Judaism: Basic Beliefs HRT 3M1 St. Edmund Campion C.S.S.

JUDAISM ~ BELIEFS: One God There is only One God God created the world; sees and knows everything God watches over the world God cares for the people in it

JUDAISM ~ BELIEFS: The Messiah Messiah means the “anointed one” Jews do not agree that Jesus was the Messiah They are still waiting for the Messiah Some Jews are waiting for a person sent from God; others are waiting for a new age of love and peace

JUDAISM ~ BELIEFS: Afterlife? Jews Believe in Life After Death End of life on earth does not mean the end of everything There will be another kind of life that lasts forever

The Nature of Humanity Adam: First Man Hebrew word for “man” comes from… ADAMAH the earth ADAMEHI shall resemble God

The Nature of Humanity ADAMAH - the earth ADAMEH - I shall resemble God Man is made of matter mortal body “Dust you were…” Man is created in God’s image (immortal soul) Give us instinct for evil Gives us instinct for good

As a result… Humans have 2 distinct natures The TORAH tells us how to do good The torah is written in stone which means permanence NEVER CHANGING

The Torah Means “Teaching or Instruction” When humans are expelled from the garden of Eden the paths of good and evil become entangled We need a road map to guide us… THE TORAH IS THIS GUIDE

The Torah Continued Torah: Given to Moses on Mt. Sinai Given in 2 ways: Written Torah and Oral Torah Moses was an important intermediary between people and God

The Written Torah Torah is the first 5 books of the Christian bible Contain more than 600 laws for conduct, behavior, diet justice and worship

The Written Torah Jewish scribes write out the Torah by hand on sacred scrolls Every synagogue must have at least one

The Written Torah The handle of the Torah is known as “The Tree of Life” 2 Meanings in Hebrew: Life on earth Emotional Life The Torah is the tree that links heaven and earth

Intermediary or Bridge The Tree of Life Striving for Heaven Intermediary or Bridge Rooted in Earth

The Oral Torah Oral Torah: Practical Laws which clarify the obscure laws in the written Torah It used to be prohibited to write down any of the laws in the Oral Torah

The Oral Torah Continued Ex: Written: You shall not cook a kid in the milk of his mother Oral: No meat may be eaten at the same time as any dairy product

The MISHNAH In the 3rd century there was concern that Oral Tradition would be corrupt or lost so they wrote it down “ Oral Tradition written down =“MISHNAH”

The MISHNAH to the GEMARA The Rabbis then commented on the MISHNAH which became known as the GEMARA Collectively they are known as the TALMUD (Huge volume of work)

MISHNAH (Commentary) 1 Page of Talmud GEMARA (Rabbi commentary on the commentary)

Conclusion The creation of the TALMUD made Judaism a portable religion because the TORAH AND TALMUD COULD BE TAKEN ANYWHERE!