What I Wish My Christian Friends Knew about Judaism Book

	Acknowledgments
	Preface
	The purpose of this book
	A range of Jewish lifestyles, beliefs, and behaviors
	Christians and Jews
	Going to church : the Jewish roots of Christian worship	3
	Jews, Jesus, and Christianity	11
	The Jewish religion
	From orthodox ...	17
	To reform ...	19
	To conservative ...	21
	To reconstructionist	23
	Contemporary synagogues and congregations	25
	A personal observation	28
	Inside the synagogue
	The Torah and the law	33
	Prayers and blessings	38
	Symbols - the Mezuzah and the Star of David	43
	The role of the Rabbi	46
	The role of the Cantor	49
	Jewish education	52
	Confirmation	55
	Congregation membership and paying the bills	56
	The temple	58
	Jewish priests	61
	Time for confession	63
	Who's in charge?	65
	Holidays and festivals
	Holidays and the Jewish calendar	69
	Shabbat - the Sabbath	73
	The high holidays - Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur	78
	Sukkot	87
	Simchat Torah	90
	Hanukkah - is it really the "Jewish Christmas"?	92
	Purim	97
	Passover	101
	Shavuot - the harvest festival	111
	Other religious events	114
	Jewish life cycle events
	A Jewish wedding	119
	Let's go to a circumcision!	127
	Baby namings and rituals for daughters	132
	Adoption	135
	An invitation to a bar mitzvah and a bat mitzvah	137
	A Jewish funeral - saying good-bye to Uncle Harry	148
	You can only get a divorce if you're married	155
	Home life, Jewish beliefs, and other interesting matters
	Is a Kosher hot dog really Kosher?	161
	Jewish food	168
	Degrees of orthodoxy	171
	Conversion to Judaism	173
	Intermarriage	176
	Religious apparel and dress	180
	Hasidim and Hasidism	185
	Creation, heaven, hell, and life after death	189
	Where, when, and how many	192
	Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews	194
	Women and Judaism	197
	Judaism in the world
	Israel	203
	Jewish art and music	211
	Mysticism and the repair of the world	214
	Money : stereotypes, charity, and the scriptures	216
	Perform a mitzvah	220
	Controversial social issues	222
	Old wars and new wars	227
	The chosen people	229
	Anti-semitism	231
	The Holocaust	235
	A call for understanding and community	243
	Glossary and pronunciation guide	245
	Recommended reading	261
	Index	263