Which areas in which Jews find meaning in life (detailed in the textbook) seem most important to you?

TEXTBOOK: Smith The World’s Religions (50th anniversary edition) isbn #9780061660184 Notes from Professor: * Judaism is the first of the western, or Abrahamic faiths, that we will study. These religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) are cousins who all claim to have inherited the covenant promises made to Abraham–a major character in the book of Genesis. * Jews descend from Abraham’s son Isaac, while descendants of Abraham’s first son Ishmael later gave rise to the Islamic faith. * Judaism is a religion and also a people group…as a people, Jews are descendants of the characters in the Bible, beginning with Abraham. * The Jewish book of scripture is what is commonly known as the Old Testament to Christians. (Jews do not believe in or follow the New Testament) * Judaism is often regarded as the first of the major monotheistic religious traditions. * Be sure to read Chapter 7 of the textbook for details on the 8 areas where Jews find meaning in the world–I touch on some of these below. * Meaning in Morality….Judaism is a religion of doing, as opposed to a religion of faith. God gave commandments to the people of Israel in the first five books of the Bible, and Judaism centers on trying to follow these commandments (having to do with eating, worship, dress, marriage, legal codes….basically all areas of life). While the 10 Commandments are quite well known, Jewish scholars find a total of 613 commandments in scripture. * Meaning in Suffering….to be Jewish is to have experienced suffering throughout the history of the people. Be it slavery in Egypt, being conquered by other powers later in the Old Testament, living under Roman occupation at the time of Jesus, centuries of anti-Jewish hatred since the birth of Christianity, the Holocaust….the Jews have been targeted time and again by those who have tried to eradicate them as a people group. * Meaning in Messianism…..Jews believe that the Old Testament predicts the coming of a Messiah one day. The word messiah is from the Hebrew for “anointed one.” (In Greek, Messiah is translated as Christos, or Christ in English). In ancient Israel, a new king would be anointed with oil. Jews still await the coming of the Messiah, who in their understanding will be a human being (and not divine), and someone who will bring world peace once they come to earth. The Old Testament does not speak of a “Second Coming,” so Jews expect the Messiah to accomplish his mission all at once.
It is important to note that Jesus was a Jew, as were most of his early followers. After his death, once most Jews continued to await the coming of the Messiah, the followers of Jesus developed what came to be Christianity. From a theological perspective, Christians believe Jesus was human as well as divine, which traditional Judaism does not believe possible. For Jews, monotheism means God is separate from created beings such as humans. Requirements: 125 words or more