JudaismintheDiocesanGuidelinesforRE

InformationforKS1teachers

Whatarethe‘bigideas’inJudaism?

JewsbelieveinOneEternalGod,whoisthegiverofall

lifeandhasapurposefortheworld.Jewsbelievethat

theyaredescendantsofAbraham,chosenbyGodto

showwhatheislike.JewstrytoliveaccordingtoGod’s

lawsintheTorah,whichareunchangeable,butcanbe

interpretedforthepresent.Torahreadingisan

essentialpartofsynagogueworship,andwillbethe

mostvaluableandsacredobjectinthesynagogue.

Jewishworshipisalsocentredonthehome:oftenitwill

belightingcandlesonFridaynightandwelcoming

Shabbat.ForJewslifeitselfisareligiousceremony:

livingaccordingtotheTorahandcarryingoutthe

mitzvoth(commandments)areallaformofworship.

BelongingisakeyconceptforJews,asbeingaJew

makessomeonepartofacommunity&atraditionas

wellasareligion.Therearemanyfestivalsduringthe

Jewishyear,manyofwhicharebasedinhome-life.

Throughthem,Jewskeeptheirhistoryaliveand

rememberwhattheeventshavetaughtthemabout

God.

KS1OSU:Why

doJewish

families

celebrate

Hanukkah?

Sh'maYisra'eilAdonaiEloheinu

Adonaiechad.

Hear,OIsrael:TheLordisourGod,

theLordisone.

WhatdoIneedtoknowaboutJudaism?Judaism is not just a religion, but can also be understood as a tradition and a cultural

identity.SomeJewsmightidentifythemselvesasbelongingtothenationofIsrael,somemay

practise Judaismasa religionandothers choose to recognise their ‘Jewishness’ through thekeepingof

culturaltraditions,religiousorsecular.AccordingtoJewishlaw(Halakah),aJewisanyonewhosemotherisJewish,

orhaschosentobecomeaJewbyconvertingtotheJewishreligion,regardlessofpersonalbeliefsorobservanceof

Jewish laws. The Jewishpeopleare very family-orientated, and this is reflectedboth in the celebrationofweekly

Shabbat,festivalsthroughouttheJewishyearandaproudtraditionofcaringinstitutions.Shabbatandfestivalsare

celebratedbothinthehomeandinthesynagogue.Although(throughthepartoftheBiblethatChristianscallthe

‘OldTestament’)Christianitysharesmanystories(anditsroots)withJudaism,itisimportantthattheJewishreligion

istaughtinitsownright:theNewTestamentisnotpartofJewishreligiousteaching.

MuchofJewishhistory isconnectedwiththestruggleof Israelandtheir identityasapeople.TheTorahdescribes

thisearlyhistoryfromtheCreation,andcontainskeyeventssuchastheExodus(theescapefromslavery inEgypt

under the leadership of Moses), the building of a portable sanctuary in the desert, and the Tenakh tells of the

establishment of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE, and the Jews were exiled to

Babylonia.Re-settlementandtherebuildingoftheTemplecommencedabout70years later. In70CEtheRomans

destroyedthesecondTemple,andovermanycenturiestheJewsweredispersedthroughouttheworld.

Since 1948, the foundation of the State of Israel has provided a beacon of hope for a people nearly

destroyed by the Nazis in Hitler's Germany. The Holocaust and the systematic murder of 6,000,000

Jewishmen,womenandchildren isapermanentreminderof theevilsof racism.HolocaustMemorial

Dayhasbeenmarkedeveryyearfromtheyear2000,onJanuary27th,andnotonlycommemoratesthe

WWIIHolocaustbutprovidesopportunityforremembranceofothergenocidessince.Moreinformation

abouttheHolocaust,andtheHolocaustMemorialDaycanbefoundontheTrustwebsite:www.hmd.org.uk.

WhatdoJewsbelieve?Key beliefs in Judaism are expressed in the shema, the first

prayer intheTorah,whichisalsoadeclarationofwhatJews

believe. It is the oldest prayer in Judaism and is recited by

Jews morning and night. The complete text of the shema

comes from three places in the Torah: the book of

Deuteronomy (6:4-9 and 11:13-21) and the book of

Numbers (15:37-41). It is theshemathat isplaced insidea

mezuzah and nailed to the right-hand doorposts in Jewish

homes as a reminder their faith and in obedience to the command to ‘…write them on the

doorpostsofyourhouseandonyourgates.’(Deut.6:9)Anothercommandwithinthisportionof

textgivesrisetothewearingoftefillin:‘youshallbindthemonyourhandandtheyshallbefor

youareminderbetweenyoureyes.’

There are two main branches of Judaism, with some significant differences between

different types of Jew: Orthodox and Progressive (also known as reform or liberal).

OrthodoxJewsbelievethat theTorahcontainstheexactwordsofGod,andfollowthe

rules laid out in the Torah very closely as outlined in the Talmud (oral Jewish laws,

writtendown),whereasProgressiveJewsbelievethattheirreligionneedstomovewith

thetimesandthatsomereligiouspracticesneedtobereformedtofitwiththemodern

world. Jewsbelieve their special relationshipwithGod is expressed in the613Mitzvot

(laws).Eachofthese613mitzvotcanbeplacedunderoneoftheTenCommandments,whichweregiventoMoses

byGod(Exodus20),andwhichdefinelifeforaJewishperson.JewsalsobelievethatGod'sspecialrelationshipwith

all humanity is expressed throughobedience to the sevenNoachide laws (Genesis 9),when, after the flood,God

madeacovenantwithNoah,andthatthepurposeofJudaismistherepairoftheworld.

The Tenakh ismadeupof threebooks; in fact, theword ‘TeNaKh’ is an acronym for the three

different parts: ‘T’ for Torah, ‘N’ for Nev’im (the Prophets) and ‘K’ for Ketuvim (other sacred

writings, includingstoriesfromJewishhistory,amongstthemthebooksofRuth, Job,Estherand

thePsalms).TheTorah,which istheHebrewwordfor ‘teachings’, isthemost importantportion

forJews.TheTorahisthefirstfivebooksoftheTenakh(Genesis-Deuteronomy)andcontainsthe

storyofGod’scovenantwithhispeoplefromthetimeofAbraham.ItisthroughAbrahamandhis

descendantsthatGodwouldblessthenationsandshowthemwhatGodis like.TheTorah,whichwasrevealedby

GodtoMosesonMt.Sinai, is thecentralcore foundationof Jewish life,andsetsoutpractical rulesandguidance

(includingtheTenCommandments)forallaspectsofdailyindividual,familyandcommunitylife.TheTorahiswritten

inHebrew,whichisreadfromrighttoleft(NBnot‘backwards’!)Asofer,aJewishscribe,will

hand-write theTorahon sectionsofparchment that are then stitched

together to form a long scroll, which, if unrolled, would stretch the

lengthofafootballpitch.ATorahscrollcostsinexcessof£25,000,will

takeasoferaroundayeartocomplete:ifanymistakesaremadewhen

writingGod’snameinthescroll,theTorahwillbegivenaburial,justlikeaperson.ATorahis

themostpreciousobjectthatanysynagoguewillown,andisdressedupwhennotinuseina

covercalledamantle,abreastplatebearingsymbolismrelatingtoancientJewishpriesthood

andapairoffinials,‘theCrownoftheLaw’,calledrimmonim(pictured,left)whichsitoverthetop

ofthehandleswhenthescrollisrolledup.‘Rimmonim’isHebrewforpomegranates,whichis

animportantsymbolinJudaismastheyaresaidtocontain613seeds,oneforeverycommandment(ormitzvot)in

theTorah.ThebellsthatareapartoftherimmonimprovideanauditorysignalthattheTorahisbeingtakenoutof

thespecialcupboard,theArk,whereitiskeptinthesynagogueuntilitisread.OnShabbat,theTorahisprocessed

outoftheArk,andportionsarereadaccordingtothepassageforthatweek,sothatitwillbereadcompletelyover

time(ayearforOrthodoxJews,3yearsforReform).TheprocessionoftheTorahbacktotheArktakesthelongest

route to involve thewhole community. Simchat Torah is a joyful and noisy Jewish holiday at the end of Sukkot

centredontheTorah,markingtheendoftheyearlycycleofsynagogueTorahreadings,duringwhichtheTorah is

paraded/dancedaroundthesynagoguebeforethefinalversesofDeuteronomy,thenthefirstversesinGenesis,are

read.AtSimchatTorah,itistraditionaltoeatfoodsthatarerolled,liketheTorah!

ThenameofGod,YHWH(inHebrew,right) issoholythatitisonlypermissibletospeakitonce

a year, on the Jewish Day of Atonement. The name ‘Adonai’ (Master) or ‘Lord’ is more

frequentlyusedbyJews.ThenameYHWHmeans‘IAM’,whichiswhatGodtoldMoseswhen

herevealedHimselfintheburningbush,andspeaksofHiseternalnature.Whenwrittenintranslation,vowelsare

oftenomitted,asHebrewdoesn’thaveany,soyoumightsee‘G_d’(whichisnotaname)or‘L_RD’(alwayswritten

incapitals).JewsbelievethatGodisOneandthatHeistheCreatoroftheworldwhocaresforallHisCreation.Much

ofGod’scharacterisrevealedbythetitlesheisgiveninthebooksoftheTenakh,suchasElohim(Authority),Shaddai

(Almighty),Elyon(MostHigh)andAvinu(ourFather).

Abraham:JewsbelievetheyaredescendantsofAbraham,whoabandonedthe

polytheisticidol-worshipofhisancestorstofollowtheOneEternalGod,leaving

his home inUr andbecoming anomad.God’s covenantpromise toAbraham

describeshowAbrahamwillhavemanydescendants,whichwasbroughtabout

through the birth of his son, Isaac, and by Abraham’s faithfulness to God as

demonstrated in the story of the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22. Through

Abraham’ssonIsaac,theprophetandleaderoftheJewishpeople,Moses,was

born.

WhyshouldJews‘remember’?

Thecommand to ‘remember’ isgivenmany times throughout theTorah,and indeed, the

datingof theJewishcalendar isconnectedwiththe importanceofrememberinghowthe

worldbegan,as thedate represents thenumberofyearssince thecreation,currently (in

2016),5776.ManyJews(frombothbranchesofJudaism)wouldsuggestthatthe‘days’inthecreationaccountare

not24hourperiods,buttimeperiods:othersmightsaythatthesixdaysareliteral.Throughouttheirhistory,God

gave his people the command to ‘remember’: in the Ten Commandments, Jews are told to remember how they

wereslaves,andtheweeklycelebrationofShabbator‘Sabbath’,theJewishdayofrest,isareminderthatonlyfree

people can choose to rest in this way.Many other Jewish festivals and celebrations aremarked because of the

commandto‘remember’.

Awindowon…..Shabbat,the‘DayofDelight’Aftercreatingtheworld,Godrestedontheseventhday,astheaccountinthe

book ofGenesis relates. For Jews, celebratingShabbat is a reminder of this,

but also a direct command within the Ten Commandments. Shabbat starts on Friday at

Iwillmakeyouagreatnation,

andIwillblessyou;Iwillmake

yournamegreat,andyouwill

beablessing.Iwillblessthose

whoblessyou,andwhoever

cursesyouIwillcurse;andall

thepeoplesoftheearthwillbe

blessedthroughyou.Genesis12:1-3

Rememberthatyouwereslavesin

EgyptandthattheLordyourGod

broughtyououtoftherewitha

mightyhandandanoutstretched

arm.ThereforetheLordyourGod

hascommandedyoutoobservethe

Sabbathday.

Deuteronomy5:15

sunset,(allJewish‘days’runfromsunsettosunset)andallchoresmustbecompleted

beforetheninorderforthegiftofthedayofresttobegin.Jewishfamilieswillgather

in their homes and share a meal together, during which the symbolic lighting and

blessing of two candles takes place and they share wine and two special, plaited

loavescalledchallah.Thereare twoasa reminder thatShabbat isnoordinaryday,

butalsorelatingbacktotheexodusfromEgyptandmannainthedesert,whenGod

wouldprovidethemwithdoubleportionsonShabbat.Thismealisaleisurelyaffair,a

markedcontrasttothebusy-nessoflifeonotherdays.JewishfamiliesoftenattendsynagogueonSaturday,usingan

orderofservicesetoutintheJewishprayerbook,calledthesiddur.Backinthehome,asduskfalls,thereisanother

symbolic ceremony, calledhavdalah,marking the end of Shabbat. Havdalahmeans ‘separation’ and involves the

lightingofaplaitedcandlewith6wicksandsmellingsweetspices:bothsymbolising thehopethat thesweetness

andlightofShabbatwilllastthroughthecomingweek.

TheoptionalstudyunitatKS1focusesonthecelebrationofHanukkah,whichlastsfor8daysand

takesplaceinthedarkwintermonths.Asafestivalofremembrance,itiscommonforchildrento

receivepresentseachnightandforfamiliestolightcandlesonan8-

branched candelabra called a hanukiah, with one more candle

beinglitoneachnightsothatitisfullyilluminatedbythefinalnight

ofthefestival.Thedreidelgame(pictured, left)islinkedtothestoryofthe

miracleof theoil– ‘agreatmiraclehappened there’–which is found in the

Books of the Maccabees, not in the Torah, and is a traditional part of this Jewish

celebration.VersionsofthestorycanbefoundintheResourcessectionbelow.

Usefulweb-basedresourcesforteachersandclassrooms:• www.reonline.org.ukGreatforbackgroundknowledge,withlotsoflinkstoclassroomresourcesviaasearchtool.Usethe

‘Knowing’tabtofindoutwhatyouwanttoknow,ortryhere:www.reonline.org.uk/knowing/what-re/judaism/

• REOnlinealsohavesomelessonideas(searchfor‘REBanquet’),butensureyoumatchtotheDiocesanCoreKnowledge

objectives.

• Thereisalsoplentyofinformationforteachersathttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/andtheJewishWayof

Liferesourceshttp://www.reonline.org.uk/specials/jwol/containsmaterialsforteachersandpupils.ItfeaturestwoJewish

children,SarahandDavid,whotellusallabouttheirfaiththroughamixofphotos,soundandwords.

• TwosacredstoriesfromJudaism(oneofthemisHanukkah)featureontheBritishLibrarywebsite:

www.bl.uk/learning/cult/sacred/stories/Anotherusefulversionforteacherscanbefoundat:

http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/hanukkah

• ChildsEyemediasellgreatDVDssupportinglearningaboutfestivals,oneofwhichfocusesonHanukkah.Theyareverywell

filmed,andincludemanydifferentaspectsofreligiouslifeinBritain.EachDVDalsohasadaptableandcreativeresource

materials.Theseareavailablefororderfrom:http://www.childseyemedia.com/festivals-p-195.html

• MyLife,MyReligion’canbefoundasindividualclips,andascompleteprogrammesat

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05pc1c9AlthoughtheseprogrammesareaimedatKS2pupils,manywouldbe

suitableforKS1,withsometeacherinput.ThereareplentyofclipsaboutJudaismonthissitethatwouldbesuitableto

supporttheDiocesanunits,notably‘Shabbat’,‘Torah’and‘Chanukah’.

• TherearealsoclipsyoucanviewonlinefromthePathwaysofBelief(http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zyxn34j)and

PlacesforWorshipDVDsets,suchasShabbat:http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zyxn34j

• ThereisacompleteglossaryofJewishtermsavailableontheDiocesanwebsite:

http://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/education/our-school-services/re/new-guidelines/materials-for-re-subject-leadersScroll

downtofindtheglossary!

• ‘SammySpider’sFirstShabbat’(ISBN:978-1-58013-006-6)and‘SammySpider’sFirstHanukkah’(ISBN:9780929371467)

arelovelyKS1-friendlypicturebooksaboutaspiderwholivesinaJewishhousehold

• RETodayhavepublishedsupportmaterialsforteachingJudaism:‘OpeningupJudaism’,

http://shop.retoday.org.uk/9781905893553

• Forteachersubjectknowledge,the‘ReligionstoInspiRE’seriesofKS3teacherandpupilhandbookscomehighly

recommended.Whilsttheteacherhandbook(at£65,veryexpensive!)dealswithteachingJudaismtoKS3-agedpupils,the

pupilbooksareveryusefulfor‘readingup’onareligion,andmorereasonablypriced,at£11.99.TheISBNnumberforthe

Judaismpupilversionis:978-1-444-12224-4.

• PhotopacksandbookstosupportteachingaboutJudaismcanbefoundinandborrowedfromtheResourcesCentre.

ThetwocompulsoryJudaismunitsatKS1explorekeyJewishbeliefsabouttheTorahanditsimportanceinJewishlifeandthegift

oftheSabbathtoJews.TheywillbebuiltoninKS2bytwounits:onefocussingonothersignificantfestivalswithinJudaismand

howtheyhelptocreateasenseofJewishidentity;theotheronhowthelayoutanduseofasynagogueasaplaceofprayer,study

andcommunityhelpsusunderstandwhatJewsbelieve.Thereisalsoanoptionalstudyunit‘WhatdoesitmeantobeaJew?’It’s

vitalthatthecontentwithintheseunitsisnotexploredatKS1aswell!YoucanviewthemontheDiocesanwebsite.