Post 10

1. Read chapter seven on Judaism in Smith's book. It gives a
nice overview of Jewish beliefs and some practices (although it does lack a section explaining different types of Jews and a section offering an in depth historical outline.)

[post ten: write a general overview / summary of Judaism as
presented in chapter seven of your text.]

There is an estimated one-third of the western world has Jewish ancestry. The Jewish quest for meaning was rooted in their understanding of the Supreme Being. The glory of the Hebrew search for meaning lies in its refusal to give into any prosaic, chaotic, amoral, or hostile characteristics. Hebrew differs from neighboring religions by focusing on the personal traits of the Other in a single, nature transcending will. The Bible, in its nature was entirely created by, and under the sovereignty of the Lord of all being. They believe that if God is that to which one gives oneself completely, to have more than one God is to live a divided life. The supreme achievement of Jewish theology lay not in its monotheism but the character it ascribed to its single God. The account of creation is in the opening chapter of Genesis within the Bible. Within their views they believe that on one hand we can do something about problems and on the other hand we are helpless pawns. Much of the Greek thoughts take a dim view of matter, as well so does Indian however, the Jewish view of the material world is “very good” and radically departs from Greek and Indian philosophies. They would not even renounce the body in death, which gives a reason for their belief in resurrection. Another part of their anthropology is that without losing sight of human weakness they saw concomitantly its unspeakable grandeur. One of their greatest heroes is David who is presented in the Book of Samuel has been called the most honest historical writing of the ancient world. Jews forge their destinies through freely chosen decisions because they have never questioned human freedom. For Jews moral weakness is weighed heavier, “I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me” (Ps 51:5) In the Jewish concept of God they view God as loving and people are seen as God’s beloved children. God told Braham to go to a new land and find new people and because Abraham did that he became the first Hebrew to be considered the first of a “chosen people.” The historical outlook of the Israelites is different from that of India and Israel’s neighbors because they had a different idea of God. The Jews established history as both important and subject to review. The groundwork for the social conscience was created by Judaism and has been a hallmark of Western civilization. These are protected by religious sanctions. The Hebrew prophets were a reforming political force which history has never gone beyond and perhaps never will. Within the 613 commandments of the Rabbinic Law there are the Ten Commandments where there are four ethical precepts. They were created to control the four principal danger zones in human relationships; sex, force, wealth, and speech. When they talk of force, “Thou shalt not murder.” In regards to sex, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” As for wealth, “Thou shalt not steal.” And for speech, “Thou shalt not bear false witness.” The Western Civilization owes its convictions of individual responsibility, social structures of their society, and a basic idea of justice to the Prophets. The prophetic movement passed through three stages; The Prophetic Guilds, Individual Pre-Writing Prophets, and the great Writing Prophets. The prophets heard God’s warning to shape up or suffer the consequences. They believe that every human is a child of God and therefore in possession of rights that even kings must respect. The deepest meaning the Jews found in their Exile was that of vicarious suffering. The meaning for their suffering climaxed in Messianism. There was an upward tilt of Jewish hopes and imaginings impressed on the Western mind. The Messianic idea came to have two sides one being a politico-national side and a spiritual-universal side. Another tension reflected the restorative and utopian impulses in Judaism. Messianists differed concerning whether the new order would be continuous with previous history or replace it with an aeon that was supernaturally different in kind. Judaism is the most historically minded of all the religions and finds holiness and history inseparable. The Jews recorded Yahweh’s (God) disclosures in a book called the Torah. The Israelite’s God had come to them through an historical event. Because of this the Jews do not consider themselves special. They in fact believe that they were not singled out for privileges but for responsibilities, they were chosen to serve.


Thank God you (Professor Diem) for providing an Internet sources to research Judaism. Cause this chapter in our book really didn’t make that much sense to me. Bellow is a summary I gathered from the Internet recourses you provided that I feel were not mentioned within our chapter in our book:

In 2000 BCE God made Abraham the patriarch of many nations. Judaism is an Abrahamic Religion because it can trace its religious roots to Abraham. Judaism prohibits against the spelling of the full title of God. During the extent of this essay God is referred to as G-d. There are Jewish Scriptures called Tanakh, however called the Old Testament by Christians which consists of three books; the Torha (which has Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), the Nevi’im (which is composed of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings, Isaiah, Jeremia, Ezekiel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zachariah, and Malach Isaiah) and the Ketuvim (which has the Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Ruth, Esther, Lamentations, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles). The basic Jewish beliefs were written by Rabbi Hillel during Medieval times and are as follows; (1) God exists, (2) God is one and unique, (3) God is incorporeal, (4) God is eternal, (5) Prayer is to be directed to God alone and to no other, (6) The words of the prophets are true, (7) Moses was the greatest of the prophets and his prophecies are true, (8) The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings now contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses, (9) There will be no other Torah, (10) God knows the thoughts and deeds of men, (11) God will reward the good and punish the wicked, (12) The Messiah will come, (13) The dead will be resurrected. Some Jewish Practices include observation of the weekly Sabbath as a day of rest. This starts at sundown on Friday evening. Jewish males must have a regular attendance at Synagogue. There is an annual celebration of Passover held each spring were a ritual Seder meal is eaten. A Seder meal is where six foods are placed on a seder plate; Karpas (veggies dipped in salt water), Maror (bitter herbs), Chazeret (bitter veggies), Choroset (apple, nuts & spices with wine). There is also Zeroa (lamb shankbone) and Beitzah (roasted egg), which are not eaten on the seder plate. There are other celebrations like Rosh Hashanah, which is the Jewish New Year. Yom Kippur, which is 10 days from Rosh Hashanah and is a day of fasting until sundown. Sukkoth, which is harvest festival for 8 days. Hanukkah where an 8-day feast occurs. These are just some of the celebrations that occur within the Jewish religion. There are different sects of Judaism which include; Conservative, Orthodox, and Reform (these three are the largest). There is also Humanistic, and Reconstructionist. The Jewish community has some dietary laws, which are described as eating kosher-style. These laws are described within the Kashrut and describe foods they can and cannot eat and how they must be prepared and eaten. Fruits and veggies must not have bugs or worms in side of them. Meat and dairy must be kept separate. Utensils that are used must be kept separate (ie. Utensils used to cook dairy must not be used to cook meat.).