One God
At the centre of Jewish prayer, said morning and evening, is the Shema: “Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4).
God is one, has no image, and has bound himself to the people of Israel in a covenant.
יהדות
Judaism
Judaism is the faith of the Jewish people: a covenant with one God, a scripture read aloud week by week, and a way of life handed down for more than three thousand years.
Around 15 million Jews live today.
At its heart
What Judaism holds
The Torah
The five books of Moses, written by hand on a scroll and read aloud in the synagogue, a portion each week, so that the whole is heard over the year.
With the Prophets and the Writings it makes the Tanakh, twenty-four books in the Jewish count.
A way of living
Judaism is lived as much as it is believed: Shabbat and the festivals, blessings over food and waking, the dietary laws, study, and tzedakah, giving to those in need, a word that comes from the Hebrew for righteousness and justice.
Rabbinic tradition counts 613 commandments in the Torah.
Branches
In ActivePray
Judaism has many movements: Orthodox, Conservative or Masorti, Reform, Reconstructionist, Karaite and more, and many Jews belong to none.
ActivePray keeps three.
- Prayers
- Tefillat Boker at first light and Tefillat Erev at sunset, worked out from the sun where you are.
- Calendar
Months begin with the new crescent seen from the Land of Israel, and the year with the ripening barley, the aviv.
Dates are projected, then confirmed when a sighting is reported.
- Days of rest
Shabbat and the Torah’s holy convocations.
They never cost your streak, and no reminder sounds inside them.
- Scripture
- The whole Tanakh, Torah, Prophets and Writings, in Hebrew and English, with Tehillim.
- Before prayer
- The washing of hands and feet, after the priestly washing in Exodus 30:19.
- Prayers
- Shacharit at sunrise, Mincha in the early afternoon and Ma’ariv at nightfall, with Musaf on Shabbat and festivals.
- Calendar
- The Hebrew year: Rosh Chodesh, the festivals and the fasts, with a second day of Yom Tov outside the Land.
- Days of rest
Shabbat and Yom Tov.
They never cost your streak, and no reminder sounds from the sunset that opens them until nightfall.
- Scripture
- The weekly Torah portion with its Haftarah, the whole Tanakh, Tehillim, and blessings for waking, meals and more.
- Before prayer
- The washing of the hands, with its blessing, al netilat yadayim.
- Your choices
- The Imahot in the Amidah, one or two days of Yom Tov, and an annual or triennial Torah cycle.
- Prayers
- Shacharit, Mincha and Ma’ariv at the same hours, with the Matriarchs always in the Amidah.
- Calendar
- The Hebrew year, with one day of each festival wherever you are.
- Scripture
- The weekly Torah portion with its Haftarah, the whole Tanakh, Tehillim, and blessings for waking, meals and more.
- Before prayer
- A washing of the hands, simply and unhurriedly, and setting your intention, your kavanah.
- Your choices
- An annual or triennial Torah cycle, and whether Shabbat and Yom Tov are kept as days of rest.
A short history
How it came to be
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Tradition
Abraham
Jewish tradition begins with Abraham, who left his father’s house for a land God would show him, and with the covenant between God and his descendants.
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Tradition
Out of Egypt
The going out from slavery in Egypt, retold every Passover, and the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai, remembered at Shavuot.
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c. 1000–586 BCE
The First Temple
By the biblical account David made Jerusalem his capital and Solomon built the Temple there.
The Babylonians destroyed it in 586 BCE and carried many into exile.
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516 BCE – 70 CE
The Second Temple
Exiles returned under Persian rule and the Temple was rebuilt.
Rome destroyed it in 70 CE, and from then on prayer took the place of the offerings.
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c. 200 CE onward
The Rabbis
The teachers of the following centuries set down the oral tradition, the Mishnah around 200 and then the Talmud, and the synagogue and the study house carried Jewish life through a long exile.
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Modern times
Many communities
Sephardi, Ashkenazi and Mizrahi Jews, each with their own customs; new movements in the nineteenth century; the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were murdered; and in 1948 the State of Israel.
The day and the week
How it is prayed
Prayer
Rabbinic practice prays three times a day, Shacharit in the morning, Mincha in the afternoon and Ma’ariv at night, facing toward Jerusalem.
Karaite Jews pray morning and evening.
Shabbat
From sunset on Friday to Saturday night: candles, wine and bread, rest from work, and time for family, prayer and study.
Many call it the heart of Jewish life.
The month
The calendar follows the moon and is kept in step with the sun.
Each month begins at the new moon, Rosh Chodesh; the Karaites still begin it with the sighted crescent.
The year
Its holy days
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
The New Year and the Day of Atonement, which open and close the Ten Days of Awe in the autumn: the sound of the shofar, return and repentance, and a full day’s fast.
Sukkot
A week of meals in a sukkah, a simple shelter open to the sky, remembering the years in the wilderness and giving thanks for the harvest.
Pesach
Passover in the spring.
The seder retells the going out from Egypt over matzah and wine, with questions asked by the youngest at the table.
Shavuot
Seven weeks after Passover, the giving of the Torah at Sinai.
Hanukkah and Purim
Later festivals kept in rabbinic Judaism: eight nights of light for the rededication of the Temple, and the story of Esther read aloud.
See everything the app does“A song for ascents. I shall raise my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come?
My help is from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
Psalm 121:1–2
Figures: Pew Research Center, 2025, counting 2020.