Home as the centre of Judaism - Essay Example

Home as the centre of Judaism Judaism bases its religious, social, and ethical laws on the first five books of the Bible known as the Torah (Berkowitz, 2012). In addition to the Torah and its interpretations, Judaism has other texts considered sacred including the Midrash, Talmud, legal, the rabbinic. However, Judaism and Christianity have a difference despite having been founded on the same principles and with the precincts of the actions and happenings of their ancestors. There are splits that have arisen from Judaism over time leading to the existence of four main movements of Judaism. The difference mainly lies in the interpretation of the texts used by the two religions to lead to different religious beliefs and practices. The movements that form within the Judaism include Orthodox, reform, Conservative, and Reconstructionist. Despite the differences religious and sacred text interpretations, Jews are united by the same belief of being the chosen people by as descendants of Abraham in the Holy Bible (Neusner, 1994). They emphasize the practice observant of the religious texts that the act of accepting their presence as a mere show of faith. Their worship places are mainly synagogues where all the religious ceremonies and rituals are conducted with their religious leaders known as Rabbis. There are customs and traditions that the Jews subscribe to as detailed in the first five books of the bible and other texts considered sacred by the Jews. The two movement that will be considered as a show of the various precincts through which the home is a centre of Judaism is the conservative and reformist movements of Judaism. Conservative Jews believe in the core values of its rituals and roles as the practice of what one believes in the daily practices. Reform Judaism believes that the written and oral laws are because of human intervention and the time of its giving as regards the Torah. In both the conservative and reformists, the core value is on the language, Hebrew as the reflection of the beliefs of Judaism and their cultures. It is what holds all Jews together is the language used as a family; hence, forming the first way where a home is a basis for Judaism (Neusner, 1994). Largely, the home has become the centre of Judaism owing to the various roles, rituals, and practices that are practiced and observed at the home by family members. These rituals and practices are diverse as presented in the following parts of this essay. Judaism has been centered at home owing to the rules of dressing by Jews that occur within the family unit. The Halacha forms the basis for the generation of community customs and modesty that determine the dressing code for the Jewish women (Hoffman, 2008). The Halacha gives a number of guidelines for a Jewish woman’s dressing with the sleeves having to be at least below the elbow while the dresses and blouses must have necklines that do not show any cleavage. Skirts won by the women must be high enough to ensure that when seated the knees are not exposed. Skirts are mainly worn by women in all occasions but there are exceptional instances where they are allowed to be in pants. These instances include agricultural activities where the wearing of the dress would lead to inefficiency in the performance of the various duties. At other times, they have to have to wear their skirts. However, the conservationists Jews are the ones who strictly follow the guidelines in the Halacha while the Reform Judaism movement does give the adherent’s freedom to choose which rituals to follow. The conservationist movement is very clear in its statement of the superiority of men over women in the home set up. This is also shown by the segregation of women and men at the synagogue during worship and in leading rituals and other religious practices. This is however different in reformist movement where there is acceptance of the universal equality of men and women in all religious rituals, study and the observance of the rules. The other way Judaism is seen more at home is on specifics of the relation between the family members and the passed down of rights from father to son. The first born son is considered the rightful heir of the rights to lead in offering of sacrifices and spiritual leader as shown by the actions of Isaac and Jacob, sons of Isaac (Berkowitz, 2012). The eldest son is believed to be the one to head the family taking after the father; hence, he heads the home making the home a centre of Judaism further. This belief is evident between both the conservationist and the reform movements of Judaism. The observance of the Shabbat blessings is done religiously by the Conservationists movement but the Reformist movement gives the followers democracy to choose which rituals to undertake. The ritual of Sabbath blessings before and after meals and always recited when enjoying aromas and during pleasant sightings including the rainbow. Friday mark the most elaborate reciting of blessings over candles, children, bread, wine and more (Hoffman, 2008). This is believed to be a means of transforming a person from the physical realm to the spiritual one in Judaic traditions. Lighting of candles marks the start of Sabbath and is synonymous to the beginning of creation story where God said let there be light. This is done at home after which the Jews attend prayers at the synagogue; hence, the home is vital to this Judaic ritual. The Shabbat traditions are observed fully by the Conservationist while the Reformist movement has rejected this stating that is an offense of enlightenment. Further, the home is vital after the visit to the synagogue for prayer, as each Jew has to recite the Shalom Aleikhem to mean Peace unto you. This poem has Kabbalistic origins and bases on a story in the Talmud of two angels, a bad and a good one who accompany every Jew home. The Jew is either cursed or blessed in regards to his honor or dishonor of the Sabbath. The home is also vital in the Judaic religious practices as it defines the relation between the husband and wife in a given household. Verses from the Old Testament in Proverbs 31: 10-31 that give a description of the model wife are recited by the husbands at the end of each week as a means of appreciating their wives for roles played in the course of the week for them and their children. The family also gives the basis for blessing over the children as part of the Shabbat traditions. This is whereby the Jewish parents on each Friday night articulate their affection to the children loudly and acts as a means of reminding the children the love and care from their parents and feels loved for all their lives. The family then observes the Kiddush where the wine or grape juice filled in a cup to the brim, as there is the belief of blessings being full, then sanctified before partaking. There has to be observance of silence between blessing and partaking by all. This is then followed y the family members taking part in washing hands in a religious manner through pouring water three times first on the right hand then the left arm ensuring all the water in the filled up vessel is used. A recitation of the Nitilat Yadayim occurs in the process of drying hands while silence is being observed when washing as it precedes receipt of the blessing of food. A representation of manner in the desert is by two Challah loaves rested on the Sabbath table and the cover is only removed when the time for reciting the blessing is reached. The blessing at this point is referred to as Motzi and aims at praising and thanking God for the provision of bread to the earth where the bread is a representation of food. This rituals are performed at home by the family, hence the point that the home has become the centre of Judaism. These various rituals and roles that have to be followed are only followed to the later by the conservationist movement but the Reservationist movement is slightly different with the observance being the choice of the adherents (Neusner, 1994). Conservationists have very strict adherence to naming, circumcision, and marriage as the rights of passage for all the Jews as a measure of their adherence to the set rules and practices as passed down by their ancestors. The conservationists have a belief that the observance of these rules and regulations that govern Jews from childhood to marriage is mandatory. These are followed according to the Israel religious practices and the commandment of circumcision is followed from the time of Abraham. Circumcision was considered as a means of showing that one is an adherent to the Judaic faith. The Reformist movement belief that religious naming is good for Jews as it aids to identify each other and keep the ancestry of the movement intact. This is synonymous to conservationists as they all accept the fact that naming in the Jews culture is important. However, reformers were of the opinion that circumcision should not be followed through as a means of acceptance to be a Jew. The changes on prayers and avoidance of circumcision were proposed by reformers but rejected by the conservationists and orthodox movements. This adherence to the rights of passage by all Jews has to be implemented in the family perspective as circumcision; naming and marriage affect the family and home (Neusner, 1994). The conservationist and Reformists movements have a difference in the basis of one to be accepted as a Jew in a home where there has been intermarriage. Reformist position on a child born from a marriage where the father or mother is a Jew, the same principles have to be applied for a Jewish mother or father. They declare that a child born of a Jewish father or mother is enough reason to be a Jew. The conservationist movement has the belief that being born by a Jewish parent does not make one Jew. It emphasizes on the strict adherence to rituals and norms as stipulated in the Torah as an addition to having been born by a Jewish parent. As shown by the above mentioned reasons the home is the basis of Judaism. The main reason for this assertion is that the various rituals that have to be observed by the Jews can only be done in a home. The home makes it possible for the observance of the Halacha, the superiority of men over women and respect of husbands occurs within the home, the Shabbat rules and rituals are centered and applicable in a home, the singing of the Kiddush and the observance of circumcision, naming and marriage all have a basis in a home. Without a home, the observance of these religious rituals and practices would not be possible hence; a home is a huge basis in Judaism with both the conservative and reformist movements basing their rituals on a home. The main difference as depicted by observance of their roles, rituals, and regulations as stipulated by the Torah is on rationality (Hoffman, 2008). Reformist Judaism Movement believe in the ability of human beings to make rational decisions and choose the best practices to follow that will increase their relation to God. On the other hand, Conservative Judaism Movement belief in the following of all the set rule and rituals as presented in the Torah whilst ensuring all of them are followed to the later (Berkowitz, 2012). There are rituals that are not observed in full by reformers including the Shabbat, Kiddush, kippah, kashrut, being against circumcision, and equality between male and female differing with the conservatives (Hoffman, 2008). Despite this belief, they differ from the Orthodox movement where they belief in the need to make alterations on the laws to adapt change and aspect of modern culture but maintain the rules set within Judaic principles. The main reasons for the Jews to hide were due to the high instances of discrimination and anti-Semitism well demonstrated by the Holocaust where 6 million Jews lost their lives. It also led to the more than 1.5 million children in Europe having to be hidden to save their lives. Moral concern and good will were the reasons for some non-Jews to take part in hiding the children whilst risking their lives in the process. Therefore, the main reasons for the Jews hiding were to be able to save their lives and to avoid prosecution. References Berkowitz, B. A. (2012). Defining Jewish difference: from antiquity to the present. New York, Cambridge University Press. (Schorsch, 2013) Hoffman, L. A., & ARNOW, D. (2008). My people's Passover Haggadah: traditional texts, modern commentaries. Woodstock, Vt, Jewish Lights Pub. Neusner, J. (1994). World religions in America: an introduction. Louisville, Ky, Westminster/John Knox Press. Schorsch, I., The Core Values of Conservative Judaism(February 8, 1995) Retrieved from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/conservative_values.html on 3rd December 2013. Read More