Good Learning Co.
SavannahYear 8
← Religion & Worldviews
Religion & WorldviewsJudaism25 min★★ difficulty

Covenant, Torah and Jewish identity

Judaism is both a religion and a people. That double meaning explains why someone can describe themselves as Jewish and secular without contradiction.

Lesson overview

What you'll learn in this lesson

Describe Jewish beliefs about covenant, Torah and identity

Key learning points

  • • Covenant
  • • Torah
  • • One people, many practices

This lesson at a glance

  • 25 minutes
  • 16 parts to scroll through
  • 4 quick checks
  • Marked quiz at the end
  • Gentle pace: short sittings with pauses

Words to know

jewishbeliefscovenantidentitypeople

Scroll down — the lesson carries on below

Part 1 of 16 · Discover6%
1

Watch & discover

Part 1 of 16

Watch first

Covenant, Torah and Jewish identity

An English teaching video on this topic from Cogito. Watch it, then scroll down for the lesson.

In a nutshell

Describe Jewish beliefs about covenant, Torah and identity

2

Learning cycle

Part 2 of 16

Learning cycle 1 of 2

Part 1 · Covenant

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

3

Explore the idea

Part 3 of 16

Learn

Covenant

Jewish teaching describes a covenant — a binding agreement — between God and the Jewish people, beginning with Abraham and renewed with Moses at Sinai. The covenant carries responsibilities rather than privileges: to live justly and to keep the commandments.

4

Explore the idea

Part 4 of 16

Learn

Torah

Torah means teaching. It refers to the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, written by hand on a scroll and read publicly in synagogue, and more broadly to the whole body of Jewish teaching, including centuries of rabbinic discussion in the Talmud.

5

Quick check

Part 5 of 16

Quick check

What is a covenant in Jewish teaching?

6

Quick check

Part 6 of 16

Quick check

What does Torah literally mean?

7

Reset break

Part 7 of 16

Pause

That's sitting 1 of 2 done

Stretch, get a drink, look out of the window. There is no timer and nothing is counting down — your place is saved, so you can come back in five minutes or tomorrow.

Stop here for now
8

Learning cycle

Part 8 of 16

Learning cycle 2 of 2

Part 2 · One people, many practices

A short piece of teaching, then a check to make sure it has landed.

9

Explore the idea

Part 9 of 16

Learn

One people, many practices

Orthodox, Masorti, Reform and Liberal communities interpret the commandments differently, particularly about Shabbat, food laws and the role of women. Many Jewish people identify strongly with the community and its history while observing little ritual.

10

Quick check

Part 10 of 16

Quick check

Why can someone be Jewish and secular?

11

Quick check

Part 11 of 16

Quick check

What does the care taken over a Torah scroll show?

12

Explore the idea

Part 12 of 16

Worked example

Source study: a handwritten scroll

A Torah scroll is written by hand by a trained scribe and may take a year to complete; a single error means the section is rewritten. The practice communicates the value placed on the text's exactness — the object itself is evidence of the belief, before a word is read.

13

Challenge round

Part 13 of 16

Game · Sort it

Which of these are true?

Drag each card into the right column. Tap a card first if dragging is fiddly.

True

Not true

14

Challenge round

Part 14 of 16

Game · Fill the gaps

Finish the sentences

Choose the word that belongs in each gap.

____ teaching describes a covenant — a binding agreement — between God and the Jewish people, beginning with Abraham and renewed with Moses at Sinai.

The ____ carries responsibilities rather than privileges: to live justly and to keep the commandments.

Many Jewish ____ identify strongly with the community and its history while observing little ritual.

15

Mastery quiz

Part 15 of 16

Marked quiz

End of lesson quiz: Covenant, Torah and Jewish identity

4 questions, marked with the reasoning shown. No timer.

  1. 1. What is a covenant in Jewish teaching?

  2. 2. What does Torah literally mean?

  3. 3. Why can someone be Jewish and secular?

  4. 4. What does the care taken over a Torah scroll show?

16

Lesson round-up

Part 16 of 16

Lesson round-up

Ready when you are

Quiz score

Not sat

Games

Not played

Points this lesson

0

Best run

0 in a row

Luna: 0 out of 4 on the practice checks. Only if you feel up to it — one more?

Ask Luna

Do the work

Your written work for this lesson

This is the part you'd do in your book at school. Pick the pieces below, write here or on paper, and photograph anything you draw or work out.

Source

Two teachings on forgiveness

In Christian teaching, Jesus is asked how many times a person should forgive. He answers not seven times but seventy-seven — meaning forgiveness should not be counted at all. The Lord's Prayer links the two directions together: forgive us as we forgive others.

In Islamic teaching, one of the names of God is al-Ghaffar, the Ever-Forgiving. Muslims are taught that God's mercy is greater than any wrong a person can do, and that those who pardon others are closer to God than those who take revenge.

Both traditions distinguish forgiving from forgetting. A person may forgive and still expect justice, and may seek safety from someone who has harmed them.

Original paraphrases written for Good Learning Co.

Reading questions

  1. What does each teaching say about how far forgiveness should go?
  2. Explain how a believer might use one of these teachings after being hurt by a friend.
  3. "Forgiving someone means letting them off." Give two views on this and say which is stronger, with reasons.

  • Reading and response

    Reading

    Read the lesson text again — especially any scripture, story or quotation — then write what it teaches and how a believer would use it.

    2 paragraphs (PEE)

  • Extended writing

    Writing

    Answer the lesson's big question as an exam answer would: a clear view, a reason, a teaching or example as evidence, and a different view weighed against yours.

    250–350 words

  • Belief in your own words

    Writing

    Explain what this belief means and give one example of how it changes what people do.

    8–10 sentences

  • Different views

    Writing

    Write two different views on this question and say which you find stronger, and why.

    2 paragraphs

  • Symbol or belief diagram

    Diagram

    Draw the symbol, place of worship or idea from this lesson with labels explaining what each part means, then photograph it.

    1 labelled drawing

Saved as you type.

Part 1 of 16 · Watch & discover

Good Learning Co. — personalised UK curriculum learning, built around what each learner loves.