ה"ב Basic Judaism Course Copr. 2009 Rabbi Noah Gradofsky Syllabus Basic Judaism Course By: Rabbi Noah Gradofsky Greetings and Overview ................................................................................................................. 3 Class Topics.................................................................................................................................... 3 Reccomended Resources ................................................................................................................ 4 Live It, Learn It............................................................................................................................... 6 On Gender Neutrality...................................................................................................................... 7 Adult Bar/Bat Mitzvah.................................................................................................................... 8 Contact Information........................................................................................................................ 8 What is Prayer?............................................................................................................................... 9 Who Is Supposed To Pray?........................................................................................................... 10 Studying Judaism With Honesty and Integrity ............................................................................. 10 Why Are Women and Men Treated Differently in the Synagogue? ............................................ 11 How often do we pray and when?................................................................................................. 12 The Real Jewish Standard Time ............................................................................................... 12 All Prayers May Be Done in Any Language ................................................................................ 13 Why Do Men and Women Sit Separately in Some Synagogues? ................................................ 13 We Pray in Plural.......................................................................................................................... 13 What is a Minyan? ........................................................................................................................ 14 What Are They Mumbling?.......................................................................................................... 14 Kaddish ......................................................................................................................................... 14 The Half Kaddish...................................................................................................................... 15 The Mourner’s Kaddish ............................................................................................................ 16 The Full Kaddish (Kaddish Titkabal) ....................................................................................... 17 The Rabbi’s Kaddish................................................................................................................. 18 Rules and Practices Regarding Kaddish ................................................................................... 18 The Amidah (AKA “Shemoneh Esreh”)....................................................................................... 19 The Beginning and End of Every Amidah................................................................................ 19 The Middle Blessings of the Weekday Amidah ....................................................................... 20 The Middle Blessing of the Sabbath and Holiday Amidah ...................................................... 21 Amidah Blessings Chart ....................................................................................................... 22 Additions to the Amidah For Specific Days............................................................................. 22 The Repetition of the Amidah................................................................................................... 22 The Power of Amen.............................................................................................................. 23 Additions to the Repetition of the Amidah (Kedushah, Rabbi’s Modim, Priestly Blessing)23 Rules and Practices of Reciting the Amidah............................................................................. 24 The Shema .................................................................................................................................... 26 Blessings Which Accompany the Shema ................................................................................. 27 Rules and Customs Regarding the Reciting of Shema and Her Blessings ............................... 28 Interruption Between the Shema’s Blessings and the Amidah............................................. 29 Shacharit: The Morning Service ................................................................................................... 29 Prayers Generally Recited Before Synagogue Services. .......................................................... 29 Modeh Ani and Elohay Neshamah: Thanking God for Waking Up..................................... 29 The Blessing on the Study of Torah ..................................................................................... 30 Blessings on Putting On the Talit and Tefillin...................................................................... 30 1 ה"ב Basic Judaism Course Copr. 2009 Rabbi Noah Gradofsky Syllabus Thanking God For Our Bodily Functions............................................................................. 30 Washing of the Hands........................................................................................................... 30 Mah Tovu.............................................................................................................................. 31 Birchot Hashachar – Morning Blessings .................................................................................. 31 What is a Beracha Levatalah (Vain Blessing)?..................................................................... 32 Morning Prayers That Are Often Skipped................................................................................ 32 Akeida (The binding of Isaac) .............................................................................................. 33 Early Shema.......................................................................................................................... 33 Korbanot (Sacrifices)............................................................................................................ 33 Brayta D'rabi Yishmael - Teaching of Rabbi Yishmael .......................................................... 33 Psalm 30.................................................................................................................................... 33 Pesukei D'Zimrah - Verses of song........................................................................................... 33 The Shema and Her Blessings .................................................................................................. 34 The Amidah is recited............................................................................................................... 34 On Most Weekdays, Tachanun is Recited. ............................................................................... 34 Hallel is recited on holidays and Rosh Chodesh....................................................................... 35 The Torah is read on Mondays, Thursdays, Holidays, and Rosh Chodesh. ............................. 35 The Procedure for an Aliyah................................................................................................. 36 What is a Mi Sheberach? ...................................................................................................... 37 The Conclusion of Weekday Morning Services ....................................................................... 37 Alenu..................................................................................................................................... 38 The Continuation of the Sabbath/Holiday Morning Service .................................................... 38 Mincha: The Afternoon Service.................................................................................................... 39 Ma’ariv: The Evening Service...................................................................................................... 39 Friday Night Services ( Kabbalath Shabbat) ................................................................................. 40 Goals of This Section.................................................................................................................... 41 Sources.......................................................................................................................................... 41 The Bible....................................................................................................................................... 41 TaNa”Ch - The three Major subdivisions of the Bible............................................................. 42 Torah – The Five Books of Moses........................................................................................ 44 1) Bereshit - Genesis........................................................................................................