My Midterm

Discuss the Jewish quest for "meaning." What does Smith means by this and give numerous examples/"details"/specifics from the text to illustrate it.

Answer:

The Jewish people found meaning in their current existence, their past history, even in the events of life that they were currently going through (suffering and exile.) To start with, Jewish people toke a monotheistic view of a Supreme Being (God) and therefore concluded that one cannot give oneself completely too more than one God. For them a pursuit for meaning was centered in their acceptance of this view of God. Their Holy Writings (The Bible) were created under the supervision of this God. They saw as God’s core, a being of overwhelming majesty. The Jews characterized their God as completely good and concerned for his people.

Judaism confirms a creation theory. In their account, God created everything and He declared that what He created was good! As such God then went on to mandate that his children “take dominion” or manage over the earth and everything within it. Because of this, Jewish people found intense meaning in life.

For example the Jewish people found meaning in human existence because God thinks humans are important even though they don’t always match up to his standards. Many of the Biblical stories did not always paint the picture of perfect humans; it often showed them at their worst. As well there are also times displayed in which God is well pleased with his children. It was their moral weakness that weighed heavy for the Jews. They recognized that human life was free to choose it own destiny (free choice.) Since this was possible, Jews often saw humans at continually “missing the mark” or not matching up with God’s standards. Even though they had this tendency to miss the mark, their God was a loving God, who still relished in having them as his children. They gave them hope for their future destiny.

Jews also found tremendous meaning in their history. This was first realized in the way one lives his life (that is, how one reacts to problems or uses opportunities) will ultimately affect the quality of its outcome. They also learned that the only way to positively change things was to cooperate with each other. Thirdly since God controlled all things, they saw nothing that happened was by accident. God (Yahweh) was at work in every element of life, fashioning it for his purposes and to train his people.

Jewish people saw the need to interact properly with other humans on a social basis. Therefore they felt the need for laws/rules that could offer the constraints that would help guide it. The four most popular elements of these laws/rules came from the Ten Commandments. These were commandments handed down directly by God through Moses. These commandments dealt with how one should use force, wealth, sex and speech. The ethical implications of these commandments further served as the foundation for other Laws that were developed (their Rabbinic Law ended up containing around 613 commandments.)

The Jewish people also had Prophets (ones who spoke with authority from God) from time to time. These Prophets were extraordinary men who easily worked one on one with people while helping to shape the overall social structure of the group. Prophetic notions of Jewish history had three different progressing stages, with Yahweh (God) working differently in each stage. The first early stage involved prophetic bands, whose music and dancing helped form certain ere of divine presence. The second stage involved actual men who spoke God’s thoughts and concerns to the people. The later or third stage involved men who voiced Yahweh’s dissatisfaction with the social maltreatment of the Jewish followers to others and towards God. The dissatisfactions spoken about by the Prophets were things that would actually threaten the stability of the culture. However, whatever stage, a common theme was present; everyone is a child of God and as such required respect. Thus through the Prophets Jewish people found meaning relating around the subject of justice.

The Jewish people also found profound meaning in their suffering and exile. In this they eventually say Yahweh (God) was teaching and training them. The Prophets helped point out the seriousness in which God saw justice, as reflected in the past events (especially those of defeat and exile.) God was always teaching and leading them even in their captivity. They felt that God was using them as his example nation to provide insights to others. Through suffering God was building in them a passion for freedom and justice which ultimately spread through Western civilization. Thus the Jews found meaning in life for those who are willing to endure so that others may learn from their example.

The Jewish hope for a better tomorrow was fueled by their passionate belief in a Messiah. How and what this messiah would look like varied between two different views. One view resembled a political figure who would lead them in victory over their enemies, thus raising their status. The other view was a determined universal side which would advance moral principles among all. Some expected this to be a person whereas others saw this as God interceding directly. Overall the general feeling was that there would be a great day sometime in the future.

The Jewish faith had no official creed, however rituals were common. Rituals served to reflect happy times and filled a way to hallow the whole principle of life. Jewish laws sanctioned all the good things life had to offer, i.e. eating, marriage, children, etc… under one condition, that each was to be hallowed. The rituals helped remove the monotony of life. It was through these routine acts that people hearts could turn toward the wonder of God, hallowing the source of all goodness.

The success experienced by the Jewish people was not something that they would claim came from them. As they understood and explained it, what they had learned was revealed to them by God. The Jewish scribes recorded their interactions with God in books, one of which was called “The Torah.” The most critical event being that of the “Exodus”, in which God freed a somewhat unorganized group of people who were enslaved to a greater power. It seemed highly unlikely that this group could have escaped on their own. After this the Jews reviewed their earlier history and began to see a different perspective culminating in the Exodus. What they realized was that from the start God had been leading, protecting, training and shaping this set of people for this event. Freedom for them came as an act of gratuitous grace, which further emphasized God’s love for them. Through this event they were able to experience God’s power, goodness and genuine concern. God wanted to build into the Jewish people his characteristics.

One might ask, why was this power, goodness and concern given to only the Jewish people? The simple answer given by the Jewish people is that they were chosen. Jewish people viewed themselves for responsibility rather than just having fun (privileges.) They felt that they had been chosen by God to serve and to suffer any trials that their service would throw at them. Because of this they imposed a far more demanding morality on themselves than that of any of their peers. They felt their experiences brought them a better understanding of God’s elevated place among them and their neighbors, and brought about standards of justice and morality that still continue to challenge the world today.

Some followers believe that “God has chosen Israel to be a unique instrument for good, where as others believe “cultural diversity enriches society.” The intent of ritualistic observance is to hallow all life. Overall, Judaism is a faith in people and Jewish history has played a significant role in human history.