JUDAISM PRINCIPAL BELIEFS

Transcription

1 JUDAISM PRINCIPAL BELIEFS

2 NOACHIDE COVENANT The seven Noachide laws, as traditionally enumerated are: Do Not Deny God Do Not Blaspheme God Do Not Murder Do Not Engage in Acts of Sexual Immorality Do Not Steal Do Not Eat of a Live Animal Establish Courts/Legal System to Ensure Law Obedience

3 ABRAHAMIC COVENANT Now the LORD said unto Abram: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee. (Genesis 12:1)

4 COVENANT - BRIT In the Old Testament the word covenant is translated from the Hebrew - Brit. This Hebrew word derives from a root which means "to cut" and hence a covenant is a "cutting" with reference to the ancient custom of cutting or dividing animals into two parts with the contracting parties passing between them, in making a covenant. Some suggest the parties of the covenant are thereby saying in essence, "May I be torn apart like these animals if I fail to uphold my part of this covenant."

5 SHEMA YISRAEL GOD

6 EXODUS 34:6-7 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed: 'The LORD, the LORD, God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth; keeping mercy unto the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin; and that will by no means clear the guilty ---

7 God Exists God is One God is the Creator God is Incorporeal God has no Gender God is Omnipotent God in Omnipresent God is Omniscient God is Eternal God is Just and Merciful

8 AVINU MALKEINU Hear our Prayer We have sinned before You Have compassion upon us and upon our children Help us bring an end to pestilence, war and famine Cause all hate and oppression to vanish from the earth Inscribe us for a blessing in the book of life Let the new year be a good year for us

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10 MOSAIC COVENANT

11 MORAL LAW Between man and his fellow man (Bein Adam ve chavero) Be a ben Adam The world stands on three things: Torah, divine service, and acts of lovingkindness ( Ethics of the Fathers - Simon the Just) Hillel said, What is hateful to yourself do not do to your fellow-man. This is the entire Torah, the rest is commentary. Go and study (Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 31a)

12 Mishpat - justice Tzedakah - righteousness Chesed - kindness Rahamim - compassion

13 TIKKUN OLAM And a stranger shalt thou not wrong, neither shalt thou oppress him; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 22:20) And a stranger shalt thou not oppress; for ye know the heart of a stranger, seeing ye were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Exodus 23:9)

14 LASHON HA RA Death and life are in the power of the tongue Proverbs 18:21 Al Chet Shechatanu For the sins we have committed---- Of the 43 sins enumerated in the Al Chet confession recited on Yom Kippur, 11 are sins committed through speech. The Talmud tells that the tongue is an instrument so dangerous that it must be kept hidden from view, behind two protective walls (the mouth and teeth) to prevent its misuse.

15 TSAAR BAALEI CHAYIM the Lord is good to all and His tender mercies are over all His works (Psalms 145:9) If a bird's nest chances before you on the road, on any tree, or on the ground, and [it contains] fledglings or eggs, if the mother is sitting upon the fledglings or upon the eggs, you shall not take the mother upon the young. (Deuteronomy 22:6)

16 TZEDAKA Tzedek, tzedek tirdof Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may live and possess the land the Lord, your God, is giving you. (Deuteronomy 16:20) Maimonides Golden Ladder of Charity - Giving begrudgingly - Giving less that you should, but giving it cheerfully. - Giving after being asked - Giving before being asked - Giving when you do not know the recipient's identity, but the recipient knows your identity - Giving when you know the recipient's identity, but the recipient doesn't know your identity - Giving when neither party knows the other's identity - Enabling the recipient to become self-reliant

17 GEMILUT CHASSADIM More important than tzedakah (charity) for three distinct reasons: charity can be provided only to the poor, while gemilut chasadim can be given to the rich and poor; charity can only be given to the living, while gemilut chasadim can be bestowed upon the living or dead (by attending a funeral service); and, charity can only be offered with money, while gemilut chasadim can be given through money or assistance. The highest level of gemilut chasadim, is to attend a funeral service. This is because the dead have no future opportunity to repay the kindness. It was God who first illustrated the significance of burying the dead; it is written in the Torah that, [God] buried [Moses] in the valley in the land of Moab (Deut. 34:6).

18 Renewal Progressive Masorti Orthodox Ultra - Orthodox