The Ways in Which Shabbat is Observed in Jewish Homes and in the Synagogue
Shabbat, the Jewish holy day, begins at sunset on Friday night and
ends Saturday night when the first star appears. It usually lasts 25
hours. Jewish people observe Shabbat in many different ways.
On Shabbat, Jews are forbidden to work. This is because they believe
that on their holy day they should devote themselves entirely to
praying, worshipping God and studying the Torah. Rabbi Saadia Gaon
stated that Jews must not work on the Shabbat "to achieve rest from
the abundance of one's toil…"
All preparation, such as cooking and cleaning, must be completed prior
to Shabbat because the Torah forbids work on the Jewish holy day.
Exodus 20:10-11 states "God made the seventh day holy by resting after
making the world". As the Jewish week begins on Sunday, Shabbat is the
seventh day.
On the Friday night the mother lights a candle just before sunset to
mark the beginning of Shabbat. It is the mother that does this because
home is central to Judaism and it is traditionally she who looks after
it. This Shabbat tradition is derived from the Berachah of God "King
of the universe, who hast hallowed us by the commandments, and
commanded us to kindle the Sabbath lights."
Before the Shabbat meal, the father blesses the children. This is to
pray that they will grow up to follow the examples of noble men and
women of Jewish history. The father then recites the Kiddush. This is
a blessing to thank God for giving Jews Shabbat.
The family all wash their hands. This is an act of purification. They
gather around the table while the Father recites a blessing over the
two loaves of Challot. This is another blessing to thank God, this
time for "bringing bread out of the ground" when the Jews were in the
wilderness. There a two loaves of Challot to represent the extra food
that had to be gathered the day before Shabbat so that the Jews could
rest on their holy day.
Jewish Historical Origin/ Time of Year The Jewish religious tradition of Rosh Hashanah celebrates the birthday of the world and a time of divine judgment. It is then followed by another holiday, called Yom Kippur, ten days later. These two traditions are called the High Holidays. Rosh Hashanah encapsulates four major and interconnected themes, which are: The Jewish New Year, The Day of Shofar Blowing, The Day of Remembrance, and The Day of Judgment (Layton, 2014).
only ever be a male rabbi, and all of the service will be read in
The Sadducees were one of the many distinct groups making up the Jewish faith during the first century. Their name is derived from the Greek and Hebrew languages and means the “righteous ones.” This may have been in direct relation to their belief that they were the descendants of Zadok, who was once a high priest during the reigns of King David and King Solomon and the revelation of the prophet Ezekiel advising that only those who were the “sons of Zadok” could approach God and the most do so only in the Temple. Typically wealthy aristocrats, they had supreme control over the priesthood, the Temple and how their followers viewed religion. The Torah and its strict literal interpretation were the central focus of this group as they rejected all other written and oral laws that tried to clarify, question or add to this sacred written work. They shared a special bond with the Roman forces controlling the area and benefited from this alliance allowing the Sadducees to exert their influence over political concerns for the region. They believed that Roman control protected the political ...
Orthodox Judaism centers on the belief in one, all knowing God, and adherence to a strict interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah. The belief system in Eastern Europe, before the Holocaust, intertwined religious laws with traditions, mysticism and superstitions. These beliefs carried over into patterns of daily life and influenced such things as the foods eaten, the patterns for birth and marriage and death, the clothing worn, and the role of males and females.
The Holocaust affected many individuals, but mainly the Jewish society; an individual may not realise how expansive the slaughtering of millions of Jews in the Holocaust was. In the book, And Every Single One Was Someone, the word “Jew” was repeated 4,800 times on a single page, and was concluded with a total of 6,000,000 words in the book! (Chernofsky) Not many people actually think about how big 6,000,000 people is, but this book gives a physical representation to how many innocent Jewish individuals were wrongfully killed in the Holocaust.
Shortly after Hitler's appointment as Reich Chancellor on January 30, 1933, the Reichstag (German parliament) began to institute a series of anti-Jewish decrees. Sections of these laws are quoted below:
... I had never even seen most of the food displayed, I eagerly and respectfully tried each dish. After everyone in the room sat down at the massive table, the Rabbi picked up a glass of wine and made a prayer over it. Then, Rabbi Kanelsky passed around pieces of Challah bread to the entire table. This lunch festival was yet another ceremony dedicated to one of the member’s deceased relative. At the conclusion, the Rabbi said another prayer out loud for the deceased and the relative expressed his gratitude to everyone.
It prescribes the "eternal" duties all Hindus have to follow, regardless of class or caste such as honesty, purity, and self-restraint. Hindus see themselves as not so much practicing a religion but going about a way of life. Hindu sages claim that the individual 's self-understanding determines his or her perception of the world. Hinduism is seen as such a practice that was not founded by a single being. It came about in the Common Era of world history, and was atop the aforementioned faiths along with buddhism. Hindu practices involve seeking awareness of God and sometimes also seeking blessings from Devas. As a way of expressing their religion the sing songs they call Bhajan or a devotional song. A large part of Hinduism is performing rituals. These rituals are done on a daily basis and are seen as very important to Hindus. Any type of important thing that goes on in the life of a Hindu is almost guaranteed to have a ritual
There are thousands of religions in this world, and of those, Hasidic Judaism is the most conservative. Throughout history Hasidism has not drifted from the rules and rituals of the 18th century. From the clothing, to the food, everything involved in Hasidic daily life is geared towards becoming closer to God. Around the world there are numerous Hasidic groups, and the largest population is in New York. Hasidic people live in small towns filled with members of the same group, and they all look towards their rebbe for guidance. The rebbe or the rabbi is the teacher of his followers and is responsible for inspiring his people. For Hasidic people everyday they must live by the 613 commandments of the Torah. Hasidic history, study, clothing, food, and communities prove that Hasidic Judaism is the most conservative and orthodox branch of religion for its time.
I am a very spiritual person and am always interested in learning about other religions, especially the three monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I feel I have an adequate knowledge of Christianity and Islam, but I do not know much about Judaism. This paper will focus on the questions I have about Judaism. I have always wanted to know the fundamental beliefs of Judaism. I want to know how many Jews there are in the United States and in the world. I often see Orthodox Jewish men wearing yarmulkes and prayer shawls, and I wonder what is the purpose of wearing these. And finally, I wanted to know what is the role of women in Judaism.
within 24 hours but not on a Shabbat or on the first day of any
All the religion's are based on methodology. Some religions believe that by praying once a day will bring them closer to God, and some think praying five times a day will bring them closer to God. For example, Hindus have a day called Carva Choth, Muslims have Ramadan, and the Jews have Yom Kippur. They all have different purposes for fasting, but there is one thing in common, which is a connection through humans to God. In World War Two, the Nazi Germans captured all the Jewish people and put them in concentrations camps, also known as the "Holocaust." By Fasting and linking to God by prayers, they asked God for forgiveness for all their sins they have committed. At that time Fasting had multipurpose, it showed the Germans that not everything can be taken away from the Jewish people, because they believe in God.
Their general attitude is that they are above no one. The Jewish culture believes it is very important to be open, good hearted, and considerate to those around ("Culture and Customs"). The Jewish also have many different greetings they use in their everyday lives. The most common is “Shalom”, which means hello or goodbye ("Expressions and Greeings"). Since the sabbath day is very holy in the Jewish culture, wishing someone “savua tov”, would be to wish someone a good week after a sabbath service (“Expressions and Greetings").
The chef in the Indian family, Hassan Kadam, has certain ways to handle the food and present it. The Indian culture uses many herbs and spices which is how he finds the perfect taste in every dish. He strives to make every dish a warm and delightful feeling which is very important to Hassan’s culture. Most of the food he served had bread with it, mostly a certain type called naan. The families who were eating, use the bread as utensils because that is proper etiquette within their beliefs. They would also eat in certain orders in the ranking of the family No matter what food was made in the Indian kitchen, there was also something unique about the dish.