JUDAISM

• Charity


  A Jew's duty to give to those in need
• Jewish beliefs about life after death

  • Judgement
  • Physical existence
  • Spiritual existence
  • Sheol
  • Gan Eden
  • Gehinnom
  • Resurrection
  • Immortality of the soul
  • World to come (olam ha-ba)
  • Some Jews do not believe in it
  • Focus on this life
• Monotheism in Judaism

  Similar to the main religious tradition of Great Britain (Christianity)
• Similarities in monotheism between Judaism and Christianity

  • There is only one God
  • God is unique
  • God is eternal
  • God is ever present in human lives
  • Every aspect of life is an encounter with God
  • God is the source of morality
  • God is infinite and beyond human understanding
  • God is the source of all knowledge
  • God is omnibenevolent
  • God alone has the ultimate authority to show mercy
  • God alone is the ultimate source of love
  • There are no rival deities/no evil deities
  • No separate God in charge of evil
• Messiah

  • Still to come
  • Davidic descent
  • Will reign on David's throne, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness
  • Will renew the Davidic dynasty, build the Temple and gather dispersed Jews
  • Will establish Israel as the centre of government
  • Will gather the Jews from all corners of the earth
  • Will restore full obedience to the Torah
  • Will usher in a reign of universal peace
  • Some have no belief in the Messiah as a single figure
  • The community's good actions will bring in the Messianic age
• Maimonides: 'I believe in the coming of the Messiah. And even though he may take time to arrive, I wait daily for his arrival.'
• Isaiah 2:4: 'He will judge between the nations... Nation will not take up sword against nation.'
• Malachi 3:1: 'Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.'
• The Sinai Covenant

  The most important covenant for Jews
• The Sinai Covenant was based on the Exodus and God's deliverance of the Jews from slavery
• The Sinai Covenant set out the nature of Israel's election as God's chosen people, treasured possession, kingdom of priests, and a holy nation
• The Decalogue was given at the Sinai Covenant, setting out the Jews' total commitment to God and their relationships with one another
• The mitzvot (613 commandments) in the Torah were believed to have been given at Sinai, forming the basis of Jewish life
• The covenant with Abraham


  Forms the very beginning of God's relationship with Israel, and is seen as the father of the Jews
• The promise of land is central to the thinking of Judaism, with many diaspora Jews looking to Israel as the promised land
• The covenant with Abraham included the promise that he would found a great nation, and the story of Isaac's conception and birth against the odds point to the compassion and power of God
• The covenant with Abraham was sealed with circumcision, a sign of the Jews being set apart
• Other important covenants in Judaism include those with Adam, Noah, David, and Jeremiah's new covenant