JUDAISM AND The presentation was prepared

JEWISH TRADITIONS by Alexander Yastrebinskii.

 JUDAISM
This is the religious, national and ethical worldview of the Jewish people, one of the oldest
monotheistic religions of mankind comes from the name of the Jewish tribe of Judah, the
most numerous among the 12 tribes of Israel, as described in the Bible. King David came
from the family of Judah, under whom the Jewish-Israelite kingdom reached its highest
power. All this led to the privileged position of the Jews: the term “Jew” is often used as
equivalent to the word “Jew”. In a narrow sense, Judaism is understood as a religion that
arose among the Jews at the turn of the 1st-2nd millennium BC. In a broad sense, Judaism is
a complex of legal moral, ethical, philosophical and religious concepts that determine the
way of life of the Jews.
Followers of Judaism call themselves Jews. When asked where Judaism originated,
both historians and theologians answer in the same way: in Palestine.

The history of Judaism is divided into the

following major periods of development:
"Biblical" Judaism (XX century BC - VI
century BC),
Judaism of the Second Temple (VI century
BC - II century AD),
Talmudic Judaism (II century AD - XVIII
century AD),
Modern Judaism (from 1750 to the present)
The main idea of ​Judaism is the idea of ​God's
chosenness of the Jews. God is one, and he singled out
one people - the Jews, to help them and transmit their
will through his prophets. The symbol of this
chosenness is the circumcision rite performed on all
male infants on the eighth day of their life. The basic
commandments of Judaism, according to tradition, were
transmitted by God through Moses. They contain both
religious precepts: not to worship other gods; not to
mention the name of God in vain; keep the Sabbath day,
on which you cannot work, and moral standards: honor
your father and mother; do not kill; do not steal; not
commit adultery; not give false testimony; do not desire
anything that your neighbor has.
The sacred books of Judaism can be
divided into three groups.
The first group includes one book-volume,
which is called the word Torah (translated
from Hebrew - "Law").
The second group again includes only one
book-volume: Tanakh.
The third group includes a certain number of
books-volumes (and each volume contains a
certain number of works).
This collection of sacred books is called the
Talmud (Study). All copies of the Torah from
ancient times to the present day are written by
hand on leather. The Torah is kept in
synagogues in a special cabinet.
For example, Jews must abide by food prohibitions. The
largest of them are three.
First, they cannot eat the meat of those animals that are called
unclean in the Torah. The list of unclean animals based on the
study of the Torah is compiled by the rabbis. It includes, in
particular, pigs, hares, horses, camels, crabs, lobsters, oysters,
shrimps, etc.
Secondly, they are forbidden to eat blood. Therefore, you can
only eat bloodless meat. Such meat is called “kosher”
(“kosher” is translated from Hebrew as “suitable”, “correct”).
Thirdly, it is forbidden to take meat and dairy foods at the
same time (for example, dumplings with sour cream). If the
Jews first ate dairy food, then before eating meat they must
either rinse their mouths or eat something neutral (for
example, a slice of bread). If at first they ate meat food, then
before taking milk they must withstand a break of at least
three hours. In Israel, dining rooms have two windows for
food distribution: one for meat and one for dairy food.
 TRADITIONS
Most of the Jewish traditions are based on the characteristics of the places of origin and
inhabitation, and of course, religious customs. All holidays are based on a special lunar
calendar. This calendar is used to calculate the dates of commemorative events and religious
festivals. The most famous Jewish traditions are Pesach (Jewish Easter, when instead of
traditional Orthodox Easter cakes, Jews bake unleavened flat cakes (matzo),, Purim (which
is celebrated in February, everyone is trying to do charity work and arrange a generous meal
with the obligatory pies with poppy seeds and spirits for the festive table), Yom Kippur (the
holiest holiday for Jews, when they fast and pray for 25 hours without washing or wearing
genuine leather shoes. This day is called "Day of Atonement" and it ends with a lingering
sound from the horn of a ram).
 SABBATH
Unlike other countries, in Israel the traditional
days of rest are Friday, afternoon and Saturday.
Saturday in Israel is traditionally a day off. The
Shabbat (Saturday) celebration starts after 5 pm
on Friday. At this time, various entertainment
establishments, banks, shops are closed, and
public transport (with the exception of taxis) is
closed. The same applies to many other holidays
that come in the evening after sunset. On this day,
Jews who honor the Torah do not do any work,
pray and eat a festive evening meal, since the
holidays begin after dusk and continue for exactly
one day.
 Pesach, or Jewish Easter, is one of the main Jewish holidays in
PESACH memory of the liberation of Jews from slavery in Ancient Egypt. It
begins on the 14th day of the spring month of Nisan according to the
Hebrew lunar calendar and is celebrated for seven days in Israel and
eight days outside the country. According to the Bible, the Jews who
settled in Egypt gradually turned into slaves of the Egyptians. The
Lord, desiring to save the Jews, sent calamities to the Egyptian people,
called in the Pentateuch "The Ten Plagues of Egypt". And on the night
of the 14th day of Nisan, the Lord passed the marked houses. After
that, Moses was able to lead the Jews out of Egyptian slavery.
Preparations for Passover begin long before its onset, right after the
end of Purim. Jews clean their homes thoroughly. On the first day of
Passover, all types of work are prohibited. A solemn service is held in
the synagogue. The first and last days of the holidays are considered
non-working days for Jews. The rest of the week is called "holiday
weekdays". A festive dinner - seder - is the most solemn rite of all that
exists in Judaism, it is held on the first and second days of Passover. In
addition to matzo, there must be six dishes on the table: zroa - a piece
of fried meat on the bone, maror - bitter grass and carpas - any greens
from the garden, haroset - a mix of grated apples and nuts, hazeret -
grated horseradish and beytsa - boiled eggs. During the seder, prayers
and blessings are also recited.
 YOM KIPPUR
On the tenth day of the Tishrei month of the first month of the
Jewish calendar, Jews around the world celebrate Yom Kippur,
the Day of Atonement and Forgiveness. In Jewish tradition,
this is the most important of the holidays, ending the Ten Days
of Repentance, during which the fate of a person for the year
ahead is decided. The holiday reminds of the events that took
place 33 centuries ago, when the Jews sinned grossly by
creating a golden idol and worshiping it. God was angry,
wanted to destroy the Jewish people, but Moses, with his
prayer, begged God to revoke the sentence to his people. On
Yom Kippur, the Jews, forgetting about earthly affairs,
completely devote themselves to atonement and cleansing
from committed sins. In order to come to the Day of Judgment
internally prepared, a person analyzes the past year, recalls his
sins before people and God. Before the holiday, they ask for
forgiveness from friends and acquaintances if you happen to
offend them with a word or action. On the eve of Yom Kippur,
it is customary to plunge into the mikvah (ritual pool).
 Purim is one of the main Jewish holidays.
The holiday is celebrated on the 13th and
PURIM on the morning of 14th Adar. Purim is
derived from the ancient Persian word pur,
which means lot. This holiday was
established in memory of the salvation of
the Jews from the hands of enemies during
the reign of the Persian king Ahasuerus in
the middle of the 6th century BC. Since
Purim is not mentioned in the Torah, it is
not forbidden to work on this day. On the
eve of Purim, the Jews keep the "Esther
fast." After the morning reading of the
commandments, the Jews are ordered to
send treats to each other, as well as to
make gifts to the poor. Around noon on the
14th of Adar, a solemn feast begins. Purim
is the only day of the year when Jews are
allowed to drink hard.
 JEWISH WEDDING
This is one of the most ancient Jewish rites. More recently, the
wedding took place with the help of a matchmaker, who, at the
request of the parents, looked for and combined suitable
candidates for grooms and brides. Today only members of the
ultra-Orthodox community use the services of a matchmaker.
Long festive celebrations began with a mandatory
matchmaking. The consent of the young for marriage was not
required. After settling all the issues that arose, they organized
an acquaintance of the bride and groom, always in the presence
of a rabbi or respected people. It often happened that the young
did not see each other until the wedding. A wedding in Israel is
called kidushin, which translates to dedication. This means that
the bride devotes herself to the groom during the celebration. It
is customary to celebrate the wedding in the open air; a hula is
held over the bride and groom - a special canopy symbolizing
their common home. The feast lasts 7 days.