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Judaism (Beliefs, rites of passage and other rituals (Jewish worship (The…

- - - - The Tenakh teaches that there is only on God, who is the all-knowing, all powerful creator of the universe
      - The Hebrew name for God is Yahweh, but out of respect this name is not spoken. instead, God is usually referred to as 'Adonai', meaning 'Lord'
    - - The covenant is sacred agreement that God first made with Abraham and his descendants with Moses and the Jews after their escape from Egypt
      - In it God promised the Jews that if they faithfully worshipped him and followed his laws, he would guarantee their ownership of the Promised Land
      - The symbol of this covenant is the ritual of male circumcision. This marks Jews as God's chosen people and reminds them of their duty to remain faithful to that covenant
    - - Jewish holy men who in ancient times received messages from God, which they then preached to their people
      - Famous prophets include Amos, Elijah, Jeremiah and Isaiah
      - They reminded the Jews of their duty to love God and follow his commandmets
    - - Following their repeated conquest by foreign powers, the Jews were told by their prophets that God would send them a leader who would:
        
        Be a descendent of King David
        
        Free them frim foreign domination
        
        Restore Israel's greatness
        
        Bring about an era of peace and prosperity
      - The leader chosen by God to fulfil this mission was given the title 'messiah' (meaning 'anointed one')
      - Jews believe that the Messiah is yet to come
  - - - A skullcap worn by Jewish men to demonstrate respect for God. It reminds Jews that God's wisdom is vastly greater than that of human beings
      - Most Jewish males wear the yarmulke because they believe that praying bareheaded shows a lack of respect for God
    - - Two cube-shaped leather boxes, each containing four passages from the Tenakh
      - One box is strapped to a Jewish man's forehead to remaind him to think about what his religion teaches
      - The other box is tied around his upper forarm next to his heart to remined him to act on what his religion teaches
    - - A prayer shawl made of silk or wool. It is usually coloured blue and white and his fringes attached to its four corners as laid down in Numbers 15:37-47
      - The tallit is worn, drapped across a man's sholders, at morning prayers only
    - - Jews consider the home to be a sacred place. The most visible symbol of this is the mezuzah
      - It is a small decorated container, which is fixed to the upper third of most doorsteps in Jewish homes
      - The mezuzah contains the verses of the Shema
      - Jews touch the mezuzah when entering or leaving room to remind themselves of their Jewish beliefs and identity
  - - - Readings from the Torah
      - Prayers and hymns
      - A sermon on the readings
    - - Jews worship in a synagogue. The world synagogue comes from the Greek word synagein meaning 'to gather together'
      - A synagogueis a simple rectangual building, which serves three purpases:
        
        A house of prayer where services are held each Shabbat and on festival days
        
        A place of education where children learn Hebrew and study the Tenakh
        
        A community centre for meetings of various Jewish organisations
      - The synagogue becomes the centre of Jewish community life after the destruction of the Temple in 70CE and the dispersion of the Jewish people out of Plaestine that followed this
      - Some features of the synagogue recall aspects of the Temple:
        
        Its layout is based on the Temple
        
        It faces towards Jerualem, where the Temple once stood
        
        The Ner Tamid (perpetual lamp) resresents the Monorah (seven-branched candlestick) which was always lit in the Temple
        
        In traditional synagogues, men and women sit separately
  - - - Children are considered a blessing and a gift from god
      - Eight days after a boy is born, he is formallynamed at a ceremony held in the local synagogue
      - The name chosen has a meaning
      - On the same day the ritual Brit Milah takes place
      - Circumcision involves of the loose foreskin over the penis. This operation is carried out by a mohel
      - Circumcision is taught to be necessary for all male jews because it is believed to have been demanded by God when he made his covenant with Abraham
      - A Jewish girl is usually given her name on the first Shabbat after her birth
      - In reformed and liberal Jewish communities, a girl is given her name when she is seven days old in a ceremony called Zeved Habbat
    - - Boys are declared adults at the age of 13. The Bar Mitzvah (Son of the Commandments) is a ceremony held to mark a boy's new status as an adult
      - Judaism recognises that girls generally mature earlier than boys and girls are considered adults at the age of 12
      - The Bat Mitzvah (Daughter of the Commandments) is ceremony held by Jews in reformed and liberal communities to mark a girl's new status as an adult
      - Both boys and girls spend several years preparing for the ceremony. They must learn Hebrew so that they can read from the Torah in the synagogue
      - In these ceremonies young Jews commit themselves to living out their beliefs faithfully in their daily lives
      - A celebratory meal is held after the ceremony
    - - Rosh Hashanah - marks start of Jewish New Year
      - Yom Kippur - 24-hour period of fasting hours when Jews seek God's forgiveness
      - Hanukkah (Festival of Lights) - commemorates the re-dedication of the Temple in 165BCE and celebrates the survival of Judaism in spite of great persecution. Held in winter
      - Sukkot (Tabernacles) - commemorates how God cared for Jews as they travelled through the desert to the Promised Land
      - Shavuoth - feast celebrating God giving the Ten Commandments to Moses
      - Pesach (Passover) - seven-day festival in Israel; eight days elsewhere. Commemorates God freeing the Jews from captivity in Egypt. High point of the festival is the Seder (Passover meal)
- - - - the sacred text of Judaism is known as the Tenakh
      - This title comes from the initial letters of each of its three sections; T,N and K
    - - Initially, important stories and documents were passed on by oral tradition from one generation to the next
      - From about 1000 BCE onwards, these stories and doctrines were written down
      - They may have been written by the Essenes
      - Oldest known complete copy of the Tenakh - the Dead Sea Scrolls. These manuscripts were discovered in 1947, stored in clay jars hidden in caves in the Quran wilderness near the Dead Sea in southern Israel
      - The scrolls had been hidden there in the mid-first century CE to prevent them being destroyed by the Romans
    - - The Tenakh consists of 39 books all written in Hebrew, which were gathered together into one volume
      - They can be divided into three groups: Torah; Nevi'im; and Ketuvim.