Halakha

Evaluate the statement in relation to one significant practice and one significant ethic from the religious tradition of Judaism. “Dynamic religious traditions are communal in as much as they are individual.” The statement, “Dynamic religious traditions are communal in as much as they are individual” explains the significance religion has had on individuals and the community, but also how both the community and individual benefit from one another. In Judaism, religion is focused on the…

For my ritual visit I went to a family friends Bat Mitzvah at the Temple Emanuel here in Greensboro North Carolina. A Bat Mitzvah is a Jewish tradition that identifies a girl who is twelve years old to be an adult and must become responsible for ones own actions, which is a very important ritual within the Jewish community. Judaism commonly uses the Hebrew language and Bat translates to, “Jewish coming of age ceremony for girls” (Bat Mitzvah Translation). Within the Temple of Emanuel the men…

Research Paper Equality of Women in Modern Israeli The Zionist movement was not travelling along the traditional Jewish way. Traditional Jews have a great deal of attachment to their faith and doctrine, and the Zionists wanted to bring about the identity of Zionism with Judaism which includes both Jewish and non-Jewish. It created the basis for the religious society when it changed the role of women in society. Israeli women are defined as Jewish and Palestinian Arab. Traditionally, Israeli…

Danny and Reuven are proof that opposites do attract. They met by an unfortunate event where Reuven got hit in the eye by Danny’s ball in a game of baseball. Reuven’s eye was pretty badly injured and he was taken to the hospital. While Reuven was in the hospital recovering from his injury, Danny visited him and tried to mend what had been broken by saying he was sorry. At first, Reuven wanted nothing to do with Danny,but Reuven’s father convinced him to accept Danny’s plea for forgiveness.…

Benjamin Brown of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, outlines the rise of religious radicalism with in Galicia during the first years of the nineteenth century. In his article The Two Faces of Religious Radicalism, Orthodoxy and Holy Sinning in 19th Century Hasidism in Hungry and Galicia, Brown asserts that the strengthening of Hasidism and the Orthodoxy movements stemmed from the need to protect Jewish tradition in the face of acculturation. He states that Hasidism was a conservative…

Memories can be a blessing and a curse for those whose life have had traumatic experiences. Anyone who would have grown up Jewish during world war two in Europe and would have survived the terror of the Holocaust would have some terrifying stories to share. In Saul Friedlander’s novel When Memory Comes, his memory is the centre core of all his stories. Some are harder to remember than others and a journey emerges with him trying to find his religious identity, whether in the Catholic religion or…

The famous poem by Judah Halevi, “My Heart is in the East” beautifully explains the trajectory of Jewish culture after the destruction of the second Temple to present day. In just twelve short lines, Halevi captures massively present theme of the importance remembering your roots while allowing yourself to grow that shows up in Judaism over and over again. In the period of time directly following the destruction of the second temple, the Jewish people were forced to unite and did so through the…

Modernity and the Jewish individual are the topics being discussed in the entry titled Modern Jewish Thought by Leora Batnitzky. Leora Batnitzky addresses the complicated question “What value is there to Judaism in an age in which Jews do not have to be defined as Jews?”. Using modern jewish philosophers and as well their beliefs and cultural backgrounds Leora aims to answer this complex question as well as lead the reader to ask and form their own opinions on this topic. In order to begin…

Rabbis, Priests, Ulamas, though these three religious figures are different there is one characteristic that links them closely together, they’re all typically male characters. Yes, it is true that there are women of power in certain religions but, this was not always the case, in fact it wasn’t until just recently women started making an impact in their place of religious practice. Specifically, Judaism has made significant strides associated with women becoming a bigger part of the community…

In humanity’s endless search for truth, we often turn to religion in order to answer the questions we cannot answer ourselves. Every religion across the world has a stance on a vast range of ultimate questions, including “What happens after we die?” The Jewish view of death and belief in the afterlife has been significantly influenced by Israelite history as it clarifies the value of life ingrained in the covenantal relationship with G_d. Despite this shared history, a diverse range of…