the-french-artist/wikipedia_20220301.simple_sentence_split huggingface dataset:
Most of Canada can get quite hot in the summer, often over .
Canada has lots of natural resources.
Its large amounts of fish have been used for centuries for food and money.
Hydroelectric power (electricity by water) is abundant because of Canada's many rivers.
Forests of the west are used for wood.
Besides these renewable resources, Canada has metal ores and oil deposits.
Also, Canada is the leading exporter of zinc, uranium, gold, nickel, aluminum, steel and lead.
Around 35 million people live in Canada.
This is almost the same number as in the U.S. state of California.
About 80% of the Canadian population live in the southern parts of Canada since the climates are milder than the northern parts of Canada.
A large number of immigrants from almost every part of the world come to live in Canada.
One example is the former Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, who came to Canada as a young child with her family from Haiti in 1968.
Today, up to 1/5th of the population is an immigrant to Canada.
The Canadian government provides universal health care.
The provinces are responsible for health insurance.
Five provinces prohibit all extra-billing, while Alberta, British Columbia and Newfoundland allow it in a small number of circumstances, and Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick do not restrict it at all.
In 2020 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation reported a deterioration in the number of acute care beds available in Ontario hospitals per every 1,000 people in that province.
Ontario is Canada's largest province, and is home to Canada's largest city, Toronto.
The number of hospital beds available in Ontario is 1.4 per every 1,000 people.
This is half the number of hospital beds available in the United States, and the same number available in Mexico.
Official Government of Canada website
CIA World Factbook - Canada
Yahoo - Definition of Canada
Islam (; , ) is an Abrahamic  monotheistic religion.
All of its teachings and beliefs are written out in the Quran (also spelled Qur'an or Koran), the holy scripture of Islam.
Believers of Islam are called Muslims.
Islam means submission to the will of God.
They believe that the Quran was spoken to Muhammad ﷺ by the angel Gabriel.
The Quran is regarded as the word of God (or Allah).
The muslims view Muhammad ﷺ as a prophet and messenger of God.
Other beliefs and rules about what Muslims should do come from reports of what Muhammad ﷺ taught (Hadith).
Linguistically, Islam is defined as surrender to the command of God without objection, without submission, rebellion, and stubbornness.
As for its idiomatic meaning, it is the religion that was brought by “Muhammad ﷺ bin Abdullah,” sent by Almighty God, and which Muslims believe is the law with which God sealed the heavenly messages.
In a hadith on the authority of Abu Hurairah that the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ defined Islam: “By worshiping God and not associating anything with Him, performing the prayer, paying the obligatory zakat, fasting Ramadan and performing the pilgrimage to the house of God.”
Muslims believe that there were many other prophets before Muhammad ﷺ since dawn of humanity, beginning with the Prophet Adam and including the Prophet Noah (Nuh), the Prophet Abraham (Ibrahim), the Prophet Moses (Musa), and the Prophet Jesus (Isa).
They believe that all these prophets were given messages by God of the oneness of God to their communities at different times in history of mankind, but Satan (referred to as 'Shaytan' in Arabic) made the past communities deviate from the message of oneness and other social codes.
Muslims believe that the content of the Quran (written in Arabic) is protected by Allah as mentioned in the Quran and is the final message of God for all of mankind until the day of judgment.
Most Muslims belong to one of two groups.
The most common is Sunni Islam (75–90% of all Muslims are Sunni Muslims).
The second is Shia Islam (10–20% of all Muslims are Shias – also called Shiites).
But there are many more groups like the Alevis in Turkey.
With about 1.75 billion followers (24% of the world's population), Islam is the second-largest religion in the world.
Islam is also the fastest-growing religion in the world.
Islam is also the second-largest and fastest-growing religion in Europe.
Muslims believe the Qur'an was first revealed to Muhammad ﷺ by the archangel Gabriel in a cave on the mountain of Hira in Mecca, and then over a period of twenty-three years until his death.
According to the Qur’an, Muslims believe in God, his angels, his books, his messengers, the Last Day, and Fate.
In accordance with a Qur’anic verse: “We have created everything with predestination As much is good and bad".
And in hadith the Messenger Muhammad ﷺ when he said that faith is: “to believe in God, his angels, his books, his messengers, and the Last Day, and believe in the destiny of good and bad.”
Muslims believe that God is the one God who created the universe with everything in it.
The Qur’an revealed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ through Gabriel.
They believe that he is the final messenger of all messengers that are sent before him.
The Prophets are human beings and children of Adam, whom God chose to be his messengers.
Muslims believe that the prophets are not gods, but merely human beings with some miracles to prove their prophethood.
They are the ones who receive divine revelation.
The Quran mentions the names of many prophets, including Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and others.
According to the Qur’an, all of the prophets were Muslims who preached Islam, but with different laws.
Islam is defined in the Qur’an as “the instinct of God upon which people have broken in.” "
Therefore set your face to the religion purely, the upright creation upon which He originated people.
There is no change in the creation of Allah.
This is the valuable religion, although most people do not know} (The Romans -Ar-Rum Surah, versus 30) Muslims also believe that Hanifism is the basis of Abraham's religion.
And they see that the difference between the Abrahamic religions is in the Sharia (Law) only and not in the creed and that the Sharia of Islam abrogates what preceded it from the Sharia.
this means that Islamic religion consists of Belief and Sharia.
As for belief, it is the set of principles that a Muslim must believe in, and it is fixed and does not differ according to the different prophets.
As for Sharia (Law), it is the name for practical rulings that differ according to the different messengers.
According to Islamic tradition, there are five basic things that Muslims should do.
They are called "The Five Pillars of Islam":
Shahadah: The Testimony (faith in English) is the core of the Muslim belief that there is no god but Allah himself, and that Muhammad ﷺ is his last messenger.
Salaat (Also spelled as Salaah, if in the end of sentence): Muslims pray five times per day, at special times of the day.
When they pray, they face Kaaba, a large cubic structure located at the holy city of Mecca.
Salat is namaz in Persian, Turkish and Urdu.
Shia Muslims can pray the afternoon and evening prayers right after each other.
Zakat: Muslims who have money must give a percentage of the money which it's still with them for a year 1/40th of their money (charity in English) to help people who do not have money or need help.
Sawm (Also spelled as Siyam or Sum):  Fasting during Ramadan, the ninth month of the Islamic year.
Muslims do not eat or drink from Fajr till sunset for one lunar month.
After Ramadan, there is a holiday called Eid al-Fitr (which means "festival of end-fast" in English).
On Eid al-Fitr, Muslims usually go to the mosque in the morning after sunrise for a special Salaah.
Hajj (Pilgrimage in English): During the month of Zulhejja, the 12th month of the Islamic Calendar is the pilgrimage season where many Muslims go to Mecca, the holiest city of Islam.
However, if a Muslim is financially unable to perform the Hajj, it is not necessary for them to do so.
Those who possess great financial capacity were the most obligated to perform the Hajj.
Note: The Five Pillars of Islam is a term in the view of Sunni Islam that gathered out of the hadith.
There is another term Osul al-Din (Religion Principles in English) in Shia Islam.
That contains five beliefs : Tawheed, Adl, Nabovah, Imamah, Maad.
In Islamic belief, the Quran is the holy book of Islam and contained to words of Allah (God) and is conveyed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ by the archangel Jibraeel (Gabriel), who had been tasked since Adam as the conveyor of the words of God as guidance to mankind.
The Quran is the central point of reference and is a link which connects humanity with God.
The Qur'an contains many passages and chapters which covers the entire aspect of humanity, down to the most minute detail.
From the creation and conception of human child to the details of the Earth and beyond.
In the aspect of human life it contains stories and tales of old civilizations and past prophets and their life chronicles.
The Quran also contains the Syaria' law or hudud, and emphasizes the equal rights man and women alike with mothers given special status where it is sinful to even glare at them.
The Qur'an has a total of 30 Juzuks.
In each Juz, there are many Surahatun or verses, with 114 Surahatun which begins with Surah al-Fatehah (The Beginning) and ended with Surah an-Naas(Humanity).
A Hafeez is a Muslim who has committed the Quran to memory and can accurately say every word in the Quran without flipping a single page and apply them to daily life.
Other important teachings in Islam are the Sunnah (which tell about Muhammad ﷺ's life) and the Hadith (which are collections of dialogues of conversation that Muslims believe Muhammad ﷺ said).
Place of worship / Quran readings
Muslims pray in a place of worship called the mosque.
A mosque is called a masjid in Arabic.
Most mosques were mostly seen having at least a single dome, and some have one or more towers called Minarat, where the Muadzin gives the Adhan.
The Call for Muslim Prayer.
Which is 13 or 15 sentences.
But many mosques were built without either domes or towers.
Muslims take their shoes off before entering the masjid to pray.
Prayer is one of the most important things that a Muslim does.
The Muslim is called to prayer or solah five times a day.
This call to prayer is called Adhan.
The muezzin, a man chosen to make the call to prayer, uses a loudspeaker, which carries his voice to the people nearby.
The call to prayer is often done out loud, in public, in Muslim countries.
Being called to solah is a normal part of daily life for most people in Muslim countries.
Muslims pray on a mat, which is called a prayer mat or prayer rug in English.
Common Arabic names for the prayer mat include sajjāda and namazlık.
When it is time to pray, Muslims face the direction of Qibla - the direction they are supposed to pray in, towards Mecca.
They then roll out their prayer mat, and perform their prayers to God.
Peace be upon him
According to Islamic teachings, Muslims must say "صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ" shortened as "ﷺ" whenever they hear or say the Prophet's ﷺ name or it ﷺ being a common noun.
Islam in the world
In 2009, a study was done in 232 countries and territories.
This study found that 23% of the global population or 1.57 billion people are Muslims.
Of those, between 75% and 90% are Sunni and between ten and twenty five percent are Shi'a.
A small part belong to other Islamic sects.
In about fifty countries, more than half of the people are Muslim.
Arabs account for around twenty  percent of all Muslims worldwide.
Islam has three holy sites; Jerusalem, Mecca and Medina.
Most Muslims live in Asia and Africa.
Around 62% of the world's Muslims live in Asia, with over 683 million followers in Indonesia, Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh.
In the Middle East, non-Arab countries such as Turkey and Iran are the largest Muslim-majority countries; in Africa, Egypt and Nigeria have the biggest Muslim communities.
Most estimates indicate that the People's Republic of China has about 20 to 30 million Muslims (1.5% to 2% of the population).
However, data provided by the San Diego State University's International Population Center to U.S. News & World Report suggests that China has 65.3 million Muslims.
Islam is the second largest religion after Christianity in many European countries,
Different denominations
Like with other religions, over time different movements have developed in Islam.
These movements are based on different interpretations of the scriptures.
The following sections list the most common movements.
Non-denominational Muslims are Muslims who don't follow any branch and simply call themselves Muslim.
They are also called Ghayr Muqallids.
The Muwahidin or Muwahid Muslims are a Muslim restoration movement that accepts mainstream Islam, but prefer to orient themselves towards a primacy of God's commands on issues pertaining to sharia law.
Muwahidists believe that modern Islam has been mixed with many cultural traditions and they want to change that.
The Shi'ites believe that just as only God can appoint a prophet, he can appoint a second leader after the prophet.
Shi'a Muslims believe that God chose Ali as the leader after Muhammad ﷺ.
About 10-20% of Muslims are Shi'a which means that there are about 120 million world wide.
Shi'a Muslims form the majority of Muslims in Iran, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, and Lebanon.
The largest adhab in Yemen is Zaydi Shia.
Shias commonly gather for Day of Ashura in Karbala.
They accept four hadiths.
Sunnism considers Abu Bakr to be the successor of Muhammad ﷺ.
Sunnis make up roughly 75% of Muslims.
Sunnis believe that leaders of Islam should be chosen by the people of the Muslim world.
After Abu Bakr died, Omar took his place, then Uthman, and then Ali.
All of them were companions of Muhammad ﷺ and lived in Medina.
Sunni beliefs are typically based on the Qur'an and the Kutub al-Sittah (six hadiths).
Sunnis are sometimes called Bukharists.
The Sufi are a branch  Sunnism that focuses more on the spiritual and mystic elements of Islam.
Sufis usually conclude their prayers with dhikr recitations.
The Quraniyoon generally reject the authority of the hadiths.
Such Muslims, also known as Quranists and Ahle Quran, believe that the Quran is the only source of guidance.
They say the hadiths are not endorsed by the Quran, and some call them an innovative bid'ah.
Ibadis are Muslims who originated from the Kharijites.
Ibadis today have reformed beliefs from original Kharijites.
The Nation of Islam is a denomination in Islam primarily geared towards African Americans.
The Five-Percent Nation, a denomination predominantly consisting of African Americans, also known as Nation of Gods  and Earths.
Patheos Library – Islam
University of Southern California Compendium of Muslim Texts
Divisions in Islam
Islam, article at Encyclopædia Britannica
Islam (Bookshelf)  at Project Gutenberg
Islam from AsiaAuthorities Asia  UCB Libraries GovPubs
Dua E Qunoot
Dua E Nisf
This article is about the Jewish religion.
For more information about the Jewish people, see Jew.
Judaism (Hebrew: יהדות) is the world's oldest Abrahamic religion.
It is almost 4,000 years old and originated in Israel.
There are about 15 million followers.
They are called Jews.
It is the oldest monotheistic religion.
The Torah is the most important holy book of Judaism.
The laws and teachings of Judaism come from the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and oral traditions.
Some of these were first oral traditions and later written in the Mishnah, the Talmud, and other works.
Both Christianity and Islam are similar to Judaism.
These religions accept the belief in one God and the moral teachings of the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), which includes the Torah or "תורה."
The most important teachings of Judaism is that there is one God, who wants people to do what is just and compassionate.
Judaism teaches that a person serves God by learning the holy books and doing what they teach.
These teachings include both ritual actions and ethics.
Judaism teaches that all people are made in the image of God and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.
The main teachings of Judaism are about God, that there is only one God and that god is Yahweh.
Only God created the universe and only He controls it.
Judaism also teaches that God is spiritual and not physical.
Jews believe that God is one – a unity: He is one whole, complete being.
He cannot be divided into parts and people cannot say how He looks in words; they can only say how He is and what He does.
Jews believe that all goodness and morality is from God.
God is interested in what people do and that He watches what they do.
Judaism teaches that all people are made in the image of God.
This is why people must be treated with dignity and respect.
A person serves God by being like God.
This means that they must do what is fair and just, show mercy, and behave with kindness and love for people.
Judaism says that God exists forever, that He is everywhere, and that He knows everything.
He is above nature (“supernatural”) but He is in the world and He hears those who pray to Him and will answer them.
God is the main power in the universe.
Judaism teaches that God allows people to choose what to do – this is called “free will.”
Free will is the freedom to do whatever a person wants, but that they must be responsible of his/her own actions.
God rewards people who do good, and will punishes those who do wrong.
God gives a person a reward or a punishment in this world, but He gives the final reward or punishment to the soul of the person after their death.
Jews believe that God made an agreement called a “covenant” with Abraham, the ancestor of the Jewish people.
The Bible says that God promised to bless Abraham and his descendants if they worshipped God and were faithful to him.
God made this covenant with Abraham's son, Isaac, and with Isaac's son, Jacob.
God gave Jacob another name, Israel.
This is how Jacob’s descendants got the name the “Children of Israel” or “Israelites.”
God later gave the Torah to the Israelites through their leader, Moses.
The Torah told the Israelites how to live and build their community.
God gave the Israelites the Ten Commandments and other laws in the Torah.
The Jews are sometimes called the “Chosen People".
This is because the Bible says God told them, “You will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6) and “For you are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord chose you to be His own special nation out of all peoples on the earth” (Deuteronomy 14:2).
Jews understand that this means they have special duties and responsibilities commanded by God.
For example, Jews must build a just society and serve only God.
Jews believe that this covenant works in two ways: if they follow God’s laws, He will give them his love and protection, but they are also responsible for their sins – bad actions – and disobeying what God told them.
Jews believe that they must teach other people that God exists and that God wants all people to do good actions.
Jews believe that their job in the world is to be "a light to the nations" (Isiah 49:6) by showing the people of the world ways to make the world a better place.
Jews believe that God has given them a special job which is to repair the world.
Their job is to make the world a better place with more good in it.
They must use the things in the world to increase good and come closer to God.
They call this “tikkun olam” – repairing the world.
Jews see themselves as God’s partner and that they must repair the world in any way they can – to find ways to lessen suffering of people and animals, to make more peace, bring respect between people and protect the earth’s environment from destruction.
Jews do not try to convince other people to believe in Judaism.
Jews believe they have a special job to show the world that God exists, but people do not have to be Jewish to follow God.
All people can serve God by following the Seven Commandments (rules) given to Noah.
But, Judaism accepts people who choose to change their religion to Judaism.
Torah and Mitzvot
Jews believe that God tells them in the Torah the way of life that they must follow.
The Torah says God wants the people of Israel to walk in His ways, to love Him, and to serve Him, and to keep God’s commandments (Deut.
10:12–13).
Actions are more important than beliefs and beliefs must be made into actions.
These actions are called “mitzvot” in Hebrew (singular: a mitzvah מִצְוָה).
Sometimes they are called “laws,” "rules" or “commandments”.
Many people think of a mitzvah as "a good act," or "a good thing to do."
There are 613 mitzvot in the Torah.
Jews believe that the Torah gives mitzvot for all people; all people must keep seven laws that were taught to Noah and his children after the flood.
The Jews must keep 613 mitzvot, which are listed in the Torah.
The rabbis counted 365 mitzvot that Jews must not do (negative mitzvot), and 248 mitzvot that Jews must do (positive mitzvot).
Some mitzvot are for everyday life, and some are only for special times, such as Jewish holidays.
Many of the 613 mitzvot are about the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and cannot be done now, since the Temple was destroyed.
Some of the mitzvot are about how people must act to other people.
For example, they must give charity to a poor person, or help a person who is in danger.
They must not steal or lie.
These are ethical and moral mitzvot.
Some mitzvot are about how people must act towards God.
For example, they must respect God’s name, or not work on the Sabbath.
These are religious or ritual mitzvot.
Jews believe that God tells them to do both ethical and religious acts.
Jews see mitzvot as acts that sanctify – bring holiness – to the world and bring people and the world closer to God.
Jews do the mitzvot to sanctify the physical world and the things in it, such as food and drink, clothing, and natural activities such as sex, work, or seeing beautiful sights.
Before doing many acts, such as eating, Jews say a blessing – a short prayer –  that God makes and gives a person the things that they need for life.
In Judaism, life is most holy and important.
A Jew must stop doing other mitzvot of the Torah to help save another person’s life.
Jews believe that they must do the mitzvot with happiness and joy because the Bible says “Serve God with joy; come before God with singing” (Psalms 100:2).
Doing a mitzvah helps a person come close to God and that makes the person happy.
A group of Jews called the Hasidim say this is the best way to live.
They say that worrying takes people away from joy and they will not see the beauty and good in the world.
Many mitzvot in the Torah are about the Land of Israel.
The Talmud and later books call these mitzvot “commandments connected to the Land” because Jews can only do them in the Land of Israel.
For example, Jews give gifts to the poor or the priests from their fields every year, take fruit or animals to the Temple in Jerusalem, and must stop working on the land every seven years (the “shmittah” – sabbatical year).
The Land of Israel
The Land of Israel is holy in Judaism.
A Jewish belief is that God created the Earth from Mount Moriah in Jerusalem in the Land of Israel, and He is always closest to this land.
Jews believe that this land is where God told the Jewish people to build a society to serve Him, and many mitzvot (commandments) in the Torah are about the Land of Israel.
The Jewish people believe their history as a nation begins with Abraham.
The story of Abraham in the Torah begins when God tells Abraham to leave his country.
He promises Abraham and his descendants a new home in the land of Canaan.
This is now known as the Land of Israel.
It is named after Abraham's grandson, Jacob, who was also called Israel and who was the father of the twelve tribes.
This is where the name “Land of Israel” comes from.
The land is also called “the Promised Land” because in the Torah, God promises to give the land to the children of Abraham (, , , ).
The rabbis of the Talmud understood from the Torah () that it is a “mitzvah” for Jews to live in the land of Israel.
They saw living outside of Israel as not natural for a Jew.
Jews often called the land outside of Israel "galut."
This is usually translated as "diaspora" (a place where people are scattered), but the word more closely means "exile".
The Messiah and Saving The World
The story of leaving Egypt, called the Exodus, is very important in the way the Jewish people understand the world.
The Torah tells how God took a group of slaves, the Israelites, from slavery, and tells them how to be His partner to build the world.
Jews see this story as a model for the whole world.
In the future, the whole world will change, and all the people of the world will serve the one God.
This will be God’s kingdom on Earth.
They believe the whole of Jewish history, and world history, is part of this process.
The prophets taught that God would send a person to the world who would help all the people of the world see that God is the maker, king of the world and has supreme power.
This person is called the Messiah.
The word Messiah comes from the Hebrew word mashiah, which means "the anointed one".
The Book of Isaiah says the Messiah will be a just king who will unite the Jewish people and lead them in God's way.
The Messiah will also unite all the people of the world to serve God.
People will act with justice and kindness, and the whole world will be filled with peace.
Jews still wait for the Messiah to come.
They believe that this will be a person.
Other Jews believe in a future time when justice and peace will come through the cooperation of all people and the help of God.
Jews believe that to know what God wants them to do, they must study the books of Torah and its laws and do what they teach.
These include both laws about how to behave to other people and how to serve God.
The two most important groups of books in Judaism are the Bible and the Talmud.
The beliefs and actions of Judaism come from these books.
Jewish teachers and scholars wrote more books, called commentaries.
They explain and say more about what is written in the Bible and Talmud.
The Torah is the most important of all Jewish writings.
The first five books of the Hebrew Bible (known to Christians as the "Old Testament") make up the Torah.
The Torah contains the basic laws of Judaism and describes the history of the Jews until the death of Moses.
Jewish tradition says that God told Moses what to write in the Torah, which is also called the Five Books of Moses.
Religious Jews believe that Moses brought the Ten Commandments and the Torah down from Mount Sinai.
The Ten Commandments are special because they were heard by all of the Jewish people at Mount Sinai.
However, in traditional Judaism, all of the 613 mitzvot in the Torah are equally important.
Jews divide the Hebrew Bible into three parts and call it the Tanakh.
The three parts are the Torah, which is the first five books; the Nevi'im, which are the books of the prophets; and the Ketuvim, meaning the Writings, which are other books of history and moral teachings.
Rabbinic Jews also believe that there is another part of the Torah besides the five books of Moses.
It is called the Mishnah, also called the Oral Torah or Oral Law.
It explains how to follow the laws written in the 5 books.
There is a commentary (explanation) of the Mishnah, called the Gemara.
Together, the Mishna and the Gemara make up the Talmud.
But Karaite Jews believe that there is no additional Torah besides the five books of Moses.
Traditional Jews believe that God gave the written Torah and the oral Torah to Moses and that Moses told it to the Jewish people, and that it is the same today as it was back then.
Traditional Jews also believe that all of the commandments must still be followed today.
Liberal Jews believe that the Torah was inspired by God but written by human beings.
Liberal Jews believe that all of the ethical laws in the Torah must still be followed, but many ritual laws do not need to be followed today.
It is considered good in Judaism to talk about the commandments and to try to understand how to follow them.
The Talmud has many stories about Rabbis who argued about the commandments.
Over time, some opinions have become the rule for everyone.
Some rules are still being argued about.
Jews praise logical argument and looking for truth.
There is no single leader of Judaism who can decide how to follow the commandments or what to believe.
Even though Jews believe different things and they disagree about the rules, they are still one religion and one people.
Daily way of life
Kashrut: Jewish food laws
Jews who follow the religious rules called "kashrut" only eat some types of food that are prepared by special rules.
Food that a Jew can eat is called kosher food.
Traditional Jews are very careful about kashrut.
They usually cannot eat many foods in non-kosher restaurants or in the home of someone who does not keep kosher.
Sometimes, this makes it hard to visit people or to do business.
It is important to understand that this is part of their religion.
People help avoid this problem by choosing to dine with Traditional Jews in a kosher restaurant or serve them kosher food in their home.
Kosher foods
Jews can eat any fresh fruit or vegetables that do not have any insects on or in them.
Jews can eat any fish that has scales and fins.
This includes fish like salmon and tuna.
They cannot eat seafood like shrimp, lobster, or mussels.
Jews can eat meat of any animal that chews its cud (food which has already been partly digested), and has split hooves.
For example, cows, sheep, deer, and goats.
However, the meat must be slaughtered and prepared in a specific way to be kosher.
Jews can eat many common birds such as chickens and turkeys and duck.
The birds must also be slaughtered and prepared in a specific way.
Jews can't eat birds of prey, like vultures.
Foods sold in stores or restaurants must be checked by a Jew who is an expert in Kashrut.
The name for this person is "mashgiach," or kosher overseer.
He makes sure that the kosher rules were kept.
Foods bought at the store often have a symbol called a hechsher on them to tell the customer that the food have been checked.
Many everyday foods have a hechsher.
Honey is an insect product made by bees, but it is kosher.
It is a well-known myth that kosher food must be blessed by a rabbi, a rabbi cannot bless a food and make it Kosher.
Non-kosher foods
Some call non-kosher foods "Treifah," meaning "torn."
This is because the Torah says not to eat an animal that has been killed or torn by another animal.
Jews cannot eat animals that do not have split hooves or animals that do not chew their cud.
Unlike cows and sheep, pigs have split hooves, but do not chew their cud and are therefore not kosher.
Jews cannot eat rodents, reptiles or amphibians.
Jews cannot eat any sea animal that does not have scales and fins.
For example, sharks, eels, crabs, shrimp and lobsters are not kosher.
Jews cannot eat birds that eat meat like vultures, which are mentioned in a list in the Torah.
Jews cannot eat any insects, except for a few types of crickets or locusts.
Other kosher rules
Animals must be killed in a certain way, including using a fast strike across the neck with a very sharp blade which makes sure that the animal dies quickly.
All the blood must be removed from an animal before the meat is eaten.
This is done by soaking and salting the meat.
A Jew cannot eat a meal that has both meat and milk in it.
This comes from the rule (in the Torah) that a Jew must not cook a young goat in its mother's milk.
Because of this, Jews use separate dishes and utensils for foods that have meat in it, and foods that have milk in it.
After eating meat, many Jews do not drink milk products before a time period between 1 to 6 hours has passed.
Kosher food must be cooked in a kitchen for actual kosher food.
If the kitchen has been used to cook non-kosher food, such as rabbit and pig then the kitchen must be cleaned in a special way before it can be used to cook kosher food.
One of the commandments is to keep the Jewish Sabbath, or Shabbat.
Shabbat starts every Friday at sunset and ends on Saturday at nightfall.
Shabbat is a day of rest to thank God for making the universe.
The tradition of resting on Shabbat comes from the Torah.
According to the Torah, God created the world in six days and on the seventh day, Shabbat, He rested.
Many Jews go to their temple or synagogue to pray on Shabbat.
Religious Jews follow special rules on Shabbat.
These rules require Jews not to do creative work on Shabbat.
One reason for this is to give people a break from all the things that make them busy during the week.
This helps them focus more on appreciating God, their family, and the rest of creation.
Also it reminds people that God is the creator and ruler of the world; and no matter how great a person's creative power is, it cannot compare with God's creation of the universe and everything in it.
Many of these categories of creative work include actions that people might not think of as work.
For instance, on Shabbat a Jew cannot:
Use electrical machines like phones, computers, or a TV
Buy or sell things
Put on or off a fire or a light
Drive a car or ride a bicycle
Build or fix things
Traditional Jews are very careful about Shabbat.
It is a special day.
They clean their houses and prepare special food for Shabbat.
They dress in their nicest clothes.
They sing beautiful songs and say extra prayers in the synagogue.
They have dinner and lunch with their families.
Many families also invite guests for dinner and for lunch.
They eat special delicious food, and sing together traditional Shabbat songs.
On Shabbat afternoon people study Judaism together or just visit friends.
Liberal Jews do not follow those rules.
Some do go to synagogue, visit friends, or have special meals.
But they may also talk on the phone, drive cars, and go shopping.
Important points in a Jewish life
Brit Milah (for boys) a circumcision ceremony when a boy is 8 days old.
It includes naming the baby.
Some non-Orthodox Jews practice Brit Shalom, a baby naming ceremony for Jewish boys without circumcision.
Pidyon haben (for boys) is when a father does a special ceremony to redeem his wife's first son from the Temple, as originally all firstborn boys were sent to serve in the Temple.
Levites (a tribe of Israel) and Cohanim (priests) do not do this ritual.
Bat Mitzvah (for girls) a 'coming of age' ceremony when a girl turns 12 (13 for some Jews).
Bat Mitzvah means "daughter of the mitvah" or "daughter of the commandments" in Hebrew.
Once a girl turns 12 (or 13), she is considered a woman and is expected to follow Jewish law.
A ceremony is not required.
Bat Mitzvah not only refers to the ceremony, but also to the girl herself.
Bar Mitzvah (for boys) a 'coming of age' ceremony when a boy turns 13.
It includes reading the Torah and special prayers.
Bar Mitzvah means "son of the mitzvah" or "son of the commandments" in Hebrew.
Once a boy turns 13, he is considered a man and is expected to follow Jewish law.
Bar Mitzvah not only refers to the ceremony, but also to the boy himself.
Having Children
Kinds of Judaism
For a very long time, most Jews in Europe believed the same basic things about Judaism.
Jews in other lands had different beliefs and customs than European Jews.
About 200 years ago, a small group of Jews in Germany decided to stop believing in many parts of Judaism and try to become more "modern" and more like Germans.
Those Jews were called Reform Jews.
Today there are three main kinds of Judaism: Reform, Conservative, and Orthodox Judaism.
There are also kinds with a smaller number of people, such as Reconstructionist Judaism, and Karaite Judaism.
Each group has its own practices according to how it understands the Jewish laws.
For example, Reform (also called Liberal or Progressive) Judaism encourages people to choose the ways to be Jewish that mean the most to them based on the traditions.
Reform Judaism teaches Jews to focus on the ethical laws of Judaism.
Conservative Judaism developed after Reform Judaism.
The leaders of Conservative Judaism felt that Reform Judaism was too radical.
They wanted to conserve (protect) Jewish tradition instead of reforming (changing) it.
Orthodox Jews do not believe that Reform or Conservative Judaism are correct because they believe that the laws given by God are timeless, and can't be changed.
In Israel, almost all Jews go to Orthodox synagogues.
There are very few Reform or Conservative synagogues, but there has been a steady increase since 2009.
In Israel, Jews do not call themselves Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox.
Instead, they mostly call themselves "Haredi" (completely religious) "Dati" (basically religious), "Masorati" (traditional/conservative) or "Chiloni" (secular).
Surveys suggest about 20% of Israelis say they are secular, 25% say they are Dati or Haredi and 55% say they are traditional.
Names of God
Names are very important in Judaism.
Many Jews believe that a name not only tells you who someone is, but also tells you something about them.
Names of God are very special in Judaism, so Jews do not write them or speak them fully but use other words instead.
That is why some Jews write G-d, with a "-" instead of an "o."
HaShem Means "The Name".
It is the word Jews use most often when not praying to talk about God.
Adonai means "My Lord."
This name tells Jews about God's position.
God is the King of the World, and his name Adonai lets us know that.
Elohim means "one who is strong enough to do everything."
This name is used when talking about God's power to create or God's justice.
This tells us that God is the creator and that God rules the world with just laws.
The two names above are so special that Orthodox Jews use these names only when they pray and read the Torah.
When they are not praying or reading the Torah, they say "Hashem" (The Name) or "Elokim".
God -  Some Jews write "God" by replacing the "o" with a dash, like this: "G-d".
They do this because God's name is very holy so they are not allowed to throw away a piece of paper with "God" written on it.
However, if by accident "God" is written, then the paper can be disposed of in a special way and buried in a special place.
Others say that "God" is just an English word, not Hebrew, and so it is not holy.
YHWH ("Yehovah"/"Yahweh") is the most sacred name of God in Hebrew, and is not pronounced by most Jews.
No one knows where the name came from, or what exactly it means.
It looks like the Hebrew word "hayah," which is the verb "to be." (
According to Hebrew scripture, when Moses asked God who God was, God told Moses I am that I am/I am who I am.)
Jews believe that the name YHWH shows that God is endless.
Instead of trying to say it, most Jews say "haShem", which means "The Name."
Some people pronounce this name as Yahweh, or Jehovah.
Scholars of religion sometimes refer to "YHWH" as the Tetragrammaton, from Greek wo.
A large website for Jewish people
The Jewish History Resource Center Project of the Dinur Center for Research in Jewish History; The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Judaism article from the 1901-1906 Jewish Encyclopedia
The Jewish Virtual Library
Orthodox Judaism - The Orthodox Union: Official website
The United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism: Official website
Askmoses.com: Orthodox Judaism site that explains a lot of the basics of Judaism.
Jewish Reconstructionist Federation: Official website
The Judaica Press Complete Tanach with Rashi in English
Torah.org. (
also known as Project Genesis) Contains Torah commentaries and studies of Tanakh, along with Jewish ethics, philosophy, holidays and other classes.
The complete formatted Talmud online.
Interpretative videos for each page from an Orthodox viewpoint are provided in French, English, Yiddish and Hebrew.
Religious Tolerance- Judaism
Christianity is the largest world religion by number of followers (around 2.4 billion).
Members of the religion are called Christians.
Christians generally believe Jesus to be the Son of God, the second person of the Trinity.
It is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion, meaning it has only one God.
It emerges from the root of Judaism.
It is based on the life and teachings of Jesus.
To most of the people of his time Jesus was a preacher, teacher, healer, and prophet from ancient Judea.
However, his disciples believed him to be much more than that: they believed that Jesus was God's one and only son who was sent down to earth to die on a cross for their sins.
The man said to be his father, Joseph, was a carpenter.
Jesus was executed by being nailed to a cross (or crucified) under Pontius Pilate, the local Roman governor at the time.
His life and followers are written about in the New Testament, part of the Bible.
Christians consider the Bible, both the Old Testament and New Testament, as sacred.
The Gospels or "The Good News" are the first four books of the New Testament and are about the life of Jesus, his death, and him rising from the dead.
Jesus is the name of God the Son.
Christians believe Him to be the Son of God.
They believe that He was the human son of the Virgin Mary and the divine Son of God.
They believe he suffered and died to free humans from their sin and was later raised from the dead.
He then went up into Heaven.
At the end of time, Jesus will come back to Earth to judge all mankind, both alive and dead, giving everlasting life to those who believe in him.
The Holy Spirit is the spirit of God on the Earth that spoke through prophets.
The prophets foretold in the Old Testament of Jesus as the Savior.
Christians think of Jesus Christ as a teacher, a role model, and someone who revealed who the Christian God was.
Just like Judaism and Islam, Christianity is an Abrahamic religion.
Christianity started out as a Jewish sect in the eastern Mediterranean.
It quickly grew in number of believers and influence over a few decades, and by the 4th Century it had become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire.
Armenia was the First Nation in the world to adopt Christianity as its official religion, under the rule of King Tiridates III of the Arsacid dynasty in the early 4th century.
The Kingdom of Aksum became the first empire to adopt Christianity.
During the Middle Ages, the rest of Europe mostly was Christianized.
At that time, Christians were mostly a religious minority in the Middle East, North Africa, and parts of India.
Following the Age of Discovery, through missionary work and colonization, Christianity spread to Africa, the Americas, and the rest of the world.
Christianity has been an important part of the shaping of the world.
As of the early 21st century, Christianity has approximately 2.2 billion followers.
The most basic part of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God and Messiah (Christ).
The title "Messiah" comes from the Hebrew word  (māšiáħ) meaning anointed one.
The Greek translation Χριστός (Christos) is the source of the English word "Christ".
Jesus is English for the Hebrew word Yeshua.
Christians believe that, as the Messiah, Jesus was anointed by God as ruler and savior of all people.
Christians also believe that Jesus' coming was the fulfillment of prophecies of the Old Testament.
The Christian belief of the Messiah is much different than the contemporary Jewish concept.
The main Christian belief is that, through the death and resurrection of Jesus, sinful humans can be reconciled to God.
Through this, they believe they are given salvation and eternal life.
There have been many theological disagreements over the nature of Jesus over the first centuries of Christian history.
But Christians generally believe that Jesus is God incarnate and "true God and true man."
Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pain and temptations of a mortal man, but he did not sin.
As fully God, he defeated death and came back to life again.
According to the Bible, "God raised him from the dead," he ascended to heaven, is "seated at the right hand of the Father" and will return again to fulfill the rest of Messianic prophecy such as the Resurrection of the Dead, the Last Judgment, and the final creation of the Kingdom of God.
The Gospels of Matthew and Luke say that Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit and born from the Virgin Mary.
Only a little of Jesus' childhood is written in the canonical gospels, but infancy gospels were popular in antiquity.
However, the time of Jesus' adulthood the week before his death is written much about in the gospels.
Some of the Biblical writings of Jesus' ministry are: his baptism, miracles, preaching, teaching, and deeds.
Death and resurrection of Jesus
Among Christian beliefs, the death and resurrection of Jesus are two main events of Christian doctrine and theology.
From what the New Testament says, Jesus was crucified, died a physical death, was buried in a tomb, and rose from the dead on the third day afterwards.
Most Christians place his death on a Friday each year, which is the first day of his death.
Saturday is the second day, and Sunday is the third day.
The New Testament writes that after rising from the dead Jesus appeared many times before his Twelve Apostles and disciples.
Once He appeared before "more than five hundred brethren at once".
This was before Jesus' Ascension to heaven.
Jesus' death and resurrection are remembered by Christians in their worship services, and most commonly during Holy Week, which has Good Friday and Easter Sunday in the week.
Salvation of Christ
Protestantism teaches that eternal salvation is a gift that is given to a person by God's grace.
It is sometimes called "unmerited favor."
This would mean that Salvation is God bringing humans into a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ.
It is the belief that one can be saved (rescued) from sin and the eternal death of hell.
Many Protestants believe in the "assurance of salvation"—that God can put confidence in a believer that he has truly received salvation from Jesus Christ.
Catholicism teaches that although in most cases someone must be baptized a Catholic to be saved, it is sometimes possible for people to be saved who have not fully joined the Catholic Church.
Catholics normally believe in the importance of "faith working through love" and sacraments in receiving salvation.
The Catholic Church teaches that good works and piety, such as obedience to commands, taking the sacraments, going to church, doing penance giving alms, saying prayers, and other things, are important in becoming holy, but strongly emphasize that salvation is through God's grace alone, and all we can do is receive it.
Different denominations and traditions of Christianity believe in forms divine grace.
Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy teach the complete importance of the free will to work together with grace.
Reformed theology teaches the importance of grace by teaching that a person is completely incapable of self-redemption, but the grace of God overcomes even the unwilling heart.
Arminianism believes in a synergistic view, while Lutheran and most other Protestant denominations teach justification by grace through faith alone.
Christianity uses the Bible, a collection of many canonical books in two parts, the Old Testament and the New Testament.
It is believed by Christians that they were written by people who were inspired by the Holy Spirit, and therefore it is most often believed to be the word of God.
The Bible has been translated into over 600 languages.
The translators are able to verify accuracy by using thousands of handwritten copies of the scriptures which are in the original languages of Hebrew Aramaic, and Greek.
Creeds (from Latin credo meaning "I believe") are direct doctrinal statements or confessions, usually of religious beliefs.
They started as formulas used when someone was baptised.
During the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries they became statements of faith.
The Apostles' Creed (Symbolum Apostolorum)
The Nicene Creed
Many Christians accept the use of creeds, and often use at least one of the creeds given above.
A smaller number of Protestants, notably Restorationists, a movement formed in the wake of the Second Great Awakening in the 19th century of the 19th century United States, oppose the use of creeds.
Trinitarianism
The Bible mentions God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which are three persons of the one True God.
This idea, called Trinity, was developed at the First Council of Nicaea, in 325, and formalized during several church meetings or councils.
Today, many Christian groups agree with it.
Oriental Orthodox Churches did not agree with the idea, and split after the council.
The biggest of the Oriental Orthodox is the  Coptic Orthodox Church.