The Importance of Collective Worship for the Orthodox Jew
I agree with the statement that collective worship is essential for
the orthodox Jew. My reasons for agreeing with this are the following.
Firstly, Moses commanded a public reading of Torah. This is related to
communal worship as a minyan, a group of 10 men over the age of Bar
Mitzvah, must be present before a reading of the Torah can take place.
A minyan is required for other important prayers, one of which is the
mourners' prayer, Kaddish. When someone has died, the mourners are
obligated to recite this prayer each day for a specific period of
time. In order to recite the prayer, they need a minyan, the quorum
required for public prayer. The result is that the community assembles
in their home while they are in mourning to enable the mourners to say
Kaddish and thereby are able to provide support and consolation. Once
the period of mourning is completed, seven days, then the mourners
need to come to the synagogue to join the minyan there to say Kaddish.
The result again is that they cannot isolate themselves in their
grief, but must come back to the world and back to the community,
where they will be supported and nurtured as they work through their
grief.
Another reason that communal worship is essential is because most of
the main traditions and festivals happen within the synagogue such as
Bar Mitzvah and Yom Kippur. It also keeps a feeling of community
within the faith because if you just did individual worship you would
not get the feeling of community. Tradition is a good reason why as it
ensures the thinking of god, having daily prayer in the synagogue and
to pass on a sense of belonging. Some say that collective worship is
very essential or else the faith would die out and without the set
prayers and religious observances from the first temple, the sense of
tradition and belonging would disappear. Also communal prayer
expresses communally- held values and beliefs. By praying as a
Alain de Botton, in his TED talk “Atheism 2.0”, identified various attributes from religions that he thinks atheism, the non-religious community, would do well to emulate. Of these attributes, one that stood out was how all religions, almost as a universal rule, each have a calendar by which believers adhere to. These calendars typically mark days, or even weeks, that carry some importance and meaning to followers of a given religion, and serves as a reminder for the values of which these religions stand for. For instance, the Christian calendar has a season of Lent, whereby Christians all over the world choose to give up worldly comforts and fast for a period a little longer than a month, as a time for self-reflection and penance to prepare for Easter. Members of these religions all across the world would be able to stay synchronized regardless of any geographical limitations using a unified calendar. According to Botton, having a calendar that is observed by all followers of the religion enables the religion to be “multinational, branded, and possessing an identity so they don't get lost” (de Botton). Therefore, it is unsurprising how the secular world have adapted various religious holidays and integrated it into their own culture.
It is incredibly uncommon in this day and age for an individual to hold their own personal religion and line of beliefs. In most cases it wouldn 't even be categorized as a religion. Religion requires multiple persons. It is the breeding of individuals who see community as a defining factor in advancing their religious beliefs and immersing such beliefs into their lives. The aspect of community works differently amongst various religions, but one thing that seems to hold true across the board is that religion functions as a “social glue”. It can serve to hold individuals together, as well as an entire group of people. The counter-argument to this would certainly be that religion instead serves to rip communities apart. The latter to this is prominent in religious communities whose sole function is to impound intense religiosity into individuals in an atmosphere where the extensive nature and uniform of their beliefs are the highest priority. Jesus Camp, is a documentary that makes light of how religious communities function
The Western church is described as being smaller in land mass, and less diverse (Shields, & Butzu, 2007, p. 103). The Eastern church is described as being quite vast, and full of different types of people (each with their own languages and customs that had an effect on the development of their worship styles and methods). Further we discover that the West had celebrated a time of peace (Christianity was legal, so there was a significant decrease in martyrdom), conversely the Eastern church was geographically located closely to an Islamic population, which meant it had a large military in comparison to the West. I should also point out that there was a shift in this time-period of the church providing what can be described as a governmental role, so in a very practical way being a bishop in the East could mean sending troops to defend members of your church (Shields, & Butzu, 2007, p. 103).
Upon arriving at the meeting, Tom H., the apparent leader of the meeting, came up and introduced himself to me and asked if I was a student. I don’t know if I stuck out or it was the notebook I held that gave me away. There were eighteen people in attendance, which I thought was a pretty large group. There were nine women and nine men. The meeting began with a moment of silence and the Serenity Prayer.
The writings of Fyodor Dostoevsky and Helen Ellerbe show substantial evidence that the orthodox Christians did in fact steal from humanity the divine freedom it was promised by Jesus Christ. This thesis is supported in Dostoevsky's "The Grand Inquisitor" from his book The Brothers Karamazov. The dark side of Christian history by Helen Ellerbe also supports this theory. The Inquisition itself shows credibility to the theory that orthodox Christianity was established to conquer and control the freedom of humans.
Church is a major part of my life. I have always gone to church. It is a part of who I am. Church is not only about sitting through church services. I am currently involved in Russian school, Sunday school, camps, wind ensemble, teens’ group, teens' choir, and youth group. There are so many engaging activities and groups that bring together our community, defining who we are as individuals and as a society.
Judaism is one of the most widely practiced religions in the world. It is also the oldest monotheistic religion, originating at least 3,000 years ago. There are three different kinds of Judaism, Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. Orthodox is the most traditional and had changed very little over the years. Conservative has changed to fit the times without losing much tradition. Reform Judaism is most modern of the three. No matter which kind of Judaism someone practices, in order to be considered Jewish they must practice Jewish traditions, observe Jewish law, and believe in God.
...agreed with, some that frustrated, and some that embarrassed me when my personal preferences defied logic or biblical mandate. I would recommend this reading to any who impact church worship (employee or volunteer). Not as a firm guide, but as thought-provoking advice on how corporate worship can impact an ever-changing culture. I think any worship leader would be impacted by Dawn’s questions:
Waxman, Ruth. "Women as Prayer Leaders and Their Role in in Communal Prayer." Judaism 42.4 (1993): Print.
Reform Judaism is a branch of Judaism that is more modernized, open-ended, and open to change. It focuses in on protecting the Jewish traditions but also opening their arms to everyone. Reform Judaism was established in the 18th century in Germany and was an attempt to modify Jewish laws, practices, and traditions to better fit social, cultural, political, and personal needs of the modern day. One of the central features of Reform Judaism is their evolving state of the religion. Reform Judaism did not just evolve by coincidence, it evolved when it did not see itself as open and affirming. The religion is significantly impacted by The United States culture. Reform Judaism is an evolving state of religion that seeks to modernize their beliefs and ideals to fit more of a Western culture.
The central idea of Judaism involves a commitment by the Jewish people to a single, omnipotent, incorporeal God, who is the creator and ruler of the universe and the source of a moral law for humanity. Judaism’s entire body of beliefs and teachings are outlined in the Torah. Within the Torah, Jewish people find the many different texts and rules that prescribes to them how to live properly as the chosen people of God. Judaism has been alive for thousands of years and is still being practiced today in the modern society.
The Society Religion as a Social Glue The view in the title is a functionalist’s view. Durkheim claims that religion is to do with the sacred and certain things, people and places are perceived to be sacred for example Jesus Christ, totem and the Tajmahal. He claims that what people perceive to be sacred are actually symbols of a collective consciousness. By worshipping these sacred things etc. they are actually reinforcing the beliefs, values, norms and tradition which make social life possible.
The background of Orthodox Judaism traces back to towards the end of the eighteenth century as a reaction to the events that were taking place around this time. The age of Enlightenment was one of these events, followed by Jewish emancipation. The results of these events were a society reformed by the use of reasoning and the rights of the European Jews being expanded in many nations. Orthodox Judaism was produced as an outcome of the many upcoming branches of Judaism. “Orthodox Judaism views itself as the continuation of the beliefs and practices of normative Judaism, as accepted by the Jewish nation at Mt. Sinai and codified in successive generations in an ongoing process that continues to this day. While all orthodox movements are similar in their beliefs and observance, they differ in the details that are emphasized and in their attitudes toward modern culture and the State of Israel. Modern Orthodox tend to be a bit more liberal and more Zionistic” (Katz). The first five books of the Hebrew Bible, the Torah, and the oral Torah hold authority in the Jewish honor. Rambam’s thirteen Principles of Faith are the major beliefs of Orthodox Judaism in a nutshell.
My previous knowledge of Judaism and Jews was only what I saw in television sitcoms and movies, which satirically portrayed them as rich and traditional in nature. Embarking on this Comparative Religion course, I knew there would be some revelations on many of the religions being discussed but so far, Judaism has surprised me the most. This is not because of their spirituality, but there customs and strict adherence to tradition.
Many countries around the world decide to ban clothes and jewelry with religious significance in public places. France, Belgium and Britain decide to ban all religious significance like veil, turban and cross in Christianity. These countries decide to ban religious significant after they provide evidence that it might affect the safety of society and it’s against human rights (Islamic veil across Europe - BBC News, 2014). But this ban is also will affect the rights of other people in the society. This ban affects people life and changes it negatively. Also, it maybe affects the society in negative way. This paper will argue that people should be free to wear clothes and jewelry with religious significant, because ban religious significant is