Daily life of the Jew

Being a Jew is very much a way of life, only in Judaism is the concept of identity and religion, state and church, synagogue and home so closely bound.

"Educate the child in the way that he (sic) should go: even when he is old he will not turn from it"
(Proverbs 22:6)

There are two keys to understanding the life of the devout Jew. Firstly in their lives the Jews try to fulfil the Biblical directive,

"Know Him in all your ways"
(Proverbs 3:6)

So all the actions that take place during the day, however simple or ordinary are transformed into ways of serving God. All actions from getting dressed, through eating to going to bed are part of worship. Secondly for the Jew the home is the centre of their religious life, it is where the children are educated, where the majority of the worship takes place and where the traditions and the rituals can be maintained within the host country. Only in Israel is there a difference because there the whole of the country is holy.

The day begins

The first action of the devout Jew will be to utter the Modeh Ani a thank you for waking up. Then they will wash their hands as a symbol of purification. This is like the priests who would wash before entering the temple, as each day is an opportunity for serving God so each morning is like entering the temple of the day. When the Jew is just a small child their parents will wash their hands and feet in this manner thus they will grow up knowing and experiencing this rite of purification.

Getting dressed

Judaism teaches people to dress modestly, and not to be showy or provocative. Male Jews will wear a garment called a tallit katan (small robe) which is a four cornered garment often made of wool with fringes, called tzizit. Theses are worn to fulfill the commandment

"They shall make for themselves fringes on the corners of their garments ... and you shall see them and remember all the commandments"
Numbers 15:38-39

Ideally the tallit should be worn so that the fringes can be seen outside of the shirt though many will tuck the fringes into their shirts. Male Jews will also wear a small skull cap called a kippah or kupple. This is to remind them that above them is another greater being. Married women are also expected to cover their heads but this is because of modesty. Jews are not allowed to wear any garment that has a mixture of wool and linen. (cf. Deuteronomy 22:11) this is called shaatnez.

Prayer

Jews will pray three times each day. Men will usually go to the synagogue for they have an obligation to pray with a minyan, a group of 10 men this being the smallest group considered to represent the community. If the day is a festival or Shabbat then the whole family will go to the synagogue. These three daily prayers are said;

Shacharit - the morning prayer, after Abraham who set aside the morning to pray so that he could set time aside to God before turning to his own affairs.

Minchah - the afternoon prayer, after Isaac who halted his affairs so that he could give time to God.

Arvit - the evening prayer, after Jacob who prayer in the evening to thank God for having helped him through the day.

As well as these daily prayers, prayers will be said before and after food, and at various other times during the day. Each type of food has a special blessing. For example before eating bread the prayer will be said,

"Blessed are you O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who brings forth bread from the ground"

All the occasions of live have special blessings that will be said on their occurrences to remind the devout Jew that God is present in all the occasions in life, not just at the 'holy' ones. There is even a blessing for going to the toilet!

During the day

Each day is seen as an opportunity to worship God and to keep the commandment (Mitzvah). There are 613 commandments which include the "Ten commandments" given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Of the 613 Mitzvot 248 are positive (things that the Jew is commanded to do) and 365 are negative (things that the Jew is commanded not to do).

"The Mitzvoh were given for the purpose of refining people"
(Talmud)

The Mitzvot cover every area of a Jew's life. They include those activities that would be thought of as 'religious' such as prayer, worship, and observing the festivals; but they also contain laws on things such as Industrial relations, weights and measures, the conduct of the trial, divorce proceedings, food laws, and many others. Keeping the Mitzvot means leading A disciplined life.

For the Jew the Mitvoh are not just a set of regulations that are God telling people how to live but are there to teach people how to be better, a set of guidelines for a righteous life. For example the laws governing the punishment of criminals (Duet. 21:22-23) impress the need to respect human dignity, those concerned with damages and compensation stress personal responsibility (Exodus 22:28-23:5) and the laws of borrowing and lending teach compassion for those less well off than oneself (Duet. 15:7-11).

Going to bed

The day ends as it has begun with a blessing to God. Before going to bed a Jew will recite the Shema.

"Hear O Israel ! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with all your might."

Also added to the end of this will be the prayer,

"May it be your will that you should lay me down in peace and raise me up to good life and peace ... Blessed are you O God, who lights up the world with his glory."