In this program, we will review basic Jewish beliefs, worship, calendar, life cycle, the Holocaust and Zionism, and the challenge of the future.  This review relates especially to chapters 8-9 and 14-23 of Leo Trepp, Judaism:  Development and Life, 4th ed. (Belmont, CA:  Wadsworth, 2000). 

BASIC JEWISH BELIEFS

    The most appropriate starting point for a study of Jewish beliefs is in the understanding of God.  Jews share with Christians and Muslims the belief in one God, a concept which scholars call monotheism.  Christians usually name the Deity either God or the Lord.  The Muslim name for the Deity is Allah.  Jews have a number of names for the Deity, including the following:

• Y H W H, the most sacred name for God, is not pronounced by Jews, out of respect for the Deity.  The name is usually transliterated as Yahweh, but the King James Version and many traditional hymns render this name as Jehovah.  When reading aloud in Hebrew, most Jews substitute a name which is still reverent but is not considered so sacred, such as Adonai, "the Lord."  

• The second most important term for the Deity in Jewish scripture and tradition is Elohim or El, usually translated as God.  This term may also be used for the deities worshipped by people of other religions, so it is more like a common noun, rather than the proper noun YHWH.  Many Orthodox Jews do not say or even put in writing English equivalents for YHWH or Elohim, such as God.  Instead, they will omit a portion of the name:  G-d.  

• Other names for God which have honored traditions in Judaism are Makom, "Place," because God is everywhere; Shaddai or El Shaddai, "God of the Mountains"; and Shekhinah, "The Presence."  These names show how closely God is related to our lives.

    Judaism holds that we human beings are created in the image of God.  Someone may have told you that you are the "spittin' image" of your father or mother.  That is intended to be a compliment.  Likewise, to be in God's image is something unique to humanity.  Not even the angels have that compliment paid to them.  If we are created in God's image, that means that we have been given a special role as God's representatives.  By living in accordance with the Torah, we benefit not only ourselves but the whole world.

    However, we often fail to live up to our potential.  Sin is a part of our world that we cannot ignore.  Human beings are susceptible to several types of sin.  We fail to give our absolute commitment to God, putting our loyalty instead into transient things.  We want what other have, and we use immoral ways to satisfy our desires.  The Jewish understanding of the human personality is that each of us is born with something that can lead us into sin.  It is called in Hebrew the Yetzer Ha-Ra.  If I tell you that yetzer means "drive," do you remember what the Yetzer Ha-Ra is?

    If you were thinking of Maximum Overdrive, I'll have to tell you no, that's a movie by Stephen King.  As in his other movies and books, there's plenty of evil in it.  Nor is the proper translation Skyline Drive.  It's possible for sin to be committed there or on the Blue Ridge Parkway, but most people see these highways as sources of beauty and of feelings of closeness to God and nature.  Yetzer Ha-Ra should be translated as "evil drive," or in Freudian terms, the Id.  In fact, I'll bet that Anne and Jason can recognize in the Jewish understanding of the human personality some of the concepts that they've learned in psychology courses!  According to Judaism, all of us are born with the basic desire for self-satisfaction which is important for the survival of individuals and of humanity as a whole.  Ha- is the Hebrew definite article "the," and Ra means "evil."  When we allow this drive to govern our lives, the imbalance leads us into sin.  But when we balance it with the Yetzer Ha-Tov, the "good drive" that Freud called the Superego,  the "evil drive" makes very important contributions to our personality.  In fact, those manifestations of the "evil drive" that are potentially destructive can be transformed into love of family, success in business, and other aspects of life that are beneficial to all humanity.

WORSHIP

    One very important way in which we become attuned to God and fulfill God's image in us is worship.  Christians worship in a church.  Muslims worship in a mosque.  Judaism often uses the term congregation for the religious community, including the house of worship.  For example, the nearest Jewish place of worship, between Bristol and Blountville, is Congregation B'nai Sholom, meaning literally "Children of Peace." (The English equivalent of the Hebrew word shalom or sholom, "peace," is Salem, as in the town near Roanoke.)  Some Reform Jewish congregations also use the term Temple.  Conservative and Orthodox Jews hold that there has been only one Temple, in Jerusalem.  It was first built by Solomon, destroyed by the Babylonians and rebuilt in the 500's B.C.E., and destroyed again by the Romans in 70 C.E.  The most common Jewish term for a worshipping community is synagogue.  The Greek word syn (like the sorority SUN) means "together," and ago in Greek means "to lead."  So a synagogue is a place where people are led together in study and prayer.  Synagogues are open to all people; I have worshipped in Orthodox, Reform, and Conservative synagogues, and I've felt welcome in each.  Music is an integral part of Jewish worship services; both Mark Davis and Anita Coulthard would be very much at home in them!

    The most important time for worship is the Sabbath, which extends from Friday at sundown to Saturday at sundown.  The Friday evening service is for many congregations the main service of the week, although a Saturday morning service is also significant in some synagogues.

    The family has a special role in Jewish worship -- not only in congregational worship, but also at the family meals.  In traditional Judaism, the dining table is regarded as the equivalent of the altar of sacrifice in the Temple.  Since the destruction of the Temple, the home has a significant place in worship.  The blessing after each meal is a dedication of the food to God.  On Friday evening, the mother does something else to make the Sabbath meal a worship experience.  Here's a hint:  in Judaism, light is often seen as a symbol of God's Presence.  Think of the menorah, the seven-branched lampstand in the ancient Temple.  The mother provides corresponding symbolism for the Sabbath meal.  Yes, she lights Sabbath candles and recites a prayer before the meal.  The Sabbath meal is supposed to be the biggest and best meal of the week, a time for the family really to enjoy being together.  The very poorest Jewish families try to find something special to make the Sabbath meal a true celebration.

THE JEWISH CALENDAR

    In addition to the Sabbath, many other days are significant in Judaism.  In fact, the whole year is punctuated by festivals and celebrations to commemorate agricultural seasons in ancient Israel and events in Jewish history.  Let's review a few of these.

    The High Holy Days or Days of Awe come each fall to begin the liturgical cycle.  They include Rosh Hashanah, the "Beginning of the Year" (New Year), which has a synagogue service and special foods.  The holiest day of the year is also a part of the Days of Awe:  Yom Kippur, the "Day of Atonement."  It is a time for confession, forgiveness, and reconciliation with God.  In ancient Hebrew times, sacrifices were offered to God in the Temple.  Today some Orthodox Jewish families maintain a symbolic representation by sacrificing animals that were not ever used in the Temple offerings, so that the modern practice is not viewed as conflicting with the centrality of Jerusalem as the place of sacrifice.  The Orthodox Jewish father offers a rooster for the male members of his family, and a hen for the female members of his family.  After the ritual of atonement, the chickens are killed and given to the poor or to a Jewish school cafeteria.  For Jews, the Day of Atonement is a time for reflection on the events of the past year, seeking God's mercy.  Many families fast for a day, and then the congregation comes together for a fellowship supper, to celebrate the end of the period of looking back and the beginning of a new year together.  Yom Kippur thus serves as a rite of annual renewal for the community.

    Passover is the major spring festival of Judaism.  It too provides time for renewal, in this case traditionally linked with the beginning of the new harvest.  As an agricultural celebration, Passover marks the spring ceremonies of the birth of lambs and the production of grain.  However, the farming cycle has been associated with a specific event in the lives of the Jewish people:  the Exodus, when the Hebrews were freed from slavery in Egypt.  The Exodus is celebrated during Passover as an indication that God identifies with the oppressed rather than with their oppressors.  This is a major theme throughout the Passover ceremony, and it has given the Jewish people courage during many situations of oppression.

    In addition to the Days of Awe and Passover, there are other days throughout the year that give special meaning to Jewish life, such as Sukkot, "Booths" or "Tabernacles," a festival of joy recognizing God's sheltering Presence.  It concludes with Simhat Torah, "Rejoicing in Torah," beginning each year a new cycle of readings from the Torah.  Hanukkah, "Dedication," is familiar to Christians because it comes about the same time as Christmas each year.  It commemorates the rededication and purification of the Jerusalem Temple after it was liberated by the heroic Maccabees.  Purim, "Casting Lots," is anchored in the story of the biblical role model Esther.  Shavuot, "Weeks," is celebrated on a week of weeks plus one day after Passover. 7 X 7 + 1 = 50, so this festival is also known by the Greek name Pentecost, meaning "fiftieth" [day after Passover].  Special readings on Shavuot are the Ten Commandments and the biblical book of Ruth.

THE JEWISH LIFE CYCLE

    Not only is the Jewish year marked by times of reflection and celebration; the life cycle of a Jew also includes rites of passage in which religion helps him or her to make significant transitions.  One such ritual that is probably familiar to you is the coming-of-age ceremony known as Bar Mitzvah, "Son of the Commandment."  It usually occurs at age thirteen for a boy, signifying that he is now part of the community which defines its life by God's commandments.  This ceremony allows him to take his place in the community, showing his ability to participate in worship.  He can now be counted in the minyan, the quorum of ten men required for a worship service to be held in the synagogue.  Throughout most of Jewish history, a Jewish girl had no such ritual.  But in recent years, Reform Jews have developed an equivalent ceremony for a girl:  Bat Mitzvah, "Daughter of the Commandment."  The Hebrew word for "daughter" is spelled variously as bat, bath, or bas.

    Marriage is another ritual that has distinctive Jewish elements, such as a canopy representing the wedding tent of biblical times, a marriage contract spelling out the bride's and the groom's responsibilities, and the drinking of two cups of wine.  If you've seen "Fiddler on the Roof," you' may remember that a glass is broken in a Jewish wedding.  This action has a variety of symbolic meanings.  One interpretation is that even in a time of great joy, such as a wedding, people should remember that times of sorrow are also part of us, as when the wall of the Temple was broken and the holiest of all places was destroyed.  The ritual also symbolizes the breaking of the hymen after the wedding, in the privacy of the couple's time together.  In traditional Judaism, the bride would save the bloodstained sheet from the breaking of the hymen as proof of her virginity.  The breaking of a glass in the wedding ceremony represents the couple's beginning a new life together with that intimate act, since sex is part of God's goodness in creation for husbands and wives.

    Judaism is a family-centered religion.  We've studied the roles of parents and children in both large and small stages of the life cycle.  Jewish law deals with all aspects of life:  how food is prepared, what may or may not be eaten, ritual purifications, conditions for divorce, and mutual responsibilities of all members of the family.  While Judaism is a patriarchal religion in many ways, the male rabbis who established many of the oral and written laws that govern the religion would be surprised by how the roles of women are changing today.

   You are most likely to find a woman rabbi in a Reform Jewish synagogue or temple.  No Orthodox Jewish congregation or seminary in the world permits a woman to be ordained as a rabbi.  The ancient patriarchal Jewish tradition limited the priesthood and later the rabbinate to males, and that is likely to remain true for Orthodox Jews in the foreseeable future.  In 1980, Conservative Judaism first allowed the ordination of women as rabbis.  But many Conservative congregations do not yet accept this ruling, so you would be unlikely to find a woman rabbi in most Conservative synagogues.  Sally Priesand, the first woman rabbi in the world, tells the fascinating story of how she became a Reform rabbi, in her book Judaism and the New Woman, which we have in our library.

    Death does not mean the end of Jewish rituals.  The week after a person has died, his or her family spends their time together in mourning, receiving visitors and sharing memories.  During the following year, the family members say the Kaddish, a special prayer recited during synagogue services by all who have lost loved ones in the preceding year.  On the first anniversary of the death, the family buys a headstone for the grave, burns a candle in the home, and again recalls memories of the deceased.  This anniversary and each succeeding one is called in Yiddish the Yahrzeit, a time to remember the loved one who is now with God.

THE HOLOCAUST AND ZIONISM

    Your textbook has a powerful and touching chapter on the Holocaust, the Nazis' carefully planned execution of six million Jews in the 1940's.  The author, Leo Trepp, tells how he was arrested in Germany and sent to a concentration camp for some time.  Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List is one of many recent attempts to portray the horror of the Holocaust, and the courage of certain individuals in that very dark period of human history.  In this course I have tried to help you see the beauty of Jewish religion, and the faith which would enable a people to withstand such evil.  It was really the Holocaust which gave the most force to the Zionist movement to establish a Jewish nation in the land of Israel.  I'll never forget the camp at Dachau in Germany, or the Yad vaShem memorial in Jerusalem, or some of the Israelis who shared with me their own stories.  Some of the best insights into the Holocaust and Zionism come from the pen of Elie Wiesel.  As you come to terms with the relationships of Jews and Arabs in the Middle East today, you must always keep in mind that much of the bitterness and tension does not come from peoples who had lived together for many generations, but from the shattering experience of the Holocaust, which reaches far beyond the twentieth century in its impact on the world.

THE CHALLENGE OF THE FUTURE

    Jews today are part of a heritage that stretches back for millennia.  They have successfully avoided being absorbed into much more powerful cultures with strong syncretistic programs.  They are facing questions of intermarriage and assimilation in the United States which are of a quite different character, but which are nevertheless questions of survival.  The challenge for Judaism is to draw on the strengths of its past, while being open to the future in such a way as not to remain static or to die.  The vitality of Jewish faith in God's commitment to the people of the covenant will be at the heart of Judaism in the future.

    I hope that these two programs have helped you to identify some of the central characteristics of Judaism.  Any comments, suggestions, or questions are welcome.  If you wish, you can send me e-mail:  fkellogg@ehc.edu

To look at one of my other syllabi or to review a unit in a different course, go to my Home Page.

To review a different unit in this course, go directly to one of the following:

    Unit 1, Foundations of Judaism
    Unit 3, Foundations of Islam
    Unit 4, Modern Islam

If you prefer, you may return to the Emory & Henry College Home Page.

Last updated:  July 06, 2006