When does Sukkot take place? = From the 15 to 22 Tishrei.

What is a Sukkah? = "Covering", the temporary shelter covered with leaves that Jewish people live in during the festival of Sukkot. It is a symbol of harmony, since it encloses those inside it as one unit.

What is its significance? = When the Israelites left Egypt, they needed some form of shelter in the desert. Some had tents, but many did not. Each time they encamped at an oasis they built small huts and covered them with leaves from the palm trees. The Sukkah was a perfect shelter or these conditions; the leafy roof kept out the heat and the dust of the desert, but allowed air to circulate.

How are the spices used? = The farther of the family holds theses plants together and moves them to and from all six directions towards his heart. This symbolizes God’s presence everywhere and the blessing, which He showers upon His creatures from all sides.

What is Hoshanah Rabbah? = Sukkot occurs at the begging of the rainy season in Israel, and on each day of the festival (except Shabbat), Jews pray for rain. As they pray, they circle the bimah holding their four species, just like the service in the ancient Temple when the worshippers used to circle the alter. On the last day, Hoshanah Rabbah, the worshippers make seven circuits. It is the last occasion on which prayers for rain are said.

According to the Torah, what age is maturity reached at? = 13 for boys and 12 for girls.

What change does this ceremony mark? = When a boy has reached his Bar Mitzvah, he must go to the synagogue and accept in front of the whole community full responsibility for his religious life and is no longer regarded as a child but an adult. He offers his life to carry out the promises made at his Brit Milah and he becomes a "son of the commandment" and recites some of the law from the Torah or the Haftarah (prophets).

• The unity of God.
• The centrality of the Torah as the revelation of God.
• The commandments of the Torah as the pathway to holiness.

• It points back to the period of slavery in Egypt and focuses attention on God’s deliverance of the Israelites from bondage. They point symbolically to the past, the present and the future.

• Opening prayer.
• Procession of scrolls.
• Blessing of scrolls.
• Reading from the Torah.
• The farther "baruch shepatarani", this is a brief statement in which he thanks God for having brought the boy to maturity and declares that the boy is now responsible for his own actions.
• Words of encouragement from the Rabbi.
• Blessing.
• Reminder of Sabbath service.

What presents is the Bar Mitzvah normally given? = He will be presented with a certificate and a gift, this latter being perhaps a volume of holy scriptures, or a prayer book, or a Kiddush cup.

What does Bat Mitzvah mean? = It means the "daughter of the commandment, refers to when the daughter comes of age at 12.

What is a synagogue? = A synagogue is much more to the Jewish community than a place of worship. It is the visible focus of the community in an area. Most synagogues will be a combination of prayer hall, community centre, religious school, library and a meeting place.

What part do women play in the services, which take place in the synagogue? = They play no part they are not even allowed to sit next to the men.

What are the characteristics of a Kosher Animal? = Their hooves are completely parted at the bottom to form two horny pads and they chew their cud.

What are the two main animals, which do not fit into the criteria? = Pigs camels.

How do you recognize Kosher Poultry? = There are no ways to recognize kosher birds. The bible gives a long list of birds that are not kosher. The Jews could thus eat any bird that is not on this list but in practice most only eat chicken, turkey and duck. Even these may be declared Treifah if they have defective internal organs.

How do you recognize Kosher Fish? = Fish that have fins and scales are kosher e.g. plaice, cod, herring, salmon etc. All other seafood is forbidden. Eels are not kosher, as they have no scales. Shellfish, such as crabs’ lobsters, prawns, mussels and shrimps, are not permitted to Jews, nor is octopus or squid.

What else do Jewish food laws forbid? = Insects. In order to keep this food law Jews have to be especially careful when preparing vegetables as they can sometimes contain small insects.

• The meat is soaked in water for 30 minutes. This removes any congealed blood on the surface and softens the meat, so that the salt can act.
• The meat is laid out on thin boards. These are placed a few cm apart to allow the blood to drain away.
• Every part of the meat is covered with salt. Coarse salt has to be used, as table salt would just dissolve. It is left like this for 60 minutes, and the blood drips out between the boards.
• The meat is rinsed thoroughly several times to remove the salt. It is now ready for cooking.

How do you keep a kosher kitchen? = Based on the Biblical verse, "You must not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk, Jews who keep kosher homes do not eat meant and dairy foods together. Separate sets of crockery, cutlery and cooking utensils are used, and in an orthodox home these will be cleaned in separate sinks and kept in separate cupboards. After eating meat strict Jews will wait several hours before eating dairy products.

What is the betrothal ceremony know as? = Kiddushin meaning blessed or sanctified.

When can a wedding take place? = It can take place on any day except for the Sabbath or a feast day.

• a) Exodus 20:10 sets out the rights of the woman
• b) The signing in the presence of two witnesses makes it legal
• c) The role of the good wife is praised in Proverbs 31:10-31

4) The groom now waits for his bride under the chuppah, at a signal the bride enters in procession. The bride will come with a collection of close relatives and friends who take their place on either side of the chuppah. As the bride enters a special blessing is sung.

• a) In Genesis 22 God brought Eve to Adam after the creation
• b) "At your right hand stands your queen". Psalm 45:9 comes the tradition of standing on the right.
• c) In some communities the bride may circle the husband 3 or 7 times.

5) A song of welcome is sung by the congregation and this is followed by an address by the rabbi about the values of marriage. The Rabbi joins the couple under the canopy for the address.

6) The betrothal blessing is recited over a goblet of wine and God is praised for guiding humanity by giving laws about marriage. The couple then drink from the goblet and the groom places a ring on the right index finger of the bride.

• a) The blessing is said over the wine, it does not bless the wine
• b) Laws relating to marriage Exodus 20:14 and Deuteronomy 22:24
• c) Marriage is regarded as strengthening the Jewish nation and thus is highly regarded.

The sharing of the cup symbolises the sharing in marriage

The ring symbolises

• a) A symbol of eternity - As it never ends
• b) A symbol of Unity - The same for rich and poor
• c) Symbol of simplicity - A plain gold band

10) The bridegroom then symbolically breaks a glass under his foot.

• Symbolizing the destruction of the temple in 70AD
• Symbolizing the times of pain as well as joy within marriage

11) The priestly blessing is then said over the couple. Numbers 6:24-26. The congregation say the "Mazel Tov" and the couple leave to sign the registers.

How must a Jewish Farther contribute to a family? = He must: -

• Support his family.
• Study the Torah.
• See that his children study the Torah.

How must a Jewish Mother contribute to a family? = She must: -

• Feed the family with kosher food.
• Make sure that her husband and children have the right clothes.
• Prepare the home for the Shabbat and the festivals.
• Teach her daughters what they need to know when they grow up.

What does Mitzvah mean? = The commandments that make up the Jewish laws, there are 613 of them.

What is meant by the word Minyan? = In order for a service to take place there must be 10 adult male present, this is a minyan. (When a boy comes of age he is obligated to join a Minyan.)

What is circumcision? = The removal of the foreskin of a baby boy as a physical sign of the covenant.

What is Brit Milah? = "The Covenant of Circumcision".

• Circumcision is the 1^st Jewish rite of passage that marks the passage from one stage of life to the next.
• It gives the family of the baby a feeling of being linked in a long chain reaching all the way back to Abraham, who was the first Jew to perform this ceremony.

When would circumcision normally take place? = The ceremony takes place on the 8^th day after birth.

Where would circumcision normally take place? = A the home of the baby boy.

Apart from the circumcision what else happens at this ceremony? = The child is named, and there are various celebrations.

After the child has been circumcised what happens next? = The farther recites a blessing acknowledging that God has commanded this operation so that the child can enter the covenant. The Mohel will then hold the child, bless and name him.

What happens after the ceremony? = There is a festive meal (Seudat Mitzvah) to celebrate the entry of a new Jewish soul into the ‘Covenant of farther Abraham’.

What is the Torah? = It is a book ("Pentateuch" consisting of the 5 books of Moses.)

What is Nevi’im? = Books of the prophets.

What is the purpose of the prophets? = To teach faith, justice and compassion. The prophets also reveal different ways of looking at God, all of which have become part of Jewish understanding.

What does Ketuvim (writings) discuss? = Human problems and gives advice on life matters and social behaviors.

Give a list of each book and briefly describe what each one is about.

• The onan (immediate mourner) arranges the burial – halakhah, Jewish law, forbids cremation.
• Members of the chevra kaddisha (burial society) will prepare the body for burial. They wash the body thoroughly and if possible immerse it in a Mikveh.
• The body is then wrapped in a plain linen shroud.
• Men are normally buried wearing the tallit.
• When the body is ready it is placed in a simple, unpolished wooden box with no brass handles or internal padding. In death, rich and poor are treated alike.

• Psalms are read followed by a short prayer praising God for granting life and for taking it away.
• A rabbi sometimes says a short speech about the dead person.
• Sephardim (oriental Jews) round the coffin 7 times before the burial and recite prayers for angles of mercy to accompany the soul.
• The coffin is then lowered into the ground.
• The coffin is then buried.
• People then offer words of comfort to the mourners and everyone washes their hands before leaving the cemetery.

• A mourner is no longer called an onan, but an avel, a prolonged mourner.
• On returning home the avelim are served a meal of hard-boiled eggs. The egg, which has no opening, symbolizes the mourner’s inability to open their mouths and pout their grief into words.

• During this week the avelim usually gather in one of their hones and are forbidden to leave it unless absolutely necessary. 3 times each day friends and fellow synagogue members will come to pray with the mourners.
• At these prayers the male mourners will recite Kaddish.
• Throughout the Shiva the mourners sit on low chairs. They cut neither their hair nor nails.
• Mirrors of the house are covered so that people are discouraged from attending to their appearance. Sexual relations are forbidden.
• The do not listen to music and leather shoes are not worn.
• A candle is kept burring night and day. This symbolizes the verse, "A person’s soul is the candle of the Lord".

What is Kaddish? = It is a declaration of God’s greatness and a prayer for the coming age of universal peace.

• Each day the male mourners go to the synagogue and recite Kaddish.
• Jews mourning parents remain avelim throughout the first year. The will neither play music nor listen to it, except for professional musicians who depend on playing for their livelihoods.

• The Jews’ centuries old hope for a return to their homeland.
• The rise of nationalism during the nineteenth century.
• Anti-Semitism.

When was the first Zionist conference? = It tock place in 1897, in Basle, and the proposal was that Zionism aims to establish a publicly and legally assured home for the Jewish people in Palestine.

What happened in 1905? = Pioneer settles, mainly from Russia, began to move to Palestine to set up agricultural communities (Kibbutzim). By 1914, there were nearly 100,000 Jews in Palestine.

What opposition is there to Zionism? = The armies and air forces of 5 neighboring Arab countries invaded Israel - the Israeli War of 1948-1984.

• The National Socialist (Nazi) Party was elected to power with Adolf Hitler as the leader.
• The Nazis wanted to produce arms, train men for war and restore Germany to greatness by armed conquest.
• The Nazis also wanted to blame all the country’s problems on the Jews; they would provide n outlet fro German anger and frustration.

• Nazi propaganda claimed that the Jews controlled the banks, had a monopoly on the professions and universities and were plotting with the communists to take over the country.
• They striped the Jews of their citizen’s rights.

• Auschwitz.
• Belsen.
• Dachau.

• Population implications – fewer Jews.
• Encouraged Zionism.
• Brought about existence of the State of Israel.
• Some Jews increased importance of torah. They believed it was their adherence to Torah, which reserved them, and this had to be continued.
• Creation of Yah Vashem.
• Yom Hashoah – Holocaust memorial day (27^th Nisan)
• Literacy effects – Anne Frank, Chicans Kaplan, Oscar Schlinder.

• A historical museum first opened nearly 40 years ago. The museum combines contemporary visual and textural documentation with artifacts and brief written explanations, to tell the story of the Holocaust from the Nazis’ rise to power through the first post-war years. It is situated in Jerusalem.
• The exhibition focuses on the protagonists of this darkest time in human history: the Germans and other perpetrators, and the Jews.

• The Hall of Remembrance: - A solemn tent-like structure that allows visitors to pay their respects to the memories of the martyred dead. Memorial ceremonies are held here.
• The Hall of Names: - It houses pages of testimony commemorating the names and biographical details of Jews who perished during the Holocaust. Martyred dead are remembered not as anonymous numbers but as individual human beings.
• Memorial to the deportees: - It is a monument to the millions of Jews herded onto cattle-cars and transported from all over Europe to the extermination camps. An original cattle-car appropriated by the German Railway authorities and given to Yad Vashem by the Polish authorities stands at the centre of the memorial site. It symbolizes the journey towards annihilation and oblivion.

• Small townlets and villages of Israel.
• Most are agricultural settlements, though some have light industry.
• They are collectives, settlements where there is no private ownership. Everything belongs to the kibbutz.

• From the ideals of total social equality held by some of the early Russian Zionists.
• They strive to fulfill the biblical ideal, "to till the earth and preserve it", by creating ways to live in harmony with a desert enviroment.

• Meals are taken together.
• There is a communal laundry, barber, clinic and clothing store.

• It is a provider of funds for resettlement projects in Palestine.
• Today, there are fund-raising agencies all over the world as well as departments for aliyah.

What does Aliyah mean? = It literally means "going up". Jews use the word to mean settling in Israel.

• In ancient times, Jews used to take regular offerings to the Temple.
• This type of pilgrimage ceased when the Temple was destroyed.
• Today there is no sense of a religious duty to visit ancient Biblical sites in Judaism.
• However when modern Jews visit holy places, it gives them a sense of attachment to the whole of Jewish history.
• Some sites have a special significance for Jews and those who visit them feel a sense of personal pilgrimage.

• The Western Wall.
• Yad Vashem.
• The tombs of great people.

• This is the last remaining wall of the second Temple and Judaism’s holist site.
• Jews go there to pray and mourn the Temple’s destruction, resulting in it being called they Wailing Wall.
• Some people go there just to kiss the sacred stones. In resent years, boys from various countries have celebrated their bar mitzvah there.

What does Messiah mean? = It is a Hebrew word meaning "anointed", and was applied in Tenak to Kings and High Priests, who were anointed with oil when about to assume office.

How do the prophets and rabbis speak of the Messiah? = They speak of the Messiah as a human being chosen by God, endowed with exceptional qualities and divinely inspired to carry out his task.

• The triumph of righteousness over evil.
• The restoration of scattered Israel to the Holy Land.
• The peace of all mankind who will acknowledge the supremacy of One God.

What are they? =