Judaism
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In order to understand all religions, there is a great method to use. This method is called the seven elements, and these seven elements include experiential, historical, doctrinal, ethical, ritual, social, and material. These key points, along with what the Catholic Church deems as "true and holy" is what I will use to explain the religion of Judaism.
The first element is experiential. This element is the hardest to capture in words, because the purpose is to understand what it feels like to be a part of the religion. This is hard because you cannot not truly know the experiential aspect of a religion unless you practice it yourself. Being a part of Judaism you have a lot of pride in your religion because for most it is not only their religious identity, but also their heritage. It has a strong emphasis on tradition and orthopraxy, which means this religion makes you feel a strong connection to you history, and it helps you learn through action.
The second element is historical, which is all about how Judaism began. Abraham is said to be the father of Judaism. He was the first to answer God's call, and made a covenant with him, where God granted him a promise land with as many descendants as the stars in the sky, so long as they followed his will. After hundreds of years, with the help of many prophets, the Hebrews, or Israelites as they were also called, finally reached to promise land. One of the most highly recognized prophets is Moses, who freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and received the Torah to share with the Chosen Hebrew People. Jerusalem eventually became the home, and was ruled by many but King Davis and Solomon sticking out as two of the most influential. Towards the end of Solomon's reign, the Babylon Exile broke out, around 587 BC. The Babylonians charged into Judah, and destroyed the Temple. They were not able to reclaim their land, which was now called Judea, and rebuild the Temple until about 515 BC. Most Jews continued to live in Judea for the next couple hundred years under the ruling of the Greeks. Around 63 AD the Romans conquered Palestine. They ruled for centuries, including the era of Jesus Christ. Soon after the Time of Jesus, Judaism when through a major renovations. The new religion of Christianity made it hard for Jews to know what they believed in. Boundaries had to be set between Judaism and Christianity to end all confusion. But, in AD 66, the Jerusalem temple was destroyed for the second time by the Romans. This was a huge lose, known as the Jewish War, and it removed the Jews from the physical center of their religious and cultural life. After this Judaism became more and more spread out in the world. The next large scale Jewish event that occurred was the Holocaust. It killed millions of Jews, and left their hole community in deep distress.
The third element is Doctrinal. This represents the main and central beliefs in Judaism. The main elements of Doctrinal in Judaism comes from the Tanakh, and Mishnah, and the Talmud. The Tanakh is made up of three sections, and is known as the Written Torah. The first section is the Torah, and it includes the first five books, which are the same as in the Christian Bible. The second section is called Nevi'im, and it includes all the books of the Prophets. The third section is the Ketuvim. The Ketuvim is largely made up of psalms, with a few other books as well. T, N, and K are the first letters of each section, and if you ad an "a" between each letter, that is how the pronunciation "Tanakh" was formed. The Misnah is another form of central belief in Judaism. It is the first part of what is considered the Oral Torah, and is the original commentary on the Tanakh.It is used to understand the Tanakh more fully. The second part of the Oral Torah is the Talmud, which is directly based of the Misnah. It goes a little further in explaining the Written Torah. The Mishnah and Talmud were both eventually written down and are regarded as sacred text.
Ethical is the fourth element of religion, and its purpose is to understand what the morals of this faith are. The idea is that religions have different ethics, and we want to see what ones are specific to Judaism. The Ten Commandments are a set of rules stated in the Torah that were given to Moses by God. They are very important ethics is Judaism, and emphasize how Jews should act to God and the people in their community. Another example of ethics is how rooted Jews are in tradition, which also goes along with their belief in orthopraxy. Jews do most things in a very traditional way, especially when it comes to prayer and things like that. They believe that practicing and living out your faith is more important than studying the teachings themselves. Kosher is another example of ethics. It is what Jews should eat, and how they should prepare their food. It is meant, not to resrtict, but show them the proper way of eating. It is something practiced year-round, not just during holidays. Another unique aspect to Judaism is how they rarely write "God." They will usually write it as G-d to show respect for his name. They also use the term YHWH.
The fifth element of Judaism is ritual. The purpose of ritual is to discuss the main religious activities and celebrations. The first ten days of the Jewish New Year start with the Rosh Hashanah. The Rosh Hashanah is during the early fall and marks the first two days of the new year. It is all about celebrating Judaism and undergoing serious contemplation. After these two days, the Days of Awe begin, which is the ten-day reflection period. The last Day of Awe is called Yom Kippur, and it is the most important holy day in Judaism. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is all about confessing your sins, and repenting for what you have done wrong in the last year. On this day, Jews do not work, and they stay away from food and drink. These ten days are the most important part of the Jewish year. Some smaller scale rituals are daily prayer, which is always begun with the she'ma in the morning and evening. Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are also an important part of Jewish ritual. Bar Mitzvah means "son of the commandment, and Bat Mitzvah means "daughter of the commandment. These celebrations take place when a Jewish girl or boy turns thirteen, and marks them taking on adult religious responsibilities.
Social is the sixth element of religion. This element is supposed to help us understand how this religion functions, and who the leaders are. The number of Jews in the world has a big impact on the social aspect. Judaism is considered one of the main world religions, but its population takes up about 1% of the world, which is very small. The small size makes for a very tight knit religion. Temple is also very important because it is where Jewish people gather together for prayer. Many of the aspects of ritual are also a part of social because Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a big part of the social aspect as well. Rabbis are also very important leaders in Judaism. They are teachers of the Torah and leaders of Jewish worship.
The seventh, and last, element of religion is material. The purpose of material is to recognize what objects and places play a role in Judaism.
Temples and synagogues- places of worship
Tanakh- Written Torah and used for studying Judaism
Yarmulke- skullcap worn by Jewish males
Mezuzah- piece of parchment with inscribed verses from the Hebrew Torah
Shofar- rams-horn used in at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Matzo- unleavened bread, eaten by Jews during Passover
Huppah- Jewish wedding canopy with four open sides
Christianity sees a lot of things as true and holy in Judaism. Because we have the same ancestry, we see almost the entire Tanakh as true and holy because it is, mostly, what makes up the Christian Old Testament in the Bible. Although Christianity tends to emphasize orthodoxy more than orthopraxy, we can still see their ways of prayer and religious practices as true and holy. Christianity and Judaism both believe in the same God, even though we call him different things. Still, many of their prayers are centered on praying to God, so we can participate in those without having to baptize them.
The first element is experiential. This element is the hardest to capture in words, because the purpose is to understand what it feels like to be a part of the religion. This is hard because you cannot not truly know the experiential aspect of a religion unless you practice it yourself. Being a part of Judaism you have a lot of pride in your religion because for most it is not only their religious identity, but also their heritage. It has a strong emphasis on tradition and orthopraxy, which means this religion makes you feel a strong connection to you history, and it helps you learn through action.
The second element is historical, which is all about how Judaism began. Abraham is said to be the father of Judaism. He was the first to answer God's call, and made a covenant with him, where God granted him a promise land with as many descendants as the stars in the sky, so long as they followed his will. After hundreds of years, with the help of many prophets, the Hebrews, or Israelites as they were also called, finally reached to promise land. One of the most highly recognized prophets is Moses, who freed the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, and received the Torah to share with the Chosen Hebrew People. Jerusalem eventually became the home, and was ruled by many but King Davis and Solomon sticking out as two of the most influential. Towards the end of Solomon's reign, the Babylon Exile broke out, around 587 BC. The Babylonians charged into Judah, and destroyed the Temple. They were not able to reclaim their land, which was now called Judea, and rebuild the Temple until about 515 BC. Most Jews continued to live in Judea for the next couple hundred years under the ruling of the Greeks. Around 63 AD the Romans conquered Palestine. They ruled for centuries, including the era of Jesus Christ. Soon after the Time of Jesus, Judaism when through a major renovations. The new religion of Christianity made it hard for Jews to know what they believed in. Boundaries had to be set between Judaism and Christianity to end all confusion. But, in AD 66, the Jerusalem temple was destroyed for the second time by the Romans. This was a huge lose, known as the Jewish War, and it removed the Jews from the physical center of their religious and cultural life. After this Judaism became more and more spread out in the world. The next large scale Jewish event that occurred was the Holocaust. It killed millions of Jews, and left their hole community in deep distress.
The third element is Doctrinal. This represents the main and central beliefs in Judaism. The main elements of Doctrinal in Judaism comes from the Tanakh, and Mishnah, and the Talmud. The Tanakh is made up of three sections, and is known as the Written Torah. The first section is the Torah, and it includes the first five books, which are the same as in the Christian Bible. The second section is called Nevi'im, and it includes all the books of the Prophets. The third section is the Ketuvim. The Ketuvim is largely made up of psalms, with a few other books as well. T, N, and K are the first letters of each section, and if you ad an "a" between each letter, that is how the pronunciation "Tanakh" was formed. The Misnah is another form of central belief in Judaism. It is the first part of what is considered the Oral Torah, and is the original commentary on the Tanakh.It is used to understand the Tanakh more fully. The second part of the Oral Torah is the Talmud, which is directly based of the Misnah. It goes a little further in explaining the Written Torah. The Mishnah and Talmud were both eventually written down and are regarded as sacred text.
Ethical is the fourth element of religion, and its purpose is to understand what the morals of this faith are. The idea is that religions have different ethics, and we want to see what ones are specific to Judaism. The Ten Commandments are a set of rules stated in the Torah that were given to Moses by God. They are very important ethics is Judaism, and emphasize how Jews should act to God and the people in their community. Another example of ethics is how rooted Jews are in tradition, which also goes along with their belief in orthopraxy. Jews do most things in a very traditional way, especially when it comes to prayer and things like that. They believe that practicing and living out your faith is more important than studying the teachings themselves. Kosher is another example of ethics. It is what Jews should eat, and how they should prepare their food. It is meant, not to resrtict, but show them the proper way of eating. It is something practiced year-round, not just during holidays. Another unique aspect to Judaism is how they rarely write "God." They will usually write it as G-d to show respect for his name. They also use the term YHWH.
The fifth element of Judaism is ritual. The purpose of ritual is to discuss the main religious activities and celebrations. The first ten days of the Jewish New Year start with the Rosh Hashanah. The Rosh Hashanah is during the early fall and marks the first two days of the new year. It is all about celebrating Judaism and undergoing serious contemplation. After these two days, the Days of Awe begin, which is the ten-day reflection period. The last Day of Awe is called Yom Kippur, and it is the most important holy day in Judaism. Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is all about confessing your sins, and repenting for what you have done wrong in the last year. On this day, Jews do not work, and they stay away from food and drink. These ten days are the most important part of the Jewish year. Some smaller scale rituals are daily prayer, which is always begun with the she'ma in the morning and evening. Bar and Bat Mitzvahs are also an important part of Jewish ritual. Bar Mitzvah means "son of the commandment, and Bat Mitzvah means "daughter of the commandment. These celebrations take place when a Jewish girl or boy turns thirteen, and marks them taking on adult religious responsibilities.
Social is the sixth element of religion. This element is supposed to help us understand how this religion functions, and who the leaders are. The number of Jews in the world has a big impact on the social aspect. Judaism is considered one of the main world religions, but its population takes up about 1% of the world, which is very small. The small size makes for a very tight knit religion. Temple is also very important because it is where Jewish people gather together for prayer. Many of the aspects of ritual are also a part of social because Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are a big part of the social aspect as well. Rabbis are also very important leaders in Judaism. They are teachers of the Torah and leaders of Jewish worship.
The seventh, and last, element of religion is material. The purpose of material is to recognize what objects and places play a role in Judaism.
Temples and synagogues- places of worship
Tanakh- Written Torah and used for studying Judaism
Yarmulke- skullcap worn by Jewish males
Mezuzah- piece of parchment with inscribed verses from the Hebrew Torah
Shofar- rams-horn used in at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
Matzo- unleavened bread, eaten by Jews during Passover
Huppah- Jewish wedding canopy with four open sides
Christianity sees a lot of things as true and holy in Judaism. Because we have the same ancestry, we see almost the entire Tanakh as true and holy because it is, mostly, what makes up the Christian Old Testament in the Bible. Although Christianity tends to emphasize orthodoxy more than orthopraxy, we can still see their ways of prayer and religious practices as true and holy. Christianity and Judaism both believe in the same God, even though we call him different things. Still, many of their prayers are centered on praying to God, so we can participate in those without having to baptize them.