Judaism, Beliefs & Conversion Within the modern spectrum of religion, at least

Within the modern spectrum of religion, at least in the Western World, the Jewish faith often takes on the characteristics of mysticism, historical relativity, and a more solid notion of the beginnings of Christianity. Some Jewish scholars believe that Judaism takes everyday and ordinary experiences and transforms them through prayer and rite into sacred metaphors. In fact:

To gentiles who want to understand how eternity echoes in the lives of their Jewish friends and neighbors, as it does in Christian life as well, and to Jews who seek to grasp how they in their everyday encounter with ordinary life form part of that sacred society that is Israel, [one looks for] the Jewish people (Neusner, 1987, p. ix).

Contemporaneously, the modern Jewish religion has several levels of thought, and, like any great philosophy, is espoused by many and shunned by a similar contingent. For the purposes of this research, however, the topic of concern will be conversion to Judaism and will briefly cover the history of conversion to Judaism, the basic steps outlined for conversion, and the perception Jews have about those who convert to Judaism. Interspersed within these topics will be some of the trends of modern Jewish thought, particularly in the way they relate to the broader subject of conversion, and to the more limited subject of the philosophical appeal that Judaism seems to have within the ironies of the modern world itself.

The Hebraic scriptures use the conception of c

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given the historical verdict of proselytism (Cohen, et.al., 1987, p. 102). Thus, for the modern convert to Judaism, a long and detailed historical grasp of the unity with one's Creator is expected. Nevertheless, within the modern scheme of events, one of the most often quoted appeals of modern Judaism is its attempt at universiality. While it is certainly true that many who convert to Judaism trace their feelings to the broad historical bent of the religion, as well as the belief in the Old Testament, or Torah, rather than the Christian based New Testament, there also seems to be a resurgence of the attitude that Judaism offers more in the form of modern humanistic philosophy. Going back to the actions of Adam in Genesis, modern Judaism finds that the representational attitudes expressed form the basic for modern universiality. The secret of creativeness rests in the union of receptive and active intelligence. Receptive intelligence is merely passive, service, as it were, as material upon which the active intelligence imposes a shape. At first, man is receptive, though potentially endowed with active intelligence, and creativity means spontaneity, activeness, originality, innovation, initiative, and daring. Hence,

Category: Philosophy - J