Jewish rituals, commandments, and sacred practices in Judaism

¶ … 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.

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.

Yom Kippur is the most sacred and solemn day of the Jewish year and brings the Days of Repentance to a close.

The Pilgrimage Festivals

These commemorate the journey of the Jewish People from Egypt to the Holy Land.

Passover, or Pesach is a spring festival that marks the escape from captivity in Egypt.

Shavuot marks the time that the Jews received God's laws at Mount Sinai.

Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles, commemorates the years that the Jews spent in the desert on their way to the Promised Land, and celebrates the way in which God took special care of them under impossible conditions.

Other Festivals

Purim marks the defeat of an attempt to wipe out the Jews by Haman.

Yom Hashoah or Holocaust Memorial Day is a day that has been established to commemorate the lives of millions of Jews who perished in the Holocaust.

Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights and marks the restoration of the temple by the Maccabees in 164 BCE. Hanukkah is celebrated at roughly the same time as Christmas, but there is no connection at all between the festivals.

Tish B'av is the ninth day of the Jewish month of Av which usually falls in July or August in the western calendar. It is a solemn occasion because it commemorates a series of tragedies that have befallen the Jewish people over the years, many of which have coincidentally happened on this day.

10. Judaism today