The Torah

Torah Scroll

How is the torah revered?

How is the scroll made?

The word torah means teaching and refers to the 5 books of Moses; Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

Genesis refers to the begging of time and how god managed to form the world and the story of Adam and Eve and what they did.

Exodus refers to the story of Moses leading the Jewish slave people to their home land and wondering through their home land for forty years. Moses heard from god on Mount Sinai.

Leviticus refers to the hand book to the rabbi (priests) and sets about their rules and how they can communicate and represent God

Numbers refers to “in the wilderness” and is the storeys of the 40 year journey through the desert and how god assisted them on their journey

Deuteronomy refers to the repeating of the law, and Moses encouraging the next generation to continue their religious practices now that they are in the Promised Land.

A torah scroll is made from sheets of parchment; the parchment is made from the skin of a kosher animal. It is written by hand in Hebrew by a professional scribe called a softer. Hebrew is read from right to left. The sofer takes at least one year to write out the Torah. He is not allowed to write from memory. He must copy from a book of the torah and keep checking for mistakes.

Letters must not smudge or touch another letter. If the sofer makes a mistake, he scrapes off the letters using a glass tool. The most sacred word that he writes is the Hebrew name for god. He cannot correct this – he must start the whole sheet of parchment again.

The sheet with the error is buried in a Jewish cemetery.

All sheets are sewed together, decorated and wound around wooden rollers.

The torah has a velvet cover called a mantle. The mantle is hung on the front of it like the one worn by the high priest in biblical times which is decorated by with Jewish symbols.

Bells are attached so people can hear it being carried around the synagogue. There is also a silver pointer called a yad. Yad means hand and is used to preserve the scroll so that it is not marked by fingers touching it.  

When the torah is not being used it is kept in a cupboard at the front of the synagogue called an Ark. This reminds the Jews of the Ark of the Covenant in which Moses and his people carried in the Ten Commandments.

being jewish

Being Jewish

Judaism is often thought to be a race but it is a religion; although, often Jewish people think themselves as a race.

The Jewish faith is passed down on their mother side so for example if your mother is Jewish and father is Christian you will follow your mother and became Jewish. This is because in the Jewish faith mothers are more dominant whilst in other religions it is generally male figures with the dominance.

The home is sacred to Jewish people. And is where Judaism is in forced the most. They eat kosher meals and on Friday nights till midday Saturday it is family time, to spend in the home.

The Jews believe in the teaching of the Jewish bible called a torah it is the same as the Old Testament in the Christian bible. They do not have the New Testament, because the New Testament is about Jesus and they do not think Jesus rose from the dead and performed miracles.

1.    God exists

2.    God id one and unique

3.    God is eternal

4.    Prayer is to God only

5.    The prophets spoke the truth

6.    Moses was the greatest of the prophets

7.    The written and the oral torah were given to Moses

8.    There will be no other torah

9.    God will reward the god

10.           The messiah will come

11.           The dead will be resurrected

Behind the news Judaism

Behind the news-Judaism questions

1.    What language do the Jewish people speak?

Hebrew

2.    How do the Jewish people read Hebrew?

Right to left.

3.    Why is Israel important to the Jewish people?

They believe it is their chosen land from god.

4.    When was the present state of Israel formed?

Israel was formed in 1948, after world war 2.

5.    What makes it unique in the world?

It is the only Jewish state and is special because god promised it to them.

6.    who is the chose prophet in Judaism?

Abraham.

7.    what do the Jews believe god thinks of their people

They believe god thinks that they are the chosen one, and that they are special beyond others

8.    How do the 3 main religions differ in their view of Jesus?

In Judaism and Islam they believe that Jesus was a sacred messenger but nothing more. Christians believe he is the son of god and the messiah

9.    Why do the Jewish people not celebrate Christmas?

They do not celebrate Christmas because they do not think Jesus is the son of God.

10.  What festival do they celebrate instead?

The light festival is called Hanukkah. Which lasts for 8 days because one day worth of oil lasted the Jews 8 days?

11.  What event is celebrated at the festival and what is the significance of the number 8?

The number 8 is significant because the light lasted 8 days with only one day worth of oil lasted the Jews 8 days

12.  What is the sacred text of the Jewish people?

The Hebrew Scriptures

13.  How is their text similar to the Christian bible?

The Old Testament

14.  How many commandments do the Jewish people have to follow?

There are 613 commandments to follow

15.  What is the name of the leader of a Jewish religion?

Is the Rabbi

16.  What is tails?

A prayer shawl which men wrap themselves in before reading at church

17.  What is kippah?

A kippah is a traditional hat

18.  What is a Tefillin

Is a leather box attached to their arm with a reading in it?

19.  What is the word used to describe the food Jewish people can eat?

Kosher. This means that they cannot eat rabbit, pork, etc. Jewish people cannot eat meat and dairy at the same meal.

20.  where is the only kosher Mc Donald’s

In Israel there are 3 kosher McDonalds.

21.  Why is a cheese burger not kosher?

Because it mixes dairy (cheese) and meat (paddy)

judaism

Judaism

Origins

©      Judaism is one of the three prophetic monotheistic religions in the world; the other two are Christianity and Islam

©      It is a Prophetic as there were numerous prophets who predicted the coming of a Messiah, Monotheistic as they believe in one God – mono (one)  theology (belief / study of God

History

©      Jews are an ancient people of around 3000 years old; their history is told in the bible and is traced back to Abraham of around 1900 BC. (Before common era)

©      The Jews have been known as Jews, Israelites and Hebrews. (Jesus was a Jew, however the Jews accept Jesus as wise man but not the chosen Messiah as Christianity believe, hence the Judaism predates and heavily influences Christianity, but is not part of Christianity).

Abraham

©      Abraham is one of the first recorded leaders of the Hebrews in the bible. He was a wealthy man who was called by God to leave his land and move.

©      Abraham heard the call of the Lord to stop believe in pagan Gods (like God of wind, God of Mountain etc) and he followed Gods request to move and led his people with him.

Questions

©      Who is Abraham?

Abraham is the founder of the Jewish Religion.

©      What did Abraham believe? And how was it different to the people of the time?

Abraham believed in one God that had power over everything not the pagan gods. He encouraged people to believe the same as himself

©      What do you think a Covenant is, what covenant did god make with Abraham?

A covenant is an agreement between two people, the covenant between Abraham and God was that God promised to take the Jews from slavery and deliver them to the Promised Land, Abraham expected his people to understand and obey his commandments

©      What sacrifices was Abraham requested to make? Why did God ask this of Abraham?

To test Abraham’s faith God asked Abraham to kill his son as a test of his faith. When Abraham was willing to kill his son God knew that he was faithful to him and God let his son live.

©      What does Patriarchs mean?