HR+109

The format of the Judaism test is as follows:

- Matching - Short Answer Questions - Fill in the Blank - Pictures that you have to explain - Long Answer (open response) question

1) Who was Abraham and why is his story important to Judaism? Abraham was born in the UR. Abraham was the first person to be spoken to by God. He was first spoken to by God when he was about 75 years old. Abraham is known as the "father of Judaism." Some think that this is because he was the first to really fear God. His only son (a miracle given to him by God himself) Isaac was supposed to be sacrificed but and angel came and told Abraham not to at the last minute. Abraham was also important to Judaism because he was believed to be the first to have hope and trust in God. Abraham lead his people across the desert to a land that God would supposedly show him. He put himself and his family and friends in great danger going across the desert and making this journey.

2) Core Beliefs of Judaism- One of the core beliefs in Judaism is the belief in one god this is called Monotheism. Monatheism is the belief in only one godA **(****god)** second core belief is the covenant, the covenant is the belief that God made a covenant (contract) with Abraham that he and his descendants would follow the Torah and observe the mitzvot. The third Core Belief is Messiah. Jews and Christians believe in Messiah. Messiah means "annointed" in Hebrew. In the Bible the coonation of a new king is involved pouring a small amount of oil on his head. Christan's believe he was the Messiah and that he will return. Jews believe he will be a human being and that he will bring the world to COMPLETE peace, and that everyone will recognize and worship one God.

3) Bar and Bat Mitzvah- A Bar and/or Bat Mitzvah happens to a boy or girl who turns 12 (12 is for a girl) or 13 (13 is for a boy). This symbolizes the day when the boy or girl is starting to become an adult. At Bar/Bat Mitzvahs you need to read from a section of the Torah, when receiving a tallit or prayer shawl from his/her parents. After the reading and all is completed, the one going into adulthood throws a party inviting all friends and family. This is one of the great high notes in this person's life.

4) Tallit- Tallit have 613 fringes that represent the 613 Mitzvot. You often receive tallit at your Bar/Bat mitzah. In English, tallit may be called a prayer shawl. There is hebrew writting by the part of the prawer shawl that your neck touches. Before putting it on, you are supposed to say a short prayer to resemble your trust in god.

5) Shofar- The shofar is a rams horn blown on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. The purpose of blowing it is to wake up the people so they will ask for forgiveness to god and the people that they did sins to during the year. Is a rather important part of the Jewish religion.

6) Kippah- A kippah, is a small round cap worn on the head, it is worn by men and women, but in Orthadox synagogues only men wear them. Some Jewish people wear Kippahs all day, while others only wear it while eating, praying, or studying; some Synagogues don't wear them at all. It signifies that human beings are benneath or dependant on, God.

7) Torah- The torah is the holy script of the jewish religion. It consists of five books, and is hand written in the form of a large script. The torah is also written in hebrew, the jewish language. It takes over a year to make/create a torah hence they are quite expensive. The torahs are so important that you can not even touch it, for if any one letter is smudged or ripped, it must be repaired. Also, if the torah is dropped, there must be forty days and forty nights of fasting. A sanctuary will regularly have forty separate people all fast one day.

8) Mitzvot- The mitzvots are all rules on how to follow Judaism. There are a total of 613 mitzvots and they consist of things like the ten commandments. If all are followed you are said to be following the covenant and thus you are following the rules of Judaism. These mitzvots have to do with all the aspects of Judaism from keeping kosher to remembering the Sabbath day. As simple as that!

9) Rabbi- Rabbi literally means "teacher". The Rabbi is the leader of the Jewish synagogue. The Rabbi also teaches kids who attend the Hebrew School. They must go through much training before they actually become a rabbi. part of the training involves going to israel and studying there. In Orthodox synagogs, only men can be rabbis.

10) Synagogue- A synagogue is a Jewish temple where the jewish people come to pray. There the Torah is read and blessings are said. People will go to the synagogue certain days of the week and during certain holidays such as Rosh Hashanah. Every jewish temple or synagogue has the same types of things inside like the everlasting flame, the Torah, the ark holding the Torah, some sort of stage where the rabbi teaches from, a Isreal and their countries flags, and the ten commandments.

11) Western Wall- The western wall was the back wall of a temple very important to jewish people but the temple fell and the back wall was the only thing that did not fall. People go there and leave notes on paper hoping that god will read them. This is one of the most important places in the jewish religion and is very, very holy. TheTemple was built in about 997 BCE, the temple was destroyed by babylonians in 586 BCE. It was rebuilt in 516 BCE, only to be torn down again, except the western wall, when Romans invaded in 70 CE.

13) Branches of Judaism - Orthodox~ The strictest type of judaism. It emerged after Reform judaism and they follow the mitzvot very closely. This is the only non-egalitarian branch of Judaism. it is the orignal judisam before reform - Conservative~ The third branch to form. In this branch people try to make Judaism more compatible with the modern world. For example, they believe that the mitzvot are only meaningful if the mitzvot add to your relationship with God. Their prayer language is English (not Hebrew), and most traditional restrictions of prayer are not observed. This is an egalitarian branch. Also, this branch is inbetween reform judaism and orthodox judaism, in terms of how strictly the mitzvot are followed. - Reform~ This was the first branch of Judaism to really form. It was made to create an easier life style for the Jewish people. For example, prayer became english, not Hebrew. Also, many of the true traditions were changed in the process. This was to an egalitarian branch. - Reconstructionist~ Reconstructionist Judaism is the most recent branch of Judaism and is probably the least strict out of all of the branches. Mitsvot can be altered, changed, or even removed if the community no longer finds them useful, or if the certain mitzvot doesn't affect your relationship with god. This is also an egalitarian branch.

14) What is Shabbat? When is it? What happens on this day?- The Shabbat or Sabbath is one of the most important parts of Judaism. It comes from the two commandments stating to remember the sabbath day, and to observe the sabbath day. This starts friday at sundown and ends saturday at sundown. On friday night, the families go to an evening service at their synagogues and pray both there or at home. They also light the special shabbat candles along with saying prayers over a special wine and bread. After this, they eat a nice dinner and say a special grace once the meal is done. Finnaly comes satturday. Most families spend a large portion of their day at the synagogue. For most of the afternoon, you study the torah, talk, play games, and other leisurly activities. Then they have a light meal in the afternoon and soon after has a special closing ritual to shabbat called Havdalah.

15) What is kashrut? What is involved in keeping kosher? Kashrut is the laws that say what the Jews can and can't eat Kashrut means proper or correct. Food not Kosher is referred to as treyf. Treyf means torn. Kosher is the food Jews can eat. Some foods that are kosher are fruits, vegetables, milk, nuts, and grains. Jews also can't eat meat and dairy in the same meal.

16) Rosh Hashanah- Rosh Hashanah means the head of the year, it celebrates the jewish new year and people will go to a synagogue to prey and read from the torah. This is a very holy day people will blow the shofar (Horn) to get people's attention. People will eat apples and honey for a sweet new year and sometimes people will eat pomagranites ( does anyone know the spelling?) because it is said they have 613 seeds. Some have more than 613 seeds, and some don't... I might try counting them!

17) Yom Kippur- Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year. It is the day of atonement and is when jewish people ask forgiveness for all of the sins they have committed. It is a very serious day and people fast the entire time. The people believe that if they are forgiven they will be sealed in the book of life. That means that god has given them a clean slate. The word atonement means to ask for forgiveness.

18) Sukkot-Known as the "Hut Holiday"this is a very festive holiday which celebrates how the Jewish people lived in the desert in temporary huts for 40 years as the searched for the lad of Canaan in the story of Exodus.

19) Passover The Passover celebrate and represents the passovers of Egypt. They will have a Sator or a meal. Jews have many different rituals. The Sator plate that has different symbols on it. Jews eat matzahl. -- I'm not sure but I think it's Matzah and Seder. In other words, this shows the many miracles of the Jewish exodus from Egypt. Passover is the most celebrated holiday is Judaism, not Hanukkah.