Martin Buber and the Way of Man

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.

Preacher, Jonathan Edwards, in his sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God”, promotes the acceptance of God and one’s participation in the spiritual event known as the Great Awakening, a time of renewed sense in religious piety. Edwards purpose is to impress upon others the need to repent their sins and accept God. He asserts himself in a passionate and zealous tone in order to convey the notion that non-believers and non-practitioners must learn to eradicate their sin and embrace God.

As displayed by Revealing World Religions, Judaism contains many sects, and Hasidic and Reform Jews are perhaps the most contrasting. Reform Jews use their religion as a segway to adapt traditional beliefs to today’s world. Their form of Judaism serves as a middle ground between modernism and tradition. Hasidic Jews are entirely different in that they utilize their religion as a means by which to form a direct connection to God. This is done by the strict observance of Jewish laws which as a result segregate them from modern life.

3. Cultivation of sensitivity to one’s self and to others, becomes: "Cultivation of one’s own spiritual practices and transpersonal self, going beyond ego self" (p. 468).

This caused in him a feeling in which he had never felt before, and thus inspired him to new things to get himself more aquatinted with God:

Henri J. M. Nouwen’s book, Reaching Out: The Three Movements of the Spiritual Life, examines three aspects of spiritual movement in which he unveils how humanity relates to self, others, and God to achieve true spirituality. The first movement revealed is the movement from loneliness to solitude, second is the movement from hostility to hospitality, and finally, is the movement from illusion to prayer.

Sitting in a comfortable leather chair on a cloudy January day, I sat in a house and interviewed Susan Gustavson, a life long Jew that is in her mid-fifties. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley and Columbia University, where she got an MBA in marketing. She told me about her opinions on the Judaism.

Having soon discovered to be great, I must appear so, and therefore studiously avoided mixing in society, and wrapped myself in mystery, devoting my time to fasting and prayer—By this time, having arrived to man’s estate, and hearing the scriptures commented on at meetings, I was struck with that particular passage which says: “Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you.” I reflected much on this passage, and prayed daily for light on this subject—As I was praying one day at my plough, the spirit spoke to me, saying, “Seek ye the kingdom of Heaven and all things shall be added unto you. (Gray 9)

of achieving our purpose in life can be a daunting but awarding task. Christopher McCandless

Although we, as students, know the facts of the Holocaust, as it is taught in most history classes, the attention to detail is often overlooked. Night gives a shocking first-hand account of the horrors that the Jewish people faced at the hand of the Nazis. The personal thoughts of Wiesel give insight to how the Jewish people reacted to the situation of the concentration camps and how some lost their faith because of it. For example, it was stated, “Moishe was not the same. The joy in his eyes was gone. He no longer sang. He no longer mentioned either God or Kabbalah. He spoke only of what he had seen. But people not only refused to believe his tales, they refused to listen. Some even insinuated that he only wanted their pity, that he was imagining things. Others flatly said that he had gone mad.”

During the course of the LDB481-17: Faith and Life Issues, Ms. Sams did not understand of the concept of vocation, before enrolling in the course. Nor, she has never heard the concept of vocation during at that time her twenty-two years on Earth. As she considers herself, a free spirit and a humanist regarding religion, Ms. Sams continues to note that she does not follow a particular religion. However, she keeps an open mind to how an individual’s religion has transformed his or her life. As a free spirit, by primarily having an open mind to the religious faith of Christianity, Ms. Sams assures that the spirit of God lives within each individual; regardless if he or she believes or does not believe in the spirit of God.

The Narrow Line of Belief Godliness, as well as the doctrine of one’s faith, is always a mystery. Many believe that man comes nearer to God through their piety and doubt given towards Him. From this rests faithful talk. One’s faith and doubt leads to humanity asking for answers. Yet, sometimes one’s faith may not reveal the true answers, moreover, recognize answers relinquished to them.

In the beginning, I felt Anderson’s heart when he wrote, “there is no replacement for a deep and abiding experiential relationship with God when it comes to authentic spirituality” (pg. 51). God is always available at the surface level, but it is down deep into the soil of one’s heart where the authentic growth and development will blossom. One must invite and permit God to come in and began that relationship that cultivates authentic encounters that transforms life from dark to light.

Hasidic Judaism is a branch of Orthodox Judaism established in Eastern Europe during the 1800’s that put spirituality and a connection with God through mysticism at the forefront of its beliefs. In order to understand Hasidic Judaism, one must understand that Judaism is not only a religion; it is also a philosophy and a way of life for the Jewish people. One of the oldest monotheistic religions, Judaism has evolved over the years since the time of the founding fathers. Like any culture or religion, however, Jews have never been without conflict or disagreement amongst its people. Schisms amongst Jews over long periods of time have led to a branching out of sects and Jewish institutions. What led to the separation of denominations within

Levine’s book titled The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus proves to be a highly informative resource when trying to understand the intricate relationship between Christianity and Judaism. Levine’s primary objective seems to be a desire to address the idea that there is a vast, irreconcilable disparity between the beliefs and practices of Christians and Jews. Levine’s central argument focuses upon a common misperception of this dissimilarity: it is the result of Jesus being in direct opposition to Judaism. Furthermore, she contends that only a decided openness and interfaith dialogue between Christianity and Judaism can truly provide the most complete and compelling portrait of Jesus’s life and work. To me, the most edifying facet of Levine’s argument was her call to anchor Jesus within the historical and cultural context in which he was teaching in order to best understand his work and his message. Levine not only provides support for this idea throughout The Misunderstood Jew, but near the end of the novel also offers up ways in which both Christians and Jews can reconcile these two ostensibly conflicting perceptions of Jesus. Therefore, in this essay, I will analyze Levine’s arguments regarding the importance of historical/cultural context in Chapter One and Chapter Four while synthesizing it with her solutions presented in Chapter Seven.