Free Halakha Essays and Papers

called Midrash was compiled in the first 10 centuries in CE. What are the two types of Midrash and how are they different? The two types of Midrash are Midrash Aggada and Midrash Halakha. Aggada focuses on characters and their stories. The stories help explain the portion of the Torah, similar to a flashback. A Halakha is more focused on law and practice and directly explains the reasoning behind laws, like

The Chained Women: When Religion and the State Intersect When Israel was conceived as a Jewish state, questions arose over the division between the religious and the secular. Judaism is grounded in halakha, a detailed set of laws which guides observant Jews, but debate continues over whether Israel should adopt these religious laws to govern a largely secular population. Contradictions exist between the ancient laws and modern ideals, especially regarding women’s rights. Most developed states

(the Rabbis) in a religion that was historically centered on divine authority. In doing so, the Rabbis were able to interpret the God-given laws of Halakha and make informed decisions regarding the application of those laws to various situations that Jews around the world encountered, on a case-by-case basis. Examples of changing the applicability of Halakha abound, and can be separated into several categories: adaptations to geographical change, adaptations to political ch... ... middle of paper

The Role of Women in Judaism Some say that the role of women in Judaism has been misrepresented and misunderstood. Today when people think of women's role in Judaism, they think of them as being of very low importance. Yet, threw the Halakha (Jewish laws) we are able to see how significant the role of women is in Judaism. There are many Jewish feminist leaders in today's society. This is because throughout the years of education and study of Judaism, the women learned that everyone must be respected

Judaism has survived throughout history by being flexible and by admitting foreign influences into its practice. Its success in the 21st century depends on its ability to continue doing this in response to the pressures of modernity. Judaism has endured the challenges imposed upon it, by its ability to preserve deep-rooted traditions of the past. It is through maintaining customs from preceding times that defines the foundations of modern day Jewish practice, be it through observance, prayer or

History of Judaism a. Israel Basic Judaism is Israel's existence and calls as well as membership by birth , although the door is open also for proselytes . There is no evidence that Judaism understands the OT teachings about the existence of ' the rest ' . Motto that ' All Israel will inherit the world who will come ' is generally accepted . Only apostasy ( a term which means not steady ) is usually considered to be the only barrier to enjoy it . In this environment everyone is a brother Israelite

The Role of Women within Orthodox Judaism 1 Since the beginning of the Jewish religion, women have had what seems to be a marginalized role that encompasses almost every facet of life. In many cases within the body of Jewish texts, clear misogynist statements and commentary are made dealing with every aspect of what it means to be female. Within the Orthodox movement, these restrictions appear to be the most prevalent. Through examination of the role of women within the key

Purim Mordechai and Esther, with the approval of the Rabbis of the time, introduced a mitzvas assei(1) which obligates every person to send two different kinds of foods to one friend on Purim. Two basic reasons are given for this mitzvah: There are impoverished people who are too embarrassed to collect tzedakah for themselves and will therefore not have food for the seudas Purim. By establishing a system whereby everyone receives packages of food on Purim, the rabbis ensured that even

Reform Judaism In the 19th Century The most extreme precursor to the Reform movement was a man by the name of Samuel Holdheim. He was born in 1806 in Kempo in the province of Posen. At a young age he studied at a yeshiva and received a Talmudic education. He began to study German and secular subjects after his marriage to a woman with a modern education. After their divorce several years later, he began studying at the University of Prague and Berlin and received a doctorate from

The Rites of Passage Within Judaism (a) Examine the rituals and teachings which are associated with circumcision and Bar Mitzvah (20 marks) Two very important rites of passage within Judaism are circumcision and Bar Mitzvah, both of which are only for boys and happen during childhood. Circumcision, also known as Brit Millah, symbolizes the covenant between God and the Jewish people, which was agreed with Abraham. In return for Jewish people physically showing their Jewish faith through