Judaism

This paper will cover the origin of Judaism, comparison with Catholicism, an Interview of someone of Jewish faith, and a review of a temple site visit. There are many historical events and ancient practices to Judaism that I will review and elaborate on throughout this paper. Judaism is one of the world’s oldest religions originating around 1800 BCE. Judaism is practiced around the world with its center of faith is Israel, believed to be the center of their ancestors faith was re-established in 1948 after WWII and the holocaust. Throughout history the Jews have been persecuted and oppressed for their beliefs. This oppression includes being put into slavery in Egypt very early in their history, many wars in the middle east, the holocaust, and even current middle eastern affairs.

There are three major types of Judaism today, Reform Judaism, Progressive Judaism, and Orthodox Judaism. Thos practicing Reform Judaism believe that all Jews have a duty to study and practice the traditions and sacred acts that have meaning today. And keep these Jewish families honored in the eye of God. This is also the largest Jewish movement in America. Progressive Judaism is a very traditional form of Judaism using Hebrew exclusively during worship. They do not try to integrate with modern society as the other type of Judaism do today. Jews practicing Orthodox Judaism believe that God gave Moses the Torah which included 613 commandments that Orthodox Jews must live by, but still try to integrate with modern society.

There are many texts used in Judaism. The Tanakh is the same as the books of the Christian Old Testament with a few minor differences and read in a slightly different order. It consists of the Torah which is the first five books of the Old Testament, the 21 books of the Prophets, and 13 books of writings. The Torah is the first five books of the Tanakh known as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.

The Jews relationship with God is based on the Maimonides’ thirteen principles of faith. These can be found in the Talmud; Treatise X, Sanhedrin. These principles are 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' prophecy is better than any other prophet's, The Written Torah and Oral Torah 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.

I have interviewed a Jewish couple to find out more about the religion as it intertwines with everyday lives. During the course of the interview I asked 10 questions which I will share with you through the course of this section of the paper. Beginning with, in your opinion what is the most important holiday in the Jewish religion? Sukkot, Passover, Shavuot, Rosh-hashana, Yom-Kippur, and Hannakuh are the most important to them in the order given. Three of these are the three traditional holidays of the Jewish Bible. Sukkot is the commemoration of the 40 years the Jews were wandering in the desert. Passover commemorates the Jews being freed from slavery in Egypt, and Shavuot celebrates the day God gave Moses the Torah and the Ten Commandments at Mt. Sinai.

The Temple I have visited is Temple B’nai Torah in Highland Park, Illinois. It is located at 2789 Oak Street Highland Park, IL 60035. This temple was founded in 1955 as they rented various sites to use for worship. In 1958 they purchased their current site and later added a Hebrew/religious school, pre-school, and family and adult Hebrew education classes. This is a massive campus built on the site of a Spanish style mansion and Port Clinton Lighthouse. Current buildings include a school, sanctuary building, and a new education center. Temple B’nai Torah currently has over 750 member families in this highly Jewish suburb of Chicago to make it one of the area’s