Judaism: A Very Short Introduction Critique - Book Report/Review Example

?Judaism: A Very short Introduction The anti-Semitism between Christians and Jews has always be there in the history of Christianity and Judaism since the splitting of Christianity from Judaism and their formations as separate religions. There is a constantly hostile belief towards Jew community. There are many reasons why the anti-Semitism prevailed. In modern world we may call it a racial or ethnic abhorrence. There are many reasons why one community starts hating another community. When the two towers of world trade centre of America was completely demolished by Islamic terrorists, it was a great shock for the entire world. From that moment the American approach towards looking at Islam suddenly changed and this resulted into the anti-Semitism between Christian and Islam. Today also in America and Europe, the person from Islamic race is seen with suspicion and hatred. In short many incidents, situations become responsible for changing the outlook of the people towards the other community. The paper also throws the light on the long prevlent hatred between Judaism and Christianity. Christians and Muslims have the biased views about Judaism. Being the two major, leading and dominating religions of the world, their influence on the world is no doubt very significant. During the period of Hitler, the Jews were tormented by Hitler and his troop due to the ethnic hatred. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ was such an incident which made the entire Jew community sinner in the eyes of Christians. Still it is there in the psyche of the Christian against Jews. Norman Solomon, a journalist and a freelance writer gives a new insight to Judaism. In his book Judaism: A Very Short Introduction, in real sense he has discussed a lot about myths and facts about Judaism. Judaism and Christianity share some common factors and one of them is its roots in Hebrew Scripture (Old Testaments) The first chapter opens with a question “Who are Jews?” It was the general perception of Christians in medieval period that Jews were the chosen people by God but then they rejected Christ and so they became cursed. It pertains to the mythological story of Adam & Eve, who did not obey God that resulted into their fall from paradise. According to Christians, Jesus was the son of God and he was the messiah in that sense. The people who are not following his path were not human beings but they are like devils and monsters and they were Jews according to Christians. The Jews also were compared with devil like figure with hook noses and horns and they were called blood libel. Again it pertains to the Satan like character in the story of Adam and Eve. In short in the eyes of Christians, Jews were no one but devil or Satan. Many misconceptions were created by Christians about Jews. They were regarded as the people, who drink blood of the Christian child. The author further focuses on the way of accusation, Christians involved in, with the help of their political power. They were confined, they were compelled to wear different dresses, they were excluded from guilds and professions, and they were not allowed to own lands. In short their right to live as a human beings has been snatched away by Christians. Further they were accused of poisoning wells and murdering Christian children to use their blood for Passover. The Jews has been living with this false blatant of being cannibals for years. On such background it is also important to understand the perception of Jews. What Jews think about themselves is also important, because we cannot judge the person, on the basis of his cult, religion or doctrines. The Jews agree that they are the chosen people of God, yet they refuse the divine status of Messiah status given to Christ. The real conflict started with this opinion whether Jesus is Messiah or not. The argument and debate went to such an extent that it instilled the feeling of hatred and suspicion about each other. It may be the difference in opinion but that led to the animosity between Jews and Christens. The second topic of the book is based on the splitting of the original religion for the formation of new religion with modern and different ideologies. Judaism was the original religion and out of it emerged Christianity. It is a general historical phenomenon that the original religion branches off and the new religion is formed with some rebellious or unique ideologies. For example, the most ancient religion of the world Hinduism was split into two different and major religions when the charismatic personalities and revolutionary thoughts appeared and they attracted the followers with the new ideas from the conventional ideologies. They were Buddhism and Jainism. In the perspectives of Lord Buddha and Mahavira, the Orthodox Hindu doctrines were impractical in Hindu ideologies and thus they formed their own religion with new ideologies. People followed them and thus emerged Buddhism and Jainism in India. There was no dividing line between Judaism and Christianity, rather Christianity was not the separate religion formed, naturally because Jesus was not born at that time. It happened after the birth of Jesus and his growing influence on people. The society always consists of two or more streams of thought. Some of them decided to follow Jesus while some of them rejected him as the incarnation of God or Messiah. The people who rejected him were Jews. Their rejection of Jesus also was based on some logical platform which should not be overlooked. According to Jews, Jesus himself was Jew. Judaism is more ancient that Christianity. Jesus himself was the person, who preached only Judaism. He was Jew by birth. If you had asked Jesus or any of his disciples what religion they were, they would have replied Jewish (p.20) According to the author Christianity is one of the sects of Judaism rather being a separate religion. Before reaching to any conclusion hence, it is important to do the proper research on any topic and then only one will be able to develop religious tolerance. Norman Solomon's Judaism: A Very Short Introduction is an intelligent and interesting introduction to Jewish history, Jewish culture and Judaism in general. He is very sensible in his writing and presenting style. Judaism – a Very Short Introduction (VSI) by Norman Solomon is a brief, well-written guide to the underlying principles of Judaism, along with some of the important players in the Jewish history. The topic is theological and religious, hence it may be monotonous and lengthy for the readers sometimes, but his way of presenting the book is very much interesting. To keep the attention and interest of the readers intact he has peppered the book with humour. Solomon starts his book with referring English as a Christian language as it has evolved from Christianity. So it cannot be neutral. In other way, Solomon depicts the high influence of Christianity as English is the language of the world and it has its root in Christianity. In the first few lines he introduces the emergence of Christianity through the conflict with Judaism. Solomon is candid to admit that one can study the religions such as Buddhism or Jainism through English language, as for them English will be a neutral language but not for the study of Judaism, because English itself has an essence of Christianity. Solomon while describing the story of Judaism explains the four dramatic personae on which the Judaism is formed, they are God, Torah, the people of Israel, and the surrounding world. Starting with the Jewish history, the VSI book goes on to explain some of the traditions that are associated with Judaism, including its festivals and the reasons for them. Of particular interest is that around the time of Jesus' birth, there was no distinction between "Jews" and "Christians." Such distinctions developed much later, when the Torah and Bible were written. The author throws light on the identity of Jews. Irrespective of their status as black or white, occidental or oriental, converted or natives, they are the chosen people by God. The author supports his opinion with reference of allusion from Bible ‘The Jews were a ‘special people,’ ‘the chosen people,’ as it says in the Bible, chosen by God to be the vehicle of His revelation.’ Bible agrees this identity of Jews but it further says that God rejected them because they did not accept Jesus. They are not good people according to the Christian just because they do not accept Jesus. Is this the only prerequisite to determine the person’s goodness irrespective of his religion? The Christianity according to Solomon is spreading illogical and irrelevant views against Jews. Is it right to come to conclusion that a certain religion is good because it accepts certain person as its God and if not then that religion or sect is not worthy. This is what Christianity has been doing with Jews for last two thousand years. The Solomon here gives some examples of how the Christians have treated Jews without knowing anything about them. While discussing on the different divisions of Judaism, the author highlights two major divisions, Orthodox and Reforms. Here the author wants to say that the religion should not be rigid but flexible. Then only it can tune itself to the changing situation. Judaism never imposes its belief on people like Christianity or Islam. The people on the contrary have full scope to understand the religion from their perspectives. If it is so then only the religion according to the author can survive in the changing circumstances. That is why the principles, if not the details, of the ancient Jewish book can still be applied to modern life, in a manner similar to how these principles were applied at the time when the Torah was written; it is this interpretative approach that can help to keep the religion fluid and growing, preventing stagnation. Judaism as a Spiritual Discipline Soloman's book about Jewish religion presents Judaism as a deeply spiritual faith; it is described as a religion of the conscious, part of a lifestyle: not something to do once a week and then forget about for the next seven days. This is actually a mockery on the weekly prayers of Muslim and Christianity, where the prayers are generally conducted on Friday and Sunday. If you have deep faith in God, you are not expected to worship for a particular day only. While involved in your day today work also you can be close to God and spirituality. While studying the perception of Judaism about spirituality, I would like to associate it with the religious doctrine of Hinduism, in which prominence has been given to your Karma (Activity) from Bhagwad Gita. The Theory of Karma is the base of Hinduism, in which Lord Krishna appeals to his devotees that they ought to perform their duties assigned to them by God. This is the real worship to God. You don’t have to visit to church or mosque to find God. God is in you. God just wants you to work honestly and with loyalty. While doing your task, always keep God in your mind. If you are a good artist, for example, worship your art and you will find your God in your art. You can experience God in your work. The theory of Judaism is also very close to Hindu’s theory of Karma and self- realization. The author posits that Judasim is a faith that requires one to examine one's own conscience, and interpret what to do, instead of following the doctrine blindly. It's also a faith that is actively trying to adapt itself to the modern world instead of sticking to the orthodox values of past that are difficult to tune to the modern world. One more example of a very false and biased interpretation of Judaism given by Christians is about the destruction of Jerusalem temple by Romans. The incident was really tragic but unfortunately Christians interpreted it as the God’s rejection of the Jews and confirmation of their own views. How can God be partial to his children? If Christians are His children, Jews also are His children, then how can God be partial with His own creations. Then how logical is it to connect two different things together illogically and irrelevantly? Jews feel that it was not the rejection but just a punishment by God as God is our creator, our father, mother, brother, friend everything. God is the ocean of compassion, then how can he reject his creatures? But the false propaganda was thus made by the Christian popes which later on resulted into an intense hatred between these two religions. The Judaism and Christianity are like the branches of same trees. Their roots are same. The Christian popes with loyalty were doing the task of fuelling in the fire in the revulsion openly in their preaching. Father Origen was the proponent of Christianity. His contemporary was Rabbi Yohanan of Tiberias. Both commented on the Song of Songs; both interpreted it as allegory. For Origen, it stands for God, or Christ and his ‘bride’ Church; for Yohanan, it is an allegory of the love between God and his people Israel. According to American Scholar, Reuben Kimelman, There were five major issues which further divided Christians and Jews: 1. Yohanan emphasizes the closeness and love between God and Israel, whereas Origen sets a distance between them. 2. According to Origen the Hebrew scripture was completed or superseded by the New Testament. According to Yohanan scripture is completed by oral Torah, the interpretative tradition of the rabbis 3. To Origen, Christ was a central figure, replacing Abraham, and completing the reverse of Adam’s sin. To Yonahan, Abraham remains in place, and Torah is the ‘antidote’ to sin. 4. To Orign, Jerusalem is the symbol, a ‘heavenly city.’ To Yonahan, the earthly Jerusalem retains in its status as the link between heaven and earth, the place where God’s presence will again be manifest. 5. Origen sees the suffering of Israel as the proof of its repudiation by God. Yohanan accepts the suffering as the loving chastisement and discipline of a forgiving father. What I observed in this comparison was that there are many common and similar things between Judaism and Christianity. The common things are God, Jerusalem, Israel, and song of song. Though there are differences in opinions, the objective is same and that is to worship God. The author also feels sorry for the approach of Church as well as the Jewish historians who were just concerned to demonstrate the sufferings and martyrdoms of Jewish people and exhibited the record of persecutions of Jews and they overshadow the other side of the Jews and their spiritual and intellectual creativity in middle age and modern age. Under the dictatorship of Nazi, Jews were tormented beyond imagination which was really a blatant to humanity. The Western people showed their pity on the situation of the then Jews. The daily record was announced about the execution of number of the dead Jews. Everyone’s sympathy was towards Jews during Second World War. There was some political stunt also as the major objective were the defeat of Nazis and not because the Jews were suffering. The writer says that Jews are not just subject for suffering. They are very resourceful. If their sufferings were exhibited, why their intellectuality and capacity is not recognized and appreciated? The author strongly opines that Jews do not want sympathy and pity from the world but they want recognition to their ability. Each of the festival in Judaism has a spiritual, historical and agricultural meaning. According to Jew Calendar the day starts at dawn and not at midnight like Christian calendar. There is a resemblance in Jew calendar and Hindu calendar where the new day appears with the arrival of dawn itself. Like Jews, Hindu also thinks that midnight is not the auspicious time. When the sun rises and brings new and fresh day that is the new day. The festivals are very spiritual and creative. The people gather together. While describing the pilgrim festival, Philo of Alexandria wrote a vivid eyewitness account of the scene: “Countless multitudes from countless cities come, some over land, others over sea, from east and west and north and south at every feast. They take the temple for their port as general haven (shelter) and safe refuge from the bustle and turmoil of life, and there they seek to find calm weather and, released from the cares whose yoke has been heavy upon them from their earliest years, to enjoy a brief breathing-space in scenes of genial carefulness.” The three pilgrim festivals have in common the theme of joy in God’s presence. People respond to charitable appeal generously. The book just over hundred pages, gives the theory of Judaism in detail. I think the success of the author lies in its shortness and preciseness. Even the person, who does not know anything about Judaism, who is completely unfamiliar to this religion will also get the knowledge about unbiased, and authentic interpretation of Judaism. In a very simple and precise way, the author is trying to throw the light of one of the neglected and criticized communities of the world Judaism, which actually deserves the same respect and honour like other dominating religions of the world. Source: Judaism: A Very Short Introduction + Read More