Comparing and Contrasting Judaism and Christianity

Christianity and Judaism were both founded around 1200 B.C. according to a series of books known as the

Torah, which are five books of Moses or the Old Testament. The Old Testament describes the rise of the Isralites

and their agreement with God that both sides will be faithful to one another and their journey to the land promised by

God. Both religions only believe in one God. They also believe in the messiah. Also they believe in other spiritual

beings such as angels and demons.

Judaism is also very different from Christianity. Their beliefs consist of observance, spirituality, and morality

which they believe to enhance both daily and spiritual life. They also have their own sacred language called Hebrew

and it's also the central text. Judaism teaches that the messiah is ment to come, which they believe will be a

desendent of King David, and some believe the messiah won't come until all of the imperfections in the world have

been repaired. The Jews also believe that doing good deeds will take away their sins. According to the Torah there

are 613 good deeds. They are also commanded to pray 3 times a day to mark the cycle of the day.

Judaism also has very many celebrations. They believe that boys should be circumcised (brit milah) eight

days after birth. Boys and girls get Hebrew names. St the age of 12 or 13 they have a Bat Mitzvah which is the

transition from childhood to adulthood. At the Bat Mitzvah the boys have to read from the Torah in front of their

Jewish comminuty and girls don't read from it but they talk about the weekly Torah portion. At weddings they break a

glass to show the fragile nature of existence and all the imperfect in the world. When someone dies there is no wake

and the burial takes place as soon as possible. An individual must also always accompany the deceased

which they consider

a very high honor. The body is wrapped in a white shroud and is laid to rest in a plain wooden

casket without details, metal hinges, or paint. Friends also visit the people in mourning for seven days and mourners

observe a 30 day period of mourning.

The Jewish community has many different holidays whether they are minor or major. Major holidays are

mostly themes of agriculture and minor holidays are mostly important events in history. They are also divided into

four catagories, which are, the Sabbeth, the High Holy Days, the Three Pilgrimage festivals, and the minor holidays.

The High Holy Day is the Jewish new year (rosh hashamah), which is the start of the Jewish year and a day of

atonement(yomkippur), which is 10 days with continual prayer and cleanse of the soul. Some minor holidays are, the