Marriage

Author(s): Natubhai Shah
Publisher: UK Jain Academy

Page 80

Jews are relaxed on this injunction. In progressive Judaism, both men and women are given equal opportunity to take part in the religious ceremonies; in the orthodox sector women do not participate in some religious ceremonies, but women have a key role in Jewish life because of their function in the family.
Who is a Jew? Jews believe that a Jew is someone who is the child of a Jewish mother; although some groups also accept children of Jewish fathers as Jewish. A Jew traditionally can't lose the technical 'status' of being a Jew by adopting another faith, but they do lose the religious element of their Jewish identity. Someone who isn't born a Jew can convert to Judaism, but it is not easy to do so.
Eruv
An eruv is an area within which observant Jews can carry or push objects on the Sabbath without violating a Jewish law that prohibits carrying anything except within the home. There are over 200 eruvs (or eruvim) in the world. Britain's first, and biggest, eruv was created in February 2003. The eruv has a boundary 11 miles long and encloses an area of 6.5 square miles. It covers Hendon, Golders Green and Hampstead Garden Suburb, together with parts of Childs Hill, Cricklewood, East Finchley, Finchley and Mill Hill.
Tefillin
(sometimes called phylacteries) are cubic black leather boxes with leather straps that Orthodox Jewish men wear on their head and their arm during weekday morning prayer. Observant Jews consider wearing tefillin to be a very great mitzvah (command).
Kippah (Yarmulke)
Orthodox Jewish men always cover their heads by wearing a skullcap known in Hebrew as a kippah or in Yiddish as a yarmulke. Liberal or Reform Jews see the covering of the head as optional. Most Jews will cover their heads when praying, attending the synagogue or at a religious event or festival. Wearing a skullcap is seen as a sign of devoutness and as an 'outward sign' of Jewish faith. Women also cover their heads by wearing a scarf or a hat.
Holocaust Memorial Day
The Jewish Community has its own memorial day for the Holocaust. Yom Ha-Shoah. Shoah is the Hebrew word for 'whirlwind' or 'destruction'. It is the term used to describe the conflagration that swept up six million Jewish souls between 1938 and 1945. Public institutions and major faiths participate in the service on this day to remind people the effects of such ghastly act of genocide and prayer to see that it never recurs.
80