1. Judaism

2. Sacred Stories and Sacred Scriptures
Tanakh – acronym for the Hebrew bible
Torah – 1st five books
Nevi’im – or prophets
3 major prophet and 12 minor prophets
Ketuvim – or writings
Job, Psalms & Proverbs
Source of 613 laws – divided into 2 types
248 positive
365 negative
"TANAKH" - an Acronym, based on the letters T (for "Torah"), N (for "Neviim," the Prophets), and K (for "Ketuvim," the Sacred Writings). It is the compendium of the teachings of G-d to human beings in document form.

3. Sacred Stories and Sacred Scriptures
Torah – acronym for the Hebrew bible
Used in synagogue services
Produced as a scroll
Handwritten in Hebrew on parchment
Read every Sabbath & completed in a 1 year cycle
Believe God gave Moses two Torahs
Written Torah
Oral Torah

4. Sacred Stories and Sacred Scriptures
Oral Tradition
200 CE written down, codified and arranged into 6 sections
Agriculture and the Land of Israel
Holidays
Family life
Relations with other people
Sacrifices and dietary laws
Ritual purity

5. Sacred Stories and Sacred Scriptures
Talmud – “learnings”
2 centers of rabbinic Judaism after destruction of 2nd temple
Judea
Largely refugees from the Jerusalem area
Babylonia
Descendants of the Jews who were taken into Babylonian exile 5 centuries earlier
Palestinian or Jerusalem Talmud
Babylonian Talmud
Considered to be the more authoritative of the two

6. Sacred Stories and Sacred Scriptures
Midrash – way of interpreting the biblical text
It is like filling in the blanks or historical fiction.
Comes from its Hebrew meaning “to examine” or “to seek out”
Jewish sages began to “seek out” the real meaning of biblical passages after returning from the Babylonian exile
Not a particular book
Much can be found in the Talmud

7. Beliefs and Practices God Monotheistic – one, supreme God God exists
God is one
God is Creator
God is good
Do not have set of formal doctrines that articulate their beliefs

8. Beliefs and Practices Torah – central source for how to live
Literally God’s self-revelation
Kept in specially made place within the synagogue - Ark
Presence is a joyous occasion
Where there is Torah, there is God in an ordinary, yet extraordinary way.
Study is spiritual exercise than an intellectual one
One encounters God and his will for one’s life
“How I love your teaching [Torah], Lord! I study it all day long” (Psalm 119:97).

9. Beliefs and Practices Torah – central source for how to live
613 commandments contained
These commandments are called mitzvot
The process of interpretation for a specific situation is known as halakha, the total body of Jewish law.

10. Beliefs and Practices Israel
Jews are described as God’s Chosen People
Being God’s Chosen People, they are really talking about being “holy” or “separate”
Call to holiness originated with the call of Abram
Later named Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3
Being “chosen” is not passive, but active
Jews are Jews only insofar as they respond to being chosen, that is insofar as they are holy.
Privilege of being a member is that God has made a special covenant with the Jewish people to be there God.
Must “choose” to accept God’s commandments and live holy and righteous lives
Traditional Jew is an “observer of the commandments” and participates in the various halakhic obligations.

11. Sacred Times Rosh Hashanah
Celebrated on the 1st day of the Jewish month of Tishri
September or October on the Roman calendar
Marks the creation of humanity
Day that God judges each individual for his or her actions of the previous year
Central ritual of Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur is the blowing of the shofar, or ram’s horn
Ram rather than a calf’s due to the image of the idolatrous golden calf
Also, bent nature of the horn signifies that Jews must bend their hearts towards God.

12. Sacred Times Yom Kippur – “Day of Atonement”
Generally accepted as the holiest day of the year
Jews ask forgiveness for both communal and personal sins
Directly to the person they offended, if possible
“Day of Awe” – 10 day period between Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur
Strive for repentance – a turning back to the proper way of living – known as tishuvah
God’s judgment on whether tishuvah took place is sealed in a symbolic Book of Life at the end of Yom Kippur

13. Sacred Times Sukkot Pesach – commonly known as Passover
Feast of Tabernacles or Feast of Booths
Begins 5 days after Yom Kippur & last 8 days
Commemorates the time when the Jews were in the desert for 40 years and when in Israel they protected themselves from the elements during harvest
Marks the end of the fruit harvest season, especially the harvest for grapes used for making wine.
Pesach – commonly known as Passover
1st major feast of the Nisan cycle
Retells the story of the Exodus
Today
Celebrates being personally freed by God
See themselves as enslaved & freed in each generation
Every generation symbolically go forth from Egypt toward the Promised Land

14. Sacred Times Shavuot – “week” in Hebrew
Celebrated 50 days after the 1st day of Pesach
Some see as conclusion to Pesach
Originally a harvest festival – firstfruits of the wheat harvest
Centuries later it’s associated with the giving of the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai
Today, some also combine Shavuot & the reception of the Torah with Jewish confirmation
Hanukkah – “Festival of lights”
Celebrates the victory of Judas the Maccabean over the Syrian Greeks led by Antiochus IV
Not a major holiday
Jewish parents felt it was important to counteract Christmas
Main ritual is the lighting of one additional candle of a Hanukkah menorah each evening

15. Sacred Times Purim – “Feast of Lots”
Celebrates victory of Jews living in Persia in 5 century BCE
This story is recounted in the Book of Esther
Shabbat – Jewish Sabbath a weekly event
Celebrated from sunset Friday until sunset Saturday.
4th commandment – Keeping the Sabbath holy
Reminder the God rested from work on 7th day and so, too, must they
Shabbat dinner – ushers in the Sabbath
Table includes: white tablecloth, two candles, wine and braided loaf of bread called hallah
Begins with lighting the candles.
Prayer of blessing over the candles
Generally recited by the woman of the house

16. Sacred Times Shabbat – Jewish Sabbath
Candles are allowed to burn themselves out.
Brief ceremony called Havdalah concludes this sacred time.
Braided candle is lit and held so one can see its reflection of light on the fingertips
Wine accompanies the closing as a symbol of thanksgiving and joy
Box of aromatic spices is lit
Carries the aroma of the Sabbath into the week

17. Sacred Places and Sacred Spaces
Synagogue
Alternatives were est. over the centuries to replace the institution of the Temple and its rituals
3 daily periods of prayer replaced 3 daily animal sacrifices
Synagogue became place where Jews could worship communally
In Babylon, exiles met in private homes for worship
Multidimensional
House of Prayer – Jews address God
House of Study – Study the Torah
House of Assembly – Jews meet socially
Built to replicate Zion in the shape of a square with the bimah in the center representing Mount Zion
People face east – facing both the Ark and Jerusalem

18. Sacred Places and Sacred Spaces
Home
Traditional Jewish home attaches a mezuzah on at least one exterior doorpost of the house
Kosher home has special dishes for eating and cooking that separate meat from dairy products
Traditional Jewish table is for both building familial relationships and a place for ritual food must be kosher or “proper”
On Sabbat a “Sabbath-like” atmosphere prevails in the home
House must be especially clean

19. Sacred Places and Sacred Spaces
Land of Israel – a.k.a. Canaan, Promised Land, Judea, Palestine and the State of Israel
Land promised by God to Abraham and his descendants
Had to leave land many times – always a few who remained
Some believe they must live in Israel to fulfill God’s will
Jerusalem
Holiest city
Foundations of Mount Moriah – spiritual center of the universe
Abraham intended to sacrifice his son Isaac
Jacob had his dream about the ladder
Solomon’s Temple built on Mount Moriah
2nd Temple built in same place – known as the Temple Mount
Orthodox Jews believe a Messiah will come & rebuild Jerusalem to its former glory
Jewish weddings, a glass is broken in commemoration of the destruction of the Temple

20. Judaism through a Catholic Lens
Messiah
Both agree that Jesus was a historical figure
Jews still expect a Messiah or messianic age to come
Catholics believe the Messiah has come in the person of Jesus of Nazareth
Both believe the end of time will see that history has meaning – final judgment
End of times for Jews will be 1st coming – 2nd coming for Catholics
Incarnation
Christians – God became one of us in Jesus to bring about our salvation, to reconcile us to God
Jews – Messiah to be a human being anointed by God, but not divine
They see no reason for a mediator between them and God
Each person has the power within to reconcile, to make right, with God
Incarnation not totally foreign to Jews
Both believe the Word of God was present at creation, God spoke, & it came to be
Jacob had his dream about the ladder
Solomon’s Temple built on Mount Moriah
2nd Temple built in same place – known as the Temple Mount

21. Judaism through a Catholic Lens
Incarnation
Not totally foreign to Jews
Both believe the Word of God was present at creation, God spoke, & it came to be
Christians – Word became Incarnate in the person of Jesus
Jews – Word became Incarnate in a book
Not the same or even similar doctrines
Both say God is present to us through something concrete

22. Judaism through a Catholic Lens
Scripture
Jews accept the NT as documents by 1st century Jews
Not as revealed by God
Catholics include 7 books in the OT that are not in the Hebrew Bible – written in Greek after 300BCE
1 & 2 Maccabees, Judith, Tobit, Baruch, Sirach and Wisdom
Liturgy – Passover meal & Eucharistic celebration
Reading from scripture
The offering
Blessing
Jews pray – “Blessed are you, King of the universe.”
Catholics pray – “Blessed are you, God of all creation
Breaking of unleavened bread

23. Judaism through a Catholic Lens
Holy Thursday and Passover
Synoptic Gospels – Last Supper was a Passover meal
Jews were to slaughter and unblemished lamb and mark the post and lintel of their dwelling with the blood of the lamb.
Christians see Jesus as the Lamb of God who was slain and whose blood released believers from slavery of sin to freedom in Christ Jesus.
Pentecost and Shavuot
Shavuot – referring to 7 weeks after Passover
Pentecost – refers to 50 days after Passover
Celebration of the Torah and Mosaic Law given to Moses
When the Holy Spirit can upon Jesus’ followers – known as the “birthday of the Church.”
Jesus followers were celebrating Shavuot in Jerusalem at the time.

24. Judaism through a Catholic Lens
Challenges of Dialogue
History
Jews have faced discrimination, violence, expulsions, deportations and death at the hands of people claiming to be Christian
Catholics include 7 books in the OT that are not in the Hebrew Bible – written in Greek after 300BCE
1 & 2 Maccabees, Judith, Tobit, Baruch, Sirach and Wisdom
Two major areas of dialogue
Shoah – Modern Hebrew word for Holocaust
As the Passover is part of the collective memory for Jews and the Paschal Mystery is part of the collective memory for Catholics, so , too, the Shoah must become part of our collective memories
Affirm their faith in God by dispelling the dark side of human nature
Maintaining the beauty of the earth
Healthy families and communities
Justice and peace
Equality for all