A Deeper Understanding Of Judaism And Its Main Beliefs

In this journal, the religion that caught my attention and wanting me to know and learn more about it is Judaism. Firstly, there must be an understanding of Judaism. This is a set of ideas and practices being thought about the world and the way mankind should live their live. From the PowerPoint and video that I had reviewed from the e-classroom, it was very interesting to learn that Judaism is the oldest of all four biggest monotheistic religions in the world.

The history of Judaism began with the covenant that was established between God and Abraham around 1812 BC during the Bronze Age in the Middle East and the Torah was given to the Jews by Prophet Moses. In the session when Judaism was thought, it affected me in a positive way as I was unaware of a religion called Judaism, especially knowing that Christianity and Islam was originally stem from Judaism. Judaism was known as the “Mother of Christianity and Islam.” Another reason to how Judaism impacted and altered my thoughts on this religion in an optimistic way is that it doesn’t only teach individuals about believing in one God but it mainly focuses on how individuals should go about their lives living in a peaceful society among others. This I found to be an important teaching aspect in the real world as it guides individuals to practice and learn good behavior, morals, attitudes and not imposing bad treatment on others but rather to treat people with kindness, love, justice, wisdom and righteousness. It was said that these qualities are possessed by God and Humans can mirror these qualities to live in a peaceful and collaborative society while treating people in an ethical sense and this is something that I see is required in today’s world as we are losing unity among ourselves.

In reading the notes on Judaism, I was so engrossed in the information that I had learnt, as it was very interesting. However, three aspects that stood out for me in Judaism are their symbol (Star of David), the practice of Pesach and beliefs. Firstly, Judaism symbol or emblem of the Jewish is the Star of David that represents both Judaism and Israel, also known as the Shield of David or Magen David in Hebrew. This is a six-pointed star which is made up of two superimposed equilateral triangles with one pointing down and the other pointing up. This symbol stood out to me as one star has so many meanings to it. The Star of David represents the seven spiritual building blocks or foundational attributes created by God.

These seven foundational attributes are represented by the six points on the star protruding from the center. The upper right point represents chesed (kindness), the upper left point is gevurah (severity), the top center point is tiferet (harmony), the lower right point is netzach (perseverance), the lower left point is hod (splendor), the center lower point is yesod (foundation) as all attributes are rooted in, and, rise up from this attribute and the center of the star is malchut (royalty) as this attribute absorbs all the vitalities from the higher six attributes and uses them to create and derive everything and causes all to reign over them. This was something that really impressed me because it is not only a symbol for Jews but it is a symbol that holds much more importance as it teaches individuals to live, think and behave. Generally it is a symbol that shows guidance and helps individuals to become a living Star of David.

Secondly, one very outstanding aspect was their sacred practices especially the Pesach. This practice stood out most for me as it holds as a reminder of the children of Israel being freed from slavery under the leadership of the Lord and Moses. The Pesach is known as Passover in English. This is one of the most important festivals in the Jewish year. This celebration takes place for seven or eight days. In this practice they slaughter a lamb and mark their doors with the lamb’s blood so that the angel of Lord would pass over them. This is where the name of the practice was derived from “Passover”. This happened when the final plague (10th plague) was the death of a first born. This festival will continue with eating the lamb (roast) with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The Pesach has a lot of rituals in order to remind people of what they went through, so they would never impose it on others. I find this to be an interesting practice because it does not only remind individuals what they had passed through but it also teaches individuals to treat people in an ethical sense that will guide individuals in today’s world to not treat people in the way they were treated in the slavery days.

Lastly, their central beliefs stood out to me as their faith is not only in worshipping and keeping the relationship of God but also their faith is in their community and family, as well as living the faith. Jews believe that God has chosen people in order to set an example of holiness and ethical behavior to the world and how we should live among each other. Majority of Judaism practices and beliefs start with family, where families welcome special days with the joining of families. Additionally, Jewish persons made a promise to God to abide by his laws and do things in the way that pleases God is an act of Worship and these rules and laws are followed to keep people together. This amazed me because this is what our world and society needs. We have to live together and practice good and ethical behavior in order to bring unity and peace to our community and country.

In conclusion, I never knew about Judaism and I am very grateful to gain so many information on this particular religion as it has widen my spectrum of learning, giving me new thoughts and learning about our world. This will impact greatly in the workplace and help me to understand and deal with situations. Furthermore, when I read the notes and looked at the video the most outstanding information to me was the symbol on the e-classroom under Judaism as I was curious to know what it meant. Secondly, the scared practice of Pesach or Passover is one that truly caught my attention as it is there to teach future generation of how to live with others as well as a reminder of the past. Lastly, their beliefs were mainly due to how to live in this world and keeping the relationship and worshipping of God, as well as a guidance in their lives.