The synagogue and the home.

G-d this way by thanking him for giving us food to eat.  If G-d were not to help us and give us food, we will not get it and so the blessings are a way of thanking G-d by worshipping at home.  Another way of worshipping G-d at home is the Mezuzzah.  The mezuzzah contains two sections from the Torah written onto parchment with special ink.  This is fixed onto every doorpost in the house, except for the bathroom and it reminds us of G-d’s presence in our home.  A mezuzzah acts as a sort of reminder that G-d is always watching us and so it a kind of worship in the home.  Shabbat is a way in which we worship G-d in the home.    At the beginning of Shabbat the woman of the household lights the Shabbat candles.  This is a way of worshipping G-d because it is welcoming in Shabbat.  Also by saying Kiddush at home we are ensuring that Shabbat is special and that we are worshipping G-d at home.  One of the most important mitzvot that we can do to worship G-d is to keep kosher.  The separation of meat and milk that is necessary in order to keep kosher can be both difficult and expensive; nevertheless it shows how much a Jewish person can respect G-d and worship him.  Explain how keeping the Jewish food laws might affect the life of a JewThe Jewish food laws are very important in Judaism.  Kashrut is one of the most important mitzvot that a Jewish person can do. Since the laws of Kashrut require separation of meat and milk there must be two sets of all crockery, cutlery and other cooking utensils, one for meat and one for milk.  Jewish dietary laws are very complicated as well.  There are laws for how to kill animals, laws as to what animals, birds and fish can be eaten.  By keeping all these laws the life of a Jew can be affected in many ways.  One it means that they can only eat in kosher restaurants and get meat and other food from kosher shops and butchers.  This can be hard and some people may find it annoying.  Our relationships with others will be affected because non-Jews will realise that we can’t eat in any old restaurant or eat any food.  By keeping kosher, Jews are becoming spiritually closer to G-d and also if you keep kosher then there is a bigger chance that your children will keep kosher and so they too will become spiritually closer to G-d because they will be fulfilling one of His commandments.    ‘For Jews the home is more important than the synagogue’ DiscussSome may feel that the home is more important than the home is more important than the synagogue.  This can be for a number of reasons.  They may feel this because you don’t need a synagogue to be able to get together and pray.  It can be done at home as long as there is a minyan – a group of at least 10 men over the age of Bar Mitzvah.  From the point of prayer the synagogue is not necessary and if you want to pray in private then the home could be more important than the synagogue.  People believe that the home is more important than the synagogue because the home is where you learn a lot about Judaism, about keeping kosher, lighting candles on Friday night and other such mitzvot.  Some however feel that the synagogue is much more important than the home not just for communal prayer but also for socialising and being part of the Jewish community.  The communal activities are important and a big part of the use of the synagogue so therefore the synagogue could be more important than the home.  Another reason why the synagogue could be more important than the home is that at the synagogue you learn how to pray and other information about prayer.  I think that both the home and the synagogue are equally important because they are both useful for different reasons.