Jews | Tolerance of World Religions

Jewish History in America

The history of Judaism and the Jewish people is intertwined with the history of the world in which they lived. In spite of being persecuted, reviled and shunned at one time or another by every country where they sought dignity and the right to thrive, the Jews survived and flourished.

The foundation for the resilience of the Jewish people is in Judaism’s focus on a set of codes rather than on the temple or a priest. According to Jewish scholar Eli Burnbaum, these codes transformed the religion to one based on knowledge and leadership rather that family lines. The writing and compilation of the Oral Law into the Mishna and Talmud – the code of regulation in all Jewish life – also helped to unite and build Judaism’s modern foundation.

In America, another important contribution to the Jewish people’s unique view of themselves came from the Menorah Journal between 1915 and 1925. The publication stressed the importance of Jewish ethnicity and culture and contributed to the revival of American Jews’ recognition of their identity and uniqueness. The success of Jews in the United States is based on being accepted and the freedom to prosper. The culture has effectively united ethnic identity with the heritage of American citizenship

World-wide, Jewish values and culture remain strong. One of the core values of Judaism has always been philanthropy, which was originally directed at helping poor Jews. Today, that philanthropy is focused on hospitals, higher education and Israel. Professionally, the highest numbers of Jews find their calling in business, academia and politics – areas in which they have historically excelled.

Filed Under: Jewish History, Society Tagged With: Israel, Jews, Judaism

Jewish Immigration to the United States

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From the start, the immigration of Jews to the United States marked an important new direction for a people who, with few exceptions, had been persecuted throughout their history. It also set the stage for remarkable prosperity and growth for the Jewish people.

The first Jewish colony in the New World was established in Recif, Brazil in 1642. Seven years later, in 1649, the first Jew – Soloman Franco – immigrated to Boston from Spain via Holland. While he was initially unwelcomed, the matter was resolved and he stayed. In 1654, a group of 23 Sephardic Jews immigrated from Dutch Brazil to New Amsterdam (now New York City). By 1776 there were 2,500 Jews living in the colonies.

The first significant wave of Jewish immigrants began in 1826. German Jews began entering the United States and by 1850 the Jewish population had risen from 6,000 to 50,000. Ten years later the population was 150,000. Most of this first wave were middle class professional and businessmen. The second and largest wave of European Jews began in 1881 and lasted until 1924. During this period, one third of Europe’s Jewish population immigrated to the US, swelling this population from 250,000 in 1881 to 4.5 million in 1924. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 placed restrictions on the number of immigrants and dramatically slowed the influx of Jews through the end of World War II. The population of Jews peaked in 1937 at 3.7 percent.

Jewish immigrants brought with them the skills and talents that had allowed them to survive elsewhere – along with the drive to be succesful in business, academia and politics.

Filed Under: General, Jewish Values Tagged With: Jews, United States, World War II

Jewish Traditions: The Rituals and Customs of the Funeral

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Every religion all over the world has a custom and tradition that they follow when a person passes on. Each religion is filled with customs and traditions that are unique and original to their specific religion.

The Jewish religion is no exception. It has some of the most well known traditions and customs for funerals and funeral preparations.

Here is a look at some of the traditions that many Jewish funerals follow.

Jewish tradition calls for the coffin to be that of one made of simple wooden pine. There are no elaborate embellishments or gold encrusted caskets.

Cremation and embalming are forbidden by Jewish tradition.

The ceremony is very brief. It begins with the loved ones and those closed to the person who has passed starting out with a simple tearing of their garments to signify the loss that they are going through by losing the loved one. Sometimes this tearing of garments can be done by the Rabbi but most of the time it is done by the loved ones themselves. Some forms of Jewish religion now engage in tearing of a black piece of garment and have the loved ones pin it on them instead of actually tearing their clothing.

The actual ceremony consists of Psalms, a eulogy and then a memorial prayer. At the end of the ceremony the casket will leave the building with loved ones following it. The casket is wheeled out by members of the community that are known as Chevra Kaddisha and are usually male.

At the cemetery there is a tradition that requires that the casket stop 7 times before it reaches its final resting place. After the burial those attending the funeral will form two lines, one for the family one for the supporters. They will pass the loved ones and recite a blessing to them.

After the funeral there is a period of morning for the family that lasts 7 days.

Filed Under: Jewish Values, Traditions Tagged With: Casket, Cremation, Death, Death Care, Funeral, Jews, Judaism, Psalms

Funeral Customs: Doing it the Jewish Way

Jews that just as there is a way to live, so too there is a way to die. Jews strongly emphasize on being buried the Jewish way. After the demise of someone in the family, Jews are required to contact the synagogue or the rabbi. Once the synagogue is intimated about this, it proceeds to take over the funeral processions. This is subject to the condition that the family belongs to a synagogue. If not, a rabbi can be requested to come and take over the funeral arrangements.

Jewish burial processes are done quickly. No time is wasted in keeping the dead body, and it is quickly buried with due respects in the traditional Jewish way. Burials are postponed if very important family members of the dead person have not arrived. In some cases there might not be enough burial spaces available. Only in these situations, the burial is postponed.

For burial a space has to be bought. If the space has not been bought, a representative of the burial ground has to be contacted. Also, a funeral parlor has to take the body to the burial site, and plan the burial. Body-burning of preserving is not favored by the Jewish religion. Yes, some rabbis approve this. Cases of this are seen as a new wave of reformed Jewish religious law.

Only men can prepare the body of a man, and only women can prepare the body of a woman for burial. After washing the water, they take care never to place the body with the face facing downwards. The body will always have the face facing upwards.
Jewish funeral customs are uncomplicated. They are short, and simple. Before the burial the relatives of the dead person tear their clothes to show the loss that has hit them. Sometimes a portion of their clothes will be torn by the rabbi. After narrating a short blessing prayer, the rabbi proceeds to bury the body.

Filed Under: Customs, Jewish Values Tagged With: Burial, Denominations, Funeral, Jews, Judaism, Rabbi, Religion and Spirituality, Synagogue

Understanding and Accepting the Religions of Others

It is so important to be tolerant of others in this life, especially when it comes to religion. Most people aren’t exposed to other religions besides the one that they practice. This can cause ignorance and hatred of other customs and religions. We all have to get along and as long as a person isn’t forcing his religion on others there is nothing wrong with learning about and understanding the practices of other religions. The Jewish religion is one that has suffered much persecution throughout the ages. People need to be educated about the significance of tradition in the Jewish religion and then maybe they would be more tolerant of Jewish people.

Sometimes people fear that which is different. Because the Jewish religion is steeped in tradition and ritual there are many instances where Jews seem to separate themselves from other religions and people. One such instance is with the dietary laws that Jewish people must follow. These laws are set forth in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible. There are certain foods that cannot be eaten. The food which can be eaten is considered kosher. Many outsiders to the Jewish religion do not understand this, but traditional Jews consider these dietary restrictions to be a command from their creator.

A food can be considered kosher in and of itself, but it must be prepared according to certain standards in order for it to remain kosher. That is why many of the commercial processing plants will be overseen by Jewish priests who can attest to the fact that the food was, indeed, prepared according to the Jewish kosher standards. Jews don’t eat pork because this is an animal that isn’t considered a cloven-hooved, cud-chewer. In the books of Deuteronomy and Leviticus in the Holy Bible it is written that it is permissible to eat any animal which has cloven hooves and chews its cud.

Filed Under: Customs, Jewish Values Tagged With: Ethnicity, Food, Jewish, Jews, Judaism, Kashrut, Religion, Religion and Spirituality

Jewish Customs and Tolerance to World Religions

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Human beings are said to be naturally good since they are humane. However, the monster within them occasionally afflicts their goodness. For some people, this monster happens to be religion. People from different religions find it difficult to tolerate each other simply because they have been hypnotized during their upbringing. Many religious families bring up their children as Jews, Hindus, Muslims, Christians etc but not as human beings. This makes it difficult for people from different religions to tolerate each other because deep down their hearts, they know that all other religions are wrong, stupid or committing a great crime through their religious practices. It is common practice for different religious communities to try and convert other people to their own believe and make them see things in their way by simply putting them into their flock.

Judaism recognizes that Muslims and Christians worship same God and they are considered righteous before God for as long as they follow the teachings of their religions. Jews maintain that they are God’s chosen people but do not view themselves as better than other people in any way. According to their teachings, God chose them to demonstrate his mighty power because they were the lowliest of nations.
Traditional Judaism disapproves of interfaith marriages simply because such marriages would interfere with religious commitment to Judaism, a fact supported by recent statistics that show that only 15 percent of intermarried Jews belong to a synagogue, while 59% of Jewish couples do.

Unlike Muslims, Catholics and other religions, Jews never try to convert non- Jews to their religion Judaism. As a matter of fact, they are required to make three attempts to discourage any non- Jew who wants to convert to Judaism. Furthermore Jews believe that they have many religious responsibilities and anyone who decides to convert Judaism must first learn Jewish laws and customs for at least one year.

Filed Under: Customs, Jewish Values Tagged With: Christian, God, Hindu, Human, Jews, Judaism, Muslim, Religion

Practice Your Faith in a New Way

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It is disconcerting for parents of a strong religious affiliation to watch their children discover a different religious methodology than they’ve been brought up believing. Catholics have firm ideas about Christmas and the meaning of the celebration at hand, as do Jews about Hannukah and the multi-day celebration that entails. While each of these religious celebrations seem to revolve around family and good cheer, each has a deeply seated religious basis.

The surprise and shock to parents of their offspring no longer conforming to their standard beliefs and the rituals they entail can be somewhat overwhelming; usually more so for the parents than the children who consider themselves to be newly enlightened. One way to ease the transition is to be completely frank if questioned, but to otherwise maintain one’s newly affected disbelieving silence and to try to accept that others still have a deep faith.

Wires are crossed when people in either camp strongly voice their opinions and expect others to conform to those attitudes. This might work with young children with no experience and have been taught not to question anything, but it doesn’t work on highly educated adults who have put serious thought into leaving the faith of their childhood behind.

The only real solution to being an accepting, loving faith practitioner is to put aside one’s own beliefs and take the time to understand where those who no longer share those beliefs are coming from. It’s not an easy proposition, but it is one that seems to follow the core mantras of many faiths, such as, Treat your neighbor as you yourself would like to be treated.’ Express interest in the opinion and the reasons behind the choices of the person or people undergoing a faith transition. Perhaps in learning about their thinking processes, you can learn an idea or two which had never before crossed your own mind. This sort of mind expansion should never be a bad thing.

Filed Under: Customs Tagged With: Belief, Christianity, Christmas, Faith, Interfaith, Jews, Parent, Religion