Assume NO prior knowledge. Pupils may not have any knowledge or understanding of Judaism, so start with the basics. They may never have even met a Jewish person previously, and some may have some strange preconceptions or stereotypical ideas.

Never say that “All Jews do …” or “All Jews believe …”, or even just “Jews do …” or “Jews believe …” as this is never the case! There are very many ideological and geographical differences of opinion and practice within the wider Jewish community. This fits in with the ‘Worldviews’ terminology.

What follows from that is that you should never assume that because one Jewish person had a certain request or answered a question yesterday, the person you’re speaking to today will have the same request or answer. For example, some Jewish people will simply avoid eating pork; others will not eat any non-kosher meat but are happy with vegetarian; still others insist that everything they eat, even if vegetarian, should have been prepared under rabbinic supervision; some will even only accept a particular supervision, or insist that packages are opened in their presence.

Remember that not all Jews are white, Ashkenazi, etc. It is important to explain to learners that there are Jews in the UK and all over the world who look different, and have different languages, traditions, and life experiences.

You should not frame Jewish festivals or practice by comparing them to that of other faiths as that minimises their importance and distinctiveness. For example, Chanukah is NOT the Jewish equivalent of Christmas. A synagogue is NOT a Jewish Church, and the Torah is not ‘the Old Testament,' since that term presupposes that there is a Jewish “New Testament” too.

Beware of unconscious presuppositions based in a predominantly Christian society – for example that Judaism is a Christian heresy (the opposite is the case!), or is just like Unitarianism, or that Christianity “replaced” Judaism (the heresy known as supersessionism or replacement theology).

Terminology such as ‘Old Testament’ and ‘worship’ are Christian–based and are not used by Jewish people. Instead, these things would be referred to as ‘the Torah’ and ‘praying’ or ‘services’ (or ‘davening’ in Yiddish, or ‘tefillah’ in Hebrew).

Be aware that in some contexts even seemingly obvious things might be seen differently – for example an Orthodox Jewish child may describe a banana as a vegetable not a fruit, and olives as fruit, because of the brachah (literally “blessing”, short prayer thanksgiving) said before eating them.

It’s always good to teach WHY things are done, not just WHAT is done.

If you don’t know the answer to a question, don’t be embarrassed … just say so!! RME teachers cannot know everything about every faith. Feel free to contact education@scojec.org  if you can’t find the answer, or refer to the SCoJeC website to find answers!

Don’t assume that a learner, or indeed parent, knows anything about Judaism or observes religious laws or customs at home just because they are Jewish, and certainly do not ever ask a pupil to explain some belief or practice to the class. Many people who are born into a culturally Jewish family may not be practicing and may not know or do anything Jewish. It may embarrass them to ask what they know or do, and any information they do give may be completely inaccurate.