RELIGIOUS and DAILY LIFE

In Jesus’ time, Jewish people said a prayer called the SHEMA. This was the main

commandment:

Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone! Therefore you shall love the

Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.

- Deuteronomy 6:4-5

=> People greeted each other with the word Shalom, which means “peace”

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There were three major feasts which were observed in the Temple in Jerusalem: Passover, Pentecost and Tabernacles. It was the custom of the Jewish people to go to the Temple for these feasts. (custom = the usual practices of a group)

The Temple was the symbol of the Jewish faith where sacrifices were made (donations, sheep & goats…Jesus used this symbolism to refer to himself, the “Lamb of God”)

Today, all that remains of the Temple is the outer Western Wall. It is called the Wailing Wall, and Jewish people go there to grieve, pray, and offer petitions

The WAILING WALL in Jerusalem

* The Sabbath was the Lord’s Day, a day of rest.

Services were held at local synagogues, town centers of prayer, education, and social life (like our “parishes”)

Scrolls of the Torah, or Law, were read and preached there.

When a Jewish person entered or left their home, they touched the mezuzah, a small case on the doorpost that held a copy of the Shema.

Devout Jewish men wore a prayer shawl and strapped small boxes called phylacteries to their forehead or arm. These boxes contained the Word of God. (devout = devoted to their faith)

DAILY LIFE . . . In Palestine in the time of Jesus, houses were

made of clay bricks or stones held together with mud and straw, and had dirt floors

Some items in the house included a table, a spinning wheel, wooden bowls, an olive oil lamp…

Men’s jobs were typically farmer, craftsman, or fisherman

Women learned cooking and household duties. Women memorized scripture, but it was forbidden for them to read or write.

Food was usually bread, honey, spiced foods (spices preserved foods), goat cheese, vegetables (grown locally), fruit (dates, figs…), fish, water and wine. Meat was for special occasions, not readily available.

Jesus would have spoken three languages:

The languages spoken were:- Aramaic, the common, daily language- Hebrew, the language used for prayer- Greek, the language of the land