Importance Of Expressive Communication In The Jewish Culture

The history of Jews in host cities often depict a story of success or of failure when it comes to relations between the Jews and the Christians in Europe. Historian Jonathan Elukin, author of Living Together, Living Apart, presents the integration as a success process with rare, and special cases, of failure. On the other side of the spectrum is historian Raymond P. Scheindlin. Scheindlin’s novel, A Short History of the Jewish People, presents many cases of integration between the Christians and Jews that led to massacres and brutal endings for the Jewish community. There are many monumental events that take place during the long span of time that oversees European Jewish history, and both historians study and evaluate the events, however, they do so through different lenses.

Historically, there is no such thing as Orthodoxy (Kress, 2014). This term is used primarily in North America. The specific term “Orthodox Judaism” has a recent origin and is used specifically to differentiate the followers of more traditionally practicing Jews from the more Liberal Jewish movements (Kress, 2014). The so-called ultra-Orthodox may be the most recognizable Jews due to their distinctive garb (Wertheimer, 2014). Many of the people from this denomination live in densely populated enclaves, speaking Yiddish among themselves, and consciously reject much of the Western culture. They arrange their family lives, daily routines, finances, and politics in a manner entirely different from other Jewish denominations (Wertheimer, 2014). The largest following of the ultra-Orthodox consist of Hasidism. Orthodox Judaism believes that both the Written and Oral Torah are of divine origin, thereby representing the

Judaism is more than a religion, its a way of life. Judaism 's entire body of beliefs and teachings which form the foundations of the religion, are outlined in the Torah. Within the Torah, Jewish people find the many different texts and rules that prescribe to them on how to live properly as the chosen people of God. The tradition of Judaism has been alive for thousands of years, its origins tracing back to the Patriarchs Abraham, Jacob and Isaac. Subsequently, from this comes Judaism 's central beliefs: The belief in one God, the belief in moral law and the belief and trust in the covenant prescribed to Moses in Exodus 2.0. The Orthodox Judaism strand incorporates the Mitzvot quite literally and tries to take it on word for word. On the other hand Reform Judaism and Conservatio interpret it in different ways. These Sacred Texts form the Jewish religion and fundamentally make up the beliefs that the Jewish

For my ethnographic fieldwork, I decided to do my research on the Jewish culture. I interviewed a friend of mine at her house, which is the field site I decided to work in. To protect her identity I changed her name to Rebecca. As soon as I got to her house I notice there was a small piece of metal on the side of her doorpost with hebrew text written on it. I enter the house and she greeted me and took me to her living room.In her living room I noticed she had a tray of bite size cookies for us and a Snapple drink. The cookies were sweet and they did not have strong odor. My friend wore black slacks a white blouse and a star necklace around her neck. After a while, her brother and father came in and I noticed they had a little cap on the top of their heads. I asked her questions about her religion and culture.

What is Judaism? Who are Jews? Judaism is considered one of the oldest and most popular monotheistic religions today. Judaism’s followers are called Jews and they have been through many tough challenges and trials but are still able to proudly identify themselves as Jews. Jewish beliefs, customs, history, holidays, symbols, and the holocaust are just a few of the things that make Jews who they are.

The National Council of Jewish Women has a wide history from the 1890s all the way through 2010. In 1893, Hannah G. Solomon of Chicago was asked to organize the participation of Jewish women in the Chicago World’s Fair. Hannah and her recruits discovered that they would pouring coffee and doing other hostess duties, they decided to walk out and take matters into their own hands. At the end of the World Fair, Hannah and the accompanying delegate body of women founded the National Council of Jewish Women, changing the roles of Jewish Women and the nature of volunteerism.

Throughout the history of the world, the Jewish people have been persecuted and oppressed because of their religious beliefs and faith. Many groups of people have made Jews their scapegoat. Jews have suffered from years of intolerance because people have not understood what the religion really means. They do not understand where and why the religion began, nor the customs of it's people. For one to understand the great hardships, triumphs, and history of the Jewish people one must open-mindedly peruse a greater knowledge of the Jewish people and faith.

They brought across the seas their religion and traditions. [1]. This means establishing and maintaining a comfortable distance from the synagogue but participating in some of its events and services. Only 6% of the Russian-speaking Jewish population considers religion “very important,” and another 35% “somewhat important” yet many, including very secular people. They helped established many synagogues in the East Coast spreading across the country. They helped many other people around them have an interest or in a way a conversion to Judaism due to the way the believed in and the way the truly were very holy about it, [2]. “For many others, the strict religious practices of Orthodox Judaism required that they live near an existing Jewish community. Around the turn of the century, nearly one-half of the Jewish population of the United States lived in New York City. There, they would create a world unlike any other in the annals of American immigration”. Also they received a negative side as well from Christians and they were upset thinking they were persuading the people into something bad for not believing the same things they do.

When it comes to Jews style of conversation, they are likely to speak at faster rates than non-Jews. Moreover, Jews tend to change topics in conversations brusquely and will keep trying to bring specific subjects

When preparing to effectively witness to a Jewish person, it is important to remember that one will be witnessing to an individual who more than likely practices their own folk Judaism. Similar to speaking to a Christian, there is no such thing as a “typical” Jew. Each person is unique and special, shaped by heredity, experiences, and by choices made. The Jewish people have not been abandoned by Yahweh in any way, they always have been and will continue to be greatly loved by Him. When witnessing to Jewish people, the most common issues to overcome will be the Trinity (which most Christians have a problem explaining), the Virgin Birth, the Incarnation, the Resurrection, and the problem of evil.

Human nature is an often debated topic. Some believe the natural state of humans to be good; some believe it evil. Catholic doctrine teaches original sin: the idea that all people are born bearing the primeval sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden. Jewish doctrine teaches differently: all humans are born without sin just as was created without sin. The second is certainly more appealing because it is far less damning of humankind. The Catholic belief teaches that humankind is born evil and is evil by nature and Jewish belief is that humans are what they make of themselves. Both traditions have similar origins and draw on much of the same scripture for their beliefs, though these traditions have a vastly opposing view on this fundamental point.

I learned a lot of facts about Judaism that I had previously been ignorant to. I had no idea that we (Christians & Jews) maintained the same bible (The Old Testament) but that we interpreted certain events differently, such as Adam and Eve. “In Judaism, each and every human being is free to choose good or evil because each person stands before God in the same relationship that Adam and Eve did” (Esposito 77). I was unaware that Judaism did not believe in “original sin.” I had no knowledge of the fact that Jews did not believe that Christ was resurrected from the dead. I found it interesting how Jews have split into separate groups – Reform Jews, who believe that Judaism is a cultural inheritance and that neither the laws nor beliefs are

Unlike some cultures, the Jewish are very open to others. Their general attitude is that they are above no one. The Jewish culture believes it is very important to be open, good hearted, and considerate to those around ("Culture and Customs"). The Jewish also have many different greetings they use in their everyday lives. The most common

They can do so privately without having to attend a public service. Most observant Jewish women usually attend the synagogue on Sabbaths and festival. Yet, their attendance is not a religious requirement. Therefore they may be regarded and less privileged then the males. Written in the Jewish scripts, it is understood that the men and women are not allowed to be together during prayer. In Orthodox Judaism, the men and women are usually in separate sections of the synagogue, and is often separated by a curtain, or in some cases even a wall. To the Jewish men, this is not a sexist act. It is solely done, so that the men would not be distracted by the women's beauty. For some this may seem chauvinistic, and unfair. But, as Judaism evolved, other segregations were formed. Within many of these new forms of Judaism, the Conservative and Reform Judaism was created. Both these forms of Judaism see women's role as being very different then the Orthodox view. However, the basic gender differentiation of traditional laws has created serious tensions in many sections of the Orthodox community.

Two of the most prevalent forms of communication styles are direct and indirect communication; these two communication styles impact how members of a culture interact with each other (Morreale & Pearson, 2008). According to Craddock (2002), Kierkegaard, regarded direct communication, “as the mode for transferring information and considered it totally appropriate to the fields of history, science, and related disciplines” (p. 70). Direct communication can be defined as, “speech that specifically states and directs an action. When someone hears direct speech, they know immediately what needs to be done. There is no question about who is in charge, and usually no need for discussion” (Gaddis, 2006, p. 11). On the other hand, Kiergaard believed that, “the indirect was the mode for eliciting capability and action from within the listener, a transaction that did not occur by giving the hearer some information” (Craddock, 2002, p. 70). Unlike direct communication, “a indirect style of speech is not typically authoritative, rather it encourages input from the listener” (Gaddis, 2006, p. 11). The direct and indirect communication styles are often used in different fields, disciplines, and industries ranging from education, workplace, literature, and entertainment, to church services (Morreale & Pearson, 2008). For example, the population relies on the news media as the main source of information and the basis on which they form their opinions and voting decisions” (Fog, 1999, p.