their time
and place of writing so they should not be followed absolutely.
- They do not believe that the Torah should be taken literally although it does have authority
as the religions should move with the times.
- They will use their individual reasoning and conscience to help them decide what to do in
certain situations as well as the Torah.
Secular Jews
- These Jews do not believe in God but regard the teachings in the Torah as sacred.
- They are born Jewish because of their parents but do not follow their religious practices or
teachings of Judaism although they may celebrate traditions.
Maimonides- 12 century scholar, the 13 principles of faith , “Fundamental truths”
1) God exists, is perfect and created everything in existence.
2) Belief in God’s unity
3) God does not have a physical body and so is not affected by needs as humans.
4) God is eternal.
5) Only God should be worshipped.
6) God communicates with people through prophets.
7) Moses is the most important prophet.
, 8) The torah was given to Moses by God
9) The torah is God’s laws and cannot be changed.
10) God is all knowing and knows everything that is going to happen.
11) God will reward God and punish evil.
12) The belief that the Messiah will come.
13) The dead will be resurrected.
Importance of 10 commandments
-Found in Exodus
-They must be kept by every Jew regardless of age, gender, location. They are a necessity.
-They are central to Jewish practices. Lifestyles should be based on rules
-The commandments are in two section:
Commandments 1-4 are duties concerning humans and God.
The second six all deal with relationships between people.
1) Jews celebrate the festival, Pesach as it demonstrates the deliverance of the Israelites from
slavery in Egypt
2) The Shema displays how their is only one God. Which reflects do not worship false idols
3) Jews do not right the name of “God “ out ever and is name must be respected which
symbolises “ do not take the name of God your Lord in vain”
4) Jews keep the Sabbath Day holy as they have shabbat which is their rest day
5) Honor your father and mother is displayed as Jews have the “blessing of children ceremony”
each week”
6) WITHIN MARRRIAGE, sex is seen as important. In Genesis 1:22 God commands men and
women populate the earth and make it holy. Adultery is seen as wrong and this is one of the
3 mitzvot never to be broken even in order to save a life.
7) Honesty and trust are seen as important for any civilised society so do not steal
8) The saving of life “Pikuach Nefesh” is an important belief in Judaism. Jewish practice allows
mitzvot to be broken to save a life. All life is to be created by God. Therefore murder is
completely wrong.
9) Tzedakah/justice is important in Judaism. So do not testify false witness.
10) In Judaism you must always be content about what you have. In Talmud it says envy is and
“evil eye”” while a “good eye” is happy at other successes.
Other Names for God
- Elohim “God”
- Yhvh “Lord, probably said Yawah but too holy to say the name”.
- Adonai “my lord”
- Ha’shem “the name”
- The Talmud teaches that there is 3 parts of every human, mum, father who provide physical
and the soul.
The Shema
- The central prayer in Judaism that affirms one belief.
- It sums up the beliefs of Judaism in the prayer.
,- Kids first prayer
- People will say it daily.
“Hear O Israel
The lord our God is one
Love the lord your God
With all you heart, strength “
Synagogue – Jewish place of Worship
- Not photos of God
- Not statues at all or representations of human beings to reinforce that it is God and only God
to be worshipped.
- However, many colourful glass windows and theory may appear decorative.
Monotheism
- God is the creator (Created God “ex nihilo”, “in the beginning God created the heaven and
the earth”.)
- God is the law giver ( he revealed the laws, duties to the prophet Moses. 10 commandments
found in exodus provide framework of how God wanted society to function, by obeying Gods
laws you are strengthening your relationship with God)
- God is a judge- God of justice and mercy, he will judge each and every person fairly. God is
just, he does what’s right. “You are not a God that has pleasure in wickness”
- God is omniscient “He knows how many hairs are on your head”.
- Omnipotent “he created the world in 6-day ex nilho”.
- Omnipresent “God sees everything as he is everywhere”.
Jewish beliefs about creation
- Many Jews believe that the world is for too complicated and perfect to be a product of
chance so it leads to the conclusion that there must be a creator.
- Each week they celebrate the Shabbat, they have a constant reminder of God’s creation.
Mitzvah
, - God was very angry at all the bad human behaviour except from Noah and sent him an ark to
save him from the flood.
Rosh Hashanah/ Yon Kippur
- New Year- Rosh Hashanah in september
10 days to make all wrongs right to Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
All Jew take day of work and go to synagogue and forgive and start new year sin free in front of
God.
It celebrates creation, remembers that God will judge every person.
Talmud describes how God will bring out his scales, good deeds weigh out bad things
Torah/ Talmud/ Tanakh
Christians Old Testament is the Jewish scripture however they call it the Tanakh because to them
it is current and useable.
It was from what Jesus taught, Jews
Torah- Law book, 613 mitzvot’s for orthodox. Believe Torah and Talmud are equal in power
Reform Jews- Torah= divinely inspired by God, do the 613 mitzvot’s from POV from the 21 st
century. They do not really use the Talmud
Nevi’im- book of prophets
Ketuvim- Writings
If you need advice look at Torah
Scholars- Many scholars have devoted life to study the Torah and discussed issues.
Talmud- Oral Tradition
