Jewish Culture Vs Modern American Culture Essay

At some point in our lives, we all come to realize that death is a part of life. Cultural diversity provides a wide variety of lifestyles and traditions for each of the unique groups of people in our world. Within these different cultures, the rituals associated with death and burial can also be uniquely diverse. Many consider ritualistic traditions that differ from their own to be somewhat strange and often perceive them as unnatural. A prime example would be the burial rituals of the Native American people.

“When I was a little girl my family moved to Tallahassee, Florida. We were the only Jewish family in the neighborhood. So as most kids do when they move to a new neighborhood, they tend to try and make new friends. I remember going over to one of my new friend’s house and her mother felt my scalp for horns” Julianne Jacques MCC-Penn Valley Counselor. Jewish Americans learn from a young age about the importance of knowing their history. Knowing the history is for the sake of the future of their past. Jewish Americans represent a group of people rather than a race or ethnicity, with strong family values and beliefs. They are simply claiming five thousand years of their history.

Funeral customs in Japan vary widely from region to region, but the majority of them are held as Buddhist funerals. At the time of death the body will be washed, and the orifices stuffed with cotton or gauze. Following the cleaning, the body is dressed in a suit or kimono depending on the gender of the deceased. Makeup is applied, and then the body is taken to where the service will be held. Once all of the arrangements have been made the body is put on dry ice in the casket. After family and close friends have attended the wake, the funeral service is held. Following the service the body and the family are transported to the crematorium where they wait for their loved one to be cremated so they may retrieve their bones and ashes. Due to the high population and small land area in Japan they are all cremated and share a family gravesite. Once the ashes have been collected they are taken to the family gravesite where the family says their last goodbyes and the urn is placed into the hollow space inside the gravestone. The family will hold services on certain days and years over time following the death of their loved one. (Billy Hammond

The two cultures that I decided to compare and contrast is the Mexican culture and ancient Egyptians. Mexicans have embraced death as a part of life. The Mayan and Aztecs practiced human sacrifices which gave and example of acceptance of death. In Mexico when a loved one passed on to a better life the viewing traditional takes place at the family’s home. A catholic priest comes to the family’s home and leads a mass in honor of the recently departed. The coffin in placed on a table along with candles on the side. After the funeral the family members get together and pray for nine days to guide the deceased into haven and ask forgiveness for their sins.On the other hand Egyptians were buried in pyramids directly in the ground. Often bodies were

Death rituals, known as funerals, which have been a ritual that has dated back to 60,000 BC. A Catholic funeral is conducted in three different sections, Arnold van Gennep’s theory of rites of passage can be implemented when discussing the three phases in a Catholic funeral. The Pre-liminal stage of a funeral can be seen as a pre vigil, this is where family and friends gather in the home of the deceased, in the funeral home, or in the church to pray and remember the deceased (Everplans, 2015). The liminal stage of the ritual is at the funeral itself and the Post-liminal stage being the wake that is set after the funeral, in an act of celebration to a wonderful life. Throughout the funeral ceremony, symbolism is represented right

African culture demonstrates a strong connection with deceased person, and believes that only a correct burial will bring a dead person peace. People in Africa strongly believe in spiritual life, thus their main goal during burial ceremonies is to address a spirit of a deceased person. An African funeral begins with removal of the body from home, which is done through a previously made hole in the wall of the home. Africans remove a dead body through the hole, instead of a door, to confuse a spirit and make sure that a spirit of a deceased person will not return back home, as a hole in the wall is immediately closed after removal of the body. In effort to confuse a spirit even more, they place thorns and sticks in a zigzag pattern along the way as body being taken to the place of burial.

The temples, pyramids, tombs, and religious artifacts left behind all tell us that the Ancient Egyptians believed in the resurrection of the dead. Their belief in immortality was the fundamental driving force behind their religion. “The formulae which were declared to have been recited during the performance of ceremonies were written down and copied for scores of generations, and every pious, well-to-do Egyptian made arrangements that what had been done and said on behalf of Osiris should be done and said for him outside and inside his tomb after his death.” (Liturgy of Funeral Offerings, pg.2) This illustrates just how important the ceremony and the process was to the Egyptians. Their belief in the afterlife and the importance of the ceremonial steps taken to get them there caused them great concern with their own funerals. Today, everyone has an idea of what they would like to do for their own funeral as well. We may follow in the same patterns as our family heritage has done for generations with either a traditional funeral or cremation, or we may have a newer alternative in mind for our self. Even though we may not be preparing for an afterlife, we still have an

Across countries and continents, through the rise and fall of great empires, and in multiple civilizations and religions, the Jewish people have been exiled martyrs for reasons far beyond their fault or doing. The Jewish people have come to accept this mutual exile as a part of their faith and religion. They are the people of exile until the messiah comes and the Jews will come together and live in the promised holy land. Since every Jew is an exile to the rest of society, this brings them closer together and creates a bond among the communities that keeps them strong and has kept the religion alive through most every situation. A new situation, however, is questioning the strength of the Jewish religion and its ability to remain as its defined people of exile. The Christian world has begun to push back their biased and hateful opinions on the Jews and recognize them as people. England, along with other governments, will contemplate whether the Jews could be citizens and if that would benefit them or not. It is not as much so for how the Jews have and will affect England at the time, but what

Jewish Funeral Traditions At a Jewish funeral a candle is placed by the deceased and they are never left alone. The reason the body is not left alone is because the soul stays near the body after its separation and is aware of the love and respect for its body. Shomrim, those who stay with the deceased, are assigned to stay and say prayers over the body on a 24-hour basis so that the holy prayers comfort the soul.

Native American traditions and rituals may differ from tribe to tribe, but commonalities exist in Native American death rituals. Modern day Native Americans may incorporate ancient death rituals, handed down from their ancestors, in a modern funeral service.

There are two mains type of interring in Vietnam: burying and burning. The mourning time after the funeral is different based on the position of the death in the family, but mostly from 3 months to 3 years. During the mourning time, the family members have to wear a small black piece of cloth on the arm or chest. Nowadays, mourning ceremonies follow new rituals which are simplified; they consist of covering and putting the dead body into the coffin, the funeral procession, the burial of the coffin into the grave, and the visits to the tomb. The deceased person’s family members wear a white turban or a black mourning band.

A Jewish burial service is recognized by its straightforwardness, modesty, and seriousness. Its general arrangement has not changed for more than four thousand years. It is typically held inside of 24 hours of passing, however no later than three days. The mitzva of going with the dead to the last resting spot is so extraordinary it supersedes all other mitzvot, including Torah study. Be that as it may, before the memorial service can happen, the body of the perished must be arranged for internment as per Jewish convention. A Jewish memorial service is recognized by its straightforwardness, quietude, and seriousness. Its general arrangement has not changed for more than four thousand years. It is typically held inside of 24 hours of passing,

The United States has a stacked history of entombment and demise ceremonies and conventions that have converged with the invasion of Evangelical and Catholic traditions to structure, design and on occasion weird contemporary practices.

Customarily, funerals were held in a congregation and were gone to by whole groups and expansive more distant families. The congregation priest, minister, rabbi or minister would lead the administration. Today, there are still numerous funerals that tail this more conventional method for saying farewell.

Dr. Spencer: oh no Brian it most certainly isn't firstly there's a three-day feast on the first day people purify the corpse with holy water on the second day people make offerings to the corpse and third day is purely to burn the corpse after the corpse has been burned it is placed on top of a bamboo structure inside of a building called a bade the bade is a massive symbol to the culture the bigger the bade the more prestigious the family only one person ever has had an 11-story bade