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INTRODUCTION OF JUDAISM Is it possible we could make the slides with the photos look like slide #22?

Judaism was founded in the Middle East more than 3,500 years ago and its creator was Abraham. It is one of the first Monotheistic Religions. The followers of Judaism believe that there is only one God and God can not be separated by the people, God is not male or female. God is omnipresent because God is everywhere at all times. Jews believe in a just but merciful God.

MAJOR BELIEFS

Jews believe in the 13 Principles of Faith…. God exists God is one and unique God is incorporeal God is eternal Prayer is to be directed to God alone and to no one other The words of the prophets are true Moses’ prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the prophets The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings now contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses There will be no other Torah God knows the thoughts and deeds of men God will reward the good and punish the wicked The Messiah will come The dead will be resurrected

SACRED TEXTS

Tanakh Whose name is an acronym of Torah, Nevi’im and Ketuvim (Law, Prophets and Writings). It consists of the same books as the Christian Old Testament, although in a slightly different order and with other minor differences. The Torah consists of 5 books, the Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

Talmud (The Oral Torah) A collection of rabbinical writings that intercept, explain and apply the Torah scriptures. The Oral Torah was written between the second and fifth century CE. The Talmud, with the first five books of the Tanakh created the “Written Torah”.

SYMBOLS OF JUDAISM

The Star of David There are several interpretations of what The Star of David symbolizes. One view would be it represents an inner spiritual center supported by six universal sides, faith, justice, land, power, people, and hope. Another view is that the two overlapping triangles represent the dichotomies of good and evil.

Menorah The menorah stands for light, wisdom, and divine inspiration. Originally the Menorah was a seven branched candelabra beaten out of a solid piece of gold that served as one of the sacred vessels in the Holy Temple. It stood in the southern part of the temple and was lit every day by the High Priest, and only pure fresh olive oil of the highest quality was suitable to light the Menorah. The seven lamps of the Menorah also allude to knowledge, with six of the branches representing human wisdom, guided by the center of Divine light. Even though the Holy Temple was destroyed in 587 BCE, a Menorah must be lit in every Jewish home on the holiday of Chanukah.

Yarmulke Jewish law requires men to cover their heads as a sign of respect and reverence for God when praying , studying Torah, saying a blessing or entering a synagogue. Traditionally, Jewish men and boys wear yarmulkes at all times, a symbol of their awareness of, and submission to, a “higher” entity.

Tzitzit and Tallit Most people do not think of Judaism as a fringe religion but that is their uniform and badge of honour, it is their everyday reminder of who they are and what they are here for, four tassels hanging from the fringes of their clothing. Today, Jewish men and boys have two ways to do this mitzvah every day, 1) during prayer, wap yourself in a tallit gadol (big cloak). This is a large sheet-like fringed prayer shawl worn during morning prayers or 2) wear a little poncho called tallit katan (small cloak) for most this cloak fits neatly under the shirt. The fringe tassels themselves are called tzitzit and their strings and knots are a physical representation of the Torah’s 613 do’s and dont’s.

IMPORTANT PEOPLE OF JUDAISM

Abraham Abraham was the founder of Judaism. Jews trace their roots back to Abraham. From the time Abraham was born he only believed in one God. It is thought that Abraham smashed all his father’s idols, except for the biggest one. When his father asked what happened Abraham said that the idols got into a fight and the biggest one smashed all the little ones. His father said that the idols have no power and cannot do anything. It is thought that Abraham replied then why do you worship them. Abraham was also the founder of monotheism, which is the belief in only one God. Abraham married his wife Sarah, but they never had any children until they were old. Sarah was ninety years old she had their first son Isaac.

Moses Moses was born in Egypt. During this time the Egyptian Pharaoh felt threatened by the amount of Hebrews in Egypt, so he ordered for all male Hebrew babies to be killed. Moses' mother did not want her baby to be killed so she set Moses on the banks of the Nile river. A Egyptian princess found and adopted Moses. As an adult, God told Moses to lead the Jews out of Egypt and Moses obeyed God's orders. Out in the desert with the Hebrews, Moses climbed Mount Sinai to pray. When Moses came down he was holding two stone tablets engraved with the Ten Commandments. The Ten Commandments became the basis of civil and religious laws in the Jewish faith. The Jews believe in only one God. They believe that God created the universe and everything else within it. Jews also believe that everyone has a different relationship with God. The Jews also believe that God chose them to exemplify holiness and ethical behavior.

King Solomon King Solomon was the son of King David. After King Solomon assumed power he created a strong trading empire with the help of Hiram. Hiram was the king of the Phoenician City. King Solomon also built the Great Temple, where people could worship God. The process of making the temple was not easy, it created higher taxes on the people and strained the kingdom's finances. The men were also forced to work one month out of three on the temple. After King Solomon's death the Jews that lived in the northern part of the kingdom rebelled. By 922 BCE the kingdom was divided into two parts. Israel was the north and Judah was the south.

David David was the first king of Jerusalem. He established Jerusalem as the capital of the nation, as well as the place where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. Because of this, a single place of worship was established. The Jewish people needed to come to Jerusalem to worship God. David did not build a temple because God told him he was not the chosen one, but his son Solomon was.

Isaac Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah. It was tradition in the Jewish religion to sacrifice the firstborn male in the family, so Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac. Before Isaac was sacrificed, God had sent an angel down to stop Abraham.

PLACE OF WORSHIP

A synagogue is the Jewish place of worship A synagogue is the Jewish place of worship. However it is also used as a place to study, and sometimes as a community centre. For Orthodox Jews mostly use the Yiddish word shul to refer to their synagogue. Reform Jews use the word “temple” to refer to their place of worship.

“A righteous man falls down seven times and gets up “A righteous man falls down seven times and gets up.” -King Solomon, Proverbs, 24:16 Life is all about the ability to get up from challenge. Meaning, a strong man gets up more times than he may have fallen.