Living a Jewish Life An overview of Important Jewish Values and Practices. Unit 7, Session 1 Rabbi...
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Introduction to Judaism USE RIGHT OR LEFT ARROWS TO GO FORWARD OR BACK Living a Jewish Life An overview of Important Jewish Values and Practices. Unit 7, Session 1 Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black Leo Baeck Centre - East Kew - 2009/5770 Revised 2010/5771 for Introduction to Judaism Course
Living a Jewish Life An overview of Important Jewish Values and Practices. Unit 7, Session 1 Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black Leo Baeck Centre - East Kew - 2009/5770
Living a Jewish Life An overview of Important Jewish Values and
Practices. Unit 7, Session 1 Rabbi Jonathan Keren-Black Leo Baeck
Centre - East Kew - 2009/5770 Revised 2010/5771 for Introduction to
Judaism Course
Slide 2
The root of the word is K D SH K D SH is Special or Separate
KiDuSH for Shabbat & Festivals KeDuSHa prayer in the Amidah (eg
Prayer Book page 248) KaDiSH Readers Kaddish prayer, Mourners
Kaddish prayer Special behaviour being holy. Being holy as God is
holy Trying to act as God would act
Slide 3
In government circles and with things like grant applications,
Partnership is a common and important word and concept working
together with others. In Judaism, it goes back a long way. We
believe that humans and God need to work in Shutafut in
partnership, to heal the world.
Slide 4
At the end of every service, we read the Aleynu, which contains
the phrase ltakeyn olam bmalchut Shadai to perfect the world under
Gods rule. This is The Meaning of Life. We are here for a purpose
to work WITH GOD to make the world better for all its inhabitants,
both today and into the future.
Slide 5
Slide 6
Our task is to work with God to heal the world. These units
ask: how do we work out how best to heal the world? What should we
do in practical terms Lets start with a practical and current
community-wide example: Nothing But Nets. Great progress has been
made over the past few years in combating malaria we have been a
part of that real improvement in our world.
Slide 7
The Union for Progressive Judaism has partnered with the UN
Nothing But Nets campaign to combat the spread of malaria.
Together, we aim to supply 5,000 insecticide- treated bed nets to
families in sub-Saharan Africa, saving one family at a time, one
net at a time. Visit www.nothingbutnets.net to find out more.
Slide 8
The pillars of Judaism are three-fold: commitment to Torah
(lifelong Jewish learning), Avodah (worship of God through prayer
and observance) and Gmilut Hasadim (the pursuit of justice, peace
and deeds of loving kindness). This third pillar is expressed by
participating in social action efforts. This is why the UPJ is
partnering with Nothing But Nets to combat the spread of malaria.
This is a practical way to help.
Slide 9
Our tradition teaches us that God dictated the written law to
Moses... but also... God gave Moses the oral law at the same time.
We don't take either of these claims literally.
Slide 10
Perhaps God literally, physically gave some of Torah to Moses
at the top of Mount Sinai. Who knows? What would this look like? We
believe that Moses, and/or others, perhaps 'inspired', recorded
over many years what they felt 'God wanted from human beings'. This
document, Torah, has gained sanctity because of this noble task,
and the messages, the history and the age-old experiences it
contains.
Slide 11
Slide 12
So an important tradition developed. When Moses was given the
written law, he was also given the explanations about what it meant
- and how to apply it. So the tradition says that as well as the
written Torah passed down through the generations, there was also
an oral Torah just as important. The tradition said the oral law
should never be written down. And one couldnt be Jewish without the
traditions and combination of both parts of the Torah, written and
oral.
Slide 13
If a tradition is conveyed orally, it can be applied slightly
differently as situations and needs change. But it can also be
lost, especially as it inevitably grows bigger and bigger. Thus it
was eventually decided to record the Oral Law in writing (Mishna).
It was divided into six sections or 'Orders. The flexibility
started to be lost.
Slide 14
The Mishna is the first collection of Oral Law, written down
about 220 of the Common Era by Judah HaNasi. It was useful. It
became restrictive. It became rigid.
Slide 15
Once the Mishna was published, it was widely studied and
debated. The discussions, arguments and debates were written around
it. This was called 'GMaRah' completion (GMR: finish ). The
combination Mishna and its many commentaries, is called 'Talmud'
studies.
Slide 16
Amongst other things, the Talmud has much detailed discussion
about the commandments. A commandment is a MiTZ-Vah The plural is
MiTZ-Vot Ethical mitzvot demand high standards of behaviour. Being
very honest, being sensitive, feeding the hungry, looking after the
sick, not stealing, not exploiting or taking advantage... Ritual
mitzvot govern ceremonies and rites of Jewish life such as food,
festivals, prayers...
Slide 17
The tradition tells us there are 613 commandments in the Torah
[Sometimes called the TaRYaG (alphabetical way to say 613) mitzvot]
Best known are the Ten Commandments In Hebrew they are called
Aseret HaDibrot More accurately this translates as The Ten
Statements as the first, Love your Eternal God, is not a command
(though the Christian version is Have no other gods).
Slide 18
Slide 19
Is the left hand set a Jewish set of commandments?
Slide 20
The left hand set were Christian (they did not start with I am
the Eternal God). Actually, the rounded top is a shape from later,
Classical architecture. The two tablets of stone would probably
have been rectangular. Also the Hebrew we are now familiar with is
a more recent, Aramaic script. The letters Moses would have known
were proto-Canaanitic. So, if the Ten Statements were written on
stone in Moses time, they would have looked more like the next
set:
Slide 21
Slide 22
1. I am your Eternal God, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt 2. You shall have no other Gods but Me 3. You shall not use
Gods name casually 4. Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy 5.
Honour your father and your mother (the bridge to the second five
honouring parents is said to be like honouring God).
Slide 23
6. You shall not murder 7. You shall not commit adultery 8. You
shall not steal 9. You shall not bear false witness 10. You shall
not covet your neighbours wife, nor his ox nor his ass, nor
anything that is your neighbours. (this last is a warning against
materialism wanting things and hence very relevant to modern
society today!).
Slide 24
(h is another way of writing ch as in loch) The Mishna and
Gmarah tried to determine what a Jew should do in any given
situation what is 'the right way to go'? The verb one goes' or one
walks' is HoLeH'. From that verb we get HaLaHa' (Jewish law). If
one does something according to 'halaha' then we call it 'halahic'.
Seriously orthodox Jews try to follow the 'halaha strictly.
Seriously Progressive Jews decide what is meaningful and helpful to
them.
Slide 25
Slide 26
Ethical behaviour is often pretty clear. Ritual rapidly becomes
very complicated. Progressive Judaism is based on empowering people
to make EDUCATED CHOICES Ask yourself: Do you understand the origin
and background of this tradition or ritual? When you have
researched, understood and experienced it, then ask Does this
practice help bring God into your life at this stage in your life?
(the answer may change over time)
Slide 27
Ethics Judaism demands we try to live up to high standards of
behaviour acting as God would act (or trying to be perfect).
[Perhaps this is why many Jews seem to tend to be perfectionists]
We base our ethical standards on a belief in some unique power, far
greater than any individual human, which we call God, and then we
ask What does God require of us. For most Progressive Jews, Torah
is the record of this human quest.
Slide 28
Having a developed, adult understanding of an ethical life and
goals may be enough. In practice it probably isnt, and is supported
and encouraged through ritual acts (for example, considering
animals through checking what you are buying and eating) However
children especially need a ritual framework in which they slowly
learn that they are part of a special family (KaDoSH).
Slide 29
Two very important areas where each person needs to work out
what works best for them in bringing God and spirituality into
their life are: Kashrut what and how you eat every day For the next
session, please view the powerpoint U7-2 Kashrut on this subject.
Shabbat how you mark the cycle of time and a day of rest in each
week. The powerpoint for session U7-3 Shabbat addresses this
subject.
Slide 30
Thank you for completing this presentation. We hope it has been
useful and informative. We welcome any feedback, corrections or
questions, both for yourself and to improve the presentation for
other students. Please pass them to your tutor.