Download Religions grid: Judaism

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IGE 101 Truth and Service for Holistic Living (same as IAP102 Ethics and Lifestyle)
Academic Year 2011 Term 1
Stephen Prothero (2010). God is not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World—and Why Their
Differences Matter. HarperCollins Publishers: NY, NY.
JUDAISM
Part I
The way of exile and return.
Begins and ends with a story.
Religion of memory is about both story and law (p 244) “Jews are a people who remember who they are
by telling these stories and by following this law.”
Tiny religion of great influence: monotheism remade the western world (14 million Jews in world); gave
prophetic voice; great narrative of slavery and freedom; at the hub of most vexing international conflict in
the middle east; influential in politics, law, and business; media, arts, comedy; 14 of Time’s 100 most
influential, 25% of nobel prizes; gave birth to both Christianity and Islam; both a religion and a people p
247
According to Stephen Prothero in the book God Is Not One, each religion/non-religion has these four
aspects. Be able to describe for each religion we studied, what the answers would be for each one of
these categories:
1. A Problem (something is awry
in the world).
Not the starting point of Judaism. The starting point is the people;
they are under threat; the purpose of the tradition is not to solve a
problem but to keep a people together. P 252
P 253 the problem is exile—distance from God and where we ought
to be
2. A Solution (to deal with the
problem)
P 253 the solution is return – go back to God and our true home
“What is required in Judaism is not to agree, but to engage.” P 249
quarrel with God call it theology, quarrel with self call it psychology –
Elie Wiesel
Group 2: The Jewish solution is to keep a people together and to
argue and discuss.
3. A Technique (or techniques,
for moving from this problem to
this solution
The technique used by followers of Judaism is “To tell the story and
follow the law – to remember and to obey”(p 253). “Those who
forget the law eventually forget to tell the story” p 245
P 245 “the task of human life is not to achieve enlightenment or
moksha but ‘to walk humbly with thy God’ (Micah 6:8)” p. 245
Obey the 613 commandments
By doing so will “repair the world (”tikkun olam”) p 245 through doing
in this world
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Chosen not to believe something but to do something—to repair the
world (tikkun olam) p 252
P 252 A people knit together by memory; God is radically
transcendant
A people on the move: but exile is chronic: live with hope for the
place where they are going
P 254 Hope for a Messiah: the anointed, a king, who will usher in
peace and prosperity
People need to get things ready and make things right
Living in the almost and not yet
Exile and return: destruction of Jerusalem temple by Babylon
(modern day Iraq) in 586 BCE
4. An Exemplar (or exemplars
“who chart this path from problem
to solution” (p. 14))
Hillel “Judaism’s model human being” p 249 great debate with
Shammai – all in the Talmud
Rabbis
Group 4: Moses Maimonides, Rabbis, etc
Part II
According to Stephen Prothero in God is not One, “Families” of religion have several dimensions. Be able
to describe each dimension for each religion we studied.
1. Ritual
P 251: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be
upon they heart; and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt
talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way,
and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for
a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes. And
thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of they house, and upon they gates”
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
Group 4: p 266 There are many rituals practiced in Judaism including birth and
naming ceremonies, Brit Milah
(circumcision – males only), Redemption of the Firstborn, Bar and Bat Mitzvah,
marriage
traditions, death and mourning traditions.
Sabbath (Shabbat): Friday sundown to Saturday sundown; rest & liberation
reenactment; refrain from creative acts
Hanukkah – Maccabean rebellion in second century BCE (retook Jerusalem)
Purim – Esther saved the Jews from destruction by Persian king
Passover (Pesach)—exodus from Egypt
Pentecost (Shavuoth)—giving Torah on Mt Sinai
Tabernacles (Sukkot)—flight from Egypt into the wilderness
New Year (Rosh Hashanah)
Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)
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2. Narrative
Contrapuntal means
displaying
counterpoint like in
music
P 243 “Judaism begins and ends with a story.” “To be a Jew is to tell and retell a
story and to wrestle with its key symbols: the character of God, the people of
Israel, and the vexed relationship between the two.”
Narrative arc: garden to desert to city
Great characters: King David,
Sex, love, murder, tragedy, deceit
Slavery and freedom, covenants made and broken and renewed
Story of exile and return
“The Hebrew Bible starts with God’s creation of the world in seven days—six
days of labor and one of rest. The conflict kicks in not long after creation with
Adam and Eve and God and a serpent all wrapped around one another in the
Garden of Eden. In this primordial society god lays down only one law: do not eat
from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. So, or course, Adam and Eve
take a bite and are banished for giving in to temptation. In the Christian tradition,
this violation infects all of humanity with a sin virus that can only be cured by the
crucifixion of Jesus. Here it sets into motion the two great contrapuntal themes in
the Jewish story: a rhythm of wrongdoing, punishment, and exile; and a rhythm of
covenant, breach, and new covenant. Because God is just, He punishes human
beings for their wrongdoing, but because He is merciful, He extends to them the
opportunities and responsibilities of a new relationship.
Later in this sage the action narrows and intensifies, shifting from the actions of
God and all humanity to the interaction of God and a particular people. … God
calls Abraham and his descendants to be his people and promises them a
special land. To get there, however, they will have to wander, as will Moses, who
after leading the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt will spend forty years in the
wilderness hard by the Promised Land. The climax of this story comes on Mount
Sinai when God delivers the Torah through Moses and by this new covenant
offers a new way out of exile, a new path back home.
586 BCE Babylon (Iraq) defeats Israel and later Judah; destroys temple; Jews in
exile
Develop synagogues and Torah
538 BCE Cyrus of Persia defeated Babylon; Jews return and rebuild the temple
70 CE Romans destroy temple second time
Exile and return—began in garden of Eden, Cain exiled, Abraham wanders, etc.
Liberation and Law another theme in the story: enslavement-freedom—law – how
to live both ritually and ethically
3. Experiential
Tell their story and follow the law.
Learning is valued; love good debate
4. Institutional
Group 2: Jews have synagogue, which are high Jewish temples. And they have
yeshiva is a school for studying Jewish scripture.
5. Ethical
Group PH: Ethics can be defined as “rules of conduct recognized in respect to a
particular class of human actions or a particular group, culture, etc. 1” Jews follow
the Torah, the first five books of the Bible that provide the basis for Jewish ethics.
Within Judaism there are several ethical codes that govern Jews such as the
1 http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ethics
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“halakhah” meaning “law” or “way/path”. This code dictates how Jews should
celebrate the Sabbath. There is also the “mitzvot” which is 613 commandments
that govern how a Jew shall lead a more ritualistic and ethical life. If a Jew
follows these commandments, he will be ethical in the eyes of the Jewish
community.
6. Doctrinal
Shema: “Hear (shema) O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is One.”
No creed
“love the questions” p 248 many opinions and interpretations
Glory in ambiguity p 250
Group 4: Judaism is a monotheistic religion meaning that the followers of this
faith believe in only one god. The doctrine consists of the 13 Principles of Faith
and other teachings found in their religious texts which include the Tanakh
(containing the Torah, the Nevi’im, and the Ketuvim), the Mishnah, the Tosefta,
the Midrashim, and the two Talmuds. Jewish people believe that the actions of
people are more important than the doctrine of their faith.
Different types of Jews: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist,
Humanist; in past Pharisees, Sadduccees, Essenes, Zealots
7. Material
Torah: law, teaching, or guidance; five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Tanakh: Torah (first five books); Neviim (prophets); Ketuvim (writings—Psalms,
Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs)
Rabbinic (teachers) texts: Mishnah (200 CE), Jerusalem Talmud (4th century CE),
Babylonian Talmud (fifth century CE)
Part III
How does each religious tradition answer the 4 fundamental questions of life:
1) What is the nature of reality? What is “real”?
2) What would your life look like if you were “doing well”? Or what is a quality life?
3) What does it mean to be a truly good person? Or what is real goodness?
Group 2: Jews have much approach toward different wearing of goodness. But to be good, Jews follow
the rules and the teaching.
4) How does one become a truly good person?
Group PH: Each religion has a way for its followers to become good. According to Prothero the way or
Jews to become good is through “tikkun olam” or repairing the world. By repairing the world, Jews put an
end to their exile and attempt the world worthy of the coming of the messiah. A second way for its
followers to become good to find a permanent way to end the global exile of Jews.
How does each religion answer Prothero’s fundamental question: How to become a human being?
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