BENTON PARK SCHOOL

CREATING A CLIMATE FOR GREAT LEARNING SUCCESS AND OPPORTUNITY

Year 12 Bridging Work – Religious Studies

The first topic we will be learning about in Year 12 is . Please complete the following work for the first lesson back. Please bring a ring binder and folder dividers to your first lesson.

Activity 1

Produce a fact sheet on the Jewish religion. Include:-

 What Judaism is  How Judaism began  Who can be Jewish  Key beliefs  Key practices  Different movements within Judaism (Orthodox, Hasidic, Reform, Conservative)  Where worship and how they worship  Key festivals  Key religious figures

The following websites may be useful:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism

www.jewfaq.org

http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism

Activity 2

Produce a glossary for Judaism by finding a definition for each of the following key terms:

1. agunah 18. Shekinah 35. Dreyfus affair 2. covenant 19. Kavod 36. En Sof 3. 20. Shema 37. Haggadah 4. Torah 21. Tefillah 38. Halakah 5. Orthodox Judaism 22. 39. Holocaust

6. 23. Amidah 40. 7. Hasidic Judaism 24. Zionism 41. Kibbutz 8. Talmud 25. Religious pluralism 42. 9. Midrash 26. Synagogue 43. Machzor 10. Mishnah 27. Pesach 44. Maimonides 11. Gemara 28. 45. 12. Halakhah 29. 46. Seder 13. Aggadah 30. Kabbalah 47. Anti-Semitism 14. Mitzvoth 31. bet midrash 48. Aseret he-D’ibrot 15. Messiah 32. brit milah 49. bereshit 16. Monotheistic 33. derash 50. bet din 17. Incorporeal 34. devekut 51. bet k’nesset

Key Word Definition

covenant

Activity 3 - Religious figures & texts

Read Genesis chapters 11-13, 15, 17 and 22 about the Abrahamic covenant and answer the following questions:

1. What does God promise to Abram? 2. What does Abram promise in return? 3. What do you think Abraham’s test is supposed to show us? 4. What do we learn about the relationship between God and Abraham? 5. What else is revealed about God’s character in these passages? 6. What Biblical event is being referred to in Genesis 15:13-14? 7. What does the covenant tell us about the relationship between God and the Jewish people? What challenges might there be to accepting this in light of Jewish history?

Activity 4 - Religious concepts & life

Write a report (1-2 sides of A4) explaining Jewish beliefs about the nature of God. This should include:

 Beliefs linked to absolute monotheism  Characteristics of God  God’s presence as both kavod and shekinah.  Maimonides on the attributes of God  Whether God’s characteristics are meaningful today.

The following websites may be useful:

 http://jewishstudies.eteacherbiblical.com  Judaism.about.com  http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism  www.jewfaq.org