Judaism Beliefs Flashcards

1
Q

What type of religion is judaism

A

Judaism is a monotheistic religion-Jews only believe in one God

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2
Q

What does the belief in One God mean for jews

A

The belief in one God means for jews

  • God is the source of all jewish morality , belief and values
  • God is the creator and the sustainer of everything
  • Jews should only believe in one God
  • God is single whole being
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3
Q

What is the shema

A

The shema is a prayer expressing the belief as God as one

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4
Q

Why do Jews believe that God is creator

A

Jews believe in God as creator because of the creation stories by Genesis in the torah .

The Torah describes how God spent 4 days preparing the world for life , then 2 days implementing life , then spent a day resting

-This day resting is celebrated as shabbat

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5
Q

What are differing views about the creation stories within judaism

A
  • Many ultra orthodox and orthodox Jews take the creation stories literally as they come from the torah and they follow the torah precisely . They reject theories of evolution
  • Many other jews,e.g reform jews, believe that God created everything but accept theories of evolution and do not take the creation stories literally
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6
Q

What do Jews believe about God as sustainer

A

-Jews believe that aswell as creating life God also sustains life . God provides all resources needed for life on earth

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7
Q

What do Jews believe about the nature of God

A

Jews believe that in order to be creator and sustainer ,God must be

  • Omniscient-all knowing
  • Omnipotent-All powerful
  • Omnipresent-everywhere at once
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8
Q

Why do Jews believe God created evil

A

Jews believe God created evil as a necessary consequence of free will

  • God created free will to make good acts more significant(by giving people choice to do good)
  • By having the choice of free will there must be a choice between good and evil
  • meaning evil must exist
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9
Q

How should Jews use their free will

A

Jews should use their free will to help distribute the worlds resources evenly and fulfil Gods plan for creation

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10
Q

What have been created by free will

A

An uneven distribution of resources

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11
Q

Why does God give Jews laws

A

God gives Jews laws to guide them in how to use their free will in a way that pleases him

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12
Q

What are the mitzvot

A

The mitzvot are the 613 laws listed in the torah . They teach Jews how they should behave

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13
Q

What are the first ten mitzvots called

A

The first three mitzvots are called the ten commandments . They were handed to Moses by God when the Jews were wandering in the wilderness. Jews pay extra attention to them .

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14
Q

What does God judge Jews on

A

God judges Jews on how well they follow the mitzvots through their actions,behaviours and beliefs

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15
Q

On what two occasions does God judge Jews

A
  • Rosh Hashanah (Jewish new year) ~ God judges Jews on their actions over the past year and decides their fate for the year going forward
  • God also judges Jews upon their death which decides where they spend afterlife
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16
Q

What is the shekhinah

A

The shekhinah is the divine presence of God on earth

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17
Q

How was the shekhinah experienced by early Jews

A
  • The tabernacle was believed to hold the divine presence of God . It was a portable temple that Jews carried when they were wondering through the wilderness to canaan
  • When the Jews got to canaan the tabernacle was replaced with Solomons temple in Jerusalem . This was the centre of Judaism . Many Prophets claim to feel the presence of God in the temple
  • The tenakh describes how God guided the Jews out of wilderness and to Canaan through clouds and pillars of fire. These were believed to be apperances of God that showed his Power and gloru
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18
Q

What do Jews believe about afterlife

A
  • In general Jews are not to concered with the afterlife and are more focussed on the present and living in a way that pleases God
  • although, the lack of teachings in the tenakh has led to different theories about the afterlife
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19
Q

What do Jews believe about heaven

A
  • Jews believe that if they follow their faith they will go to heaven (gan eden)
  • They believe that heaven is somewhere where they are with God but do not know wether this is God physically,spiritually or in conscience
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20
Q

What do Jews believe about Sheol

A

Jews believe that those who dont go to heaven go to Sheol which is a waiting place where peoples souls are cleansed . Jews do not believe in a place of eternal punishment

21
Q

What do Jews believe about judgement

A

Some jews believe they will be judgesd as soon as they die

Others believe they will be judged on the day of judgement after the coming of the messiah

Some jews also believe in resurrection

22
Q

What are the origins of the messiah

A
  • In the tenakh the messiah is a word used to refer to the kings of Israel
  • The word messiah means anointed one
  • The first king of the Jews ,Saul was anointed with oil by the Prophet Samuel before he became king to show how he was chosen by God to rule over the Jews
23
Q

What does the word messiah mean today for Jews

A
  • Today , the messiah refers to a future leader of the Jews

- The Messiah is expected to be a descendent of King David , Sauls successor

24
Q

When do Jews believe the Messiah will rule

A

Jews believe the messiah will lead the Jews during the messianic age

-This will be a time of global peace and harmony where all Jews want to be close to God

25
Q

What do Orthodox Jews believe about the messiah

A

-Orthodox Jews believe that there is a descendent of david in every generation that has the potential to become the messiah. -They believe that if Jews are worthy of redemption, God will direct this person to become the messiah

26
Q

What do Orthodox Jews believe the future messiah will do

A

Orthodox Jews believe that the future messiah will

  • Rebuild the temple in Jerusalem and gather all Jews back to Israel
  • Bring about world peace and unite humanity together
  • Uphold the laws in the Torah and be the ultimate teacher of them
  • Rule over humanity with kindness and Justice
27
Q

What do reform Jews believe about the messiah

A

Reform Jews do not believe in the messiah , but they do believe that there will be a future messianic age . However they believe this will be brought about by humanity working towards world peace rather than an individual leading them to it

28
Q

Do Jews see Jesus as the messiah

A

No ,Jews do not see Jesus as the messiah as he did not fulfill the expectations that they have for the messiah- he did not follow the Torah enough and he did not establish a messianic age

29
Q

How did God guide Jews to the promised land through Abraham

A
  • Between the 19-20 century BCE Abraham was born in Ur
  • At this time people worshipped many idols and Gods
  • Abraham was convinced that it was one God who created everything and that worshipping many Idols was wrong
  • Abraham tried to convince people in Ur that worshipping many idols was wrong but had little success
  • Abraham and his family then decided to move to Canaan
  • But on the way they settled in Haran
  • Years later ,God told Abraham to continue on his journey to Canaan and said that he would make a great nation their through him.
  • “I will make of you a great nation and I will bless you”
  • When Abraham and his wife ,Sarah , got to Canaan God told them”I give all the land you see to you and your offspring forever “ This land then became known as the promised land
30
Q

What was the covenant God made Abraham and what was Abraham required to do

A
  • God promised to make Abraham the father of many nations

- Abraham was required to “Walk in my (God’s) ways and be blameless”

31
Q

How was the covenant sealed

A

The covenant was sealed by Abraham and all the male members of his household(all male jews) being circumcised

32
Q

What did God do to keep his side of the covenant

A
  • In able to make Abraham the father of many nations God made Sarah , Abrahams wife, able to concieve despite the fact she was very old
  • Their son Isaac was believed to be a gift from God to start the covenant between God and Abrahama
33
Q

How did the Jews escape Egypt and get the Ten commandments

A
  • 400 years after the covenant with Abraham the Jews were slaves to the egpytians
  • God chose Moses to lead their escape . God told Moses to ask the pharoah to release the Jews so they could return to Canaan .
  • After the ten plagues the Pharoah agrees the release the Jews
  • The Jews then spend many years wondering in the desert between Canaan and Egypt .
  • They then reach mount Sinai and Moses climbs up whilst the Jews stay at the bottom
  • Moses here receives the ten commandments on two stone tablets
34
Q

Why are the ten commandments so important

A
  • The ten commandments form the foundations of Jewish law
  • They give guidance to Jews on how to have a good relationship with God and on how to have good relationships with each other.(so they can keep a peaceful society)
35
Q

What was the covenant at Sinai

A

The covenant at Sinai was a covenant between Jews and God. It said that :
-God would protect the Jews from harm and be their God if they obeyed his laws ( ten commandments and other mitzvot )

-It is one of the main reasons why Jews believe they are the people of God

36
Q

What are three key moral principles for Jews to help create a world of peace

A

Justice
Healing the world
Kindness to others

37
Q

What is justice and how and how can jews help to create it

A

Justice is bringing about what is right and fair

  • For Jews it is a sacred duty as in the torah Gods says he requires Jews “to do justice and love good”
  • The laws in the Torah help give guidance to Jews on how they should treat the poor and vulnerable in order to try and achieve Justice
38
Q

What is healing the world and how can Jews help to achieve it

A

Healing the world involves taking action to help Gods work in sustaining the earth

  • Jews can do this by contributing to social justice , protecting the environment and joining charity organisations such as world jewish relief.
  • some jews believe that healing the world is also about following mitzvot and becoming closer to God as well as taking action
39
Q

Why is kindness to others important

A
  • Kindness to others is important as it helps to retain world peace
  • In the torah it gives guidance to Jews many times on how to be kind to others
  • “Love your fellow as you love yourself”- leviticus
40
Q

Where do the origins of the sanctity of life come from

A
  • God breathed into the first man Adam in order to give him life
  • This means that life is precious and holy as it has come from God
  • This means humans should do everything to protect it
  • God was also the only one to create life so he is the only one who can take it away
41
Q

How does the sanctity of life affect Jews in practice

A
  • The sanctity of life means that Jews can do nothing to quicken natural death (murder,euthanasia)
  • Some Jews disagree with this as letting someone live can sometimes further their suffering
42
Q

What is Pikuach Nefesh

A

Pikuach Nefesh is the obligation to save someones life ,even if it involves breaking Jewish law (for example you could do work on shabbat if it was in order to save a life)

This emphasises how valuable human life is as it puts it above Jewish law

-

43
Q

How should Jews use their free will

A

Jews should use their free will to live in a way that pleases God and not to commit evil as this drives them away from God .

Using free will to do evil can have serious consequences

44
Q

What do the mitzvot do

A

The mitzvot help to teach Jews how to use their free will. Following the mitzvot carefully means that Jews cannot disobey God

45
Q

What are mitzvot between man and God

A

These are mitzvot that tell Jews how to improve their relationship with God

They instruct jews on sacrifice,observing festivals and worship

46
Q

What are mitzvot between man and man

A

Mitzvot between man and man instruct Jews on how to improve their relationship with each other .

  • This is important because the torah explains how by loving each other you are showing your love for God .
  • The mitzvot cover areas such as how to settle disputes and treatment of workers
  • These mitzvot help jews to live as part of their faith and community in a way that pleases God
47
Q

How does pikuach nefesh influence Jews

A

Pikuach Nefesh influences Jews to donate blood and donate organs in order to save a life

48
Q

What does sanctity of life influence Jews to be against

A

The sanctity of life influence jews to be agaisnt euthanasja

49
Q

How do Jews believe they can experienve the Shekhinah

A

Jews believe they can experience the Skekhinah by following the moral principles