Christianity vs Judaism

This is based on an Article that I wrote for my World Religions Class.

(2 GREAT videos below)

When you sit back and ponder about life it is sometimes hard to comprehend how everything works the way it does.

How the Earth rotates and has perfect shape and how outer space seems to go on for forever

. We are all so extremely small in this vast area of space.

It's hard to imagine that this was all created by a bang and a boom.

There has to be a much higher power with a huge creative imagination. This is where many people choose to believe that there is a God out there who created them, and everything around them. Then these types of belief systems turn into a type of religion where people can express their feelings about God with others. Somewhere along the lines these religions also break down into even smaller sects. These are sometimes created by one individual and have rules and rituals that need to be maintained in order to be a part of it. Or somewhere along the lines a religion splits into another religion because of a incident that some claim to have happened. I'm talking about Judaism and Christianity. So Jesus was a Jew, then why are Jews still practicing Judaism while Christians believe in Jesus and aren't Jewish? These questions, and more, will be answered as we uncover the truth of Judaism, and why there are still millions of followers after the return of the Messiah according to the Christian faith.

Jesus Christ is said to be the Son of God who was sent to Earth to be sacrificed as a symbol of God's love for us, and the removal of our sins, with repentance. Yes, this is true with the Christian religion, but what about with the Jews, do they believe Jesus Christ was sent by God as the Messiah? Actually, no. Many Jews don't even believe in Jesus Christ. Though Jesus was said to have been a Jew, most Jews today look a Jesus with very little significance, as a normal human, while other just saw him as an imposter. They simply don't believe in Jesus because they state that he never finished fulfilling the prophecies of the Messiah. "The primary reason that Jews do not believe in Jesus as the Messiah is that after his arrival and death the world was not redeemed. There is at least as much suffering, pain, and tragedy in the world as there was before Jesus--probably much more," This is a quote taken from David Wolpe, Rabbi of Sinai Temple in Los Angeles. The Jewish strongly believe that when the Messiah does come that this is when the Lion will lay with the lamb and this is when there will peace for all. The Jews also state that Jesus did not fulfill the Messianic Prophecies. According to Religionfacts.com/Judaism the prophecies that are yet to be fulfilled by the Messiah include peace among all nations, perfect harmony in nature, all Jews return from exile to Israel, universal acceptance of Jews, no evil, no sin, and the reinstatement of the Temple. The Jewish believe that because Jesus Christ has not fulfilled these prophecies means that he is not the Messiah.

Since Judaism is so different from Christianity what holidays do they celebrate? Many people probably think Jews celebrate Christmas, only in a different way. Well it is actually quite different considering that most Jews don't even believe in Jesus Christ. It may also be because Hanukkah is right around the same time Christians celebrate the birth of Christ. "Hanukkah is one of the few Jewish holidays that is not instituted in the Torah. It commemorates a post-biblical event: the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian-Greek rulers of Jerusalem and the subsequent rededication of the Temple in 164 BCE. It also celebrates a miracle that accompanied this event: When the temple was rededicated, God miraculously made the one day's worth of oil burn brightly for eight days," (Ted Falcon, Judaism for Dummies , p. 258). Jewish people celebrate numerous other holidays as well. Such as Rosh Hashanah which is their type of New Year's celebration. The Sabbath is when Jews take a day of rest and don't work on Saturday, they also have a Passover which celebrates the freedom of the Hebrews from Egyptian slavery. They also have a day of celebration holiday where they feast and drink. This holiday is from the Bible and is found in Esther 9:17 and is celebrated in March. These holidays are all very different from any of the Christian holidays. The Jewish holidays seem to have more meaning and relevant significance. By this I mean, Christians celebrate Easter as the resurrection of Jesus, without really embracing on the significance because when we hear about Easter we picture colored eggs, and an Easter bunny. This things have nothing to do with why Christians celebrate Easter.

Apart from the holidays where do the Jews get their information from? Well Christians have the Old and New Testament Bible and the Jewish have the Torah. The Torah is the combination of the five books of Moses which include Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. This is what the Torah is commonly known for, but it also has the Jewish laws, and their traditions. What Christians call the old testament, Jews call it the Tanakh or Torah. But Christians also have the New Testament Bible, which isn't used at all in Jewish scripture. Therefore Christians and Jews worship the same God, but have different assumptions on how to reach Heaven or who Jesus Christ is. Let's take the cross for example. To a Christian, the cross is a remembrance of Jesus Christ who died on it for our sins through his self sacrifice. What do people of Judaism think when they hear about or see a cross? Many Jews look at the cross as a symbol of death while Christians turn to it as a sense of comfort. Jews turn to another symbol known as Chai. These are two Hebrew letters attached and represent the Living God. It reminds Jews of their importance in life and it is also worn in their jewelry like Christians who wear the cross.

Since Jews worship the same God, then they must have a place of worship where they gather? Yes they do. Unlike Christians who have what they churches, a Jewish synagogue is close to the exact same thing. It's a place for the believers to worship God together, be social, and learn or teach others about God. Jewish people also believe in prayer with others is better than prayers alone. According to Jewfaq.org, " Jews can satisfy the obligations of daily prayer by praying anywhere; however, there are certain prayers that can only be said in the presence of a minyan (a quorum of 10 adult men), and tradition teaches that there is more merit to praying with a group than there is in praying alone." This is similar to Christianity in the fact that "two or more and it shall be done". These types of prayers are mostly done during their prayer service at the synagogue. Christians have a preacher, Jews have a Rabbi so what is the difference? They are the same thing for the most part except a Rabbi isn't always present during some synagogue services. The services are also ran by their board of directors who are the ones who hire the Rabbi the teach and guide others. When Jews attend service they also have certain prayers that they recite. When they recite these prayers they must also be facing in the direction of Jerusalem. This is interesting, because I learned if you visit a synagogue you will notice that their sanctuary will be organized this particular way for that reason.

Marriage and Divorce. Seems simple enough, yet both Judaism and Christianity have different views on these two subjects. " According to the Talmud, Rav Yehuda taught that 40 days before a male child is conceived, a voice from heaven announces whose daughter he is going to marry, literally a match made in heaven!" (http://www.jewfaq.org/marriage.htm). This is similar to Christianity in the soul mates factor. But not all Christians believe in soul-mates and not all Jews either. But their take on divorce is completely different from a Christian take on it. The Christian bible states that you should not divorce unless your spouse has been unfaithful to you, or a type of abuser. Jews think of Divorce as a normal thing and is just something that needs to happen when you're not meant to be together. It is stated that there is no reason you have to have to divorce someone. The man can divorce his wife if he sees another woman better looking, but if a wife cheats on her husband then the man must divorce her no matter what. Today a Jewish man must have consent from the wife regarding divorce before he just does it for no reason. This is all extremely interesting and almost the exact opposite of a Christians view on divorce.

Jewish people also see God the same as Christians do. Jews see God as one. God created all things. What they don't do though is see God in any type of physical form. Christian's see God more like them because God says he created them in his image. Jew see this as idolatry and a sin to think of God in a physical form. They say that when the Bible talks about God in forms that it is to all be taken figuratively. They also state that God is not Male or Female, God is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient. God is also eternal and is merciful and just, perfect, and holy. Most all of these qualifications of who they see God to be, Christians also see God that way. But we have to know that it also depends. There are Christians out there who believe differently form the Bible and yet they still call themselves a Christian. Some people believe they can continue to keep sinning because God's says he's forgiven them. What these people are lacking is the genuine knowledge of the bible. If anyone is going to call themselves a part of any faith they need to know where it came from and what all of it means.

People a lot these days seem to take things from the bible, the parts they don't like, or the parts they want to ignore, and change it into what they "believe" is the truth. When in all actuality your either a part of a religion for a reason or you're not. You either follow it full heartedly or you don't. I have learned from this assignment that Judaism and Christianity have a lot more in common then what I initially thought. I knew absolutely nothing about Judaism before writing this paper. Now afterwards I feel so much more enlightened and aware. The fact the Christians and Jews both worship the same God really makes one want to sit back and ponder about how they are living their own life. Jews are extremely dedicated to God and seems to know a lot about who he is. So do most Christians as well. The only thing that surprised me the most was the fact the Jewish people don't believe in Jesus while Christians believe he is Lord.

But it does state in the Bible that “those who are first will be last” (Matthew 19:30 and 20:16, Mark 10:31, and Luke 13:30).

Does this mean that the Jews will be the ones shocked that the Messiah was actually Jesus Christ? Well, it is hard to say. All I know is that I am more aware of my own feelings now, and I feel even more knowledgeable about my own religion.

-Beani (Christine)

References

Fisher, M.P. (2005) Living religions (6th ed.) New Jersey: Prentice- Hall

David Wolpe. Why Jews Don't Accept Jesus as the Messiah or Son of God <http://www.islamfortoday.com/jesus.htm>

Tracey R. Rich, "Messiah." Judaism 101.

<http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/beliefs/messiah.htm>

Tracey R Rich. Judaism 101 , Torah

<http://www.jewfaq.org/torah.htm>