About
the Author
Table of Contents &
Sample Chapter for
Comparative
Religions
A Computer Database
& Handbook
(c)
1992 & 1994 D.D.
Table of Contents
Within each
geographic category, the order of presentation reflects the antiquity of
the religions:
RELIGIONS
FROM THE MIDDLE EAST
1) Judaism
2) Zoroastrianism
3) Christianity
4) Islam
5) Baha'i Faith
RELIGIONS
FROM INDIA
6) Hinduism
7) Jainism
8) Buddhism
9) Sikhism
RELIGIONS
FROM CHINA
10) Confucianism
11) Taoism
RELIGION
FROM JAPAN
12) Shinto
Presentation
of each religion is divided into the following sections (which can be more
directly compared between religions in the software version):
COMPARATIVE
CHARACTERISTICS
A) Worldly Authorities
B) Supernatural Beings/Powers
C) Morality and Salvation
D) Rituals
E) Communities
Sample
Entry:
Judaism
Worldly
Authorities
Supernatural
Beings/Powers
Morality
and Salvation
Rituals
Communities
Judaism:
Worldly Authorities
CULTURAL
BACKGROUND
The roots of
Judaism trace back to about the 20th Century B.C., in "Canaan"
(in and around modern Israel and Lebanon).
Geographically,
this has always been a land of dramatic contrasts -- at the edge of the
"endless" Mediterranean Sea, lush, fertile farmlands are
"blessed" by the Jordan and other rivers, running down from
rugged mountains "reaching to the heavens" and coursing through
wilderness areas of harsh, "cursed", "trying" deserts.
Culturally,
this area -- at the crossroads of the Old World -- had been influenced
by Egyptians (and, through them, even sub-Saharan Africans), Hittites (an
Indo-European people from modern-day Turkey and northern Syria), and
Semites (the ancestral race of both Jews and Arabs as well as of ancient
Mesopotamians).
Even at this
ancient time in Canaan, as throughout the "Fertile Crescent",
there were well-established beliefs in divine law and justice, prophets,
and the "cosmology" of the universe (as in the story of Noah and
the many other awe-inspiring accounts of "The Flood" -- this
event, recorded by a variety of some of the world's very first written
literature, was almost certainly a result of the melting of glaciers at
end of the last Ice Age, ca. 7,000 years ago). As in most other areas of
the world, religion was typically polytheistic; and ironically, the early
Jewish people were probably polytheistic, too (with a supreme god
eventually becoming worshiped as the one and only God).
FOUNDER
The
"Patriarch" [Founding Father] of the Jewish people was Abraham,
who probably lived sometime in the 18th to 16th Centuries B.C. (Judaism is
more than a religion -- it is a culture, some might say a race, of
people).
According to
originally oral, eventually written Biblical stories, this Semitic man was
born at Ur, one of the world's very first cities, in ancient Babylonia
(where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers come together).
With his father, Terah, he moved to Haran, in northern Mesopotamia.
After the death of his father, Abram (as he was then known) was
instructed by God to migrate to the land between the River Jordan and the
Mediterranean Sea, "Canaan" [in and around modern Israel and
Lebanon], where he would build an altar to God at the town of Bethel.
Abram and his
wife, Sarah, were childless and very old.
So that they might leave an heir, Sarah gave Abram an Egyptian
serving-maid, Hagar, who bore Abram a son, Ishmael (Such practices were
not unusual, amongst those who could afford it, and not considered amoral
in those days in that part of the world.).
However, God promised Abram that he and Sarah would together be
parents and that their ancestors would be more numerous than the stars in
the sky: God changed his name
from Abram [High Father] to Abraham [Father of Many Nations].
Although ridiculed by others for making this claim, Abraham and
Sarah indeed "had the last laugh" (if you will):
She bore him a son, whom they named Isaac [One Who Laughs] and whom
God insisted was the true heir of Abraham. Growing up with his thus
favored half-brother, Ishamael became jealous; and Sarah had Abraham
banish him and his mother to the desert, where God would save them with
the miraculous gift of a spring. The
descendants of the eventually 12 sons of Ishmael -- also claiming Abraham
as their Patriarch -- would be many of the tribes of Arabs.
Having been
promised and miraculously delivered by God, Isaac was lavished with
special attention by Abraham. However, God then instructed Abraham to make
a human sacrifice of Isaac on Mount Moriah.
Despite his anguished reluctance, Abraham obeyed God's will and led
the unknowing Isaac to the altar. At
the last moment, with Abraham's dagger poised to strike, God miraculously
provided an animal to sacrifice in Isaac's stead:
Isaac's life was spared, Abraham's faith had been tested and found
strong, and God's "Covenant" with Abraham was sealed -- the
heirs of Abraham, the Jewish people, would be the "Chosen
People", with special blessings from and responsibilities to God.
Before he
would die (at a biblically old age), Abraham would arrange for Isaac to be
married to the kind Rebecca, from his native Mesopotamia; and Abraham
would also successfully implore God to spare his innocent nephew Lot,
captured by one of the four invading armies he had defeated, from the
fiery destruction of the sinful cities of Sodom and Gommorah.
SACRED
WRITINGS
Sacred
writings are especially important to the Jewish people:
They believe that the will of God is for people to learn from the
scriptures and apply their lessons. However,
Jewish oral traditions would not be committed to writing until ca. 1000
B.C. -- millennia after Noah, centuries after Abraham -- during a period
of considerable Jewish strength and at least temporary stability.
The Old
Testament of the Christian Bible consists of the sometimes prophetic,
often lyrical, usually historical, and always ethical and exquisitely
literate writings of the ancient Hebrew Bible, whose first 5 books, the
"Pentateuch", or "Five Books of Moses", or
"Torah" (The generic term "torah" referring to all
Jewish writings and oral traditions taken together.) are the most
important writings in Judaism: They chronicle the ancestry, history, and
laws of the Jewish people reputably from the Creation of the World until
the death of Moses, in the 13th Century B.C.
In addition,
Orthodox and Conservative Judaism regard as sacred the "Talmud",
containing Jewish ethics, law, history, and stories.
The Talmud is composed of the "Mishnah" (considered
traditionally as laws given to Moses, transmitted orally for centuries,
and committed to writing by scholars ca. A.D. 200) and also the "Gemara"
(interpretations written down in the 3rd through 5th Centuries A.D.).
LEGACY OF
LEADERSHIP
The ultimate
authority for the Jewish people has always been "The Covenant with
God", promising to bestow upon them blessings as long as they are
reverent and faithful to Him: As His "Chosen People", the Jews
have not only special blessings from but also special responsibilities to
God. The Covenant was
originally made with Abraham, the Patriarch of the Jewish people, and
re-confirmed with his son Isaac and Isaac's son Jacob, who (after
reconciling with his twin brother, Esau, whom he had cheated out of his
birthright) would come to be known as "Israel".
The families
of the 12 sons of Israel became the 12 Tribes of Israel, the Hebrew
people. Jacob's favorite son,
Joseph, was sold into slavery in Egypt by his jealous half-brothers.
However, he eventually gained the favor of Pharaoh for his interpretation
of dreams, which would accurately predict an upcoming famine.
During the famine, Joseph reunited his family with him in Egypt,
whose grain reserves he had been charged by Pharaoh to fill during the
good years. At first free and
respected, the "House of Israel" would eventually suffer the
fate of bondage, enslaved by the Egyptians to help build magnificent stone
temples and monuments.
Generations
later, the promised deliverer, Moses, led the Hebrews from slavery in
Egypt through warfare and other hardships in the wilderness and eventually
back to the "Promised Land", of Canaan (Historically, this
"Exodus" may have occurred over decades or even centuries, in or
about the 13th Century B.C.). Shortly
after gaining their freedom, Moses had given the Israelites laws from God,
from high atop Mount Sinai: These
included not only "The Ten Commandments" but also many, detailed
dietary and other ritual rules -- the "Mosaic" law of the
Jewish people.
For
centuries, the Israelites would be at war with other peoples, all fighting
for the limited fertile lands in the region; and their unity, under such
"Judges" as Deborah and Samson, would be sorely tested.
Eventually, ca. 1000 B.C., the 12 tribes of Israel would unite
under one king, Saul, whose more able successor, David, would conquer the
city of Jerusalem and make it the capital of the ancient nation of Israel.
The famously wise and wealthy, yet headstrong son of David,
Solomon, would have the First Temple built in Jerusalem.
However, the
kingdom would soon be divided by religious and political turmoil into the
northern kingdom of Israel, consisting of 10 tribes, and the southern
kingdom of Judah, consisting of 2 tribes.
By the 9th and 8th Centuries B.C., there arose an unjust
distribution of wealth, with most Jews poor.
During these trying times, Isaiah and other Prophets preached
social morality; the unity of all peoples under one God; the dire
consequences of not remembering God's word; and a hope for future peace,
as through a "Messiah" from God.
In the
subsequent centuries, the divided Israelites would be conquered by
Assyrians, Babylonians, Alexander the Great, Syrians, and Romans; and
although some of their number would be reunited -- as after the Persians
freed them from their Babylonian Captivity in 538 B.C. or when Judas
Maccabaeus led the Jews to victory over the superior forces of the Syrians
in 165 B.C. -- the Jewish people would become dispersed (in a "diaspora")
throughout the Western world, virtually always condemned to the fate of a
minority people wherever they settled.
By the Middle Ages, Jews were often confined to "ghettos"
and often prohibited by the law of the Christian authorities to engage in
any occupation but money-lending, which the New Testament condemned but
the local economies required.
After having
lost their independent nation-state, the Jews would find leadership often
in their religious, philosophical, literary, and scientific scholars.
Jewish schools developed in Palestine and Babylonia in the first
few centuries A.D. Jewish
scholars helped keep alive much classical knowledge from ancient
civilizations during the Dark Ages of Medieval Europe, thus helping make
possible the eventual Renaissance of Western civilization.
The "Golden Age of Spain", ca. A.D. 1000 to 1300, owed
much to Jewish scholasticism (However, in gaining independence from the
Muslim Moors in the late 15th Century, Spanish Christians used the
Inquisition to persecute all "non-conformers", including Jews,
many of whom were forced to flee or to convert, or at least feign
conversion, to Christianity.).
As
culminations of the Age of Reason, the American and French Revolutions
helped promote ideas of freedom of religion and equal justice under law;
and with such input as by the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn, Jews would
win rights to full citizenship in many of the new democracies in the
Western world. Indeed, in the late 19th Century, Jewish culture flourished,
in the "Haskalah" [enlightenment].
However, in
Russia and Poland (where "Hasidism" had arisen in the 18th
Century as a joyous counterpoint to previous oppressions), organized
"pogroms" persecuted countless Jews in the 19th Century.
And in the
1930s, Adolph Hitler and his Nazi fascists would convince the majority of
Germans that many or most of their dire economic problems -- actually the
result of the enormous war reparations for World War I and the worldwide
effects of the Great Depression -- were the fault of the Jews (perhaps
because of this minority group's medieval tradition of money-lending, as
mentioned above, although the exact reasons for the national madness of
Nazism are beyond comprehension, let alone rationalization):
By the end of World War II, the Nazi Holocaust had methodically
murdered about 6 million of the 10 million Jews who had lived in Europe.
With no
nation of their own since ancient times and now with little organization
left in Europe, the Jewish people in 1947 were guaranteed by the United
Nations a state of their own back in Palestine; and the next year, the
"Zionist" movement, dating back to 1897, fulfilled its dream, of
a modern State of Israel. Despite
conflicting claims -- ancient and modern -- to particular tracts of land
by both Jews and Arabs and the subsequent constant state of tension and
outright warfare that has existed, Israel has become a prosperous,
democratic homeland for virtually any of the world's Jews in need of a
haven or just fellowship; and its political leadership is often a
reflection of the often-changing, conservative to liberal religious
leadership of Judaism.
Although
there is no single leader of the Jewish people, many Jews still wait for
the promised Messiah and a newly glorious Israel.
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Judaism:
Supernatural Beings/Powers
THE IMMORTAL
ASPECT OF MORTALS
Although
later Jewish scholars, especially after contact with the ancient Greeks,
thought of the soul as separate from the body, traditional Hebrew theology
considered the body and soul as one.
Judaism
teaches belief in an afterlife, with good souls going to Heaven and evil
souls, to Hell. However,
Heaven is elucidated more fully than Hell; and Jewish morality is more
concerned with doing right for the sake of doing God's will than for the
sake of some reward or punishment in an afterlife.
DEITIES AND
OTHER IMMORTALS
Like other
peoples in the ancient Middle East, the first Hebrews were probably
polytheistic, although probably worshiping one god as superior to all
others. However, according to
the sacred literature (committed to writing, from oral traditions, ca.
1000 B.C.), the Hebrew people were always monotheistic; and indeed,
Judaism was the first major religion in the world to express faith in the
existence of just one, supreme God. Historically,
strict Jewish monotheism (especially amongst the common folk) probably did
not come about until ca. 600 B.C., after the urging of the great Prophets,
who said that the God of Israel was not only one but also the God of all
mankind -- another first for at least a Western religion (This universal
"brotherhood", as children of one God, forms the basis for the
ancient Jewish recognition of inalienable human rights -- another
historical first, for political as well as religious theory.).
Regardless,
Judaism concentrates more on understanding God's law than trying (in vain)
to understand the nature of God himself.
Although in the first book of the Torah, Genesis, man is said to be
created in the "image" of God, it is not clear whether this
refers to a material or spiritual image (although a male, fatherly image
has typically been invoked for God, beginning in the ancient,
patriarchical society). Indeed, a traditional Hebrew name for God (other
than the Biblical term "Elohim") is "YHWH"
["Yahweh"], or "JHVH" ["Jehovah"]:
These letters, by actually spelling nothing, mean
"nameless" (although a lack of vowels was typical of writings in
ancient Semitic languages) -- that is, not even the name of God is
comprehensible to, let alone pronounceable by, us mere mortals.
Perhaps most telling, God is said to refer to Himself as simply
"I am" or "I am that I am": Reminiscent of Eastern
religions, Judaism might be said to consider the Creator of the Universe
as the ultimate reality of the Universe -- omniscient, omnipresent.
THE UNIVERSE
AND THE REALM OF THE SUPERNATURAL
According to
Judaism, God is the Creator of the Universe.
Early Hebrew
thought considered Heaven as but the home of God:
After death, all man-souls (body and spirit inextricably united) --
both good and evil -- went to sleep in the underworld of "Sheol",
neither a punishment nor a reward. However,
after contact with the ancient Greeks, Jews came to think of Heaven as the
home not only for God but also for the souls of the good in an afterlife,
before their eventual resurrection -- accompanied by their bodies --
in a God-ruled paradise on Earth, or re-created Earth.
Although
modern Judaism also teaches that the souls of evil-doers go to Hell, this
"Gehenna" is even less well elucidated than Heaven:
Suffice it to say, this is a realm of damnation and torment.
Overall,
Jewish thought is more concerned with doing right for the sake of doing
God's will than for the sake of achieving some reward or punishment for
oneself in an afterlife.
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Judaism:
Morality and Salvation
MORALITY
Judaism
concentrates primarily on God's law [the torah] -- as embodied by written
and oral traditions -- even more so than on the nature of God Himself
(although His very existence, as the sole Supreme Being, is key to Jewish
morality).
The Covenant
God made with his faithful servant Abraham, the Hebrew Patriarch,
established the Jews as His "Chosen People" -- special not only
in the sense of being the first people to worship Him and only Him but
also in the sense of being held to a higher standard of conduct than other
people, to set a shining example in the world of how God expects us to
worship Him and treat others.
From atop the
awesome Mount Sinai, the lawgiver Moses received from God "The Ten
Commandments", written on 2 stone tablets (later destroyed by Moses,
during a rage over the people's sinfulness during his absence on the
mountaintop, but later restored by God and carried in the "Ark of the
Covenant", eventually deposited in the Temple at Jerusalem). The
original version of The Ten Commandments, translated from the ancient
Hebrew language, was most likely the following:
"I.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
"II.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of
any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or
that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to
them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting
the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth
generation of them that hate me; and showing mercy unto thousands of them
that love me, and keep my commandments.
"III.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the
Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
"IV.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:
in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy
daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy
stranger that is within thy gates: for
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them
is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore
the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
"V.
Honor thy father and thy mother:
that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God
giveth thee.
"VI.
Thou shalt not kill.
"VII.
Thou shalt not commit adultery.
"VIII.
Thou shalt not steal.
"IX.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
"X.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his manservant, nor
his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy
neighbor's."
Also
according to tradition, the Israelites received from Mount Sinai the
"Mosaic Law", filled with details of codified law and typically
"eye for an eye" punishments (including capital punishment, by
stoning, for such offenses as adultery or blasphemy) as well as various
rituals (as concerning cleanliness):
The 12 Tribes of Israel, although at this and later points
stateless, have ever since in effect been one nation, under one rule of
law (the consequence of being under one and only one God).
The social
conscience at the heart of Jewish culture extends beyond the Jewish
people, however. Since the
trying time of the Prophets, Judaism has taught that we are all children
of the same, one God, made in His image (at least spiritually), and thus
we are all entitled to be treated with equal respect and justice.
Consequently, Judaism has been marked by a tendency towards
religious tolerance and away from missionary zeal.
In addition, the Jewish concept of "universal
brotherhood" laid the foundation for the concept of universal human
rights to be found in such secular belief systems as the U.S. Declaration
of Independence and Bill of Rights. Ironically,
the Jewish peoples themselves, almost always a minority group wherever
they settled, have been the subjects of the most offensive acts of
intolerance, violent and otherwise, since the troubled time of the
Prophets through the Nazi Holocaust.
One more
concept central to Judaism and consequently Western --
and arguably world -- civilization is that of free will: Individual
people as well as entire peoples have the freedom to choose good -- that
is, the will of God -- over evil -- disobedience
to God. This has been a moral
of countless Biblical stories, starting with Adam and Eve.
JUDGEMENT
Although
Mosaic law prescribes various punishments to be meted out by religious
leaders for violators of the law and although various Jewish leaders, such
as the ancient "Judges", have enforced such disciplines
strictly, the ultimate judge of our actions according to Judaism is God
Almighty -- all knowing, all just, all powerful.
Forgiveness
is possible, according to Biblical stories, if repentance is sincere -- typically after a period of soul-searching trials.
Mercy is a Jewish ideal.
Finally, it
must be remembered that as His "Chosen People", the Jews can
expect blessings from God if and only if they uphold the higher standards
He expects of them.
WORLDLY
REWARDS & PUNISHMENTS
The worldly
consequences of Jewish morality are a society of learning, justice,
tolerance, and mercy for all peoples, although enforced by strict
disciplines, especially for the "Chosen People".
Although
modern Judaism professes belief in a system of rewards and punishments in
an afterlife, Jewish morality is more concerned with doing right for the
sake of doing God's will than for the sake of some otherworldly
consequences. Therein, however, lies a philosophical controversy:
If God has promised blessings for His faithful and the concept of
an afterlife is not all-important (Indeed, before contact with the ancient
Greeks, the Hebrews thought of death as simply a sleep.), does that not
mean that those who suffer during life are being punished for their sins?
Perhaps. However, as beautifully elucidated in the story of Job and
horrendously demonstrated by the Nazi Holocaust, "bad things do
happen to good people" (to paraphrase a modern book): Oppressions
should be considered as tests of faith, often simply the consequence of
others exercising their free will wrongfully.
In the end, it is perhaps the fate of the entire Jewish people -- and, by extension, the fate of all God's children
-- that is to be
considered most important: This would help explain how God's
"delay" in answering the prayers of generations of Hebrew slaves
in Egypt could be taken as something other than a sign of God's
displeasure with the Hebrews, despite untold suffering by individuals --
in the end, God did set His entire people free.
Finally, some
Jews today look for the coming of a Messiah and/or a "Messianic
Kingdom", a worldly paradise (perhaps of a re-created Earth) in which
the Jewish people will unite to triumph over their enemies and, with God's
blessings, establish lasting peace and justice for all peoples.
OTHERWORLDLY
REWARDS & PUNISHMENTS
Jewish
morality is more concerned with doing right for the sake of doing God's
will than for the sake of some otherworldly rewards or punishments. However, Judaism has developed a coherent metaphysics.
Early Hebrew
thought considered Heaven as but the home of God:
After death, all man-souls (body and spirit inextricably linked
together) -- both good and evil -- went to sleep in the neutral
underworld of "Sheol". However,
after contact with the ancient Greeks, Jews came to think of Heaven as the
home not only for God but also for the souls of the good in an afterlife,
before their eventual resurrection -- accompanied by their bodies -- in
a God-ruled paradise on Earth, or re-created Earth, after the coming of a
"Messiah" [Anointed One] (Some Jews believe such a
"Messianic Kingdom" will come without the appearance of an
individual Messiah, as leader.).
In addition,
since contact with classic Greek traditions, Judaism has held that evil
souls go to the hell of "Gehenna", a poorly elucidated realm of
damnation and torment.
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Judaism:
Rituals
SACRED
SYMBOLS/OBJECTS/PLACES
The symbol of
Judaism is the 6-pointed "Star of David" (a.k.a. the "Magen
David" [Shield of David]), formed from 2 interwoven triangles.
Each Jewish
community has its own "synagogue", often called a
"temple", for worship services and sometimes schooling and
socializing. Within the "sanctuary" of the synagogue, there is
an "ark" [a chest containing the scrolls of the Torah], an
"eternal light" [an oil lamp burning as a reminder of
everlasting God], a "menorah" [a multi-headed candlestick], and
a tablet with the first 2 Hebrew words of each of the Ten Commandments.
FREQUENT
RITUALS
"Orthodox
Judaism", as the most traditional and strict sect, obeys to the
letter the ancient Mosaic Law, which they believe to have been given to
Moses by God on Mount Sinai (For example, Orthodox men always wear
"yarmulke" skull caps, in deference to the Lord above.).
"Reform Judaism" is characterized by an emphasis on
ethics rather than on ritual; and "Conservative Judaism" is
something of a compromise between the Orthodox and Reform sects.
"Kosher"
[ritually correct] foods are those in keeping with the ancient dietary
laws: Pork or shellfish are
not kosher, nor are meals with both meat and milk, nor is meat that is
from animals not slaughtered (ritually) humanely.
Orthodox Jews obey these Biblical laws strictly, and other Jews
often obey them traditionally. From
a practical standpoint, many of the dietary and other Mosaic laws,
especially concerning cleanliness, have undoubtedly served as beneficial
codes of public health, especially in ancient times (well before formal
microbiological theory).
The
"Sabbath" is the traditional day of rest, family, and worship --
it is the seventh day of the week according to the Hebrew calendar
(starting Friday at sundown and lasting until Saturday at nightfall).
Orthodox Jews observe the Sabbath strictly, as by not working,
carrying money, or even traveling.
Rituals
performed in a Jewish home include saying daily prayers (three times a day
for Orthodox Jews); observing the Sabbath, as by lighting candles and
blessing wine and bread; and celebrating holidays, typically family
affairs.
Reform Jews
usually meet for services in the community synagogue only on the Sabbath
and holidays, whereas the other sects meet in their synagogues daily.
Services in a
synagogue are led by any male over 12 years old or, in most Conservative
and Reform synagogues, by any woman.
The congregation typically faces off towards Jerusalem. Wisdom is read from the Torah, and prayers are chanted from
the "siddur". Orthodox
men and women sit separately and chant mostly in Hebrew, but Conservative
and Reform men and women sit together and chant much if not mostly in
their everyday language. In
Conservative and Reform synagogues, a specially trained "cantor"
chants prayers and may also lead a choir; and before or after the service,
the cantor may teach classes. However,
the main teacher of a synagogue, providing spiritual guidance and
sometimes giving sermons in Conservative and Reform synagogues, is the
well-educated "rabbi" [teacher].
OCCASIONAL
RITUALS
8-day-old
boys are ritually circumcised -- symbolizing God's Covenant with Abraham,
who first performed this hygienic practice.
The rite of
passage into adulthood is the "bar mitzvah", for 13-year-old
boys. Additionally, in some
Conservative and Reform congregations, there is a "bat (or bas)
mitzvah" for girls becoming women.
A Jewish
marriage is performed under a "huppa" canopy (and can later be
dissolved by divorce).
Jewish
rituals for death involve a quick burial, a week of "Shiva"
mourning for the family (with a prayer for God but not of death), and
annual memorials.
Jewish
holidays are celebrated in both the home and the synagogue, as both family
and community occasions.
The High
Holidays of Judaism are "Rosh Ha-Shanah" and "Yom
Kippur", both celebrated during "Tishri", the first month
in the ancient Hebrew calendar (typically in September or October).
For Rosh Ha-Shanah,
a ram's horn is sounded, ushering in the New Year of the Jewish calendar,
commemorating the creation of the world by Almighty God, and reminding
people of their behavior in the past year -- for which they are judged.
After Ten
Days of Penitence, beginning with Rosh Ha-Shanah, there is Yom Kippur:
For this Day of Atonement, Jews fast and (especially in synagogue)
apologize to God for their sins of the previous year and pledge to God to
be good in the new year.
The
"Pilgrim Festivals" (so named because of the ancient tradition
of making pilgrimages to Jerusalem during these holidays) commemorate the
Exodus of Jews from slavery in Egypt to freedom in Canaan:
"Passover", or "Pesah", celebrated at home with
the "Seder" feast, commemorates the passing over of the Jews
from slavery in Egypt; "Shavuot", or "Pentecost",
commemorates Moses receiving the Torah on Mount Sinai; and "Sukkot",
the harvest festival, commemorates (via dinners in huts built within the
home) the wandering of the Israelites in the wilderness before entering
the "Land Flowing with Milk and Honey".
Amongst the
other Jewish holidays are "Hanukkah" [the Feast of Lights],
commemorating the ancient triumph over the intolerant Syrians. One by one, day by day, candles are lit in the Hanukkah
"menorah" [branched candlestick].
With readings
from the Book of Esther, "Purim" commemorates the escape of Jews
from danger in Persia.
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Judaism:
Communities
DISTRIBUTION
Judaism is
more than a religion -- it is a culture, some might say a race, of
people. Judaism does welcome
converts to their faith, from all races of God's children, although
undoubtedly as a consequence of being a minority group wherever they have
settled, the Jewish people have not developed missionary activities -- their communities have tended to keep to themselves whenever possible.
Although
scattered throughout the world, the major communities of Jewish people are
in North America (especially in the cities on the East and West Coasts of
the U.S.), Europe (despite the Nazi Holocaust), the Middle East, and
Africa (In particular, the East African nation of Ethiopia has been home
to many black Jews since at least the time of Solomon, legendary father --
via the Queen of Sheba --
of an ancient king of Ethiopia.).
The modern
State of Israel is the world's only nation with a population consisting of
a Jewish majority -- it thus serves as a haven for refugees from
religious or racial persecution (and from war and famine, as in modern
Ethiopia).
By virtue of
its first stating the principles of universal human rights, by virtue of
its scholars helping to maintain the ancient classics through the Dark
Ages of Medieval Europe, and by virtue of many of its notables
subsequently adding much on their own to the arts and sciences, Judaism
has profoundly influenced Western -- and undoubtedly world --
civilization down through the millennia.
SOCIAL ORDER
Although
stressing the "universal brotherhood" of people as children of
the one God, Judaism is organized on a local basis, with no international
leader or governing body. This
has been the case ever since the 12 tribes of ancient Israel were divided
and conquered, their descendants scattered throughout the Western world.
The center of
each Jewish community is its "synagogue", often called a
"temple". Here Jews
periodically gather for worship services and, in some cases, for schooling
and socializing.
The spiritual
leader of a synagogue is the "rabbi" [teacher], who provides not
only teaching for youngsters but also guidance for Jews of all ages.
In order to acquire their familiarity with the complexities of
Judaism and the rich traditions of ancient Jewish culture -- as well as
much information from other fields of knowledge -- rabbis are trained in
special colleges/seminaries, run by the various sects of Judaism.
Special
training, in song as well as theology, is given to "cantors",
who chant prayers, sometimes lead choirs, and teach classes in
Conservative and Reform synagogues.
SECTS
Although
clearly independent religions, Christianity and Islam evolved mainly from
Judaism.
The three
major branches of modern Judaism are "Orthodox",
"Reform", and "Conservative" Judaism.
Orthodox
Judaism is the most traditional and strict sect. Its
members pray three times every day and observe to the letter the Mosaic
Laws, as governing diet and observance of the Sabbath, as well as the
interpretations of Biblical law gathered together in the Talmud. Orthodox men are always seen wearing "yarmulke"
skull caps, in deference to the Lord above.
Reform
Judaism was founded in the early 19th Century by Jews who placed more
faith in the Hebrew Bible than in the much later Talmud, which they
consider a scholarly work but not a divine revelation.
Reform Judaism is characterized by an emphasis on ethics rather
than on ritual.
Conservative
Judaism arose in the mid 19th Century as something of a compromise between
the other, often feuding sects. Conservative
Jews do respect the authority of both the Torah and the Talmud; but they
look at the ancient writings from a modern point of view and do not
perform all the traditional rituals.
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