Rabbi Wayne Dosick

• “ A 4000 year old tradition with ideas about what it means to be human and how to make the world a holy place ”
(Rabbi Harold Kushner, To Life )
• A “ covenant relationship ” between God and the Hebrew people
• A celebration and sanctification of life
• A faith, a people, a way of life…

• The Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob
( “ Israel ” ) – origins of the Hebrew people
(more than 3800 years ago)
• Enslaved in ancient Egypt and freed by
Moses (more than 3300 years ago)
• Hebrew monarchy in the “ Promised Land ”
(The Land of Israel), ends 6th century
BCE

• In one God, creator of the universe, personal but non-corporeal
• In prophets of old – especially Moses, through whom Torah was revealed to the Hebrew people
• In Torah (first five books of the Bible), containing religious, moral and social law which guides the life of a Jew
– the Hebrew Bible does not include the New Testament

• A nation in Diaspora (dispersed)
• 15 – 16 million in worldwide population
• United by a common heritage (an “ ethnic ” religion), divided in contemporary practice:
– Orthodox:
• Modern
• Chasidic (Ultra Orthodox)
– Reformed (18 th century Germany)
– Conservative – moderates, response to reform
• Reconstructionalism (20 th century America)

•
• 613 commandments found in Torah ( “ Written Law ” )
Talmud ( “ Oral Law ” ) – commentary of ancient rabbis
’ s Law in everyday
– Dietary rules (Kashrut/Kosher)
– Dress and other symbols
– Prayer and devotion to the one God
– The Temple and Temple rites
– Observance of Holy days
– business, judicial rulings, etc.
• Thus sanctifying life, blessing it in every way

Life cycle celebrations:
• Bris – ritual circumcision, sign of the covenant
• Bar/Bat Mitzvah – full adult status and responsibility within the religion
• Marriage - "Be fruitful and multiply" (Gen. 1:22)
• Death – funerals, mourning (sitting “ Shiva ” ), and memorials ( “ Yartzeits ” )

• High Holidays:
– Rosh Hashanah (Jewish New Year)
– Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)
• Sukkot, the “ Festival of Booths ” (fall harvest festival)
• Simchat Torah – celebrating Torah
• Chanukah, the “ Festival of Lights ”

• Purim ( “ Lots ” ) – a carnival (commemorates events told in book of Esther)
• Pesach ( “ Passover ” ) – commemorates the exodus from Egypt (events told in Exodus)
• Shavuot ( “ weeks, ” Pentecost) – commemorates receipt of Torah at Sinai
• Other, minor festivals
• Shabbat (Sabbath, 7 th day, on Saturday) – the “ Day of Rest ”

• not a part of it
• Jesus was Jewish, as were his followers and the
• Jews do not believe that Jesus was anything more than
– Jews still await their messiah
• The Jewish messiah would not be divine. He would be
• and causes peace to reign on Earth to come ”
“ world

• Tikkun Olam “ repairing this world ” through justice and righteousness; through “ deed, not creed ”
• The heart of Judaism is in the home and family, social responsibility and doing Mitzvot ( “ good deeds ” based on God ’ s commandments)
• Through education and hard work we make our lives, the lives of others, and the world, what God intended it to be – Holy!

• Judaism 101: http://jewfaq.org/
” an online encyclopedia of Judaism, covering Jewish beliefs, people, places, things, language, scripture, holidays, practices and customs ”
• ReligiousTolerance.org on Judaism: http://www.religioustolerance.org/judaism.htm
• This P0werpoint presentation available at: http://www.nvcc.edu/home/lshulman/Rel232/resource/judaism.ppt

From Living Judaism by Rabbi Wayne Dosick

• Star of David
• Was on the shields of David ’ s warriors
• Symbol on the Flag of the state of Israel
• Used throughout the world as a clear and unique identifying symbol of Jews and Judaism

• Seven (or nine) branched candleholder
• One of the oldest Jewish symbols—one of the ritual objects described in the Torah
• Today the nine branched menorah is used in celebration of Chanukah
• The seven branched menorah is the authentic ancient symbol (one for each of the 6 days of creation and 1 for sabbath)

• The Jewish symbol of life
• Expresses the hope and prayer for life, health and prosperity
• Popular Jewish toast—L ’ chayim—To Life

• Means good luck or congratulations
• Particularly used for significant life events (ie. Bar Mitzvahs, weddings, birthdays, etc.)

• Literally “ So be it ”
• Means I agree/affirm
• After a blessing it is customary for those who have heard the blessing to say Amen

• Means hello/goodbye/peace
• Comes from root word shalem which means whole/complete
– Peace comes when there is wholeness, completeness, unity.
• Pease is the eternal Jewish prayer— world peace, peace between people, inner peace, harmony.

From Living Judaism by Rabbi Wayne
Dosick

• Mainstream Judaism
• Belief in the direct revelation of divine law which was recorded in the Torah
– It is eternal, unchanging, and the sole guide for life
– Carefully and strictly observe the commandments as the direct will of God
– Ultra-Orthodox assert that complete separation from secular society

Chasidism—Sect of Orthodox
Famous for their dress. From eastern Europe in the early 18 th C. Emphasizes both contemplative meditation and fervent joy.
Lubavitch Chasidism (Chabad) is contemporary American Chasidism

• Early 19 th C. Germany
• Assert authorship of Torah to Divinely inspired human beings
• Modern worship mostly in vernacular

• Response to Reform mid to late 19 th C. Europe
• Agree that change was necessary but felt
Reform had eliminated too many basic Jewish practices
• Motto is “ tradition and change ”
• Fiddler on the Roof

• Early 1920s in US by Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan
• Judaism is not merely a religion, but an evolving religious civilization, a peoplehood, a culture, as well as a faith community

• To accept Torah and fulfill its mitzvot
• To embrace the ethical mandate of Judaism
• To regulate existence to Judaism ’ s rituals & observances
• To support Jewish causes
• To be a devoted member of the Jewish community
• To maintain a bond and a sense of mutual interdependence with the Jewish Land
• To feel a connection to Jewish history
• To be committed to the creative survival of the Jewish future

From Living Judaism by
Rabbi Wayne Dosick

• Creation: God Created the Universe and everything in it, The covenant was created between God and Humanity (specifically between God and the Jewish people)
• Redemption: Israelites were saved from bondage in Egypt (in order to experience revelation)
• Revelation: God gave his 613 mitzvot as a standard for conduct and behavior
▫ Mixed with ritual practices this provides the framework of lifestyle for all humanity.

• Genesis (Bereshit): contains stories of creation, records the establishment of the covenant between God and the Jewish people, tells of the lives of the patriarchs and matriarchs
• Exodus (Sh
Sinai
’ mot): account of Israelites enslaved in Egypt, the exodus from Egypt, the receiving of the 10 Commandments at Mt.
• Leviticus (Vayikra): gives God ’ s ethical and ritual laws and specific instructions to priests on how to perform their duties
• Numbers (Bamidbar): recounts the of the Israelites through the desert and gives more of God ’ s ethical and ritual laws
• Deuteronony (Devarim): Moses reviews the laws and the people prepare to enter the promised land.

• 2 nd section of the Hebrew Bible, prophets
• Not a soothsayer but rather a messenger of
God to the people
• Prophets admonished the Jewish people for forgetting and forsaking God ’ s commands
• They called on the people to examine their lives and their conduct
• Nevi ’ im is divided in two sections: early and latter prophets

• Early Prophets: Joshua, Judges, Samuel (2),
Kings (2)
• Latter Prophets:
– Major Prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
– Minor Prophets: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nachum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah,
Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi

• 3 rd section of Hebrew Bible, writings
• Contains wisdom literature, poetry, songs, narrative, history, religious philosophy, and love hymns…12 books in total
• Books include: Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Songs,
Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther,
Daniel, Ezra, Nechemiah, Chronicles

• Hebrew name for Hebrew Bible
• Created by taking the first letter of each of the three sections of the Bible and making a word out of those three letters.
– T: for Torah
– N: for Nevi ’ im
– CH: for Ketuvim

• The first compilation of the Oral Law between
200 BCE and 200 CE
• Collects all of the Jewish legal material from the post-Torah era.
• Divided into 6 orders (or chapters)
– Seeds, Festivals, Women, Damages, Holy Things,
Purifications

• A compilation of the discussions, interpretations, explanations, and theological arguments about the Mishnah.
• New interpretations and new laws that arose after Mishnah from about 200-600 CE
• Contains both Jewish law and Jewish stories

• Is the combined Mishnah and Gemara
• Largest compilation of post-biblical law
• Remains the basic and central document of postbiblical law
• Talmud is studied:
▫ For the practical application of its laws
▫ For its mind-expanding challenges in logic and reasoning
▫ For its total immersion in Jewish concerns
▫ For its wisdom and insights into the human experience
▫ And for the simple love of learning and growing