Customs

v  The Bible records that it was the custom to pray three times a day:

v  -Daniel went into his house; his windows were open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, and he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God.^23.

v  This version of praying is interesting because we haven’t knelt to pray for many centuries. Daniel's three sessions of private praying matched to the three services of public praying:

v   MORNING PRAYER

v  AFTERNOON PRAYER

v  EVENING PRAYER

MLA citations

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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  https://www.familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Jewish_Population_Maps. December 23, 2011. Website. December 17, 2012
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Clothing

Jewish clothing is very different from the clothing that other people wear. Modesty is of utmost importance for men and women in the Jewish Culture. It places emphasis on the soul inside than the features on the outside.

Jewish Kippa:

v  Boys typically start covering their heads with a Jewish skull cap, or yarmulke at a very young age, and there are many different styles to choose from. Wearing one of these is the force of the law.

Talit – Jewish Prayer Shawl:

v  The wool garment has fringes that come in many styles and designs, but it is always made of wool. There are different customs as to when boys, or men start to wear a tallit when they pray.

Ancient Jewish religious clothing:

v  Long standing traditions have not changed at all, except for a few small details. Modesty has always been essential, and married women have covered their hair since the days of the Torah. The concept of the women comes from a book called the book of Bamidbar, where you can find the concept of the sotah, or the wayward wife suspected of committing adultery. The woman must undergo a ritual where she uncovers her hair. Women no longer have to practice that.

Worship Practices

v  Traditionally Jews will meet at a Synagogue up to 3 times a day.

v  Over the course of the year they will read through the entire Torah at their many celebrations.

v  They meet for worship in a Synagogue which is a kind of temple.

Celebrations

v  They celebrate Hanukkah, which is celebrated around the same time as Christmas.  They light candles in a Kosher Menorah, celebrating how what should have been a one day supply of oil supplied the Jews with 8 days of light.

v  They celebrate the Passover which is when they aren’t allowed to eat anything with wheat, barley rye, oats or spelt. It’s to celebrate when the Jewish people regained their freedom.

Books and Laws

v  The Jewish holy book is called the Torah

v  The group of laws for Judaism is called the Halakha

v  Moses was instructed by god on what to put in the Torah on Mount Sinai

v  There are strict laws about what you can and cannot eat

Holy days

v  Hanukkah- a "festival of lights" in December that signifies the defeat of the Syrian Greeks in 165 B.C. and the Temple in Jerusalem was offered back. During the celebration, children receive gifts and play a top spinning game with a dreidel. 

 v  Passover- A spring festival lasting seven or eight days, that celebrates the end of slavery in Egypt and the haste of the escape, or "Exodus."

v  Rosh Hashanah- This is the Jewish New Year,  a period of high holy days for reflection and repentance.

v  Sabbath- The seventh and last day of the week- celebrates God’s rest on the seventh day of Creation. The observance is a reminder of God’s justice and rule on earth.

v  Shavuoth- This is a "Feast of Weeks" in the spring that celebrates the giving of the law, or Torah.

v  Sukkoth-  The "Feast of booths," a fall harvest festival, marked by putting up harvest booths.

v  Yom Kippur- Is the most important holy day, because it is the last of the high holy days. It is a time of confessing of sins, atoning or making amends for wrongdoing, and seeking forgiveness, and it comes ten days after Rosh Hashanah.

 

Buildings

v  This building was first built as an apartment building, but the Nazi's used it to interrogate and torture Jews. Now it is used as a museum and has a special area with the Nazi and Soviet invasion information.

v  This is one of many present day synagogues. Located in Mumbai, India, it is the most famous temple in that city.

Symbols

v  The Star of David began in the 17th century because the Jewish wanted to represent themselves against the Christians.

v  The star is their representative symbol.

v  This symbol also signified the shield of King David, and in the Middle East and North Africa it was considered to bring good luck.

v  Fun Fact - Some say that the top of the triangle of the Star of David means the upward direction towards God. While the lower half represents the real world that exists below.

v  The nine branched Menorah (shown at the left) is usually lit during Hanukkah, which is celebrated during December.

v  The seven branched Menorah (shown at the right) is lit in the temples every morning, and is as important as the Star of David.

v  The Mezuzah is placed outside of Jewish homes to signify the presence of God. Inside the Mezuzah is the Shema, which is a scroll that has the passage from God reminding us of His presence and His commandments. 

v  Exodus names the sons of Israel who went to Egypt.

v  Genesis is the beginning. 

v  Deuteronomy is when Moses speaks to the Israelites. Moses dies and the Israelites reach the Promised Land.

v  Numbers is the story of the Israelites journey through the wilderness.

v  Leviticus is when God called Moses to talk to him.

The Origin of Jewish Religion

 

v  God told Moses what the Torah(Jewish Holy Book) should be about and it was written on stones, effectively beginning the Jewish religion

v  The religion began during the Bronze age in the Middle East

v  The religion has been around for about 4000 years

                             

Rituals

What life rituals do people of the Jewish religion practice?

Birth:

v  The baby boy is the center of the brit milah. (Covenant of circumcision). The ritual removal of the foreskin enacted in with Genesis 17:10. The ceremony takes place on the eighth day of the baby boy’s life. A parallel naming ceremony for infant girls is known as brit hayyim (covenant of life or brit bat (covenant of daughter). This occurs on the eighth day of life.

Adulthood:

v  At age 13, a Jewish male marks his entering into the community as an adult during his bar mitzvah (son of the commandment). The female counterpart is known as a bat mitzvah (daughter of the commandment), and can be held for girls at the age of 12.

Marriage:

v  The Jewish marriage ceremony is known as the kiddushin (sanctification). It takes place underneath a wedding canopy called a huppah, and incorporates the ritual of breaking a glass under their foot to remind themselves of a sad event of Jewish history when the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 C.E.

Death:

v  Funeral observances in the Jewish tradition follow distinct guidelines that vary depending on the denomination of Judaism in question. (Reform Jews permit cremation, while Jews of most of the other traditions observe injunctions against the practice.)

These rituals are very important to the Jewish religion; these rituals help them remember the history of their faith.

Denominations

How many different denominations are there within Judaism?

There are three main practices:

v  Orthodox

v  Reform

v  Conservative

There are two minor practices, mainly revolving around mysticism:

v  Kabala

v  Hasidic

What is the Orthodox practice?

v  Orthodox is one of the most traditional expressions of modern Judaism. Orthodox Jews believe the entire Torah-including “written”, the Pentateuch, and “Oral”: the Talmud was given to Moses by God at Sinai and remains dominant for modern life in its entirety.

What is the Reform practice?

v  Reform Judaism is the most liberal expression of Judaism. In America, Reform Judaism is organized under the Union for Reform Judaism which was known as the Union of America Hebrew Congregations until 2003. Their mission was to create and sustain vibrant Jewish congregations wherever Reform Jews live. About 42% of American Jews regard themselves as Reform.

What is the Conservative practice?

v  Conservative Judaism is said to be positioned between Orthodox and Reform Judaism. It seeks to conserve the historical and traditional elements of Judaism, while allowing for modernizations to a less radical extent than Reform Judaism. The teachings of Zacharias Frankel from the foundation of Conservative Judaism.

What is the Kabala practice?

v  The fantasy and mystical form of Judaism is Kabala. In a nutshell, Kabala refers to Jewish mysticism dating back to the time of the second Temple. For years it was a carefully guarded oral tradition, but it became systematized and dispersed in the middle Ages. The Kabbalistic viewpoint was expressed most importantly in the Yakut Re’uveni by Reuben Hoeshke in 1660, but also made its way into Jewish prayer books and it became included in popular customs and ethics. The focus of the mysticism is a simultaneous transcendence and immanence of God, with the latter described in terms of the sefirot, or attributes of god.

What is the Hasidic practice?

v  It rose in the 12^th century Germany as a mystical movement emphasizing asceticism and experience born out of love and humility before God. The austere religious life of these early Hasids is documented in the Sefer Hasidim (Book of the Pious). The modern  Hasidic movement was founded in Poland In the 18^th century by Israel by Eliezer, more commonly known as the Ball Shem Tov (Master of the Good Name) or the Besht (an acronym for Ball Shem Tov)

Population Density

How many people practice Judaism throughout the world?

v  About 15 million people practice Judaism around the world. 42% of all Jews practice Reform, (about 630000 people) about 25% of all Jews practice Orthodox, (about 375000 people) and about 36% of all Jewish people are conservative (about 400000 people). The Jewish population has gone up thousands since 2000.

Introduction

Welcome to the blog about the Jewish religion! This blog was created to inform others about Judaism. Judaism is widely known throughout the world, but in order to understand the entire religion, you need to go in depth and know all the facts.

Some facts can be confused or mixed up with rumors and fiction, so we’ve created this blog to let people know more about the Jewish Religion!

Please enjoy!