Jewish Perspectives

1. Jewish Perspectives Dialogue Education Jewish Practices THIS CD HAS BEEN PRODUCED FOR TEACHERS TO USE IN THE CLASSROOM. IT IS A CONDITION OF THE USE OF THE CD THAT IT BE USED ONLY BY PEOPLE FROM SCHOOLS THAT HAS PURCHASED THE CD ROM FROM DIALOGUE EDUCATION. (THIS DOES NOT PROHIBIT ITS USE ON A SCHOOL’S INTRANET).

2. Documentary- - Cut: Slicing Through the Myths of Circumcision(100 minutes) Click on the image to the left. You will need to be connected to the internet to view this presentation. Enlarge to full screen.

3. GAMES Click on one of the images above for a game of “Fling the Teacher”, “Penalty Shootout” or “Hoop-shoot”. Try playing a game with your students at the start and the end of the unit. Make sure you have started the slide show and are connected to the internet.

4. Jewish ethics may be guided by halakhic traditions, by other moral principles, or by central Jewish virtues. Jewish Practices

5. Prayers Traditionally, Jews recite prayers three times daily, Shacharit, Mincha, and Ma'ariv with a fourth prayer, Mussaf added on Shabbat and holidays. Jewish Practices

6. Prayers Most of the prayers in a traditional Jewish service can be recited in solitary prayer, although communal prayer is preferred. Jewish Practices

7. Prayers In addition to prayer services, observant traditional Jews recite prayers and benedictions throughout the day when performing various acts. Jewish Practices

8. Prayers The approach to prayer varies among the Jewish denominations. Jewish Practices

9. Religious clothing A kippah (Hebrew: כִּפָּה, plural kippot; Yiddish: יאַרמלקע, yarmulke) is a slightly rounded brimless skullcap worn by many Jews while praying, eating, reciting blessings, or studying Jewish religious texts, and at all times by some Jewish men. Jewish Practices

10. Religious clothing Tzitzit (Hebrew: צִיציִת) (Ashkenazi pronunciation: tzitzis) are special knotted "fringes" or "tassels" found on the four corners of the tallit (Hebrew: טַלִּית) (Ashkenazi pronunciation: tallis), or prayer shawl. Jewish Practices

11. Religious clothing Tefillin (Hebrew: תְפִלִּין), known in English as phylacteries (from the Greek word φυλακτήριον, meaning safeguard or amulet), are two square leather boxes containing biblical verses, attached to the forehead and wound around the left arm by leather straps. Jewish Practices

12. A kittel (Yiddish: קיטל), a white knee-length overgarment, is worn by prayer leaders and some observant traditional Jews on the High Holidays. Jewish Practices

13. Jewish holidays Jewish holidays are special days in the Jewish calendar, which celebrate moments in Jewish history, as well as central themes in the relationship between God and the world, such as creation, revelation, and redemption. Jewish Practices

14. Jewish holidays Shabbat, the weekly day of rest lasting from shortly before sundown on Friday night to nightfall Saturday night, commemorates God's day of rest after six days of creation. Jewish Practices

15. Jewish holidays Three pilgrimage festivals Jewish holy days (chaggim), celebrate landmark events in Jewish history, such as the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah, and sometimes mark the change of seasons and transitions in the agricultural cycle. Jewish Practices

16. Jewish holidays Three pilgrimage festivals Passover (Pesach) is a week-long holiday beginning on the evening of the 14th day of Nisan (the first month in the Hebrew calendar), that commemorates the Exodus from Egypt. Jewish Practices

17. Jewish holidays Three pilgrimage festivals Shavuot ("Pentecost" or "Feast of Weeks") celebrates the revelation of the Torah to the Israelites on Mount Sinai. Also known as the Festival of Bikurim, or first fruits, it coincided in biblical times with the wheat harvest. Jewish Practices

18. Jewish holidays Three pilgrimage festivals Sukkot ("Tabernacles" or "The Festival of Booths") commemorates the Israelites' forty years of wandering through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. Jewish Practices

19. High Holy Days The High Holidays (Yamim Noraim or "Days of Awe") revolve around judgment and forgiveness. Jewish Practices

20. High Holy Days * Rosh Hashanah, Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the 10-day period of atonement leading up to Yom Kippur, during which Jews are commanded to search their souls and make amends for sins committed, intentionally or not, throughout the year. Jewish Practices

21. High Holy Days * Yom Kippur, ("Day of Atonement") is the holiest day of the Jewish year. Jewish Practices

22. High Holy Days Purim is a joyous Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Persian Jews from the plot of the evil Haman, who sought to exterminate them, as recorded in the biblical Book of Esther. Jewish Practices

23. Hanukkah Hanukkah also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of Kislev (Hebrew calendar). Jewish Practices

24. Hanukkah The holiday was called Hanukkah (meaning "dedication") because it marks the re-dedication of the Temple after its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Jewish Practices

25. Hanukkah Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Bible and was never considered a major holiday. Jewish Practices

26. Other holidays Tisha B'Av Yom Ha-shoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day) Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) Jewish Practices

27. Synagogues and religious buildings Synagogues are Jewish houses of prayer and study. Jewish Practices

28. Dietary laws: Kashrut The Jewish dietary laws are known as kashrut. Food prepared in accordance with them is termed kosher, and food that is not kosher is also known as treifah or treif. Jewish Practices

29. Dietary laws: Kashrut Many of the laws apply to animal-based foods. For example, in order to be considered kosher, mammals must have split hooves and chew their cud. Jewish Practices

30. Dietary laws: Kashrut In addition to the requirement that the species be considered kosher, meat and poultry (but not fish) must come from a healthy animal slaughtered in a process known as shechitah. Jewish Practices

31. Dietary laws: Kashrut Jewish law also forbids the consumption of meat and dairy products together. Jewish Practices

32. Dietary laws: Kashrut The use of dishes, serving utensils, and ovens may make food treif that would otherwise be kosher. Jewish Practices

33. The Torah does not give specific reasons for most of the laws of kashrut. Jewish Practices

34. Family purity An important subcategory of the ritual purity laws relates to the segregation of menstruating women. Jewish Practices

35. Life-cycle events * Brit milah * Bar mitzvah and Bat mitzvah Jewish Practices

36. Life-cycle events Life-cycle events, or rites of passage, occur throughout a Jew's life that serve to strengthen Jewish identity and bind him/her to the entire community. Jewish Practices

37. Life-cycle events • Marriage - Marriage is an extremely important lifecycle event. • * Death and Mourning - Judaism has a multi-staged mourning practice. Jewish Practices

38. Documentary- - Jewish Burial and Mourning Customs Click on the image to the left. You will need to be connected to the internet to view this presentation. Enlarge to full screen.

39. Community leadership Classical priesthood The role of the priesthood in Judaism has significantly diminished since the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, when priests attended to the Temple and sacrifices. * Kohen (priest) * Levi (Levite) Jewish Practices

40. Community leadership Prayer leaders From the time of the Mishnah and Talmud to the present, Judaism has required specialists or authorities for the practice of very few rituals or ceremonies. Jewish Practices

41. Community leadership • The most common professional clergy in a synagogue are: • Rabbi of a congregation • Hazzan - a trained vocalist who acts as shatz. Jewish Practices

42. Community leadership Jewish prayer services do involve two specified roles, which are sometimes, but not always, filled by a rabbi in many congregations. * Shaliach tzibur or Shatz * The Baal kriyah or baal koreh Jewish Practices

43. Community leadership • Specialized religious roles • * Dayan (judge) • Mohel (circumciser) • * Shochet (ritual slaughterer) • * Sofer (scribe) • Rosh yeshiva • * Mashgiach of a yeshiva • * Mashgiach Jewish Practices

44. * Aharon Pfeuffer Kitzur Halachot Basar B'Chalav * Binyomen Forst, The Laws of Kashrus, Moznaim, 1999 * David C. Kraemer, Jewish Eating and Identity Throughout the Ages, Routledge, 2008 * Greenberg, Irving. The Jewish Way: Living the Holidays. New York: Touchstone, 1988. * Isidore Grunfeld, The Jewish Dietary Laws, London: Soncino, 1972 * Isaac Klein, A Guide to Jewish Religious Practice, JTSA, 1992 * James M. Lebeau, The Jewish Dietary Laws: Sanctify Life, United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, New York, 1983 * Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger: An analysis of the concepts of pollution and taboo, Routledge & Kegan Paul, London, 1966 * Munk, Shechita: Religious, Historical and Scientific Perspectives, Feldheim Publishers, New York, 1976 * Jordan D. Rosenblum, Food and Identity in Early Rabbinic Judaism, Cambridge University Press, 2010 * Samuel Dresner, Seymour Siegel and David Pollock The Jewish Dietary Laws, United Synagogue, New York, 1982 * Renberg, Dalia H. The Complete Family Guide to Jewish Holidays. New York: Adama, 1985. * Strassfeld, Michael. The Jewish Holidays: A Guide and Commentary. New York: Harper & Row, 1985. * Wikipedia- Jewish Observences- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism#Jewish_observances * Yacov Lipschutz, Kashruth: A Comprehensive Background and Reference Guide to the Principles of Kahruth. New York: Mesorah Publications Ltd, 1989 Bibliography