There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, “If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen?” The Master thought about this, then replied, “Ten years.” The student then said, “But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast — How long then?” Replied the Master, “Well, twenty years.” “But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?” asked the student. “Thirty years,” replied the…
The Jewish Nation The Jewish nation is in every single place you go. The Jewish nation has not had their own country in a long time, so they have had a trouble settling. Since they never had their own nation, they have been bullied and moved so much yet they develop more and more everyday. The Jewish nation is heavily cultured and has a strong, rich history of tribulation and success and it can be traced to its origins and the development of the nation to see what an excellent nation it has…
In his book titled The Sabbath, Abraham Joshua Heschel outlines the transcendence of the Sabbath in terms of the personal relationship between Jews and God. Heschel wrote on how the Sabbath stands as a testament to time for the Jewish people, in that they would be able to withdraw themselves from their secular lives, one day a week, to further appreciate the world God has created. He specifically holds an issue with the increasingly materialistic sense of society and memorably notes how things…
While it sounds cliché, my parents, brother, and I had become what are considered “once a year Jews”, Jews who only show up to synagogue for the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, and Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement; while Christians can go a few days a week for a “spiritual tune up”, Jews are relegated to once a year day of repentance, a tour de penitence featuring all day fasting and a six…
Judaism is one of the oldest religions that is still widely practiced today. Growing up, I had a few Jewish friends and I was always fascinated with the religious traditions and the reverence for history. For this project, I was interested in learning how a Jewish college student practices their religion. I interviewed Michael Falkenstein, a Jewish 21-year-old college senior. I also interviewed Hanna Taft who is also Jewish and a 21-year-old college senior. Both these students grew up practicing…
Iran is a vast country with many different ethnic groups. Most groups have been in Iran for centuries, and in some cases for thousands of years. The diverse peoples of Iran are separated by language, religion, and way of life. One such community that have existed for thousands of years and still exist today are the Iranian Jews. Judaism has a rich and millennial history in Iran including the era 2,500 years ago when the first Persian ruler declared religious freedom. But during the Islamic…
There are various explanations for why humans turn to religion; these include revelation as an origin, the natural knowledge-of-god, anthropological and psychological explanations. These explanations look to where the concept of religion originated. Why do people believe in a higher being and why do individuals act according to the values and practices related to their beliefs? These theories and explanations look to find the reasoning. Revelation as origin is the idea that religion originated…
Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase” (Dorinson). The definition of faith upholds two meanings. One being faith is complete trust or confidence in someone or something and the other being a strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion. In the case of war, both defintions of faith are combined as one meaning in the eyes of a soldier. Soldiers have faith in many things such as family, God, self, fellow soldiers, and…
When I went to the Temple Beth Shalom with my State college of Florida classmates to sit in on the Friday night service of the Shabbat. It was so amazing thing you never knew about the Jewish people or culture or anything. When I went for my religion visit I was just going to get my religion visit over with so that I can write my paper so I don’t have to do the other visit. But I was wrong it was a whole different story I learn more about the Jewish people that I never knew before. Going there…
Many memoirs about the Holocaust were published by Holocaust survivors. There are countless videos, books, and articles telling over the stories of those that survived and perished during the war. Many of these works show the heroism of many people to save relatives, others and themselves. Some of these people were non-Jews hiding and helping those in need. Many Jews helped their fellow brothers in whatever way possible, many times risking their own lives. Through all the accounts written about…