Introduction to Judaism

Status: MODERATED

Grade Level: High School

Objectives: 

The student will know three vacabulary words about Judaism

Preparation:

• Prepare a sudoku (get a easy one)

Method:

1. Gassho

2. Welcome

3. What is Judaism?

   1. Review what people know

   2. Worksheet 

   3. Judaism

      1. religion, philosophy, way of life for Jewish people

      2. it is “ethnic”, but not as well: If your parents are Jewish you are Jewish. If you convert, you are Jewish

      3. Jews believe that Judaism was founded on the Commandments that  Moses received from the God, Yahweh, on Mt Sinai after he led the “Israelites” from Egypt. This is called the Exodus.

         1. There is no historical proof of Moses. Many consider him an amalgamation of several historical figures

      4. Judaism is monotheistic. 

      5. Convent between believer and their God

         1. Agreement & rules

      6. Torah is the foundational text. It is part of the Tanakh which is the “Hebrew Bible”

      7. Original form is Rabbinic Judaism

      8. Current forms are:

         1. Orthodox: Torah should be strictly followed

         2. Conservative: Traditional reading of the Torah & other texts

         3. Reform: Texts are general guidelines

      9. The “Star of David” is the symbol of Jews and Judaism

4. Judaism Challenge

   1. Select 2 (or 3) Teams. Teams sit together

   2. Each Team selects captain

   3. Select team to start. As players play they go to the other table.

   4. Judge asks a question. Team to raise hand and answers question correctly gets 1 point and gets to choose event.

   5. Captains choose who will participate

   6. 3 types:

      1. Go-find-it

         1. Find a pic/drawing/photo of it in the library. show to librarian, get signature. come back to room. If can’t find in 5 min come back to room. If neither team can find it, then first team back wins. Only one Go-find-it at a time.

      2. Mental (2x people)

         1. Fill in the worksheet from memory

         2. Do a Sudoku

      3. Physical (any combination of people, but one at a time)

         1. 100x Push-ups

         2. 100x Sit ups

         3. 100x Jumping Jacks

   7. The team that finishes first, gets one point.

   8. Team with most points wins.

5. Review/Summary

   1. Ask what words do they remember? (Define what it is)

6. Closing Gassho

Evaluation:

Conducted during the review

Notes:

This is strictly an intro class. It is just to introduce the vocabulary.

Author:

Mas Nishimura, nish221.at.gmail.com, San Jose Buddhist Church Betsuin, 2017