Judaism Beliefs Flashcards
Concept and Nature:
Judaism is a monotheistic religion. Jews believe that God is one, he is the lawgiver, judge, sustainer and creator
God or G-d?:
Many jews prefer not to say
the word “God” out loud and
prefer not to write it, so they
use “G-d”. Jewish God is also
know as YHWH (Yahweh)
God as One
“God as one” means that God is infinite and eternal, Only God should be praised and worshiped. All values and beliefs come from God.
Shema:
The Shema is a prayer that
affirms belief in the One God,
it is found in the Torah. The
opening line is recited twice a
day and reminds Jews of their
monotheistic belief: “Hear, O
Israel, the lord our God, the
lord is one”. It also implies that
God requires total loyalty.
God as Lawgiver:
God gives laws on how people should behave. God gave the Jews 613 Mitzvot to follow and they are accepted as the code of conduct for Jewish Life, the first 10 mitzvot are the 10 commandments. By following the mitzvot it is impossible to disobey God.
God as Judge:
-God judges the Jews on how well they follow his laws.
-His judgments are fair and merciful, all good
-Jews are judged once a year at Rosh Hashanah and once they die
Shekhinah—The Divine Presence:
Jews believe that God can focus his presence in certain places, this is the shekinah. The shekinah
does not mean God is physically present or split into certain parts. The word “shekinah” is not appear
anywhere in the Tenakh but it is reffered to. The Tenakh describes how the Jews where lead by a pillar
of cloud at day and a cloud with fire at night, these are acts of the Shekinah
“I beheld my Lord seated on a high and lofty throne…” - Isaiah 6: 1-2
Beliefs about creation:
-Orthodox Jews believe in the creation story (Genesis1:1)
-Reform Jews believe God
created the world using the big bang theory
and created humans through evolution
Sustainer:
God sustains the universe and everything needed for life. However as a result of free will humans have distributed resources unequally.
Jews who choose to help those in need are
helping fufill God’s plan for creation.
What is a quote about creation?
“When God began to create heaven
and earth…” Genesis 1:1
Evil and Free Will:
-God created evil BECAUSE he gave humans total free will
-The fact he gave humans free will signifies that good actions are more significant to god.
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Commandments between man and God:
1) Worship no God but me
2) Do not worship idols
3) Do not use my name for evil purposes
4) Keep the sabbath holy
Between man and man:
5) Respect your Father and Mother
6) Do not murder
7) Do not commit adultery
8) Do not steal
9) Do not lie
10) Do not be jealous
Heaven
Those who are good will enter heaven
(Gan Eden). It is believed heaven will be
with God, howeber it is unkown if in a
state of contiousness or and actual
physical or spiritual place
Sheol
If you do not go to heaven you go to
Sheol. Sheol is a place of waiting, in
sheol your soul is cleaned for heaven
When does judgement hap-
pen?
Some jews believe that judgement
happens as soon as you die, others
believe God will judge everyone on
judgement day
Beliefs about resurrection
-Ressurection is the idea of life after
death.
-Jews believe the present is more
important
Abraham and the Promised
Land:
Abraham was a nomad who lived around the city of Ur
(now Baghdad) around 4000+ years ago when most
people believed in and worshipped statues of many
different God’s. However, Abraham became convinced
there was one God who created everything and that it
was wrong to worship idols. However, at the time this
was a radical belief and most refused to believe it.
The Covenant with Abraham:
God’s covenant to the Jews was to
protect and favour the Israelites. God
also promised to give Abraham the
promised land - Canaan for his
people. The Jews covenant to God
was to live a life dedicated to God. As
a sign of this covenant God
commanded that all Jewish boys be
circumsised.
The Escape from Eqypt
Moses helped the Jews escape
egypt into the desert. God
unleashed 10 plagues on egypt
allowing the Jews to escape. As
they escaped Moses parted the red
sea so that they could escape
The Covenant at Sinai—the
Ten Commandments:
God’s covenant to the Jews is that they
are God’s chosen people and that God
will always protect and bless them. The
Jews covenant to God was to listen to
him and obey his laws. Moses represents
all Jews - Jews today believe this
covenant to be still binding. It is a major
reason Jews believe they are God’s
“chosen people”. God also promised to
lead the jews to the promised land
Sanctity of Life:
Life is precious and holy because it
came from God, this belief came from
the story of Adam and Eve. The
sanctity of life encourages jews to
help social issues wheere it would save
a life. For example, it encourages
Jews to give blood and donate organs
as doing so could save a life
Saving a life (pikuach nefesh):
Pikuach nefesh allows jews to
break mitzvot in order to save a
life. This is important as some
mitzvot could prevent someone
saving a life. For example, on
shabbat Jews are prohibited
from doing any work, this could
prevent them saving a life.
