In chapter 5-7 I really learned a lot about why the Jewish Religion performs certain practices or has specific rituals. After our class discussion on tuesday, I have been thinking about religion and what religion means to me and what it means to other people. After reading chapter 5, I realized that religion has drastically changed over the billions of years.
In chapter 5 Armstrong illustrates how this change occurred: "When the exiles asked: 'How can we sing one of Yahweh's songs in an alien land?' they were not simply giving voice to their homesickness but facing a theological dilemma. Today religious people believe that they can make contact with their G-d wherever they are in the world." I thought that this aspect was extremely interesting because I never knew that location used to be an important part of religious contact and spirituality. I know people that pray to G-d at home or at school etc. and they are still reaching out to G-d. However, one of my friends is Pentecostal and he believes that Jesus will come back to Jerusalem and that is the only place that you can come in contact with him. However this will not happen until there is peace in the area. The Jews also view Jerusalem as such a holy place because they believe that Jerusalem is a symbol of final salvation and a place for G-d/Yahweh to return.
A couple years ago someone asked me if I knew who Yahweh was and this was before I had taken any religion class. I said I didn't know and they asked me why not because that is the name of the Jewish G-d. In Chapter 6, Armstrong tells why Jews do not refer to G-d as Yahweh. I never really knew why, I always knew to refer to G-d as "Adonai" which means "Lord." The reason for this is that "Yahweh had become so transcendent in the minds of people that it was dangerous to utter his name....only high Priests could pronounce the divine name, and then only once a year on Yom Kippur. Still I don't remember once referring to G-d in temple as Yahweh.
I thought chapter 7 was especially interesting because it discussed the structure/layout of temples and sanctuaries. It also discusses one of my favorite parts of Jerusalem- the western wall. Of course I understand what the wall means to my faith in the modern sense but I guess I never realized that I didn't study the history of the creation of the wall. I also didn't know that the Muslims reconstructed the wall at some point in history and that is is part of their history/faith too. That helps me understand more the occurrence of the Wailing wall incident.
I thought this was a really thoughtful response to this part of the reading. I like the quote you used in your response about making contact with G-d anywhere in the world. This made me think of how the home is also such an important part of Judaism after the loss of the second Temple too.
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding that the wall has significance to all faiths is something that I find especially important and vital to realizing the history behind the structure.
ReplyDeleteElissa, I also never heard of the Jewish g-d being referred to as Yahweh and was surprised when I came across this in the reading. Also I have always found it interesting that people believe they can make contact with g-d no matter where in the world they are. On the plane to Israel, there are always religious individuals who gather and pray at certain times throughout the trip. I am curious what it has changed and made religious people feel that they can make contact with g-d regardless of their location.
ReplyDeleteI think your personal anecdote about someone asking you about the name Yahweh really highlights the difference in how people learn about religion. Some people, like Armstrong in her book, learn about religion through research and it becomes basically a scholarly enterprise, where as others learn about religion through practice and family traditions. I think it would be really interesting to look at how knowledge of and feelings toward a religion can be slightly different depending on the nature of someones exposure to that religion.
ReplyDeleteRobyn, I think a reason why Jewish people developed this idea of an omnipresent G-d was because of the pain of separation. First with the exile, and then with the destruction of the Second Temple, the route to G-d was removed for Jewish people. As Armstrong states throughout the book, the Temple was seen as the mechanism used to ascend to the scared dimension were G-d was thought to live. Take away that mechanism and now G-d is unreachable, in a place where no man can access Him. This theological catastrophe must have caused the Jewish people great pain. I think the theory that G-d is everywhere was a way of quelling that immense pain, because now G-d was available in all places, not just at a temple which now lays in ruins. Thus, the path to G-d was restored to the Jewish people, no matter their geographical location.
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