8.5: Ritual and Ceremony Flashcards
1
Q
Birth ritual:
A
- Women have a ritual bath after a set period of time for purification after giving birth
- Has a boy: not go to the synagogue for 7+33 days
- Has a girl then it doubles as she has created another creator
- The mother attends a mikvah once she stops bleeding.
2
Q
Simchat Bat:
A
The revealing of the girl’s name
3
Q
Brit Milah:
A
- Convenant of circumcision and is the most observed mitzvot, even by secular Jews
- An outward sign of God’s everlasting convenant with Abraham (Genesis 21).
- A mohel (religiously qualified) performs this ritual when the baby is 8 days old.
- The baby’s name would be revealed and there is a party afterwards
4
Q
Simchat Bat vs Brit Milah - denomination differences:
A
- Orthodox mainly celebrates boy’s birth
- Reform is more equal and both are important
- Reform communities don’t observe the ritual of Pidyon (firstborn son of a family provides a service to the Temple)
5
Q
Bar/Bat Mitzvah
A
- Coming of age ceremony where the young people are now seen to take responsibility for their own actions and faith
- After the Bar Mitzvah, the boy can lead and take part in the service, singing in Hebrew or reading.
- The participants are expected to prepare for it.
- The participants are showered with sweets at the party.
6
Q
Bar/Bat Mitzvah - denomination differences:
A
- Orthodox (girl 12, boy 13). - Reform Jews grant these rights of reading to girls as but the rights are granted to any Jewish boy regardless of denomination
7
Q
Marriage:
A
- Marked with a ceremony that includes; signing a contact, a huppah (canopy), smashing a glass, gift giving & time alone as a couple
8
Q
Marriage - denomination differences:
A
- Reform: Both partners give each other a ring
- Orthodox: only the man gives the bride the ring
9
Q
Mourning:
A
- Mourning periods: help the bereaved return to normal life after the loss of a loved one e.g. Shiva - 7 days at home
10
Q
How many periods are there in Jewish mourning?
A
- 5 periods
- Aninut (death to burial)
- Shiva (first seven days)
- Sheloshim (first 30 days including Shiva)
- Yud-bet chodesh (year of mourning if you are mourning a parent)
- Yahrezeit (anniversary date of death).
11
Q
What do mourners do during these periods?
A
- Shiva, mourners stay at home, cover mirrors, sit on low chairs, don’t do things that bring comfort/pleasure and usually wear clothes they wore to funeral.
- Sheloshim, normal life resumes but still no parties, music of shaving/cutting hair. For a parent being mourned, it is similar but lasts for a year.
- On the anniversary, the Yahreit candle is lit and men recite the Mourner’s Kaddish.
12
Q
Mourning - denomination differences:
A
- Orthodox Jews will make a tear in their clothes
- Reform Jews may wear a black tie or a cut tie.
13
Q
Funeral - extra information:
A
- The body is washed and wrapped in a linen shroud, men wrapped in their tallit and the tassels are cut off.
- Plain coffin and cloth to wrap the body: symbolises equality between rich & poor
- No flowers as they represent life but there are stones instead.
- Every mourner shovel the dirt onto the dead person’s coffin and this is a mitzvot.
14
Q
Funeral - structure
A
- Buried ideally within 24 hours of death.
- Ceremony entirely in cemetery as the synagogue is a place for the living.
- A short service takes place where the priest reads prayers and a eulogy for the deceased.
- After the funeral, attendees wash their hands to symbolise them leaving death behind.
15
Q
Funeral - denomination differences:
A
- Some reform Jews permit/allow cremation
