In the Hebrew Bible, these three words, while not perfectly interchangeable, are sometimes used similarly. Both ruaḥ and n’shamah check with the life span breathed by God into humankind and are conjoined in the same verse when Genesis speaks of nishmat ruaḥ ḥayyim, “the n’shamah of the ruaḥ of life.” Ruaḥ and nefesh frequently designate a person’s mental and emotional state and constitution, or what it is that we might call today his or her “self,” as in verses like “And it happened each day that he [Pharaoh] was troubled [va-tipa’em ruḥo, literally, “his spirit was excited”], or even the Psalmist’s “Thy comforts delight me [nafshi].” N’shamah tends to be a phrase for the life of human beings generally or for any living being, as in “And Joshua smote all the country considering the hills . . . and destroyed all that lived [literally, “every n’shamah”].”
However there is no word in the Hebrew Bible equivalent to “spiritual” or “spirituality.” Neither is there one within the Talmud, wherein, however, the word n’shamah represents a meaning of that sort in our English “soul”—a divine substance or presence that inhabits and animates our body while becoming endowed by us with a character uniquely its own. It is really an concept that the Judaism considering the first centuries of the Common Era shared with Christianity and various Gnostic and Neoplatonic groups; whether we know in a soul or otherwise, our contemporary notion of spirituality falls back on it.
However whereas Christianity had a term for “spiritual” from its inception—Paul, in his New Testament epistles, uses the Greek word pneumatikos, which the Latin church fathers translated as spiritalis—rabbinic Judaism, precisely because it resisted stressing the inwardly “spiritual” life at the expense of the outward lifetime of God-given commandments and their observance, did not develop its equivalent term of ruḥani till the Dark ages.
Moreover, ruḥani in medieval Judaism did not mean the same thing as “spiritual” did in Christianity or does today. Both medieval Jewish philosophy and Kabbalah divided a person’s psyche into three parts: the nefesh, which was liable for biological functions; the ruaḥ, that was accountable for intellectual ones; and of course the n’shamah, which was what nowadays could be thought of as a person’s “spiritual” side. In modern Hebrew, too, ruḥani is most often better translated as “intellectual” than “spiritual.”
In East European Hasidism, it s correct, rukhniyus (the Ashkenazi pronunciation of ruḥaniyut, in which the Hebrew suffix –ut is parallel towards the “-ity” of “spirituality”), instead of gashmiyus or “materialism,” was sometimes used as “spirituality” is in English today. However there are other, more common terms in Ḥasidism for a state of religious inwardness and closeness to God, and none among the ever posited a dichotomy amongst the latter and the outward practice of Jewish ritual, prayer, and custom. Quite the opposite: outward practice was a precondition for inward “spirituality.”
What do Jews believe about Jesus? For some Jews, the name alone is nearly synonymous with pogroms and Christian anti-Semitism.Other Jews, recently, have come to regard him as a Jewish teacher. This does not mean, however, that they believe, as Christians do, that he was raised from the dead or was the messiah.While many people now regard Jesus as the founder of Christianity, it is important to note that he did not intend to establish a new religion, at least according to the earliest sources, and he never used the term “Christian.” He was born and lived as a Jew, and his earliest followers were Jews as well. Christianity emerged as a separate religion only in the centuries after Jesus’ death.
Who Was Jesus?
Virtually all of what is known about the historical Jesus comes from the four New Testament Gospels — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John — which scholars believe were written several decades after Jesus’ death. While there is no archaeological or other physical evidence for his existence, most scholars agree that Jesus did exist and that he was born sometime in the decade before the Common Era and crucified sometime between 26-36 CE (the years when the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, ruled Judea).
He lived at a time when the Roman Empire ruled what is now Israel and sectarianism was rife, with major tensions among Jews not only over how much to cooperate with the Romans but also how to interpret Torah . It was also, for some, a restive time when displeasure with Roman policies, as well as with the Temple high priests, bred hopes for a messianic redeemer who would throw off the foreign occupiers and restore Jewish sovereignty in the Land of Israel.
Illustration depicting Jesus fishing in the Sea of Galilee with some of his followers. (From “At Home’ by Grace Stebbing, published by John F Shaw & Co)
Was Jesus the Messiah?
The question “was Jesus the messiah?” requires a prior question: “What is the definition of messiah?” The Prophets (Nevi’im), who wrote hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, envisioned a messianic age as as a period of universal peace, in which war and hunger are eradicated, and humanity accepts God’s sovereignty. By the first century, the view developed that the messianic age would witness a general resurrection of the dead, the in-gathering of all the Jews, including the 10 lost tribes, to the land of Israel, a final judgment and universal peace.
Some Jews expected the messiah to be a descendant ofKing David (based on an interpretation of God’s promise to David in of an eternal kingdom). The Dead Sea Scrolls speak of two messiahs: one a military leader and the other a priest. Still other Jews expected the prophet Elijah, or the angel Michael, or Enoch, or any number of other figures to usher in the messianic age. Stories in the Gospels about Jesus healing the sick, raising the dead, and proclaiming the imminence of the kingdom of heaven suggest that his followers regarded him as appointed by God to bring about the messianic age.
More than 1,000 years after Jesus’ crucifixion, the medieval sage Maimonides (also known as Rambam) laid out in his Mishneh Torah specific things Jews believe the messiah must accomplish in order to confirm his identity — among them restoring the kingdom of David to its former glory, achieving victory in battle against Israel’s enemies, rebuilding the temple (which the Romans destroyed in 70 CE) and ingathering the exiles to the land of Israel. “And if he’s not successful with this, or if he is killed, it’s known that he is not the one that was promised by the Torah,” Maimonides wrote.
What About Jews for Jesus? Jews for Jesus is one branch of a wider movement called Messianic Jews. Members of this movement are not accepted as Jewish by the broader Jewish community, even though some adherents may have been born Jewish and their ritual life includes Jewish practices. While an individual Jew could accept Jesus as the messiah and technically remain Jewish — rejection of any core Jewish belief or practice does not negate one’s Jewishness — the beliefs of messianic Jews are theologically incompatible with Judaism.
Did the Jews Kill Jesus?
No. Jesus was executed by the Romans. Crucifixion was a Roman form of execution, not a Jewish one.
For most of Christian history, Jews were held responsible for the death of Jesus. This is because the New Testament tends to place the blame specifically on the Temple leadership and more generally on Jewish people. According to the Gospels, the Roman governor Pontius Pilate was reluctant to execute Jesus but was egged on by bloodthirsty Jews — a scene famously captured in Mel Gibson’s controversial 2004 film “The Passion of the Christ” According to the Gospel of Matthew, after Pilate washes his hands and declares himself innocent of Jesus’ death, “all the people” (i.e., all the Jews in Jerusalem) respond, “His blood be on us and on our children” (Matthew 27:25).
This “blood cry” and other verses were used to justify centuries of Christian prejudice against Jews. In 1965, the Vatican promulgated a document called “Nostra Aetate” (Latin for “In Our Time”) which stated that Jews in general should not be held responsible for the death of Jesus. This text paved the way for a historic rapprochement between Jews and Catholics. Several Protestant denominations across the globe subsequently adopted similar statements.
A mosaic in Jerusalem’s Evangelical Lutheran Church of Ascension depicting Jesus’ crucifixion. (iStock)
Why Was Jesus Killed?Some have suggested that Jesus was a political rebel who sought the restoration of Jewish sovereignty and was executed by the Romans for sedition — an argument put forth in two recent works: Reza Aslan’s Zealot and Shmuley Boteach’s Kosher Jesus. However, this thesis is not widely accepted by New Testament scholars. Had Rome regarded Jesus as the leader of a band of revolutionaries, it would have rounded up his followers as well. Nor is there any evidence in the New Testament to suggest that Jesus and his followers were zealots interested in an armed rebellion against Rome. More likely is the hypothesis that Romans viewed Jesus as a threat to the peace and killed him because he was gaining adherents who saw him as a messianic figure.
Did Jesus Reject Judaism?Some have interpreted certain verses in the Gospels as rejections of Jewish belief and practice. In the Gospel of Mark, for example, Jesus is said to have declared forbidden foods “clean” — a verse commonly understood as a rejection of kosher dietary laws — but this is Mark’s extrapolation and not necessarily Jesus’ intention. Jesus and his earliest Jewish followers continued to follow Jewish law.
The New Testament also include numerous verses testifying to Jesus as equal to God and as divine — a belief hard to reconcile with Judaism’s insistence on God’s oneness. However, some Jews at the time found the idea that the divine could take on human form compatible with their tradition. Others might have regarded Jesus as an angel, such as the “Angel of the Lord” who appears in Genesis 16,Genesis 22(in the burning bush) and elsewhere.
Are There Jewish Texts that Reference Jesus?Yes. The first-century Jewish historian Josephus mentions Jesus, although the major reference in his Antiquities of the Jews appears to have been edited and augmented by Christian scribes. There are a few references in the Talmud to “Yeshu,” which many authorities understand as referring to Jesus.
The Talmud tractate Sanhedrin originally recorded that Yeshu the Nazarene was hung on the eve of Passover for the crime of leading Jews astray. This reference was excised from later versions of the Talmud, most likely because of its use by Christians as a pretext for persecution.
In the medieval period, a work called Toledot Yeshu presented an alternative history of Jesus that rejects cardinal Christian beliefs. The work, which is not part of the canon of rabbinic literature, is not widely known.
Maimonides, in his Mishneh Torah, describes Jesus as the failed messiah foreseen by the prophet Daniel. Rather than redeeming Israel, Maimonides writes, Jesus caused Jews to be killed and exiled, changed the Torah and led the world to worship a false God.
Rabbinic literature is abundant in claims praising the application of hospitality on behalf of visitors and indigents. One even refers to it as “greater than welcoming the Divine Presence [Sh’khinah].”
A Midrash exhibits the biblical patriarch Abraham since the paragon of hospitality, because of his reception of wayfarers in Genesis 18. His position in the entry of his tent in the midday heat is viewed as a proactive seeking out of passing visitors. Other components of the storyline, too, play a role in Abraham’s reputation: his eagerness, his largesse, and his insistence on seeing his visitors off as they departed.
The citizens of Jerusalem, too, are depicted in Midrashic literature as excelling in this virtue. If the Holy Temple still stood in Jerusalem, that city was the getaway of pilgrims from throughout the Land of Israel in the three harvest festivals. The rabbinic storytellers of late antiquity relate that Jerusalem’s citizens opened their residences for free to those visitors.
Not just our food and accommodation to be offered for passing visitors, but the travelers should be accommodated graciously. The statement of the first sage Shammai this one should “greet every person with a cheerful facial expression” (Mishnah Avot 1:15) is understood midrashically (in Avot De-Rabbi Natan 13) as an admonition to hosts to not provide for their guests amply but angrily. Better, teaches the Midrash, to offer a guest but a little in a gracious tone than large portions proffered grudgingly.
At the start of a traditional Passover seder, Jews recite a formulaic declaration of an “open house” policy of hospitality: “Let all who will be hard-pressed come and eat. Let all that are in need come and share the Passover sacrifice.” This statement is an expansion of what the third-century Babylonian sage Rav Huna was proven to make each time he sat down to a meal: “Let all who will be in need come and eat!” (Babylonian Talmud, Ta’anit 20b).
Some Jewish communities of the past institutionalized the practice of providing cordial reception to wayfarers by developing a furnished home for such temporary visitors. Others offered them lodging when you look at the communal synagogue. The Diaspora tradition of reciting into the synagogue the kiddush prayer at the beginning of a Shabbat or holiday evening — a prayer usually offered where the festive meal is eaten — has its origins for the reason that use of the community’s gathering space.
To this day, it is a hallmark of many Jewish communities that unfamiliar participants in synagogue worship, specifically on Shabbat or holidays, are invited to local people’s homes for a meal — and, if arrangements are created in advance, frequently for lodging as well.
Traditional mandates extend into the guest as well. Guests should stay away from causing hosts extra work. They ought to accede with their host’s or hostess’s requests. A guest should not bring along another, unasked guest. If the guest and host are going into the home together, the visitor should defer to the host. Leaving together, a guest should leave ahead of the host.
Christianity is based in Second Temple Judaism, however the two religious beliefs diverged in the first hundreds of years of the Christian age. Christianity stresses proper belief or orthodoxy, concentrating on the New Covenant as mediated through Jesus Christ, as documented in the New Testament. Judaism places importance on proper behavior or orthopraxy, focusing on the Mosaic covenant, as documented in the Torah and Talmud.
Christians believe in individual redemption from sin through accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord (God) and messiah. Jews believe in individual and cumulative involvement in an endless conversation with God through custom, traditions, praying and moral behavior. Christianity commonly believes in a Triune God, one individual of whom became a human being. Judaism stresses the Oneness of God plus decline the Christian idea of God in human form.
Ethnic Jew is phrase fundamentally used to identify a individual of Jewish parentage and background who does not fundamentally try to practice Judaism, but with that being stated identifies along with Judaism or any other Jews culturally or fraternally, or simultaneously. The idea regarding “ethnic Jew” may not really specifically omit practicing Jews, but these individuals referred to as “Jews” without possessing the determining adjective “ethnic”.
Concepts of philosophy
The idea of can relate to men and women of different beliefs and qualification because genealogy basically denotes who’s “Jewish”. “Ethnic Jew” is sometimes utilized distinguish non-practicing from practicing(religious) Jews. Other terms include”non-observant Jew”, “non-religious Jew”, “non-practicing Jew”, and “secular Jew”.
Religion
The notion of sometimes can refer solely to Jews who, for no matter what reasons, do not practice the religious beliefs of Judaism, or that are so informal with their relationship to this religion as to be effectively not Jews in the religious sense of adherent to Judaism. For the most part, cultural Jews are cognizant of their Jewish background, and may even feel strong cultural (no matter if not religious) ties to Jewish traditions in order to the Jewish men and women or nation. Like men and women of virtually any other ethnic background, non-religious ethnic Jews frequently absorb into a encompassing non-Jewish society, but, particularly in parts if there has a improve local Jewish culture, many may stay mostly part of that tradition alternatively.
Different varieties of Jews
“Ethnic Jews” include atheists, agnostics, non-denominational deists, Jews with just informal associations to Jewish denominations or converts to other religions, that could include Christianity, Buddhism, or Islam. Religious Jews of each denominations sometimes keep up with outreach to non-religious ethnic Jews. In the case of some Hasidic denominations which can include Chabad-Lubavitch, this outreach extends to actively proselytizing more secular Jews.
The Pew Research study of American Jews realized that 62% thought that being Jewish was mainly due to ancestry and culture, while 15% thought that it was mainly a focus of religion. Of those people that stated themselves to be Jews by religion, 55% thought that being Jewish was mainly a matter of ancestry and culture, while two-thirds thought that it was actually not essential to believe in God to get Jewish.
Israeli citizenship
Israeli immigration laws will accept a treatment for Israeli citizenship if there is proven documentation that any grandparent—not just the maternal grandmother—is Jewish. This does not prove that patient an “ethnic Jew”, but Israeli immigration will accept that person because he or she’s got an ethnically Jewish connection, and due to the fact that this same level of connection was sufficient to get persecuted as a Jew via the Nazis.
Definition of Jewishness
The standard European definition of Jewishness (although it in fact was not uniform across Europe) differs markedly that are caused by the definition being used by the usa. In the former Soviet Union, “Jewish” was a nationality by law, just like other nationalities such as Russians, Ukrainians, Georgians and others. There have been certain restrictions on their civil liberties in the early many years of the Soviet Union.
The European definition is traditional in lots of respects, and reflects simply not only the way in which Europeans saw Jews, but also how Jews saw themselves. The Israeli law draws on external definitions of Jewishness (for example the Nazi and Soviet definitions), rather than traditional halakhic guidelines.
תיאור של יהודי אתני
יהודי אתני הוא ביטוי ביסודו לזיהוי אדם של הורות ורקע יהודי שאינו מנסה באופן יסודי לתרגל את היהדות, אך עם זאת הוא מזוהה עם יהדות או עם כל יהודי אחר מבחינה תרבותית או אחווה, או בעת ובעונה אחת. הרעיון בדבר “יהודי אתני” אינו יכול דווקא להשמיט יהודים מעשיים, אך אנשים אלה נקראים “יהודים” בלי להחזיק בתואר הקובע “אתני”.
מושגי הפילוסופיה
הרעיון יכול להתייחס לגברים ונשים בעלי אמונות שונות, משום שהגנאלוגיה בעצם מציינת מיהו “יהודי”. “יהודי אתני” מנוצל לפעמים להבדיל בין אימונים לבין יהודים מתרגלים (דתיים). מונחים אחרים כוללים “יהודי לא שומר מצוות”, “יהודי לא דתי”, “יהודי לא יהודי” ו”חילוני “.
דת
הרעיון של לפעמים יכול להתייחס רק ליהודים אשר, ללא קשר לאלו סיבות, אינם נוהגים באמונות הדתיות של היהדות, או שהם כה לא רשמיים עם יחסם לדת זו, כדי שיהיו למעשה לא יהודים במובן הדתי של דבקות יהדות. על פי רוב, יהודי התרבות מודעים לרקע היהודי שלהם, ואולי אף מרגישים קשרים תרבותיים חזקים (אם לא דתיים) למסורת היהודית, לגברים ולנשים או לאומה. בדומה לגברים ולנשים מכל רקע אתני אחר, יהודים אתניים לא דתיים סופגים לעתים קרובות את החברה הלא-יהודית המקיפה, אך בעיקר בחלקים מסוימים, אם יש שיפור בתרבות היהודית המקומית, רבים עשויים להישאר ברובם חלק ממסורת זו או לחילופין.
זנים שונים של יהודים
“יהודים אתניים” כוללים אתאיסטים, אגנוסטים, דייסטים לא דתיים, יהודים עם אסוציאציות לא פורמליות בלבד לעדות יהודיות או מתגיירים לדתות אחרות, שיכולים לכלול את הנצרות, הבודהיזם או האיסלאם. יהודים דתיים מכל אחת מן העדות נוהגים לשמור על קשר עם יהודים אתניים לא דתיים. במקרה של כמה זרמים חסידיים שיכולים לכלול את חב”ד-ליובאוויטש, ההישג הזה משתרע באופן פעיל על הגברת החילונים.
המחקר של פיו על יהודי אמריקה הבין ש -62% סברו כי היותם יהודיים נובעים בעיקר ממוצא ומן תרבות, ואילו 15% סברו כי הוא מתמקד בעיקר בדת. מבין אלה שהציגו עצמם כיהודים לפי דת, 55% סברו כי היותם יהודים הם בעיקר עניין של מוצא ותרבות, ואילו שני שלישים סברו כי אין זה הכרחי להאמין באלוהים לקבל יהודים.
אזרחות ישראלית
חוקי ההגירה הישראליים יקבלו טיפול באזרחות ישראלית אם יש תיעוד מוכח שכל סבתא – לא רק סבתא מצד האם – היא יהודית. זה לא מוכיח כי החולה “יהודי אתני”, אלא הגירה ישראלית יקבל את האדם כי הוא או היא יש קשר יהודי אתני, ובגלל זה באותה רמה של חיבור היה מספיק כדי לקבל נרדף כיהודי דרך נאצים.
הגדרת יהדות
ההגדרה האירופית הסטנדרטית של היהדות (אם כי למעשה לא היתה אחידה בכל אירופה) שונה במידה ניכרת הנגרמת על ידי ההגדרה בשימוש על ידי ארה”ב. בברית המועצות לשעבר, “יהודי” היה אזרחות על פי חוק, בדיוק כמו לאומים אחרים כגון רוסים, אוקראינים, גרוזינים ואחרים. היו מגבלות מסוימות על חירויות האזרח שלהם בשנים הראשונות של ברית המועצות.
ההגדרה האירופית היא מסורתית במובנים רבים, ומשקפת בפשטות לא רק את האופן שבו ראו האירופים את היהודים, אלא גם את האופן שבו היהודים ראו את עצמם. המשפט הישראלי מתבסס על הגדרות חיצוניות של יהודיות (לדוגמה,
Prayer is a form of art, yet it can be learned. It takes the mechanical skill of reading, although the terms may possibly not be understood, and the spiritual mindset of the prepared heart, a sympathetic mind, and a genuine aspire to be successful. If pursued with diligence, the result will soon be definitely worth the effort spent. In the same way a individual must practice a learned language to gain and retain fluency; in the same way an athlete and musician must rehearse daily, rigorously to do efficiently, so must a Jew pray regularly to do so efficiently.
The daily food diet of prayer is comprised of early morning and evening prayers, Shacharit in the morning, Minchah and Maariv, in belated afternoon and evening. On their Sabbath, there clearly was one more service, Mussaf, added about the early morning. One prayer is main to each and every worship service, morning and evening, weekday, Shabbat, and getaway: the Amidah the “Standing” Prayer, which will be also called the Shmoneh Esrai, the “Eighteen” blessings, or the Silent Devotion.
Truth be told, prayer is not easy. Real prayer can be as demanding – at the least as demanding – once the carrying on of a small business conversation or perhaps the writing of the letter. It purports to become an interaction having a Listener. The child and the newcomer struggle due to their unfamiliarity. Devout worshipers have trouble with their over-familiarity. All individuals of any training or any faith are to do their best when conversing with G‑d.
Seeing that Jews of Color benefit from additional presence and representation inside the Jewish community and beyond, we are pressing the limitations of Jewish interactions on inclusion, ethnic background, and governmental policies. Many people inside the Jewish community begin to see the worth of our efforts. But we are likewise faced with a hurtful repercussion.
The challenging facets of Jews of Color’s identities are in reality display of the effectiveness of the faith and impression of community. The decision showing how all of us build relationships in Jewish spiritual life is an individual one, and not the business of any person but the Rabbis and the ones we are in close association.
Having ones Jewishness inhibited based on ones ethnic background is nothing unique with respect to Jewish Persons of Color. It could possibly appear wherever and become something as apparently innocent like a question, or as hazardous as calling the authorities and instigating mob violence of any kind.
Within the last couple of years, there is an enormous argument whether or not or not integration has had an optimistic or unfavorable effect on African Americans citizens. On May 14, 1954, integration in academic institutions started due to the Brown v. Board of Education resolution. Even though this could not totally eliminate segregation through the entire Country, this court resolution still impacts the African American population in the present day.
Several professionals have recommended the fact that integration was the “IDEAL” factor which has ever before occurred to help African American citizens. Citing that integration had not been exclusively about having the ability to patronize white-owned businesses and organizations or participating in better academic institutions with additional assets. It had been about having the ability to maneuver and gain access to society on the same level as white persons in America.
Eventually, there exists a slippery incline in the concept that everything white is in some way much better than anything at all. Be it in school, business enterprise, or just citizens, trusting in this ideology may be regarded as a type of self-hate. However, there are some excellent and negative thoughts surrounding integration, there is certainly just one mind-boggling fact that people all encounter at this time: African American citizens need to begin to sustain each other and join forces as a women and men.
Comments: As a bi-racial individual, I grew up both in the North and South. However, seeing the struggle caused me to question a lot of things about “integration.” I believe we are to work together and hold each other accountable. We live in this “Lives Matter” moment, if we do not get along with each other now, NO HUMAN LIVES will mater.
Social justice is a vital factor of Reform Judaism. The Reform Jew need to hear the spoken word pertaining to the prophets within our mind; to become interested in the continual services of tikkun olam; to make an attempt to enhance the world for which we all live. A Reform Jew is one who is God’s partners in taking a stand when it comes to voiceless and taking care of what is shattered in our culture.
Reform Jews are pushed by an extreme amount of concerns, every single one fundamental to Jewish awareness of the prophetic communication of Jewish faith and imperative to producing the kind of environment all people prefer to bequeath to individuals who follow us. Reform Jews are also presented by those who maintain to communicate in the identity of religious beliefs nonetheless who offer a distinctive interpretation of what God desires of for all people and uphold family values. There are some who do not respect human rights or personal independence, and who have little regard concerning Constitutional ideals.
Aboard a flight home from Armenia, Pope Francis fielded a pointed question from reporters: Did he agree with German Cardinal Reinhard Marx, who, during the wake associated with Orlando shooting, said gays deserve an apology from the Church?
His answer was frank.
“I think that the church not just should apologize to the person who is gay whom it has offended,” the pope told reporters, “but has got to apologize to your poor, to exploited women, to children used for labor; it’s got to inquire of forgiveness for having blessed many weapons.”
Resource:
Pope Francis: Church Should Apologize To Gays And Other Marginalized (nd) Groups http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2016/06/26/483630582/pope-francis-church-should-apologize-to-gays-and-other-marginalized-groups?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=20160626
The Dantzler Report! 