Summary Of Huston Smith's Exploration Of Judaism

Huston Smith’s exploration of Judaism stems explores a variance of topics. According to Smith, one third of Western civilization has Jewish ancestry (Smith 180). He specifically engages in the Jewish meaning of creation, human existence, history, morality, justice, suffering, and revelation. The reason the Jewish religion has lasted for so many years through the religious changes, can be theorized in their search for meanings. The Jewish religion has always been identified as a monotheistic religion. From the very beginning of Judaism, their ultimate journey was to comprehend the Supreme Being. As they search for the meaning in God, they consequently search for the meaning of creation. Under Jewish theology, the world is good because God created it. One could claim that the most interesting and profound concept within Judaism is their idea of human existence. Human beings create their own destiny through decisions being good or bad. Huston states, “With all that has been discovered about human life in the intervening 2,500 years, it is difficult to fault the Jewish assessment” (Smith 185). Similar to Christianity, Judaism views people as God’s beloved children. Additionally, the mind can …show more content…
The four zones that impact human relationships are force, wealth, sex, and speech. These four principals are the ethical concepts in the Ten Commandments and the greatest impact in Jewish morality. Force says that people can fight but there should be no blood feuds, thus Thou shall not murder. Wealth says that one can make as much income as they please but should never take from another beings wealth or, Thou shall not steal. Jewish religion says that one can be flirtatious and promiscuous but absolutely cannot commit adultery. Lastly, under speech they say that if one is being judged before a trial, they are not allowed to