Practices and Varieties

• There is no official Jewish creed, only a set of central beliefs formulated by the Jewish medieval philosopher Moses Maimonides:

  • belief in a God that is one, formless, all-knowing, creator and judge, both loving and just;
  • belief in the words of prophets;
  • belief that God gave the law to Moses;
  • belief that the Messiah will come;
  • belief that there is a resurrection of the good in “the world to come.”
• 1. Dietary Practices

  • “All blood must be drained before the meat is cooked and eaten, because blood, which gives life, is sacred to God”
  • This is called “KOSHER” which means “Ritually correct”
• 2. Sabbath

  • “Havdalah” – Separation
  • Friday afternoon, he has bathed, put on his Sabbath garments
  • In the morning, “the Sabbath service” including a public reading from the Torah (5 books of Moses) and a prophetic writings
  • Home for lunch, and very commonly, a Sabbath nap.
  • As the day wanes, the synagogue calls for a late afternoon service
• 3. Messiah

  • They were expecting their Messiah, who will be a political, military leader and liberate them from the Romans
• 4. Passover

  • Passover - a Jewish holiday beginning on the 15th of Nisan and commemorating the Hebrews' liberation from slavery in Egypt, celebrated for 8 days
  • Parts of Passover is the “SEDER” (shared by the family on the eve of the first day of the feast)
  • Matzah – Primary food (unleavened bread) – it symbolizes freedom and liberation
• 1. Contemporary Judaism

  • contemporary Judaism is not a singular religion but a numerous religion.
  • There are certain culturally based groups:
  • a.a Sephardic Jews who came from west Israel and sometimes Spain.
  • b. Ashkemazic Jews who came from Central Europe.
  • c. Falashas who are in Ethiopia.
• 3. Conservative Judaism

  • recognizes that change has always been part of the religion, but carefully which changes must be accepted
  • They try to merge the traditional orthodoxy and the liberal reform of Judaism.
  • The practices of conservative Jews are similar to those of the Orthodox, but do it less reflexively, or less practices
  • they affirm the God-given standing of the Torah, at the same time, accommodate change.
• 2. Reform Judaism

  • Some aims to modernize Judaism, by integrating in European culture.
  • Some of their ideas are “progressive revelation"
  • They reject practices that seem obsolete, such as kosher laws. In short, they emphasize change.
  • They consider the Torah as a statement of eternal principles with a particular historicity; believe that it can be changed to respond to new conditions; indeed, they abandon much of the original Torah as no longer relevant.