What Jews Believe and What Catholics Believe

Judaism and Christianity

The religion of Judaism is one that goes back centuries and includes a description of the creation of the world, as found in the Book of Genesis. According to Judaism, the world was created by God, Who also created man in his own image. Being Christian, my religious tradition actually builds on the Judaic religious tradition. It refers to the Scriptural books pre-Christ as the Old Testament, and the writings of the Apostles of Christ as the books of the New Testament. It views Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of mankind, the one Whom the Jews were meant to expect, as prophesized in the Old Testament. The Jews, however, do not recognize Christ as the Redeemer or as the Son of God. Thus, this paper will describe Judaism and its tenets and developments and compare and contrast it to my own religious tradition.

Judaism

The history of Judaism begins with the first two people created -- Adam and Eve. Their fall from grace in the Garden of Paradise resulted in their expulsion from this place with death (and suffering) becoming a reality (whereas before their fall, there was to be no death). Judaism developed over the centuries as the history of the Jews and their relationship with God grew in more detail. God prescribed various laws and traditions and ways of life, including religious rites that the Jews were expected to follow.

The practice of Judaism depended, however, on the various commentaries and interpretations of the Hebrew Bible, which was written by various scribes over many centuries, and which chronicled the lives of many individuals such as Abraham, Moses, and David. The Hebrew Bible also contained a number of visions of prophets which described some characteristic of the Jews relationship with God. The prophets and books of the Hebrew Bible have undergone various interpretations since the Medieval Age and today these interpretations, such as that which is based on the Talmudic commentaries serve as the guide for common religious Judaic practice -- though there are many different sects of Judaism still, such as Rabbinic Judaism and Hasidic Judaism.

In ancient days, there were also several movements or branches/sects of Judaism that proliferated, such as the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Zealots. After the Romans destroyed the Temple in Jerusalem, Judaism suffered a blow to its organization. The Pharisees were the only group to survive without the Temple. They believed in both a written Torah and an oral Torah. The Torah is the law given to the Jews by God (through Moses), as depicted in the first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The Bible represents the written law, while the traditions of the Pharisees represented the oral law, which depended on the Rabbis. Thus Rabbinical Judaism is the equivalent of Pharisaic Judaism. In the 9th century, the Karaites challenged Rabbinical Judaism, asserting that there was no Scriptural basis for the oral law. They attracted a significant percentage of followers but today they are very few (Johnson 149).

Thus today Judaism looks to the Torah and the rabbinic oral law for guidance. This oral law was discussed among the Rabbinical Jews for many years before finally being written down in the Mishnah, which was then discussed for many more years before these discussions and commentaries were written in the Talmud. Therefore, Judaism today is practiced through combining the Torah with the Talmud.

The main tenets of Judaism today are that God created man to be with Him and gave him laws to follow in order to be good in God's sight (the Torah) as well as the oral law (the Talmud) and that this is the whole of the law for Jews. Moreover, the Jews have been promised by God that a Messiah will come -- an anointed one who will rebuild the Temple, reunite the Jews in Israel, establish peace in the world, and bring about the world to come. This promise and expectation is rooted in the Talmudic teachings of the Rabbinic Jews (Jones 18).

That is why today's Jews are very interested in the plight of Israel in the Middle East. The expectations and hopes of Judaism reside in the fate of Israel as a nation, as the People of God. The rebuilding of the Temple is also an important project that the Jews look forward to, and it is a particularly controversial aspect of Judaism today as the spot where the Temple is to be rebuilt is currently where a mosque of the Muslim religion is standing. Thus to rebuild the Temple, it would require destroying this mosque. That is problematic in international relations terms, as there are many conflicts in the Arab world and many cultural sensitivities that the politically correct culture of the modern era feels must be taken into account ("Jerusalem Special Report -- The Building of the Third Temple").

Moreover, Jews around the world feel it is their duty to support Israel even if they have never been there. They view it as their national homeland (generally speaking) and identify deeply with its religious and historical significance. However, some Jews, such as Miko Peled, the son of an Israeli general, reject the claims of Israel on political grounds, arguing that the majority of the land that the Israelis have taken belongs to the Palestinians. Peled, for instance, objects to what he calls apartheid laws and genocidal acts of war against the Arabs. This is not the majority view among Jews, but it does exist and it does create tensions within the relationship between Judaism the religion and the Judaic political, social interests regarding the promise made to God of a Messiah coming to restore Israel to its glory.

The main days of religious observance consists of the Shabbat, which is the Sabbath, or Jewish day of rest, occurring every seventh day of every week, beginning Friday night and ending Saturday night. The accompanying religious ritual of this day of rest is a reading of the Torah, a musaf service added to the daily prayer ritual, and the refraining from melacha (work). Melacha is also forbidden during Yom Kippur (the Jewish Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the year in Judaism, wherein there is no food or drink permitted because it is a day of total fasting and abstinence).

These days are not always strictly observed by all Jews, which can be problematic when discussing Judaism, as there can be individuals who identify as ethnic Jews yet who do not follow or strictly adhere to the religious customs of Judaism. This problem is not really comparable to any other religious group, as there is no group that can also be identified as an ethnicity the way that Jews can. Thus, while in general Jews can be devoted to the political aims of Israel and the Judaic peoples, their religious beliefs may not necessarily transfer over into daily life practices. In other words, Judaism is the religious expression of the Jews, yet not all ethnic Jews observe the practices of Judaism (though many do identify with the aims of political Judaism, also known as Zionism -- but here too there are dissenters such as Miko Peled and Norman Finkelstein, another outspoken Jewish critic of Israel and Zionism).

Comparing and Contrasting Judaism and Christianity

Christianity begins with the same basic view of the conception of the world as found in the history of Judaism. The covenants are equally as important and the main ones that are pointed to as being most significant are the Adamic Covenant, and then Noahic Covenant, then the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant and finally the New (Christian) Covenant. Each covenant consisted of a promise made by God to man, and Christians believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah prophesized in the Old Testament. Christians hold that Jesus fulfilled the old law by sacrificing himself upon the cross, dying for man's sins, redeeming mankind, and opening the gates of Heaven. Like Jews, Christians also believe in the resurrection of the dead. The main difference between the two religions is that Christians recognize Christ as God (the 2nd Person of the Holy Trinity) and the Jews do not.

Judaism is typically pointed out as being monotheistic, but Christianity is actually monotheistic too -- it is not 3 different Gods that Christians worship, but rather one God in 3 divine Persons (The Father, The Son, and the Holy Ghost). Christians also have a day of rest: their Sabbath is on Sunday and it used to be that in the Christian West, stores and shops would be closed on Sunday out of respect for the Sabbath, but today even among Christians this practice is not as popular, especially since the 1960s, when the Roman Catholic Church set about relaxing the rules and laws of observance for Catholics regarding fasting and Sunday observance.

Like Judaism, there are many sects of Christianity that have developed over the centuries. Until the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church was mostly able to counter each sect and condemn its heretical approach to the dogmas of faith stipulated in the Apostle's Creed, which is the main statement of what a Christian is supposed to believe. This Creed speaks of God being the Holy Trinity, of the Church being that founded by God, of God's ability to forgive sins, the sanctity of the "communion of saints" (the mystical body of Christ -- the Church), the resurrection, and eternal life. This is the statement of belief that most distinguishes the Christian from the Jew because, of course, the Judaism does not recognize any of this, save the resurrection and eternal life. Jews still look for a Messiah, yet not a spiritual one after the manner of Christ but rather one who will have more political aims that elevate and exalt Israel. Christians view prophecies regarding Israel as relating to the spiritual Church, the mystical body -- including the Gentiles, who are all sons of Israel as a result of their being born again (baptized) as sons of God through their faith in Christ.

Thus the most important day of the year for Christians is Easter in which the resurrection from the dead of Jesus Christ is celebrated. Jews do not believe this event occurred.

The Protestant Reformation introduced various politically-affiliated strains of Christianity into the West, which essentially broke the "authority" or sway of the Roman Church over kings and counselors. Leaders of the Protestant sects were Jean Calvin, Martin Luther and Henry VIII. Puritanism was the result of this ethos as well as a de-mystifying of the Catholic religion. Puritanism spread to America through the Pilgrams and the early settlements and colonies. The Puritans would be similar to the Rabbinical Jews, who view their interpretations of the Scriptures as definitive, even though the Roman Church was the one who held that traditions were a significant part of their rituals. Protestant Christianity does not recognize the Pope of the Roman Church as the successor of Peter, whom the Catholics recognize as the first Pope of the Christian religion.