Free Jewish Essays and Papers

Although changes have been made to Jewish divorce laws, women are continually being mistreated when dealing with the issues of divorce. In biblical times, there were no assurances that women would be protected when faced with a man who wanted a divorce. Furthermore, women were not allowed to initiate the process by asking for one. As time went on, it was recognized that women needed to be somewhat shielded from actions that her husband could take, which she had no control over. Rabbinic law made

A Jewish Reading of Milton John Milton produced some of the most memorable Christian texts in English literature. Central pieces of Milton’s work, including Paradise Lost and Samson Agonistes, specifically allude to stories that Judaism and Christianity hold in common. Historically, the anti-monarchical regime Milton supported, under the leadership of Cromwell, informally allowed Jews back into England in 1655 after Edward I exiled them in 1290 (Trepp 151). Additionally, seventeenth-century

been bad for Judaism? Samuel Heilman made it clear that materialistic gain has led to the fall of Jewish culture. Have Jews turned their religious lives solely to conform to the Catholic American society? Heilman gives the argument that since Jews have moved up the socio-economic ladder, they actually lost focus on what it means to be a Jew. One must first answer the question of what is being Jewish? Is it simply something inherited? Does it mean living ones life solely regarding what the Torah tells

Jewish Resistance We must first realize that resistance was in no way a survival strategy. Yet, even when it seemed obvious that death was near inevitable, why did they not put up a fight? This argument is still puzzling to many holocaust historians, yet the arguments of Raul Hilberg and Yehuda Bauer offer insight to possible reasons why they did not fight and that resistance was more widespread than most people think. First of all we will look at Raul Hilberg’s “Two Thousand Years of Jewish Appeasement

Jewish Perceptions of Jesus Christ Christianity and Judaism are major world religions which, though they worship the same God, have marked differences which have caused two thousand years of strife and animosity between the two religions. In his book We Jews and Jesus, Samuel Sandmel likens the link between Judaism and Christianity to a type of parent-child relationship, saying, “Early Christianity was a Judaism; within a century after the death of Jesus it was a separate religion. It was critical

Jewish Philosophers on Reason and Revelation Footnotes are Misssing ABSTRACT: Are reason and revelation different sources of truth? Do they contradict or complement each other? The present essay tries to give an answer to these ancient questions from a Jewish pluralistic point of view. I describe the essential views of the most important representatives of the two main schools of Jewish thought: the rationalists Maimonides, Moses Mendelssohn, and Hermann Cohen, and the antirationalists Judah

Jewish Persecution The Jewish Persecution began during 1933. The Jews were faced with the terrorist group called the National Socialist German Workers party (Nazi) hate this happened when Hitler came into power. He devised labor camps where he would send individuals who opposed his ideas, and Jews. The conditions in these camps were so bad that it is hard to describe them. The prisoners were treated very badly. In this time, the Nazi government continued to deprive Jews of their rights and

years prior. Jeremiah was one of a group of distinguished prophets whose works became part of the Old Testament canon. The Jewish "wisdom" prophets lectured, warned and blamed all who would listen about the sins of their own people, the resulting punishments that God had prescribed for them, and what they had to do to get back into God's good graces. Some prophets targeted Jewish monarchs as an idolatrous distraction which prevented the people from properly hearing the Word of God. Other prophets still

Jewish Unity We learn history so we are not doomed to repeat it; but Jewish history has been repeating for thousands of years. Ever since the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem the Jewish people have been stuck in a dangerous pattern. The force that keeps it going is the fact that Jews have a strong tendency to argue and disagree. It seems like a small problem but it can end friendships, form splits in communities and create conflicting sects of Judaism. Following the pattern, God

Tragedy in Jewish History The Jews are a people with a multitude of dilemmas. From the Israelite tribes to the prosperous modern day Israel , bigotry towards the Jews has been greatly evident. The Jewish race has acted as Escape Goat for many crisis throughout history including the black plague which swept across Europe in the 14th century. The establishment of Israel was a great incident was something the Jewish people were striving to obtain for generations. This, however, led to

Jewish History Ever since the Jews were driven from their homeland (now known as Israel) they have faced discrimination and prejudice, mainly due to their beliefs and culture. They spread throughout the world and in some countries they were welcomed and enjoyed periods of peace with their neighbors, however in Europe the population was mainly Christian and the Jews found themselves being branded as outsiders. The reason Jewish and Christian populations couldn’t get along was due to different

Jewish Religions Passover (Pesah), which celebrates the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt, begins on the fifteenth of the month of Nisan and continues for seven days, through Nisan 21, though many Diaspora communities celebrate it for eight days (Strassfeld, Michael, 1985). The name Passover is taken from the Exodus story: During the tenth and ultimate plague inflicted on Pharaoh to break his will, God passed over the Israelites and struck down only the Egyptian firstborn. That night Pharaoh

The Jewish Community in Italy Problems with format For centuries, there has been a Jewish community in parts of present-day Italy, dating back to the Roman Empire. In addition to religious differences, Jews were faced with political challenges as well. The Emperor was included in the pantheon of Roman tradition, which added a political obligation to religious, and thus Roman citizens were required to ?conciliate the gods.? For Jews, this requirement created many consequences.[1] According to

The History of Jewish Persecution Every religious group has suffered a time when their religion was not considered to be popular or right. Out of all of these religious groups that have suffered, no one group has suffered so much as that of the Jewish religion. They have been exiled from almost every country that they have ever inhabited, beginning with Israel, and leading all the was up to Germany, France, Spain, England, and Russia. Not only have they been exiled but also they have suffered

Throughout Jewish History we have seen significant transitions from 2,000 B.C.E. to 1492 C.E. These transitions changed many different aspects of Jewish life. There are three specific events or turning points that caused tremendous change in Jewish life and had many ramifications. These three events were the Formation of the United Monarchy, the Rise of Hellenism and the Golden Age of Spain. Each of these transitions impacted Judaism in different ways that changed it forever. The different groups

Crime Report accounts that Jewish people are affected more by hate crimes than any other religion. According to the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum, “Antisemitism is the prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews… can manifest itself in a number of forms, including discrimination against individuals, the dissemination of hate literature about Jewish people, arson directed against Jewish cultural or religious institutions, or organized violence against Jewish communities (pog... ...

The Jewish people have always been faced with harsh repression and anti-Semitism dating back thousand of years. This astonishing fact is greatly substantiated by divine writings of the Torah. Eastern European Jews from the eighteenth century and up until mid-to-late twentieth century did not deviated from their Jewish ancestor's clichéd treatment, and they too have also faced incomprehensible amounts of hatred and ignorance. It is known that repression breeds revolutions; inevitably this is the path

Jewish Women: Keeping the Faith Jewish women in Tucson and Nogales played an enormous role in keeping the Jewish community intact in these areas. Women in these communities did this through their involvement in the religious institutions, including synagogues and other places of worship. The pioneer Jewish women and the Jewish women of today in the southwest had and still have dominant roles in keeping their religion alive in Arizona. To understand the breadth of women’s involvement in the

Moses Mendelssohn: A New Jewish Faith ‘Among the precepts and statues of the Mosaic law there is none saying “Thou shalt believe” or “Thou shalt not believe”; all say “Thou shalt do” or not do. Faith accepts no commands; it accepts only what comes to it by way of reasoned conviction. All commandments of the divine law are addressed to the will, to man’s capacity to act.’ (Glatzer 511). In considering who is a Jew, one must first gather a concrete conception of Judaism. Moses Mendelssohn offers

Sabbath in the Jewish Home and Synagogue The Sabbath (Shabbat) is the most important festival of the Jewish calendar and is celebrated at least fifty-two times a year. Jews celebrate the Sabbath because it is believed that God rested on the seventh day. Jews also celebrate Sabbath because of the exodus from slavery in Egypt. The ancient Israelites were determined never to be enslaved again and one of the Ten Commandments tells Jews they should remember how hard it is to work without rest