hello everyone! I'm taking part in an experiment in which the goal is to learn about several religions by studying/participating in them for 1 month at a time, to a total of 12 in a year. April is Judaism. I was wondering if anyone could point me in the direction of some good readings (the entire OT is too much... but if there are some good sections in it that would shed light and understanding, i'd love to read them) or resources. I understand that certain meats must be eaten carefully (or not at all), but I'm a veggie anyways. Are there any diet restrictions/guidelines I should know about? In catholism one must go to church weekly... are there any dogmatic (?) rules like that in Judaism? thank you very much for your time!
lyla, Judaism is not entirely explained in the Tanach. The Tanach, or Jewish scriptures, is what we call the old testament, although there are some variations between the old testament and tanach, because there is nothing new to us that would make them old. But traditional Judaism holds that Moses also recieved the written and oral Torah at Sinai, the oral Torah passed down from one generation to the next and then contained within the Mishna and then further elaborated in the Gemara, both of which comprise the Talmud. But Judaism (and I say this as a liberal Jew) has changed a lot over time and, like Christianity, has different movements within it, although the boundaries that separate these movements are less rigid such that they are not considered sects. With absolutely no knowledge of Judaism and only a month, I'm not sure where you should begin. I would say that for inter-denominational answers, sometimes more liberal although representing all perspectives, about all aspects of Judaism, begin here: http://myjewishlearning.com/index.htm It covers belief, practice, history, culture, the whole megillah. For traditional answers, go here: http://jewfaq.org/ If you're looking for books I can help you with that too, but if you've only got a month both of those sites should tell you what you need to know. And if you have any questions you can't find answers to, feel free to come back and ask. Briefly, to your question "In catholism one must go to church weekly... are there any dogmatic (?) rules like that in Judaism?" Traditionally, Judaism is a religion based around the idea of a covenantal relationship expressed on the part of the Jew by the practice of the mitzvot or commandments. Although there are 613 that are found in the Torah: http://www.jewfaq.org/613.htm The Talmud builds on all of them quite a bit. They cover ritual life, as well as moral life, and traditionally there is no distinctinction between these two types of commandment. You should find the basic dietery laws on the site, as well as info on the 3 services Jews pray a day and much more. But liberal Jews view the mitzvot differently, and these different views you should find on myjewishlearning. What other religions are you going to be learning/have you learned about? Dauer
Thank you very much for the reply! I'm excited to check out those websites! so far, catholism and budhism. soon to come:wicca, scientology, zoroastrianism, jehova's witness, peyotism, muslim, satanism, hinduism should be an interesting year
