Transcript The enlightenment, holocaust, & modern day israel

THE ENLIGHTENMENT,
HOLOCAUST, & MODERN
DAY ISRAEL
Judaism #2
THE ENLIGHTENMENT
•17th C. emphasized intellectual
freedom, only what can be known by
reason acceptable
•Less emphasis on religion
•Ashkenazi: Reform, Conservative &
Orthodox traditions
REFORM JUDAISM
• Jews who mixed more frequently
• Wanted similar freedoms as others, participating in
intellectual life, working with non-Jews
• Interpreted scripture using modern methods
• Less concerned with traditional purity laws, kosher
rules, & desire to return to homeland
• Today: Hebrew & English in religious services
• Men & women sit together
• Women rabbis
REFORM CONTINUED
• As long as one parent is Jewish, children are Jewish
• Individualism encouraged
• Often accept secular moral values
• Stress tikkun olam repairing the world via social
action
• Moses Mendelssohn: laid foundation for Reform
Judaism, reason & religion can live side by side
CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM
• A reaction to Reform Judaism
• Reform Jews more involved in secular life, some
feared losing their separate identity
• Follows many, (not all) of the 613 commandments of
the Torah (mitzvoth)
• Old traditions, order of prayers, Hebrew, some dietary
laws
• Open to modern historical methods of study of
Torah, sees Reform too loose in its interpretation
CONSERVATIVE CONTINUED
• Needs of community, Jewish identity come before
individual wants & needs
• Active participation in synagogue very important
• Also stress tikkun olam
• Men & women together in synagogue
• Women sometimes ordained as rabbis
• Largest branch of Judaism in Canada
ORTHODOX JUDAISM
• Observe all ancient rules & practices
• Avoid “watering down”
• God gave whole Torah (oral & written) to Moses at
Mt. Sinai
• Accept some secular moral values
• Strictly follow commandments, Sabbath, Jewish
holy days, Hebrew in synagogue…
• Men & women separated in synagogue
• Jewish only if mother Jewish
THE HOLOCAUST (SHOAH)
• Shoah
• Hebrew for “catastrophe,” “calamity,” “holocaust”
• Nazi Germany’s deliberate attempt to exterminate
the Jewish race (1933-1945)
• 6 million Jewish victims
• Jews considered “inferior” enemies of the state,
cause of economic problems
EFFECTS ON THE JEWISH COMMUNITY
• Faith shaken for many
• Punishment for lack of faithfulness?
• For others: traditional belief that God is with us in good times
and bad times remains strong
• Goodness & love will prevail, God’s reign will triumph
• Key message: “what is hateful to you, do not do to others.”
• Greater emphasis on tikkun olam
MISHNAH
• Oral Torah
• Adam was created single to teach you that
the destruction of any person’s life is
tantamount to destroying a whole world and
the preservation of a single life is tantamount
to preserving a whole world.
• Life is sacred because it is from God
• Preserving life is a key response to the
Holocaust
ZIONISM & STATE OF ISRAEL
• Zionism: a movement to establish a Jewish
homeland
• Some Zionists emigrated to Palestine
• Arabs living there objected, saw it as theirs
• After WW II, many Western countries supported
Jewish struggle for homeland in Palestine
• May 14, 1948, State of Israel