Judaism Essays (Examples)

Judaism

Misconceptions about various religions have been present for a long period of time. Some of the religions that have been the subject to common misconceptions include Christianity, Hinduism, Islam and Judaism. In this text, I address some of the misconceptions I had with Judaism and how they were altered via my encounter. Further, I amongst other things also discuss steps that can be adopted to minimize misconceptions individuals harbor in regard to other religions.

Judaism: A Concise Overview

According to Geldart (2002), "Judaism is the name of the religion that Jewish people follow." An analysis of Judaism is critical for purposes of identifying what those who subscribe to this religion value, the beliefs they profess as well as their practices. According to Faelli (2006), "Judaism is a religion that began about 4000 years ago in the Middle East." Although Judaism is widely referred to as the Jews' religion, it…

Another major practice first set forth by Abraham is that of the practice of circumcision done on all baby boys of Jewish faith. Abraham had initially started the practice on Isaac. It was done primarily to distinguish the Jewish people and represent a mark of the Jewish faith. This tradition has continued on into the modern era, and is still regularly practiced by those of the Jewish faith. As the generations progressed, so did the influence of the patriarchs of this chosen bloodline. Abraham's son Isaac is another major founding figure of Judaism. He continued his father's loyalty after he was chosen above his older half brother Ishmael to be the true heir of Abraham. Isaac was the son who was almost sacrificed to God, and so when God saved him in the nick of time it shows God's love for Isaac. This love is later continued through Isaac's success.…

Today, Christianity is the belief of more than a billion people in the world, who believe in the teachings and in the life of Jesus Christ. Therefore, to a Christian, 'Jesus of Nazareth was and is the Messiah or Christ promised by God in the prophecies of the Old Testament', and he, through his life, then his death, and finally his resurrection, 'freed those who believe in Him from their sinful state and made them recipients of God's saving Grace'. (Christian General Information)

There are many people, even today, who eagerly await the Second Coming of Christ, with which they feel that the entire plans for Salvation of man made by God, would be finally completed. The Christian faith believes in the word of the Christian Bible, or the Holy Scripture, which describes Jesus Christ as being the Lord and also the Savior of man. The basic tenets of the…

Judaism is a major world religion, honored and practiced by at least ten million people around the world, probably more ("Jewish Population"). The vast majority of Jews live in the United States and Israel, but there is also a sizeable Jewish population in Europe too ("Jewish Population"). Judaism is also one of the oldest religions still practiced in the world today, and its historical origins date back to 1800 BCE ("Judaism," BBC). Thus, the religion is 3,500 years old and continues to thrive. Judaism is a monotheistic religion, meaning that its followers believe in and worship only one God as opposed to many different Gods as they do in religions like Hinduism.

The Old Testament and its History of Judaism: The Old Testament is called the Torah by the Jews, but is also referred to simply as the Hebrew Bible. Two other major world religions use the Old Testament in…

It is also known as the will and finally the consciousness or vijnana which is the sense of awareness of a sensory or mental object. The human being is thus seen as a cluster of ever changing physical and mental processes with no underlying self. The five aggregates depend on becoming as they dependant on one another. Life is therefore a suffering in itself and one does not merely suffer in itself.

Salvation (reconciliation of humanity with ultimate reality)

In Buddhism, salvation is believed to be through human acts. Salvation means that one has reached Nirvana which is defined as a transcendental, blissful, spiritual state of nothingness and therefore one becomes a Buddha. One attains nirvana through following the Novel Eightfold path which involves accepting the Four Nobel Truths which are the existence of suffering, the cause of suffering, the end of suffering and the end of pain. This is…

Jews are not a community of proselytizers; they do not seek converts to Judaism. In fact, rabbis traditionally discourage conversions. Jews believe in one God and do not attempt to humanize Him as Christians do, but their tradition has been to leave others to their own beliefs. Jews almost never excommunicate one of their members, nor have they ever in their history been on a crusade to root out heretics (Prothero, 2010, p. 251). The mark that Jews have made in the modern world is as a result of their achievements. It is not for anyone else to say how fervently an individual embraces his religious beliefs, but it certainly seems to the outsider that Jews are guided more by their commitment to community, including the family, than by any other teachings of their faith. Shapiro (2013) argues that American Orthodox Jews have, in some ways, embraced Orthodoxy even more…

According to Goldschmidt & Davidson (2009), the conflict between Muslims and Jews could have been intensified by the quarrel that took place between Muhammad and the Jews of Medina. In fact Goldschmidt & Davidson (2009) indicate that there never used to be war between Jews and Muslims even though the Zionist are indicated to have believed that the Jews while under Muslim rule were treated like second-class citizens. Christian anti-Semitism as well held prejudice against Jews. The Diaspora cast Jews in socio-religious seclusion and persecution in a manner that set extremely terrible standards in regard to religious toleration. The worst cases of Jewish persecution by Muslims were in the Medieval times. For instance Bat Ye'or and Stillman were involved in forceful conversion of Jews to Islam by offering them either conversion to Islam or death (Snow,2010,p.8).Christians on the other hand have participated in the socio-religious seclusion as well as persecution…

Judaism

In American Judaism, Nathan Glazer examines the unique way Jewish culture has evolved in the United States. I wanted to interview a member of the local Hillel about how she felt about her Jewish heritage, identity, and community. In particular, I was interested in interviewing someone who had been to Israel because it would provide me with insight into the ways Judaism has evolved differently in the United States vs. Israel.

My interview subject describes herself as Jewish and says that she has always been proud of being Jewish and has had no direct experiences of anti-Semitism because she was born and raised in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. All her close friends from high school were Jewish, and her identity was socially constructed in this way. When she came to college, she was concerned about anti-Semitism, but claims that the presence of the Hillel on campus has helped her…

According to the Koran, Jews (and Christians) are considered to be "People of the book," or to have a similar heritage. (Goldschmidt, 2006, p. 35) As a result of this belief, many Muslim kingdoms and empires maintained a certain amount of respect for the Jews. However, Jews were still forced to pay a special tax in order to practice their religion without any official persecution. (Goldschmidt, 2006, p. 67) Later, during the Ottoman Empire, Jews were still treated as official second class citizens, or "re'ayas." Goldschmidt, 2006, p. 131) While there may not have been outright persecution of the Jews under Muslim domination, Jews were still not afforded the same rights as Muslims.

While the Muslims treated the Jews with a certain amount of respect, the European Christians did not. Throughout European history Jews were forced to live separated from European society, denied basic rights, outright persecuted, and often the…

The Christian notion of Trinity is that God is made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. The Jewish think that such a division can't be possible, because God is a unique as a creative force. God is the creator of all that we like and all that we don't. There is no evil force with an ability to create equal to God's.

About good and evil all three religions have in common the fact that they believe that there is an opposing force in the religions that is the enemy of god and will be defeated in the end. At the end times God will judge the people and decide whether they shall live in happiness in heaven or burn in hell. In general, Jewish thinkers have focused on the ways to lead a good life on Earth and improve this world, leaving…

Judaism is a religion of ethical monotheism, centered on the belief in an all-powerful and all-knowing God who created the universe and revealed his plan in the Tanakh (Bible), starting with the Torah (Pentateuch or first five books that are still attributed to Moses). In addition to the Written Torah, the Oral Torah of the rabbis, compiled in the first to sixth centuries AD, is also a vital part of the legal and ethical tradition of Judaism. Both the Jerusalem and the Babylonian Talmud date from this period, although the latter is now "dominant…in Jewish theology and law" (Fisher, p. 245). Jewish history is based on repeated stories of exile, persecution and extermination, with the worst being the genocide of six million Jews by the Nazis, which led to the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, almost 1,900 years after the omans destroyed the last one. Almost all…

This has particularly been the case since the attacks on 9/11. Nevertheless, like Judaism, it is one of the most popular monotheistic religions in the world. The equivalent of the Jewish God in Islam is Allah, who is also incorporeal and eternal. Communication with God or Allah occurs mutually between God and people. God communicates through revelation and scripture, while human beings communicate with God through worship and prayer. While there are many common elements, there are also fundamental differences. These are often responsible for bitter feuds between the adherents of these two religions. The Jews for example do not believe in the validity of the revelations to Mohammed, while Muslims cannot reconcile with the Jewish idea of adhering without change to the ancient texts. Furthermore adherents from both these religions believe that theirs is the only true faith, and that all who do not believe as they do are…

Judaism, Islam, And Christianity

Judaism was the world's first monotheistic religion dating back several millennia. The origins of Judaism arise from a variety of Middle Eastern cultures and, unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism actually developed into an actual nation with an established monarchy whose capital city was in Jerusalem where the religion's centralized temple was also located.

The Jewish nation suffered a serious blow when the omans destroyed their Temple in Jerusalem and destroyed the nation of Israel. The destruction of the temple and the fall of the Israeli government resulted in the Jewish nation spreading throughout the world. At approximately the same time, a new religion identified as Christianity developed. Allegedly based on the teachings of a young Jewish man named Jesus Christ, Christianity grew dramatically from humble beginnings in Israel into the world's largest religion. It eventually fragmented into multiple branches such as Eastern Orthodox, ussian Orthodox, Greek…

Judaism in Kafka

The highly allegorical language Kafka uses in his literary work is leading the reader into looking for clues as to their interpretation in Kafka's real world. Looking into the history of the Jews of Prague, one will find traces of their ancient struggles with themselves as well as with the rest of the world in Kafkian stories and characters like Odradek, in "The Cares of A Family Man," the half kitten half lamb pet, "a legacy from my father" in the short story "A Crossbreed," the Arabs in the story "Jackals and Arabs," or "the man from the country" who prays for admittance to the law in the story "Before the Law." There are however, limitations when it comes to incorporating in one allegory or character the single meaning of the idea of the German-Jewish situation in Prague at the dawn of the twentieth century.

There is…

Judaism and Christianity are two important religions of the world, which share a common abrahamic origin. Christianity has its roots from Judaism and hence there are many common percepts between the two religions. However, there are some striking differences between them in their appreciation of the attributes of godhead, sin, suffering, atonement, etc. A comparison between the two religions would highlight the commonalities and the differences that exist between them. Let us consider two related aspects namely 'Sin and Evil' and discuss as to how the two religions interpret them.

Treatment of Evil

One important difference between Judaism and Christianity is that Judaism does not consider the existence of an evil force. The purely monotheistic stand of Judaism does not consider any opposing force to god. This leaves Judaism wanting when it comes to explaining the underlying cause for evil in this world. However Judaism does offer an explanation for…

Judaism

The Jewish religion is one of the oldest faiths that still exist in the modern world. Those who practice the religion have celebrated more than five thousand years according to their calendar. This group has a history of prejudice and persecution that extends even into the modern historical moment. In a time when political correctness and fear of offense are of primary concern to a large percentage of the population, crimes against Jewish people and attitudes of prejudice against them still prevail in many countries of the world, particularly in the Middle East where adversarial nations have vowed to wipe Judaism and the Jewish nation state Israel off the world map.

The origins of Judaism can be traced back to approximately 2000 BCE with the writings of Abraham who is considered the father of the Jewish religion. According to the Jewish texts, the modern Jewish person is descended from…

Unfortunately, it is apparent that there is a serious ambiguity in the concept "structure of belief."

Along with that, when examining my religion, it was discovered that there was a Friday night service where they observed the Torah and the Old Testament. During this service, it is pointed out that the fruits of the earth are given by God. "For me, an important part of Judaism is acknowledging that the fruits of the earth are gifts from God. Hence, Judaism prescribes the recitation of blessings as a way to elevate the physical into the realm of the spiritual. Blessings are recited before and after eating, before enjoying aromas such as spices, upon seeing pleasing sights such as rainbows, etc. On Friday evening, as Jews welcome in their Sabbath (Shabbat in Hebrew), blessings are recited over candles, wine, bread, children and more" (Katz). I see Judaism is a religion that people…

The Jews do not consider Mohammad (May Peace e upon Him) to be the Prophet of God. However, the Muslims consider Moses (May Peace e upon Him) as a Prophet only and not as a Savior. This is because they consider Mohammad (May Peace e upon Him) to be their Liberator and Savior from the wrath of God (Unknown: Taken at (http://www.*****/dbase/af1/nyv170.shtml).

The Jews consider themselves to be the "Chosen People of the Lord." They believe that they are not answerable to anyone but their Lord of the heavens. However, the Muslims do not consider the Jews to be the "Chosen People of the Lord" as they (the Muslims) consider them to be confused and lost. Furthermore, Judaism considers its followers to belong to a race and thus do not accepts converts from other religions. Whereas, Islam considers its followers to be united behind a religion based on and ideology…

Man's solution for this belief was that the Torah specifies laws that need to be followed by the Children of Israel. Although other religions have been characterized by temples where priests worship their gods through sacrifice, the Children of Israel had their own temples, priests, and made sacrifices but the difference was that Judaism offered alternatives such as elevating everyday life to the level of a temple and thus worshiping God through everyday actions.

In Judaism, Olam Ha Ba is the afterlife. However, the Torah has no reference to the afterlife and the Jewish philosophy does not discuss the afterlife in much. Some religious philosophers believe that the Torah is silent about an afterlife to ensure that Judaism is not a cause of death such as the obsessed Egyptian religion was an early contributor to Judaism. Judaism does have a multi-staged morning practice called Shiv'ah which is observed for one…

Sabbath Greetings

The traditional Sabbath greetings are Shabbat Shalom (Hebrew), or Gut Shabbos (Yiddish).

A family time

Shabbat is very much a time when families come together in the presence of God in their own home.

Singles, or others with no family around may form a group to celebrate Shabbat together.

Sabbath Customs

In order to avoid work and to ensure that the Sabbath is special, all chores like shopping, cleaning, and cooking for the Sabbath must be finished before sunset on Friday.

People dress up for Shabbat and go to considerable trouble to ensure that everything is really nice to obey the commandment to make the Sabbath a delight.

Sabbath candles are lit and there are Sabbath blessings, prayers, songs and readings.

It's traditional for parents to bless their children on Shabbat.

The blessing for daughters asks that they become like the four matriarchs, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel and Leah,…

The term "orthodox" was also put into the vernacular, to distinguish these Jews from those that had been reformed. The essence of Judaism is also discussed, with one scholar explaining how humans are made in God's image via the fact that no one compels humans to act morally or to do good, it is completely up to them and that God is exactly the same way.

The film discusses the Jewish family and home, major components of Jewish life and how children are considered precious and to respect their parents. Interestingly enough, in Judaic law, if a wife does not give her husband children in 10 years, he is free to pursue procreation with another woman. The latter parts of the film discuss aspects of the religion like celebrating the Sabbath, and certain holy days like Yum Kippur, Rosh Hashanah and other occasions where Jews pray and talk to God,…

In the centuries just before and after the turn of the common era, the Jewish people pored over their sacred texts with a single-minded intensity, seeking in them not only a history of their ancestors and the glories of days gone by bur a corpus of divine instructions, a guide to proper conduct." (Kugel & Greer, 13)

The earliest form of discussion of such regulations is now known as the Midrash based on a Hebrew word meaning 'interpretation' or 'exegesis'.

In its evolution, Midrash minimized the authority of the wording of the text as communication, normal language. It placed the focus on the spiritual authority reader and the personal struggle of the reading interpreter to reach, with the reader's own mind, how to apply the text in an acceptable moral fashion, hence the importance of the sage to provide such guidance. The Talmud is an edited and compiled version of…

Compare JudaismOrthodox Judaism refers to the form of Judaism in practice since the destruction of the second Temple by the Romans around 70 AD. Orthodox Jews observe fasts and the kosher restrictions on what may or may not be eaten by believing Jews. They follow the prescriptions observed in the Talmud; the men wear black suits and black hats and many grow out their sidelocks in accordance with Talmudic custom: Do not round off the hair at the edges of your heads (Danzger, 1989). The purpose of growing their hair long was to show their difference from idol and pagan worshippers: the Jews wanted to distinguish themselves as followers of the true God, and today the Orthodox continue the practice.Reform Judaism refers to the new Westernized form of Judaism that came about in the 19th century and was motivated by Enlightenment ideals regarding. Reform Jews sought to blend in more…

Jewish Understandings of Human Nature: The Good and Evil Inclinations
With several millennia of history and experiences behind them, it is reasonable to posit that many people of the Jewish faith have sought to better understand human nature and its dichotomous aspects of good and evil. The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic review of the relevant literature concerning the history of the Jewish understanding of the good and evil inclinations of humankind and the various approaches to it taken by different Jewish religious scholars. In addition, an examination of the contemporary relevance of the good and evil inclination to Jews, Judaism, and Jewishness is followed by an analysis of the similarities and differences between different Jewish ways of thinking about these issues. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning the Jewish understandings of human nature are presented in the paper’s conclusion.
Review and…

Description
The service I attended was a Shabbat (Sabbath) on the morning of Saturday, June 2 at the Beth Shalom temple. I arrived at 9:50 for the 10AM start. The congregants were dressed with varying degrees of formality, and most arrived in family groups. In a modern building, the area of worship was a small chapel with capacity for about two hundred people. On this day, the room was about half full. Arranged like a small auditorium, the chapel had a sort of stage rather than an altar. On the stage was a dais, and behind that was simple piece of furniture covered with a cloth; I later learned this was the arc.
The rabbi and the cantor (singer) were both female. The service opened with songs, which the congregation sang along with as the cantor sang and played from an acoustic guitar. After the initial songs, the rabbi read…

Souls on Fire: Mysticism in Literature

Author, humanitarian, and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s Souls on Fire examines the strain of charismatic mysticism in Hasidic Judaism through biographical details of its founder Baal Shem and the stories surrounding Shem that proved to be foundational in shaping the Hasidic movement. Unlike other types of religious writing, mysticism focuses less upon analysis and more upon collapsing the divide between human and divine. Wiesel characterizes mystical writing by its “fervent waiting, the longing for redemption,” and stories in the mystical tradition typically feature “the link between man and his Creator,” an emphasis on spiritual wandering away rather than institutional stability, and miracles (Wiesel 5). Words are given significance in the mystical tradition less because of their meaning but more because of the emotional impetus behind those words. They are tales of “passionate involvement” that even the teller may wink and suggest are not true,…

Religion is too often used as a justification to do harm to others, thereby negating the core function of religion in providing psychological salve, ethical frameworks for resolving conflicts, and for stimulating social cohesion. All religions from the traditional African religions Mbon (1994) outlines to the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all refer in some way to the Golden Rule: that treating others the way one wishes to be treated is the ultimate moral compass (Molloy, 2013). In the New Testament, the Golden Rule is framed as “Do for other people whatever you would like to have them do for you,” (Matthew 7:12). Other religions from Buddhism to Bahai also teach the Golden Rule, showing how important this universal precept is for cultivating compassionate societies and healthy human relationships (Robinson, 2016). Of course, the golden Rule needs no religious grounding at all. The Golden Rule makes logical sense,…

Judaism Religion

Rabbinic Judaism is the main form of Judaism that has existed from the 6th Century to date. From this form of Judaism, three different forms of Judaism have been established which are conservative, Orthodox and reform.

Covenant -- Torahic teachings defines it as an agreement that the people had with God. An Arch of Covenant as highlighted in the books of Samuel and Kings symbolized the agreement between God and the people before heading to Canaan.

Halakhah defines the entire structure of the Jewish Laws as they are taught from the oral or the written Torah taught to the Jews. The 613 Mitzvot as taught in the Torah structure the greater body of the Halakhah.

Mitzvot denote the good deeds that the Jews are taught. They are 613 laws coupled with the rabbinic teachings are all meant guide the moral behavior among the Jews.

Gentile refers to a…

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Judaism

Hebrew history, as told by the Hebrews, begins in Mesopotamia, in the cities of Ur in the south and Haran in the north. With Abraham, the story of the Hebrews begins, and it is clearly stated that Hebrew origins lay outside Canaan. The command to leave his ancestral home and journey to Canaan was accompanied by a promise (Gen. 12:2) The exact location of the nation-to-be is not specified but was, of course, known to those hearing or reading the account, Abraham journeyed to Canaan, Egypt, the Negeb, Hebron, Gezer, Beer-sheba and back to Hebron where he and his wife Sarah died.

The journey itself was more than a pilgrimage, for it represented the starting point of a continuing adventure in nationhood. Nor are the travelers without vicissitudes, but throughout famine, earthquake, fire and war, god protected them.

The close relationship between the Hebrews and…

functions of monotheism in two religions, Judaism and Christianity. Only Judaism has been considered a truly monotheistic faith because Christianity at times has been said to offer some confusion in this regard and that it actually strays from the true definition of monotheistic. Judaism is considered to be the world's first monotheistic faith. One can take away from this that their way of thinking influenced more or less the origins of Christianity. Because Judaism was first, this work addresses Judaism's origin, God, scriptures, worldview, problems and solutions for man and then attempts to address their view of the afterlife and what it takes for mortals to attain it. Judaism has philosophical combinations of agreements and disagreements that can either encourage or prevent a person from following the religion as a whole.

This is as good a place to start as any -- Judaism as a religion is one that is…

Jews will face after death? How do Jewish ideas about the afterlife affect their attitudes toward death itself? This is a relatively more complicated question to answer than how the attitudes held by Christians about the afterlife affect their views toward death because in the case of Judaism there is no small amount of ambiguity.

Jewish beliefs about death cannot be understood independent of Jewish theology as a whole, and so it may be helpful to begin here with a definition of what we mean by religion as a whole. Religion is both an intensely personal area of life as well as one that is practiced publicly.

The result of this second attribute is that people tend to think that they know what religion means and how it functions because they frequently see people performing religious rites. But as a consequence of its former attribute, we do not actually know…

(Catholic Home Study Service: Sundays and Holy Days) Hence when a changeover was made from Sabbath to Sunday as the weekly day of worship, the traditional Holy Days began to be neglected, and Christmas and Easter evolved to be the significant festivals of the Christian community. (Christian Holy Days)

The Modern Christian church now orders its members to attend services on every Sunday and on all other Holy Days. The Church makes the Services mandatory on Holy Days and on every Sunday, since the Christians have prayers and offerings as a community and the Services is the crucial activity which shows the worship of the community. Since this crucial activity shows the worship of the community as a whole, the need to attend services on the Holy Days and on Sundays is looked upon by the Church as a serious obligation. Sidelining this is considered to be a grave sin.…

Jewish History

The Hebrews do not actually appear in history until about 1224-1211 B.C.E. during the reign of Marniptah, king of Egypt (Ancient pg). Marniptah was the son of Raamses I, 1290-1223 B.CE, who is thought to be the kind of Egypt at the time of the Hebrew exodus (Ancient pg). In an account of Marniptah's military campaign in Asia, 1220 B.C.E., inscribed in granite is listed all the conquered peoples including the Israelites, who are mentioned as "now living in Canaan" (Ancient pg). Before this, the only history is that which was written by the Hebrews themselves who trace their origins to a "single individual, Abraham, who comes originally from Mesopotamia" (Ancient pg). This pre-Egyptian Hebrew history is referred to as the age of the patriarchs, which means father-ruler (Ancient pg). More than a thousand years had passed before this era of history was written down, and although it…

Judaism and Christianity both have fairly common as well as totally contrasting religious concepts. In spite of the apparent differences and divisions it has to be understood that both these religions are like different streams of water merging in the ocean of god.

Christianity and Judaism are both religions of abrahamic origin. There are many similarities and differences between the two religions. Since Christianity originated from Judaism, it lends to the thought that both the religions are very closely related. However, in spite of their common origin, they differ considerably in some of the important issues while at the same time exhibit resemblance in many aspects. Even the monotheistic belief, which both these religions stand for, is quantified by entirely different perception of the attributes of godhead. Similarly, in the understanding of the messianic concept there is a significant contradiction giving us a hint of the vastly different nature of…

Judaism, Christianity, And Islam

Judaism, Christianity and Islam:

Similarities and Differences

I am sure that most of you already have some pretty strong convictions about one or all of the three major world religions I will discuss today -- particularly, given the state of current events, considering Islam. However, if you strip away the political issues surrounding the faith, I am sure that you will be amazed to know just how many similarities Judaism, Christianity, and Islam actually share.

First, it is important to note that all major religions have millions of followers. As such, it is all but inevitable that many will distort the teachings of their respective religions in order to pursue their own personal goals and agendas. For example, many Israeli settlers site their unique position as God's children as justification for violating United Nations and International laws against building illegal settlements on Palestinian Land, many Christians…

Ortodox Judaism considers itself te most autentic experience of Judaism dating itself back to te source of Judaism as stated in te Tora and keeping te Tora as it believes it was transmitted form Sinai. Ortodox Judaism is a ybrid of opinions and tese will be described in te following essay. To better understand Ortodox Judaism, too, we ave cosen te synagogue Congregation Saare Zion as example and illustration of its form. Comparison too to Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism will be elaborated on and mentioned as contrast.

Ortodox Judaism: definition

Ortodox Judaism is synonymous to traditional Judaism. Te Tora it believes was anded to Moses from Mt. Sinai and togeter wit tat were oral instructions and elaboration tat were first transmitted orally via te judges and leaders and later codified in te Misna and Talmud.

Te Oral Law includes a complex compendium of laws tat govern every part of…

Thus, the adoption of Christianity by these and other European nations created new forms of government and new ways of living a just and moral life.

In contrast, those that practice Judaism, as compared to Christians, tend to be socially and economically liberal and strongly support individual liberties with regard to many societal issues. However, Judaism also reflects "Enlightenment beliefs about the value and sanctity of each individual conscience," meaning that semi-Christian beliefs and practices were adopted by many Jews in Europe as a result of the spread of Enlightenment ideals during the middle years of the 18th century (Parratt, 212).

As compared to Christianity, Islam has played practically no role in the development of Western civilization (except perhaps for the many religious wars between Christianized nations and Islamic nations in the past one thousand years or so), yet in today's modern world, Islam has taken a foothold in many…

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

When you first consider different religions, it can seem that they have little in common. Only Christianity believes that Jesus Christ is the son of God. Only Islam believes that Allah is the one true God and that Mohammed was his prophet. Only Judaism believes that the Jewish people were God's chosen race. These are the critical differences and the elements that define each religion. However, if you go beyond these differences, it can be seen that the three religions also have much in common. While they may consider themselves and their God's differently, there are some shared elements. This will now be considered by looking at the three religions and considering both their differences and their similarities.

Judaism is based on three elements. These are God, the Torah, and the people. God refers to the belief that in a personal God and the way that…

. This was to lead to the inevitable interaction and cross -- cultural pollination between the cultures. Kline states that; " No wonder that such a large number of Egyptian loan words, phrases and intellectual ideas should be preserved in the Old Testament, along with a large number of idiomatic expressions, and two Egyptian units of measure" (Kline). However, while cultural interaction and the adoption of various phrases and words is not denied by most scholars, what is contested and debated is the extent to which this cultural interaction influenced and impacted the development of the religious foundations of both Judaism and Christianity.

4. How Egypt influenced customs and practices; fact vs. myth

There are numerous examples in the literature that refer to a more extensive cultural intersection and interaction with the Egyptian civilization. One can refer to the view that the name of the Divine Unity in this regard.…

Women in Judaism: An Evolving Role in Religion and Society

Many laymen to Judaism look inward into the religion and view Jewish women as oppressed, their lives and choices dictated to them by the men who surround them. From rabbis to husbands to the ible itself, the belief has generally been that women have been essentially inferior to men since the dawn of the religion centuries ago. However, in taking a contemporary view toward women in Judaism, and in marking the significant strides that the sex has made throughout the centuries, one can immediately see that all it takes to understand the power and respect that Jewish women afford themselves is merely to take a closer look. In viewing the changes and struggles that Jewish women have been through throughout the centuries as well as taking a strictly-religious view in understanding the way Jewish people view God to have made…

Taoism, Confucianism, Judaism

Taoism, Confucianism, and Judaism

There are several major religions in the world and in different parts of the world the religions are quite diverse. In China, two major religions are Taoism and Confucianism, while in the West one of the oldest religions is Judaism. These religions are quite different, with historical, theological, and philosophical differences. But they also have certain aspects in common, such as honesty, integrity, and compassion. These religions espouse doctrines on how a person should to live their life, how they should behave in relationships, and how they should treat other people. This essay will explore these three religious traditions; their histories, differences, and similarities.

Sometime around 550 BCE, in the Chinese kingdom of Lu, there was born a man named Confucius, called "Kung Fu Tzu" in Chinese. After opening a school and serving as a minister for his ruler, Confucius was forced to…

Tenets of Judaism

The Jewish faith, formally called Judaism, has several divisions, or main components, and those are Orthodox Judaism, eform Judaism, econstructionist Judaism, Kabballism, and Conservative Judaism. Within each of these components of Judaism, there are various movements which choose to observe and emphasize certain specific aspects of that branch which are particularly appealing to that movement. In the United States, according to The World Almanac 2002 there are 1,500,000 members of the eform Judaism movement; there are 1,075,000 members of Orthodox Judaism; there are one and a half million Conservative Jews, and approximately 65,000 members of the Jewish econstructionist group. World-wide, there are an estimated 13 million Jews of various movements.

eform Jews consider the Oral Law to have come from man, rather than God, and the eform movement places a great deal of emphasis upon moral and ethical teachings, rather than the ritualistic observances of other Jews.…

Nor could a man repudiate the oath made by any of his female relatives." (Azeem, 1995)

VI. The ROLE of the MOTHER

Part two of the work entitled: "Women in Islam vs. Women in the Judaeo-Christian Tradition: The Myth and the Reality" states that in relation to 'mothers' from the viewpoint of the Old Testament, there are several commandments concerning the necessity for kind and considerate treatment of parents and a condemnation for those who dishonor their parents. In Islam, the mother holds a very special place and as described by the Prophet Muhammad as follows: "A man asked the Prophet: 'Whom should I honor most?' The Prophet replied: 'Your mother'. 'And who comes next?' asked the man. The Prophet replied: 'Your mother'. 'And who comes next?' asked the man. The Prophet replied: 'Your mother!'. 'And who comes next?' asked the man. The Prophet replied: 'Your father'" (ukhari and Muslim;…

In striving to be inclusive, Malkin may run the danger of excluding significant minorities of the Jewish community, those who cannot celebrate the text of the Bible as a literary feat, but see it as holy writ and are offended by literary interpretations and reverence for the Torah.

There is a final problem that will likely become even more contentious in the future, that of the question of the policies of the Israeli government in relation to Jewish national identity. One can certainly love America and not support the policies of the current administration, but support for Israel's ruling party is often conjoined with supporting Israel in the popular imagination, because of Israel's threatened identity in the Middle East. Defining Judaism in terms of support for Israel can be a slippery slope as well. Even defining Judaism in terms of social justice and liberal political values can itself be alienating…

Christianity and Judaism

The diversity between the modern strains of Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Judaism, as outlined in Michael Molloy's text Experiencing orld Religions, may seem so diverse in and of themselves, that a reader may be prompted to exclaim that even Judaism itself is not a perfectly harmonious tradition. How can a scholar begin to compare the two traditions? (Molloy, 2005) But another observer may be apt to protest that because both Judaism and Christianity are monotheistic traditions, and both can lay claim to the same basic Near Eastern scriptures, one can speak of a clear and seamless 'Judeo-Christian' ethical tradition, despite the fact that Judaism spawned Christianity as a sect and a religion -- and Christians were later to persecute Jews. (Got Questions, 2005)

However, although the relationship between the two religions is quite close in geographical, historical, and scriptural origins, today the religious are quite far apart…

They also believe that the 613 mitzvot found in the Torah bind all Jews in orthodox there is a barrier between women and men in services and also no women rabbis are found among the Orthodox. In their practice they observe Jewish law on issues like keeping kosher and Sabbath.

eform Jews do not accept the way the Jewish laws are binding; they focus on moral autonomy of an individual to make a decision on which laws have a meaning to them. This is a liberal religion that is in support of social causes that are liberal. In general the reform service is made up of less Hebrew as compared to conservative or orthodox. It is the most lenient when it comes to their practices for example unlike orthodox keeping kosher is not a must. In this movement it is believed that children from a Jewish father and gentile mother…

Early Judaic religion also has a long extensive history. The ancient beginnings of Judaism come from the sands of the Syro-Arabian desert. Ancient ancestors of the later Hebrew people moved from the Mesopotamian desert towards the coast, moving into what is now known as Jerusalem and Palestine. Abraham was born into a family which still practiced early forms of animism. Through a religious epiphany, he began to worship only one deity, which he named El-Shaddi, meaning "the rock of the mountain," (383). He was encouraged by God to move to better grazing grounds, "The Lord had said to Abram [Abraham], leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great and you will be a blessing," (Gen. 12:1-2). After proving his loyalty, God rewarded…

ased on the gospels of the New Testament, Jews acted as the murderers of Jesus Christ who in Jewish history is claiming to be the Son of God. Criticizing today's Christian practices such as idolatry which is purely against time old philosophy of the scripture continually arouses negative notion on the true authority of Jesus on his teachings.

Most of the parables of Jesus written in the gospels of the New Testament have survived and prospered in the heart and mind of all Christians. The parable of the Prodigal Son and the parable of the lost sheep are some of the parables that depict the importance given by God towards mankind.

The growth of the early Christian Catholic Church have sporadically developed worldwide since its founding after the death of Jesus Christ with Apostle Peter as the first Pope. The church traces its origin from the 12 Apostles in their…

American Judaism

Throughout American history, Judaism has played a major role in influencing historical events. This is because the persecution of Jews over the centuries has created the desire to a find a place where they will be respected. Examples of this go back as far as the Romans, when the Emperor Tiberius was a part of a program to systematically disperse the Jewish population throughout the Roman Empire. This was in response to the revolts that occurred in Judea and modern day Jerusalem during the 1st and 2nd centuries. (Merrill 365 -- 372)

As a result, the Jews would face a variety of obstacles over the course of time. This is because of: their unique way of life and how different their religion was from Christianity in certain aspects. These elements led to feelings of resentment and mistrust in Western Europe of the Jewish population. During the Renaissance period…

History of Judaism: From biblical origins to the modern period." It discusses Genesis 1-11 and what these texts tell us about the origins of Israelite religion? What do the major episodes in these 11 chapters of the Torah tell us about the differences between classical Mesopotamian paganism and the origins of Israelite thought and religion?

History of Judaism: From biblical origins to the modern period

Genesis is the book of beginnings. That is what the word itself means, and it takes us back into the very dawn of human history. It opens with an awareness of the greatest material fact in all human life; a fact that we are all subconsciously aware of almost every waking moment, that is, that we are living in a universe. Then this galaxy itself is moving at incredible speed through the vastness of space in conjunction with millions of other galaxies like ours. It…

Catholicism and Judaism

America is a country of diversity and freedom. It is commonly referred to a land of immigrants. This is a proud facet of American history; however, what are not proudly discussed are the difficulties faced by immigrants. Religion and ethnicity served as the basis for discrimination, as the Irish Catholics and Jewish population found out. These two groups in particular share similar experiences, both discriminated against, both groups wanted to assimilate in their new country, but differ on their approach to these challenges and the severity of the prejudices these groups faced.

Catholicism in the United States has a long history. Catholics were part of the original thirteen colonies, with a based in Maryland, where they could practice with no repercussions (Lippy, p.128). During this era, the majority of Catholics were English; there would be other prominent ethnic Catholic groups such as German and French Catholics. The…

Question 2 -- the Inquisition, also known as the Inquiry on Heretical Perversity began in the 12th century in Europe and was the Catholic Church's response to perceived heresy and disagreement with papal doctrine. Prior to this, the Church suppressed ideas it considered heretical, but did not use torture in a widespread manner. The process lasted several hundred years, and was justified because the Church needed to ensure that the whole of Christendom followed a singular view of doctrine…. "for punishment does not take place primarily and per se for the correction and good of the person punished, but for the public good in order that others may become terrified and weaned away from the evils they would commit"(Thomsett, 2010).

Some could certainly say that for part of the Church's history it was an institution designed to promote social order, uphold the Papacy and monarchies of Europe, and subjugate all…

Jewish culture and practice has been heterogeneous since the diaspora, and remains so in the 21st century. In the United States, Jews generally classify themselves as being Orthodox, Conservative, or eform. This albeit overly simplified tripartite division began in the late 19th to early 20th century, as increasing numbers of Jews immigrated to the United States. The nature of Jewish thought, culture, and worship has changed significantly during the last hundred or so years even among the Orthodox, and there is great diversity and plurality in the world's Jewish communities.

Orthodox Judaism is, as the term suggests, fundamentalist in its approach to Jewish law and scripture. The Torah is believed to be the direct transmission of the word of God, including the oral Torah ("Movements of Judaism," n.d.). As such, the contents of the written and oral Torah are considered immutable. Orthodox Jews follow Jewish law and custom to a…

Instead of adhering to older laws, which may have been based on conditions that no longer apply to members of the modern world, Conservative Jews are urged to develop Jewish law and thought in the same way that they have historically been developed. While Conservative Judaism respects both Orthodox and eform Judaism, it has theological differences from both of the other variants of abbinic Judaism. Conservative Jews believe that Orthodox Jews have hampered the natural and necessary evolution of Jewish law by adhering to traditions and laws that developed in a context outside of the modern world. Furthermore, Conservative Jews believe that eform Jews have made a major break with the historic definition of Judaism, and therefore have abandoned the method of evolution of Jewish law. While Conservative Jews do not condemn eform Jews for their interpretations of Jewish law, they do not necessarily feel that eform Jews' beliefs are…

history medical studies have concluded that prayer helps to heal the sick. Many political meetings begin with a prayer and American currency has the words "In God We Trust" imprinted on its face. Around the world God is a powerful deity and one that has historically led entire societies to make decisions based on God's word. While God has been the single deity that leads and guides societies in their decisions both on an individual and collective basis there are many different concepts of what God is and entails. Two large worldwide faiths have many similarities and differences in God and its meaning. The faith of Christianity as well as the faith of Judaism both believe in a single God. The faiths are based in the word of that God and their followers respect and revere the God of their faith. While both faiths believe in a single God there…

Jewish religion also known as Judaism -- is the religion of the Torah, which begins with the "Five Books of Moses and encompasses the Old Testament" (Neusner, 1992, 8). Judaism honors its beginnings as part of the creation of the whole world, Neusner explains. Jews believe that God created the world "…and for ten generations, from Adam to Noah, despaired of creation." Following those ten generations, from Noah to Abraham, God was waiting for humans to finally "…acknowledge the sovereignty of one God," who was authentically the unseen power that created heaven and earth (Neusner, 9).

Most historians explain that Judaism is a "monotheistic faith" (there is but one God) and Jews in turn often find this God "…beyond [humans'] ability to comprehend" and nevertheless Jews believe God is present in everyone's life every day (Pelala, 2013). Moreover Jews believe that each person was created "b'tzelem Elohim" (meaning "in the…

" This is a radical and flexible approach to both textual criticisms -- suggesting contradictions in the text, such as the two creation narratives, as well as an explanation of the need for intellectual questioning within a faith tradition as well as dogmatism. Questioning, in fact, is God's commandment in the Quran, says Averroes.

The Jewish Moses Maimonides, like Averroes, was also a great student of medicine, a noted physician and heavily influenced by the Neo-Platonized Aristotelianism that had taken root in Islamic circles. Like Averroes, Maimonides drew a coherent line between classical philosophy and the major monotheistic traditions: "Judaism then is based on a particular philosophy. Maimonides...takes this to mean that before Plato and Aristotle introduced science and philosophy to the Greeks, the patriarchs introduced it to Israel. To someone who asks why we have no explicit record of their philosophy, Maimonides answers that any record of such teaching…

Jews and Jewish eligion

Judaism is one of the revealed religions of the world and like Islam and Christianity; this religion also endorses the concept of monotheism. Being one of the oldest monotheist religions, Judaism has a long history but throughout this history, its basic beliefs, traditions, sacred texts and rituals have remained more or less the same.

Monotheism in Judaism

Like Christianity and Islam, Judaism is one of the most well-known monotheist religions. Monotheistic means believing in one God. Unlike some other religions like Hinduism and Buddhism, Jewish religion believes in the existence of one single God who is the source of all power in the world. In Torah, God says: "I am the first, and I am the last; and besides me there is no God." (Isaiah 44:6)

Jewish people tend to believe that there is one Supreme Being that controls the whole world and our destinies. Over…

Hasidic Judaism Culture

Hasidic Judaism-primarily Boro Park

Literature suggests that people often refer the Jewish people as the chosen people, which is common knowledge. In fact, the bible supports this because it refers to them as the Holy people or the Holy Community. In this respect, during the provision of the Ten Commandments on Mt. Sinai, it was a requirement by God that the Jews live a holy life. In the context of holy, God required the people to conduct their personal and social life through obeying the six hundred and thirteen proscriptive and prescriptive dicta found in the Torah (Mintz, 1992). Over successive generations, the six hundred and thirteen laws evolved to become the Ol Torah or the yoke of the torah.

In the current setting, it is just to suggest that over the two thousand plus years, the Jews have tried their best to conduct their lives in…

The main holy book of Islam is the Quran, which is the word of God as communicated directly to Mohammed. It is the core book of the religion, and concerns both spiritual issues, and more practical, moral ones. Islamic law comes from interpretation of the Quran, and of Mohammed's life, rather than from the book itself.

From Mohammed, Islam spread rapidly throughout the world. The religion's main split occurred as a result of an early difference of opinion concerning leadership of the religion, resulting in two main sects, the Sunnis and the Shia. Other sects have emerged, such as Sufism, Ibadism, and the Ismailis. These groups have all formed as the result of various minor schisms.

The Amish religion began in Switzerland, and are considered an Anabaptist Christian denomination. The offset left Europe and resettled in North America during the 18th century. Today, there are 231,000 Amish, and their population…