[GCSE] Judaism - Beliefs and Teachings Flashcards
Based on the specification. (27 cards)
What is the Torah?
The law book/books of Moses.
What are the 4 characteristics of God?
- God is One
- God is the Creator
- God is the law-giver
- God is the judge
How does the Torah show God is one?
“See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me.”
Why is it important God is One?
- Judaism teaches the unity of creation and need for people to try bring unity to society
- Every Jew passing through a door with a mezuzah should kiss their hands and touch the them to it, to express love and respect and remind themselves of God’s commandments and oneness
The mezuzah thing is important because within the mezuzah is the shema which is a statement of God’s oneness.
How is God the Creator shown in the Torah?
- “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
The Torah teaches everything in the universe comes from and belongs to him. - “Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.” (Genesis 2:7)
The italics is a need-to-know.
These are the first words of the Torah.
Why is God being the creator important for Jews?
- Creation is a gift from God and therefore Jews must look after it the way God intended
- Life has a meaning and purpose given to it by God
- God continues to be the creator, as they say in prayer
- God’s creation is good and should be respected
How is God the law-giver shown in the Torah?
“They are not just idle words for you - they are your life”
God regarding the mitzvot he gave to Moses.
Why is it important God is the law-giver?
- God’s laws form the halakhah, the basis of how Jews live their lives today.
- Following God’s laws gives meaning and purpose to Jewish lives today
- The laws of the Torah are the basis of Judaism
- Giving laws shows he cares about his creation and humans, giving Jews security and helps them in their relationship with creation
How is God the Judge shown in the Torah?
“For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; He will save us.”
Why is God the Judge important?
- The good are rewarded and the evil punished.
- The world is protected from the chaos that would come if there was no way of making sure that people keep God’s laws
- People know there will be punishments for those who don’t keep God’s laws
- There will be rewards for God’s law-keepers.
What is Shekhinah?
It is a way of describing the Almighty’s presence in the world.
How is the divine presence of the Shekhinah shown in the Torah?
- Associated with smoke and fire: “Mount Sinai was covered with smoke, because the Lord descended on it in fire.”
- It is associated with clouds.
- The Shekhinah is Holy and Untouchable - connected with the tabernacle God told Moses to have the Israelites build
Quote the moment when the tabernacle became the temple.
In reference to Shekhinah.
“The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it.…all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple” (2 Chronicles 7:1-3)
Basically this shows its the Shekhinah is suuuper holy n’ stuff that people cant be in its presence.
Give some divergent understandings of shekhinah for Jews today.
- Some Orthodox Jews base themselves on the teachings of Maimonides, who described the shekhinah as a light created to be a link between God and the world.
- Others regard shekhinah as an expression for the various ways in which God is related to the world
- Some others believe shekhinah = God and thats it
- Jews influenced by Christian ideas claim shekhinah is simply the Jewish word for the Holy spirit.
Why are diff understandings of the skehinah important for Jews today?
- Diff meanings show that God is far beyond human thought: He is the eternal immutable
- Allows Judaism to relate God to the ideas of the modern world (feminism and theological debates)
- Easier for Jews and Christians to come together in their search for God
- The concept of shekhinah brought together diff religions; making it easier to break down religious hatred
What is the nature of the Messiah?
- A descendant of King David
- A human, not a divine being
- A man of great piety and close to God
What is the purpose of the Messiah?
- Rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem
- Unite all the peoples of the world
- Establish God’s kingdom
How is the messiah shown in the scriptures?
- The Messiah will be a descendant of David:
- “‘when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, a King who will reign wisely and do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah will be saved and Israel will live in safety’”
- The Messiah will rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem
What is the nature and significance of the Messianic Age?
- Peace among all nations
- Jusice and prosperity throughout the world
- All Jewish people will return from exile to Israel
- Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem
- Whole world will accept the Jewish God and Jewish religion
- No sin or evil as everyone will obey all the commandments
Give some Orthodox understandings of the Messiah.
- Some Orthodox rabbis taught that there are a finite number of souls destined to enter the world and live within human bodies.
- Other Orthodox rabbis have taught the Messiah won’t come until all Jewish people observe all the mitzvot fully
- Some Orthodox Jewish thinkers believe the Messianic Age will be similar to the current age except the Jewish people will have returned to Jersualem and Temple worship will have been restored
Give the reform understanding of the messiah?
- Don’t believe in the idea of an individual Messiah who will make the world perfect
- They believe it was an idea which arose out of the need for Jewish people to have hope of returning to their homeland post-exile
- They believe it’s up to individual Jewish people to change the world, bringing the nations and establishing justice and peace just as the Tenakh predicts the Messianic Age will do
What is the importance of ideas about the Messiah for Jews today?
- Belief in the coming of the Messiah is one of the Thirteen Principles of the Faith
- They pray for the coming of the Messiah in the prayer they recite three times a day
- The idea of the Messianic Age has attracted Jewish people to liberal and left-wing political causes
- The Messianic ideal of peace and justice for the poor may be why so many left-wing thinkers were Jewish (e.g. Karl Marx and Leon Trotsky)
What is the history of the covenant at Sinai?
- Jewish people were in captivity in Egypt as slaves
- Moses was called by God to lead his people out of Egypt to the Promised Land of Canaan (Exodus)
- God parted the Red Sea and put it back together again to trap the Egyptian army
- God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai to make the covenant
What is the Mosaic Covenant?
- God gave Moses the 613 Mitzvot to be kept in the Ark of the Covenant which had to be kept in the tabernacle
- If kept, the Jewish people would be God’s holy nation
