c)Explain three features of jewish mourning: 8/8:
One feature of Jewish mourning is kriah; this is when a Jewish person rips a piece of their clothing to
symbolise that someone has been ripped out of their life. They do this because in the Torah in Genesis
it states ‘Jacob tore his clothes’. This impacts Jews to express initial grief by doing Kriah over their
heart. This shows that whatever they were wearing, the person that they lost meant more to them.
Another feature of Jewish mourning is avelut. This period lasts a whole year. During avelut the
children of the deceased will recite the mourner’s kaddish every day. They do this in order to uphold
one of the mitzvot found in Exodus 'honour thy mother and father’. An impact of this is that during
avelut mourners will avoid parties, listening to music and men will not shave for a whole year.
Another feature of Jewish mourning is yahrzeit. This is when the sons will recite kaddish and take an
aliyah(blessing) in the synagogue and all mourners will light a candle in honour of the deceased. They
do this in order to uphold the mitzvot found in Exodus ‘honour thy mother and father’. An impact of
this is during services on yom kippur, shemini atzeret, the last day of pesach close relatives recite the
mourner’s prayer yizkor in the synagogue.
d) ‘The only moral authority we should follow is Jesus’13/15:
Jesus can be seen as the best moral authority we should follow because he is the incarnate son. So
therefore, he must be a source of goodness because God is Omnibenevolent. The main moral Jesus
taught us was ‘love thy neighbour’ and ‘treat others as you wish to be treated’, meaning we should
treat others with respect and dignity. This impacts Catholics to try and get along with each other,
resolve conflict and make the world ‘good’ again. This is a strong argument as Jesus came to us to
grant us salvation and bring us eternal life with God. Therefore he is a good moral source of authority
as he lived out God’s expectations of love and treating others with dignity like the ‘adulterous woman’
and the parable of ‘the good samaritan’.
However, conscience can be seen as the best moral authority we should follow because our
conscience helps us with our morals and allows us to differentiate what is right from wrong. In
Genesis God gave us our conscience along with free will to grant us the knowledge of good and evil.
This impacts catholics as it helps guide us onto the right moral path. This is a strong argument
because it is something we were all born with.
Natural law can also be seen as the best moral authority we should follow because it allows us to
recognise evil and helps to bring about peace. Natural law helps to build an orderly society and a
defined life through worship of God. St Thomas Aquinas stated ‘Natural Law is the same for all
men… there is a single standard of truth and right for everyone …which is known by everyone’. This
means natural law is something that everyone is aware of law and upholds despite their faith or lack or
faith it is universal. This impacts us as Catholics to help educate younger generations to understand
the difference between good and evil. This is a strong argument because it is human meaning it is
universal and not constructed by a religion but rather ingrained inside everyone.
Overall, I think that the best moral authority we should follow is Jesus as throughout the Gospels he
taught the disciples morals on how God expects us to treat others. As he is the incarnate son he must
be a source of goodness as God is ‘good’ therefore we should follow Jesus’ teachings as he is the best
moral authority.
One feature of Jewish mourning is kriah; this is when a Jewish person rips a piece of their clothing to
symbolise that someone has been ripped out of their life. They do this because in the Torah in Genesis
it states ‘Jacob tore his clothes’. This impacts Jews to express initial grief by doing Kriah over their
heart. This shows that whatever they were wearing, the person that they lost meant more to them.
Another feature of Jewish mourning is avelut. This period lasts a whole year. During avelut the
children of the deceased will recite the mourner’s kaddish every day. They do this in order to uphold
one of the mitzvot found in Exodus 'honour thy mother and father’. An impact of this is that during
avelut mourners will avoid parties, listening to music and men will not shave for a whole year.
Another feature of Jewish mourning is yahrzeit. This is when the sons will recite kaddish and take an
aliyah(blessing) in the synagogue and all mourners will light a candle in honour of the deceased. They
do this in order to uphold the mitzvot found in Exodus ‘honour thy mother and father’. An impact of
this is during services on yom kippur, shemini atzeret, the last day of pesach close relatives recite the
mourner’s prayer yizkor in the synagogue.
d) ‘The only moral authority we should follow is Jesus’13/15:
Jesus can be seen as the best moral authority we should follow because he is the incarnate son. So
therefore, he must be a source of goodness because God is Omnibenevolent. The main moral Jesus
taught us was ‘love thy neighbour’ and ‘treat others as you wish to be treated’, meaning we should
treat others with respect and dignity. This impacts Catholics to try and get along with each other,
resolve conflict and make the world ‘good’ again. This is a strong argument as Jesus came to us to
grant us salvation and bring us eternal life with God. Therefore he is a good moral source of authority
as he lived out God’s expectations of love and treating others with dignity like the ‘adulterous woman’
and the parable of ‘the good samaritan’.
However, conscience can be seen as the best moral authority we should follow because our
conscience helps us with our morals and allows us to differentiate what is right from wrong. In
Genesis God gave us our conscience along with free will to grant us the knowledge of good and evil.
This impacts catholics as it helps guide us onto the right moral path. This is a strong argument
because it is something we were all born with.
Natural law can also be seen as the best moral authority we should follow because it allows us to
recognise evil and helps to bring about peace. Natural law helps to build an orderly society and a
defined life through worship of God. St Thomas Aquinas stated ‘Natural Law is the same for all
men… there is a single standard of truth and right for everyone …which is known by everyone’. This
means natural law is something that everyone is aware of law and upholds despite their faith or lack or
faith it is universal. This impacts us as Catholics to help educate younger generations to understand
the difference between good and evil. This is a strong argument because it is human meaning it is
universal and not constructed by a religion but rather ingrained inside everyone.
Overall, I think that the best moral authority we should follow is Jesus as throughout the Gospels he
taught the disciples morals on how God expects us to treat others. As he is the incarnate son he must
be a source of goodness as God is ‘good’ therefore we should follow Jesus’ teachings as he is the best
moral authority.
