This article was a lot to take in, and I definitely had a hard time reading through it. I didn't realize how little I knew about Judaism and how complex it is as a religion. Not only is Judaism complex but it has a long, and interesting history. The majority of its rituals and teachings are rooted in it's history and I find that fascinating. Judaism does not have a moment like Christianity and Islam where a prophet or Messiah such as Muhammad or Jesus begins and shapes the religion. Instead Judaism is a culmination of years and year of history, teachings, scriptures, and tradition. I was especially interested in the importance of agriculture in Judaism. Agriculture and the harvests shape the majority of religious holidays in Judaism such as Hanuka and Passover. I am sure that the importance of agriculture in the religion shapes their approach to the environment and I am interested to find out what their stance is.
I was aslo really interested in the way the article divided up the history of Judaism. To me, the third period, the Rabbinic Period, was really interesting because the rabbis stepped up to lead the Jewish faith and yet during this time came the idea of the Bar Mitzvah, which focuses on the individual and what they themselves can do to find their place in the world and in the Jewish faith. In the fourth period, the Diaspora had Jews fleeing to all parts of Europe and the Middle East. While the world was dominated by Islam and Christianity, Jews had to find their place. Because of the strong influences of Christianity and Islam during this period, Judaism would be forever altered by both religions. Lastly, I was really interested at the discussion of modern Judaism toward the end of the article, which notes that feminism and fundamentalism are two growing movements in contemporary Judaism. Fundamentalism in particular was interesting to me because out of traditionalist religions, the article points out, often stirs a militant nature. This is interesting because to me, the Jewish faith has always seemed the least violent of the Western religions.
I agree with Maddie, in that the third period of Judaism, the Rabbinic period, is quite fascinating. After the destruction of the second temple, the people lost touch with God. There was a large theological problem at hand. Humankind had sinned, but whether or not that meant the covenant was over is unclear. Now that the Bible was canonized, the Jews were passed the age of prophecy. With no prophets to help guide the Jews, Rabbis, experts in reading and explaining the Bible, filled in the gaps. A new school of thought emerged: Now we learn from interpretation of the past. New theological ideas and approaches to religious practice began to emerge as well. The Rabbi's arose in response to an era marked by disunity and turmoil. The Rabbis responded to the crisis by developing a Talmud, an interpretation of the Torah that dealt with not only legal principles, but also theological and moral principles as well. This brought people together and gave people a sense of unity. In the wake of destruction, it gave people hope and strength to go on. Jews believed that they have sinned, but God could forgive them through their good deeds and merits. New forms of sacrifice emerged in the form of prayer and study. Education became a main goal in the lives of Jews. I believe that it is extremely fascinating to observe such a grandiose and influential movement in past history. Perhaps if Rabbi's were once able to mend a fragmented and hopeless religion in the past, humankind has the ability to come together and fix our ecological dilemma in the present?
After reading this article, I found it interesting how being jewish means more than just practicing the religion. Judaism seems to not only be a belief system, but also an ethnic group. The article states that 'not all Jews practice Judaism as a religion; nor does every form of Judaism constitute a religious expression.' Even though the religion accepts converts, they still seem unsure over whether or not those converts are actually 'Jewish' in the fullest sense of the word. For example, the article mentions the Law of Return of the State of Israel, which grants citizenship to all "Jews." However, what constitutes a "Jew" under this law is still a controversial topic. Also, though some sects have stopped following this idea, Judaism originally held that only children born from a Jewish mother were considered to be Jewish. It seems to me that Judaism holds some sort of fundamental belief that the ethnicity and blood relation to Jewish ancestors is important to being fully Jewish.
Judaism and its belief structures, like all religions, has its own uniqueness that makes it difficult to fully be able to make a comprehensive generalization about its beliefs. Because Judaism has been shaped and modeled the numerous cultures that rose and fell around it, it has numerous aspects from a myriad cultures. A significant example that the text provides is the emancipation from the European ghettos in the 1870s. During this time Jews were allowed to pursue professions in the fields of physics, chemistry, mathematics, and biology. As they began to excel in these disciplines a certain connectedness to the Torah was severed and in some instances replaced with a secular, yet heavily cultural Jewish lifestyle. Although I knew that Zionism is a particularly important doctrine in modern Judaism, I did not realize its deeper consequences for the connection between Jews and the Earth. For the first time in a in over a millennia, Jews were not only allowed to dream of a homeland, but were allowed to make it a reality. In doing so many Jews rooted their faith to the Earth, reestablishing their connection to God like in the creation story. However, once again, historical circumstances prescribed different goals for the Jewish populace: survival. Surrounded by hostile neighbors environmentalism fell by the wayside in the name of security. I did realize that in some respects Judaism is quite removed from nature because it was not recognized as holy. However, in my synagogue, ideas like tikkun olam that originated out of the early rabbinic period have been enriched and revived . Tikkun Olam roughly translates to repairing the world, Jews have an active duty to do mitzvot and good deeds to repair the earth. Lately this has taken on the banner of environmentalism. I am interested to see how this evolves over time.
To be completely honest reading this article kind of depressed. Being a Jew it was kind of embarrassing to be reading this and not already knowing most of what I was reading. I thought the most interesting part of the overview to be that Judaism is much more historical based than other religions. Similarly to Andrea, I found it very interesting to read about importance of agriculture in Judaism. It is ironic that I have been celebrating many Jewish holidays my whole life and never even picked up on the agriculture aspect of it all. I also agree with Maddie that the most interesting part of the overview was the part that discussed the Rabbinic Period. I think there is still a lot to learn about my religion and I am looking forward to our next class lecture to find our more.
Before I read this article, I do not know what Judaism is at all. I thought that Christian is different from Judaism, but I am wrong. Actually Christian is similar to Judaism. Abram was a follower of Christ and he listened to God that he should go to a new place, and then God will provide land and let him have children. God will bless him every day. Abram is the first one who believed in one God and his son started the Judaism. I also learned that Jews has very strong relationship with Judaism. They have to follow the rules that God gave them, which is Rabbinic Law. If they want to become a part of Judaism, they cannot just decide by themselves, which means that become a part of Judaism is an important and a holy thing. I also learned that Islamic region had deep consequences for Judaism. I also think that lots of religions are similar. I say this because many religions testaments were written in similar stories and they all believe God. I always think that if they believed in the same God but have different views or different cultures because in the Bible, God says that I will make people do not understand each other’s language. Anyway, I think the relationship between Jews and Judaism is what we should think more about.
I read this chapter a little differently than those about the religions we learned about thus far. My mother's side is Jewish and therefore I read it in a bit more personal way, not as if I was learning about some foreign religion but more learning about myself and my family. I was a little disappointed in myself and my knowledge of part of my family's religion. For me, I specifically enjoyed reading about Rabbinic Period. I had never heard nor really wondered about this period and transformation in the religion. Despite this, the affects of this period have been quite present in my life. Namely, the idea of a focus on teaching and learning. I have always felt my Jewish family valued questioning, curiosity and exploration by the youth and showing, telling and teaching by the adults. It was interesting to see an early example of how this arose as a value in the religion and how a transformation like the Rabbinic Period could change the way an entire population of people lived their lives. It made me a little more optimistic that the work religious leaders do today in respect to the environment could have greater an impact than I originally thought.
This article both informed and confused me. It gave me a better understanding of how Judaism is a culture and a religion and helped me understand how Judaism is passed down. Before reading this article I knew that Hasidism was somehow related to Judaism but I didn't know much about it. I now know that it is a modern Jewish religion that interprets parts of Judaism in new ways. They believe in a pantheistic God that is still able to reside in humans. Although I am more clear on some aspects of Judaism, this article also left me feeling confused about some of the new things I learned from it. Because Judaism has such a long and complex history, I feel like taking a history course on the subject would be the only way to truly get a better understanding of this fascinating religion.
I found this article to be extremely informative. Although at times the word choice was complex and I don't think I would be able to say that I 100% understood everything that was said in this article, I did find it very interesting that the author took us to the beginning of Judaism-- explaining the religion from its roots. I agree with Ellyse in that taking a history course on the religion would serve better to completely understand it, however the article was a good start. What I found particularly interesting (and hoped that the author would discuss) is the difference in religion and identity that has developed within Judaism. People today can do away with the religion, and yet still hold on to their Jewish identity. This fact alone signifies the strength of Judaism to me, and the strong bond that the members of the religion have with on another. In my past experiences, I have always seen this and remarked on it but it was interesting to read about it in such a scholarly article about the religion.
In my experience, I have always found Jews to be some of the most informed people of their own history. As someone mentioned above, being Jewish does not only signify one's participation in a religion but one's membership in an ethnic group.
Also as others stated, the history is rich, long, and winding, and thus rather difficult to comprehend unless one has been learning it from an early age. Because Judaism stems from the Old Testament and ideas of God/concepts that most main religions today share (and because, of the three major religions, Judaism came first) I think a class on this subject would be infinitely beneficial. I personally am ashamed that I know so little about the religion. I will not permit myself to visit Israel or the holy lands surrounding it without first educating myself, because most of the significance would be lost on me.
Anyway, from the article, I got the idea that Judaism is more ecocentric than, say, Eastern Orthodoxy, but, as will all the religions we studied, stems ultimately from an idea of human dominance. When the article mentions animal sacrifice and how animals/plants, etc. were regarded as sacred and to be treated well, this treatment of them was only so that they would be "pure" and ready to SERVE HUMANS as human sacrifices.
I have very little knowledge of Judaism and its history so this section was quite enlightening to me. Like Alex, I did not realize how important Zionism was to the Jews and their beliefs regarding the environment. Nevertheless, security circumstances led them to be less caring of the environment. Also, the way the book laid out the Rabbinic Period was very interesting. I liked how during this period, new traditions were created in order for Jews to find their places in the world, as Maddie said. Because of the historical circumstances of the time, Jews needed to find their place in a world of Islam and Christianity. Overall, I found it really interesting to find out the reasons behind all of the practices in Judaism.
This reading was very enlightening. Although, I am Jewish, I am not very religious. When people ask me, it's difficult to explain that Judaism is more of a culture to me than it is a religion. I think this reading really put my thoughts into words. Judaism is so focused on culture and tradition that to me, its more of an identity than just the belief in God.
I have been affiliated with different Jewish organizations and synagogues my entire life, so it's king of embarrassing that I didn't know a lot of what was in the reading. Although I have never studied the religion in depth, I kind of figured I knew the important things since I was raised in a Jewish family and we abide by many of the Jewish laws and celebrate the holidays. Along with a lot of the class, I too was not aware of the Rabbinic period which really surprised me because the history of Judaism is often taught chronologically so i would have thought that I would have heard it mentioned at least a couple times.
This reading was definitely different for me to read because it was on a more personal level.
I found this reading to be very straight forward and informative. Some of the other readings so far from this book got me more confused about the religion than i already was but this reading helped to clarify many things for me. As was mentioned above, it was interesting how important agriculture is to the Jewish faith. Many of the major holidays, ones that Gentiles are less or not aware of, coincide with times of harvest or changes in season. I also found the Rabbinic Period to be very interesting and looked up Kabbalah, the school of thought regarding mystical Rabbinic Judaism. It was very interesting to read about and brought this reading full circle for me because of the extensive history and development of teachings. Because Judaism is so rich in history and tradition and because it is the parent religion to Islam and Christianity it holds a special place in my religious heart.
My knowledge of Judaism has always been limited and this reading helped me understand a lot of the things which I already knew as well as the many things that I learned. While reading I found several things interesting, the first of which is the Zionist movement. I never thought of Zionism as a secular movement, although its focus was on establishing a national homeland I always believed it to be more religiously based. Secondly, I found the environmental ethic in Jewish legal sources so be surprisingly eco-friendly. As Judaism is an Abrahamic religion I believed that Jews would have a similar view of nature based upon the Old testament statements of "dominion". However, there were many examples of Jewish law that promoted and protected the environment because many Jews see the causal connection between moral quality of human life and the vitality of Gods creation. Even the securalized ZIonist movement protects the nature because it is the "resource for revival" of the Jewish people. This reading certainly surprised me in how ecocentric Judaism is despite my previous beliefs.
I sympathize with Steven and others alike who are Jewish and up to this point did not realize how uninformed they are. Being part of those select few, I was personally astounded by the complexity of the religion and the rich history behind it. One thing that especially stuck out to me was the section describing the destruction of the Temple in Jewish Rome. After the loss of the temple, it was understood that God’s presence on earth was lost. This was particularly intriguing to me because growing up as a child, I was always taught that god was not isolated to a single entity, but rather god’s presence could be felt in everything in the physical world. The discrepancy between the history and the practice, in my experience, is an interesting phenomenon, which I would like to learn more about.
This article was relatively enjoyable and interesting to read. I have had Jewish friends in the past who have talked about their faith, and through this I have learned various details of the religion. I have not however, read any concise history or lesson about Judaism, and so I did not know many of the main themes of Judaism and how they are expressed in the faith. This article was useful to fill in that gap and to provide the needed context so that I have a much fuller understanding of the religion in general.
This article was a lot to take in, and I definitely had a hard time reading through it. I didn't realize how little I knew about Judaism and how complex it is as a religion. Not only is Judaism complex but it has a long, and interesting history. The majority of its rituals and teachings are rooted in it's history and I find that fascinating. Judaism does not have a moment like Christianity and Islam where a prophet or Messiah such as Muhammad or Jesus begins and shapes the religion. Instead Judaism is a culmination of years and year of history, teachings, scriptures, and tradition. I was especially interested in the importance of agriculture in Judaism. Agriculture and the harvests shape the majority of religious holidays in Judaism such as Hanuka and Passover. I am sure that the importance of agriculture in the religion shapes their approach to the environment and I am interested to find out what their stance is.
ReplyDeleteI was aslo really interested in the way the article divided up the history of Judaism. To me, the third period, the Rabbinic Period, was really interesting because the rabbis stepped up to lead the Jewish faith and yet during this time came the idea of the Bar Mitzvah, which focuses on the individual and what they themselves can do to find their place in the world and in the Jewish faith. In the fourth period, the Diaspora had Jews fleeing to all parts of Europe and the Middle East. While the world was dominated by Islam and Christianity, Jews had to find their place. Because of the strong influences of Christianity and Islam during this period, Judaism would be forever altered by both religions. Lastly, I was really interested at the discussion of modern Judaism toward the end of the article, which notes that feminism and fundamentalism are two growing movements in contemporary Judaism. Fundamentalism in particular was interesting to me because out of traditionalist religions, the article points out, often stirs a militant nature. This is interesting because to me, the Jewish faith has always seemed the least violent of the Western religions.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Maddie, in that the third period of Judaism, the Rabbinic period, is quite fascinating. After the destruction of the second temple, the people lost touch with God. There was a large theological problem at hand. Humankind had sinned, but whether or not that meant the covenant was over is unclear. Now that the Bible was canonized, the Jews were passed the age of prophecy. With no prophets to help guide the Jews, Rabbis, experts in reading and explaining the Bible, filled in the gaps. A new school of thought emerged: Now we learn from interpretation of the past. New theological ideas and approaches to religious practice began to emerge as well. The Rabbi's arose in response to an era marked by disunity and turmoil.
ReplyDeleteThe Rabbis responded to the crisis by developing a Talmud, an interpretation of the Torah that dealt with not only legal principles, but also theological and moral principles as well. This brought people together and gave people a sense of unity. In the wake of destruction, it gave people hope and strength to go on. Jews believed that they have sinned, but God could forgive them through their good deeds and merits. New forms of sacrifice emerged in the form of prayer and study. Education became a main goal in the lives of Jews. I believe that it is extremely fascinating to observe such a grandiose and influential movement in past history. Perhaps if Rabbi's were once able to mend a fragmented and hopeless religion in the past, humankind has the ability to come together and fix our ecological dilemma in the present?
After reading this article, I found it interesting how being jewish means more than just practicing the religion. Judaism seems to not only be a belief system, but also an ethnic group. The article states that 'not all Jews practice Judaism as a religion; nor does every form of Judaism constitute a religious expression.' Even though the religion accepts converts, they still seem unsure over whether or not those converts are actually 'Jewish' in the fullest sense of the word. For example, the article mentions the Law of Return of the State of Israel, which grants citizenship to all "Jews." However, what constitutes a "Jew" under this law is still a controversial topic. Also, though some sects have stopped following this idea, Judaism originally held that only children born from a Jewish mother were considered to be Jewish. It seems to me that Judaism holds some sort of fundamental belief that the ethnicity and blood relation to Jewish ancestors is important to being fully Jewish.
ReplyDeleteJudaism and its belief structures, like all religions, has its own uniqueness that makes it difficult to fully be able to make a comprehensive generalization about its beliefs. Because Judaism has been shaped and modeled the numerous cultures that rose and fell around it, it has numerous aspects from a myriad cultures. A significant example that the text provides is the emancipation from the European ghettos in the 1870s. During this time Jews were allowed to pursue professions in the fields of physics, chemistry, mathematics, and biology. As they began to excel in these disciplines a certain connectedness to the Torah was severed and in some instances replaced with a secular, yet heavily cultural Jewish lifestyle. Although I knew that Zionism is a particularly important doctrine in modern Judaism, I did not realize its deeper consequences for the connection between Jews and the Earth. For the first time in a in over a millennia, Jews were not only allowed to dream of a homeland, but were allowed to make it a reality. In doing so many Jews rooted their faith to the Earth, reestablishing their connection to God like in the creation story. However, once again, historical circumstances prescribed different goals for the Jewish populace: survival. Surrounded by hostile neighbors environmentalism fell by the wayside in the name of security. I did realize that in some respects Judaism is quite removed from nature because it was not recognized as holy. However, in my synagogue, ideas like tikkun olam that originated out of the early rabbinic period have been enriched and revived . Tikkun Olam roughly translates to repairing the world, Jews have an active duty to do mitzvot and good deeds to repair the earth. Lately this has taken on the banner of environmentalism. I am interested to see how this evolves over time.
ReplyDelete- Alex Leeds
To be completely honest reading this article kind of depressed. Being a Jew it was kind of embarrassing to be reading this and not already knowing most of what I was reading. I thought the most interesting part of the overview to be that Judaism is much more historical based than other religions. Similarly to Andrea, I found it very interesting to read about importance of agriculture in Judaism. It is ironic that I have been celebrating many Jewish holidays my whole life and never even picked up on the agriculture aspect of it all. I also agree with Maddie that the most interesting part of the overview was the part that discussed the Rabbinic Period. I think there is still a lot to learn about my religion and I am looking forward to our next class lecture to find our more.
ReplyDeleteBefore I read this article, I do not know what Judaism is at all. I thought that Christian is different from Judaism, but I am wrong. Actually Christian is similar to Judaism. Abram was a follower of Christ and he listened to God that he should go to a new place, and then God will provide land and let him have children. God will bless him every day. Abram is the first one who believed in one God and his son started the Judaism. I also learned that Jews has very strong relationship with Judaism. They have to follow the rules that God gave them, which is Rabbinic Law. If they want to become a part of Judaism, they cannot just decide by themselves, which means that become a part of Judaism is an important and a holy thing. I also learned that Islamic region had deep consequences for Judaism. I also think that lots of religions are similar. I say this because many religions testaments were written in similar stories and they all believe God. I always think that if they believed in the same God but have different views or different cultures because in the Bible, God says that I will make people do not understand each other’s language. Anyway, I think the relationship between Jews and Judaism is what we should think more about.
ReplyDeleteI read this chapter a little differently than those about the religions we learned about thus far. My mother's side is Jewish and therefore I read it in a bit more personal way, not as if I was learning about some foreign religion but more learning about myself and my family. I was a little disappointed in myself and my knowledge of part of my family's religion. For me, I specifically enjoyed reading about Rabbinic Period. I had never heard nor really wondered about this period and transformation in the religion. Despite this, the affects of this period have been quite present in my life. Namely, the idea of a focus on teaching and learning. I have always felt my Jewish family valued questioning, curiosity and exploration by the youth and showing, telling and teaching by the adults. It was interesting to see an early example of how this arose as a value in the religion and how a transformation like the Rabbinic Period could change the way an entire population of people lived their lives. It made me a little more optimistic that the work religious leaders do today in respect to the environment could have greater an impact than I originally thought.
ReplyDeleteThis article both informed and confused me. It gave me a better understanding of how Judaism is a culture and a religion and helped me understand how Judaism is passed down. Before reading this article I knew that Hasidism was somehow related to Judaism but I didn't know much about it. I now know that it is a modern Jewish religion that interprets parts of Judaism in new ways. They believe in a pantheistic God that is still able to reside in humans. Although I am more clear on some aspects of Judaism, this article also left me feeling confused about some of the new things I learned from it. Because Judaism has such a long and complex history, I feel like taking a history course on the subject would be the only way to truly get a better understanding of this fascinating religion.
ReplyDeleteI found this article to be extremely informative. Although at times the word choice was complex and I don't think I would be able to say that I 100% understood everything that was said in this article, I did find it very interesting that the author took us to the beginning of Judaism-- explaining the religion from its roots. I agree with Ellyse in that taking a history course on the religion would serve better to completely understand it, however the article was a good start. What I found particularly interesting (and hoped that the author would discuss) is the difference in religion and identity that has developed within Judaism. People today can do away with the religion, and yet still hold on to their Jewish identity. This fact alone signifies the strength of Judaism to me, and the strong bond that the members of the religion have with on another. In my past experiences, I have always seen this and remarked on it but it was interesting to read about it in such a scholarly article about the religion.
ReplyDeleteIn my experience, I have always found Jews to be some of the most informed people of their own history. As someone mentioned above, being Jewish does not only signify one's participation in a religion but one's membership in an ethnic group.
ReplyDeleteAlso as others stated, the history is rich, long, and winding, and thus rather difficult to comprehend unless one has been learning it from an early age. Because Judaism stems from the Old Testament and ideas of God/concepts that most main religions today share (and because, of the three major religions, Judaism came first) I think a class on this subject would be infinitely beneficial. I personally am ashamed that I know so little about the religion. I will not permit myself to visit Israel or the holy lands surrounding it without first educating myself, because most of the significance would be lost on me.
Anyway, from the article, I got the idea that Judaism is more ecocentric than, say, Eastern Orthodoxy, but, as will all the religions we studied, stems ultimately from an idea of human dominance. When the article mentions animal sacrifice and how animals/plants, etc. were regarded as sacred and to be treated well, this treatment of them was only so that they would be "pure" and ready to SERVE HUMANS as human sacrifices.
I have very little knowledge of Judaism and its history so this section was quite enlightening to me. Like Alex, I did not realize how important Zionism was to the Jews and their beliefs regarding the environment. Nevertheless, security circumstances led them to be less caring of the environment. Also, the way the book laid out the Rabbinic Period was very interesting. I liked how during this period, new traditions were created in order for Jews to find their places in the world, as Maddie said. Because of the historical circumstances of the time, Jews needed to find their place in a world of Islam and Christianity. Overall, I found it really interesting to find out the reasons behind all of the practices in Judaism.
ReplyDeleteThis reading was very enlightening. Although, I am Jewish, I am not very religious. When people ask me, it's difficult to explain that Judaism is more of a culture to me than it is a religion. I think this reading really put my thoughts into words. Judaism is so focused on culture and tradition that to me, its more of an identity than just the belief in God.
ReplyDeleteI have been affiliated with different Jewish organizations and synagogues my entire life, so it's king of embarrassing that I didn't know a lot of what was in the reading. Although I have never studied the religion in depth, I kind of figured I knew the important things since I was raised in a Jewish family and we abide by many of the Jewish laws and celebrate the holidays. Along with a lot of the class, I too was not aware of the Rabbinic period which really surprised me because the history of Judaism is often taught chronologically so i would have thought that I would have heard it mentioned at least a couple times.
This reading was definitely different for me to read because it was on a more personal level.
I found this reading to be very straight forward and informative. Some of the other readings so far from this book got me more confused about the religion than i already was but this reading helped to clarify many things for me. As was mentioned above, it was interesting how important agriculture is to the Jewish faith. Many of the major holidays, ones that Gentiles are less or not aware of, coincide with times of harvest or changes in season. I also found the Rabbinic Period to be very interesting and looked up Kabbalah, the school of thought regarding mystical Rabbinic Judaism. It was very interesting to read about and brought this reading full circle for me because of the extensive history and development of teachings. Because Judaism is so rich in history and tradition and because it is the parent religion to Islam and Christianity it holds a special place in my religious heart.
ReplyDeleteMy knowledge of Judaism has always been limited and this reading helped me understand a lot of the things which I already knew as well as the many things that I learned. While reading I found several things interesting, the first of which is the Zionist movement. I never thought of Zionism as a secular movement, although its focus was on establishing a national homeland I always believed it to be more religiously based. Secondly, I found the environmental ethic in Jewish legal sources so be surprisingly eco-friendly. As Judaism is an Abrahamic religion I believed that Jews would have a similar view of nature based upon the Old testament statements of "dominion". However, there were many examples of Jewish law that promoted and protected the environment because many Jews see the causal connection between moral quality of human life and the vitality of Gods creation. Even the securalized ZIonist movement protects the nature because it is the "resource for revival" of the Jewish people. This reading certainly surprised me in how ecocentric Judaism is despite my previous beliefs.
ReplyDeleteI sympathize with Steven and others alike who are Jewish and up to this point did not realize how uninformed they are. Being part of those select few, I was personally astounded by the complexity of the religion and the rich history behind it. One thing that especially stuck out to me was the section describing the destruction of the Temple in Jewish Rome. After the loss of the temple, it was understood that God’s presence on earth was lost. This was particularly intriguing to me because growing up as a child, I was always taught that god was not isolated to a single entity, but rather god’s presence could be felt in everything in the physical world. The discrepancy between the history and the practice, in my experience, is an interesting phenomenon, which I would like to learn more about.
ReplyDeleteThis article was relatively enjoyable and interesting to read. I have had Jewish friends in the past who have talked about their faith, and through this I have learned various details of the religion. I have not however, read any concise history or lesson about Judaism, and so I did not know many of the main themes of Judaism and how they are expressed in the faith. This article was useful to fill in that gap and to provide the needed context so that I have a much fuller understanding of the religion in general.
ReplyDelete