CHARLIE: Judaism is an ancient religion that can be traced back around 4000 years. It's survived despite the many struggles faced by Jewish people in history. We believe in one eternal God who created the universe and declared a set of rules we should live by. These were delivered to Moses and written down in the Torah the first part of the Jewish Bible. We believe we have a special agreement with God to follow these rules. "Well just because God chose us" doesn't mean that he thinks badly of other religions. He would still treat them the same because he still created the people so we believe that… And he's meant to be treating people evenly.
There are many different types of Jewish people. My family belong to an Orthodox synagogue in Manchester or as we call it the shule. Well in the synagogue you dress smart to show your respect to God. The men sit downstairs and then all the women will be sitting upstairs. I'm always next to my dad when I'm praying. Sometimes pray with him sometimes pray by myself. When I'm in my synagogue I feel close to God and I feel that my prayers are being listened and answered to. Usually I'm doing the normal prayers that it says and just really praying for things that I want and things that I want for other people.
THEY PRAY
When I'm praying I feel very close to God and very spiritual. My synagogue is full of reminders of the history of the Jewish people. Up there is the Ten Commandments and they're the most important ten things which a Jewish person should not disobey. Like don't lie. Don't murder. Respect your parents and things like that. The Ten Commandments form part of the Torah. Behind here are the Torah scrolls and this area is called the Ark. This is extremely special because it's holding the holy books and they're really secure so no-one can get into them. The Ark is on the wall closest to the city of Jerusalem in Israel. This is the direction we face to pray. Well our synagogue has got Jerusalem stone which is the same stone as the Western Wall is made out of and it's just sort of there to remind us. Because of its history Jerusalem is one of the holiest places on Earth for Jewish people as well as people from other religions. It's where the stones of the Ten Commandments were kept inside the holy temple. The Western Wall is one of the last bits of it that's left. Jerusalem is definitely in my eyes the most holy place in the world. It's where the Western Wall is which is incredible. I've been to that a few times. And I like it because when you go you write a note and you fold it up and put it in the cracks of the walls. We believe that God reads them and sort of makes them true.
Video summary
11-year-old Charlie from Manchester introduces the history, traditions and beliefs of the Jewish religion.
Charlie is a member of an Orthodox synagogue, or Shul. Praying with his dad, he experiences a sense of being close to God as well, a spiritual experience.
From the BBC Series My Life, My Religion: Judaism.
Teacher Notes
Look with the pupils at both the images in the Manchester synagogue and the footage from the Western Wall. Both of these are places to think deeply.
Draw attention to the practice of writing deep thoughts and pushing the papers into the wall. Tell pupils we are not copying the Jewish custom, but still writing deep thoughts is a good thing to do in RE.
Do they have any deep thoughts about the subjects Charlie mentions, being good, obeying commands, feeling spiritual, praying, feeling close to God?
Invite them to write their deep thoughts about these big and important topics onto separate pieces of paper (you could colour code the five topics) and place them in a special box of some kind.
Tell the pupils this is anonymous, and you will read them, but no one else will know the handwriting. This encourages reflective thinking about big questions: the heart of good RE.
This topic is relevant to KS2 Religious Education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and National 2 Religious Studies in Scotland.
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