RELIGIOUS JEWISH HOLIDAYS

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RELIGIOUS JEWISH HOLIDAYS THE STAR OF DAVID

• By
• Alexis Leyva
• Daisy Calderon

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Rosh Hashanah

• Rosh Hashanah, also known as the birthday of
  mankind is the day on which god created man,
  considered to be the most precious creation.
• The purpose of this holiday is to proclaim god as
  our one and only king. He reviews our status as
  human beings, and determines if we merit the
  first night of another year in this world.

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Rosh Hashanah (Continued)

• As a tradition a special greeting is used after
  attending prayer services, which is May you be
  inscribed and sealed for a good year. On this
  special night, everyones actions this previous
  year are believed to be judged upon by god. The
  resulting judgment is determined the following
  year. The judgment is not yet sealed and can
  change throughout the next ten days. God waits
  until Yom Kippur to seal the book for the year.

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Yom Kippur

• Yom Kippur is designed to bring Jews closer to
  god through a process named Teshuvah.
• During the times of the Temple service focused
  around the Kohen Gadol, but today each person
  focuses on himself and his personal Avodah, or
  service to god.
• Since this holiday is known as a day of prayer it
  has many prayers related to it.

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Yom Kippur (Continued)

• The core theme is centered around repentance and
  return.
• Jews everywhere find a connection to Judaism
  through Yom Kippur more than any other holiday.
• There are five afflictions a person cannot do,
  which are Eating or drinking, bathing, anointing
  ones body, wearing leather shoes, and material
  relations.
• The most famous restriction is fasting.

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Passover

• Passover began about three thousand years ago,
  when the Israelites were enslaved by the
  Egyptians under the rule of Pharaoh Ramses II.
  Moses, a Jewish shepherd, was instructed by god
  to go to the pharaoh and fight for the freedom of
  his people. Mosess plea was ignored, Moses
  warned the pharaoh that god would punish the
  people of Egypt if the Israelites were not freed.
  The pharaoh again ignored Moses and that was when
  god unleashed the ten terrible plagues on the
  people of Egypt which were blood, frogs, lice,
  flies, cattle disease, boils, hail, locus,
  darkness, and the slaying of the first born.

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Passover (Continued)

• Passover meaning Passing over in Hebrew are
  the instructions given to Moses by god in order
  to encourage the pharaoh to free the Israelites.
  Since one of the plagues was to kill the first
  born of both man and beast to protect themselves
  the Israelites used lambs blood to mark their
  dwellings so that god could identify and Pass
  over their homes.
• The Pharaoh refused to free the slaves until
  the last plague, and finally agreed to their
  freedom.
• The slaves left their homes so quickly that
  there wasnt time to bake their breads and that
  is why Jews eat Matzo in place of bread during
  Passover.
• The pharaoh's army chased them through the
  desert towards the red sea which blocked their
  escape a miracle then occurred and the Red Sea
  parted and the Israelites were able to cross to
  the other side.
• The sea closed trapping the army as the waves
  closed upon them.

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The Fast of Esther

• Every year The Fast of Esther is held the day
  before Purim.
• The source of this fast is in the Megillah
  (416), it states that Esther agrees to visit the
  king uninvited, and asks the Jewish people to
  fast three days beforehand.
• She called the fast because it focuses more
  acutely on their spiritual selves.
• That is when we return to our essential state of
  purity.

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The Fast of Esther (Continued)

• Esther calls for the fast so that the Jews could
  forge a spiritual connection needed to make he
  mission successful, and it paid off.
• There are certain halachas or laws for this
  holiday which are The fast begins at dawn and
  ends after nightfall, no eating or drinking is
  allowed, and customary to extend fast until
  Megillah is read.

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Chanukah

• Chanukah is an eight day period in which the Jews
  were defeated by the Maccabees and had only one
  jar of oil, enough to light another candle for
  only one day.
• A miracle occurred and the oil burned eight days.
• Chanukah is a day in which praise and
  thanksgiving were to be said.

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Chanukah (Continued)

• The way to light the Menorah is to light it
  with pure olive oil and cotton swabs. Since their
  light is pure it causes us to remember the light
  of the Menorah which was also lit with olive oil.
  You may also use wax candles, one must be careful
  and make sure the lights stay lit for half a hour
  or so. You should be careful with the Menorah you
  choose. There are many beautiful Menorahs, but
  are not permitted to be used. The eight candles
  in the menorah must be in a straight line and
  cant be shaped in a circle or square so that the
  flames of each are in intermingled.

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The Star Of David

• The Magen David, also known as the Star of David,
  is the symbol most related to Judaism today but
  it is fairly new.
• This symbol is supposed to represent the emblem
  on King Davids shield, this symbol is not
  included in early works of Jewish literature.
• The six points on the star are supposed to
  represent Gods rule over the universe in all six
  directions north, south, east, west, up and
  down.
• The Star of David was a sad symbol of the
  Holocaust, when Jews were forced to wear it by
  Nazis.

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The Star of David (Continued)

• In the Middle Ages Jews were forced to wear
  special badges by both Muslim and Christian
  authorities.
• There was also great controversy due to the
  decision to have the Star of David on the Israeli
  Flag.
• Today the Magen David is a universally recognized
  symbol of Jewry.

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• THATS ALL FOLKS!

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Thanks For Watching!

• PowerPoint created by
• Daisy Calderon
• Alexis Leyva
• Rosh Hashanah by
• Alexis Leyva
• Yom Kippur by
• Daisy Calderon
• Passover by
• Alexis Leyva
• Fast of Esther by
• Daisy Calderon
• Chanukah by
• Alexis Leyva
• The Star of David by
• Daisy Calderon
• Umm
• I think thats it
• Have a good day ?