judaism: beliefs and teachings Flashcards
God as one means…
-single, whole, invisible being
-only being who should be praised & worshipped
-source of all Jewish beliefs and values
-creator & sustainer of everything in universe
where is the belief in one God expressed?
shema
shema quote
‘the lord alone’
what is the jewish bible called?
the tenakh
what is the first section of the tenakh called?
torah (the five books of moses)
events of genesis (creation of the earth)
-4 days to make the universe for to support life
-2 days to create all living creatures
-rest on 7th day -> shabbat
orthodox jews & the creation story
-believe the events of genesis happened literally about 6000 years ago
-the reject scientific theories of evolution
reform jews & the creation story
-take genesis story less literally
-God is creator of everything, but universe is much older & life has evolved over many years
God is… (omni….)
-omnipotent
-omniscient
-omnipresent
in addition to creating the universe, God…
sustains it
God and evil
-God gave people free will because he wants them to choose to do good (makes the act of doing good more significant)
-to exercise free will, there must be a choice between good and bad
-evil has to exist
quote to show that God created good and evil
‘I form light and create darkness’
613 laws in the torah
the 613 mitzvot
what do the 613 mitzvot form the basis for?
-the halakah (accepted code of conduct for Jewish life)
(they are guidance on how to use free will correctly)
what are the first ten mitzvot?
the ten commandments
what do jews believe that God judges them for?
how well they follow these laws, based on their actions, behaviour and beliefs
what is God’s judgement said to be?
fair due to his loving, merciful nature
when does God judge the jews?
-rosh hashanah (the jewish new year) when God judges people for their actions over the past year and decides what the coming year will bring them
-after death, when God determines how they will spend the afterlife
what is the shekinah?
the divine presence of God
how was the shekinah witnessed by the early jews?
the tabernacle was considered to house the divine presence of God
-a portable temple, similar in structure to a tent, that the jews carried with them on their journey through the wilderness to canaan
-after canaan was conquered, the tabernacle was replaced with solomon’s temple in jerusalem
-this temple was the centre of jewish worship at the time, and several of the prophets experienced the presence of God in the temple
what were the jews led by in their journeys to canaan?
a pillar of fire or cloud
do the holy jewish books say a lot about the afterlife?
no
are jews generally concerned with the afterlife?
jews are not too concerned with the afterlife, they think it is more important to focus on the present and to live in a way that is pleasing to God
where do jews believe they will go if they follow their faith correctly?
gan eden (heaven)
what do jews believe that gan eden is like?
-a place where people are with God
-it is not known if this is a state of consciousness, or a physical or spiritual place
what is sheol?
a place of waiting where souls are cleansed
do jews believe in a place of eternal punishment?
no
when do jews believe they will be judged?
-some jews believe they will be judged by God as soon as they die because of ‘dust returns to the ground … lifebreath returns to God’
-others believe God will judge everyone on the day of judgement, after the coming of the messiah because of ‘those that sleep in the dust … will awake, some to eternal life’
-some jews believe in the idea of physical or spiritual resurrection, but many do not
origins of the messiah
-‘messiah’ was originally used in the tenakh to refer to the kings of israel
-the first king of israel was saul, who lived around the eleventh century BE
-before saul was made king, the prophet samuel anointed him with oil to show he was chosen by God to rule over the jews
-the word ‘messiah’ means ‘the anointed one
what does the word messiah refer to now?
-a future leader of the jews
-this leader is expected to be a future king of israel - a descendent of saul’s successor, king david
the nature of the messiah
-will lead the jews during the messianic age
-a time in the future of global peace and harmony, when everyone will want to become closer to God
what do orthodox jews believe about the messiah?
-orthodox jews believe there is a descendent of king david in every generation who has the potential to become the messiah
-if the jews are worthy of redemption, this person will be directed by God to become the messiah
what do orthodox jews believe about the messiah?
-orthodox jews believe there is a descendent of king david in every generation who has the potential to become the messiah
-if the jews are worthy of redemption, this person will be directed by God to become the messiah
the future messiah will…
-rule over humanity with kindness and justice
-uphold the law in the torah and be the ultimate teacher of it
-rebuild the temple in jerusalem and gather all jews back to israel
-bring in world peace and unite humanity together
was jesus the messiah?
-jews do not believe that jesus was the messiah as he did not fulfil the expectations that jews have for the messiah - he did not observe torah law strictly enough or establish the messianic age
do reform jews believe in a messiah?
no, but they do believe in a future messianic age, which will be achieved by everyone working together to create world peace, rather than as the result of the leadership of one person
abraham’s life story
-born in the city of ur (20th or 19th century)
-at that time people worshipped idols of many different gods
-from an early age, abraham became convinced there was only one God who had created everything & worshipping idols was wrong
-abraham tried to convince the people in ur to stop worshipping idols, but had little success
-abraham & some of his family decided to leave ur to travel to canaan
-before they reached canaan, they settled on the way at haran
-many years later, God told abraham to continue the journey to canaan, promising to make a great nation through him
-they reached canaan & it is known as the promised land
what is a covenant?
an agreement between God and an individual person
the covenant with abraham
-God promised to make abraham the father of many nations
-abraham had to ‘be blameless’
-the covenant was sealed through the action of circumcision (abraham was circumcised and circumcised all the males in his household)
-God kept his part of the covenant by making it possible for sarah to conceive, despite the fact she was very old
-sarah gave birth to a son called isaac, his birth is seen as a gift from God to mark the start of the covenant between abraham and God
the escape from egypt
-about 400 years after God made the covenant with abraham, the jews were being forced to work as slaves in egypt
-God chose moses to lead their escape, he told moses to ask the egyptian pharaoh to release the jews from slavery, so they could return to caanan
-after God had sent a number of plagues to egypt, the pharaoh agreed to release the jews
-the jews left egypt & wandered for many years in the desert in the sinai region
-when they arrived at mt sinai, moses climbed the mountain & left the jews at the base
-here, God gave moses the ten commandments, these were carved on two tablets of stone that moses carried down the mountain
what do the ten commandments teach jews?
-foundation of jewish law
-how to have a good relationship with God (the first four commandments)
-how to have good relationships with each other to create a peaceful society (the last six commandments)
what do the ten commandments form the basis for? (hint: moses)
the covenant at sinai
what was the covenant at sinai?
-God would protect the jews from harm
-in return, jews would have to obey his laws
(eg: ten commandments & torah)
why do jews believe that they are the chosen ones?
the covenant at mt sinai
justice (key moral principle)
-bringing about what is right and fair
-sacred duty for jews
-laws in the torah give guidance to jews on how to treat the poor and vulnerable, to help achieve justice
quote about justice
the prophet micah states that God requires people ‘to do justice’ (torah)
healing the world (key moral principle)
-taking actions to help God’s work in sustaining the world
-jews help to heal the world by contributing to social justice/ helping to protect the environment
-healing the world links to jewish beliefs about God as the creator and sustainer, by helping to heal the world, jews are helping to sustain the world that God created
-some jews believe healing the world is more than just doing charity work
-they believe it should also include obeying the mitzvot and trying to become closer to God
kindness to others (key moral principle)
-showing positive, caring actions towards all living things
-many of the laws in the torah give guidance to jews on how to be kind to others
-the torah teaches that jews should love others as they love themselves
quote about kindness to others
‘love your fellow as yourself” (torah)
sanctity of life
-genesis 2 tells how God breathed life into adam and the whole of creation
-life is valuable and sacred, because it is given by God
-because God gave life to humans, only God has the right to take it away
-jews have a duty to preserve life
belief in the sanctity of life means?
jews shouldn’t do anything to quicken someone’s life (eg: murder, euthanasia)
quote to support the sanctity of life
destroying ‘one soul of a human being’ is like destroying ‘a whole world’ (talmud)
pickuach nefesh
-a duty to save a person’s life if they can, even if this breaks jewish law
-pikuach nefesh emphasises how valuable human life is to jews, as it puts human life above jewish law
examples of laws that might be broken to save a life
-jews are required to observe shabbat, but jews are allowed to break shabbat law in order to save a life
what two categories can mitzvot be split into?
-mitzvot between man and God
-mitzvot between man and man
mitzvot between man and God
-mitzvot that tell jews how they can improve their relationship with God
-cover areas such as worship, sacrifice, and the observance of festivals
-most important are the first four 10 commandments
mitzvot between man and man
-how to improve their relationship with other people
-important because the torah teaches that jews should show love towards others
-cover areas such as the treatment of workers and how to settle disputes
-help Jews to live as members of their faith and community in a way that pleases God
