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RS Revision Notes

Topic 1

1. Beliefs About the Nature of God

a. Omnipotent- parting of the Red seab. Omnipresent- we can pray anywhere because God iseverywhere

c. Omniscient- God knows exactly where you ared. Unchangeable- God is, God was, God will always bee. King- avenu malkanuf. Creator- he created the worldg. God is one- first line of shema

2. Reasons Jews give in support of their belief in Goda. Jews believe in God because God tells us to in the Torah

b. Cosmological Argument

There must have been a first cause to everything and thatfirst cause is God-

if the big bang started the Earth, who started the bigbang??

c. Teleological argument-

Based about purpose and design.

The world is too complex to have happened by chance-

Watch story- cant have grown on its own- must have hada designer and purpose

d. Historical argument-

We are the historical proof. We should not exist

The Jews are an anomaly as all the large nations haverisen up to kill the Jews and have failed. God promised wewould survive and we did survive.

Despite all the anti-Semitism and persecution, Jews are

still alive- Holocaust, six day war

e. Moral argument-

In order for there to be morality God must exist

There seems to be a common understanding of right andwrong and this implies God has implanted these ideasinside of us.

f. Blind Faith- Simple faith The people have to believe in something

6 day war- spark of faith inside a Jew that at sometime intheir life can be blown into flames of trust.

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3. The authority for Jews of the Torah and Talmud

a. TORAH

Bible

Contains 613 commandments

Moses wrote all of Gods wordsAll that God has spoken, we will doand we will listen

Handbook of Jewish Thought

Moses received the Torah from Sinai and passed it on to Joshua,and Joshua passed it down and many generations later

b. TALMUD- oral law

Mishna- written down straight away by Rabbis

Gamera-

Should be part of the Jewish people Divinely inspired but written down by humans (Rabbis) work that

interprets the Torah and tells us practically how to live a Halachiclife.

One cannot learn how to be a practicing Jew just from reading theTorah.

Use the do not cook a kid in its mothers milk example.

c. TORAH AND TALMUD

Torah is the headlines and Talmud is the information. Both areneeded to gain a full understanding.

Both teach a Jew how to live a Halachic life and both equallyimportant (orthodox)

Non- orthodox: Torah is more important as it was written directly

from God

4. Belief in God intervening in the world through miracles andthrough the words of the prophets

MIRACLESa. Open Miracles-

i. Six day warii. Do not change peoples beliefiii. Do not happen

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iv. We dont need them anymore

b. Closed miracles-i. Baby being bornii. Every moment we just have to find them

iii. In the eye of the beholder

Miracles are in the eye of the beholder

Something that reveals the existence of God

God does intervene

One should not depend on a miracle

Every favour that God performs for man is a miracle. Many a miracleremains unnoticed by the recipient of Gods favour. Many a time aman is rescued from danger by the space of a nails breadth.

PROPHETS

God communicating a message to man kind

Whole of Judaism is based on the idea of prophecy

Moses prophecy was objectively real- he was awakeo Hence actually real

God your Lord will raise up a prophet from among your people.. youshall heed him

You may ask yourselves, How can we know the word was notspoken by God? If the prophet speaks in Gods name but his worddoes not come true, then that word was not spoken by God; theprophet has declared it falsely

We dont need knew prophecy due to us already having the torahand tenach which teaches us everything we need to know

1. Explain how believing in God might affect the lives of a Jew God has purpose so things happen for a reason

He is the only god so you regard him

Everything happens for a reason

He is the only God and appreciate the world which he gave touse

God cares about us and hes given rules as he likes us

Given us Torah and the value of History

Future to generations to teach by example

Not physical

Omnipotent, omnipresent etc

Overall unity to life

God knows what I am thinking and therefore I have to worryabout what I am doing.

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Topic 2

THE NATURE OF BELIEF

Prayer- service of the heart

Worship- Something we do to show our relationship with God- Actions- Kosher food, Seder

Words- Friday night, blessings, Kiddush

Daily- Prayers in the home, washing hands in the morning, Modeh Anithanking God for waking us up

Occasional- Seder, lighting Chanukah candles

Synagogue-

House of gathering

Not a house of worship

Social function

Beit Knesset

Social function House of gathering

Uniting community

Teaches us how to communicate with God through prayer

Beit Midrash

House of study

Heder

Public reading of the Torah

Shul

Education

What is valuable in Judaism

Teaches us history

Mikdash Meat

Means small temple/ sanctuary

Model of the temple that was destroyed

1. Worship in the synagogue and in the home

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Prayer means a list of requests

Prayer is the lowest level of communicating to God. Tefillah is thehighest. Tefillah is self a process of self-judgement.

Lahitpallel- to judge yourself (root of tefillah)

We talk to God and we ask for thingsa. Mitzvot done at HOME

Love your neighbour

Keeping Shabbat Keeping Kosher

Mazzuah

Kiddush

Seder night

Shabbat meal

Saying shema

A person is not a person without a home

b. Mitzvot done at SYNAGOGUE

Bar/bat mitzvah

Hagbah

Minyan

Learning torah

Reading torah Kiddush

Community

- In the multitude of people is the kings glory- Ten who pray together the presence of God is with them- Public worship has the advantage that the object of our meeting, the

holiness of the place, and the union in a worship with our fellow-mencombine to create, maintain, or intensify our devotion.

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN HOME AND SYNAGOGUEYou dont get the community benefit at a home whereas you do in shul. Athome prayers can be considered more personal and at shul it is more thecommunity joining together. Both have differences and both havesimilarities such as Kiddush and keeping mitzvoth.

2. Prayer and contemplation

PRAYER

Lehitpallel To judge oneself. Prayer is more about personal growth thanabout asking for G-d to do things for us. The types of prayer are:

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Thankings

Praising

Requesting

o Prayer that we have today replaces the prayer that we had inthe temple

o God doesnt need our prayers. Prayers are for ourselves. IfGod is all powerful he doesnt need our prayer

o I believe with perfect faith that it is only proper to pray to God.One may not pray to anyone or anything else.

o And serve Him with all your hearts [quote from Devarim11:13].

CONTEMPLATION

Mentally preparing oneself for God Different ways in which people prepare for prayer

Talmud says that:o Hasidim use to go 1 hour before prayer started to prepare them

Studying the prayer service

Go off by themselves (meditating) as a source of inspiration

Need a balance between meditation and contemplation

3. The use of food and fasting by Jews as a response to God

Home is the temple; the table is the alter Talmud

When the temple stood, sacrifices would secure atonement for anindividual: now his table doesTalmud

FOOD Kashrut

a. Food shows a relationship with Godb. Trust in God that you wont lose out

c. Makes you closer to other Jews unites you togetherd. Links you to our historye. kashrut milk and meatf. taste of community eg matzah , chicken soup , chees cake

(Shavuot)g. every mouth full of kosher food gives jewish people their

identity , which makes you closer to g-g due to you alwaysthinking of him.

2. BrachotBirkat hamazon (grace after meals) thanking g-d for letting us have

the foodLaws on Shabbat about not cooking

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Every type of festival has different types of food to represent eachfestival : pesach matzah ( symbolising trust in g-d) , bitter herbs,salt water ( symbol of Jew crying and Egyptians) helps us believe ing-d

Mitzvah foods-

Customary foods-

Cult rural food-

Judaism is a religion that sanctifies the physical unlike some other religionsthat seek to get as little benefit from this world as possible.

Kosher

Meat and milk

Separation Kosher animals

Kosher fish

Kosher birds

FASTING

Just fasting without anything else is not that useful- we need to to

have other purposes Makes us concentrate, repent more, no distractions so more

learning.

The motivation of fasting in the Ancient World, particularly in theTalmudic period, may be summed up under the following headings:

(a) Fasting for the purpose of atonement Yom Kippur(b) Fasting in case of mourning- tishe bav(c) Fasting as a ritual for the purpose of purification Moshe went out

to getting he Torah. He fasted for 40 days and 40 nights(d) Fasting as a means of causing visions and dreams fasting if you

have a nightmare(e) Fast to evoke mercy from God- Fast of ester(f) Communal fast Bad things happening to the Jews

Jewish fast days

Yom Kippur

Fast of Ester

Dropping the Torah

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4. The architecture of the synagogue

A synagogue is always based on the temple and it is meant to copy thetemple as best as possible. A synagogue, whether large or small, designedelaborately or simply, must contain the following basic ritual items:

Holy Ark (aron kodesh) a cabinet, or a recess in the wall in whichare kept the scrolls of the Torah (sifrei Torah). The curtain coveringthe aron kodesh is called a parokhet. The aron kodesh is generallyset on the wall in the direction of Eretz Yisrael (in Israel, towardJerusalem).

Eternal Light (ner tamid) a lamp that is placed above andsomewhat in front of the Holy Ark. It is allowed to burn continually. *Bimah is the platform, traditionally set apart from the Ark, on which

stands a table (shulhan). From this table, the Torah is read to thecongregation and the Reader or contor leads the congregation inservices.

In Ashkenazic synagogues, there will be an additional lectern,amud, between the bimah and the aron kodesh, on a lower level,

A womens section (ezrat nashim), is an ancient and distinctivefeature of the traditional synagogue. It follows the patternastablished in the ancient Tample of Jerusalem which provided an

ezrat nashim so as to prevent light-headed levity, immodest andunbecoming behaviour between the sexes that might take place inthe freely mingling crowds coming to the holy Temple.

Mehitzah- separation of the men and women. This allow the men toconcentrate more so that they can properly pray to God.

5. The use of music and art in Jewish worship

MUSIC

Shofar

Hazan sings

Choir sometimes Davids harp

Singing joins people together

Sounds better

When sung people just follow and the prayers lose meaning

He who wishes to chant to God in a loud voice should possess a voicepleasant to others; if not, he should refrain from prayer aloud.

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There is a Temple in Heaven that is opened only through song

RABBINIC RULINGS ABOUT THE USE OF MUSIC IN JEWISHWORSHIP

Cant use musical instruments on ShabbatDuring the period of mourning you are not allowed to hear livemusicCant use musical instruments during the OMER

There are lots of psalms that mention the use of music in Judaismo e.g David with the harp

The sound of the shofah In the temple the Levites sing during sacrifices After the splitting of the red sea Miriam sang and the bnei Yirael

joined in with Music

In shuls there is a Hazan who should have a pleasant voice

6. The ways in which symbols are used to express Jewish belief

MAGEN DAVID

The Magen David - shield of David, or as it is more commonly known, theStar of David is the symbol most commonly associated with Judaismtoday.

CHAIChair- to life (celebrates living)

MEZUZAHMazuzah- put on the door so that people know the house is declared byJews. This shows that Jews are proud and this enables God to be

watching over the house. Relates to blood over the houses in Egypt.LIONSSymbol of the tribe of Judah

Shows strength and courage

In the morning you should serve your creator like a lion

CROWNGod is kingKings rules- God

Rambam says there are 3 crowns, kings priests and torahFirst 2 can only achieve if you are born into that way of family-

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Torah anyone can achieve

MENORAHPart of the daily service in the Torah

7 branches represents completion

Miracles- Chanukah

Shows we are alight ner tamid ever lasting light

7. Jewish views forbidding the representation of God in art

DO NOT MAKE IDOLSDo not have any other gods before Me. Do not represent [such gods] byany carved statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earthbelow or in the water below the land. Do not bow down to [such gods] orworship them. I am God your Lord, a God who demands exclusiveworship.

GOD IS NOT PHYSICALWatch yourselves very carefully, since you did not see any image on theday that God spoke to you out of the fire at Horeb. You shall therefore notbecome corrupt and make a statue depicting any symbol. [Do not make]any male or female image, or the image of any animal on earth, anywinged creature that flies in the sky, any lower form of land animal, or anyanimal that lives in the water below the earth.

Music that will not help us focuses on the spiritual and makes usfocus on the physical. This is not allowed, as it is a distraction toGod.

Cant make idols, statues, paintings against God

Explain how praying in Hebrew might effect the attitudes and beliefs of aJew

Language of the bible Connects to God

Connects to holy Torah Connects us to all Jews in the world

We all will speak the same language

Links me to the past

Passes it on to the future

Commonality between all Jews

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TOPIC 3:

RELIGION AND SCIENCE

1. Jewish ideas about the origins of the world and of humanity

ORIGIN OF THE WORLD

Day 1- physical, light and dark Day 2- water and clouds

Day 3- separated dry land, plants, trees, grass

Day 4- sun, moon, stars

Day 5- fish, birds, fleas

Day 6- larger land animals, humans

Day 7- rest

God alone created the world- genesis

The world was created by God in a moment God created the world effortlessly

God created the world from nothing

God created the world in 6 days and on the 7th day he rested

God was pleased with his creation God created the world in the purpose of mankind

Every day God created unique creations ending with mankind on the6th day

Ex nihilo- something from nothing

God created the world out of love

God spoke, it happened, God thought it was good Genesis

Each day God created a different thing each day

God created the world for man

In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth - Genesis

Rabbi Akiva said: As a house implies a builder, and a garment a weaver,and a door a carpenter, so does the existence of the Universe imply aCreator

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ORIGIN OF HUMANITY

Made from dust of the earth- genesis

God breathed inside of us

Man is made in the image of God

When man is created there was a purpose

Male and female were created together and were separated

Women are there to help men concentrate

Commanded to be fruitful and multiply

Women was made by mans rib

Man has a soul

Man has free willo Same as angels and different to animals

Created at the end of the sixth dayo We are the pinnacle of creationo Fleas are created before us

B) Scientific ideas about the origins of the world and of humanity:Very basic understandings of the Big Bang theory, and of Darwinianevolutionary theory

THE BIG BANG THEORY

2 atoms collide causing an explosion

Creates universe made up of particles and planets and stars

world one of the created planets, where life is sustained

The world is always expanding The world is billions of years old

DARWINIAN EVOLUTIONARY THEORY

Survival of the fittest

Some animals could not simply evolve by chance

JEWISH RESPONSES TO THE BIG BANG THEORY

Science is always changing and Torah is always the same. Scienceis therefore not consistent

Science is just a theory therefore is not always true

Adam was created with a tail, similar to evolution

Order of animals is similar to big bang theory (six days of creation)

Each day in the 6 days is 1 billion years so evolution would havehappiness

c) Jewish ideas about the place of humanity in the world and therelation between people and animals

THE PLACE OF HUMANITY IN THE WORLD

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Big bang- chance luck, survival of the fittest Rabbi Simcha Bunen says: everyone should carry in their

pockets one paper saying, I am dust and ashes and anotherpaper saying, for my sake the world was created. A wise manwill know when to use each one.

We have to have a balance between being big and being small. Wecant be too modest and we cant be too shy.

Sometimes we need to rise above all and speak up and there arealso times when silence is necessary. Balance is vital.

Mankind is last in creation. Dust and ashes Genesis: day 6

Talmud- even a flea was created before mankind- we are notimportant

THE RELATION BETWEEN PEOPLE AND ANIMALS Before the flood we were not allowed to eat meat

After the flood we were allowed to eat meat as human naturechanged but it had to be in a painless way- we have to live likehumans and not survive like animals.

Dominion over creatures - we were more important as we weremade in the image of God

Animals dont have souls

Feed animals before you eat more important

Dont plough the ox and the donkey together dont be selfish to

animals and ill treat them Animals are also made by God Jews do not cause suffering to animals

On Shabbat animals also rest

We can learn from animals

Modesty from the cat

Honesty from ant

Good manners from the cockerel

Ritual slaughter is done painlessly

God created animals therefore it is important to care for animals

Feed your animal before oneself Rebecca is the mother of the Jewish people as she gave water to

the animals

D) Jewish responses to environmental issues

For the future

In the Torah God tells Adam that he should cultivate and look afterthe land. Furthermore, there are many other laws found in the Torah

that teaches us that we should care for the land. Therefore, Jews

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should take care of the planet because God commanded us to doso.

God placed mankind in this world to look after it. Mankind doesntown the world we are like stewards/ caretakers. Therefore, Jewsmight feel they have a duty to take care of the planet because it is

not theirs. We are told in the book of Bereshit that Adam was created from the

dust. That is, we originate from the planet itself. Therefore, as wecome from the planet we should look after it

When Adam and Eve disobeyed Gods rules as to how they shouldrelate to their environment, terrible things happened and they wereexpelled from the Garden of Eden. This acts as a strong warningthat Jews should listen to Gods laws when it comes down to howtheir connect to their environment

Jews should care for the environment so that the Jewish children

can live in an environment that is sustainable and safe. God created the planet and therefore showing disrespect to the

environment is showing disrespect to God.

God created the world therefore we must respect it

World was built before man therefore we should respect it

Care for it now and people in the future can have it. Tree story

World was created for man but if it gets destroyed no one can fix it Shmittah law- shows respect to the fields

Must not cut down the fruit tree

We have to work it and guard it

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TOPIC 4:

DEATH AND THE AFTERLIFE

A) The ways in which Jews understand the relationship betweenthe body and the soul

Understand the Jewish ideas about how human beings are made up ofthe body, which is:

Physical

Finite Mortal

When you look at a tree, you dont look at the rootsDont only look at the physical being, look at the spiritual that makes thephysical- the roots in this example

Soul is:Love the God with all your heart and all your soul

Spiritual Infinitewhen Rachel died her soul left her

Immortal

God breathed life into Adam This means God gave Adam a soul

animals only physicalhumans physical and spiritualangels only spiritual

Humans are in the middle of angels and humans.

Soul yearns spirituality and the body physicality. The body thereforehas certain desires as we are half animal, but it is our half angel sidethat corrects our wrong god realises we have these desires so hegives us rules to follow.

For you are dust, and to dust you will return

A mans soul testifies during the night whatsoever he does duringthe day

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B) Understandings of heaven and Sheol

Next WorldDepending on how good you are in this world depends on how close youare to God. This is the where you will be in the world to come.Jewishteachings compare this to a theatre and God is on the stage.

The next world is:

Non physical place Different to Christians beliefs of world to come (fire in hell)

Every Jew has a place in the world to come and every Jew has toearn it

Non Jews has a portion as long as they keep the 7 Noahide Lawsrules of morality

HEAVEN

Heaven is happiness God light shines over you

Purely spiritual

No physical distractions Only righteous people go to heaven

Ramban states: 3 types of peopleo Righteous (heaven)o In between (waiting area in Shaol)o Evil (stay in Shaol)

In the World-to-Come, there will be no eating, or drinking, orprocreation, or business, or jealousy or hatred or competition, butthe righteous will sit with crowns on their heads feasting on theradiance of the Shechina the divine presence

In Paradise there are seven sections for the various types of pioussouls, and a separate

SHEOL- Not really hell- hell is a Christian concept- Sheol is a place of judgement- In Sheol you cant d Mitzvah, its too late. This is why we say Kaddish

for the dead- Longest time people are in Sheol is 12 months USUALLY. Some

people are denied e.g Hitler

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(1). It is said to be very deep(2) and it marks the point at the greatest possible distance from heaven(3). Sometimes the living are hurled into Sheol, in which cases the earth isdescribed as opening her mouth(4). Here the dead meet without distinction or rank or condition the rich

and the poor, the pious and the wicked, the old and the young, the masterand the slave. In Sheol, God is not praised(5). It is a horrible, dreary, dark, disorderly land where souls are heldcaptive with ropes(6) and return from Sheol is not expected

Corrach- went to Sheol because he was evil and he tried to rebel againstMoshe

Earth swallowed him up proves Sheol is a bad place

COMPARING HEAVEN AND SHEOL- This world is fake and in the world to come everything is clear- 2 sides of a table

- 1 side is full of a food and the person is feasting- the other side is empty- this allows the people to see what they could have had

but they didnt

NOBODY KNOWSAs for the world beyond the grave, no eye has seen, and no ear hasheard, but God alone knows what He has prepared for those who wait forHim!

C) The relation between moral behaviour and life after death

The second paragraph of Shema says if we listen to Gods voiceand the mitzvot, in return we get the land and rain in this proper

time. If we dont worship God, we wont get the land and rain. this punishment carries on in the world to come.

Gaining a place in Heaven

- Measure for measure- what we do in this world will affect us in theworld to come

- Divine omniscience- God knows everything that we do

This means we are going to get reward for what we do

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- If you intend to do something and you didnt put it into action you willstill get reward for it

- Story of a parent telling her son to shoo away the mother birdwhen taking away the egg. The child fell off the tree and died. therefore this idea works in the world to come as well as this world.

- There are certain commandments where man benefits in thisworlds but the reward lasts in the world to come.- Mishna

These are:

If you are the first person at Shul in the morning and themorning you will get honoured.

Escort the dead

Honour the dead Honour your parents

Leaning Torah is equivalent to all of this- Jews have an automatic place in the world to come but they still have to

earn it.- The more Mitzvot you do the better your chance (theatre and God on

stage)- Denying God exists and denying Torah is from heaven will not

allow you a place in the world to come.

All Israel has a share in the World to Come[however], these arethe ones who have no share in the World to Come

The road to Heaven bears signposts based upon the Torah. Those

who study the Torah will therefore be able to find their way toHeaven

Rabbi Yaakov said: This world is like a lobby before the World toCome; prepare yourself in the lobby so that you may enter thebanquet hall

D) Jewish funeral rites and mourning customs, and the ways in whichthese reflect belief and aim to support the bereaved

LAST THING TO DO BEFORE YOU DIE

Say the Shema

Rambam says you should repent the day before you die. It is not toolate to ever repent.

HOW JEWS ARE BURIED

The body should never be left alone. Soul is still there and it is

comforting for the soul to have someone with them Chevra Kadisha is the person who sits with the body.

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No post mortems allowed on the body- unless its a murder

No cutting up the body

The Chevra Kadisha washes the body, tie up the mouth,clothes thebody and prepares the funeral arrangements

Burial should take place as soon as possible after death, preferablyeven on the same day.

The coffin is a peace of wood- in Israel there is no coffin

The reason for this is that death atones for the sins of man.Therefore, the body should at the earliest moment be laid to rest.

A reason why linen shrouds are used is because flax the plantfrom which linen is derived, grows during the season of the earlyrains and is symbolic of the tree of life

We need not make monuments for the righteous their words serveas their memorial

It is improper for someone to walk in a cemetery with his Tefillin onor carrying a Sefer Torah and reading from it.

Everyone is berried in the same type of coffin this symboliseseveryone is equal

MOURNING RITESWhen Nadav and Avihu died, God ordered their brothers not to allow theirhair to grow long, and to rend their garments because of their holyoffice. This teaches that others, who are not officiating priests, in mourningfor the death of one of their family, should not cut their hair, and shouldrend their garments

David took hold on his clothes and rent them

7 people you mourn for:

Mother

Brother Sister

Father

Spouse

Son

Daughter

These people before burial are called ONEM:

During this time you are excluded from time bound Mitzvahs.

This is because you cant perform these Mitzvahs appropriatelybecause, you are angry, you have to do the funeral arrangements andyou are upset.

This comforts the relative

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La Vaya- escorting the body

Kriah tearing the clothes and wear this for 7 days

Beit Olam -the cemetery. Its not the end of the life

Tziduk Hadim- the beginning of judgement or the burial Kaddish- the prayer of belief in God

Comforting Shura- where all the omnipresent comfort you among allother mourners

Meal of consolation- this meal where the mourners eat. The food isround to represent life and its a cycle

Shiva 7 days of mourning (see below)

Shloshim- 30 days after the shiva

ORDER OF THE FUNERAL Eulogy

La vaya- (accompanying) escorting the body

Shovel the dirt onto the body- God made us out of dust so we have todie with dust.

Shiva- 7 days of Shiva

PRAYERS OF A MOURNER

Eulogy- it is a speech about the person who died.

A person must bless God for the bad just as one must bless God forthe good, as it says You shall love the Lord your God with all yourheart

The ritual of burial combines grief with consolation, mourning withacceptance.

Jews use the Hebrew word Niftar to refer to someone who haspassed away. This word is derived from patur, the Hebrew for free.It is meant to imply that the deceased has freed himself from thebonds of the world of falsehood and is entering the True World of joyand happiness

SHIVA7 days of Shiva

Order:

Should not leave the house

Community come to you

Service is at your house

Comfort the person in mourning

Shiva gives the opportunity to see the person at certain times Sit on low chairs- Job did

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After Shiva you are allowed to go back to work

Son and daughter (unless no one else can) say Kaddish for 11months

Wear leather

Shave

Do not bathe for pleasure

During 30 days

- Still do not listen to live music- Still do not shave- Dont buy new clothes

WHAT MOURNERS MAY NOT DO

Cover up the mirrors- not a time of physicality but a time of repent

Mourners may not wear leather shoes.

They should sit on the ground or on a low stool, as we read in the bookof Job So they sat down with him on the ground

They may not work

Mourners are forbidden to bathe during the seven days of mourning.

They also must not engage in marital intercourse.

Mourners may not study Torah, for the study of Torah makes a personrejoice

Should not be socialising

FOOD GIVEN TO MOURNERS

- Round food to show the cycle of life continues- Once, when Jacob was cooking a stew, Esau came in from the open,

famished. On that day Abraham our father died, and our father Jacobmade a stew of lentils to comfort Isaac his father. Why lentils? Even

as the lentil has, so to speak, no mouth [no cleft], so a mourner has nomouth [he is mute]. According to others: Even as a lentil is round, somourning comes round in turn to all who enter the world

SPECIAL MOURNING CUSTOMSThere is a custom that a candle is kept burning in the house of mourningduring the seven days of the shiva. The reason for this custom is that it issaid that the soul of the departed derives some joy and comfort from thisglowing light, as the soul of man is the lamp of the Lord

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A LIMIT FOR MOURNINGA person should not mourn too much for the deceased, and anyone whomourns too much, weeps for someone else.

Rather, there should be three days for tears, seven days for lamenting,

and thirty days to refrain from cutting the hair and wearing pressed clothes.

You are the children of the Lord, your God, you shall not cutyourself, nor make a bald patch between your eyes for the dead.This prohibition teaches Man the correct approach towards death.

THE KADDISHSome say that the Kaddish for a son who mourns his parent originated inthis way.

Why is the Kaddish recited not throughout the year of mourning but onlyfor eleven months? Tradition has it that the souls of the wicked are subjectto judgement for twelve months. The practise of reciting Kaddish for onlyeleven months implies that the children do not regard their departed parentas wicked and in need of prayer.

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TOPIC 5:GOOD AND EVIL

A) Beliefs about the goodness of God and the nature of Satan

GOODNESS OF GOD- Epitome of Good- We are the shadow of God- we cannot be God but we can follow God- God is perfect!- What ever God does is ultimately good- God passed by before [Moses] and proclaimed, God, God,

Omnipotent, merciful, and kind, slow to anger, with tremendous[resources of] love and truth. He remembers deeds of love forthousands [of generations], forgiving sin, rebellion and error

13 attributes of God

1. Mercyyou can repent for your mistakes2. Kind he visited Avram when he was sick3. Slow to anger He doesnt get angry with the Jewish people he just

gives4. CompassionateGod didnt need to choose us as the chosen people.

It was his truth5. Truthif you want to know the truth, look at the torah God is the true

judge6. Provides kindness to thousands and shares his goodness7. Forgiving of sins we do intentionally and unintentionally-8. Loving- god created the world and this is a big sign of love

NATURE OF SATAN

- We can not blame God for bad things going wrong. Man has free willand man listens to his evil inclination- SATAN

- Satan and the Yetzer and the Angel of Death are One

- In order for people to realise what good is, WE NEED EVIL

- Satan is part of God and made to show the weakness in humanity.Satan is the distraction, therefore when we do well we actually achievesomething.

- Part of Gods love is that he allows evil and free will.

- During the time of the golden calf Satan created an illusion thatMoshes coffin was going to heaven.

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- Satan tries to provoke a wrong out of us. If we dont succumb to this,then we have done well.

- Example of Satan at work is when King David was about to die, he kepttrying to distract David and he eventually died.

Satan1. Created by God2. Evil inclination3. Angel of death4. Satan5. The prosecutor on Yom Kippur6. Not the devil

B) Jewish responses to the problem of evil

If God is good then how can he let evil happen

- God creates both good and evil- God always acts for the good- Ultimately good happens in the end- The world to come is the true world- this world is not the real world and

when you get punished in this world- in the world to come it is allreward

- God is good and therefore evil cannot occur because God is good andwont allow it

- In order for god to be loving there has to be evil because part of Godslove is allowing free will to occur

- In order for us to truly appreciate the goodness in the world, we mustunderstand evil

- Were it not for the evil inclination men would not take homes, havewives, have children, and do business. People therefore would not doany of this because there is no reason to or competition. We need an

evil inclination to do well.

C) Responses to the Holocaust

- The view of the ultra orthodox people was it was a punishment becausesecular Zionism were too Zionist.

- The secular Zionist believe that we werent zionist enough. Jewishpeople forgot about the land of Israel and our need for it.

- God gave us Free will!- God did not build Auschwitz and its crematoria. Men did The

Holocaust may make faith in God difficult, but it makes faith in man

impossible- Dont blame God blame man

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ELIEZER BERKOVITSGod hides his face to give us free will

God stepped aside and allowed free will to occur. God must withdrawhimself and be silent in order for there to be proper love.

EMIL FACKENHEIM614th commandment marry Jewish, have Jewish children

You can not build your life on hatred

The holocaust was a unique event that requires a unique response. Wewant to deny a posthumous victory, therefore we should have Jewish

children and believe in God.

We are here and Nazis are no more

D) Coping with suffering through acceptance and prayer

Acceptance- you dont understand why but you just have toaccept it god acts with unity and purpose

o Rabbi Akiva everything for the best Gum Zu LTova- all for the good, I am sure there is a good

reason for this.

o Rabbi Akiva story- everything is for the best We bless the good just the same as we bless bad. When

someone dies we still bless God. We still pray every timesomething good happens and every time something badhappens

Sometimes when you have no one, you should believe in Godjust for comfort

Do Mitzvot for them

E) Discovering the right way to behave through the teachings of theTorah and Talmud

Torah is a guide to life

10 commandments

Halachic teachings- Jewish lawo Way of lifeo Knowing the right or wrong way of doing something

613 commandmentso 248 are positiveo 365 are negative

Talmud puts these rules and laws into stories

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Rabbi Simlai taught: 613 commandments were revealed to Moses; 365negative commandments. And 248 positive commandments WhenDavid [to whom authorship of the Psalms is attributed], came, he summedup the 613 commandments in eleven [ethical] principles: Lord, who maysojourn in Your tent, who may dwell on Your holy mountain?

1. He who lives without blame2. who does righteous acts3. who speaks the truth in his heart4. who tongue speaks no deceit5. who has not done harm to his fellow6. or borne reproach for [his acts toward] his neighbour7. for whom a contemptible person is abhorrent8. who honours those who fear the Lord9. who stands by his oath even when it is to his disadvantage

10. who has never lent money for interest11. or accepted a bribe against the innocent

When Isaiah came [the talmudic passage continues] he summed up the613 commandments in six [ethical] principles:

1. He who walks in righteousness2. who speaks honestly3. who spurns profit from fraudulent dealings4. who waves away a bribe instead of taking it5. whocloses his ears and doesnt listen to malicious words6. who shuts his eyes against looking at evil

The Talmud next cites Micah who summed up the 613 commandmentsin three principles:

Only to do justice,

to love goodness,

and to walk modestly with your God

Then it returns to a different verse in Isaiah, which summarizes the 613commandments in two principles:

1. Do justice2. carry out acts of righteousness (or charity)

Finally, when Habakkuk came, he summed up the 613commandmentsin one principle, for he said The righteous shall liveaccording to his faith

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Story of Hillel never gets angry proves to us that we should never getangry

You should be happy and smile

These are not Jewish laws but they are just basic general rules to be agood person.

F) The conscience

Compound conscience- good and bad free will

Children only have the bad side of the conscience when young- educationteaches them the good and this stays with them for the rest of their life.

There is no Rabbinic word for a conscience. In Judaism the conscience isnot mentioned but there are references. There are references telling us to

do the right thing

Story of Joseph getting seduced by Pottyfah wife. He thought of hisfather and resisted the seduction

This source is telling us that he is doing something wrong- conscience

Heart has to decide- conscience

We have a conscience but we cant listen to our conscience only - listen toGod

G) The reasons why Jews try to follow a moral codeIf you keep my covenant, you shall be my special treasure fromamong the nations, even though all the earth is mine- Covenant with God- Purpose of an individual is to imitate God and try and be like God- Harness all God commandments in the service of God, not in the

service of mans ego- Seta moral example to all of the nations of the world- Kingdom of Priest- The moral code is Gods way of telling us of how to follow a moral code- Every law will help us become a better person

- A Halacha will teach us how to become moral- Moral ideas to do not suffice to create moral individuals and a

moral world- You need to have a system of law in place- Judaism is an oxymoron working towards being a paradox- how

is it possible to be part of something and be separate at the same time