Keyterm: Kosher

Some Jews wear little leather boxes called tefillin on the head and arm when they pray. Zack demonstrates how he ties his tefillin, and explains why he wears them.

Curriculum Mapping

Component 1 - The study of religions: beliefs, teaching and practices - Judaism - The synagogue and worship. Public acts of worship including: Synagogue services in both Orthodox and Reform synagogues; The significance of prayer, including the Amidah, the standing prayer.

Area of study 2 - Section 3: Living the Jewish Life -The nature and purpose of Jewish public acts of worship: the nature, features and purpose of Jewish public worship, including interpretations of Psalms 116:12–19; the nature, features and importance of synagogue services for the Jewish community and the individual.

Component Group 1 - Judaism - Practices -Worship• The structure of the synagogue service •The importance of the synagogue, in relation to the following religious features: •• Design •• Artefacts •• Synagogue services •• The role of the synagogue within the Jewish community •• Worship in the home •• The place of worship in the home •The significance of the Ark, the Bimah, the lack of representation of G-d, the Ner Tamid and the Mikveh • The nature and importance of the Torah readings, other readings, prayers and sermons •The connection between the synagogue and the Temple • Issues related to worship and the synagogue, including the length and structure of synagogue services and different uses of Hebrew in the service • Common and divergent emphases placed on the features of a synagogue by different Jewish groups, including separating women and men in an Orthodox synagogue •Different interpretations and emphases given to sources of wisdom and authority by different Jewish groups

2.1 Unit 1 PART A - Judaism - Core beliefs, teachings and practices - Worship in the home and synagogue  The importance of the synagogue: internal features- aron hakodesh (ark), ner tamid, bimah, Torah, Ten Commandments, seating  Reading of the Torah during synagogue worship  Diverse practices within Orthodox and Reform synagogues – worship and the role and gender of the Rabbi  The importance of the home for worship in Judaism: challenges and benefits of observing Shabbat (Exodus 20:8-10)

Component 3 (Route A) - Option 4: Judaism - Practices - The Synagogue ➢ Features of different synagogues in Britain: significance of bimah, aron hakodesh, Torah scrolls, ner tamid, seating, minyan; Exodus 20:4-5

Transcript

Judaism: Tefellin

Zack: These are Teffillin in sometimes called fill actuaries, which are small black leather boxes on leather straps. Kosher leather, of course. Inside these boxes, there were little scrolls containing words from the books of Deuteronomy and Exodus, written in Hebrew. Some Jews wear these on their arm and head when they pray at home in the morning. There are different ways to put them on, but this is how I do it. The first Teffillin was just one strap. Traditionally goes on my left arm, so it's close to my heart. Some Jews say that you can use your weaker arm. So it's the left if your right handed or the right if your left handed. I roll up my sleeve so I can wear that to fill in against my skin and place the box on my bicep. So it's about halfway down my upper arm and level with my heart. Then I say a blessing and wrap the strap three times around my upper arm. And then seven times around my forearm, then a few more times around my hand so I can hold it.

The head Teffillin. The one with two straps is placed just above my hairline, front and center. And the straps go behind my head. So the knot is just above the base of my skull. Now I can finish off tying the strap on my arm by wrapping it three times around my middle finger. The rest I can just wrap around my hand so it doesn't flap all over the place. The strap should be just tight enough that I can feel my pulse, but not too tight. This all goes back to a verse in the book of Deuteronomy, in which God says that his words are to be on your heart. Tie them on your hand as a sign. Put them at the front of a headband around your forehead. So many Jews do just that, while they pray to remind themselves of the importance of God's words in the Torah. In more orthodox communities. This is only done by men and boys. But in Reform Judaism, women can use them too. Although actually reform, Jews are less likely to use them when they pray. This is to symbolize that I worship God with my head and my heart, with all of me, my brains, my feelings and my actions.

Judaism: Tefillin

Video length - 3.19

Published date - Apr 2023

Keystage(s) - 2, 3 and 4

Downloadable resources

A Day in the Life of a Jewish Rabbi – Meet Rabbi David. He kindly allowed TrueTube to follow him around with a camera to see what he does all day.

A Day in the Life of a Jewish Rabbi

Video length - 07.20

Published date - Nov 2017

Keystage(s) - 3

Downloadable resources

Charlie and Blue Celebrate Passover – Zippity-zip, let’s go on a trip! Charlie and her favourite soft toy (and best friend) Blue visit a Jewish neighbour called Rachel to find out what Jews celebrate at the festival of Passover.

Charlie and Blue Celebrate Passover

Video length - 5.29

Published date - May 2016

Keystage(s) - 1

Downloadable resources

Holy Books: The Torah – A Rabbi and two Jewish scribes (who happen to be married – to each other, not to the Rabbi) describe the Torah – what it contains, how the scrolls are copied, and the ways in which the Torah is used in worship.

Curriculum Mapping

TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:

AQA

Component 1 - The study of religions: beliefs, teaching and practices - Judaism - The synagogue and worship - The written law (Tenakh) and the oral law (Talmud) and their study, use and significance in daily life.

Edexcel

Area of Study 1 – Judaism - Section 1: Jewish Beliefs - The nature of the Almighty: how the characteristics of the Almighty are shown in the Torah, and why they are important in Jewish life today, including One, Creator, Law-Giver and Judge, including reference to Genesis 2.

OCR

Component Group 1 - Judaism - Practices -Worship• The structure of the synagogue service •The importance of the synagogue, in relation to the following religious features: •• Design •• Artefacts •• Synagogue services •• The role of the synagogue within the Jewish community •• Worship in the home •• The place of worship in the home •The significance of the Ark, the Bimah, the lack of representation of G-d, the Ner Tamid and the Mikveh • The nature and importance of the Torah readings, other readings, prayers and sermons •The connection between the synagogue and the Temple • Issues related to worship and the synagogue, including the length and structure of synagogue services and different uses of Hebrew in the service • Common and divergent emphases placed on the features of a synagogue by different Jewish groups, including separating women and men in an Orthodox synagogue •Different interpretations and emphases given to sources of wisdom and authority by different Jewish groups

Prayer• The role and importance of prayer in Jewish worship, including the Amidah (the standing prayer) • The role and importance of private prayer for Jews • The importance of: •• The three daily periods of prayer •• The concept of spontaneous prayer •• Recitation of the Shema •• Recitation of Grace after meals •• Teaching children to pray •• The direction faced when praying •• Prayer and the observance of the Mitzvot in the home • The importance of prayer for praise, confession, thanks giving and supplication.

Law• The form and content of the Tenakh (the Written Law) • The Chumash and the Sefer Torah • The nature of the Talmud (the Oral Law) •The relationship between the Talmud and the Torah, including the ways in which the Talmud is used in relation to the Torah • The use of the Torah in the synagogue • The use of the Tenakh in private worship • The way that the Torah provides structure to the life of a Jew, including the use of the Neviim and Ketuvim in public and private worship •The significance of the use in daily life of the Tenakh and the Talmud •Issues related to the law, including the different views held amongst religious Jews regarding the nature of the Torah and the Talmud • Common and divergent emphases placed on the Tenakh and Talmud by different Jewish groups •Different interpretations and emphases given to sources of wisdom and authority by different Jewish groups.

WJEC

2.1 Unit 1 PART A - Part A Judaism - Core beliefs, teachings and practices - Practices - Worship in the home and synagogue  The importance of the synagogue: internal features- aron hakodesh (ark), ner tamid, bimah, Torah, Ten Commandments, seating  Reading of the Torah during synagogue worship  Diverse practices within Orthodox and Reform synagogues – worship and the role and gender of the Rabbi  The importance of the home for worship in Judaism: challenges and benefits of observing Shabbat (Exodus 20:8-10) 2.2 Unit 2 PART A – Judaism - - Core beliefs, teachings and practices Beliefs - Sacred Texts  Importance of The Tenakh (Torah, Nevi'im, Ketuvim) as revealed and/or inspired Word of God  Importance of the Talmud

Eduqas

Component 3 (Route A) - Option 4: Judaism - Practices - The Synagogue ➢ Features of different synagogues in Britain: significance of bimah, aron hakodesh, Torah scrolls, ner tamid, seating, minyan; Exodus 20:4-5

Transcript

Holy Books: The Torah

Rabbi Benji Stanley Torah the word means teaching. The way teaching is often given in Judaism is through books.

Avielah Barclay The Torah has a lot of valuable lessons and a lot of interesting things to say, even to people who are not Jewish.

Mordechai Pinchas That's totally correct, because the reason that the Torah was given in the desert, for everyone to see, was that everybody has a piece of the Torah.

Rabbi Benji Stanley People sometimes call it the Five Books of Moses, because he's one of the main characters, and also he was involved in writing them down. So Torah can mean the five books, or it can mean all those books and conversations that have grown up around the five books, with people trying to figure out how to live responsibly and kindly.

Rabbi Benji Stanley We read the five books of Torah on a scroll written in Hebrew.

Mordechai Pinchas So the Torah is really five books in one.

Rabbi Benji Stanley Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, numbers, and Deuteronomy. Or actually the Jewish terms for those books are Bereshit, Shemot, Vayikra, Ba Midbar and D'varim. So at the beginning of the Torah, we have the story of creation, the story of Adam and Eve, the story of Noah, and then we have the story of Abraham, who had a child, Isaac, and the first book of the Torah tells us about their travels and their missions.

Mordechai Pinchas Second book is called Shemot, Exodus, and that's about the Jews who were stuck in Egypt, and then they were freed from slavery, lots of miracles, and then moved off on to their journey to the Promised Land, which is Israel.

Rabbi Benji Stanley Moses leads the people to Mount Sinai, and Moses runs up the mountain, has some conversations with God, and then carries some of God's laws down the mountain on two tablets of stone.

Mordechai Pinchas The third book is kind of a bit of an interruption. It's called Vayikra, and it's about the priests and the offerings, and it's lots and lots of rules.

Rabbi Benji Stanley Nowadays in Judaism, we don't sacrifice animals, but we do give up our time, in order to think about how to behave well in the world.

Mordechai Pinchas And then the fourth book is Bamidbar. It's all about the wandering in the desert for 40 years, really, that's about them stopping being slaves and learning to actually be a people.

Rabbi Benji Stanley They tend to complain a lot. They argue with Moses, they argue with God, but eventually they're getting towards a new land, and that's what we have in the fifth book of the Torah.

Mordechai Pinchas Finally, the last book just before they go into Israel is Moses telling them all the rules, reminding them of everything that's been happening. That's called D'varim, Deuteronomy.

Rabbi Benji Stanley Moses dies just before the people enter the land of Israel. So in a way, the five books of Torah end with Moses being buried.

Rabbi Benji Stanley The Torah scroll is treated with great respect. So it has clothes like a queen or a king. It has wonderful silver crowns and it has this special robe. Now we undress it on Saturday morning during our service, and also some synagogues have services on Monday and Thursday morning as well, when you would also undress the scroll in order to read from it. Hagbah means lifting up, and it's a moment when someone lifts up the scroll so the whole community can see the section which is going to be read, and you would show all directions so that everyone can see it. (Reads passage from the Torah in Hebrew)

Avielah Barclay We read the Torah from right to left, and we read it using something called a yad, which means hand in Hebrew. And as you can see, there's a little hand carved at the end of this, and we use it to point at the letters as we read them.

Rabbi Benji Stanley We don't want to touch the parchment, the stuff that the scroll is written on directly with our fingers. And that's one of the reasons we also dress the scroll so that when we're not using it, it's well respected. It's in its special ark, which is where the scroll lives, where the scroll is kept.

Avielah Barclay The scrolls that we use today are essentially the same as the first ones written thousands of years ago, because we can only copy from one to another, and then it has to be checked three times, because one mistake can change the whole meaning of what it says. It's important for it to be written by hand. A computer can print out a book that you can read, and you can still learn it that way, but you can't use it in public ritual because it hasn't been imbued with the holiness that a person with a soul can give to it.

Mordechai Pinchas So originally all the Torahs were written with one of these. This is a reed quill. Nowadays most people use a feather. This is a swan's quill. But this quill is from a vulture. The bird we can't eat, so I can't use it to write. The parchment sheets, they're joined together with animal sinew and gold plated needle.

Rabbi Benji Stanley But the book is never finished. You can roll up the scroll, but really, the scroll continues. In all those conversations we have about what does this mean and how does it affect my life?

Holy Books: The Torah

Video length - 06.00

Published date - Apr 2015

Keystage(s) - 3 and 4

Downloadable resources

Alien Abduction: Judaism – Orbiting Earth at this very moment, the alien survey ship “Pantheon” is abducting people to collect data about their belief systems. Rabbi David is beamed into the interrogation chamber to answer questions about Judaism.

Curriculum Mapping

TrueTube films are designed for use in a number of ways. Some ideas of where this film could link to your curriculum are below:

AQA

Component 1: The study of religions: beliefs, teaching and practices - Judaism - Introduction to Judaism - Introduction to the idea of common and divergent views within Judaism. Key beliefs: The nature of God - God as one. Key beliefs: Beliefs about life after death - Beliefs about life after death, including judgement and resurrection. The origins and value of the universe - Religious teachings about the use and abuse of animals, including animal experimentation and the use of animals for food. Family life and festivals - Festivals and their importance for Jews in Great Britain today, including the origins and meaning of Pesach. The synagogue and worship - Shabbat in the home and synagogue and its significance. Worship in the home and private prayer.

Edexcel

Area of Study 1 – Judaism - Section 1: Jewish Beliefs - The nature of the Almighty: how the characteristics of the Almighty are shown in the Torah, and why they are important in Jewish life today, including One, Creator, Law-Giver and Judge. Jewish beliefs about life after death: divergent Jewish understandings of the nature and significance of life after death including reference to different forms of Orthodox and Reform Judaism; Jewish teachings about life after death including interpretations of Ecclesiastes 12; the nature of resurrection and judgement; why belief in life after death may be important for Jews today. Section 3: Living the Jewish Life -The nature and purpose of Jewish public acts of worship: the nature, features and purpose of Jewish public worship, including interpretations of Psalms 116:12–19; the nature, features and importance of synagogue services for the Jewish community and the individual. Jewish festivals: the nature, history, purpose and significance of Jewish festivals; the origins and meaning of specific festivals, including Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Pesach, Shavuot and Sukkot, including interpretations of Leviticus 23 (Rosh Hashanah); divergent understandings of why festivals are important to different forms of Orthodox and Reform Judaism today. Section 4: Matters of Life and Death - Jewish teachings about life after death: Jewish teachings and beliefs that support the existence of a life after death

OCR

Component Group 1 - Judaism - Practices- Rituals • The meaning and importance of rites of passage • The form and meaning of Jewish birth ceremonies including: •• The welcoming of a baby girl •• The connection between Brit Milah and the covenant with Abraham •• The circumcision •• The roles of the father •• Mohel and Sandek •• The importance of birth rituals for the community • The form and meaning of Bar/Bat Mitzvah including: •• The preparation •• The nature of the service •• Subsequent preparations •• The meaning and nature of Bat Chayil The meaning and importance of burial rites including: •• The nature of burial •• The tearing of clothes •• The Kaddish Dietary laws • The origin and nature of dietary laws •The mitzvoth and traditions regarding the slaughter and consumption of animals •The mitzvot and traditions regarding the consumption of poultry, fish, fruit and vegetables •The mitzvot and traditions regarding the consumption of meat and milk together • The importance and impact of dietary laws on Jewish lifestyle • The meaning of the terms Kosher and Terefah • Issues related to the dietary laws, including pikuach nefesh and breaking the laws of kashrut • Common and divergent emphases placed on the dietary laws by different Jewish groups, including the preparation of food by non-Jews

Festivals • The origins and importance of Rosh Hashanah, including Teshuva, the Shofar, symbolic foods, the synagogue service and Tashlich • The origins and importance of Yom Kippur, including the connection to Rosh Hashanah, the Book of Life, Kapparah, the rules of Yom Kippur, the importance and nature of fasting, the synagogue services and Neilah •The origins and importance of the Pilgrim Festivals, including the story of the Exodus, the importance of chametz and the Seder meal • The origins and importance of Sukkot, including the building of sukkah and the four species • The origins and importance of Hanukkah • The origins and importance of Pesach

Law• The form and content of the Tenakh (the Written Law) • The Chumash and the Sefer Torah • The nature of the Talmud (the Oral Law) •The relationship between the Talmud and the Torah, including the ways in which the Talmud is used in relation to the Torah • The use of the Torah in the synagogue • The use of the Tenakh in private worship • The way that the Torah provides structure to the life of a Jew, including the use of the Neviim and Ketuvim in public and private worship •The significance of the use in daily life of the Tenakh and the Talmud •Issues related to the law, including the different views held amongst religious Jews regarding the nature of the Torah and the Talmud • Common and divergent emphases placed on the Tenakh and Talmud by different Jewish groups •Different interpretations and emphases given to sources of wisdom and authority by different Jewish groups Beliefs and Teachings - Sanctity of life• The meaning and concept of sanctity of life •The siginifcance that Judaism places on the sanctity of human life • The concept and meaning of Pikuach Nefesh (the obligation to save life) •The significance of Pikuach Nefeshin Jewish personal, social and community life •Issues related to the sanctity of life, including what kinds of life are sacred • Common and divergent emphases placed on the concept of the sanctity of life by different Jewish groups, including the difference between human and non-human lives • Common and divergent emphases placed on the concept of Pikuach Nefesh by different Jewish groups, including whether the principle extends to relieving suffering/illness Nature of G-d• The meaning of the terms G-d as One, Creator, Law-Giver, Judge and Eternal •The signifa nce of the following characteristics for Jews: •• All-powerful •• All-good •• All-knowing •• Everywhere •• Beyond time and space •• Concerned with humanity •• Intervening in the world •• Transcendent and immanent • Issues related to the nature of G-d, including the problem of evil and suffering • Common and divergent emphases placed on these characteristics by different Jewish groups, including beliefs about the Last Day of the world as Judgement day and the judgements made by G-d on Rosh Hashannah Promised Land • The concept of the Promised Land: to whom was it promised and in return for what? • The origins of a belief in the Promised Land in the Covenant with Abraham •The significance of the Covenant with Abraham • The role of Abraham and his importance in Judaism • Issues related to the Promised Land, including whether this concept is equally important for all religious Jews

WJEC

2.1 Unit 1 PART A - Part A Christianity - Core beliefs, teachings and practices – Practices - Church  Diversity of Christianity: Catholic, Anglican, Church in Wales, non-conformist churches and chapels  Role of the local church  Diverse features of churches and chapels and diversity of worship practices.  Importance of prayer, communal and private - Matthew 6:5-13, Matthew 18:20  Social and community functions of churches, examples in Wales: food banks, the work of the Salvation Army, the work of Shelter Cymru  Christian groups working for Social justice, Reconciliation, Inter-faith dialogue e.g. Interfaith Council for Wales, World Council of Churches, Christian-Muslim Forum, Council of Christians and Jews  Persecution of Christians in the modern world (Matthew 10:22)

EDUQAS

Component 3: Study of a World Faith - Option 4:Judaism - Beliefs and teachings - The nature of God ➢ Issues of God as: One, Creator: Genesis 1: 3-5; 1: 26-28, The Shema ➢ Law-Giver and Judge: Exodus 20:1-15 ➢ The nature and significance of shekhinah (the divine presence) Messiah (Mashiach) ➢ Different views within Orthodox and Reform Judaism about the nature and role of the Mashiach (Messiah); special person who brings an age of peace, ourselves, his arrival as signaling the end of the world, praying for his coming, concerned more with living life according to the mitzvot Covenant ➢ The meaning and significance of the Abrahamic Covenant: Genesis 12:1-3, 17:6-8, 17:11-14 including the importance of the ‘Promised Land’ ➢ The meaning and significance of the Covenant with Moses at Sinai: Exodus 3:11-15 including the continuing importance of the idea of a ‘Promised Land’ ➢ Importance of the Ten Commandments: Exodus 20:2-14 The afterlife ➢ Orthodox and Reform beliefs and teachings about life after death, judgement and resurrection; spiritual and/or bodily resurrection, immortality of the soul and the belief that we must focus on this life in preparation for whatever happens in the next. Practices - Worship: practices in Britain and elsewhere ➢ The nature and importance of Orthodox and Reform synagogue services; Shabbat service, the significance of prayer including the standing prayer (Amidah) ➢ Worship in the home; siddur, recitation of Shema and Modeh Ani, display of mezuzah. The importance of preparing for and celebrating Shabbat: Exodus 20:8-10 ➢ Items worn for worship; tallith, tefillin and kippah The Synagogue ➢ Features of different synagogues in Britain: significance of bimah, aron hakodesh, Torah scrolls, ner tamid, seating, minyan; Exodus 20:4-5 ➢ Worship, social and community functions of Orthodox and Reform synagogues serving Jewish communities in Britain. Rituals ➢ The role and importance of Brit Milah: Covenant, identity, features of the ceremony ➢ Bar Mitzvah: Law and personal responsibility, features of the ceremony ➢ Orthodox and Reform views regarding Bat Mitzvah and Bat Chayil and features of the ceremonies ➢ Marriage: Genesis 2: 24, features of the ceremony ➢ Mourning rituals: onan, kaddish, sheva, yarzheit. Role of chevra kaddisha Daily life ➢ Significance of use of the Tenakh and the Talmud in daily life; ➢ Dietary laws: kosher/treyfah, parev, the prohibition of milk with meat, requirements of a kosher kitchen: Leviticus 11:1-23 ➢ Keeping kosher in Britain: benefits and challenges Festivals: practices in Britain and elsewhere ➢ The origin, meaning and celebration of the following festivals among different Jewish communities in Britain ➢ Rosh Hashanah ➢ Yom Kippur ➢ Pesach: Exodus 12:14

Transcript

Alien Abduction: Judaism

Robot Survey ship Pantheon orbiting planet: Earth. Dominant life form: Human. Belief system: Various. More information required. Scanning for samples. Welcome to survey ship Pantheon, our mission is to investigate the culture of your planet, and you have been selected to represent your belief system. Please state your name.

Rabbi David Lister Rabbi David Lister.

Robot Religion.

Rabbi David Lister Judaism.

Robot Holy book.

Rabbi David Lister Torah.

Robot Holy building.

Rabbi David Lister Synagogue, sometimes referred to as a shul.

Robot Symbol.

Rabbi David Lister The Star of David or a seven branched lamp called a menorah.

Robot You will now be asked a series of questions from the categories on screen. You have 30 of your Earth seconds to provide a satisfactory answer to each one. Failure to comply will result in matter dispersal. Are you ready?

Rabbi David Lister Yes.

Robot Standby. Choose the first category.

Rabbi David Lister God.

Robot What do you believe about God?

Rabbi David Lister We believe that God is a creator, just the one, and he made everything in the universe, and he looks after people in this world by giving them a spiritual job to do. If they do that job very well, then they will develop themselves, and after death they will be able to enjoy a special closeness to God.

Rabbi David Lister Life after death.

Robot What do you believe will happen to humans after death?

Rabbi David Lister A person's body is put in the ground, their soul is released from the body and returns to God. The better we have worked in this life on doing the things that God has asked us to do, the more we will be able to understand and appreciate what it's like to be with him after we die. We don't understand much about what it's like after death, but we know that it is a good thing to be in that state.

Rabbi David Lister Beginnings.

Robot How did your religion begin?

Rabbi David Lister It started when God spoke to Abraham, nearly 4000 years ago. Abraham had a family that went down to Egypt, and their descendants came out of the slavery in Egypt after 210 years there. We went to Mount Sinai in the Sinai desert. God came down on the mountain, spoke to us, said the Ten Commandments, and then we received the Torah from Moses.

Rabbi David Lister Everyday life.

Robot How does your religion affect everyday life?

Rabbi David Lister 2 In lots of different ways. We have rules about what we eat so all our food must be kosher. We have rules about what we wear. We're not allowed to wear a garment that has both wool and linen in it. Jewish men are supposed to wear a kippah on their heads. We have to pray. We have to behave to each other in a kind and gentle way, and most of all, I think, we're supposed to think about ourselves and the world in a cheerful and positive way. Festivals.

Rabbi David Lister In lots of different ways. We have rules about what we eat so all our food must be kosher. We have rules about what we wear. We're not allowed to wear a garment that has both wool and linen in it. Jewish men are supposed to wear a kippah on their heads. We have to pray. We have to behave to each other in a kind and gentle way, and most of all, I think, we're supposed to think about ourselves and the world in a cheerful and positive way.

Rabbi David Lister Festivals.

Robot What is the most important festival in your religion?

Rabbi David Lister There are many important times in our year. There's Pesach or Passover when we remember and relive the Exodus from Egypt. And there's Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, which is a big new start for everybody. My favourite festival, if you can call it that, is Shabbat, which happens every single week. That's our Sabbath starts on Friday afternoon and finishes Saturday night. It's a time when we can't do lots of things, and we have to calm down and listen to each other.

Rabbi David Lister Rites of passage.

Robot What is a bar mitzvah?

Rabbi David Lister Bar mitzvah means son of commandment. It's a time when a boy turns 13, and we celebrate the fact that he's now obliged to keep the commandments like every other Jewish adult. He will normally celebrate this by going to the synagogue and reading a portion of the Torah, and having a party afterwards. A girl will have a bat mitzvah, which means daughter of the commandment, when she turns 12, and she will also celebrate this by going to the synagogue and perhaps reading a speech.

Rabbi David Lister Random.

Rabbi David Lister What's so bad about pigs?

Rabbi David Lister Um, pigs aren't such a big deal in Judaism. They're part of a non-kosher group of animals, like the horse, the rabbit, um, any animal that doesn't have both split hooves and many stomachs is not kosher, and we may not, we may not eat it. We're a bit worried about the symbolism of the pig, because on the outside it looks kosher, because it has split hooves, but inside it only has the one stomach, so it's regarded as a faker.

Robot Thank you. Your answers are satisfactory. Matter dispersal beams powering down. You will now be returned to Earth, human. Goodbye.