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Running head: Judaism
Judaism: A Complex Culture
Christian Schroeder
University of Kentucky
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Judaism
Abstract
There is a great deal of cultures throughout the entirety of world. The overall point of the essay is
to address what makes up the Jewish culture. Now while there are a vast amount of features that
make up the culture, the focus stays on the major topics. Things like holidays, celebrations,
stereotypes, food, and religion. Deeper than that, when and why do they have the celebrations
and holidays they do, what is the effects the stereotypes have on the people that make up the
culture, what are the popular foods and why have they became attached to the culture, and what
is the basis of the religion. All of this should create a general understanding and summary of
what the make up of the religion is.
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Judaism: A Complex Culture
Jews are portrayed through public culture using various stereotypes. The typical Jew is
hairy, with a big nose; whose also is good with money. Obviously these stereotypes do not make
up the entirety of the Jewish culture. Unfortunately this was just about the extent of my
knowledge about their culture as a whole. Coming from a Catholic family I had never had a
need or desire to learn about their culture. The only celebrations I knew of were Hanukah and
Bar/Bat mitzvahs: jealous from all the gifts people received. There are so many aspects that
form the culture; at least, so many more than the than basic labels given to them. Through
research, I have learned more about the Jewish culture and each major segment that makes it up.
Holidays and Celebrations
Like any religion there are holidays and celebrations, some being bigger than others. The
two largest holidays of the Jewish culture are Rush Hashanah and Yom Kippur, respectively
being the Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonement and celebrated in order to begin the New
Year in a clean state. One of the biggest celebrations of the Jewish community is when children
have their Bar/Bat Mitzvah: which are them making the transition into adulthood. While these
events are viewed as the most important and major, there are plenty of more minor holidays.
Hanukkah is a minor holiday and yet is perhaps the most well known holiday by people outside
of the Jewish community.
Rush Hashanah
Rush Hashanah as mentioned recognizes the Jewish New Year: and always takes place in
the fall, “Some participate in a ceremony called tashlich whereby misdeeds of the past year
(symbolized by bread crumbs) are symbolically thrown into a flowing body of water. It is also
customary to exchange New Year cards.” (Peninsula Jewish Community Center [PJCC], 2012).
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During this celebration many of the foods eaten are sweet and round like honey, apples, and
pomegranates. Many Jews who don’t go to synagogue in general go for this holiday because of
its’ importance. It is essential to start your new year off right.
Yom Kippur
The other major holiday is Yom Kippur, which is celebrated shortly after Rush
Hashanah, it is known as the “Day of Atonement”. According to Peninsula Jewish Community
Center, some of the activities that people regularly partake in are going to temple to pray, and
unless you are under the age of 13, fasting from all food and drink for a day (to be exact 25
hours). Lexi Salberg who practices Judaism said it is a time, “where you think about what you’ve
sinned from and how to make it better for the year coming”. The holiday typically ends with a
meal to break the fasting that varies from family to family. In addition to not being aloud to eat,
you also can’t wash yourself, engage in sexual relations, or wear leather shoes. With so many
rules and things that your not allowed to do, one can point out that this is a serious holiday.
Hanukkah
While Hanukkah is a minor holiday, it is one of the most well known. Besides the Jewish
star the most recognizable picture of the culture is the menorah, which varies between having 7
and 9 arms, each holding candles. The reasoning being, “Hanukkah is an 8-day holiday that
commemorates the Jewish recapture and rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in 164 BCE.”
(Interfaith Family [IF], 2014). Relating this to the menorah, for each day of Hanukkah that
passes you light another candle. So if it is the 4th day you light four candles. Also the lighting of
candles typically takes place at sundown on each day.
While the lighting of the menorah is a major part of the holiday, there are still loads of
activities that go on. Since Hanukkah lasts eight days you have a lot of time to do things. One
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tradition is the spinning of the dreidel, which is were a group of kids gathers with equal pieces of
something (normal chocolate or money). Then spin the dreidel one by one, the dreidel has four
sides which are labeled:
“a) Nun means ‘nisht’ or ‘nothing’ [in Yiddish]. The player does nothing.
b) Gimmel means ‘gantz’ or "everything" [in Yiddish]. The player gets everything in the pot.
c) Hey means ‘halb’ or ‘half’ [in Yiddish]. The player gets half of the pot. (If there are an odd
number of pieces in the pot, the player takes half of the total plus one).
d) Shin (outside of Israel) means ‘shtel’ or ‘put in’ [in Yiddish]. Peh (in Israel) means ‘pay.’ The
player adds a game piece to the pot” (Zion, n.d.).
It is a fun game that only children tend to partake in. In addition to the ritual of playing
dreidel, it is also customary that the children get a gift or gifts each night of Hanukkah. In many
ways I make a connection between Hanukkah and Christmas, both the largest holidays in terms
of celebrations, and both are similar in terms of the activities that you partake in. It makes it an
easy way to remember the holiday by.
Bar/Bat Mitzvah
Everyone remembers in 6th and 7th grade getting excited because they got an invitation to
a friends Bar/Bat Mitzvah. They got to dress up and go to a big extravagant party, and more
importantly talk and dance with the opposing gender. But did anyone that wasn’t Jewish really
understand what it was or why people were having it? It is more than just a social event for kids
and family to go to, it is an age (12 for girls, 13 for boys) where you are now required to fulfill
the commandments of the religion. It marks the day of these kids becoming adults.
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Stereotypes
Every culture has them, positive and negative. It’s our brains way of quickly analyzing a
situation to make us feel more comfortable. Not all people know that stereotypes can actually
really effect how we act towards others. The most famous showing of this is the Blue
Eye/Brown Eye study conducted by Jane Elliot. A third grade teacher named Jane Elliot in wake
of King’s assassination conducted the study with the students being the lab rats. She separated
blue-eyed kids and brown-eyed kids saying, "The brown-eyed people are the better people in this
room, they are cleaner and they are smarter." (Bloom, 2005). What ended up happening is the
brown-eyed kids actually started working harder and thinking they were smarter, making
remarks to the “lesser” blue-eyed kids.
While this is a brief summary of the experiment, it shows the power that stereotypes have
on the mind positive and negative. So when assumptions and stereotypes about Jewish people
come up it actually can affect them. The basic stereotypes that surround the Jewish Culture are
that Jewish people are hairy, big nosed, and are good with money. Now if a Jewish account
hears that, they could end up being more productive because of this or it could make them feel
self conscious about it and negatively affect their work. Regardless it will affect them, so when
negative stereotypes get thrown around it can take a major hit on the person that hears, reads, or
sees them.
Food
All groups of people have meals that are indicative of the culture, whether it’s for special
holidays or if it is just a staple of their cuisine. The food originates from the area where the
culture came from, as an example Irish; dishes tend to have potatoes in them. However just
because a food or dish is associated with a culture does not mean that it is exclusively eaten by
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one group of people, for instance, “Stuffed cabbage, a traditional Jewish dish, is common in
Eastern Europe. Blintzes and knishes are familiar to all Germans, not just Jewish ones. Falafel
and hummus, increasingly thought of as Israeli-Jewish foods, can be found in any Greek
restaurant”( Rich, 2011). When it comes to the Jewish culture, “Jewish cooking shows the
influence of Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Spanish, German and Eastern European styles of
cooking”(Rich, 2011). To expand, the culture shows a bond between their food and these areas
due to the fact that at a certain point in time the culture has been prevalent in the area.
Connecting to the idea that foods are not exclusive to one culture, a dish that is a staple of
the Jewish culture, and is consumed regularly between many cultures is the bagel. According to
Judaism 101 the bagel and culture have been connected for at least 400 years, with dates
stemming back to 1610 in Poland.
Along with the bagel another common Jewish food is matzah, which can be used in
various dishes such as matzah ball soup and matzah kugel (both common Passover dishes).
There is no bigger food in the Jewish Culture than matzah; the main reason for matzah being so
important to the culture is it is required to be consumed on the holiday Passover. The Torah in
Exodus 12:18 says that, "In the first month [i.e. Nissan] from the fourteenth day of the month at
evening, you shall eat unleavened bread until the twenty-first day of the month at evening”
(Telushkin, 2008). Matzah is that unleavened bread, which is a type bread without any rising
agents such as yeast.
According to Jewish Virtual Library matzah has become so largely consumed that
companies that produce it have brought in over one hundred million dollars in sales. It is
understandable why the sales are so high: because of the fact matzah is so strongly connected to
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the culture. History shows just how important matzah is in the culture, “A major shortage of
matzah for the Jews of Russia occurred in 1917 with the collapse of czarist rule and the take-over
by the Communists, and again beginning in 1929, with the collectivization of farms by Stalin.
The crisis became so severe that world Jewry was called upon to help provide the Passover needs
of the Jews of Russia. During the two world wars, the widespread mobilization of Jewish
soldiers created an additional need for matzah distribution never before experienced in modern
Jewish history.” (Telushkin, 2008). The need was so large that groups were even formed to help
distribute the food to Jews in need. While these are two foods that are deeply connected with the
culture, there are many more dishes that make up the long and diverse list of Jewish foods.
Religion
Religions are the most complex and most complicated things to understand about
cultures. Each one has various types of smaller religions that branch off from it, different books
of beliefs, different number of Gods, and different rituals and holidays. The most basic
breakdown of Judaism is that its rules and laws are held in the Torah, which is the first five
books of the bible, obviously the Torah serves the same purpose as the bible does to the Catholic
religion. At its most basic level, “The most important teaching and tenet of Judaism is that there
is one God, incorporeal and eternal, who wants all people to do what is just and merciful. All
people are created in the image of God and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect” (Israel
Ministry of Foreign Affairs [MFA], 2010). Although the religion is far more complex, this is a
simple summary of the most important belief in the Culture.
On top of the Torah and the basic principle of having one God, the place for prayer is
known as a synagogue (temple). While any knowledgeable member of the congregation can lead
the services that take place here, a cantor or rabbi generally does it (both are ordained religious
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teachers). As a rabbi you have duties and “Among his professional duties, a rabbi is expected to
conduct weekly or daily study sessions for members of the congregation. The rabbi can also be
called upon to give informed decisions concerning application of Jewish religious law and
tradition to daily life. This may include adjudication of personal disputes. More serious matters,
such as religious divorce, are referred to a beit din, a local Jewish religious court” (MFA, 2010).
Along with these duties a rabbi must instill principles of the religion to the congregation.
The most recognized list of beliefs is “Rambam’s thirteen principles of faith” they are as follows:
God exists, God is one and unique, God is incorporeal, God is eternal, prayer is to be directed to
God alone and to no other, the words of the prophets are true, Moses’ prophecies are true, and
Moses was the greatest of the prophets, the Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral
Torah (teachings now contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses, there
will be no other Torah, God knows the thoughts and deeds of men, God will reward the good and
punish the wicked, the Messiah will come, and the dead will be resurrected” (Rich, 2011). These
are very basic due to the fact that Judaism does not have a definite set of rules that everyone lives
by. Since there are no assigned rules, it is up to the rabbi to discuss these concepts and let people
form their own opinions.
Israel
The country of Israel means quite a great deal to the Jewish Culture, “The Land of Israel is
central to the history, life, hopes and aspirations of the Jewish people. It is toward Jerusalem that
observant Jews turn in prayer, and it is here, in the Land promised in the Bible, that Jewish
custom and tradition, as well as the identity of the Jewish people, can be most fully realized”
(MFA, 2010). This is the reason why so many Jewish civilians travel there at some point in their
life. What is considered to be the holiest part of Israel is the western wall, “Built by Herod as
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part of the structure that encloses Temple Mount. For centuries, under Muslim rule, the wall was
the closest Jews could get to the site of the original Temple of Jerusalem and it therefore became
sacred in its own right.” (Elias).
Figure 1 The West Wall in Israel Adapted from Israel's Capital City, by Alex Bruni, 2011. Retrieved from
http://www.etraveltrips.com/blog/israels-capital-city-jerusalem/#sthash.TwWbQm9y.dpbs
As shown in figure one the West Wall is a popular destination for Jews all over the world,
these types of monuments are the reasoning behind all of the fighting between the Israelis and
Palestinians. The Muslims and Jews both refer to Israel as their homeland. That’s why it is
unrealistic for people to believe that the fight between them will end, both have the make up of
their religion rooted in the same place. It means too much to each of them to just give up.
Holidays, celebrations, stereotypes, food, and religion; it is all of these pieces that make up the
puzzle that is the Jewish culture.
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References
Rich, Tracey. R. (2011). 13 Principles of Faith. In Judaism 101: What do Jews Believe?
Retrieved from http://www.jewfaq.org/beliefs.htm
Rich, Tracey. R. (2011). Jewish Cooking. In Judaism 101: Retrieved from
http://www.jewfaq.org/food.htm
Elias, Natalia. (n.d.). The Five Most Famous Land Marks in Israel. Retrieved from
http://traveltips.usatoday.com/five-famous-landmarks-israel-105379.html
Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (January, 2010). About the Jewish Religion. Retrieved
From
http://www.mfa.gov.il/mfa/aboutisrael/spotlight/pages/about%20the%20jewish%20religi
on.aspx
Telushkin, Joseph. (2008). Matzah. In Jewish Virutal Library: Passover. Retrieved from
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/matzah.html
Peninsula Jewish Community Center. (2012). Jewish Holidays. In High Holy Days (High
Holidays). Retrieved from http://www.pjcc.org/jewishlife/holidays/jl-holidays-explainedhighholydays.html
Foxman A. H. (2012). Jews & Money: The Story of a Stereotype. Macmillian. Retrieved from
http://archive.adl.org/anti_semitism/jewsandmoney/
Bloom, S. G. (2005, September). Lesson of a Lifetime: Her bold experiment to teach Iowa third
graders about racial prejudice divided townspeople and thrust her onto the national stage.
Decades later, Jane Elliott's students say the ordeal changed them for good. Smithsonian.
Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/lesson-of-a-lifetime72754306/?no-ist=&page=1
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InterfaithFamily. (August 2014). Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur. In Jewish Holidays Cheat Sheet.
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http://www.interfaithfamily.com/holidays/other_holidays/Jewish_Holidays_Cheat_Sheet.
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Rich, Tracey. R. (2011). Bar Mitzvah and Bat Mitzvah. In Bar Mitzvah, Bat Mitzvah and
Conformation. Retrieved from http://www.jewfaq.org/barmitz.htm
Zion, N. (n.d.) Rules for the popular Hanukkah Game. In How to Play Dreidel. Retrieved from
http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Hanukkah/At_Home/Dreid
el/How_To_Play.shtml?p=1
(Reprinted with permission from A Different Light: The Hanukkah Book of Celebration, published by the
Shalom Hartman Institute and Devora Publishing.)