This document provides an overview of personal Jewish beliefs and practices. It discusses the breakdown of different Jewish denominations and levels of religious observance according to surveys. It also explores common Jewish beliefs about God and perspectives on Jesus. Several major Jewish holidays are summarized, including their origins based on biblical passages and modern celebrations. Key beliefs and rituals associated with Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Hanukkah, Purim, and Passover are highlighted at a high level.

1. Personal Jewish Beliefs

2. Who are the Jewish People?
• 37% Reform
• 17% Conservative
• 9% Orthodox
• 37% Unaf
fi
liated/other
Natalie Portman
Pew Research 2021, p. 57

3. Religious Attendance
Weekly 12%
Monthly 8%
Yearly 27%
Never 53%
Wilshire Temple Los Angeles
Pew Research 2021, p. 80

4. Belief in God
God of the Bible 26%
Higher Power 50%
Atheist/Agnostic 23%
Pew Research 2021, p. 67

5. 50% of Couples are Intermarried

6. 5. What do Jews think about Jesus?

7. Jesus was
A misunderstood rabbi
Teacher of Judaism
Appropriated by the Gentiles

8. Jesus was
A social activist
Advocate of justice
Opponent of oppression

9. Why Most Jews Reject Jesus
1. Converts are no longer Jews

10. Why Most Jews Reject the Gospel
1. Converts are no longer Jews
2. Worshipping Jesus is idolatry

11. Why Most Jews Reject the Gospel
1. Converts are no longer Jews
2. Worshipping Jesus is idolatry
3. Christians killed Jews

12. Why Most Jews Reject the Gospel
1. Converts are no longer Jews
2. Worshipping Jesus is idolatry
3. Christians killed Jews
4. Messiah bring peace on earth

13. The Jewish Holidays

14. The Jewish Lunar Calendar
Solar Calendar Hebrew Calendar
Earth
Sun

15. Spring
Summer
Fall
Winter

16. September 26, 2022
Feast of Trumpets
Rosh Hashanah

17. Jewish New Year
Feast of Trumpets
Yom Ha Truah

18. April 2, 2022
Biblical New Year
1 Nisan

20. Loans from Babylon
• Names of the Hebrew Months
• Jewish Names (ex. Mordecai)
• Chaldean Script ‫אבגדהוזחט‬
• Persian Civil New Year
Cyrus

21. Begins Civil New Year
Ends Harvest Season
Feast of Trumpets
Rosh Hashanah

22. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the people of Israel, saying, In the
seventh month, on the
fi
rst day of the month,
you shall observe a day of solemn rest, a
memorial proclaimed with blast of trumpets,
a holy convocation.
(Lev. 23:23–24 ESV)

23. Feast of Trumpets
Rosh Hashanah
Feast of Trumpets
Rosh Hashanah

24. • Apples & Honey
• New Year Cards
Feast of Trumpets
Rosh Hashanah

25. • Attend Synagogue
• Blow Shofar
• Festive Meal
Feast of Trumpets
Rosh Hashanah

26. Binding of Isaac (Chagall)

27. By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered
up Isaac, and he who had received the
promises was in the act of offering up his only
son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall
your offspring be named.” He considered that
God was able even to raise him from the dead,
from which,
fi
guratively speaking, he did
receive him back. (Heb. 11:17–19 ESV)

28. Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the
last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and
the dead will be raised imperishable, and we
shall be changed.
(1 Cor. 15:51–52 ESV)

30. October 5, 2022
Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur

31. Day of Judgement
Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur

32. The tenth day of this seventh month is the Day of
Atonement. It shall be for you a time of holy
convocation, and you shall af
fl
ict yourselves and
present a food offering to the LORD. And you
shall not do any work on that very day, for it is a
Day of Atonement, to make atonement for you
before the LORD your God.
(Lev. 23:27–28 ESV)

33. • Go to Synagogue
• Fast & pray all day
• Wear white
• Repent of sins
Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur

34. • Book of Life
• World is Judged
• Fate is sealed
Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur

35. Unetaneh Tokef

36. We ascribe power to the holiness of this day. For it is
tremendous and awe-
fi
lled, and on it your kingship is
declared, your throne will be established in loving-
kindness, and you will sit on that throne in truth. It is true
that you are the one who judges, and reproves, who
knows all, and bears witness, who inscribes, and seals,
who reckons and enumerates.

37. You remember all that is forgotten. You open the book of
Life, and from it, all shall be read. In it lies each person's
insignia. And with a great shofar it is sounded, and a thin
silent voice shall be heard. And the angels shall be
alarmed, and dread and fear shall seize them as they
proclaim:

38. Behold! the Day of Judgment on which the hosts of
heaven shall be judged, for they too shall not be judged
blameless by you, and all creatures shall parade before
you as a herd of sheep. As a shepherd herds his
fl
ock,
directing his sheep to pass under his sta
ff
, so do you shall
pass, count, and record the souls of all living, and decree
a limit to each persons days, and inscribe their
fi
nal
judgment.

39. On Rosh Hashanah it is inscribed, and on Yom Kippur it is
sealed - how many shall pass away and how many shall
be born, who shall live and who shall die, who in good
time, and who by an untimely death, who by water and
who by
fi
re, who by sword and who by wild beast, who by
famine and who by thirst,

40. who by earthquake and who by plague, who by
strangulation and who by lapidation, who shall have rest
and who wander, who shall be at peace and who
pursued, who shall be serene and who tormented, who
shall become impoverished and who wealthy, who shall
be debased, and who exalted.

41. But repentance, prayer and righteousness deeds
avert the severe decree of God.

42. Dias Irae

43. THAT day of wrath, that dreadful day,
shall heaven and earth in ashes lay,
as David and the Sybil say.
What horror must invade the mind
when the approaching Judge shall
fi
nd
and sift the deeds of all mankind!

44. The mighty trumpet's wondrous tone
shall rend each tomb's sepulchral stone
and summon all before the Throne
Now death and nature with surprise
behold the trembling sinners rise
to meet the Judge's searching eyes.

45. Then shall with universal dread
the Book of Life be read
to judge the lives of all the dead.
For now before the Judge severe
all hidden things must plain appear;
no crime can pass unpunished here.

46. O what shall I, so guilty plead?
and who for me will intercede?
when even Saints shall comfort need?
O King of dreadful majesty!
grace and mercy You grant free;
as Fount of Kindness, save me!

47. O Judge of justice, hear, I pray,
for pity take my sins away
before the dreadful reckoning day.

48. • Closing the Gates
• Final Shofar blast
• Books are Closed
Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur

49. Kol Nidre
(All Vows)
Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur

50. Kol Nidre, Park Ave Synagogue New York

51. • High Priest
• Scape Goat
• Sacri
fi
cial Goat
• Holy of Holies
Day of Atonement
Yom Kippur

52. Temple Destroyed
70 AD

53. •Prayer
•Repentance
•Righteous Works
Council of Yavneh
90 AD
Yohannon Ben Zakkai

55. Feast of Tabernacles
Sukkot
October 10, 2022

56. On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you
have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall
celebrate the feast of the LORD seven days. On the first
day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall
be a solemn rest. And you shall take on the first day the
fruit of splendid trees, branches of palm trees and
boughs of leafy trees and willows of the brook, and you
shall rejoice before the LORD your God seven days.
(Lev 23:39–43 ESV)

57. You shall celebrate it as a feast to the LORD for seven
days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your
generations; you shall celebrate it in the seventh month.
You shall dwell in booths for seven days. All native
Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your generations may
know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths
when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the
LORD your God.”
(Lev 23:39–43 ESV)

58. “Mishkah” Tabernacle in the Wilderness

59. “Sukkah” The Booth

60. Lulav and Etrog

61. Etrog (Ciltron)
Myrtle branch
Palm Branches
Willow Leaves

62. Heart
Eyes
Spine
Lips

63. Jews making pilgrimage to Jerusalem for Sukkot

64. Priest set up Lampstands

65. Water Drawing Ceremony

66. With joy you will draw water from the wells
of salvation.
(Isaiah 12:3 ESV)

67. On the last day of the feast, the great day,
Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone
thirsts, let him come to me and drink.
Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture
has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of
living water.’”
(John 7:37–38 ESV)

68. Now this he said about the Spirit, whom
those who believed in him were to receive,
for as yet the Spirit had not been given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified.
(John 7:39 ESV)

69. Hanukkah
December 18, 2022

70. Hanukkah
• Maccabees
• Victory over Antiochus IV
• 165 BC

71. Hanukkah
• Lighting the Menorah for 8 days
• Giving Gifts
• Jewish response to Christmas

72. Hanukkah
• Story of Jewish resistance to oppression
• Story of Jewish victory over persecution
• Story of Jewish resistance to assimilation

73. Purim
The Feast of Dice
March 7, 2023

74. Megillah, Book of Esther

75. Purim Parades in Israel

76. April 6, 2023
Passover

77. 14th Day of Nisan
Passover

78. Passover
Tell all the congregation of
Israel that on the tenth
day of this month every
man shall take a lamb…
and [on the 14th] of this
month…kill the lambs at
twilight.
(Exodus 12:3-8)

79. Take some of the blood
and put it on the two
doorposts and the lintel
of the houses …They
shall eat the
fl
esh that
night, roasted on the
fi
re; with unleavened
bread and bitter herbs.
Passover

80. Passover Seder Meal

81. Passover
• Perfect lamb
• Sacri
fi
ced for us
• Saved us from death
• Saved us from slavery