Judaism

• Yom Kippur


  • The holiest and most important day in the Jewish calendar
  • It marks the end of the Ten Days of Awe
  • It means the Day of Atonement
  • Day on which G-d finalises the judgement of all Jews, sealing their names in the Books of Life or Death
  • Last chance to change, repent and atone before this judgement
  • By this point, one should have asked for forgiveness from those you may have transgressed against
  • Yom Kippur is about atoning for sins against G-d
• History of Yom Kippur


  1. Israelites left Egypt and went to Mount Sinai

  2. God gave Moses two tablets with the Ten Commandments

  3. Moses found the Israelites worshiping a golden calf, breaking the first commandment

  4. Moses threw the sacred tablets on the floor and they shattered

  5. The Israelites atoned for their wrongdoing

  6. God forgave them
• Mikveh


  • Ritual bath
  • Going to the mikveh is associated with transformation and purity
• What happens on Yom Kippur


  1. The entire day is spent fasting and praying to G-d for forgiveness and a good year

  2. Jewish people will not go to work and fast for 25 hours – from sunset the evening before to sundown that day

  3. The fast is believed to cleanse the body and spirit, not to serve as a punishment
• The scapegoat


  An innocent being onto whom one can shift one's own sins
• Traditions of Yom Kippur


  • All Jews wear white, usually a kittel
  • Some Jews make donations or volunteer their time in the days leading up to Yom Kippur
  • Many Jews spend the whole of Yom Kippur in the synagogue
  • A major component of the liturgy is the repeated communal confession of sins, the Viddui
• Rosh Hashana:

  • Jewish New Year festival
  • last 2 days
  • commemorates the creation of the worl d
• importance of Rosh Hashana:

  • judgement day where Jews believe God considers a person's good/bad deeds over the last year and decides what their next year will be like
  • this time is used to ask for forgiveness
  • Jews hope to be written into the book of life
• celebration of Rosh Hashanah:

  • light 2 candles at sundown followed by everyone going to a Synagogue for evening service
  • sweet foods are eaten to a toast of a 'good sweet year'
  • sour/pickled food is banned
  • round challah shows eternal life instead of plaited
• Covenant
= Promise or agreement made between two or more groups of people to follow and believe in God
• Covenant sealed through:

  1. Abraham's circumcision
  2. Jews carry circumcision on the 8th day after a boy's birth as a sign of the covenant
• why is the story of Abraham important to Jewish people?

  • emphasises nationhood of Jews - descendants of Abraham
  • Shows Jews have rights to the Land of Canaan (Israel) because G-d promised it
  • Describes the relationship between Jewish people and G-d
  • Shows Judaism was the first monotheistic religion
  • the Covenant between Abraham and G-d marks the origins of the Jewish practice of circumcision
• the Shema is a statement of faith, it is said twice a day
• the Shema summarises the most important Jewish beliefs about G-d

  • G-d is one
  • G-d is the protector of the Jewish people
• 613 mitzvot
• The mitzvot were given to Moses by G-d in order to teach Jews the best way to live
• following the mitzvot is a matter of obeying rules but it is also seen as a way of communicating with G-d
• the mitzvot is also G-d's way of reaching out to his people
• Orthodox Jews believe the Torah is the literal word of God so the mitzvot should be followed at all times
• Reform Jews believe the mitzvot were from ancient times and they're not relevant anymore. they think it is acceptable to follow the mitzvot selectively and that G-d allows rabbis to reinterpret them for the modern world
• Pikuach Nefesh - preservation of life:

  • human life takes precedence over all else because life is sacred
  • nearly any religious rule can be broken to preserve human life
  • 3 laws that cant be broken: murder, adultery, idolatry
• dietary laws:

  • land animals have to have split hooves and eat grass
  • seafood must have fins and scales, shellfish is not allowed
  • meat and dairy can't be eaten together
• kosher = fit/proper; Torah tells Jews what foods can't be eaten
• Jews may only eat certain foods because...

  • obeying G-d written in the Torah
  • love of G-d
  • uniqueness of Jewish people
  • tradition
  • health
• many male Jews wear a tallit as a reminder to keep the mitzvot
• Maimonides' 13 attributes of G-d:

  • has always existed and will always exist
  • The reason the universe exists
  • created the universe out of nothing
  • creates everything
  • knows everything
  • is not a physical being
  • is one being and is the only God
  • should not be worshipped by anything or anyone
  • gave Moses the Torah and will never give another
  • rewards those who obey his mitzvot
  • doesn't reward those who break his mitzvot
• Jews believe G-d created humans in order to have a close relationship with them
• Abraham is the father of Judaism because he was the first person to establish a covenant with G-d
• believing G-d is one means

  • G-d is always present
  • G-d is everywhere at once
  • G-d is all-powerful
• monotheism is a key Jewish belief
• 10 plagues :

  1. blood
  2. frogs
  3. lice
  4. flies
  5. pestilence
  6. boils
  7. hail
  8. locusts
  9. darkness
  10. killing of firstborn
• importance of Exodus story:

  • first Passover
  • so called as the angel of God passes over the home of the Israelites
  • still commemorated by Jews around the world today
  • Passover seder ritual has important symbols as a reminder of the story
• what is pesach?


  passover
• how is pesach celebrated?

  seder meal with components symbolising different things
• seder meal :

  • shank bone - reminder of lamb sacrificed at passover
  • egg - reminder of temple sacrifice at passover
  • parsley - represents the initial flourishing of the Israelites during the first year in Egypt
  • horseradish , lettuce- bitter herbs are a reminder of bitterness of slavery
  • apple - charoset resembles brick and mortar used to construct buildings for pharoah
• What happened with Moses?

  1. All firstborn sons were killed in Egypt

  2. One woman wanted to save her son by setting him afloat on the river Nile

  3. Pharaoh's daughter finds the child and raises him naming him Moses

  4. God is concerned for the suffering of the Israelites and informs Moses of his plan to return the Israelites to Canaan, sends Moses back to accomplish this task

  5. Pharaoh is unimpressed when Moses confronts him and performs a miracle, increases workload for Israelites

  6. God is angered and inflicts the 10 plagues

  7. Pharaoh releases Israelites

  8. Day is commemorated forever since then by celebrating Passover
• What is the exodus story

  Moses led Jews from slavery in Egypt.

  He lead them back to Canaan and God made a covenant with him on mount Sinai
• Moses told Hebrew people to cover their doors in blood of sacrificed lamb as a sign for God to protect their homes from his killings of the final plague
• On Mount Sinai God made a new covenant where he promised the Israelites would become a holy nation, set apart from the others, blessed and protected by God.
• The Tanakh is one of the Jewish Holy Law books