Social Harmony

Festivals and their importance

Rosh Hashanah

·        Falls in Autumn

·        The birthday of the world

·        Torah describes the creation of the world in the book of Genesis

·        Falls on the seventh month of the Jewish calendar and lasts two days

·        God judges his people for the years misdeeds and decides their circumstances

·        On this day, people repent for their sins and ask forgiveness from God

·        Shows the history as a whole

·        The shofar is blown to mark the start of Rosh Hashanah

·        This is the crying out of the soul as it yearns to be reunited with God.

·        Between RH and YK comes ten days of repentance

·        ‘Tashlich’ (casting away) ceremony; a prayer that asks God to  remove the sins of his people

Importance =    Helps Jews to reach nearness to God and make them better people.

                        Reminds Jews of the whole history of Judaism especially the creation

Reminds Jews of how God is the creator, and how he is omnipotent judging people on this day

                        Time to reflect on the year and repent for all the sins.                

Yom Kippur

• Most important festival in Judaism
• Simplest festival in Judaism
• Everything is white to remind people of morality and purity
• ‘Day of Atonement’
• God accounts all the deeds, good and bad, each person has committed?
• Jews become conscious of how frail they are and to show this they fast for 25 hours. 
• Men go to the mikveh (ritual bath)
• Wearing the kittel (white smock)
• Chanting the Kol Nidre (annulment of vows)
• Neilah (closing service)

Importance =    Helps Jews to reach nearness to God and make them better people.

                        Reminds Jews of how frail they are in comparison to God

                        Removal of their sins in the mikveh

 Hanukah

• ‘Festival of lights’
• Winter time
• The time when the temple in Jerusalem was being taken over by the Syrian Greeks and the Jews were being forced to give up their religion
• A pig, an unlawful animal, was sacrificed in their temple
• The Maccabees led a revolt and took back their temple
• They needed to light the everlasting candle that burns in the synagogue 
• Hanukah acts as a beacon
• When the temple was returned, a lamp was lit sufficient for only one day
• Miraculously, it continued burning for eight days until they had made some more oil
• To celebrate this, a hanakia, an eight branched candle stick is lit

Importance =    Reminder of how the Jews were persecuted

                        Reminder of the Jewish history

                        Keep the Jewish tradition alive

                        Big celebrations to encourage children to participate

                        Time to remember God and his miracles

Purim

·        Takes place in February/ March (early spring)

·        Purim means ‘lots’ i.e. to draw lots

·        Commemorate Esther

·        Haman was chief minister and disliked Jews and wanted to kill them all

·        He told lies about the Jews to the king who then also despised them and wanted to kill them

·        Esther the queen barged into the Kings presence without permission

·        The King listened to her and saved the Jews. Haman was killed instead.

·        The book of Ester is read in the synagogue

·        Whenever the name of Haman is read out, a rattle is used to drown out the sounds.

·        Parties and games are held 

Importance =    A reminder of how the Jews were treated

                        Reminder of the Jewish history

                        Keep the Jewish tradition alive 

                        Encourage children to participate with the celebrations.

Passover

• Spring
• Exodus
• Freedom of Jews from enslavement in Egypt
• Ten plagues sent by God
• He Jews escaped in the chaos of the death of the eldest child
• House is thoroughly cleaned (like a spring clean) of to remove all unleavened bread
• This is because the Jews didn’t have time to wait for the bread to rise
• Mother does all the cooking and preparations
• The dad and the kids go around with a candle and a feather to see if there are any more crumbs
•  They have a Seder meal containing the Matzoth, Shank (bone of lamb), a roasted egg, horse radish, parsley, salt water and a glass of wine
• Play games – mum hides the Matzoth bread and the children have to look for it
• Sing hymns

Matzoth,                      ‘Bread of Affection’

Shank (bone of lamb) Lamb eaten in eth last meal in Egypt    

A roasted egg,             New life

Horse radish,             Bitter slavery in Egypt

Parsley,                       Herbs used to mark the Jews doors

Salt water                   Salves tears

Haroseth                     Paste of apple, nuts and cinnamon for the joy and sweetness after slavery 

Importance =    Reminder of how the Jews were slaves in Egypt and how persecution is wrong

                        The Seder meal and all its symbolism (see above).

                        Seder meal and games for the children as well.

                        Time to remember God and his miracles

Sukkoth

• When Hebrew people were escaping with Moses, they wondered for forty years in the desert
• Lived in tents made out of branches and animal skins
• Hard temporary life moving from place to place
• Then settled in Canaan
• Celebrates the change in lifestyle
• A sukkah is built to remember the life of their forefathers
• Four spices; etrog (citron), lulav (palm branch), aravot (willow), hadassim (myrtle) – as commanded in the Torah (Leviticus)

Importance =    Reminder of their ancestors and the way they lived – unleavened bread

                  Celebrate the change in lifestyle

                  Remember when the were persecuted

Four spices remind them of God with their: citron – heart; palm branch like a spine, body; willow mouth, speaking; myrtle eye, see

Books and Holy Scriptures

The Jewish Bible is called the Tenakh (TNK)

Torah, Nevi’im, Ketuvim

• Torah is the first five books of the Bible
• It contains 613 commandments (mitzvoth)
• Holiest part of the Tenakh as it was given directly to Moses
• Nevi’im = prophets
• Divided into two; the former and the latter (e.g. Isaiah, Jeremiah) prophets
• However, they don’t have a high a status as the Torah
• Ketuvim = Writings
• The Three P’s; psalms, proverbs and philosophy.

Mishna

• ‘Learning’ or ‘repetition’
• Began with word of mouth (oral Torah)
• Put into writing by rabbi Judah in 200 CE
• Mishna means ‘repetition’ because its nothing new
• Takes laws listed in the Torah an describes them
• Contains six sections, seeds, festivals, women, holy things, damages and purities

Talmud

• Talmud means ‘study’
• Takes laws listed in the Torah an describes them
• It contains six sections, seeds, festivals, women, holy things, damages and purities
• It records the discussions that have taken place over the years between rabbis
• Written in 500CE by two rabbis who put the archives in order.

Responsa

• 11 – 15 century by Maimondes
• Replies/responses by learned men to difficult questions
• Revision of the Torah

Halakah

·        This is the entire range of Jewish law and practice, religious, social and personal obligations

·        ‘to go’

·        observing the commandments = ‘going’ with God

Bet-Din

• Rabbinical Court (Court of rabbis)
• Deals with religious matters that are unclear
• Deals with:        Religious divorces

Kosher food licenses

“You shall appoint judges and officials in your towns…they shall judge the people righteously (the Torah)

Hasidim

• Ultra-Orthodox and strict
• ‘pious one’
• Began 1700 in Poland
• Led by Polish miracle worker called Rabbi Israel Baal Shem Tov
• Offered other ways to be close to God other than through studies – appealed to poor
• Dress in traditional Polish style

Orthodox

• Strict and traditional
• ‘right belief’
• Believe that progressive Jews have watered down Judaism and take liberties
• Many immigrated from Europe
• Majority of British Jews are orthodox (80%)
• Torah must be obeyed
• Ultra Orthodox are known as the Hasidic Jews

Reformed

• Midway between Orthodox and Liberal
• Began in Germany 1800 when Liberal went too far
• Stopped praying for the restoration of the Holy Land and the coming of the messiah
• Messianic Age = universal peace
• Women have a greater role in worship and modern languages are used
• Adapted to modern life
• Torah is not 100% authentic
• Don’t use the mikvah

Liberal

• Adapted Judaism to the twentieth century
• Thought that reformed Jews were too strict
• Apply Torah to the modern life
• Torah is peoples interpretation of the word of God
• Ritual laws can be adapted
• Observing commandments is a matter of choice
• Torah can be changed
• Don’t use the mikvah

Sabbath

• ‘To rest’
• To commemorate the seventh day of creation

• In the Torah  - forth commandment ‘Keep holy the Sabbath day’

God created the world in six day and rested on the seventh

• Social reason -Time for the family to be together

Time to study the Torah

Different from other religions

• Best cutlery used best clothes worn
• Preparations before hand to avoid work on the Sabbath
• Wine and Chollah bread (blessed, cut and dipped in salt) put on the table
• Starts just before sun sets
• Mother of the family lights the candles
• Welcome in the Sabbath with her hands
• Reads Genesis 2:1 – 3 (God resting after creation) and the family begin to eat
• Next morning men go to the synagogue for Sabbath service
• Starts later lasts longer
• Rabbi reads from the Torah – then read a sermon
• A group of seven men read from the Torah and an eighth man reads a section from book of Prophets
• Rabbi gives a final sermon and the service is over
• First starts appear – Sabbath is over
• The Havdallah is said marking the end – the ‘going out’ of the Sabbath
• A final prayer is said over the wine/spices/bread and final one over the wine
• Sabbath is over

Jewish Way of Life

Mikveh

• The mikveh is a ritual bath about 3 – 5 meters long and 2 – 3 meters wide
• Used to purify them from spiritual uncleanness
• The mikveh is used before marriage, after childbirth, after menstruation, men use it on Yom Kippur and converts

Death

·        Person who is dying confesses their sins on his death bed

·        When they die, the family members tear a piece of garment of the deceased

·        The body is buried as soon as possible and cannot be left alone

·        The body has to be cleansed spiritually in the mikveh

·        The body is then wrapped in a linen shroud and placed in a wooden coffin, everyone equal before God. Body is prepared by Chevra Kaddisha  

·        Psalms and prayers are recited for the deceased followed by a short speech

·        Mud is put on the grave to help the family come to terms with the death.

·        Shiva; seven days after death family stay at home and are visited by friends and family who talk about the death and the deceased, Men recite the kaddish

·        Sheloshim; 30 days after death life returns to normal; kaddish recited

·        Yahrzeit; One year later, tombstone erected, candle lit each year for 24h.

Judaism - marriage

Vocabulary

Marriage                      - man and women legally united and living together

Faithfulness                 - staying with your spouse and only having sex with them

Pre-marital sex             - sex before marriage

Promiscuity                   - having sex with many without commitment

Re-marriage                  - marrying again after divorce

Nuclear family              - mum, dad and kids together as a unit

Extended family           - as above but with grandparents, uncles, cousins etc.

Adultery                       - sex with someone when already married and faithful to someone                                             else

Reconstituted family     - two sets of children become one family when their divorced parents marry each other                       

Jewish wedding ceremony

·   Shidduch, or matchmaking. This means that the process of finding a partner is not haphazard or based on purely external aspects.

·   Firstly, the signing and witnessing of the ketuvah, or marriage contract detailing the husband’s obligation to the wife as well as a specified dowry in case of divorce.

·   The contract is signed by the groom and two witnesses have to be present

·   Next stage is known as the Chuppah. The chuppah is a decorated piece of cloth held outside under the stars as a sign of the blessing given to Abraham by God.

·   The groom is accompanied by his parents to the chuppah wearing a white kittle symbolising a new life and the couple even fast as for them it is like Yom Kippur.

·   When the bride comes accompanied by her parents, the cantor begin to sing and the groom prays that that his unmarried friends find true partners in their lives.

·   The bride then circles the groom seven times

·   Under the chuppah, an honoured Rabbi or family member then recites a blessing over wine, and a blessing that praises and thanks G-d. The bride and groom then drink from the wine. The blessings are recited over wine, since wine is symbolic of life: it begins as grape-juice, goes through fermentation, during which it is sour, but in the end turns into a superior product that brings joy, and has a wonderful taste.

·   The groom takes a plain gold ring and places it on the finger of the bride and recites a prayer. The ring symbolizes the concept of the groom encompassing, protecting and providing for his wife. The ketuvah is now read aloud, usually by another honouree, after which it is given to the bride.

·   After this, the sheva brachos, or seven blessings, are recited and the couple again share in drinking the cup of wine, then the groom breaks a glass by stamping on it. This is a reminder of when the Jewish temple was destroyed.

The Origins of Judaism

• Abraham – he was the first of the patriarch, the founders of Judaism. Unlike his neighbours, Ur, he believed in one God.
• God told him to leave Ur and go to Canaan, also known as the holy land or Promised Land, and later Israel.  God promised this land to his descendants 
• God made a covenant with Abraham; this consisted of the existence of One God, the use of animal sacrifices, never human, circumcision of all men and the change of Abram’s name to Abraham.
• In return, God promised that he would receive as many descendants as there were stars in the sky, and grains of sand on the shore. Among them would be Kings of Nations; God would give them a promised land; Abraham will have a son from his wife Sarah  

• Moses – Abraham’s descendents had to leave Canaan and escape to Egypt because of famine. In Egypt they became slaves,
• Moses led them to freedom.
• On the way back, Moses received the Ten C’s. They made a covenant with God that if they kept the Ten C’s, God promised the Jews that they would be his ‘Chosen People’ whom he would protect.      

• Noah – God promised he would never destroy the Earth with a flood again; He put a rainbow in the clouds as a sign of his covenant
• In return, mans promise was to have as many children, so that your descendents will live all over the earth; and the one thing that we must not eat is meat with blood still in it…the life is blood

  Zionism

·        Zionism is the belief that the Jews should have a homeland – the land God ‘gave’ them. In the Torah it describes Abraham as the patriarch of the Jewish people “God said to Abraham, ‘…I will make you a great nation’…so Abraham went and came to Canaan”  

·        The Jews lost their land in 6^th century BCE when many were taken into exile in Babylon

·        They then suffered conquest by the Greeks, and then by the Romans who then destroyed Jerusalem

·        For many centuries, Jews lived abroad but then because of the Holocaust the sate of Israel was established. Many thought that this was the fulfilment of the Zionist dream although others disagree. They think that it is wrong to displace the Palestinian’s who were living there; others believe that it is the job of the Messiah to restore the Jews to their homeland. Another reason is that they should try and spread Judaism from different parts of the world.