A Study on Shabbat Essay

Having the privilege to serve in the military has allowed this writer the opportunity to be exposed to the pluralistic society in a way which has exposed him to the beauty of the diversity enjoyed in American culture. One aspect of said diversity is the interaction which has taken place amongst the Christian and various world religions who also wear the same uniform in defense of America. It was the pleasure of the writer to attend a local synagogue in which his Jewish brothers and sisters welcomed him with open arms. The local congregation of Jewish believers went out of their way in order to ensure their newest visitor understood the flow of service and the significance of the ritual which took place on the first Shabbat or Sabbath of the month. The following essay will serve to detail the worship experience as well as how it and other beliefs of Judaism compare/contrast with the Christian faith.

The most important celebration that takes place on the Friday of the Sabbath is the Shabbat dinner. This takes place at home with family and friends. The Shabbat table is laid with two loaves, known as "hallot" which, like the candles, represent the dual Shabbat commandments to keep and remember Sabbath, and cups, over which Kiddush is recited. The father blesses the children in order of age, before Kiddush is recited over the wine, which "gladdens the heart" (Psalm 104:15).

Originally published in 1951, The Sabbath is a book driven by the passion and eloquence of its author – rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel. The poetic style of Heschel’s writing depicts Jewish spirituality in a way like no other, as each word captivates the reader, projecting a powerful message that continues to resonate with the mind, even long after the book has been read. The book sets out its thesis in the prologue “Architecture of Time”, which projects the idea that Judaism is a religion of time, more specifically, “the sanctification of time” . The structure of The Sabbath compliments Heschel’s thesis as it is constructed in three parts, each comprised of two or more mini chapters. Each chapter has a unique epithet, usually in the form of an

Finally, Jews and Christians interacted differently in their society. First, eating habits differed in both religions. Jews participate in kashrut, a diet that restricts eating any animal without cloven hooves or scales. Christians, however, don’t have any specific dietary laws to follow. Another difference is the significance of Passover, a 7-8 day Jewish holiday. During Passover, Jews celebrate the exodus out of Egypt by eating special meals, performing rituals, and praying. Christians have changed the Passover meal to a celebration of the Last Supper, or Jesus’ last meal before his crucifixion. Finally, a similarity in the Jewish and Christian society is the

Judaism originated close to four thousand years ago in the region of Canaan. It’s heritage traces back to God giving his commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Judaism is based off of the Torah-the Jewish holy book. The Star of David, also known as Shield of David, represents Judaism. In Judaism, women are separate but equal; they believe that women are equal to men, as it states in the Torah, but women aren’t allowed to do the same jobs as men. As for the demographics of Judaism, 13.3 million people in the world are Jewish and the majority of them live in Diaspora. Yom Kippur is the most sacred day of Judaism; in this holiday, Jews fast, pray and repent for 25 hours. Along with Yom Kippur; Chanukkah and the start of Passover are also important in the Jewish holidays. Judaism is similar to Christianity and Islam as they only believe in one God, and Jesus’ crucifixion. Judaism and Islam are strictly monotheistic. Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism believes that God has divine revelation and forgiveness. They call their God Yahwen.

Since the beginning of the Judaism, the Jewish people have been subject to hardships and discrimination. They have not been allowed to have a stabile place of worship and have also faced persecution and atrocities that most of us can not even imagine. Three events that have had a big impact on the Jewish faith were the building and destruction of the First Great Temple, the Second Great Temple and the events of the Holocaust. In this paper, I will discuss these three events and also explain and give examples as to why I feel that the Jewish people have always been discriminated against and not allowed the freedom of worship.

What made this assignment difficult for me is that I do not know any Jewish people. I was not aware there was a Jewish synagogue found in Beaumont, Texas, twenty miles from my home. Additionally, I was not aware that Houston had a museum dedicated to the Holocaust either. Furthermore, I am ashamed to admit I was not aware that Jewish

Judaism is different from Islam and Christianity in surprisingly different ways considering that this was the starting religion and all other religions branched off from here. Jews believe that the Torah is the most important part of the holy book, which is called Tenakh and is written in Hebrew. The holy book has three distinct parts called Neviim, Ketuvim, and torah. They believe that about 3,000 years ago, God gave the torah to Moses, Judaism’s most important prophet. Judaism’s rituals involve breaking of Shabbat bread, and sharing wine. They worship on Friday evening and Saturday morning. They come together at a Holy building called a synagogue to pray. Jews are orthodox, conservative and reformed.

“According to Boas, during the exposure of the fallacy of Nazi racial ideology he stated that, “every person is supposed to have a definite, unalterable character according to his racial descent and his political and social status” (1938:226 as cited in Scupin, 2012, pg. 157). This shaping who we are today, a world filled with difference as well as similarities as to our culture, our diversity; and our religious practices to which has changed over the years from generation to generation. Just like when speaking of the Jewish faith many people see them as being different, for their practices and beliefs are unusual in nature than how others see religion. For example, in the Catholic’s or Orthodox Christians celebrate the birth of Christ; and worship our beloved God on the 25th day in December or Christmas. Whereas, in the Jewish faith they celebrate Hanukkah starting on the 24th day of December and carrying through to the 1st of January; this is known as celebration of lights. In the more western Christian traditions, Christmas is carried out from December 25th until the 6th of January; and on the 6th day is celebrated as we know it to be as The Three Kings. Though, Jews and Catholic have similarities in their traditional celebrations as to honoring the saints, their differences are somewhat usual than most religion that being that on Friday night it is their Day of Silence and family togetherness, where in the Catholic tradition Sunday is a day for worship, family; and complete rest. However, in order to know the differences between these ethnicities, we first need to eliminate Judaism from being considered as a religion in order to understand their culture, especially, when

Judaism is the belief in one God. Judaism is derived from the Torah, the first five books of the bible. The founders of this religion is Abraham and Moses. The God that they worship is Yahweh. This God chose the people of Israel and requires worship, and rituals and believes that if this is done a Messiah will come. The role of God and the Jewish community in each person’s life they have to go through cycles of events that and with traditional rituals. For example after the first Sabbath after the birth of a child, the father is called forward to recite the blessings for the mother

Judaism is practiced by almost half of the country and is one of the oldest and biggest monistic religions. The laws they follow come from the Torah which comes straight from the Hebrew bible. This paper will consist of Jewish traditions regarding food preferences and avoidances, death/dying, communication, and grieving.

Throughout the history of Judaism, Jewish people have faced ongoing persecution and discrimination. Despite these conflicts, the faith remains alive, strong, and continuously growing. Like many religions faced with adversity, Judaism has had to assimilate its faith to survive in an ever-changing world. One significant moment of change in the Jewish history, the fall of the Second Temple, had the opportunity to destroy Judaism, but the Jewish people bonded together and reformulated their religion in order to save their faith. The falling of the Second Temple marks a distinct change in the Jewish faith through the modification of ritual practices to accommodate their new mobile lifestyle. This change would forever impact the Jewish

The purpose of this research paper will be to examine how Judaism rituals have helped the religion remained amongst the most prominent in the world. The use of tradition and rituals has been at the very core of its existence. Birth, adolescent, marriage and death rituals will be used to highlight how the Judaism way of life is not dependent on the written word but rather the actions of those who follow this historic Hebrew religion. The paper will begin with a brief outline of Judaism and its relationship with God and then continue with how the written word of the Torah has laid the basis for the many traditions still practiced in Judaism.

Over thousands of years, the religion of Judaism has evolved. With years of suffering, persecution, and dispersion the Jews’ religion stays constant. When researching the religion, the history is extremely strong, and the doctrine of the religion dates back thousands of years. With such a vast history, one might want to examine the change into modern society.

Judaism is the complex expression of a religious community, a way of life as well as a set of basic beliefs and values, which is separated in patterns of action, social order, and culture as well as in religious statements and concepts. The ideal is to remember God in everything one does, through prayer and keeping the commandments. There are many spiritual practices that the Jewish people follow as a reminder of their faith and as a way to engage all the senses in awareness of God. Some of these scared practices include: circumcision, Sabbath, eating kosher foods, and Bar Mitzvah. Of all of the commandments in Judaism, the brit milah, is probably the one most universally observed. It is commonly referred to as a bris. Even the most seculars of Jews, who observe no other part of Judaism, almost always observe these laws. Boys are ritually circumcised when they are eight days old, to honor the seal of God's commandment to Abraham. A person who is uncircumcised suffers the penalty of kareit, spiritual elimination. Sabbath is the most important ritual observance in Judaism. It is primarily a day of rest and spiritual enrichment. The Jewish Sabbath runs from sunset Friday night to sunset Saturday night. Observant Jewish families begin the Sabbath eve with a special Friday night dinner. The woman of the house lights candles to bring in