Postmodern Faith Essay

While discussing the religious faith of Judaism, whether it be in the premodern, modern, or postmodern era, we can conclude that the Jewish people have struggled for many years to openly practice their religion without complications. Even though “Judaism is the smallest of the great world religions” and they only compose “.2 percent of the world's population”, they “have had, and continue to have, a major impact on history” (Esposito, 78). From the issues created by the diversity of Jews, to the Zionism movement, to the acceptance of Judaism by other religions, Jews have struggled to make their religion last. However, personally I believe the greatest struggle and tragedy faced by Jews in history occurs during the postmodern era, known as the …show more content…
Something not mentioned in class is as time went on Hitler began to take away the Jews rights and deny their citizenship. During September of 1935, Hitler announced a new law that would be enforced known as the Nuremberg law. This law “did not define a Jew as someone with particular religious beliefs, instead, anyone who had three or four Jewish grandparents was defined as a Jew, regardless of whether that individual identified himself or herself as a Jew or belonged to the Jewish religious community” (“The Nuremberg”). It allowed Hitler to kill more people, even if they no longer belonged to the Jewish community. This law also unwelcomed Jews to public places, and required all Jews to carry around a passport with a red “J” stamped on it so they could be easily identified. From here things only got worse as Nazis, or the people who followed Hitler's believes, began joining Hitler's movement. On November 9th, 1938 Kristallnacht or “Night of Broken Glass” occurred throughout Germany and Austria, when the Nazis viciously attacked Jewish communities” (Lehnardt). Over one thousand synagogues, or communities centered on prayer and the study of the Torah, were burnt down that night, as well as Jewish hospitals, schools, businesses and homes. Later in 1939, Nazis forced Jews out of their homes and into ghettos, or small …show more content…
Some people believed it was “a call to integrate into the non-Jewish world to avoid such things from happening in the future” (Bauer). Such inhuman experiences caused them to run away from their beliefs to further protect themselves. Others like author Richard Rubenstein says “God died at Auschwitz, and Jews will have to go on with their stories and their rituals without God” (Esposito, 132). My fellow colleague Peter mentioned in class how one Holocaust survivor Emil Fackenheim even felt Gods present at Auschwitz, commanding the Jews to not abandon their faith (Class, Feb. 6). Fackenheim believed God gave them a 614th commandment to be added to the Torah. This command forbidden Jews “to hand Hitler posthumous victories” and it stated they are “commanded to survive as Jews” and to always “remember the victims of Auschwitz” (Esposito, 132). Many Jews believed it was important to keep continuing practicing their faith, or they'd be letting Hitler accomplish his goal of completing eliminating Judaism and its people. Overall, it was hard for many Jews to overcome the inhuman events they experienced. Many survives, including Elie Wiesel, wrote novels that documented the torture they went through and emotions felt during and after the Holocaust ended. Looking back on these events and stories helps the Jews to be proud of how far their religion has began to grow since the