Jewish Understanding of the Nature of Ultimate Reality - Essay Example

Jewish Understanding of the Nature of Ultimate Reality and Its Relation to the Mankind To begin with, one should say that the Jewish religion relates to the few national religions of the ancient world which remained only with minor changes up to present time. In general, in history of religions the Judaism played extremely big role as it was an essential part of Christianity and Islam (two largest religions of modern world). This religion is called sometimes Moisey’s religion (by the name of legendary legislator of Jews). First and foremost one should disclose the peculiarities of “Psalm 23” that takes the 23rd position in the Book of psalms (in Septuagint the 22nd position). In addition to this, it is prayer about the intimacy with the Lord of everyone who calls his name. It necessary to believe that, Supreme Being accompanies the person everywhere, even if the person goes through the Death Valley. In this psalm David describes events of his life: since when he used to tend cattle in the desert and before the ascension to the Kingdom of God. Furthermore, at the beginning he uses an image of the shepherd and at the end the image of David’s anointing to reign: “…You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows” (David). This psalm is sung during the third Saturday meal (on Saturday afternoon) and in prayer for the dead; for Sephardim and Hasidim it is also an evening prayer of Saturday. It would be unfair not to mention about the following quotation: “…The Earth will teach You…” (Job 12:8). Here it become clear that The Lord is a creator of everything existing, the sky, water and ground, all tend to tell about the God’s power and adoration. Only this gives people an opportunity to be closer to him and at the same time it is incomprehensibly majestic. Especially greater is the creator of the Universe. One should note here that the words “Where Were You When I Laid the Earth’s Foundation?” (Job 38:4), carry important historical and religious sense. Addressing the Job, the Lord offers him a long list of questions. He does it not to injure Job’s pride but to make him think over more deeply about that what is well known to him: about God who laid the Earth’s Foundation and the secret that is present in it. Moreover, The Lord showed the Job ten peculiarities of the natural world arrangement as for instance, dead secret or nine types of animals that illustrate the secret of creating life. The last verse gives an opportunity to see or to understand the atmosphere of judgement proceedings between the Lord and the Job, and this is actually what Job tried to achieve. After all, the purpose of this conversation, however, is not to establish somebody’s fault or innocence, but the statement of truth about life as the God’s creation. Why do people give up, and others continue to fight despite everything? The best way of looking at this question is consider the life and work of one of the famous neurologist Viktor Emil Frankl who is also known as the person that survived in Auschwitz (this camp is closely related with Jews as there were a lot of them there). Furthermore, he made certain discoveries and became the person who founded logo-therapy. This person had to endure the horror of concentration camps. Being the ordinary prisoner, Frankl described in his writing the painful camp reality which had a reflection on people’s state of mind. It is undeniable that it was a cruel fight for survival, even between prisoners; a grim struggle for the slice of bread and self-preservation. Most of prisoners lost courage; fell physically and morally, however there was a minority which did not lose human dignity. They were always able to find the kind words and the last piece of bread for their companions in misfortune. Thanks to their stubbornness, such people were able to protect their souls from influence of the terrible environment. In the moral relation, they unlike the majority degrading, on contrary, progressed and underwent the evolution. Nevertheless, Viktor Frankl’s works give the answer to a question what served them as an integral support that helped not only to preserve their existence, but also to rise up in the moral development greatly. The author convincingly proves that possibilities of human personality are not limited and everything depends on them, and it is worth to understand what waits life for from each person (Krashko). It is clear from these observations that the Jews were the first who believed in one god. The monotheism was based on the idea that the Lord created the human relying on his own image, and he always helps people in everything and never brings harm. These principles changed consciousness of mankind, led to greatest philosophical enlightens. The key feature of Judaism is recognition of their nation as the chosen by the Creator and the residents of Israel carry out special mission, helping other nations to become closer to god. In Judaic doctrine the world of the spiritual dominates over the material beginning; the soul is considered to be immortal and capable to live out of a body, but it is unacceptable to neglect the material world. One should also note that the “Psalm 23”, and quotes “The Earth will Teach You” and “Where Were You When I Laid the Earth’s Foundation?” disclose all the aspects of human nature and give necessary answers to many vital questions (here it is also expressed the Lord’s power and dignity). As for the Viktor Frankl’s “Surviving Auschwitz”, it contradicts the previously mentioned quotes as he states that people have the power to influence their lives and only they set the limitations for them even if they do not notice that. To draw the conclusion, one should admit that Jews consider their lives and the life of the mankind as a dialog with God. The person itself is an invaluable as God’s creation, and their main goal is self-development and improvement. Their doctrine states on the equality of all people before God, however, it is just a religious point of view. From the scientific aspects V. Frankl tried to prove that everything is up to people and only they can define their way in life. He made his observations while staying in Auschwitz and came to the conclusion that stubborn an emotionally strong people can gain results and survive, but first of all, they need to believe in themselves. References Krashko, Genrich. “Viktor Frankl: The Prophet of Meaning”. Available at: http://www.mit.edu/people/gkrasko/Frankl.html [Accessed: 11 October. 2015] Read More