Jewish Religion Research Articles

Psychology of religion and spirituality in Jewish contexts: A synthetic review

Jewish spirituality and religion include dynamics that are different from other traditions and have important implications for relational forms of spirituality. Certain approaches to relational Judaism (e.g. Mussar) have offered insights for understanding the folk psychology of relational spirituality in Jewish contexts but have not generated empirical research. Existing research in the psychology of Jewish religion and spirituality draws on several theoretical frameworks and has generated helpful findings. In this synthetic review, we foreground the role of theory in psychological research and offer a brief review of several theoretical frameworks used in research on the psychology of Jewish religion and spirituality (cognitive-behavioral, psychodynamic, cultural psychology of religion, and positive psychology). The relational spirituality model (RSM) is summarized as a conceptual framework that could be useful for future research in this area. We use the RSM as a heuristic organizing framework to review several lines of prior empirical research on the psychology of Jewish religion and spirituality that fit within the RSM domains of spiritual dwelling, seeking, and struggles. The final section outlines future directions in research in this area based on the RSM, with particular attention to dimensions of diversity (e.g. gender, sexual orientation), diverse contexts of Jewish spirituality, Jewish spirituality in relation to both mental health suffering and flourishing, and historical trauma. We also highlight the need for research on Jewish spiritual development in communal settings (e.g. congregations, seminaries) to provide a deeper understanding at both individual and communal levels, and interdisciplinary integration with Jewish theology.

Transformasi Kehidupan Rasul Paulus dalam Melayani Tuhan dan Kontribusinya Bagi Pembentukan Mahasiswa STTAB (Sekolah Tinggi Teologi Arastamar Bengkulu)

Paul was a figure who initially hated Christianity, in fact Paul was ethically and morally a criminal based on religion. In fact he was a religious figure from the Jewish religion but he killed people who followed Jesus. However, behind Paul's crimes, before he converted, he experienced a personal encounter that changed his life completely. Paul experienced a very, very radical life transformation because at first he really wanted to destroy the people who followed Jesus, but instead he risked his own life to educate his life in preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The author uses literature-based research methods sourced from books and several journals, thereby helping the author to analyze the life of the apostle Paul and the life of theology students in the dormitory. Every theology student must experience a life transformation, because there are many young people who lived their past lives from different backgrounds or were not morally good, but on campus theology must change. So the author also believes that there are many theology students who struggle with ethics, generally theology students have a background far from the church but instead become servants of God. Formed in dormitory life and disciplined in life spiritually and morally.

The Dynamics of Divorce in Indonesian Muslim Families

The development of divorce cases from year to year is very dynamic. Divorce occurs not only because of problems in the family but also because divorce is attached to the husband and wife, who are left behind due to death. Likewise, the judge's decision can affect the determination of divorce status. If the judge is unwilling or does not decide on the divorce, the marriage is not declared divorced. Therefore, divorce is defined as the breakup of the marital relationship with the judge's decision or the request of one of the parties. This article aims to find out the dynamics of divorce development in Indonesia. This research is library-based qualitative with a descriptive, critical, analytical approach and an interdisciplinary perspective, combining philosophical, psychological, sociological, juridical, and comparative methods. The results show that divorce and marriage exist in the world. In the jewish religion, divorce is permitted. In the catholic faith, divorce is prohibited, while in protestantism, it is allowed on the grounds of adultery. In islam, the majority of islamic jurists allow it and some islamic jurists ban divorce. Meanwhile, in indonesia, divorce is permitted by a court decision. Some regions with the most divorce cases are West Java, East Java, Central Java, North Sumatra, DKI Jakarta, Banten, South Sulawesi, And Riau. The factors that cause divorce are spouse conflicts, economy, leaving one party, domestic violence, drunkenness, gambling, neglect, one of them being imprisoned, adultery, polygamy, forced marriage, and disputes that lead to divorce. Efforts to prevent divorce include premarital education, family money management training, strengthening the basis of personality, family mediation, and rehabilitative assistance for divorced couples.

Judaeophobia: fear of Judaism in Israeli culture

ABSTRACT The article deals with the fear, expressed intensely in Israeli culture and heard by secular people, that Judaism, meaning the Jewish religion, will erase their identity. This fear is part of Israeli secularism its image of Judaism and secularism, the awareness of its strength, weakness and uniqueness. To find out, it will look at the texts of Israeli intellectuals. This study is referred to here as “phenomenological” because its essence lies in the effort to express the consciousness of its writers and their experiences, as they are. A fundamental detail is that Judaism is often presented in a psychological image, as the Israeli unconsciousness. It is a kind of volcanic force that rumbles in the depths and threatens the Israeli secular identity, which is only apparently stable.

The Doctrinal Manifestations of Extremism among Jews

The phenomenon of religious extremism is one of the most dangerous intellectual phenomena that arise in the religious domain. It is an ancient yet contemporary phenomenon, as it has begun to manifest itself in our current era across various religions. The Holy Quran has provided a historical dimension to the roots of extremism among the People of the Book, namely the Jews and Christians, through Quranic verses that illustrate the elements of this phenomenon and how to deal with it in terms of intellectual and doctrinal aspects. Hence, this research aims to shed light on the phenomenon of religious extremism, taking doctrinal extremism within some Jewish sects as an example. The research concludes that religious extremism is a global phenomenon not specific to any religion. Additionally, doctrinal extremism, in its first type, has been evident in certain teachings of the Jewish religion.

Definition and description of Orientalists' studies and their views on the Imamite narrative heritage in the interpretation of the Holy Quran

The Christian religion took root in the world as a universal monotheistic religion after the Jewish religion and expanded in the whole world until Islam came. They dealt with their research in the Holy Qur’an and the personality of the greatest Messenger (PBUH) and the family of the House. Evidence documenting and proving it. Shiite scholars agree that what is meant by the guardians here are the pure and infallible imams (pbuh), and among the similarities promoted by the orientalists is the likeness of the distortion of the Noble Qur’an. It is a false fabrication that has no foundation, and the origin of the reality of the Qur’anic text is proven in the sayings of our eminent scholars, not what the orientalists claim. Sayyid al-Khoei, who is well-known among Muslims, says that distortion does not occur in the Qur’an, and that what is in our hands is the entire Qur’an revealed to the Great Prophet (PBUH), and many scholars have stated this. Among them is the chief of the hadith scholars, al-Saduq Muhammad ibn Babawayh, and he counted the saying of non-distortion as one of the beliefs of the Imamiyyah, including the sheikh of the sect, Muhammad ibn al-Hasan al-Tusi. What we have mentioned of some of the opinions of the Orientalists is only the tip of the iceberg of the thousands of research and writings written by malevolent fingers that try to scatter Muslims and sow discord among them.

Particularity of the Tomb as a Holy Place

Throughout the ages, peoples and tribes have taken pride in place for themselves, especially the graves of the righteous, and they have been sanctified. And, various religious rituals have been performed to the point that these rituals have become integrated into the customs and traditions of those peoples. In this article, we will address the important characteristics that the Jews carry out through the graves of the righteous in the Jewish religion. The definition of the grave of a righteous friend as a holy place will also be discussed. It must be mentioned that after his death, his dignity, actions, and strength remain influential even after his death. Therefore, his burial place and his grave are considered sacred and pure places, and they are considered popular and attract many visitors.

Mizrahi Politics, Religion, and Ethnic Thinking

In recent decades two major approaches sought to explain the intersection of Mizrahi ethnicity and citizenship in Israel. Since the early 1990s, Yoav Peled’s Multiple Citizenship paradigm has become dominant in explaining the differential, hierarchical and fragmented incorporation regime. Accordingly, affiliation to Jewish religion was part of an ethno-national discourse of citizenship which confined Mizrahim (Jews emanating from Muslim countries) to be trapped between the hegemonic Ashkenazim (Jews of European descent) and the Palestinian citizens. Recently, a counter explanation was offered, based on the interpretive repertoires that shape the political behavior of Ashkenazim and Mizrahim. Contrary to the liberal presuppositions of the Multiple Citizenship paradigm, this explanation places greater emphasis on cultural rather than material factors shaping political behaviours and even broader worldviews, while identifying each ethnic group with opposing cultural repertoires. By proposing the idea of “ethnic thinking” this article focuses on the entanglements of religiosity in Mizrahi politics in two case studies – the Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow (the Keshet) and New Mizrahim. Rejecting the tendency to identify Mizrahim as predisposed to traditionalism, this article challenges both approaches that arguably fail to account for the performative aspects of Mizrahi citizenship.

Ritual Practices Within the Frame of Pilgrimage to the Tombs of the Just in Judaism

The article explores the associated beliefs and rituals, Shrines are the graves of righteous saints among the Jews. The practices and rituals performed by visitors to the graves of the righteous among the Jews were analyzed and discussed, and these actions were discussed extensively so that the reader would forget to understand the nature of these rituals and actions that take place at the grave of the righteous according to the point of view, religion, justice and traditions of the Jewish religion. It must be noted that to this day, there are still many people who still perform and in similar practices participate. Relationships existing between different population groups.

Toleransi Hadist Multikultural : Analisis Uji Kualitas Sanad Dan Matan Hadist Shahih Muslim 1593

this article will present a discussion that focuses on the discussion of Hadith within the scope of multicultural, more precisely one of the existing multicultural values, namely about tolerance. There are several Hadiths that explain the importance of cultivating tolerance to deal with various differences. Because the Hadith is the second source of law after the Qur'an, it is necessary to analyze more deeply regarding the quality of the isnaad and its mat. Researchers use qualitative research methods, which refer to sources related to literature. The results of this study are, especially in Sahih Muslim hadith No. 1593, it can be concluded that the explanation related to the command to respect the body, even though the body comes from the Jewish religion, must still stand if the body passes, because this is one of the forms of tolerance that exists, and also respect for death itself. And there are many Isad in this Hadith that is Tsiqah, until it is concluded with Sahihul Isnad. And matan there are also syadz, even many of the Hadiths that explain a similar explanation, and there are also many verses of the Qur'an that support the exposure of the same discussion, and it can be concluded that the Hadith Sahih Muslim No. 1593 which discusses the chapter of the body, and related to this form of tolerance is Sahih.

Personal status or Family System in Jewish Religion

احوال شخصی از ابتدای خلقت تاکنون از مسائل مهم و اساسی در زنده‌گی انسان بوده و از جای‌گاه برجسته‌یی نزد انسان‌­‌ها برخوردار است. هرکدام از ادیان آسمانی و بشری اهمیت ویژه‌یی به این امر قائل‌اند، چنان‌که باب خاصی را در کتاب‌‌های فقهی و حقوقی خود برای آن باز نموده‌اند. یکی از آیین‌های آسمانی، یهودیت می‌­باشد؛ این آیین اهمیت ویژه‌یی به موضوع احوال شخصی قائل شده است. اهمیت موضوع در این است که روابط نزدیک در بعضی از مسائل عبادی که تحریف نشده باشد و موضوعات دیگری، میان ادیان آسمانی، به‌خصوص اسلام و یهودیت وجود دارد. این تحقیق در حقیقت پاسخی است به این سؤال که: احوال شخصی (نظام خانواده) در آیین یهود از ‌چه اهمیت و جای‌گاهی برخوردار بوده و چه‌گونه عملی می­‌گردد؟ این تحقیق به شیوۀ کتاب‌خانه‌یی با روش توصیفی- تحلیلی انجام یافته است و با استفاده از منابع معتبر تاریخی و عقیدتی و مطالعۀ این منابع در قالب کتاب بهره گرفته شده است. نتایجی‌که از این تحقیق به‌­دست می‌­آید، این است که هر دینی دارای احکام مختلف تشریعی خود است‌ و آن را به روش و شیوۀ خاص خود انجام می­دهد. در بعضی موارد، وجوه تشابه در این ادیان زیاد است، ممکن است همین تشابهات به‌گونه­‌یی ما را متوجه این موضوع گرداند، که منشأ اولیۀ این ادیان در ابتدا یکی بوده باشد.

The New Testament and the Qur'an as Depicted in Abraham Silveira's ‘Telling’ Mute Book

Abstract Interfaith controversies and disputes regarding the role of reason in interpreting the Scriptures characterised scholarly discussion in the Low Countries between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The Jewish author Abraham Gómez Silveira contributed to this discussion with an eclectic body of literature. This article focuses on his Libro Mudo (Mute Book), which embodies his efforts to present the Jewish religion as the only rational one and the Christian dogma as irrational. In order to corroborate his reading, Silveira mostly bases his argumentation on non-Jewish texts. By selecting passages from the New Testaments, Christian religious commentaries as well as Qur'anic excerpts, Silveira aims to demonstrate that even non-Jewish sources prove the rationality of the Jewish theological system. The novelty of Silveira's approach consists in confuting Christian dogma by accepting the Gospels as reliable historical sources. In this argumentative structure, the Qur'an has a similar although not identical function.

Otentisitas al-Qur’an: Bantahan Pandangan Abraham Geiger terhadap Al-Qur’an

Abraham Geiger stated that the Qur'an took a lot from the teachings of the Jewish religion, both cultural and transcendent. This study aims to discuss and refute the views of an orientalist named Abraham Geiger on the authenticity of the Qur'an. This study uses a qualitative method with a literature study approach. The results and discussion of this study indicate that Abraham Geiger's accusation that the Koran is only a reflection of Muhammad on Judaism and Christianity is a false accusation. The accusations made by Abraham Geiger do not eliminate the authenticity of the Qur'an as the holy book of Muslims, because historical facts prove that the entire contents of the Qur'an were narrated by many people who continued the chain to the Messenger of Allah. If the criteria for news of mutawatir are mentioned, then the Qur'an has met that criterion.

ANALYSIS OF VIEWS ON THE CONCEPT OF PROHIBITION IN RELIGIONS

In order for humanity to live a happy and prosperous life, it is necessary to refrain from certain actions. Such prohibitions and norms are based on the norms of each religion and people, and certain punishments were applied to those who did not fulfill them. These prohibitions were called by different names in different religions and were different from each other. This article deals with topics such as the first appearance of such prohibitions, their different manifestations in different religions, and the levels of prohibitions. Also, the stages of the development of prohibitions in religions and the opinions of scientists who have conducted research in this regard are covered in detail. In the Jewish religion, we can see that most of the set of instructions called mitzvah consists of prohibitions. In the Islamic religion, there are different levels of prohibitions, which are divided into parts such as haram, makruh tahrimi, makruh tanzihi, and mubah.

Jewish Women and Sacred Text(ure)s

This article argues that the concept of “sacred texture” is a necessary supplement to standard understandings of sacred texts in Jewish religion to capture lay people’s, especially women’s, material-embodied acts as aspects of sacred text use. Such acts may include spoken or performed fragments or sequences from a sacred text that activate associations to it and thereby make the acts intelligible as representations of the sacred text, be it up close or at a distance. The article draws upon, but also expands perspectives on sacred texts as material objects (Malley, Watts, and Schleicher) by including theories by Halliday and Hasan, and Ricoeur on texture, by Deleuze and Guattari on processes of becoming, and by Butler on identity as something emerging from engagements in a culture’s iterative acts. The theoretical underpinnings beg the question of who has access when and where to which particular iterative acts that involve sacred texts and textures? The analysis begins with the Hebrew Bible to find out when texts were conceived as sacred in the first place and when and in what way access to them became regulated. The analysis continues into early Jewish sources, rabbinic literature, and Ashkenazic Jewish sources from the Middle Ages to reflect on Jewish women’s involvement with sacred texts and textures in ways that broaden our knowledge of how they made their religious identity intelligible.

Shades of Red in the GDR: On the Identities of Jewish Communist Exiles after 1945

Discourse on Jewish life in the German Democratic Republic has often offered a clichéd portrayal of a society in which Jewishness was subsumed into the antifascist founding myth of the GDR, leaving Jews as either self-hating (Stalinist) Jews or as citizens forced to deny their Jewish origins. In particular, Cold War narratives have often differentiated between Jewish communists who were in exile in the Soviet Union, and thus seen afterwards as more loyal, and those who were in exile in the West, and thus more likely to be suspected of disloyalty. This paper focuses on non-Soviet exiles and their descendants to explore the diversity of Jewish identity, politics and culture in the GDR, ranging from assimilationist communist identity to explicit engagement with Jewish traditions and even the Jewish religion. Surveying through the generations from pre-Nazi communist activism to the GDR-born children of such activists, it finds a diversity that belies monochrome portrayals of GDR life, while also establishing that, far from being mere passive instruments in the service of an SED-led (neo-)Stalinist society, Jews in the GDR were agents in the establishing of their own multi-faceted identities.

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“We Don’t Know Enough About It”: Student Perceptions of Judaism as a Race, Religion, or Ethnicity

This study was designed to explore elementary students’ existing religious literacy about Judaism alongside how they respond to a series of lessons about Judaism that utilize a picture book text set and discussion-based teaching strategies. Participants in the study were third-grade students at a private Christian school in the South. Data was collected via recorded observations, analytic memos, field notes of the recorded observations, and student work. Results indicate that students entered the unit with little to no religious literacy about Judaism. Through participation in the lessons, students gained religious literacy about the Jewish religion, thinking critically about Judaism in relation to their own religious beliefs. They also responded in ways that indicate a humanizing connection between the students and the culture they are investigating.

Transformation of the Jewish Cultural Code of Sefer in the Social Strata of the Shtetl

The subject of the study is the transformation of the main Jewish cultural code of the Sefer -Book, from stratum to stratum in the culture of Jewish shtetls. Shtetls were called urban-type settlements in Eastern Europe - the Jewish pale of settlement. The Sefer code, originally embodying the foundations of Jewish law and worldview, the written and oral Torah, pointed to the path to the Almighty through its study. The perception of the rules within each stratum differed in a number of features: the Misnageds, as well as the Karaites and Krymchaks, had strict adherence to the laws, and the Hasidim had an emotional perception. With the advent of the Jewish Enlightenment-Haskalah, and later the globalization of the twentieth century, the Sefer code began to personify the light of knowledge as a whole, as the main goal, including both religious and secular sources. Education in the religious stratum was perceived as the knowledge of God and his creations, and in the atheistic environment - as an end in itself, remaining the main goal in all strata. The obtained research results can also be applied to ethnocultural studies of other ethnic groups. The study applied the method of historicism in retrospect of the functioning of the Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, the comparative method in the comparative characteristics of cultural and religious concepts of various Jewish communities, methods of analysis and synthesis in the formulation of the scheme of cultural codes and their conjugations. The study for the first time characterizes the author's universal morphological scheme of Jewish cultural codes, from which the hierarchy and interrelationships of the main groups of symbols, as well as the key meanings and the main meaning, which is the center of intersection of all codes, are understood. Conclusions: 1. The cultural area of the Eastern European shtetl towns was distinguished by stable patterns associated with the compact residence of the Jewish population and traditional occupations, as well as a worldview based on the Jewish religion. After the disappearance of the shtetls due to globalization, the cultural and ideological foundation became the basis of the activity and thinking of scientists, literary and artistic figures who emerged from it. 2. The Sefer cultural code embodies not only the Torah and its derivatives, but also identifies the main goal - the acquisition of knowledge, which is the same for representatives of all social strata of the Shtetl - Ashkenazim, Sephardim, Jews, Karaites, Krymchaks, Misnageds, Hasidim, representatives of Haskalah, and later atheists and agnostics.

Features of the Jewish religion, doctrinal, legal, and moral

The heavenly religions that were known in this world and had their written laws are three religions, which are the Jewish religion, the Christian religion and the Islamic religion, and before these religions, people’s religion was according to what came from an oral approach by the prophets and messengers, except for what was said about the scriptures of Abraham, and it was a judgment There are no legal rulings in it, and each of these three monotheistic religions had what distinguishes one from the other, in terms of features and characteristics that made each of them an identity with which to be known, so I liked to write about the religious identity in the three religions, so my thesis was tagged with it. Asking the Almighty Allah to grant me success in completing it, for He is the Guardian and the One who is capable of it. This research dealt with the Jewish religion, its most important features, and the places of knowing the Jewish identity in it. Then I showed the definition of the Jewish religion, and its most prominent prophets, and it has three demands. The second requirement: the characteristics of legitimacy in the Jewish religion, and the third requirement: the principles of ethics in the Jewish religion.