According to Rabbi Boras, Judaism is “the personal struggle to manifest oneself in the face of god while keeping one’s feet planted on the ground”. Similarly, Ehud Baron described religion in general as “an effort to connect what the universe is like to how people should live.” In fact Israel- which represents a culture, a faith, a place and the responsibility of the people- means to struggle with god. Jewish scholarship, history and practice define a particularly optimistic but always questioning Jewish view of life.
Jewish Scholarship is the questioning of the concept of god. In the Hebrew Bible, god is a paradox constantly flipping from being caring and loving to being vengeful and cruel. In Genesis 1:1-5, 24-28, God is described as the ultimate creator-- dominant and powerful yet also fatherly and intensely concerned with human affairs. Then, in Genesis 6: 5-8, the story of Noah’s Ark, god is described a regretful, judgemental destroyer when he says: “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the Concept of G-d oscillates from a kind, protective, caring god to one who is all-powerful and vengeful and demands loyalty. God proved his care for the human …show more content…
In the legend of Adam and Eve, told in Genesis, God places the first two humans- Adam and Eve- in a garden where Eve is tempted by a serpent who promises Eve wisdom if she tastes the fruit of the tree of knowledge, against God’s wishes.This, the first recorded human action, is an act of free will as Eve was not forced to eat the fruit that would end her innocence and ban her from her paradise. All Jews are born with a clean slate, and they can choose to make bad decisions or they can choose to preserve decisive opportunities to complete their responsibility to make the world a better
Jewish Scholarship is the questioning of the concept of god. In the Hebrew Bible, god is a paradox constantly flipping from being caring and loving to being vengeful and cruel. In Genesis 1:1-5, 24-28, God is described as the ultimate creator-- dominant and powerful yet also fatherly and intensely concerned with human affairs. Then, in Genesis 6: 5-8, the story of Noah’s Ark, god is described a regretful, judgemental destroyer when he says: “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” Throughout the Hebrew Bible, the Concept of G-d oscillates from a kind, protective, caring god to one who is all-powerful and vengeful and demands loyalty. God proved his care for the human …show more content…
In the legend of Adam and Eve, told in Genesis, God places the first two humans- Adam and Eve- in a garden where Eve is tempted by a serpent who promises Eve wisdom if she tastes the fruit of the tree of knowledge, against God’s wishes.This, the first recorded human action, is an act of free will as Eve was not forced to eat the fruit that would end her innocence and ban her from her paradise. All Jews are born with a clean slate, and they can choose to make bad decisions or they can choose to preserve decisive opportunities to complete their responsibility to make the world a better