What are Jewish initiation rituals?
The Brit Milah (circumcision ceremony) is an important initiation rite for young Jewish boys. Circumcision is a religious obligation on Jews recalling the covenant that God made with Abraham. Ordinarily circumcision ceremonies take place when the child is eight days old but it can be delayed for medical reasons.
What are some of the life cycle rituals in Judaism?
In addition, family formations have shifted, leading to new rituals. In Judaism, special life cycle rituals have surrounded birth, puberty, marriage, death, and mourning. The contraction, expansion, and transformation of rites of passage is explored within several of the many expressions of American Judaism.
What are the major beliefs traditions and customs of Judaism?
Judaism, monotheistic religion developed among the ancient Hebrews. Judaism is characterized by a belief in one transcendent God who revealed himself to Abraham, Moses, and the Hebrew prophets and by a religious life in accordance with Scriptures and rabbinic traditions.
What objects are important in Jewish holiday rituals?
Kiddush. Several ritual objects are used frequently throughout the year in the Jewish home. These include cups for Kiddush, the prayer over wine on the Sabbath and holidays; and various handwashing cups, which are an important part of purification rituals in the Jewish home.
What do Jews wear on their head?
Orthodox Jewish men always cover their heads by wearing a skullcap known in Hebrew as a kippah or in Yiddish as a yarmulke. Liberal or Reform Jews see the covering of the head as optional. Most Jews will cover their heads when praying, attending the synagogue or at a religious event or festival.
Can Jews be cremated?
In Jewish law, the human body belongs to God, not to the individual. Jewish law and tradition consider cremation as destruction of property. Jewish mysticism, or Kabbalah, also holds that the soul does not immediately depart the body.
What religions dont cremate?
Islam and Cremation Of all world religions, Islam is probably the most strongly opposed to cremation. Unlike Judaism and Christianity, there is little diversity of opinion about it. Cremation is considered by Islam to be an unclean practice.
Is it a sin to cremate?
A: In the Bible, cremation is not labeled a sinful practice. Some biblical references of burning a person with fire seem to suggest the type of life they lived – the enemies of God and God’s laws were promptly cremated as a form of capital punishment.