Judaism; Beliefs and Teachings

Question 1

What are the Jewish Scriptures known as?

Answer 1

Tenakh

Question 2

What are the 3 divisions of the Jewish Scriptures and what are they?

Answer 2

• Torah (The Law Book, book of Moses)
• Nevi’im (The books of the prophets)
• Ketuvim (The books of the writings)

Question 3

What are the main four Tenakh teachings about God/The Almighty?

Answer 3

• God is One
• God is the Creator
• God is the Law-Giver
• God is the Judge

Question 4

What is the Shema?

Answer 4

• Statement of God’s oneness in the Torah

Question 5

Two SOWAs to show God Is One

Answer 5

“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, The Lord is one” - Deuteronomy 6:4, the first words of the Shema

“This God is one” - The Thirteen Principles

Question 6

God is One and how is it shown

Answer 6

• Judaism teaches strict monotheism
• Unity of creation and unity to society
• Mezuzah is a container for the Shema scroll to put on their doorframes
• Jewish men bind tefillin (a leather container for Shema scroll) to forehead and arms when they pray every morning

Question 7

God is the Creator and how is it shown

Answer 7

• Torah teaches that God is the Creator so everything belongs to him
• The universe comes from God so it depends on God
• Teaches God created the universe, his created is Good and so Jewish people care for the environment
• Everyday in prayer they praise God for creation

Question 8

Two SOWAs to show that God is the Creator

Answer 8

“I believe with perfect faith that God is the Creator” - Thirteen Principles of the Faith (Maimonides)

“In the beginning, God created the Heaven and the Earth” - First words of the Torah

Question 9

God is the Law Giver and how is it shown

Answer 9

• Tenakh teaches God is the great law giver.
• Gave laws to help people look after the Earth in the way he wanted.
• Moses was the one who recieved all 613 commandments (the Mitzvot) of the Jewish Law on Mount Sinai
• Believing God is the law giver is important in Judaism because God’s Laws (the mitzvot) form the Halakah (the holy law of Judaism) which is the basis of how Jews live their lives today.
• God being law giver means he cares about his creation and humans.

Question 10

SOWA that shows God is the Law Giver

Answer 10

“the Lord is our Law-Giver” - Isaiah 33

Question 11

God is the Judge and how is it shown?

Answer 11

• The Halakhah is the divine law of Judaism. Divine Law requires a Divine Judge who is God.
• God will make sure that the good are rewarded and the evil are punished.
• The belief that God is Judge is important because it ensures that the world is protected from the chaos that would come if there was no way of making sure that people keep God’s Laws.

Question 12

SOWA that shows God is the Judge

Answer 12

Psalm 9 says that God will judge the world in righteousness

Question 13

What is the Halakhah?

Answer 13

The Holy law of Judaism, from the written and oral Torah

Question 14

What are the Thirteen Principles of Faith?

Answer 14

Included in every prayer book

Wrote by Maimonides, a Medieval rabbi and philospher

Question 15

What is Shekinah?

Answer 15

• “The majestic presence of God”
• Deliberately difficult to define because it is a way of describing the Almighty’s presence in the world - finite words cannot describe the infinite
• Rabbis use the term shekhinah for any form of human contact with God

Question 16

What is the Tabernacle?

Answer 16

The holy place containing the Ark of the Covenant

Question 17

Shekhinah in the Torah

Answer 17

• Gods presence (shekhinah) going with Moses to guide him to the promised land
• Shekhinah as cloud and smoke on Mount Sinai when God gave the commandments go Moses

Question 18

Different understandings of the Shekinah for Jews today

Answer 18

• Reform = light created to he a link between God and the world (Maimondes)
• Expression for ways God is related to the world
• Means God (interchangeable)
• Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism) - Gateway to higher consciousness

Question 19

Why is Shekhinah important for Jews today?

Answer 19

• However close Jews may feel to God that God’s presence is so holy that it must be respected
• Shekhinah is at Temple in Mount Zion and Jerusalem makes it special
• Moses surrounded by the shekhinah means that Moses received the Mitzvot directly from God, so they are God’s word
• Means God’s presence is in the world so they may come across the shekhinah at any time

Question 20

SOWA for Shekhinah

Answer 20

“My presence will go with you and I will give you rest” Exodus 33

Question 21

What does Messiah mean?

Answer 21

Anointed one

A religious ideal

Question 22

The Purpose of the Messiah

Answer 22

Jews believe the Messiah will

• Rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem
• Unite all the people of the world
• Make all the people of the world aware of the shekhinah
• Bring in the Messianic age

Question 23

What is the Messianic Age?

Answer 23

The time when the Messiah comes.

Nevi’im says that there will be peace among all nations

justice in the world

Jews will return to Israel, the Temple will be rebuilt and the world will accept God and Judaism.

Question 24

Messiah in the scriptures

Answer 24

No references to the Messiah inbthe Torah

Nevi’im says that the Messiah will be a descendant of David who wull rule wisely and justly

Question 25

Different Understandings of the Messiah

Answer 25

• Some Orthodox rabbis: Messiah will bot come until all Jewish people observe all the Mitzvot fully
• Most Orthodox Rabbis: follow the teaching of Maimonides that no-one can know when the Messiah will come other than God himself
• Reform: No longer believe in the idea of an individual Messiah who will make the world perfect. They believe it is up to individual Jews to change this world.

Question 26

Coming of the Messiah SOWA

Answer 26

“I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah.” - Thirteen Principles number 12