Mishnah

Shabbat Shalom! This was the introduction that I received when I entered a Jewish synagogue. When entering the synagogue it reminded of entering a typical church, there were pews and at the very front was a large stage. On the stage was a keyboard, a wooden podium with a blue cloth over it. Also there was a wooden ark behind the podium and if you opened up the ark you would see where the Torah was stored. An interesting fact about the placement of the ark is it is facing were Jerusalem is…

This religion believes in the single divine power being God. Holy Book(s)/Writings Sacred texts of Judaism include the Torah, Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures), and the Talmud. There are six sections/laws of the Mishnah (the updated Torah), which include Moed (seasons), Tohorot (purifications), Zeraim (seeds), Nashim (women), Qodashim (holy things), and Neziqin (damages). Beliefs/Practices The three branches of Judaism are Reform, Orthodox, and Conservative…

A Look into the Noachide Laws and Differing Views Do the Apostles and the Jerusalem Council separate Jews and Gentiles? Countless opinions have echoed around the halls of Judaism and Christianity, views concerning the significance of Torah observation in the lives of Gentiles. Dr. Shaye J.D. Cohen, rabbi and professor of Hebrew Literature and Philosophy at Harvard University, provides his opinion on the relevance of Torah observance and Gentiles of the First Century. He states that…

Legal systems can be dated back to the ancient peoples. There are many different legal systems that have evolved in other parts of the world. There are two types of legal system, the secular and religious legal system. It is argued that the Australian legal system is radically different to other legal systems. This, however, is not the case through findings and comparison with the Madayin legal system and Talmudic Jewish legal system. There are many similarities found such as the outcome that…

Terms are not innocent, objective tools, but often carry within them assumptions of older scholarship. Since the answer to any question already lies, to a certain degree, within the question itself, the conclusions we give birth to become the offspring of the language we use. Terminology is pregnant with meaning often unnoticed in the analytical process, which it nevertheless controls from within. Rethinking the way we speak may therefore result in the discovery of new landscapes. A cursory…

In the beginning the Hebrews were divided into 12 different tribes. They each had their own leader and a single leader that was over all of the tribes. These tribes were eventually united under King Saul. He helped solve conflicts between the tribes that were caused by them being separated. Israel was the first ever united kingdom. King Saul’s reign was unsuccessful, but then soon came King David. Jerusalem was united under King David. He united all tribes of Israel under complete monarchy.…

After 14 years in Jewish day school, I am poised to leave this sanctuary and venture out into a wide world. Next year will be the first time I will attend a secular school. On the eve of this departure, then, I ask myself, who am I? What kind of Jew am I right now, at this point in time? Where do I see myself in five years? Truthfully, there is an ongoing conflict in my mind between my secular self and my spiritual Judaic self. It is not that I feel I must prioritize one over the other;…

law,” he writes, “enjoins us to bring up all our offspring. [Marriage shall] be used only for the procreation of children.” Josephus reveals that marriage’s sacredness, as far as Judaism is concerned, sprouts from the production of children. The Mishnah, Rabbinic Judaism’s first text, echoes this same sentiment by saying “The man is commanded to procreate…of both [men and women] it says ‘God blessed them, and He said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply’.” Procreation is viewed here as a…

Jewish people have faced persecution for centuries, but the Holocaust was the most devastating to the Jewish community. “Many people prefer to use the Hebrew term Shoah (destruction) to denote the Nazi attempt to exterminate the Jews, since it is less theologically ‘loaded’ than Holocaust” (Solomon, 119). Hitler and his Nazi regime sought to bring the final solution to the age old Jewish question, and in this process there were over 6 million Jews and several million others (Gypsies, homosexuals…

In my daily life, I encounter law, worship, and deeds of loving-kindness within school and my family. Looking past federal law, there are laws that I always should abide by, like the laws and rules that my parents set for me and that FSHA sets. An example of a law that my parents gave me is to always be responsible: when I am not responsible for my schoolwork and actions, I end up getting in trouble. At FSHA, we are expected to always focus in class and not use technology to take away from…