Reflecting On Judaism As A Christian

For years people have had a hard time distinguishing the difference between Christians and Jews. Even when reading about these two religions, they are very similar. There are two main differences that stand out the most amongst these religions. One of them is that Christians believe that Jesus is the Messiah while Jews believe He was a prophet. The other difference is their opinions on sacred text. Jewish people and Christians both have sacred text; however, Christians believe that the Bible is meant to be read as a text as a whole.

The dynamic nature of Judaism offers a successful living religion as a result of its strongly withheld characteristics. Through essential characteristics such as central beliefs, sacred texts, writings, ethical teachings and rituals and ceremonies, Judaism offers a dynamic nature and liveable religion that connects an individual and society with its roots. The way this living religion advances and grows is because of its dynamic characteristics as a whole. Importantly, these characteristics combined form the true nature of the religion rather than separately.

Judaism, which originated in the middle east, is one of the oldest religions in the world. Judaism is the religion from where Catholicism and Islam have their roots. The main difference between Judaism and the previously mentioned religions is that Judaism is based on the old testament entirely excluding the new testaments in its teachings. Jews believe that they are the people chosen by God and that because of the covenant they have the duty, more than any other group of people, to keep the law of God. The law of God in Judaism comes in the form of the Torah. The books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy, which are said to have been written by Moses, form the Torah.

Jesus is the fulfillment of Judaic prophecies; he is the new Moses imparting the new Law of Love.

Judaism and Christianity is a monotheistic religion. "Judaism is a diverse tradition associated with the Jewish people", and Jesus is a Jew. Many people insist Judaism is the foundation of Christianity because Christianity originated from Judaism (when God showed himself to Abraham and Moses), but not an expansion of Judaism. This two religions, both refer to Jesus Christ, even though his role in each religion differs. The Jews refer to God as Yahweh (“I am who I am”) while the Christians refer to him as God. They have the same origin, believe that Abraham was the father of faith and Moses received the Ten Commandments. Both religions relate in faith and the scripture they share, but as much as they associate, they also have differences.

Judaism, the original religion of Abraham, is the oldest of the three religions. Their faith is that “The Messiah” is yet to come and hasn’t come yet. They do not believe in Jesus for being the messiah. For the past 2000 years the Jews have been rejecting Jesus as the messiah for just one reason, their faith in the messiah. They do not believe that the Jesus has done the things they were told their messiah would do. I have learned from the readings that I have done that up to this date the Jews are still waiting for their messiah. Jews still believe that their messiah is going to come and take them out of their misery and bring all the Jews together from all the other parts of the world. From my reading I have learned that the main reason Jews refuse to believe in Jesus as their messiah is that they say Jesus hasn’t done the things that were promised through the messiah, for example, bring all the Jews back together in the land of Israel from all over the world. Another belief they hold against Jesus is that, they believe messiah should have been from the family line of David on His father’s side, and Jesus was born through a virgin therefore has no father. These beliefs along with other belief are the difference between Judaism and Christianity. The main reason the two religions differ and are called by two different names today even though had emerged from the same root is Jesus, the disbelief of the Jews in

The context of this will be showing how Judaism and Christianity more similar than most people think. Three ways these two religions are the same are, both are monotheistic, how both share same holy city, and their beliefs to the “Good Life.”

The most overarching similarity between Christianity and Judaism is that they focus on almost the same god. Their god is unique, transcendental, not subject to the rules of nature, all good, all powerful, all knowing and the one true god. The major difference between the Christian version of this god and the Jewish version of this god is that the Christian version is considered to be three “persons,” otherwise known as the trinity. The trinity consists of God the Father, the Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit, sometimes referred to as the Holy Ghost. Judaism does not believe in this trinity and instead sees God as one being.

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.

At this point in the experience, it could have been plausible for me to make a connection from my past experiences to my current realizations about Judaism and the practices surrounding it. There is a consistent idea regarding connections, spirituality, and tactile relationships that appear in the two phases of this mulitcomponential experience. However, it wasn’t until after my interview with an insider, Rabbi Steve, and my subsequent listening of the recording that the pieces began to come together, the clouds parted and suddenly there was a clarity that hadn’t been there previously. At the end of phase two I discuss Moran’s final stage in his cultural framework, appropriately named, “Knowing Oneself”. As it suggests, this is the point in the cultural experience where the experiencer reflects on different elements to not only include the experience but the individual feelings and opinions, and reactions that accompany it. While I engaged in some level of reflection, I can now say that this reflection was somewhat superficial as it merely penetrated the surface of a much deeper and complicated issue. I concluded the second phase saying that although the experience was new, it was still familiar as I have had previous involvements in church settings. The positive that I walked away with was this notion that perhaps we aren’t as different as we think, and that there will always be a connection. This statement, is the beginning to what I believe Moran meant by his last stage

The ability to influence a person or group of people displays the power of the authority. Power emanates from knowledge. The practices belonging to specific religions exhibit their own sense of authority. Christianity is a monotheistic religion that bases their faith on the teachings of Jesus Christ. Judaism is an ancient monotheistic religion that bases their faith with the study of the Torah. Christianity is the largest practiced religion in the world and Judaism is the tenth largest. In the mid first century, Christianity began as a second temple Judaism. This is the time between the construction of the second temple in Jerusalem and the destruction of it which occurred in 70 CE. For Judaism, the second temple period was a time when challenges were asserted in reference to the variety of fluctuations based on the mainstream way of Judaism. Each of these religions follow specific practices and have their own study and understanding of authority.

According to tradition, we say at the end of the Seder night the request "Next year in Jerusalem!". So what happens if I live in Jerusalem? Do you say "this year in Jerusalem!" Just skip it? You can be miles away from Jerusalem, even if you live there. On the other hand, you can be on the other side of the world but very close to Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem is more than a geographical location. Jerusalem is an ideal for which we struggle. The Jewish story can be summed up as a long journey from Egypt to Jerusalem. Beyond being geographic sites, Egypt and Jerusalem symbolize two opposite spiritual states. This journey is a journey of spiritual tribulations. Both as a nation and as individuals, we have always lived the slavery of Egypt and marched towards freedom in the Promised Land.

     The New Testament is another area where Jews and Christians disagree. The New Testament, because men wrote it, holds no truth in the eyes of the Jews. Christians follow the New Testament because the disciples, and people who witnessed the miracles of God wrote it.

From the AD 47 century AD 1500, or what would also be known as the 5th century to the 15th century we can see some of the earliest history of the Jewish and Christian relationship in the Middle Ages. Throughout this time many things take place among the Jews, one of which includes a movement from the Mediterranean to the Eastern part of Europe. During this time, Christians did not agree with the way the Jewish people lived and were not going to be silent about it. The Christians blamed the Jews for many crimes that were being committed throughout the Middle ages. The Jewish people saw themselves differently than the Christians saw them. The Jewish people “saw themselves… as a special people, God’s own chosen race, set apart from the rest of mankind by their unique knowledge of the one true God and by customs and a morality that were divinely inspired.” There were many things that were held common between the Judaism and Christianity but the Christians refused to see the Jewish people as people just like themselves. Among many other reasons, the Christians became angry at the Jews because they would not convert to Christianity and began to persecute them for crimes that they were not committing. The Christians were wrong for the persecution of the Jews but they believed that they had right and reason to their persecution.

Judaism, which is made up of a few separate groups, was very common at the originating of Christianity. The common ground (shared beliefs) for these sects was the belief in One God and that this One God had made a covenant with the people of Israel. The foundation of this covenant was called “The Torah.” The Pharisees and Sadducees were the two main groups the Bible focuses on around the time of Jesus, along with the Zealots, the Hellenists, the Lawyers, and the Essenes, who we only read about in sources outside of the New Testament.