ראש השנה
Rosh Hashanah
The festival of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, meaning “Head of the Year”, is observed for two days beginning on 1 Tishrei, the first day of the Jewish year. It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve, and their actions toward mankind’s role in God’s world. It must be realized that Rosh Hashanah emphasizes the special relationship between God and his people: his people’s dependence upon God as creator and sustainer, and God’s dependence upon his people as the ones who make His presence known and felt in His world. The Israelites are a unique people in the fact that they are not only a collection of people that share a common land, but that they are a linked as a religion, nationality, tribe, race, and people. As such, the celebration of one of the most sacred days of the Jewish year was relatively standardized through the various classes of the Israelites.
The central tradition of Rosh Hashanah is the sounding of the shofar, the ram’s horn. This can represent the trumpet blast of a people’s coronation of their king and fulfills the biblical co...
Judaism is a religion that can be traced back as far as 2000 B.C.E. It was founded in Canaan and it has an estimated 14 million followers. The sacred texts that are associated with it are the Torah, Tanakh (Hebrew Scriptures), and the Talmud. Judaism has influenced a variety of religions including Christianity and Islam. It promotes a single god belief for all Jewish people and the belief that all people are created in the image of god. There are a vast number of individuals who were influenced by the principles surrounding Judaism, and this dissertation will present the most significant figure in the history of Judaism, Moses Maimonides.
Oxtoby, Willard Gurdon. "Jewish Traditions." World religions: western traditions. 1996. Reprint. Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2011. 127-157. Print.
Religion has been a major focal point in any society and in any culture. Starting from the first civilizations in Sumer and Ur to the vast metropolitans of today like New York and London, religion has been around and played a key part in lives of people. Possibly two of the oldest religions in the world, Judaism and Zoroastrinism share distinct qualities that are still alive today. Both religions are practiced but Zoroastrianism is not as popular as it once was. Meanwhile, Judaism is one of the world’s largest religions. These two religions are similar in the way that they are designed and practiced throughout history.
The preservation of the Sabbath is one of the most important aspects of the Jewish Culture and religion. By abiding by the Sabbath, the Jewish people have a distinctive way of connecting with God. The Jewish religion is unique to other religions; in other religions, temples and churches are built as holy space, but Judaism builds a church to God in t...
A Political, Cultural, and Religious Description of the Current Atmosphere as Exists in Israel Israel, in the 1990's, is in a continual state of political, cultural and religious flux. Religion continues to play a central factor in the difficulties which the state has been and continues to experience. This unique country is characterized by an amalgam of cultural and ethnic diversity. This historical and cultural fact ensures that the difficulties the state has been experiencing in realizing self-adjustment will continue. At the same time, there exist mostly positive and persistent facets of the culture which continue unabated as will be discussed. Israel is characterized by many religious groups including Greek Orthodox, Muslim, Palestinians, Jews, Arabs and others. Similarly, the Labor Ruling Party is integrally linked to religious orientation and has been embroiled in domestic controversy and flagellation from many sides in recent years. OVERVIEW Statehood in Israel was attained some three thousand years ago, and has served as the home of the Jewish people who are credited with giving the world the Bible. As mentioned, however, this land is comprised of many different groups. The Jewish people constitute 81.8%, and Muslims represent 14.1%. The Christians comprise 2.4% and the Druze and others make up 1.4%. Some five million people from different ethnic, cultural and religious backgrounds live in Israel today. It is a country of immigration, and in the decades prior to the establishment of the state, the majority of newcomers came from Europe, joining Jews whose families had lived in the land for generations. Immediately following independe...
Israel, officially known as the State of Israel, is located in Western Asia, on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea, sharing its borders with Lebanon in the north, Jordan in the East, Egypt in the South, and Palestinian territories in the West. In its Basic Laws, Israel’s constitutional law, Israel defines itself as a Jewish and Democratic State; it currently is the world’s only Jewish majority country. Since declaring its independence in 1948, Israel has been home to the majority of Jewish immigrants from all over the world. The country’s population consisted mainly of Jews (75%), Arabs (20%), and the rest immigrants from all over the world increased from 870,000 individuals in 1948 to over 7.9 million in 2012 (Haft 2013). Over the past decade, Israel’s population has continued to grow, at about a rate of 20% per year. The country’s financial center is Tel Aviv, while Jerusalem, Israel’s capital, is also the country’s most highly populated city; although, internationally Jerusalem is not considered to be a part of Israel.
The purpose of this research paper will be to examine how Judaism rituals have helped the religion remained amongst the most prominent in the world. The use of tradition and rituals has been at the very core of its existence. Birth, adolescent, marriage and death rituals will be used to highlight how the Judaism way of life is not dependent on the written word but rather the actions of those who follow this historic Hebrew religion. The paper will begin with a brief outline of Judaism and its relationship with God and then continue with how the written word of the Torah has laid the basis for the many traditions still practiced in Judaism.
Judaism is a religion with an excess of 13 million believers located mainly within the United States and Israel. Of all the religions practiced today, Judaism is one of the oldest. The roots of Judaism can be traced back over 3500 years to the Middle East with a lineage that descends from Abraham as a patriarch. With Abraham as a common ancestor, Judaism is considered one of the Abrahamic faiths alongside Christianity and Islam. The historical events within the Bible of Judaism’s past, all the way back to Abraham, have molded the beliefs and traditions practiced by Jewish adherents today.
I am a very spiritual person and am always interested in learning about other religions, especially the three monotheistic faiths: Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. I feel I have an adequate knowledge of Christianity and Islam, but I do not know much about Judaism. This paper will focus on the questions I have about Judaism. I have always wanted to know the fundamental beliefs of Judaism. I want to know how many Jews there are in the United States and in the world. I often see Orthodox Jewish men wearing yarmulkes and prayer shawls, and I wonder what is the purpose of wearing these. And finally, I wanted to know what is the role of women in Judaism.
The monotheistic religion of Judaism observes Shabbat as one of the most important holy days as it is the only one to be mentioned in the Ten Commandments. It consists of several interrelated components of rest, remembrance, commandments and expression of gratitude for creation and freedom from slavery. During this twenty-five hour gift from God, Jews are commanded to set aside their weekly concerns to emphasise a day of devotion to one’s family, God, rest and studying the Torah. As a time of spiritual enrichment, it is expected that one refrains from all work, to bring joy to the ritual and sanctify the Shabbat. Each of the dual commandments, to remember and to observe, are linked extensively to the Torah, Talmud and Commandments divinely revealed through one God. History of the story of Creation in Genesis and Exodus out of slavery in Egypt for the people of Israel is remembered to reference the Covenant, Moral Law and prohibitions as principle beliefs of Judaism. The eagerly awaited weekly rituals of Shabbat distinguish a day of rest from the working week to bring a sense of spirituality, belonging and gratitude to God in a dynamic society.
Judaism is one of the main religions in the world today along with Christianity and Islam. The three religious beliefs share similar patriarchs and origins that have roots to Abraham. The differences that exist between Islam and Judaism are apparent, however, these are less distinct when a comparison is made between Christianity and Judaism. Regardless of the similarities that exist in the two religions, Judaism has many interesting and sometimes puzzling features. The paper will illustrate the features that I found interesting in Judaism and those that are more difficult to grasp and understand.
The Kurash Prism. Available: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/539cyrus1.html. February 6, 2002. CenturyOne. "THE GIFTS OF THE JEWS: How a Tribe of Desert Nomads Changed the Way Everyone Thinks and Feels (Hinges of History Series Volume 2)." (A book review of Thomas Cahill's work.) Available: http://www.centuryone.com/8249-3.html. February 6, 2002. Helen Chapin Metz, ed. "EARLY ISRAEL.[Excerpted from Israel: A Country Study.Helen Chapin Metz, ed. Washington, DC: Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress, 1988]." Available: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/iltoc.html. February 6, 2002. Kamm, Josephine. The Hebrew People: A History of the Jews. New York: McGraw-Hill: 1967. Lipman, David E. "Gates to Jewish Heritage. Bar Kochba: The Bar Kochba Revolt."Available: http://www.jewishgates.org/personalities/bar.stm. February 6, 2002. Silvestri, Anthony. "Dr. Silvestri's WWW Ancient World History Resource. III. The Hebrews." Available: http://www.drhistory.org/main.html. January 27, 2001. Speake, Graham, ed. The Cultural Atlas of the World: The Bible.Alexandria, Va., Stonehenge Press, 1992. West, Jim. "Ancient Israelite Marriage Customs." Available: http://www.theology.edu/marriage.htm.
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1996. “Sacrifices and Offerings in Ancient Israel” in Community, Identity, and Ideology: Social Science approach to the Hebrew Bible., ed. Charles E. Carter.
This war-torn land shows nothing but death and the dying. The ground is muddy from the rain, it’s dank and sodden. Up above the trench line is barbed wire and … nothing else. No birds, no animals … no people. A few dead bodies of the brave men going to assassinate the enemy by night fall, but stopped dead in their tracks, they got picked off by the sharpshooters. No! No one ever makes it! Never! There is a constant sound of gun blasts and the sound of explosions from the grenades. The dark is lit up by the flashes of the guns against the silver clouded sky. Nobody dares to look up for more than a few seconds otherwise they will be taken out.