Judaism in the Diocesan Guidelines for RE
Transcript of Judaism in the Diocesan Guidelines for RE
JudaismintheDiocesanGuidelinesforRE
InformationforKS1teachers
Whatarethe‘bigideas’inJudaism?
JewsbelieveinOneEternalGod,whoisthegiverofall
lifeandhasapurposefortheworld.Jewsbelievethat
theyaredescendantsofAbraham,chosenbyGodto
showwhatheislike.JewstrytoliveaccordingtoGod’s
lawsintheTorah,whichareunchangeable,butcanbe
interpretedforthepresent.Torahreadingisan
essentialpartofsynagogueworship,andwillbethe
mostvaluableandsacredobjectinthesynagogue.
Jewishworshipisalsocentredonthehome:oftenitwill
belightingcandlesonFridaynightandwelcoming
Shabbat.ForJewslifeitselfisareligiousceremony:
livingaccordingtotheTorahandcarryingoutthe
mitzvoth(commandments)areallaformofworship.
BelongingisakeyconceptforJews,asbeingaJew
makessomeonepartofacommunity&atraditionas
wellasareligion.Therearemanyfestivalsduringthe
Jewishyear,manyofwhicharebasedinhome-life.
Throughthem,Jewskeeptheirhistoryaliveand
rememberwhattheeventshavetaughtthemabout
God.
KS1OSU:Why
doJewish
families
celebrate
Hanukkah?
Sh'maYisra'eilAdonaiEloheinu
Adonaiechad.
Hear,OIsrael:TheLordisourGod,
theLordisone.
WhatdoIneedtoknowaboutJudaism?Judaism is not just a religion, but can also be understood as a tradition and a cultural
identity.SomeJewsmightidentifythemselvesasbelongingtothenationofIsrael,somemay
practise Judaismasa religionandothers choose to recognise their ‘Jewishness’ through thekeepingof
culturaltraditions,religiousorsecular.AccordingtoJewishlaw(Halakah),aJewisanyonewhosemotherisJewish,
orhaschosentobecomeaJewbyconvertingtotheJewishreligion,regardlessofpersonalbeliefsorobservanceof
Jewish laws. The Jewishpeopleare very family-orientated, and this is reflectedboth in the celebrationofweekly
Shabbat,festivalsthroughouttheJewishyearandaproudtraditionofcaringinstitutions.Shabbatandfestivalsare
celebratedbothinthehomeandinthesynagogue.Although(throughthepartoftheBiblethatChristianscallthe
‘OldTestament’)Christianitysharesmanystories(anditsroots)withJudaism,itisimportantthattheJewishreligion
istaughtinitsownright:theNewTestamentisnotpartofJewishreligiousteaching.
MuchofJewishhistory isconnectedwiththestruggleof Israelandtheir identityasapeople.TheTorahdescribes
thisearlyhistoryfromtheCreation,andcontainskeyeventssuchastheExodus(theescapefromslavery inEgypt
under the leadership of Moses), the building of a portable sanctuary in the desert, and the Tenakh tells of the
establishment of the Temple in Jerusalem. The Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE, and the Jews were exiled to
Babylonia.Re-settlementandtherebuildingoftheTemplecommencedabout70years later. In70CEtheRomans
destroyedthesecondTemple,andovermanycenturiestheJewsweredispersedthroughouttheworld.
Since 1948, the foundation of the State of Israel has provided a beacon of hope for a people nearly
destroyed by the Nazis in Hitler's Germany. The Holocaust and the systematic murder of 6,000,000
Jewishmen,womenandchildren isapermanentreminderof theevilsof racism.HolocaustMemorial
Dayhasbeenmarkedeveryyearfromtheyear2000,onJanuary27th,andnotonlycommemoratesthe
WWIIHolocaustbutprovidesopportunityforremembranceofothergenocidessince.Moreinformation
abouttheHolocaust,andtheHolocaustMemorialDaycanbefoundontheTrustwebsite:www.hmd.org.uk.
WhatdoJewsbelieve?Key beliefs in Judaism are expressed in the shema, the first
prayer intheTorah,whichisalsoadeclarationofwhatJews
believe. It is the oldest prayer in Judaism and is recited by
Jews morning and night. The complete text of the shema
comes from three places in the Torah: the book of
Deuteronomy (6:4-9 and 11:13-21) and the book of
Numbers (15:37-41). It is theshemathat isplaced insidea
mezuzah and nailed to the right-hand doorposts in Jewish
homes as a reminder their faith and in obedience to the command to ‘…write them on the
doorpostsofyourhouseandonyourgates.’(Deut.6:9)Anothercommandwithinthisportionof
textgivesrisetothewearingoftefillin:‘youshallbindthemonyourhandandtheyshallbefor
youareminderbetweenyoureyes.’
There are two main branches of Judaism, with some significant differences between
different types of Jew: Orthodox and Progressive (also known as reform or liberal).
OrthodoxJewsbelievethat theTorahcontainstheexactwordsofGod,andfollowthe
rules laid out in the Torah very closely as outlined in the Talmud (oral Jewish laws,
writtendown),whereasProgressiveJewsbelievethattheirreligionneedstomovewith
thetimesandthatsomereligiouspracticesneedtobereformedtofitwiththemodern
world. Jewsbelieve their special relationshipwithGod is expressed in the613Mitzvot
(laws).Eachofthese613mitzvotcanbeplacedunderoneoftheTenCommandments,whichweregiventoMoses
byGod(Exodus20),andwhichdefinelifeforaJewishperson.JewsalsobelievethatGod'sspecialrelationshipwith
all humanity is expressed throughobedience to the sevenNoachide laws (Genesis 9),when, after the flood,God
madeacovenantwithNoah,andthatthepurposeofJudaismistherepairoftheworld.
The Tenakh ismadeupof threebooks; in fact, theword ‘TeNaKh’ is an acronym for the three
different parts: ‘T’ for Torah, ‘N’ for Nev’im (the Prophets) and ‘K’ for Ketuvim (other sacred
writings, includingstoriesfromJewishhistory,amongstthemthebooksofRuth, Job,Estherand
thePsalms).TheTorah,which istheHebrewwordfor ‘teachings’, isthemost importantportion
forJews.TheTorahisthefirstfivebooksoftheTenakh(Genesis-Deuteronomy)andcontainsthe
storyofGod’scovenantwithhispeoplefromthetimeofAbraham.ItisthroughAbrahamandhis
descendantsthatGodwouldblessthenationsandshowthemwhatGodis like.TheTorah,whichwasrevealedby
GodtoMosesonMt.Sinai, is thecentralcore foundationof Jewish life,andsetsoutpractical rulesandguidance
(includingtheTenCommandments)forallaspectsofdailyindividual,familyandcommunitylife.TheTorahiswritten
inHebrew,whichisreadfromrighttoleft(NBnot‘backwards’!)Asofer,aJewishscribe,will
hand-write theTorahon sectionsofparchment that are then stitched
together to form a long scroll, which, if unrolled, would stretch the
lengthofafootballpitch.ATorahscrollcostsinexcessof£25,000,will
takeasoferaroundayeartocomplete:ifanymistakesaremadewhen
writingGod’snameinthescroll,theTorahwillbegivenaburial,justlikeaperson.ATorahis
themostpreciousobjectthatanysynagoguewillown,andisdressedupwhennotinuseina
covercalledamantle,abreastplatebearingsymbolismrelatingtoancientJewishpriesthood
andapairoffinials,‘theCrownoftheLaw’,calledrimmonim(pictured,left)whichsitoverthetop
ofthehandleswhenthescrollisrolledup.‘Rimmonim’isHebrewforpomegranates,whichis
animportantsymbolinJudaismastheyaresaidtocontain613seeds,oneforeverycommandment(ormitzvot)in
theTorah.ThebellsthatareapartoftherimmonimprovideanauditorysignalthattheTorahisbeingtakenoutof
thespecialcupboard,theArk,whereitiskeptinthesynagogueuntilitisread.OnShabbat,theTorahisprocessed
outoftheArk,andportionsarereadaccordingtothepassageforthatweek,sothatitwillbereadcompletelyover
time(ayearforOrthodoxJews,3yearsforReform).TheprocessionoftheTorahbacktotheArktakesthelongest
route to involve thewhole community. Simchat Torah is a joyful and noisy Jewish holiday at the end of Sukkot
centredontheTorah,markingtheendoftheyearlycycleofsynagogueTorahreadings,duringwhichtheTorah is
paraded/dancedaroundthesynagoguebeforethefinalversesofDeuteronomy,thenthefirstversesinGenesis,are
read.AtSimchatTorah,itistraditionaltoeatfoodsthatarerolled,liketheTorah!
ThenameofGod,YHWH(inHebrew,right) issoholythatitisonlypermissibletospeakitonce
a year, on the Jewish Day of Atonement. The name ‘Adonai’ (Master) or ‘Lord’ is more
frequentlyusedbyJews.ThenameYHWHmeans‘IAM’,whichiswhatGodtoldMoseswhen
herevealedHimselfintheburningbush,andspeaksofHiseternalnature.Whenwrittenintranslation,vowelsare
oftenomitted,asHebrewdoesn’thaveany,soyoumightsee‘G_d’(whichisnotaname)or‘L_RD’(alwayswritten
incapitals).JewsbelievethatGodisOneandthatHeistheCreatoroftheworldwhocaresforallHisCreation.Much
ofGod’scharacterisrevealedbythetitlesheisgiveninthebooksoftheTenakh,suchasElohim(Authority),Shaddai
(Almighty),Elyon(MostHigh)andAvinu(ourFather).
Abraham:JewsbelievetheyaredescendantsofAbraham,whoabandonedthe
polytheisticidol-worshipofhisancestorstofollowtheOneEternalGod,leaving
his home inUr andbecoming anomad.God’s covenantpromise toAbraham
describeshowAbrahamwillhavemanydescendants,whichwasbroughtabout
through the birth of his son, Isaac, and by Abraham’s faithfulness to God as
demonstrated in the story of the sacrifice of Isaac in Genesis 22. Through
Abraham’ssonIsaac,theprophetandleaderoftheJewishpeople,Moses,was
born.
WhyshouldJews‘remember’?
Thecommand to ‘remember’ isgivenmany times throughout theTorah,and indeed, the
datingof theJewishcalendar isconnectedwiththe importanceofrememberinghowthe
worldbegan,as thedate represents thenumberofyearssince thecreation,currently (in
2016),5776.ManyJews(frombothbranchesofJudaism)wouldsuggestthatthe‘days’inthecreationaccountare
not24hourperiods,buttimeperiods:othersmightsaythatthesixdaysareliteral.Throughouttheirhistory,God
gave his people the command to ‘remember’: in the Ten Commandments, Jews are told to remember how they
wereslaves,andtheweeklycelebrationofShabbator‘Sabbath’,theJewishdayofrest,isareminderthatonlyfree
people can choose to rest in this way.Many other Jewish festivals and celebrations aremarked because of the
commandto‘remember’.
Awindowon…..Shabbat,the‘DayofDelight’Aftercreatingtheworld,Godrestedontheseventhday,astheaccountinthe
book ofGenesis relates. For Jews, celebratingShabbat is a reminder of this,
but also a direct command within the Ten Commandments. Shabbat starts on Friday at
Iwillmakeyouagreatnation,
andIwillblessyou;Iwillmake
yournamegreat,andyouwill
beablessing.Iwillblessthose
whoblessyou,andwhoever
cursesyouIwillcurse;andall
thepeoplesoftheearthwillbe
blessedthroughyou.Genesis12:1-3
Rememberthatyouwereslavesin
EgyptandthattheLordyourGod
broughtyououtoftherewitha
mightyhandandanoutstretched
arm.ThereforetheLordyourGod
hascommandedyoutoobservethe
Sabbathday.
Deuteronomy5:15
sunset,(allJewish‘days’runfromsunsettosunset)andallchoresmustbecompleted
beforetheninorderforthegiftofthedayofresttobegin.Jewishfamilieswillgather
in their homes and share a meal together, during which the symbolic lighting and
blessing of two candles takes place and they share wine and two special, plaited
loavescalledchallah.Thereare twoasa reminder thatShabbat isnoordinaryday,
butalsorelatingbacktotheexodusfromEgyptandmannainthedesert,whenGod
wouldprovidethemwithdoubleportionsonShabbat.Thismealisaleisurelyaffair,a
markedcontrasttothebusy-nessoflifeonotherdays.JewishfamiliesoftenattendsynagogueonSaturday,usingan
orderofservicesetoutintheJewishprayerbook,calledthesiddur.Backinthehome,asduskfalls,thereisanother
symbolic ceremony, calledhavdalah,marking the end of Shabbat. Havdalahmeans ‘separation’ and involves the
lightingofaplaitedcandlewith6wicksandsmellingsweetspices:bothsymbolising thehopethat thesweetness
andlightofShabbatwilllastthroughthecomingweek.
TheoptionalstudyunitatKS1focusesonthecelebrationofHanukkah,whichlastsfor8daysand
takesplaceinthedarkwintermonths.Asafestivalofremembrance,itiscommonforchildrento
receivepresentseachnightandforfamiliestolightcandlesonan8-
branched candelabra called a hanukiah, with one more candle
beinglitoneachnightsothatitisfullyilluminatedbythefinalnight
ofthefestival.Thedreidelgame(pictured, left)islinkedtothestoryofthe
miracleof theoil– ‘agreatmiraclehappened there’–which is found in the
Books of the Maccabees, not in the Torah, and is a traditional part of this Jewish
celebration.VersionsofthestorycanbefoundintheResourcessectionbelow.
Usefulweb-basedresourcesforteachersandclassrooms:• www.reonline.org.ukGreatforbackgroundknowledge,withlotsoflinkstoclassroomresourcesviaasearchtool.Usethe
‘Knowing’tabtofindoutwhatyouwanttoknow,ortryhere:www.reonline.org.uk/knowing/what-re/judaism/
• REOnlinealsohavesomelessonideas(searchfor‘REBanquet’),butensureyoumatchtotheDiocesanCoreKnowledge
objectives.
• Thereisalsoplentyofinformationforteachersathttp://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/andtheJewishWayof
Liferesourceshttp://www.reonline.org.uk/specials/jwol/containsmaterialsforteachersandpupils.ItfeaturestwoJewish
children,SarahandDavid,whotellusallabouttheirfaiththroughamixofphotos,soundandwords.
• TwosacredstoriesfromJudaism(oneofthemisHanukkah)featureontheBritishLibrarywebsite:
www.bl.uk/learning/cult/sacred/stories/Anotherusefulversionforteacherscanbefoundat:
http://www.history.com/topics/holidays/hanukkah
• ChildsEyemediasellgreatDVDssupportinglearningaboutfestivals,oneofwhichfocusesonHanukkah.Theyareverywell
filmed,andincludemanydifferentaspectsofreligiouslifeinBritain.EachDVDalsohasadaptableandcreativeresource
materials.Theseareavailablefororderfrom:http://www.childseyemedia.com/festivals-p-195.html
• MyLife,MyReligion’canbefoundasindividualclips,andascompleteprogrammesat
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05pc1c9AlthoughtheseprogrammesareaimedatKS2pupils,manywouldbe
suitableforKS1,withsometeacherinput.ThereareplentyofclipsaboutJudaismonthissitethatwouldbesuitableto
supporttheDiocesanunits,notably‘Shabbat’,‘Torah’and‘Chanukah’.
• TherearealsoclipsyoucanviewonlinefromthePathwaysofBelief(http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zyxn34j)and
PlacesforWorshipDVDsets,suchasShabbat:http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/clips/zyxn34j
• ThereisacompleteglossaryofJewishtermsavailableontheDiocesanwebsite:
http://www.cofeguildford.org.uk/education/our-school-services/re/new-guidelines/materials-for-re-subject-leadersScroll
downtofindtheglossary!
• ‘SammySpider’sFirstShabbat’(ISBN:978-1-58013-006-6)and‘SammySpider’sFirstHanukkah’(ISBN:9780929371467)
arelovelyKS1-friendlypicturebooksaboutaspiderwholivesinaJewishhousehold
• RETodayhavepublishedsupportmaterialsforteachingJudaism:‘OpeningupJudaism’,
http://shop.retoday.org.uk/9781905893553
• Forteachersubjectknowledge,the‘ReligionstoInspiRE’seriesofKS3teacherandpupilhandbookscomehighly
recommended.Whilsttheteacherhandbook(at£65,veryexpensive!)dealswithteachingJudaismtoKS3-agedpupils,the
pupilbooksareveryusefulfor‘readingup’onareligion,andmorereasonablypriced,at£11.99.TheISBNnumberforthe
Judaismpupilversionis:978-1-444-12224-4.
• PhotopacksandbookstosupportteachingaboutJudaismcanbefoundinandborrowedfromtheResourcesCentre.
ThetwocompulsoryJudaismunitsatKS1explorekeyJewishbeliefsabouttheTorahanditsimportanceinJewishlifeandthegift
oftheSabbathtoJews.TheywillbebuiltoninKS2bytwounits:onefocussingonothersignificantfestivalswithinJudaismand
howtheyhelptocreateasenseofJewishidentity;theotheronhowthelayoutanduseofasynagogueasaplaceofprayer,study
andcommunityhelpsusunderstandwhatJewsbelieve.Thereisalsoanoptionalstudyunit‘WhatdoesitmeantobeaJew?’It’s
vitalthatthecontentwithintheseunitsisnotexploredatKS1aswell!YoucanviewthemontheDiocesanwebsite.