Rituals

The covenant Jews understand to have been made between God and Abraham, Moses and the Jewish people. Most Jewish rites are either a sign of it or an obligation under it.

A sign of being Jewish, the seal of the covenant, and a sign of obedience to God. Performed at eight days old.

A boy participates in the synagogue service as religiously adult, usually reading the Torah portion, and takes on all the obligations of the Torah. The error is calling the ceremony the bar mitzvah — he is.

The ketubah, the marriage contract according to the Law of Moses, and the get, the divorce contract required before an Orthodox Jew may remarry in a synagogue.

Hevra kadisha, the group preparing the body; shiva, the seven-day period after the funeral; a longer mourning period and stone-setting within the first year. Cremation is not permitted in Orthodox Judaism.

Shaharit (morning), minhah (afternoon) and ma'ariv (evening).

A blessing — a type of Jewish prayer in which God is blessed. The Kiddush, recited over wine at the beginning of a festival, is one.

Prayers for home and synagogue, including the Shema, Amidah and Alenu. Different movements within Judaism have different prayer books.

The food laws are ritual, and are seen as obligations by the Orthodox to express being set apart as a holy people.

Kippah or yarmulkah, mezuzah on the doorpost, tallit, tefillin, the spice box marking Shabbat's separation, and Shabbat candles.

Pesach (Passover), Weeks or Shavuot (Pentecost), and Sukkot (Tabernacles).

Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement and repentance. Fasting expresses repentance.

History, religiously interpreted — so most festivals, weekly and annual, seek to recreate the Jewish experience.

Because the festival recreates the experience rather than commemorating it; those present are counted among the ones brought out.

Orthodoxy and Ultra-Orthodoxy. The rest hold that the ethical mitzvot are binding and that ritual mitzvot may be modified or abandoned if they do not serve their original purpose.

Because they are exempt from positive time-based mitzvot, notably communal prayer at set times, and a person not bound by an obligation cannot discharge it for others.

Sexual equality, so a girl becomes bat mitzvah and participates in the synagogue ceremony as religiously adult, usually reading the Torah portion; women can become rabbis and cantors.

Orthodoxy: Hebrew, except a vernacular prayer for the head of state. Reform: about half Hebrew, half vernacular. Liberal: tends to be more vernacular. All siddurim print Hebrew with translation opposite.

Cultural influences in nineteenth-century Germany; the Jewish enlightenment led some to reject belief in God's giving the entire Torah, written and oral, to Moses on Sinai.

Music differing between Ashkenazi and Sephardi cultural origins, arising from different migrations.