Multifaith Education Australia
Multifaith Resources for Educators
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In this series of articles, we offer resources from a number of religions in dealing with suicide along with resources for prevention and meeting challenges. In this issue, we look to the support Judaism provides for prevention and meeting challenges. Continue reading “Religion and Suicide Resources: Judaism”
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During this time of tragedy and mourning, it can be difficult to speak to children about what is happening. Depending on their age, they may be hearing or seeing frightening things on the news, at home, at school, or online. Children often find out news on their smart-phones, before parents know. As caregivers, it is important to both shield our children from trauma while providing skills to cope with fear and anxiety.
Continue reading “Judaism: How to Talk to Your Children about Israel and Terrorism – A Toolbox”
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Special Religious Education (SRE), also known as ‘Scripture,’ is the Board of Jewish Education’s largest educational program across NSW government schools. Board of Jewish Education teachers travel to nearly 60 schools across NSW to teach foundational Jewish knowledge in once-a-week SRE classes which are provided for free by the Board.
Continue reading “Jewish SRE in NSW”
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The Jewish people (literally, the Children of Israel) worship in a building called a Synagogue. The building will have seating areas, and a place for the reservation of the scrolls. Synagogues are consecrated spaces used for the purpose of prayer, reading of the Tanakh (the entire Hebrew Bible, including the Torah), study and assembly of the worshipful.
Continue reading “The Jewish Place of Worship”
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Passover or Pesach פסח, as it is called in Hebrew, is the festival that reminds us of when the Jewish people were slaves in Egypt about 3,500 years ago and how God freed them from the evil Egyptian king Pharaoh.
The Pesach story is written in the Torah, in Exodus, Chapters 1-15 and is one of the most important stories in Jewish history.
Pesach starts on the 15th day of the Hebrew month of Nissan, at the full moon. It lasts for eight days (seven in Israel). The four days in the middle are called Chol Hamo’ed (weekdays of the festival). In the English calendar, Pesach will be during April or (sometimes) in late March. As the Jewish calendar is lunar, the English dates of Pesach will change from year to year even though the dates in the Jewish calendar remain the same.
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Covid-19 has prevented many religious communities from coming together.
This year, the Union for Reform Judaism has collaborated with Reform leaders from North America and the UK along with our partners at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, and the American Conference of Cantors to provide a set of videos to accompany the Passover observances. Each video is 2-6 minutes long and contains blessings, songs, and insights that perfectly supplement any seder.
Continue reading “Passover Video”
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Many religious traditions believe marriage is a gift from God and family life a blessing. Raising a family is a sacred duty to Jewish people, a way to express loyalty to Judaism. Here we present six videos unfolding Jewish Values in Family Life.
Continue reading “Videos to Teach Jewish Values”
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The central idea of Judaism involves a commitment by the Jewish people to a single, omnipotent, incorporeal God, who is the creator and ruler of the universe and the source of a moral law for humanity. The idea of God as the creator of the universe opens the Biblical narrative Bereshit (“In the Beginning”) in the Book of Genesis.
Continue reading “Principal Beliefs of Judaism”
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As Holocaust education becomes mandatory in Australian schools, we hear from the dwindling ranks of Australian survivors. It has been almost 70 years since the end of the Holocaust, in which the German Nazis, under Adolf Hitler, killed millions of Jews.
Continue reading “Australian voices from the Holocaust”
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International organizations and national authorities in several countries have developed comprehensive approaches to address the challenge. Despite this, preventing anti-Semitism through education and addressing its manifestations in education environments remains a challenge for policy-makers and educators.
Continue reading “Addressing anti-Semitism through education”