Sacred Rituals In Judaism, Santeria, And Christianity

Religion is one of the oldest and most sacred traditions of the human species. Religion started off as a basic belief in an afterlife, and then further developed into tribal religions, which evolved into ancestral worship, then to polytheism, and lastly into monotheism. Monotheism in the form of Christianity is the largest religion of the modern world, and it has similar beliefs to other world religions such as Buddhism. Christianity and Buddhism are similar because both religions teach about the equality of people and that making good choices reflects the positive teachings of that religion. They are also similar in how they formed, as both broke off from another religion that was exclusive, and both became popular and spread easily

Hanukkah or” Chanukah” is an eight day and eight nights Jewish holiday established on the 25 of Kislev (Macaulay).Hanukkah dates are different every year. For 2015 Hanukkah is celebrated on the 6th of December thru December 14th (Chabad). Hanukkah is a celebration of the Jews victory against the Greek and the oil that lasted eight days and eight nights in the Holy Temple (ifcg). The origin of Hanukkah comes from the heroic victory from the Greeks.

There are six Jewish holidays. Which are the Jewish New Year or Rosh Hashanah, Hanukkah, Purim, the Passover, the Shavout, and the Sukkot. According to Julianne Jacques during Hanukkah as a child her family would sing the Jewish Version of the twelve days of Christmas. She didn’t sing it for me but she told me that it goes like this “10 are the Commandments 9 are the festivals, 8 are the lights of Han, 7 days of the week, 6 days of creation, 5 books of Moses, 4 mothers of Israel, 3 Patriarchs, 2 tables of covenant and 1 God.” Jewish Americans celebrate all of these holidays with pride of their heritage.

Although religions today take on many shapes and forms, and may seem so dramatically different from each other, in order to study and understand these religions, their similarities must be identified. This paper will first present a definition of religion that will connect to all religions at the simplest base. Then this paper will examine the common practices and experiences that are present in both the primary religions of the world, as well as the indigenous religions. Finally, this paper will discuss the issues that are critical to the academic study of religions.

There are many religions throughout the world today. Although there are several different religions, many individuals are not educated about the other beliefs besides there own. Religions today do have differences but are also very much the same. This is demonstrated between the religion of Yoruba, and Christianity. The Gods that the people in these religions worship are different but have the same purpose throughout the lives of each individual. Each individual’s purpose and goal in these religions also display similarities. Furthermore the rituals that are done throughout these religions are done for directions and to improve the relationship between the individual and their god. There are various differences and similarities between

Rituals and rites are required in almost all religions because they hold meanings spiritually and emotionally. Reaffirming faith and practicing traditions are important parts of adherents' personal and religious life. Christian sacrament and Jewish rituals are derived from their religious stories and histories that represent symbolic stories of the origin and their sacred destiny (Esposito, 18) yet Judaism hold means of obedience to and gratitude for God, whereas Christianity is accepts "divine grace or aid through the incarnation of God" (Esposito, 23). Christians and Jews have religious expressions that have a beginning and an end (Esposito, 22) which corresponds with their rituals and rites providing the "assistance through every stage of life, from birth to death" (Esposito, 180).

With the major religions constantly crashing together, the principles and customs of each religion seem to always build similarities each time you study them. This is what occurred to me when i began reading “Living religions” studying practices and rites. Beginning with the traditional indigenous groups - descendants of the original inhabitants of lands now controlled by larger political systems in which they may have little influence (33) -, I observed the common rites performed by the different indigenous groups. Many groups lean on the word “spiritual”, rather than “religious”. There’s really no clarification as to why this is the case, but the author, Fisher addressed that religion has

Religion is a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe. In today’s society there are many religious lifestyles people stand by. Popular ones consist of Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, and Buddhism. When looking at Christianity and Buddhism it is easy to identify some major differences. For instance, both the religions were started and founded by different people and in dissimilar ways. A second one would be what they believe in; number of deities, and what they base their knowledge around. A final difference between the two would be how they practice their religion and worship their “God.”

Rosh Hashanah is referred to as the Jewish New Year, marking a 10 day period of self-condemnation. Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first and second day of the Tishri, the first month on the traditional Jewish calendar with the word Rosh Hashanah meaning ‘head of the year’ or ‘beginning of the year’. The Bible itself does not use the words Rosh Hashanah to expostulate the New Year, alternatively referring to it as Yom Ha-Zikkaron, meaning ‘day of remembrance’. This is shown in Leviticus 23:24-25, “Say to the Israelites: ‘On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of Sabbath rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts. Do no regular work, but present a food offering to the Lord.” The religious practices that occur throughout this Jewish festival focus on the sovereignty of God. The Torah refers to Rosh Hashanah as a day of remembrance, to celebrate the creation

Out of all the religions in the world Christianity and Judaism in my opinion have the most similar rites and rituals. They also share many beliefs and flow many of the same rules. Even though some of the rituals might seem like they are completely different, when you look deeply and find the true meaning, you will see that most of the time they share the same message. But even with all of these similarities its the differences that make them unique and these differences are what splits them apart. The three main similarities in both Christianity and Judaism is the first step into adult hood, the last step into adult hood and the Shabbat and the Sabbath.

The Aztecs were very serious about their religion and it affected every Aztec’s daily life. Their religion revolved heavily around human sacrifices in order to please the gods. Sacrifices to the sun were essential to them because they did not want the sun to burn out on them. They do this because in their religion there was believed to be four other suns which had burned out before the sun we have now. Other than that it united its people and was what shaped the magnificent Aztec empire to what it was.

Holidays are an important part of every culture in the world. They are times of festivity where friends and family gather together to celebrate special events at different points of the year. Oftentimes these affairs aren’t limited to a single day and each country has their own set of specific rituals that they perform to commemorate the occasion. Many holidays also have religious origins that are a mix of Christian and pagan beliefs.

Religion has changed dramatically over the past few decades. Where years ago, it was limited to a few specific set of beliefs in which the majority of people conformed to and few people deviated. Nowadays, religion is immeasurable and varies depending on where you live. Despite all the changes, there are a few basic elements that every religion follows such as; a set of stories, sacredness, community, belief of a higher power, rules/ethics, offer hope and a way to connect with the divine. Although the building blocks are the same, each organizations, religious practices and beliefs are unique.

Hanukkah is one of the reasons Judaism should be the dominant religion. Hanukkah is celebrated on the 25th day of Kislev ( A Jewish month between late November and December ) . Hanukkah lasts a total of eight days. Hanukkah is very similar to the Christian holiday, Christmas they give gifts to each other and eat meals together . During Hanukkah they light a menorah. A menorah holds candles

Although religion and ritual may have been relevant in the context of the past, it is acceptable to view them as outdated, and irrelevant in today’s societal context, and hence useless. Religion and ritual have been of significant cultural importance throughout the history of mankind. People, in which these spiritual activities were originated from, invented and relied on religion and ritual as key tools for finding answers to the unknown. Thus, these spiritual activities are the reflections of the historical context, which is vastly different from the context of today’s science and technology driven society. Therefore, although treasured in the past, religion and rituals no longer serve a meaningful purpose anymore, thus may be viewed as anti-modern