HSC RELIGIOUS TRADITION DEPTH STUDY: JUDAISM

1. HSC RELIGIOUS TRADITION DEPTH STUDY:JUDAISM MARRIAGE

2. Students learn about :SIGNIFICANT PRACTICES IN THE LIFE OF ADHERENTS ONE significant practice within JUDAISM drawn from: • Death and Mourning • Marriage • Synagogue Services

3. Students learn to: • Describe ONE significant practice within Judaism drawn from - death and mourning; marriage; and synagogue services. • Demonstrate how this practice expresses the beliefs of Judaism • Analyse the significance of this practice for both the individual and the Jewish community.

4. RELIGIOUS RITES Are a method by which members of a religious community celebrate what is important in their lives and is an important medium for bringing the individual and the group into contact with the transcendent. The effect of religious rites is to give meaning to the events of life (human experience) and place them in the context of the groups’ beliefs. In this way they touch that which is most important to group identity, and inspire us towards an ideal.

5. RELIGIOUS RITES IN JUDAISM: Such as rites of passage, are important elements of religious identity within the Jewish tradition. They are celebrations of, and memorials to the covenants by which Jews understand their relationship with God as expressed in the Torah. For community worship, the synagogue is the focus, where the central place of the Torah is evident, and the rituals cement the individuals place within the community.

6. Religious rites and their effect on the everyday lives of believers : • Provide continuity within the tradition – because religious rites are usually based on foundational events/stories. • Provide opportunity for transformation of the individual. eg. rites of passage =transformed status eg. rites of public worship = transformed individually to live closer to the ideal as a result of communion.

7. RITES OF PASSAGE A rite of passage is an important and often complex ritual that allows an individual or individuals, to be transformed from one stage to another i.e. from an old status to a new status. Rites of passage affect this change of status as well as proclaiming it to the community. Thus there is a strong community element in rites of passage – it confirms the beliefs of the group, encourages group cohesion, and teaches moral lessons.

8. AFTER POST-LIMINAL This stage is characterised by absorption into the faith community as a member who has achieved a new, higher status. DURING LIMINAL When the individual is educated and transformed so as to learn those things necessary for their new status. BEFORE PRE-LIMINAL The pre-ritual status of the individual who is in the old role, phase of life or social status, preparing for the new role, phase of life or social status.

9. Religious Rites of passage results in Judaism- • Spiritual growth • A deeper relationship with God • A new, often higher status in the religious community • Additional rights and responsibilities • A reminder of the history of Israel

10. DESCRIBE… • Provide characteristics and features Describe ONE significant practice within Judaism drawn from - death and mourning; marriage; and synagogue services.

11. Jewish Marriage as a rite of passage

15. DEMONSTRATE… • Show by example • Demonstrate how this practice expresses the beliefs of Judaism

16. How the Jewish Rite of Marriage makes present the central beliefs of the tradition:

17. How the Jewish Rite of Marriage makes present the central beliefs of the tradition:

18. ANALYSE… • Identify components and the relationship between them; draw out and relate implications. Analyse the significance of this practice for both the individual and the Jewish community.

19. The significance of Marriage Judaism considers marriage to be a religious obligation for three major reasons: 1. To bear children in fulfilment of God’s blessing – Genesis 1:28; 2. To provide a strong foundation for one’s dealings with society; 3. And to establish family life in a loving home. Indeed Jewish people consider the home to be like a ‘little temple’ Ezekiel 11:16 – where family members find rest and serve each other with love and compassion.

20. The significance of Marriage For Judaism, marriage serves three interrelated purposes. 1. The propagation of the human species, as commanded in Genesis 1:28, "Be fruitful and multiply". According to talmudic law, this obligation is deemed to have been fulfilled when a man has begotten at least one son and one daughter, just as God created male and female in the Garden of Eden. http://www.liberaljudaism.org/lj_wherewestand_marriage.htm

21. The significance of Marriage 2. Marriage affords loving companionship. Again in the words of the Book of Genesis, "It is not good that man should be alone.... Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they become one flesh" (Genesis 2:18 and 24). http://www.liberaljudaism.org/lj_wherewestand_marriage.htm

22. The significance of Marriage 3. Marriage establishes the family as the basic social unit, and the home as the "little sanctuary" (Ezekiel 11:16) in which the father corresponds to a priest, the mother to a priestess, and the table to an altar. It is where children can grow up under the loving protection and guidance of their parents, and where the Jewish religion can be practised and transmitted from generation to generation. http://www.liberaljudaism.org/lj_wherewestand_marriage.htm

23. The significance of marriage for both the individual and the community: • Marriage is seen as a personal, contractual relationship. • Marriage is seen as the fulfilment of the Mitzvah. All Jewish men and women are expected to marry. This is the first commandment – located in Genesis. • Marriage is a holy covenant. • Marriage is a religious obligation. • Marriage structures the lives of the couple and assigns clear roles to each partner. • Marriage fulfils a mitzvah as it is a positive religious duty. • Marriage signifies the beginning ofa new family.

24. The significance of marriage for both the individual and the community: • Marriage focuses on the centrality of the home and family, and thus the continuation of the Jewish nation. • Marriage is a way of holiness for the couple. It is through their relationship and the following of the mitzvah that the couple builds their relationship with God.

25. The significance of marriage for both the individual and the community: • Within the marriage ceremony, the seven blessings praise God for the creation of all things, linking the couple to the story of creation and the history of the Jewish people. • Elevates the ordinary/mundane to the supernatural. It is a means of contact with God, who is present at the ceremony. For example, the recitation of the seven blessings, is designed to sanctify the ordinary, to transform this particular couple as their love embodies God’s creation, revelation, and redemption in the here and now.

26. The significance of marriage for both the individual and the community: • A means of identification with Judaism and with the Jewish community. It helps the couple to understand more clearly the central beliefs of Judaism. The marriage ceremony also strengthens the community of believers by putting the couple on equal footing with other married couples within the community and making them responsible for ensuring their lifestyle is in keeping with Jewish teaching and tradition.