Exploring the Religions
of Our World
Chapter 2: Judaism
Chapter 2: Judaism
A Living Religion
1. Judaism is the religion practiced by Jesus when he was
living on earth; Jews not responsible for his death.
2. Judaism is the religion of the Hebrew Bible and a religion
still longing for God’s chosen one but not essence of Judaism
3. Personal & communal prayer, Torah study, & lived
holiness rather than abstract doctrine, one God, the nation &
people of Israel, sacred places & times
4. Being a Jew has both an ethnic & a religious connotation.
5. A religious Jew practices Judaism; an ethnic Jew may or
may not practice Judaism; worldwide; focus on religious
6. Mark Twain’s description in 1899 Harper’s Magazine
Modern Period 1783 CE- present
Medieval Period
638 CE - 1783 CE
Rabbinic Period
323 BCE – 625 CE
Biblical Period
1800 BCE – 323 BCE
Chapter 2, Section 1: A Brief History of Judaism
Periods of Jewish History
Chapter 2, Section 1: A Brief History of Judaism
 Thousands of years of twisting history beginning with Moses & Abraham
 Minority group from the Sinai desert; vast contribution to Western culture
Biblical Period (1800 BCE – 323 BCE)
 Abraham to death of Alexander the Great
 Faith and obedience of Abraham to leave Ur, Mesopotamia with Sarah
 Settled in Fertile Crescent & 3 promises fulfilled (land = Canaan, people =
Isaac to habiru to Hebrews, blessing = later with Law and Covenants)
 Nomadic and foreign controlled to agricultural to Egyptian slaves to
covenantal people under Moses and Joshua believing in one God
 After 400 years necessary to reconquer Promised Land
 Confederation of tribes to kingdom under Saul, David, & Solomon
 Jerusalem with Temple by Solomon became a political & religious center
 Oral tradition began to be written down as Torah = law or instruction
 Power and comfort led to secularism so God sent prophets like Samuel &
Nathan to call back to covenant & monotheism away from idolatry
 Kingdom divided; conquered—North 722 Assyrians; South 586 Babylonians
 Exile purified culture & religion; Cyrus allows Jews to return; Torah
completed, Temple rebuilt, & Wisdom literature emerges
Chapter 2, Section 1: A Brief History of Judaism
Rabbinic Period (323 BCE – 625 CE)
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Classical Judaism--Death of Alexander to Muslim conquest of Jerusalem
Foreign occupation & conquest led to Diaspora = Jews not in Judea
Greek Antiochus IV seized Temple & banned Judaism
Maccabean revolt in 168 regained Temple in 165 BCE
Hellenization led to synagogues & schools under Philo of Alexandria
Synthesis of Greek philosophy & Jewish theology—septuagint = 70
Sectarianism—Sadducees (Zadok, strict), Pharisees (loose, resurrection,
angels, & miracles), & Essenes (monastic, scrupulous, Qumran, Dead Sea S.)
 Romans conquered Greeks in 63 BCE and Temple in 70 CE
 Sectarianism disappeared in ebb of rabbis—spiritual leasders of Judaism today
 Shammai & Hillel most prominent among dozens & interpretations
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The Golden Rule—“Whatever is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor.”
Babylonian and Jerusalem/Palestinian Talmud—200 CE
Growing tension between Jews & Jewish Christians aggravated by Gentiles
led to separation by 150 CE to protect Jewish religion & culture
Chapter 2, Section 1:
A Brief History of Judaism
Rabbinic Period cont. (323 BCE – 625 CE)
 Hadrian put down Simon bar Kociba’s (“Kochba” & “son of the star”)
revolution in 130 CE, built shrine to Jupiter, renamed Palestine & banned Jews
 Hybrid Jews of the Diaspora were protected by Roman Empire & attracted
converts due to moral code & monotheism as did Christians
 Empire declined & Diocletian split at end of 3rd century CE
 Constantine reconquered & legalized Christianity due to vision of cross
 Judaism declined in the Empire but not before allowing Christianity to spread
through their network of synagogues
 As Empire totally fell in the West, Christianity was strong enough to form
alliances with barbarian “states” that were emerging—spiritual & temporal pope
Chapter 2, Section 1: A Brief History of Judaism
Medieval Period (638 – 1783 CE)
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Diaspora spread further away from Palestine
Resurgence of learning—commentaries of Shlomo ben Itsak “Rashi” French Jew
Moses Maimonides attempted to reconcile philosophy & Jewish theology
“No contradiction between Aristotle and Jewish religion”
Jews were persecuted as another monotheistic religion Islam surfaced
• Paid taxes for protection but free to worship & rule self as second class
Jerusalem captured and Dome of the Rock built over Holy of Holies
Babylonian Jews flourished under Persian rule & exploded when Muslims moved
capital from Damascus to Baghdad & reintroduced Greek culture—G to A to L
Jewish merchant class arose with Muslim trade expansion as mediators
First time Jews expand out of the Middle East—Spanish center, Sephardim
Muslim Berbers oust including Moses ben Maimon or Maimonides (RAMBAM)
Persecution continued with Fr. & Ger. Crusaders—clothing, houses, & land
Jews became moneylenders as trade system moved from barter to cash
Chapter 2, Section 1: A Brief History of Judaism
Medieval Period (638 – 1783 CE)
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Pogroms in 13th century England spurred immigration to Poland under Boleslav
Security ended in the 17th century—Ashkenazim & Yiddish
Persecution spread to France, Germany, & Austria in 14th century—black death
Spread back to Spain in 15th century in the Spanish Inquisition & Reconquesta
under Ferdinand & Isabella—conversos = false killed & never expelled in 1492
Disappeared from Spain where flourished in the 8th-12th centuries
*Fled to Portugal, Italy, Netherlands, & Turkey (flourished under expansion of
the Islamic Ottoman Empire)
Protestant Reformation was no kinder—Martin Luther’s Concerning the Jews
and Their Lies advocated the destruction of everything Jewish
Medieval Jews left materially and religiously poor on the margin of society
17th century Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer “Master of the Good Name” emphasized the
presence of God in all aspects of Jewish life
Message spread into 18th century Polish movement of Hasidism = pious found
today in Orthodox Judaism—devotion to God is as important as Torah study
Chapter 2, Section 1: A Brief History of Judaism
Modern Judaism (1783 CE -- Present)
Age of Enlightenment led to Jewish philosophy of enlightenment
Czarist Russia under Alexander III “May Laws” & The Protocols of the
Learned Elders of Zion; led to immigration
Reform Judaism – advocates full integration into the culture where one
lives; Germany and late U.S.
Conservative Judaism – counteracts reformed Judaism, modifying Jewish
traditions in a limited manner; U.S.
Orthodox Judaism – the most traditional wing, insists its members strictly
follow the Torah
Reconstructionist Judaism – advocates Judaism as a culture, not only a
religion; God not omnipotent and Torah not inspired
Zionism – 19th century movement to restore Jewish homeland in
Palestine; Holocaust catalyzed; 1948 State of Israel by UN
*Six Day War 1967 captured Jerusalem & opened holy sites to all; tension
continues to this day
You Tube Videos: Judaism
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The Promised Land
of the Jews
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Overview of
Judaism
Chapter 2, Section 1 Review Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What did the Hebrews become in the 40 years it
took to return to Canaan from Egypt?
After the death of Solomon, why did the kingdom
become more vulnerable to outside attacks?
What is the diaspora?
According to Rabbi Hillel, what is the summation of
the Torah?
Who is Moses Maimonides, & what did he argue for?
Define Hasidism
Name the four types of Judaism in the Modern era.
Chapter 2, Section 2: Sacred Stories & Scriptures
 Several sources of Sacred Jewish writing centers around the Torah or first 5
books of the Hebrew bible; not just theoretical but practical & concrete
 Bible central to Jewish life; Hebrew Bible = Christian Old Testament
Tanakh (acronym)
 Torah—law in Gn., Ex., Lv., Nm., & Dt.; most important; Five Books of
Moses (author); source of 613 laws (248+ & 365 -); not all livable;
handwritten artistic scrolls; 1 year cycle beginning after Sukkot
 Nevi’im--prophets
 Ketuvim--writings
 Oral Torah = explanation & interpretation of Written Torah
• Written, codified, & arranged near 200 CE by Yehudad Ha Nasi (Judah the Prince)
• Mishnah = teaching
• 6 Sections—agriculture & land; holidays; family life; relations with others;
sacrifices & dietary laws; ritual purity
Chapter 2, Section 2: Sacred Stories & Scriptures cont.
Talmud
 In the wake of the destruction of the second Temple in 70 CE two centers of
rabbinic Judaism emerged—Judea outside Jerusalem (refugees) & Babylonia
(ancestors of exiled Israelites)
 Commentaries & discussions known as learnings from reading & studying the
Tanakh, especially the Torah, & Mishnah
 Two versions arose—Palestinian or Jerusalem & Babylonian (more authoritative)
Midrash (key word)
 Means to examine or seek out
 A way of interpreting the Tanakh
• Uses imagination & story to see how far the text will go like hist. fiction
 Found in the Talmud but not a particular book
 Makes use of various literary genres as a literary genre itself
 Assumes that the Scriptures provide answers for every question & situation
 Not unique to Judaism—Ben Hur
Chapter 2, Section 2: Sacred Stories & Scriptures cont.
Sacred writings
Tanakh
Torah
First five books
The Hebrew Bible
Nevi’im
Prophets
Ketuvim
Writings
Chapter 2, Section 2: Sacred
Stories & Scriptures cont.
Other sacred writings
Jerusalem
Talmud
commentary
Babylonian
Talmud
Midrash
commentary
Biblical
interpretation
Chapter 2, Section 2 Review Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
What are the three divisions of the Tanakh?
DO NOT HAVE TO ANSWER #2
What is the difference between the Oral Torah & the
Written Torah?
What is Midrash?
You Tube Videos: Judaism
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The Hebrew Bible
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Jewish Scriptures
Chapter 2, Section 3: Beliefs & Practices
 Summary = “God gave the Torah to Israel” (people w/ a purpose not an area)
God
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Sh’ma (daily)—“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One” (Dt. 6: 4)
Monotheistic, Exists, One, Creator, Good, Supreme
No formal doctrines that articulate beliefs
Desires goodness from his creation (Dt. 10: 12-13)
• Fear, walk ways, love, serve all heart & soul, keep commands & decrees
Torah
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God’s self revelation that provides central source for living
Most sacred of objects—formality/reverence/exord. & intimacy/familiarity/ord.
Ark, prayers b4/after, procession, reverence by touch, kiss, or dance, joyous
Law or teaching that penetrates all aspects of life—encounter with God & will
Not sterile or intellectual but spiritual exercise
Chapter 2, Section 3: Beliefs & Practices cont.
Torah (cont.)
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Keep Torah to keep law/commandments of God = relationship
613 words of Decalogue for 613 commandments not 10 = mitzvot
Guide for happiness & freedom not bondage
History = interpretation & application of mitzvot to new situations = halakhah
Israel
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God’s Chosen People in the sense of holy and separate
Originate with Abram—Abraham (Gn. 12) leaving fatherland of Ur
Faith in one God gifted with progeny, land, & blessing/curse for own & others
Privilege—covenant = solemn binding agreement between God & man
Responsibility—active not passive choice to accept God & his
commandments, to live lives of holiness, that are examples to humanity
 Passed down among generations—traditionally by blood
 Traditional Judaism = observe commandments & halakhic obligations
Chapter 2, Section 3: Beliefs & Practices cont.
Sh’ma
“Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God,
the Lord is One”
(Deuteronomy 6:4)
Chapter 2, Section 3: Beliefs & Practices cont.
Mitzva
613
commandments
God gave Moses Two
Torahs:
 Oral
 Written
Judaism can be summed
up in three words:
 God Torah, Israel
Chapter 2, Section 3: Beliefs & Practices cont.
God’s covenant with Israel:
“The Chosen People”
“I have given you as a covenant to the people,
a light to the nations”
(Isaiah 42:6)
You Tube Videos: Judaism
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Beliefs & Practices
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Shema
Chapter 2, Section 3 Review Questions
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4.
5.
What do Jews believe about God?
What do Jews understand the Torah to be?
How are both reverence & familiarity operational
with the Torah?
When did the call to be a Chosen People originate
with the Jews?
What does it mean to say that Jews are God’s
Chosen People?
Chapter 2, Section 4: Sacred Times
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All life is holy & all time is cyclical
so all life at all times is to be devoted
to God—thoughts, actions, memories,
and talents
The Jewish Calendar
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Begins at creation of the world—1.1.2001 = Tetvet 6, 5761
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Lunar—day begins & ends at sunset
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354 days beginning in the Fall on Rosh Hashanah
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11 days shorter than civil calendar
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Adjustments so festivals stay in proper cycle: 1) + one month
7x every 19 years; 2) +/- one day to two months a year
Chapter 2, Section 4: Sacred Times cont.
Festivals & Holy Days
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Two main cycles—Tishri (Fall—
Sept. or Oct.) & Nisan (Spring)
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Named by first month of cycle
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Tishri—Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot
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Nisan (= first fruits in Sumerian)—Pesach & Shavuot
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Memorial festivals—Rosh Hashanah (creation of the world)
& Pesach (creation of the Jewish people)
Harvest festival—Sukkot & Shavuot
Freedom festivals—Hanukkah & Purim
Chapter 2, Section 4: Sacred Times cont.
Rosh Hashanah & Yom Kippur
 Rosh Hashanah—Jewish New Year, feast of Trumpets;
individual judgment of years actions; shofar (ram not calf’s
horn—golden calf & bend hearts toward God)
 Days of Awe—10 days in between; high holy time;
penitential; commemorate creation of the world; strive for
tishuvah = turning back to proper way of living;
 Yom Kippur—Day of Atonement; 10 days after Rosh
Hashanah; holiest day of the year; prayer, fasting, &
repentance; seek forgiveness from person if possible for
individual & communal sins; God’s judgment on tishuvah
sealed in the Book of Life; shofar
Chapter 2, Section 4: Sacred Times cont.
Sukkot = “booths”
 Feast of Tabernacles/Booths (desert & Israel harvest time)
 8 days beginning 5 days after Yom Kippur
 Covered huts reminds them that God is the great protector
 end of harvest season, especially grapes for wine
Pesach
 1st major feast of the Nisan cycle
 aka Passover = God’s saving Hebrews from Egyptian slavery
 Exodus story in Ex. 12: 21-27
 Angel of death passed over houses marked with lamb’s blood
 Each Jew in every generation is personally freed by God to go
forth to the Promised land symbolically
Chapter 2, Section 4: Sacred Times cont.
Shavuot = “weeks”
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Originally a harvest festival—first fruits of wheat
Later Moses’ reception of Torah
50 days after 1st day of Passover = completion of Passover
Jewish confirmation (C & R) = teenage acceptance of Judaism
Hanukkah = “festival of lights”
 Military victory of Judas the Maccabean over the Syrian Greek
Antiochus IV in 165 BCE—recaptured temple
 Not major holiday; has become so; counter Christmas (winter/light)
 8 day celebration; lighting 1 menorah candle each day (tradition)
Purim = “feast of lots”
 5th century BCE victory of Queen Esther (in Esther) over Persian
prime minister Haman; Kign Ahasueros executed him & family
 Haman cast lots to determine what day to execute Jews
Chapter 2, Section 4: Sacred Times cont.
*Shabbat (Jewish Sabbath)
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Weekly event
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Begins Sunset Friday through sunset Saturday
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Obedience to fourth commandment
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Jews rest on the seventh day, as God did (Ex. 20: 8-11)
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Shabbat dinner on Friday evening ushers in holiest day
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No work, attend synagogue, & study Torah
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“Shabbat Shalom” (peace)
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Celebrated as a family in home with ritual blessings over 2
candles, wine, & braided bread called hallah on white cloth
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18 minutes before sunset candles lit by woman; burn out
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Havdalah concludes at sunset Saturday—braided candle lit,
wine for joy & thanks, aromatic spices lit to carry into week
Chapter 2, Section 4: Sacred Times cont.
Life Cycle Celebrations
 Personal transitional moments
 Male dominated until 20th century
 Birth
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8 days after birth; circumcision or name proclamation; Gn. 17: 10-11
 Coming of Age
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Mature individual responsible for keeping, reading, & praying the Torah
Bar Mitzvah = “Son of the Commandment”—13 yr. old boys
Bat Mitzvah—12 yr. old girls
 Marriage
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Chuppah (wedding huppah/canopy) = future home & Garden of Eden
Blessings & breaking of glass (destruction of Temple in 70 CE)
 Death
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ASAP (w/in 24hrs); blessings, prayers, & psalms
You Tube Videos: Judaism
 Rosh Hashanah
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Yom Kippur
You Tube Videos: Judaism
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Sukkot
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Pesach
You Tube Videos: Judaism
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Shavuot
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Hanukkah
You Tube Videos: Judaism
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Purim
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Shabbat
Chapter 2, Section 4 Review Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
What are the two main cycles on the Jewish
calendar?
How is the Jewish calendar different from the
Roman or civil calendar?
What happens on Yom Kippur?
Cite the similarities between Rosh Hashanah and
Pesach?
What are the “days of awe”, and what is their
significance?
Why did a relatively minor feast, Hanukkah, take on
more significance, especially in America?
Explain what takes place on Shabbat.
Chapter 2, Section 5: Sacred Places & Spaces
Synagogue & corresponding home ritual for religious memorials & life c.
Synagogue = place of assembly in Greek
Sacredness of synagogue, home, homeland
Israel, & Jerusalem
Synagogue
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Animal sacrifice in Temple was center of Jewish worship
Diaspora & destruction in 70 CE forced shift
Deeds of righteousness and three daily periods of prayer
Communal worship stemming from Babylonia exile
Multidimensional today: Prayer, Study, and Assembly
Replicate Zion: square; bimah in center; gathering space; central
chamber; ark on eastern wall; people face east—ark & Jerusalem
Chapter 2, Section 5: Sacred Places & Spaces cont.
Home
 Transformed into sacred space: mezuzah (doorpost, case
with Scripture), mizrakh (eastern wall), & kosher (dishes,
no pork or shellfish, separate meat & dairy, slaughter)
Land of Israel
 Land promised to Abraham by God—Jews, Christians, & Muslims
 “Milk & honey”, holy ground, most exiled, some remained over 3K
 Live in to fulfill some mitzvot, keep pure?
Jerusalem
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Holiest city; Mount Moriah; spiritual center of the universe
Abraham & Isaac, Jacob’s dream, David, Solomon’s & 2nd Temple
God is most present in Jerusalem
Orthodox believe Messiah will restore glory & peace
Memory: glass at Jewish weddings, 6 Day War of 1967, Psalm 137
You Tube Videos: Judiams
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Jewish Holy Sites
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The Mezuzah
Chapter 2, Section 5: Sacred Places & Spaces cont.
Temple associated with ritual sacrifices
Temple was destroyed in 70 CE
Synagogue
House of prayer
House of study
House of assembly
Home
Sabbath &
Passover Prayer
Chapter 2, Section 5: Sacred Places & Spaces cont.
At Passover, Jews pray, “Next year in Jerusalem”
Land of Israel (AKA:)
• Israel
• Canaan
• Promised Land
• Judea
• Palestine
• State of Israel
Jerusalem (AKA:)
• Holiest city
• City of David
• Temple
• Holy city for: Judaism,
Christianity, Islam
Chapter 2, Section 5 Review Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
What does the word “synagogue” mean?
What takes place in a synagogue?
What makes a home kosher?
What is the significance of the land of Israel and the
city of Jerusalem for Jews?
Chapter 2, Section 6: Judaism through a Catholic Lens
*Catholicism rooted in Judaism: history, scripture, liturgy, & theology
*Most in common: Abraham, covenants & promises unbroken, Moses & 10
Commandments, morality, psalms, Hebrew Bible, history, judgment, redemption
*Common ground is also source of differences
Messiah
 Historical Jesus of Nazareth, born of Mary, Jewish home &
homeland, preacher & miracle worker, criminal death, 30 CE/AD
 C—Jesus is, spiritual/moral, 2nd coming
 J—still waiting, political/military figure, earthly, peace, 1st coming
Incarnation
 Word of God present at creation, person vs. book (concrete)
 C—Jesus is not only Messiah but God, 1 divine person w/ 2 natures
 J—anointed human being, each can mediate reconciliation w/ God
Chapter 2, Section 5: Judaism through a Catholic Lens cont.
Scripture
 God’s word is inspired, Hebrew Bible, testament=covenant, no break
 C—New Testament & 7 deuterocanonical books (Gk. Post 300) also
Liturgy
 Mass of the Lord’s Supper instituted at Jewish Pesach—scripture
readings, offering, blessing, breaking, consuming, bread, wine
Holy Thursday & Passover
 Both commemorate exodus (Ex. 12) from slavery: literal vs. spiritual
Pentecost & Shavuot
 C—50 days after Passover, birthday of Church, Holy Spirit, new law
fulfills Mosaic law
 J—7 weeks = 50 days after Pesach, wheat harvest, Torah to Moses
Chapter 2, Section 5: Judaism through a Catholic Lens cont.
Challenges of Dialogue
 Rich but troubled history
 Jews wary of dialogue: shared past but also discrimination, violence,
expulsion, deportation, death, destruction of sacred objects & sites,
forced conversion, accused converts = dignity assaulted
 Most in the name of “Christ-killers”
 + of Crusaders in Rhineland, Nostra Aetate, popes like John XXIII
 Not easy but past requires us to dialogue—cross & evangelization
 Starting points—Shoah & contemporary life issues & shared tradition
 Shared collective memory of “catastrophe” & “devastation”
 Live in the same world which objectifies person & exalts greed—
materialistic, consumeristic, secular, individualistic
 Faith in the 1 God stands in stark contrast & is an opportunity
You Tube Videos: Judaism

Pope Benedict XVI
& The Shoah
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The Jerusalem
Connection
Chapter 2, Section 5: Judaism through a
Catholic Lens cont.
Judaism
Commonalities
History
Scripture
Liturgy
Rituals
Theology
Christianity
Chapter 2, Section 5: Judaism through a
Catholic Lens cont.
Differences
Judaism
Still awaits a Messiah or
messianic age to come
Messiah would be a
human (not God)
warrior-king, political
figure from the House
of David
Christianity
Jesus was the Messiah
Jesus is God
Jesus will return at the
2nd coming
Chapter 2, Section 5: Judaism through a
Catholic Lens cont.
Jewish Influences in Catholicism
Jewish
The Hebrew Bible
Passover meal
Passover
Shavuot
Christian
Old Testament
The Lord’s Supper
Holy Thursday
Pentecost
Chapter 2, Section 5 Review Questions
1.
2.
3.
4.
List four areas in which Jews & Catholics are in
agreement.
What is the difference between what Catholics
believe about Jesus and what Jews believe about
Jesus?
What are some similarities between the Mass and
Passover, Holy Thursday and Passover, and Shavuot
and Pentecost?
What are some other topics that can further JewishCatholic dialogue in a positive way? Explain why.
Chapter 2, Section 5: Conclusion
 Sociologically (scientifically) speaking, Jews should have
disappeared in Babylonian exile
 Assimilation or annihilation through exile, expulsion,
enslavement, and extermination
 Recall Mark Twain’s ideas in Section 1
 God, Torah, & Israel are powerful sources of life for Jews
 Heart & essence of Judaism
 Goal of Judaism = pure intention of the heart
 JPII put us on the right track with Good Friday intention
 The Aleinu
Chapter 2 Judaism - Vocabulary
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Torah
Idolatry
Diaspora
Hellenization
Septuagint
Sadducees
Pharisees
Essenes
Dead Sea Scrolls
Rabbi
Talmud
Monotheistic
Shoah
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Pogroms
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Yiddish
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Hasidism
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Zionism
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Tanakh
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Mishnah
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Midrash
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Sh’ma
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Conversos
Holy of Holies 
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Halakhic
Bimah
Mitzvot
Ark
Covenant
Shabbat
Pesach
Yom Kippur
Rosh Hashanah
Mezuzah
Kosher
Menorah
Havdalah
Chapter 2 Judaism - Vocabulary
Torah – 1st five books of the Bible, Pentateuch,
Idolatry – giving worship to something other than God
Diaspora – Jews living outside Judea (Holy Land)
Hellenization – The adoption of Greek ways and speech
Septuagint – “70” translators of Jewish scriptures to Greek
Sadducees – Jewish leaders who strictly interpreted Torah
Pharisees – Loose interpretation of Torah (resurrection)
Essenes – Monastic Jews responsible for Dead Sea scrolls
Dead Sea Scrolls -- Ancient biblical fragments of the Essenes
Rabbi – My Teacher religious leader who teaches and judges
Talmud – Books of commentaries on the interpretation of Torah
Monotheistic – A belief on one God
Shoah – Hebrew for “calamity”, refers to holocaust in WWII
Chapter 2 Judaism - Vocabulary
Pogrom – the massacre and expulsion of a minority
Yiddish – a language developed from German and Hebrew
Hasidism – Meaning pious, founded by devout Polish Jews, called
Orthodox Jews today
Zionism – the movement which sought the creation of a Jewish state
Bimah – elevated platform in synagogue to read Torah
Tanakh - The Hebrew word for the Jewish bible
Mitzvot – A commandment of the Jewish law
Mishnah – the oral Torah or teaching
Midrash – Biblical interpretation typically found in the Talmud's
Halakhic – Jewish law that covers all aspects of life; way
Sh’ma – “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is One” Dt 6:4
Havdalah – ceremony that ends the Sabbath
Chapter 2 Judaism - Vocabulary
Covenant – a binding, solemn agreement or sacred promise
between God and His people
Ark – repository for the Torah, usually against a synagogue wall
Shabbat – The Sabbath, begins at sunset on Friday
Pesach – Passover, an annual meal celebrating the Exodus
Yom Kippur - Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year
Mezuzah – the parchment of Sh’ma in the right doorpost
Kosher – Hebrew for proper, refers to permitted dietary laws
Rosh Hashanah – Jewish New Year
Holy of Holies – Sanctuary inside the tabernacle in the Temple
Menorah – candelabra for Jewish worship w/ 7 or 9 stems
Conversos – the Spanish Jews who converted to Christianity at
the time of the Spanish Inquisition
Chapter 2 Review Questions (Extra Credit)
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What is the significance of Mount Sinai?
Compare & contrast the experience of Jews in Babylon during
the 6th cent. BCE with the Jews of Babylon during 6th cent. CE.
Why would Jews say the year 70 CE was one of the worst in
Jewish history?
Why did the synagogue gain in importance during the Rabbinic
Period?
Do not have to answer this question.
What was the general experience of Jews in Spain under Muslin
rule?
Do not have to answer this question.
Define converso.
Do not have to answer this question.
Why can it be said that the Age of Enlightenment in Europe
was an age of emancipation for Jews?
Chapter 2 Review Questions cont. (Extra Credit)
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Why do Jews call the Hebrew Bible Tanakh? Why do they not
call the Hebrew Bible the Old Testament?
What is Mishnah?
What is the Talmud? What is considered the most
authoritative version of the Talmud?
Define Sh’ma.
How is the Torah reverenced? What does it represent?
What are the two meanings of the term “Israel” to Jews?
Define halakah. Give an example.
What are major characteristics of Orthodox, Conservative,
Reform, and Reconstructionist Judaism?
Define Ashkenazim and Sephardim.
Briefly describe the significance of the time between Rosh
Hashanah and Yom Kippur, including each of those holy days?
Chapter 2 Review Questions cont. (Extra Credit)
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What festivals are in the Tishri cycle? How about in the Nisan
cycle?
Do not have to answer this question.
What is the significance of Hanukkah?
How do Jews mark major times in the life cycle: birth, coming
of age, marriage, and death?
How is a Jewish home made sacred?
Why are some Jews wary to engage in meaningful dialogue
with Catholics?
Do not have to answer this question.
What is the Shoah?
What are some of the Jewish roots of Catholicism? Give
examples?