Reaction paper on an assigned topic

¶ … Jews and the phenomena of Judaism included in the text reference http://www.jewfaq.org/God.htm. The main points of the essay will consist of whether the fact Judaism is a religion, the nature of the God in Judaism and the Human nature according to the Jew people.

The life of human beings is heavily influenced by religion, especially in some parts of the Globe. The religion tries to explain things that can not be scientifically demonstrated and set a reference point for which the believers must follow. The Judaism is the religion and culture of the Jew people. The basis and history of the Judaism represents the starting point for more religions, including Christianity and Islam. Being the first religion that proposed the idea of God'S uniqueness, Judaism is based on a Holly book: the Judaic Bible - which comprises of 24 books (sections) divided into three parts. Torah, Neviim and Ketuviim present different religious episodes including the Genesis of the world, the Exodus from Israel, the prophesies and the Judaic writings.

Religion (300)

The Judaism is one of the oldest and the most important religion in the world offering fundaments for other newer religions that were about to emerge. It transmits ideas about how the ideal world should be, how people should live their life. But additionally, the religion idea is further on supplemented by the geographical component. Israel, the Holly land considered by the Jew population from all around the world, has the special status established by the Judaic Bible for the fact that this location housed the Temple, but also for the fact that Israel is the land of promise, the divine gift offered by God to his people. The Jew tribes have lived in this location, in the current place of Israel state, for about a millennium. The most important and holiest cities for the Jew people were the Jerusalem, Hebron, Tzaphat and Tiberias. The importance of Jerusalem, as a cultural and religious place, is reflected by the fact that the name of the city is cited in the Judaic Bible by more than 700 hundred times. According to the Old Testament, the Holly Land was the house of the first ancestors of the Jew population, Abram (Avram) followers. In Jerusalem, king Solomon built the Temple on the Moriah hill, situated in the Eastern part of the city. The temple, symbol of the Judaic theological movement and the religious belief in only one God, was ruined by the Babylonian invasion. Rebuilt for the second time, the Temple was ruined during the Roman Empire administration. The Jew population was forced to leave the Holly land in the Second century a.C, and only after the Second World War - in 1948 - they were able to return to the land first promised by God to the chosen people.

Nature of God (200)

From the Jewish point-of-view, God is the unique supreme authority, the creator of the world and the father of all people and nations. This opinion is quite different from the Christian point-of-view that considers that besides the creator God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit form the religious pedestal than rule their spiritual life. Jews stress the unique character of God, saying that He is the sole creative force within the universe. Jesus, the son of God in the eyes of Christians, is considered by Jews as being an ethical man that challenged and fought the religious authorities of that time. Another interesting opinion is the Islamic view that indicates Jesus as being a simple prophet, in contrast with Mohamed who was chosen by God to distribute the real faith, belief in divinity, all not modified by human intervention.

Satan is the contrast of God, according to Christian religion. Ruler of Hell, Satan is the one trying to alienate people from the religion in God. The continuous struggle between Good and Evil, and respectively between God and Satan is not present in the Judaic belief and culture.

Human nature (200)

The common belief of Christians and Jews is that people are in close resemblance with the image God. Even if it not the physical side, but on the fact that people can reason on the status of things, can make decisions. The idea that people have to answer for their deeds in front of God relies solely on the fact that people can take rational decisions according to their free will. Jews consider that people are equal in the eyes of God, the love of God being spread in equal terms among all individuals. Muslin believers consider man to be superior to women, having more cultural, political or social rights - for example, women in Arabic countries are not allowed to vote, participate to social events unaccompanied by their husbands.