Faith at a glance:

Judaism

Background

The historical roots of Judaism are traced by Jews to a covenant, through which God established a permanent relationship with the community. This was first of all through Abraham, the first patriarch, and then through Moses who led the descendents of Abraham out of slavery in Egypt and into the desert where they received the Law at Mount Sinai.This Exodus of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt is constitutive of the Jews as a people.  

After forty years wandering in the desert, the sons of the liberated slaves conquered the land of Canaan which they believed was promised to them by God. The kingdom of David, established about 1000bce, and the building of the first Temple in Jerusalem by his son, Solomon was a defining moment of Jewish history.  

Warfare and exile followed, but after exile came the Return and the rebuilding of the Temple, powerful assurances of divine faithfulness.After the destruction of the Temple by the Romans in 70ce the Jewish people became dispersed through many lands, and many traditions developed, but they always remained faithful to their heritage as people of the Covenant.

After the Second World War, during which about six million Jews were murdered by the Nazi regime in Germany, the state of Israel was founded so that the Jewswould not be without a homeland.

Torah and Halakah

Torah is the Law given to Moses on Mount Sinai, and contained in the five books of Moses.

The Law includes 613 mitzvot, obligations commanded by God, which form the basis of  the relationship between God and the people. Jewish family and community life is governed by the Halakhah, the legal system that interprets and rules upon the Law and its practice in everyday life.

The rite of circumcision is used to initiate Jewish baby boys into the covenant when they are eight days’ old. At the age of thirteen, Jewish boys celebrate their Barmitzvah, at which they become full and responsible ‘sons of the commandment’.

In Progressive Judaism this has a parallel in the Batmitzvah ceremony by which Jewish girls are made ‘daughters of the commandment’.

To remind Jews of their obligations and of Torah, Jewish homes have on their door frames a mezuzah or parchment scroll in a small box, which contains the opening verses of the Shema, or essential Jewish prayer:

 Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart,
with all your mind and with all your strength.

Scriptures

The Jewish scriptures, the Tanakh, consists of the Torah, the five books of Moses:

• Genesis 
• Exodus
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy

plus the Nevi'im, the prophetic books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and others; and the Ketuvim, the Writings,  books such as Joshua, Judges, Samuel and Kings; other texts like Ruth and Esther; and also the Psalms, Proverbs and Song of Songs.

Talmud

The living tradition of the Jewish people is collected in the Talmud, and Orthodox Jews believe this tradition includes material also revealed at Sinai and preserved in the oral tradition. The Talmud is organised into two parts, the Mishnah and the Gemara.

The Mishnah comprises six sedarim, or orders:

• zera'im, which contains prayers and agricultural laws
• mo'ed, which treats matters concerned with the Shabbat and festivals
• nashim, which covers marital and divorce laws
• nezikin, which is a book of civil and criminal law
• kodashim, which contains the laws of sacrifice and Temple ritual
• tohorot, which contains laws on personal and religious purity.

The Gemara comments on, and discusses, the Mishnah and much else.

Memorials and festivals

 The Jews celebrate the escape of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt each year at Passover, a family gathering and festive meal that includes a retelling of the story so that in each generation the children learn that this is their story.

The High Holy Days are the ten days between the festival of Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, and the fast on the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur.

In recent times Holocaust Memorial Day, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz on 27th January 1945, has become a time of remembrance for Jews and others in solidarity with them.