Beliefs and teachings

• how can the belief in one god be expressed?

  in the shema prayer
• what does god as one mean?

  god is the only ne who should be praised and worshipped

  
  

  everything in the universe has been created and is sustained by this one god
• what is the start of the shema prayer?

  hear, o israel! the lord if our god, the lord alone.

  
  

  you shall love the lord your god with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might
• god took 6 days to create the earth, what is this split up into?


  god took 4 days to make the universe fit to support life

  
  

  god took 2 days to create all living creatures

  
  

  god made the 7th day holy
• what is the 7th day called?

  shabbat

  --> on this day they are reminded of god's importance
• what do orthodox jews believe about creation?

  they believe all the events in genesis literally happened 6000 years ago

  --> they reject any ideas of evolution
• jews believe that god must be what three things in order to have the ability to create everything in the universe?

  omnipotent --> all powerful

  
  

  omniscient --> all knowing

  
  

  omnipresent --> everywhere at all times
• why do jews believe that evil must exist?

  god gave people free will

  
  

  but to exercise free will there must be a choice between good and bad
• how many laws are in the torah?

  613
• what are the mizvot?

  the 613 laws in the torah that teaches jews how to behave
• what are the first 10 mizvot called?

  the 10 commandments
• why do jews strictly follow the laws of the torah?

  they believe god judges them on how well they follow them
• when do jews believe that they will be judged by god?

  during the festival of rosh hashanah

  
  

  judged after death
• what is the festival of rosh hashanah?

  the jewish new year

  --> god judges them based on their actions over the past year and decides what the coming year will bring them
• what is the shekhinah?

  the divine presence of God on earth
• in early judaism, what was believed housed the divine prescene of god?

  tabernacle
• what was the tabernacle?

  a portable temple that the jews carried around with them on their journey through the wilderness to canaan
• after canann was conquered what was the tabernacle replaced with?

  solomon's temple in jerusalem

  --> centre of jewish worship at the time
• why are jews not that concerned about life after death?

  they believe it isn't that important to know what happens after death

  
  

  they would rather focus on the present and living in a way that pleases god
• what do jews believe will happen to them after death if they followed their faith correctly?

  they will go the heaven or paradise (gan eden)
• what do jews believe will happen to them if they followed their faith incorrectly?

  they go the sheol

  --> a place of waiting where souls are cleansed as jews do not believe in eternal punishment
• what is the messiah in judaism?

  the anointed one

  --> a future leader of the jews who will rule over humanity with kindness and justice
• what is the messianic age?

  a time when the world is united in peace
• what do orthodox jews believe about the messiah?

  believe there is a descendant of king david in every generation who has the poential to become to messiah
• what do jews believe the future messiah will do? give three things

  rebuild the temple in jerusalem and gather all jews back to israel

  
  

  bring in world peace and unite humanity together

  
  

  uphold the law in the torah and be the ultimate teacher of it
• what is the promised land?


  the land of canaan, which god promised to abraham and the jews
• what is a covenant?

  an agreement between god and an individual person (made on the behalf of the rest of the jews)
• what did god promise in the covenant?

  to make abraham the father of many nations
• what was required of abraham during the covenant?

  to agree to 'walk in my god's ways and be blameless' --> genesis 17:1
• how was the covenant between abraham and god sealed?

  through the action of circumcision

  --> abraham proved his acceptance of the covenant by being circumcised himself and circumcising all the males of his household
• how did god keep his side of the covenant with abraham?

  god made it possible for sarah to concieve even though she was very old

  
  

  sarah gave birth to a boy named isaac, his birth is seen as a gift from god
• when were the 10 commandments given to the jews?

  after they escaped from slavery in egypt
• what is the covenant at sinai?

  between god and the jews

  
  

  god promised he would protect the jews from harm and be their god

  
  

  in return jews would have to obey his laws
• what are the 3 important moral principles in judaism?

  justice

  
  

  healing the world

  
  

  kindess to others
• why is justice important for jews?

  it is a sacred duty for jews

  
  

  the laws in the torah give guidance to jews on how to treat the poor and vulnerable to help achieve justice
• what do jews believe about the reason as to why the prophets were sent by god?

  to help people understand how to bring about justice in a way that demonstrates mercy
• why is healing the world important for jews?

  because it involves taking actions to help god's work in sustaining the world
• how do jews contribute to saving the world?

  contributing to social justice

  
  

  helping to protect the environment

  
  

  e.g: volunteering at a charity
• what else do jews believe about healing the world?

  they believe it should also include obeying the mizvot and trying to become closer to god
• why is showing kindness to others important to jews?

  because many of the laws in the torah teach that jews should love others as they love themselves