“The People of the Covenant”

Judaism Covenant is defined as an agreement,

usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not do something specified.

Covenants can be conditional or unconditional

○ Unconditional – Noah through the rainbow that signalled the end of the flood,

God promised to never flood the earth again

○ Conditional – Moses on Mount SinaiIsraelites obey the Law/Torah/10 Commandments, then

they would be God’s “treasured possessions”

Judaism

1Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house,To a land that I will show you.2   I will make you a great nation; I will bless you  And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing.3  I will bless those who bless you,And I will curse him who curses you;And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 6Abram passedthrough the land to the place of Shechem, as far as £the terebinth tree ofMoreh. And the Canaanites were then in the land. 7Then the Lordappeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.”And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.

Genesis 12:1-3,6-7

Abrahamic Covenant:

Judaism

Yahweh (YHWH)○ a single, omniscient, omnipotent, benevolent,

transcendent God, who created the universe and continues to govern it

○ YHWH is written, but considered too holy to be spoken (The Lord, Master of the Universe)

Torah – “The Law”Written Torah

○ Pentateuch (first 5 books of the Tanakh/ Bible)- Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

- Revealed to Moses on Mount Sinai

Judaism Oral Torah○ Moses received an oral as well as the written

Torah from God at Mount Sinai○ The teachings of the rabbis

Rabbi – teacher

Mishnah (200 A.D.)Transcription of oral tradition

Talmud Record of Rabbinic discussions and interpretationsTalmud is still being interpreted and reinterpreted to

this day

Judaism13 Principles of Faith

1. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name is the Creator and Guide of everything that has been created; He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.

2. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name is One, and that there is no unity in any manner like His, and that He alone is our God, who was, and is, and will be.

3. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, has no body, and that He is free from all the properties of matter, and that there can be no comparison to Him whatsoever.

4. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the first and the last.

5. I believe with perfect faith that to the Creator, Blessed be His Name, and to Him alone, it is right to pray, and that it is not right to pray to any being besides Him.

6. I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the prophets are true.

7. I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, was true, and that he was the chief of the prophets, both those who preceded him and those who followed him.

Judaism8. I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that is now in our

possession is the same that was given to Moses our teacher, peace be upon him.

9. I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be exchanged, and that there will never be any other Torah from the Creator, Blessed be His Name.

10. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, knows all the deeds of human beings and all their thoughts, as it is written, "Who fashioned the hearts of them all, Who comprehends all their actions" (Psalms 33:15).

11. I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, rewards those who keep His commandments and punishes those that transgress them.

12. I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah; and even though he may tarry, nonetheless, I wait every day for his coming.

13. I believe with perfect faith that there will be a revival of the dead at the time when it shall please the Creator, Blessed be His name, and His mention shall be exalted for ever and ever.

Judaism Holidays

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement)○ Holiest day of the year○ 25 hour fast from sunset to nightfall○ Public and private confession after which one is considered to be

absolved by God Hanukkah (Festival of Lights)

○ Commemorates the Maccabee miracle of the day supply of oil that lasted 8 days

○ Candles light for eight days on a menorah. Pesach (Passover)

○ festival commemorating God sparing the Jews when He killed the first born of Egypt.

○ Followed by the seven day Feast of the Unleavened Bread○ No leavened food is eaten during the week of Pesach, in

commemoration of the fact that the Jews left Egypt so quickly that their bread did not have enough time to rise.

Judaism Sabbath

○ Day of rest○ Begins before sundown on Friday night to

shortly after sundown Saturday night○ During the Sabbath Jews are forbidden to

engage in any activity that falls under 39 categories of "work"

○ The activities banned on the Sabbath are not "work" in the usual sense: ○ lighting a fire, writing, using money, carrying in the

public domain ○ The prohibition of lighting a fire has been

extended in the modern era to driving a car, which involves burning fuel, and using electricity.

Judaism Kosher

Jewish dietary laws Abstaining from consuming birds, beasts that prey on

other animals, and creatures that roam the sea floor eating the excretions of other animals.

prohibitions exist on eating pork (unclean animal) and seafood (Animals with cloven hooves that 'chew the cud'* are 'kosher'.  This means Jews can eat sheep, cows, goats and deer.)

Meat is ritually slaughtered meat and milk are not eaten together

based on the biblical injunction against cooking a kid in its mother's milk.

Jews should not put anything into their mouths that involves spiritual "negatives" such as pain, sickness, uncleanliness, or cruelty to animals.

Judaism

Yarmulke○ Skullcap worn by male○ "Cover your head in order that the fear of

heaven may be upon you“ (Talmud)

Bar/Bat Mitzvah○ Jewish coming of age ceremony○ 13th birthday after which they undertake the

religious responsibilities of an adult

world population of Jews is 13.2 million

Judaism

According to traditional Jewish Law, a Jew is anyone born of a Jewish mother or converted to Judaism

○ Traditional Judaism maintains that a Jew, whether by birth or conversion, is a Jew forever

Judaism The Holocaust (1933-1945)

○ “The Final Solution of the Jewish Question” No accurate account of how many Jews

were slaughtered during the Holocaust, but it is estimated at 6,000,000; 3 million at Auschwitz alone

In total it is estimated that 9 – 15 million people who did not fit into Hitler’s ideal of the “master race” were slaughtered

Auschwitz was operated by Heinrich Himmler’s SS;

Heinrich was hanged at the entrance of the Auschwitz crematorium in 1947

Judaism

1. Anti-Semitism

2. Covenant

3. Holocaust

4. Kabbalah

5. Sabbath

6. Torah

7. Talmud

8. Rabbi

9. Tanakh

10. Yom Kippur

Define the following terms: