History and Present Practice of Judaism - Research Paper Example

Judaism: History and Present Practice s Religion is a crucial component in human life. In 2013, a poll was conducted and reported that 60 percent of the global population was religious, 35 percent were non-religious that included 15 percent who were atheists. Throughout human history, religion has played a crucial role in the moral development of human beings. In this perspective, religion is considered as a collection of cultural systems and collection of beliefs, as well as global views which relate humanity with specific focus to the order of existence (Kant, 2001). Proceeding further, religion is also concerned with the cause, nature, together with what is considered as the creation of the superhuman being. Even though evidence cannot be provided for the existence of the one or may Supreme beings, there is evidence for the power of religion. There are numerous religions across the globe. However, the most distinct one are Islam, Judaism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Hinduism. These religions have symbols, narratives, and sacred histories whose purpose is to explain the meaning and origin of life. In the same way, from their beliefs about human nature, the people may derive ethics, morality, and religious laws. The religions have the clergy, organised behaviours, Holy Scriptures, holy places, and a definition of what makes up adherence. The practice of religion may also include things like commemoration, feats, festivals, prayer, sacrifices, sermons, and rituals. Besides that, they also have myths, funerary services, and other aspects of the human culture. Drawing on a variety of sources, the paper will address Judaism history and the present practice. Origin and history It has been evidenced that Judaism is among the oldest religions on earth that exist until today. Its history, traditions, and beliefs are recorded in the Hebrew Bible. Judaism is a religious tradition that dates back to about 4,000 years ago, and is rooted in the eastern region of Canaan. Canaan is the biblical name of the region between River Jordan and the Mediterranean. This is the equivalent of the current Palestinian and Israel territories (Shahak, 1994). This was during the Bronze Age in the Middle East. Even though the Jewish calendar dates back to more than five thousand years ago, various scholars argue that the commencement of the Judaism faith is linked to the Israelites and their forefather Abraham. This is estimated to be around 164 B.C.E. The beliefs and practices of the classical Judaism did not emerge until the 1st century (Schachter-Shalomi & Segel, 2013). In this regard, Judaism traces its origin to the covenant that was made between Abraham together with his lineage. In the covenant, God made them sacred people and He was to give them a holy land. Besides Abraham, the other major figures of the Judaism traditions are Prophet Moses, Isaac, and Jacob (Heribert, 1998). Abraham is venerated as the first Hebrew, thus the father of the Jewish people. Due to his faith in God, he was promised that his son would inherit Canaan. However, later the descendants of Jacob, Isaac’s son were enslaved in Egypt and God commanded Moses to lead from Egypt to Canaan under the Exodus. This shows the origin of the first five books that are commonly known as the Torah. These five books together with Ketuvim and Neviim are known as the Torah Shebikhtav (Shahak, 1994). The Jews later became very powerful under great kings, such as David and Solomon. Worshipping was mainly done in the Temple since it was believed that it contained the Ark of Covenant. By 920 B.C.E, the kingdom collapsed, resulting in the separation of the Jewish people (Schachter-Shalomi & Segel, 2013). In the years that followed, the Jews were oppressed. The Temples were destroyed (70-200 C.E). As a consequence, various crucial manuscripts were destroyed. The Romans destroyed all the synagogues. Judaism posits that the details as well as interpretation of the law that are known as oral law or Oral Torah were at threat. It is believed that the rules are based on what Moses was told on Mount Sinai. Due to the increased persecutions of the Jews, it implied that the details were bound to be forgotten since they were unwritten rules. A codification of the Torah or the Five Books of Moses culminated into a combination of code and commentary that is commonly known as the Talmund. As a consequence, these oral laws were recorded by Rabbi Judah Hanasi in Mishnah (Jonathan, Neusner, & Sonn, 2005). The Talmund was redacted in the subsequent three centuries with the older one being compiled in the 4th century and the superior version being completed in the 5th century. Between the 10th and 16th century, they were swept by the Crusade with Jews being banned from entering Jerusalem. Most of them emigrated into other countries in Europe and America. They continued to be discriminated, especially in central Europe. The most notable incident is the Holocaust where more than 6 million Jews were killed. By the 19th century, the Zionist movement resulted in the creation of the state of Israel in 1948; permanent homeland for the Jews. Most of the remaining Jews settled there. However, a new movement was formed known as the Reform Judaism. It introduced sweeping changes in worship and customs and grew rapidly and continues to flourish both in the U.S and Europe (Schachter-Shalomi & Segel, 2013) Present practices The Jews center their beliefs on the conviction that there is only one God. In the early years, this was a minor view during the time. However, monotheism is now prevailing in the western world. This is attributed to the impact of Judaism on the powerful religions, such as Islam and Christianity. Currently, about more than 14 million individuals identify themselves as Jews (Schachter-Shalomi & Segel, 2013).To date, the Jewish religion is rich in traditions, rituals, celebration of the past, expression of hope for the future, and holidays. Todays Judaism is based mainly on the Talmud and 613 commandments derived from the Torah. However, currently, there are some Jewish movements that do not agree with the legitimate identity of some Jewish tradition adherents. This is because most of them do not affiliate with any particular branch (Paul & Mandaville, 2010). Judaism is made of four major branches with everyone of them having a different approach to life: Reform, Orthodox, Conservative, and Reconstructionist (Paul & Mandaville, 2010). The Jews refer to the Bible as the Tanakh. This is an acronym for the texts of the Writings, Prophets, and Torah. The divine mitzvoth or commandments and rabbinic laws are core to Judaism. The observance of the halakhah demonstrates gratitude to God. As a result, it offers a sense of Jewish identity in addition to bringing the sacred into the daily life (Jonathan, Neusner, & Sonn, 2005). It is equally important to note that Judaism recognizes various significant occasions in an individuals life. Most of the times the person is the focus of the festivities, but the whole community is supposed to participate in the commemoration (Rayner, 1998). Even though certain practices that were initiated in the religion numerous years back are still being held, globalization has resulted to a modern shift in some of the practices. The modern-day Judaism branches differ in the manner in which they interpret and apply these texts. For example, the Soncino Talmud among the Orthodox denotes the Gentiles as Cuthean. The Talmud portrays extreme hatred towards the non-Jews, especially the Gentiles. On the other hand, Shahak (1994) notes that reform and reconstructionists view the Jewish attitudes in the direction of the Gentiles is a major hindrance to the development of the secular and enlightened Jewish civilization because Judaism in its classic as well as Talmudic form is poisonous to the hearts and minds. In this regard, the Orthodox Judaism hold that the Jewish law and Torah law are divine in origin, unchangeable, and eternal, and are supposed to be followed strictly. Kroloff (2005) asserts that the Reform and Conservative Jews are more liberal, although the Conservatives encourage a more traditional interpretation of Judaism as compared to the Reformists. Proceeding further, the reconstructionists who are the majority in today’s world are most liberal of all the branches with regard to the interpretation of Judaism. They share the view that Jewish law needs to be seen as set of guideline and not a set of restrictions whose adherence is necessitated by all Jews (Paul & Mandaville, 2010). Jonathan, Neusner, and Sonn (2005) share the evidence that the Synagogue has replaced all the Torah readings, teaching, and prayer that often accompanied ritual sacrifice. More to the point, among the Reform and Reconstructive Judaism the places of worship are diverse and continue to evolve ranging from homes to Synagogues. The religious practices in the home are less bound by either a central authority or Jewish law standards. Moreover, with regard to modernism, a Jewish philosopher Maimonides came up with a list of 613 commandments that he found in the Jewish Bible. However, the contemporary Jews rarely follow the rules. The progressive movement of the Reform Judaism believes in the continuous integration of the Jewish tradition together with the non-Jewish insights (Rayner, 1998). Besides that, the commitment to congregational to personal autonomy implies that the standards of practice and belief vary significantly from congregation to congregation, region to region, and even from person to person. One such variation is the belief that a Jew is the 21st century believes that tradition is supposed to be transmitted within the framework of modern morality and thinking. The Jewish branches that advocate for modernism and universalism has enabled the Jewish people to introduce innovation while preserving tradition, bring faith to the sacred texts devoid of sacrificing critical scholarship among others (Kaplan, 2012). Unlike classical Judaism, the current practices in the Jewish religion put more emphasis on practice over belief. The Jewish worship is currently centered in the synagogues after its complete replacement of the Second Temple subsequent to its destruction in the 70 C.E (Jonathan, Neusner, & Sonn, 2005). According to Schachter-Shalomi and Segel (2013), in spite of the progressive separation of views among the four branches, the Jews remain united on the basis of their common connection to a set of sacred narratives that illustrate their link with God as the holy people. Rabbis, who are Jewish religious leaders oversee the various ceremonies and rituals that are important to the religious practice. References Heribert, Busse. (1998). Islam, Judaism, and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations. New York: Markus Wiener Publishers. pp. 63–112. Jonathan, B., Neusner, ‎G., & Sonn, ‎D. (2005). Judaism and Islam in Practise. New York: Routledge. Kant, Immanuel (2001). Religion and Rational Theology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Kaplan, M. (2012). The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion New York: New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press. Kroloff, C. (2005). Reform Judaism: a Jewish way of life. Jersey City: Ktav. Paul, James & Mandaville, Peter. (2010). Globalization and culture: Globalizing religions, London: Sage Publications. Rayner. J. (1998). Jewish religious law: A progressive perspective, Progressive Judaism today, New York: Berghahn Books. Schachter-Shalomi, Z., & Segel, ‎F. (2013). Jewish with Feeling: A Guide to Meaningful Jewish Practice. New York: Ashgate Publishing. Shahak, I. (1994). Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years. London: Pluto Press. Read More