As the holiday season rolls in I have begun to reflect on what it means to be Jewish in the United States in the 21th century. A lot has changed in the religion since it’s origin 3000 years ago. Judaism is unique in the sense that it was a monotheistic religion in a world full of polytheism. Judaism is said to begin when God spoke to Abraham and told him that he should worship only him and that he was the true God. Originally it was believed that there were other gods but the Hebrew people only worshiped a specific God devoted to them. This type of devotion is known as henotheism. 1 It wasn’t until Isaiah states “This is what the LORD says— Israel's King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty: I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no God.”2After this statement it was clear that Judaism was purely a monotheistic religion.

Although it did not begin this way Judaism eventually became a temple-centered religion. The Jewish people focused their worship around the temple and it was commonplace for the Jewish people to journey to the temple for the important Jewish holidays. Many activities occurred around the temple such as animal sacrifice and religious services. Certain areas were delegated for certain people. For an example there were places only Priest were allowed to go and certain places only men were allowed to be. There were two different temple periods in the Jewish temple. King Solomon built the first temple while Herod built the second after one of the Jewish exiles. The Romans destroyed the second temple in another attempt to persecute the Jews.

One of the main factors that has shaped Judaism has been intense persecution that started from the very beginning of the religion. The Jews were forced out of Egypt because of the unfair treatment from the Pharaoh. They experienced cruelty and an exile from the Babylonians. As a result of the exile from the Babylonians and other exiles from people like the Romans Jews were dispersed all through out Europe. They faced even more persecution from the different European cities that they settled in. They were even burned at the staked during the Inquisition. The worst persecution occurred during the Holocaust in the middle of the 20th century. Six million Jews were killed all throughout Europe just because they happened to be Jewish.

Today there are around 13 million Jews in the world. Israel as a nation has the highest Jewish population in the world. The United States comes in a close second with just above five million Jewish people. 3 As of today there are many different types of Judaism. Three of these types are Orthodox, where the Jewish people follow all the laws outlined in the torah, Conservative where Jewish people follow a more lax version of the laws of the torah and Reformed where the tradition follows the high holy days and focuses mostly on the community. Other types of Judaism are Reconstructionist and Humanistic.

Many people believe that the Jewish Holy Book is the Old Testament. This is not entirely true. The Jewish holy book is called the Torah, which contains the first five books of Moses. The writings of the Prophets, such as Isaiah and Ezekiel, and the Wisdom literature are secondary to the torah. The collection of the Wisdom literature, the Torah and the works of the Prophets are known as the Tanakh. The Talmud is an ongoing piece of writing of Jewish law, which allows the Jewish people to elaborate on ancient Jewish law. These are just a few of the many pieces of literary works found in the Jewish tradition. 4

There are many Jewish Holidays. The Jewish Sabbath is most important. Beginning at sunset of Fridays the Jewish people begin their day of rest. From sun down Friday night to sun down Saturday night Jewish people are not allowed to use electricity. Saturday morning they walk to services because using a car is a violation of the holy day. Not all Jewish traditions follow the Sabbath in the same way. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kipper are the Jewish New Year and the Day of Atonement. During these holidays Jewish people fast and atone for what they are sorry for. It is concluded with a big meal shared by the family. Hanukah is the Festival of lights and is celebrated around the same time as Christmas. This festival celebrates the successful Macabeian revolt from the Romans. Passover, which is celebrated around the same time as Easter, celebrates Moses’ escape from Egypt and journey to the holy land. There are other less known Jewish holidays such as Sukkot, Simchat Torah and Purim. The Jewish calendar is a lunar calendar so all holidays begin and end at sun down.

For me being Jewish primarily involves being with the family. The holidays are a time where we as a family get to get together and share something that has been passed down from generation to generation. There is no typical way of being Jewish. Each family, community or congregation does something that makes being Jewish unique for them. Judaism has changed a lot in the last three thousand years but the promotion of community and family is something that remains the same.

Submitted by:
Jamie Schonberg
Intern, Oakland University
March-April, 2009

 

1 Monotheism. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monotheism. Received April 7th 2009.
2 Isaiah 44:6. NIV
3 Jewish Population. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_population Received April 6th 2009.