Reflection paper 2 World Religion 1
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Apr 3, 2024
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Kaileigh King
November 15, 2023 Reflection The religion that I chose was Judaism. Judaism is one of the oldest Abrahamic
religions that believe in one God. Jewish people believe that God communicates to the Jewish
people how to live their day to day life as well as other teachings through the 10
commandments and other laws. The sacred texts that Jews read and study is the Torah.
Additionally, they use the Talmud which is a collection of teachings and comments that are
made about the Torah to form the foundation for Jewish law. Judaism also has 4 different
branches: Orthodox Jews, Conservative Jews, Reform Jews, and Reconstructionist Jews.
Each branch has different traditions and practices that they take part in. Jews also have
different types of worship that they implement in their daily lives such as Temple worship,
synagogue worship, home worship, and House of study. Overall, Jewish people believe that
they should devote themselves to God by implementing the Torah and other sacred text
teachings to get a close relationship with God and continue to be knowledgeable. (Ondich,
2021)
Before learning this information, I did have preconceptions that were based primarily
on what I saw. I did not have many personal interactions with Jewish people and their way of
living, so I had only surface-level knowledge such as the wearing of yarmulkes and kippahs
and reading the Torah. I also did not know that there were different branches of Judaism. I
believed that all followers of Judaism lived the same in terms of beliefs, practices, and
traditions. My opinion and knowledge of Judaism did change due to other research that I did
about the religion.
While learning about Judaism, I did have a lot of questions that were answered
throughout the study of the religion. Some of the questions were: What are one of the reasons
for Jewish people abiding by dietary laws? How often do Jews read the Torah? What does the
Torah contain? What is the reason for Jews celebrating Hanukkah? These questions were
answered in classroom teaching and further research. I learned that Jews abide by dietary
laws and eat only kosher foods because it is made in accordance with Jewish law and is fit for
ritual use. Some foods that they cannot eat are pork, shellfish, and meat and dairy that come
in contact together (Regenstein, J.M., et al., 2003). Jews read the Torah 4 times a week in the
synagogue. They read the Torah on the Sabbath morning and afternoon, Monday morning
and Thursday morning. The Torah contains the first five books of the Hebrew Bible and the
Christian bible and is also called the Pentateuch and was composed by Moses. Jews celebrate
Hannukah to commemorate the victory of Maccabees and the rededication of the second
temple of Jerusalem. Everything that I learned about Judaism was interesting and allowed me
to look at certain aspects of the world from a different point of view. Judaism offers guidance for moral and ethical understanding to help Jews navigate the
world around them which includes views on politics, cultures, and world news. Jews read the
Torah which includes the Ten Commandments. This is a set of laws that was ascribed to
Moses by God to give Jews a better moral understanding and distinguish right from wrong.
The Torah also includes other principles on daily conduct that can strongly influence the
views on world news, politics, and cultures. While being interesting and increasing my
knowledge regarding Judaism that knowledge has no real impact on my personal opinions
politics, culture, and world news. As one of Jehovah’s Witnesses we remain neutral when it
comes to politics. Additionally, in regard to culture and world news there has been and
continues to be a lot of anti-Semitism in the world which is wrong.
In conclusion, Judaism was interesting to learn from a knowledge standpoint since I
had very little information. Many of my questions regarding the religion were answered. In
terms of culture and world news, it is sad to see such an extreme amount of hate towards
Jews simply because they are Jews. I look forward to the day when there will be eternal
peace.
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References Ondich,
Jody.
“Judaism.”
Mlpp.pressbooks.pub,
16
Sept.
2021,
mlpp.pressbooks.pub/worldreligionsthespiritsearching/chapter/judaism/. Regenstein, J.M., et al. “The Kosher and Halal Food Laws.” Comprehensive Reviews
in Food Science and Food Safety, vol. 2, no. 3, July 2003, pp. 111–127,
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2003.tb00018.x,
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-4337.2003.tb00018.x.