Judaism 101 - Hon. Holocaust/Human Behavior Seminar

What is "ethical Monotheism"?

- belief in one God

- code of conduct to live by

What defines being a Jew?

- do not go out + convert

- not a monolithic region + is de-centralized

- basis for 3 modern religions

- if you're mom's a jew, you're a jew (matrilineal)

Orthodox Jews (Heredi)

- most strict of all Jews

- believe Torah strictly

- men wear white shirts + black pants + have drip curls

- might go to Church everyday

- always cover their head

- don't have Barmitzvah

Conservative Jews

- want to stay Jewish but you have to fit in in the modern world

- keep tradition but try to fit in the modern world

- follow Holy Days and go to Temple

- very strict

Reformed Jews

- Jewish but more assimilated in America or Israel

- might eat pork or fish

- Jewish but more laid back

- most Jewish in America are reformed

- only really go to Synagogue for Holy Days

- have Bar/Bat mitzvahs

- pretty laid back

Mezuzah

- little box affixed to a door post that contains a piece of parchment of a Torah stanza

- when they leave the house they kiss their hand and touch it

- very important to have it in their house

Tefillin

leather boxes that Jewish people wear on their head and on their arm and they contain words from the Torah

(God is always on their mind and in their hearts)

Tallit

prayer shawl

Tzitzit

knotted fringes/tassels on the 4 corners of a tallit

Yarmulke

- skull cap worn by Jewish men

- always cover your head as a devotion to God

Menorah

7 or 9 branched candle holder

Magen David

- 6 pointed star of David

- ~400 years old

Chai

Hebrew word for life

What does "Kosher" (Kashrut) mean?

- Jewish dietary laws about what foods they're allowed to eat, and not allowed to eat

- Don't eat pork, shellfish, anything that lives at the bottom of the ocean

Challah

braided egg bread eaten on the Sabbath + Holy Days

Matzah

- cracker

- type of bread

- eaten during passover

Shul (a Yiddish term) for a

Synagogue

Torah

- foundational texts of Islam

- written in Hebrew

- Sacred, put in a tabernacle-like structure

5 books of the Torah

- Genesis, Leviticus, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Talmud

- large group/quantity of interpretations of the Torah

- they add to it all the time

The Sabbath is:

- 7th day God rested

- Sabbath day

The Sabbath runs from_______________ on ____________________ to _______________ on ______________________.

The Sabbath runs from SUNDOWN on FRIDAY to SUNDOWN on SATURDAY

Rosh Hashanah

- Jewish New Year

- beginning of the Holy Day period

Yom Kippur

- Day of Atonement

- sit back and you think of what you've done wrong and try to make up for it

Chanukah

- celebration that Jews still survived

- symbolic of oil lamp being lit + lasting 8 days

- Also called Hannukah

Purim

Holy Day that commemorates the Jews are still around

- usually in the spring

Pesach

- Passover

- Put blood on your doorpost + God will "Pass over" you

- Sader meal

- Child gets to read special passage from the Torah

Tisha B'Av (9th day of Av)

- Major Jewish holiday commemorating Jewish tragedies

- When Bahalonians got to Egypt and destroyed the temple

The Golem is:

- animated monster made of clay

- written "life" on forehead + came to life + protected people in the Ghetto + then it woke up and revolted and erased life on his forehead + he turned to dust

- Moral: Jews needed protection throughout history, but they don't get it

Birth/Circumcision

- circumcise a baby boy on the 8th day of his life

- big deal about covenant

Bar Mitzvah / Bar Mitzvah

ceremony for boys and girls when they turn 12 and become and adult in the eyes of the Church

Jewish Marriage + Divorce

- don't want others to marry outside the religion because then their kids won't be Jewish

- Get married under a hoopa, a guy takes a glass and puts it under a piece of a cloth and steps on it --> reminds you that on the happiest day of your life that you're still alive

- matchmaker + arranged marriages, common in older times

- Divorce - get a divorce document

- annulment - act like the marriage never happened

A Mikveh is:

- ritual bath

- go there at times through your life

- prayerful hot tub

- people go there before they get married

- women go there after their period or childbirth

- usually women go, but men can do it too

burial practices

- buried within 24 hours of death because of the hot climate

- body is washed and prayers are said

- use a burial committee

- wrapped in a shroud and sometimes put in a casket or just buried in the shrowd

Sheva

7-day long mourning period

- wear black

Mourner's Kaddish (Sh'ma Israel)

- prayer recited by mourners

- during mourning period + anniversary of the persons death

- written in Aramaic

- does not focus on the death

Jahrzeit

- Anniversary of a persons death

- light a memorial candle

Sitting Sheva

seven-day mourning period

- mourners stay at home and receive visits from friends and family

- after these 7 days they are expected to move on with their lives

Mitzveh / Mitzvot (pl.)

means good deed or literally a commandment

How many "mitzvot" are there?

613 (commandments) in the Torah

What is Klezmer music?

style of Jewish music from Eastern Europe really associated with Ashkenazi Jewish communities

Ashkenazi Jews are Jews from _____________?

Eastern Europe

Sephardic Jews are Jews from _________________?

- Spain

- Portugal

- Mediterranean region

Unique traits of the Hebrew Alphabet:

- 22 letters written from right to left

- no upper case letters

- no vowels --> instead they put sound signs

What is Yiddish? Give a few examples

- language created by the Ashkenazi Jews

- Most of the language came from German + Hebrew

Ex's:

- Mazel-tov!

- Putz

- Mensch

- They always answer a question with a question