Worship
1. Where people worshipThe offering of praise and reverence to God via a religious service – the building.
2. How people worship – the practice & expression.
3. Why people worship – the motivation, individual and congregational.
4. Main places of worship & their importance to the community of faith.
5. Nature of pilgrimage and pilgrimage sites.
6. Sacred place/sacred space – reducing the distance between GodWord used to describe a personal transcendent Being and humans.
7. Relationship between belief and architecture, space.
The principal Jewish place of worship is the home but the central place for community worship is the synagogueA Jewish place of worship and study.
In Hebrew a synagogue is called: Beth ha-tefillaAn alternative name for the Jewish synagogue; literally house of prayer (house of prayer), Beth ha-knessetAn alternative name for the Jewish synagogue; literally 'house of assembly' (house of assembly), Beth ha-midrashAnother name for the Jewish synagogue; literally 'house of study' (house of study).
Synagogue is a GreekLingu Franca of the ancient near east word (a meeting or an assembly). The Yiddish word shulIn Judaism a religion school, also a synonym for the synagogue and thus denoting the importance of learning at the synagogue (German Schule, 'school') is also used for a synagogue.
A synagogue is an assembly house for communal prayer, study, and meeting; and is the centre of the community.
Synagogues are generally plain buildings often with no more decoration than the Magen DavidThe most recogniseable of all the Jewish symbols, the star of David (Shield or Star of David) to show their use.
The synagogue must have windows
When Daniel learned that it had been put in writing, he went to his house, in whose upper chamber he had had windows made facing Jerusalem, and three times a day he knelt down, prayed, and made confession to his God, as he had always done. (Daniel 6:11)
There are no pictures or statues in a synagogue in accordance with the second commandment.
In the eastern wall – mizrach The eastern wall or wall facing Jerusalem in the Synagogue (the wall facing Jerusalem) is the Aron Ha-Kodesh, the Holy Ark.
Above, or to the sides of the ark are two tablets bearing the first two words of each of the Ten Commandments. Above the ark is the Ner Tamid A Hebrew term referring to the perpetual light found in the Jewish synagogue, the everlasting light which represents the lamp which burnt in the Jerusalem Temple. In Orthodox synagogues, men and women sit separately. There is a mejizah – a partition screen, separating the women's and men's areas. Sometimes the women sit in an upstairs gallery (WeibershulThe upstairs gallery for women in the Jewish synagogue). In most Progressive synagogues, men and women sit together.
MikvehIn Judaism a word for the ritual bath, once found in the synagogue Every synagogue should have a ritual bath or mikveh which is a pool of natural water in which people can bathe to be ritually pure:
The mikveh must contain at least 40 se'ah, (between 250-1,000 litres) of natural water. Women must visit the mikveh after the end of the monthly period to cleanse themselves before they can resume normal sexual relationships with their husbands.
Worship
There are three daily periods of prayer:
early morning - shacharit Jewish morning prayers
afternoon - minchaJewish afternoon prayers
evening - ma-ariv.
All prayersExtempore and set conversations with God are said facing east towards Jerusalem. Each period of prayer consists of readings from the TorahIn Judaism, the Law or the first five books of the Bible and prayers praising G-d. Jews may also pray spontaneously at any time when they feel that they want to speak to G-d.
The main synagogue services are on the SabbathReferring to a holy day in Judaism and Christianity: Friday night and Saturday morning. For a service to take place there must be a minimum of ten adult males (minyanThe quorum of ten Jewish males required for synagogue worship to occur). In an Orthodox synagogue the service will be almost entirely in Hebrew. The service consists mainly of prayers and the central reading of the Torah.
Worship at home
The Jewish home is central to worship and prayer life.
Every door except for the bathroom has a mezuzuah. The mezuzahA small container hung on door posts of Jewish homes and containing the Shema is a small cylinder fixed to the top of the right-hand doorpost. It contains a piece of parchment on which is written the ShemaThe central prayer outlining the beliefs of Judaism; Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:31-21; NumbersOne of the five books of the Pentateuch to be found in the Bible 15:37-41) - the central statement of Jewish belief. As they pass through the door Jews touch the mezuzah and take their fingers to their lips.
Hear, O IsraelThe chosen land of the Jews, and pilgrimage country for Christians! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soulWord referring to that part of the human which is shared with the sacred and with all your might. Take to heart these instructions with which I charge you this day. Impress them upon your children. Recite them when you stay at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead; inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)
When the Temple stood in Jerusalem, Jews visited three times a year to offer sacrifices for the harvest on PesachAn alternative term in Judaism for Passover, the festival of unleaven bread, Sukkot and ShavuotReferring to the Jewish festival of Weeks. These are known as the Pilgrim or Foot festivals. However, there has been no Jewish pilgrimage since the destruction of the Temple in 70CE.
Websites
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/
http://www.cleo.net.uk/resources/displayframe.php?src=464/consultants_re... important objects in Jewish worship
http://www.cleo.net.uk/resources/displayframe.php?src=465/consultants_re... Morning service at the Synagogue
http://www.jewfaq.org/index.htm
http://www.jewishagency.org/JewishAgency/English/Jewish+Education/
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/index.htm
http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/
Bibliography
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Cohn-Sherbok, D., 2003. Judaism: History, Belief and Practice. London: Routledge.
Gaster, T.H., n.d. Festivals of the Jewish Year. s.l.: Morrow Quill
Greenberg, B., 1990. How to run a traditional Jewish household. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Greenberg, B., 1992. On Women and Judaism: A View from Tradition. s.l.: JPS.
Harris, L., n.d. Holy Days, the World of a Hasidic Family. s.l.: Collier Books.
Koltun, E., (ed.), 1989. The Jewish Woman. New York: Schocken, New York.
Kraemer, D., (ed.), 1989. The Jewish Family. Oxford: OUP.
Mayled, J., 2007. ‘Judaism’. In Tyler, S. & Reid, G., AS Religious Studies. London: Pearson.
Mayled, J., 2007. ‘Judaism’. In Tyler, S. & Reid, G., A2 Religious Studies. London: Pearson.
Pilkington, C. M., 1995. Teach Yourself Judaism. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
Schauss, H., n.d. Jewish Festivals: History and Observance. s.l.: Schocken.
Unterman, A., 1996. The Jews: Their Religious Beliefs and Practices. s.l.: Sussex Academic Press.
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