Learning About Judaism From a Christian Perspective

As a practicing Christian with a solid Catholic foundation, I was really expecting to disagree or have conflict with a lot of the things that Jew's hold precious. On our visit to the synagogue I really wasn't sure what it was going to be like. Would there be pews like a church? Is it decorated to a theme? Who stands at the alter? Is there music? What do these people do during their worship?

All these preconceived notions and questions about the religion were torn down almost immediately after beginning our study into the religion and visiting Har Hashem. I realized that there seem to be some very strong parallels between the religion I've spent my life practicing and the one that is completely foreign to me.

I took this class because, just like in any choice you make or argument you have, it's always useful to be able to see things from a different perspective and understand what's going on in the minds of those who don't hold the same beliefs as you. In our short study so far I've already gained tremendous understanding and respect for the culture and religion as a whole. Synagogue had some things that seemed strange to me, like the mezuzah hanging from the doorways and the fact that if you drop the Torah you have to have the community fast for a certain number of days, but honestly, I learned a ton about how the processions work and it seemed like almost all of the questions I had were answered. I also noticed parallels in the seating arrangement, the honoring of the dead on the walls (Christians in intersessions), the main alter where the speaker stands, the worship and internal reflection, and also in the beliefs that Jews hold about acting out in times when a situation arrises, and praying to one God to guide them in their earthly journey and forgive them of the wrongs that they have done.

Overall in this class I really am enjoying learning things from a new perspective, as an active member in my Catholic Parish, I really wasn't sure how I would feel or what I would agree and disagree with. But I guess the most important part so far is just to take my own ego and feelings out of the equation and learn to have an open mind to new information.

Globe Med Club Discussion

On Wednesday night, my friend Jack asked me to attend a club with him. The name of the club is called Globe Med. Jack didn't really explain much besides the fact that it was a club centered around providing care for the around the world who are in need. But upon arriving I realized that the club also had a classroom like atmosphere with a goal of informing it's members about issues that different areas of the world struggle with.

The first meeting was centered around Nepal and the poor communities that Globe Med had been funding and will be continuing to fund. So as the club leaders began to describe Nepalian culture, they made it very clear from the start that their religion was a huge part of their identity as individuals and as a whole. Around 86% of the people of Nepal practice Hinduism, with another large portion being Buddhism and the rest scattered evenly.

I know we don't study much of the Hindu culture in our class, but something that interested me is that apparently in Hinduism, you don't necessarily have to believe in something. Rather, you just practice traditions and rituals. They used to the term 'orthoprax' instead of other religions which are 'orthodox.'  People follow these daily rituals and they become part of peoples every day lives, effectively becoming their culture. Each person practices these same rituals and traditions, and it binds them as a community, and each community sharing the same connection binds them as a people.

I just thought this was interesting and related to the topic we discussed during the first week of class about what is needed to have a religion. I learned that one of the largest religions in the world doesn't necessarily believe in a higher power.