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AS and A Level: Judaism
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The answer is simply that the beliefs of the Pharisees could be adapted into new religious life. After the destruction of the temple, the Jewish race carried on and continued with their religious lives. In the times of Jesus there were around 6,000 Pharisees. This shows that they were followed and were very influential at the time. Ordinary men could join the Pharisee's and any person could join the national organisation as long as they were committed and studied the law in detail. Many people looked up to them. They were experts on Jewish law and helped to create the Mishnah, which is also known as the Oral Torah.
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Explain the origins, practice and observance of Succot, include the particular significance of the 1st, 7th, 8th and 9th days and the religious teachings upon which they are based.
During Succah there are many practices and rituals which take place. Depending on which Jewish group you belong to there are different practices, but in general most Jewish people share the same practice. According to Halakha (Jewish law) you can build the walls of Succah from wood, canvas, aluminium, plaster or regular walls of glass. Also the Succah can be made free standing or it can include one or two walls of a building. The roof of the Succah has to be made from organic material that is detached from the grounds, this includes Palm fronds, and bamboo and wood are the common types of material used.
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Hasidism began to emerge after many Jews began to question their own relationship with God after centuries of hardship and persecution throughout Europe notably in Germany in the 12th century and Spain in the 13th century. Many felt that Jews needed to regain their intimacy with God and sought to reconnect through new means other than reading the Torah. In the 12th century Judah ha Hasid wrote the 'Hymn to Glory' which expresses the feeling that one cannot ever know God, yet Jews have an urgent need for intimacy with him.
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This reveals what people wrote about. We have to be cautious about what archaeology can prove. From reading ancient texts, scholars can not always tell whether it is true or not. We can simply tell what the writer of the text wanted the world to believe. Archaeology can help to provide evidence that an event happened, but it cannot always show why it happened nor who was involved. Therefore it is most useful for corroboration. Through archaeology scholars can discover more about the times in which people in the Bible lived. What importance did they have as a nation among other nations?
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This rich history's lineage can be traced back to the creation of the world when "Adam and Eve were created and lived in the Garden of Eden" (Rich, 2001). However, most historians cite the beginning of Judaism as the years of 1900 - 1700 B.C.E. At this time, Abraham was noted to be the chosen one to hear and adhere to the voice of God. Many scholars have doubted the historical accuracy of many writings associated with the foundation of this faith, since there is not corroborating stories shared from neighboring societies in the same era.
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Critically evaluate the claim that all religious doctrines and institutions exercise patriarchal control over women.
This surely suggests that as women have greater religiosity than men they must not feel exploited or subservient to males. On the other hand their roles still tend to be secondary where they do not often participate actively in the service. Orthodox Jewish women for example cannot read from the Torah scroll or participate in symbolic actions at festivals. The Torah justifies the position of women by saying that Eve influenced her husband to eat at her command in the Garden of Eden and as a result of this woman would become subservient to men.
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Similarly, Christians are released from bondage and delivered to glory through faith in Jesus Christ the Lord. And, as the Lamb of God, Jesus' blood pays the debt for those who believe in Him. Moreover, Bukzaben says, "The deliverance of Israel from Egypt is the central point in Jewish history and worship, even as Calvary is the central point in the Christian faith" (2). I found the 'Feast of Weeks' especially interesting in how it is identified by differing titles and too, how each title was derived.
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Sinai. Chassidics are the traditional Jews follow the laws of Judaism very closely, both written and oral. They believe that the laws from god are absolute and unchanging. Orthodox Jews are willing to accept Jewish traditions and practices and realise their importance even if they don't observe them themselves. The major reason that Jews divided into the two main groups, Reform and Chassidism was all to do with the way that Jews were treated in history. In Eastern Europe during the 17th century many thousands of people were living in poverty. Part of the reason for this was because of an uprising when Sweden and Russia invaded Poleland.
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One main answer to this question is simply because the Torah says so. The torah, however, does not specify reason for these laws but for an observant Jew, there is no need for reason. "We show our obedience to God by following these laws even tough we do not know the reason" is a substantial reason for the following. To keep Kosher can be difficult or easy depending on how observant or devoted to God they are. Keeping Kosher only really becomes difficult when you try to eat in someone's home that does not keep Kosher Even though the laws of kashrut are exceedingly extensive, all the laws derive from some simple and straightforward rules: Certain animals may not be eaten at all, not even their products.
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These beliefs are of significant substance however, Orthodox Judaism favors more heavily regarding other affirmations such as integration of the Jews into the national life of the countries of their birth. Orthodox Judaism is often identified with all "traditional" or "observant" Judaism. Further misconceptions are made when this common identification projects all traditional Judaism as being the same whether in practice or belief. Orthodoxy is actually made up of several different groups within itself. It includes the modern Orthodox, who have largely integrated into modern society while maintaining observance of halakhah (Jewish Law), the Chasidim, who live separately and dress distinctively (unfortunately often referred to erroneously in the media as the "ultra-Orthodox").
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He also inflicted strict laws upon them. At this time a man called Haman became Prime Minister. He disliked the Jews and therefore accused them of disobeying the Persian laws. Haman secretly obtained Xerces permission to perform a mass slaughter of the Jews. Xerces did not want to kill the Jews he didn't mind them but he was being pressurised by Haman's aggression. Haman and Xerces especially did not want the Jewish people's blood to be on their hands. So they, mainly the boisterous Haman, conspired trying to think of a plan which would leave them clean.
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When we are Bar Mitzvah we will be able to form a minyan, which is the required 10 men needed present in a Synagogue before prayers can be read. In preparation for the ceremony I will have to: Go to classes to learn to read and chant the Torah in Hebrew, what it says and why it is important. Hebrew is especially hard to learn because it is written from right to left and there are no spaces, punctuation or vowels!
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This is seen in the Torah when Avraham is commanded to sacrifice his son, Isaac. If an independent good existed irrespective of and not connected to G-d, and murder was always seen as bad; then Avraham would have argued with G-d and claimed that to murder his son would be wrong. However, instead he accepted it because G-d sets the standards and if G-d says murder is good, then murder instantly becomes good. In addition, Rabbi Meir Simcha of Dvinsk said, ?that G-d created the world so that the world contains within it G-d?s definition of good.
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Noah and his family are the only ones who survived. In Bereshit it says ?I have placed my rainbow in the cloud, and it will be a sign of the covenant which is between me, and you, and every living creature?. This is the sign of the covenant that G-d set up between Him and all the flesh that is on the Earth. G-d realises that in some respects humans are incapable of perfection and need more specific laws to give them direction of morality.
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