Judaism and Its Beliefs and Practices
...ly Sabbath Day. It is their most notable day in which they celebrate the Sabbath, the Jewish holy day. On this day, from sunset on Friday to nightfall on Saturday, no work is to be done. Reason for this is to remind them that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day. The Jewish celebrate this day at home on Friday evening with the lighting of the Sabbath candles and a family meal (the food being eaten on this day has a meaning; for example, bitter herbs are a reminder of the misery of slavery). The second major part of the Judaism religion is their culture. The Jewish culture has a vast amount of laws, practices, and festivals. Their laws come from their holy book, the Torah. Their rules of daily life are the Ten Commandments. They also have severe laws on their food. All of their food has to be "kosher," meaning Jews are only allowed to eat animals who’s hooves are fully split and who ruminate (pork and shellfish are a few examples of animals that may not be consumed). The animals must be ritually slaughtered in order for them to be eaten. Another law about food is that meat and milk dishes may not be eaten together, or prepared using the same utensils. A tradition that commemorates an important part of Jewish history is the festival of Pesach. This festival lasts eight days, with the lighting of the menorah, and this festival is to celebrate the escape of the Jews from Egypt. The Jewish have a new year’s celebration – Rosh Hashanah – which is celebrated in September and October. Subsequent to, comes Yom Kippur. There are two key festivals that are independently done in a Jew’s life. They are the ceremonies bar mitzvah and marriage. The bar mitzvah is a ceremony that takes place when a boy reaches the age thirteen they are able to hold. This ceremony is stating that the boy is old enough to take on religious responsibilities. [In some synagogues, places where Jews can go to pray and listen to readings from the Torah (like the church for Christians), this type of ceremony is held for girls, however, it is called a bat mitzvah.] Just like in all the Jewish ceremonies, some sort of reminder of the past is given. In the Jewish we...