Passing the Jewish Story to the Next Generation - Research Paper Example

Passing the Jewish Story to the Next Generation Affiliation There is an old saying that teaches that people believe in what they see. Many people use this phrase quite often. But if well thought of, the reverse of this saying it is much stronger in reality than the phrase itself. People see what they believe. One might ask themselves, “What do people believe?” there is only one perfect answer for this question: people believe in what they have learnt. This paper is a rabbi sermon about how the Jews must pass their story to the new generation. What people believe in is over and over again colored by those stories that they have heard or learned. Here is a good example; back in the year 1982, a rabbi who was at then a U.S. Sixth Fleet navy chaplain within an Italian town had his daughter attend one of the catholic preschool within the area for the first day. H hoped that his daughter would learn Italian as well as come to have new friends out of the navy base. After school, he was waiting for his daughter and so began to wonder if at all he had prepared his daughter for a catholic school run by nuns in their black traditional habit. He was wondering how the day might have been for his child when suddenly the school bus appeared. Through the window his daughter looked so happy when they finally reunited she could not wait to tell him how she had, had quite an interesting day and the lovely teachers from sound of music. Definitely, this he did not expect. Why? Because of the stories that had modeled his view of nuns (Resnicoff, 2014). The stories that this rabbi had known had become the way through which e viewed the world of nuns. People’s believes are their foundation as well as framework for their vision. If this little girl had grown up under the influence of anti-Catholic stories, could be she would have encountered nuns with hatred as well as fear but not the excitement and happiness she found in them. It is important that everyone learns that what children learn from stories will determine their way of life in a major way (Resnicoff, 2014). As far as believers are concerned, this is a major part of the faith. Abraham explained the story of how one God created the universe. Through this the idea of the past was planted in the hearts as well s minds of people. This is what people believe in today. A single God it is. This is the reason that yesterday’s happenings have today’s bearing. If there were many gods, then people would be dealing with different gods at different times. This would mean that what happened yesterday with one God would mean nothing today. We have a single rules set and pan because we have one God. The one we learnt from our parents. This is a good reason to explain the reason as to why the Tanakh records both victories and failures unlike other books. This is so that people may learn from both. Different people, cultures as well as faiths have their own stories, which inform their vision as well as assist in shaping their thinking. Christians, for instance believe in resurrection after death. Muslims, live by the image of struggle and war (holy war) between Muslims and non-Muslims. The vision of the Jews is to live the slavery of the past, wandering in the present wilderness as well as heading to the future promised land. Most importantly, while a lot of people talked about the golden age of the past, the story of Judaism placed the best times to be n the coming future. The Christians and the Jews may not agree on Messiah’s identity, but it noteworthy that the Jewish vision is what laid the messianic times believe groundwork for a lot of people within the world (Resnicoff, 2014). The Jews have a great believe in stories. Most significant is the believe of the story of Jews that the Bible commands them four times to tell it to their children regardless of their interest to hear it. Three times within the part Bo in Shmot/exodus, the Jews are taught to pass over the story, linked twine to the question of a child as well as once not; and once within the part Vaetchanan within Deuteronomy/Dvarim, once again as a question response. This command for Jews to tell their story raised questions in ancient Rabbis minds; they did believe that there was no surplus to the bible. They knew that no one extra word or even letter could be there without meaning. The rabbis did command that the story has to be told 4 times since it must be told in 4 different ways due to the fact that there exist 4 different types of children. A single size will not fit the 4. Such a teaching is haggadah’s 4 children section foundation, which is referred to as 4 sons traditionally. The Jews are commanded to pass their story (the Jewish massage) to their children (the next generation) four times. The Jewish story is one which shows that there hope within the future. One of the lessons to be learnt from the stories people tell should be to have hope, that better times are coming. Jews must never belief in the existence of hopeless situations. The Jewish story should drive the vision of the community as well as their primary belief: that it is possible for this world to change for the better as well as the fact that the community can be part of this change. However, the four children lesson needs to be remembered. People must work towards an understanding of every person as well as hearing every question before providing a response. If not so, then one might find him/herself giving answers that are only significant to him/her and not those significant to the children (Resnicoff, 2014). It is important for one to remember that they are part of the community, and that they are learning stories that are passed down to them as well as the lessons from the past. Everyone must fight hard as Jacob wrestled with an angle, even to the point that it hurts or even wounds them to do so, to a point at which relationship with God, with Israel as well as with Torah becomes theirs uniquely. Reference Resnicoff. (2014). Four Stories for Four Children. 5. Read More