World religions. Рахимбергенова М.Х. - 49 стр.

them in the synagogue. Reform Jews do not typically follow the traditional die-                                         The Land of Israel
tary rules, they conduct their synagogue services in the vernacular, perhaps with            One consequence of the Second World War and the Holocaust, however,
some Hebrew. They have ordained women as rabbis, and do not separate the               has been of epochal significance for Judaism: the foundation of the state of Is-
sexes in the synagogue. For Reform Jews the main significance of Judaism lies          rael. After two thousand years, the Jewish people again have a homeland in
in its ethics, though it also has room for mysticism.                                  Palestine, the land promised by God to Abraham. If the Holocaust has shaken
      Conservative. This form of Judaism, also developed in Germany, stands            the Jewish world to its foundations, the successful launching of the state of Is-
midway between Orthodox and Reform, preserving some aspects of traditional             rael has brought about a tremendous increase in Jewish self-confidence.
Judaism but altering others to adjust to modern conditions. Conservative Jews                If we compare Judaism, or the Hebrew religion, which preceded it, with
typically use both Hebrew and vernacular translations in the synagogue, respect        the religions of Indian or Chinese origin, certain features of it stand out. It em-
the dietary rules but do not necessarily feel bound to follow them strictly, have      phasizes the superiority of human beings over nature, as beings with a mind and
ordained women as rabbis, though more reluctantly than the Reform, and do not          will, capable of exercising personal responsibility, of taking moral factors into
separate the sexes in the synagogue. Conservative Judaism is the most wide-            account, and subject to moral obligation. Lacking a belief in rebirth or the
spread form of Judaism in the United States, but does not exist to anything like       transmigration of souls, it draws a clear line between human beings and ani-
the same extent elsewhere.                                                             mals. By the same token it emphasizes the significance of the individual. The
      Reconstruction. Founded in the United States in the twentieth century by         category of what we might call personhood is of paramount importance for it.
Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan, Reconstructionist Judaism focuses especially on the             (This may be reflected in the widespread modern use of the German and Yid-
Jewish people. It views Judaism as “an evolving religious civilization”, the ex-       dish term “Mensch”, meaning, “a genuinely human being”, as a term of strong
pression of Jewish life and culture. Kaplan understands God as an impersonal           approbation.) It is also reflected in the fact that mainstream Judaism has tradi-
“transnatural power”. Reconstructionist Judaism is committed to the principle          tionally interpreted the supreme reality in personal terms: the transcendent real-
that the religious dimension of Jewish life must reflect the advances in knowl-        ity is not an impersonal force, but knows, speaks and wills*.
edge and ethical insight that each age achieves. Reconstructionist Jews typically            Correspondingly, Judaism is a historical religion. It emphasizes the signifi-
follow the dietary rules, at least to some extent, as a sign of Jewish identity, but   cance of human history, the uniqueness of every human action and every his-
ordain women as rabbis and do not separate the sexes in the synagogue.                 torical event. There is no ever-recurring cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. With
                                                                                       this it focuses more on moral relationships between human beings, on justice
                         Ashkenazim and Sephardim                                      and charity, than on harmony with nature or the liberation of the ego. All of
     Ashkenazim are Jews who live or previously lived in northern and eastern          these characteristics were inherited by its daughter religions, Christianity and
Europe, or their descendants, while Sephardim are those who lived in Spain.            Islam:
These are two distinct cultures within Judaism, having sometimes widely dif-                 1. Continues the Israelite conception of God.
ferent customs, including different pronunciations of Hebrew. In Israel the                  2. But transforms the conception of the Law to make allowance for the
Sephardic pronunciation has been officially adopted.                                   changed political circumstances following the destruction of the temple in A.D.
                                                                                       70.
                                The Holocaust                                                3. Elimination of the ritual sacrifices.
     During the Second World War the Nazis, viewing the Jewish people as an                  4. The synagogue system and rabbinate replace the temple and priesthood.
international conspiracy against Germany, killed several million entirely inno-
cent Jews with methods of mass extermination. This event, which has come to              *
                                                                                            Exceptions must be made for the Kabbalah, which, like other mystical move-
be known as the Holocaust, the Biblical name for a burnt sacrifice, has left a         ments, has tended to regard the concept of personhood as too limited to apply to the
profound wound on the Jewish mind. How could God allow such a thing? How               divine reality, and to Reconstructionism, which has tended not to believe in a tran-
could such an event possibly have a meaning? Many Jewish thinkers and writ-            scendent reality. Maimonides, the eminent medieval Jewish thinker, emphasized that
ers have attempted to grapple with this terrible occurrence, but the dismay it has     we can know only what God is not, not what he is. It could perhaps be argued that it
caused continues unabated.                                                             is just this discomfort with the personal conception of God that has made it difficult
                                                                                       for these movements and thinkers to achieve full acceptance in the Jewish commu-
                                                                                       nity.
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