Judaism
A Karaite Jew praying in full prostration |
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Baruch Atah Adonai, elohainu, melech
haolam
(Blessed are you, Lord, our God, King of the universe)
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Listen to
Kol Nidrei which is performed on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur):
Basic background:
Jewish Audio and Video files:
Jewish Holidays (Holy Days):
Timeline of Jewish history:
Comparative timeline of Jewish, Christian and Muslim
events:
Tabernacle
in the Wilderness |
Representation
of the Ark of the Covenant |
Tabernacle
in the Wilderness |
Account of mass suicide at Masada as told by Josephus (ca. 66-73 A.D.):
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Solomon's Temple |
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Dome of the Rock behind the Western Wall of
the Jewish Temple
Western wall of
the remains of the Jerusalem Temple
Male round head covering is a Yarmulke or Kippah |
In the synagogue, the Torah is kept in a scroll. The Torah often refers
primarily to the first 5 books of scripture, known as the Pentateuch,
written by Moses and handed down from Mt. Sinai, while Tanakh also
includes the Prophets and other writings of the Torah.
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Torah scrolls
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Mezuzah placed at doorway is a religious reminder
Orthodox Rabbi
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Mezuzah:
Mezuzah Scripture
Deuteronomy
11:13-21
13 ¶ And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently
unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the
LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all
your soul,
14 That I will give you the rain of your land in his due season,
the first rain and the latter rain, that thou mayest gather in
thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil.
15 And I will send grass in thy fields for thy cattle, that thou
mayest eat and be full.
16 Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and
ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them;
17 And then the LORD's wrath be kindled against you, and he shut
up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield
not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land
which the LORD giveth you.
18 ¶ Therefore shall ye lay up these my words in your heart
and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that
they may be as frontlets between your eyes.
19 And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when
thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way,
when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
20 And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house,
and upon thy gates:
21 That your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children,
in the land which the LORD sware unto your fathers to give them,
as the days of heaven upon the earth.
Phylactery
(or Tefillin) & Tzitzit & Tallit (tassels & prayer
shawl)
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THE JEWS IN
MESOPOTAMIA - PERSIA:
(known as Abram before his migration) was from Ur of Chaldees. The
Chaldeans were an ancient Mesopotamian civilization that existed
from about 3500 B.C. to 2100 B.C. in southern Mesopotamia. Abraham's
city of Ur, however, was probably not the famous one in southern
Mesopotamia, but closer to today's Turkey and ancient Haran. Abraham
then migrated to the land of Canaan, where the semitic, polytheistic
Canaanites lived. See: .
Abrahamic religion:
Israel (northern kingdom) was overrun by Nebuchanezzar and the people
scattered and taken to Mesopotamia. These Assyrians (Semites) practiced
the religion of Ashurism, a Semitic, polytheistic religion. Almost
150 years later, the Jews (southern kingdom) were later taken captive
by the Medes/Persians in Babylon-Persia and taken to Babylon.Darius
the Great, who ruled during the Prophet Daniel's time, was a Zoroastrian.
King Xerxes I, son of Darius I, was also a Zoroastrian, and was
the ruler mentioned in the Esther story (Ahasuerus in the Bible).
The Jews were finally allowed to return to Jerusalem by Cyrus the
Great, a Zoroastrian. NEW NAME:
Being given a new name or a sacred name
is found in the Bible: Abram becomes
Abraham, Sarai becomes Sarah, and Jacob becomes Israel. Two name
changes in the New Testament occurred when Jesus named Simon-Cephas
Peter, and Saul of Tarsus became the Apostle Paul. Initiates to
many religions receive a new name as a sign of their new religious
devotions.
KABBALAH--Jewish Mysticism:
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SHARED
SYMBOLS
The symbol to the right, or the Serpent Staff, is associated with
Moses' Staff discussed in Numbers chapter 21of the Old Testament:
6
And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit
the people; and much people of Israel died.
7 ¶ Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned,
for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto
the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed
for the people.
8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set
it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is
bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and
it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld
the serpent of brass, he lived.
The New Testament John 3:14-15 also compares this situation to Jesus
Christ:
"And as Moses lifted up the Serpent in the wilderness even
so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever believes in Him
will have everlasting life."
The Serpent Staff is also associated with Aesclepius, Greek god
of healing, and with Hermes when the wings are present. Sometimes
this bird-serpent staff is shown as the Caduceus or the Staff of
Hermes or the Roman Mercury. This symbolism is also related to the
Egyptian god Thoth.
In the New World, the Toltec Feathered-Serpent
God, Quetzalcoatl, is a creator God with similar symbolism. Other
similar Mesoamerican incarnations of this god include Ehecatl, Topiltzin,
Gukumatz, Kukulcan, and Huitzilpotchtli.
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Passover
The First Passover
A couple of quick links to the Passover ritual:
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A Seder Meal
In thinking about Passover, it would be a great event to cover in
your Extra Credit Observation of a Ritual or Religious Meeting.
If you are not Jewish, you may report on a Seder Service. The first two nights will have Seder Services. See the following calendar for events
of the 8 day holday:
See the following link to find a Seder Service to attend:
Alternately, you may read the entire Seder text, ,
and report on the history, ritual and meaning in Passover. Be explicit
and in-depth of your coverage.
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Reading
Read chapters 17 and 18 prior to the next class
Terms to Know
See glossaries:
Ashkenazi
Bar Mitzvah and Bas Mitzvah
Dead Sea Scrolls
Essenes
Halakhah
Hasidim
Judea -- Israel
Kabbalah
Karaites
Kosher
Maimonides
Masada
Midrash
Mishnah
Passover or Pesach
Pentacost or Shavu'ot
Pharisees
Purim
Rosh Hashanah
Sadducees (Zadokites)
Samaritans
Sephardic
Shabbat
Sukkot or Tabernacle
Talmud
Tanakh
Torah
Yeshiva
Yom Kippur
Zohar |
Menorah
Star of David
Hanukkah Menorah
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