Judaism and the Chosen People of God Essay

Judaism is one of the first monotheistic religions currently surviving. It followers, the Jews, believe that there is only one God who is Almighty and Everlasting. Inscribed in the Torah is the name of God, with four consonants and no vowels. They have high respect for the Lord that they consider his name â€Å"too holy to be pronounced† (Buchanan and Halliwell, 2008). In their daily conversations and prayers, the Jews use different words pertaining to God. Everyday speech include â€Å"the Holy One† and â€Å"Blessed be He† while prayers include Adonal, or the Lord, and shomer Yisrael, or Israel’s guardian. These demonstrate how the Jewish perception of the Lord, as seen in the book of Genesis where the stories of the Patriarchs are written (Buchanan and Halliwell, 2008). The Jewish understanding towards their relationship with the Lord the worship is in accordance to their Covenant. God gives His promise to be their God who guides and protects them, while requiring them to follow the Mitzvot or His commandments. God chose the Jews as His chosen people. This is not because He favors them with privileges, but because He endowed them with a responsibility of being the priest people. It is actually a difficult task and the literal translation of the word Israel is â€Å"one who struggles with God† (Buchanan and Halliwell, 2008). One of their most basic beliefs is that they have the responsibility to worship God and recite prayers, which is called Tefillah. They should also express their gratitude and thanks to the Lord for his love and greatness, which is shown through the Amidah or the prayer of18 blessings in praise of God recited while standing. They also see themselves to have the task of responding to God through both repentance and search of social justice (Buchanan and Halliwell, 2008). History of Key Sacred Texts The Torah, or Law, is the commandment given by God to His chosen people. It was originally pertained to the Ten Commandments, and eventually became the Pentateuch. The Torah is the most important text in the Jewish religious life, as it contains the revelation from God. It is God’s gift to His people given to Moses at Mount Sinai. However, the original texts given by God to Moses did not survive the raid of Jerusalem during 6 BC. Also destroyed were the other Scriptures written by different Prophets, with high relevance to the Jewish faith. But after the release of Israel from Babylon in 5 BC, the Prophet Ezra revived the accounts on the life of the Patriarchs and the history of God’s chosen people. And between 4 and 2 BC, other authors wrote down the different Scriptures of other Prophets that existed long before. Prophet Jonah, who lived during the 8th century BC, was found to have his scriptures written during this period while the Psalms were written after five centuries. The sources of these authors are however unknown (Mirza, . Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments contain the fundamental laws that God requires His people to abide. These state the different religious and moral obligations of men, revealing God’s will on man’s duties to Him and to the rest of His creation. God’s commandments are written in the Pentateuch twice, as it is found both in the Books of Exodus and Deuteronomy. God himself carved the words on two stone tablets as sacred texts handed to Moses (Bellaflore, 2007). The Ten Commandments are God’s covenant with the Israelites. The first three laws concern man’s relationship with God, as it states what man’s responsibilities are to his Lord. While the remaining seven laws are about how man should live with others, as they should not transgress each other’s rights as human beings and equal children of God. The first commandments directly state that there is only one God, the monotheistic notion of an Almighty Creator. The people should not worship other Gods, and therefore should not commit idolatry and other forms of polytheistic practices. The other two commandments teach the people to not commit blasphemy, or take the name of the Lord in vain, and to always observe the Sabbath day. The rest relates the basic commandment that one must not wrong his neighbor, that he must not commit murder, adultery, thievery, and bear false witness. Children are also expected by God to always honor their parents (Bellaflore, 2007). Jerusalem This city is the most important city to the Jews. Upon their migration to the Palestine, many other tribes and populations have already occupied area and cities have already risen. King David seized one of the cities in 1005 BCE and converted it into his capital city Jerusalem. This is where both religious and political affairs were concentrated, where the Temple of God was built. But the Temple and most of its contents perished during the conquest of the city by other empires. The Romans destroyed the last Temple and only a single wall survived until today. It is now known as the Wailing Wall and is one of the holiest Jewish places both in Jerusalem and the entire world (Imhoof, 2008). The Nation of Israel The State of Israel is a country found in southwestern Asia established on May 14, 1948 with David Ben Gurion as its first prime minister. The land was formerly part of Palestine conquered British, and was handed to the Jews and marked the success of the Zionism movement. This movement campaigned for providing the Jews their own place at the land of their ancestors. As sanctioned by the United Nations, this sovereign nation was created and gave home to many Jews from all over the world. But because displaced Palestinians formerly occupy Israel, there rose an Arab-Israeli conflict. The Muslims protested against the handing of the land to the Jews while the Arabs were left landless (Davison 375; Grobman, no page; Israel, no page). Different Sects of Judaism There were numerous Jewish sects during the first century AD, each primarily in search of the messiah. To them, the messiah is both a religious and political leader who would save them from Roman captivity. These sects include the Pharisees, the Zealots, the Sadducees, the Essenes, and even the Christians. In 70 CE, the Second Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed along with these sects. However, Christianity survived this disaster and separated itself from Judaism as a different religion. The Pharisees, on the other hand, is now the remaining form of Judaism called Rabbinic Judaism (Jewish sects and denominations, no date). A fraction of the Jewish population of the 8th century rejected the oral law included in the Mishnah as followed by the Pharisees, as done by the Sadducees. But eventually, they themselves developed their unique oral traditions that greatly varied from those of the Rabbinic Jews. They are called the Karaite sect, and are still in existence but in a less population number (Jewish sects and denominations, no date). The Holocaust The Holocaust is also known as the Shoah in Hebrew, or the destruction of the Jewish people by Nazi Germany. During the German conquest of Europe, an approximately six million Jews died as they were systematically killed by the fascist and anti-Semite regime of Hitler. The casualties represent the destruction of two-thirds of the entire population of Jews in Europe and one-third of the world. They were deliberately and methodically exterminated through the gas chamber, the crematory ovens, forced labor, hunger, and poor sanitary conditions. This is Hitler’s plan as his answer and â€Å"Final Solution to the Jewish Question† (History of the Holocaust – An Introduction, 2008). Sacred Practices and/or Holidays Two of the most important Jewish holidays are the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Rosh Hashanah is known as the Jewish New Year while Yom Kippur is known as the Day of Atonement. Both of these holidays are expression of the Jewish belief on the judgment of God and that they need to both repent and forgive. Yom Kippur is an entire day where Jews contemplate and reflect, making amends to their sins, and ask God for His forgiveness by fasting (Buchanan and Halliwell, 2008). Customs and practices of the Jews include circumcising the boys during their eighth day. When the boy reaches age 13, he takes participation in a ceremonial rite where he becomes bar mitzvah. From here on, he is considered an adult who will take on his religious responsibilities. Other religious congregations perform a similar ceremony for girls of age 12, called the bat mitzvah. Jews also recite different kinds of prayers in the morning, afternoon and evening. They perform these either at home or the synagogue. Once every week, the Jews celebrate the holy day of Sabbath, from Friday sundown until Saturday sundown. They also observe strict dietary laws called the Kosher and their spiritual leader is called the rabbi (Grobman, no page; Wenner, no page). Judaism Today Due to the constant changes in human life, there is a tremendous technological advancement in the modern world, prompting people to adapt. These changes bring about questions on the Jewish laws, and whether they should be retained. It is therefore the responsibility of the spiritual leaders to adapt and reinterpret the Jewish laws according to the call of times. In our modern world, there are three main divisions among the Jews – the Orthodox, the Conservative, and the Reform Jews. Orthodox Jews are still abiding by the strictest Jewish laws, and are confined within tradition. The conservative Jews consider the orthodox Jews as too Jewish while they do not consider reform Jews as practicing Judaism. Reform Jews, on the other hand, are very liberal and recognizes their religion as progressive. (Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, 2008). References Buchanan, J. , and Halliwell, K. (2008). Judaism. Slamnet. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www.slamnet. org. uk/re/judaism. htm. Bellaflore, M. L. (2007). â€Å"The Ten Commandments. â€Å" New Advent. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www. newadvent. org/cathen/04153a. htm. Davison, Michael Worth. When, Where, Why, and How it Happened. London: Reader’s Digest Association Far East Limited, 1993. Grobman, Gary M. â€Å"Who are the Jews. † 1990. Remember. Retrieved 25 February 2008 from http://www. remember. org/guide/Facts. root. whoare. html â€Å"History of the Holocaust – An Introduction. † 2008. Jewish Virtual Library. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www. jewishvirtuallibrary. org/jsource/Holocaust/history. html. Imhoof, D. â€Å"Judaism. † February 23, 2008. Susquehanna University. Retrieved March 5, 2008 http://www. susqu. edu/history/medtrav/jerusalem/jewish. htm. â€Å"Israel. † 2007. Information Please [Database]. Retrieved 25 February 2008 from http://www. infoplease. com/ipa/A0107652. html. â€Å"Judaism. † One Little Angel. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www. onelittleangel. com/wisdom/quotes/judaism. asp? level=4#. Mirza, M. â€Å"History of the Torah. â€Å"Ummah. Retrieved March 5, 2008 from http://www. ummah. net/what-is-islam/scriptur/scriptt. htm