Sinai – the mountain where, it is believed, Moses received the Law and where the Covenant between God and Israel was made

(Pronounced sigh-nigh)

To remember the meaning of Sinai in Judaism, use the following mnemonic:

The sign that I (Sinai) had been looking for was right above me. It said: "Mountain this way - meet Moses".

The covenant that Jews believe God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai reinforced the original covenant that God had given to Abraham. This is why the Sinai agreement is sometimes referred to as the second covenant.

God again told the Jews that they were His chosen people, but they had to dedicate themselves to his service and make the world a better place.

The covenant set out in detail the relationship between God and his people, and much of Judaism is the working out of this relationship and the development of the rules into a complete lifestyle.

The ten commandments are a kind of summary of the covenant agreed between God and Moses. There were actually 613 commandments (all detailed in the Torah) that deal with every aspect of Jewish life.

Orthodox Jews believe that the words of the covenant were given directly from God to Moses and must be strictly followed.

Less traditional Jews, such as Reform Jews, may view some of the commandments as being tied to a particular time and culture, and no longer relevant to today’s world.