Jewish Beliefs

Who Are the Jews? A person who is either born Jewish (generally follows matrilineal descent) or converts to Judaism.

Gerut The process of conversion is known as gerut.

Gerut When converting, a person must: Reveal knowledge of Judaism. Confirm their Jewish beliefs. Demonstrate a will to act ethically. Show a connection with the Jewish people.

What Do Jews Believe? The core of Jewish beliefs: God is One. God is immaterial and indivisible. Jewish belief centres on God as the creator of everything. God governs the universe with justice and honour. Nothing happens without God, therefore humans have an obligation to worship God.

Shema The Shema is the Jewish creed of faith from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4-9) It states: “Hear, O Israel, The Lord is our God, the Lord is One”

Other Beliefs Concerning God Other beliefs about God have been established by Jewish philosophers such as Philo and Maimonides. God made a covenant with humanity that essentially said, “Honour me and I will honour you.”

In Jewish tradition, the day begins and ends with sunset, so the first service of the day is evening.

Kosher Adherence to the commandments is the practice of keeping “kosher”.

Kosher Basics Kashrut is the body of Jewish law dealing with what foods Jews can and cannot eat and how those foods must be prepared and eaten.

Kosher Basics Animals must be slaughtered according to a strict set of guidelines, to minimize suffering to the animal. There can be no mixing of dairy and meat - most Jews wait six hours between consumption.

Kosher Basics Jews cannot eat: Pigs, camels, hares, scavenging birds, insects, and any seafood that does not have “fins and scales”

Kashrut Laws They serve to: Establish Jews as an identifiable group. They speak for the humanity and humility of the Jewish people.

Shabbat or Sabbath The most important ritual in Judaism is based on the creation stories of Genesis.

Shabbat or Sabbath It begins at sunset on Friday in the synagogue when Jews put aside everything to focus on family and prayer, then people go home for Shabbat dinner.

Shabbat or Sabbath Sabbath morning (Saturday) is spent at the synagogue in prayer, and the Sabbath ends at sundown with a brief service.