Orthodox Judaism: A Study of History, Practices, and Modern Views

This essay provides an overview of Orthodox Judaism, exploring its historical background, unique traditions, daily practices, and moral codes. Originating from the reform movement in 1795, Orthodox Judaism emphasizes strict adherence to traditional beliefs and interpretations of the Torah. The essay discusses key rituals such as circumcision and mitzvah ceremonies, as well as the importance of Torah study and daily prayer. It also examines the religion's approach to moral codes, including gender segregation and restrictions on social interactions. Furthermore, the essay touches on modern adaptations, such as the acceptance of eschatological opinions and the belief in the coming of the Messiah. The author, drawing comparisons to their Muslim faith, finds aspects of Orthodox Judaism both admirable and challenging, particularly regarding the restriction of social interactions between sexes. Desklib offers a variety of similar essays and study resources for students seeking academic assistance.

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Orthodox Judaism
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Introduction
Orthodox Judaism is a religion that belongs to the Jews community (Bar-Ilan, 145). The
reason why I choose to write on the above religion is that they are more appealing and have some
characteristics to my Muslim faith. Orthodox Judaism as a religion stick to what their traditional
belief says. Anybody who wants to change these people from their religion to another cannot
succeed, the members do not accept any attempt to turn him or her. The above character trait is
similar to my Muslim faith; we stick to what our tradition says (Deshen, 89). Apart from the
appealing factor, the other reason why I am analyzing this religion is that of knowing about it.
For example, I know that what Jews interpret from the first five books of the old testament is
what they stick to and they pass the fixed knowledge from one generation to another.
Historical background of Orthodox Judaism
The origin of Orthodox Judaism is as a result of the reform movement in 1795. The term
Orthodox came from Germany Enlightenment and mainly referred to the Jews who had resisted
the Enlightenment. These group of religion did not like Christian activities and even names.
They used their names such as Torah. Rabbi Samson Raphael was the leader of the Orthodox
members of Judaism (Wyschogrod, 25). He spearheaded the religion in most parts of the world,
and at around 1920s, the gospel of Orthodox was spread in many parts of the world including
Eastern Europe.
Consequently, Orthodox Judaism faced some challenges with the issue of modernity. For
instance, despite many parts of the world changing as people become educated, the members of
this religion strict on their belief. One of their faith was the pure divinity for Torah. Such views
made them face some crisis in ideology with other faiths.

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When it comes to the matters of the divine, Orthodox Judaism takes the divine revelation God
showed to Moses on Mount Sinai as eternal and supernatural. Therefore, every Jews need to
follow the commands of the disclosure very strictly. The bonified members follow the religious
rules such as Torah study, daily worship, dietary laws, traditional prayers together with gender
segregation within the synagogue (Slomowitz, Alan, and Alison Feit, 105).
However, every member of the religion must always observe the sabbath day and stick to it.
Besides the above rules, the Orthodox members also hold to the traditional way of putting on;
every member perceives the traditional clothing regardless of the place he or she is living
(Shapiro, 76).
Unique characteristics of the tradition of Orthodox Judaism
The single central aspect of Orthodox Judaism is their strictness to their religious rules.
However, other traditional features differ them from other religion. The first main one is the rite
of passage. The tradition of the faith has one birth date from the Hebrew calendar. The doctrine
also celebrates various life cycles. The first cycle is the circumcision ceremony (Liebman, 54).
When a baby boy is born, he reaches eight years of age, and the community takes him to the
circumcision ceremony. The party implies that the baby is in full relationship with God. The
reason why the circumcision takes place after eight days is that Jesus was also circumcised after
eight days and the Jews are strictly following what the doctrine is telling them to do. After the
circumcision ceremony, the child is now ready to study. Torah which is what gives the rules of
society. The second ritual that the community takes part in is the mitzvah ceremony (Robinson,
115). The girls undergo the service at the age of twelve years while the boys do the same at
thirteen years of age. After the ceremony, the children would have specific clothes they put on
to show that they are members of the Orthodox. Other critical traditional ceremonies are

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marriage and death. The marriage ceremony has particular activities. For example, the bride
would go around the groom seven times before the marriage ceremony begins, there is also a
breaking of the glass to show the end of the service (Eleff, 119). However, during the ceremony
men and women have to sit on different sides.
How Orthodox Judaism is practiced in daily life.
There exist various ways in which religion is integrated and practiced in daily life. The main
factor that determines the practice is the strict adherence to the norms of the faith. The first daily
practice is the study of Torah. Torah was teaching that the religion observed in the nineteenth
century, however, today the remnants of Orthodox still practice the study (Bar-Ilan, 143). Apart
from the study, there is the practice of daily prayer, ceremonies and the type of clothes the
members of the religion put on. Every member puts on the full dress and covers their heads.
Moral codes that orthodox members follow
The rules of the Orthodox religion begin even when the child is young. As a way of respecting
the faith, the sexes are always separated as early as at nursery school. Every member of the
religion does not entertain anything outside the requirement of the religion. For example, if it is a
party that would require the male and female to mix, the member of the Orthodox do not attend
such parties (Shapiro, 74). A male and female adult should not spend time alone in a room.
Besides that, a man and a woman are not related if they are not married. No one should not have
an affection to the other.
Transformation and eschatology in Orthodox Judaism
In the modern world today, the religions now embrace eschatology opinions something that
was not there in the past. The faith can now prophesize the coming of Messiah. The doctrines of

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the religious-state that Jesus would come from the lineage of King David (Robinson, 110). After
the arrival of the Messiah, the community would have some transformation such as peace and
temple restoration. The Judaism also now agrees with the resurrection of the dead from their
doctrine.
Conclusion
Orthodox Judaism is a very strict religion. According to me as a Muslim member, the belief is
reasonable because they stick to what they believe is right for them. However, there are some
parts which are not well. The decision of the religion to restrict sexes to mingle is an adverse
decision. People should be free to mix despite having a restriction. In public places, people can
sit together and chat.

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Work cited
Bar-Ilan, Margalit Shilo. "Between Feminism and Orthodox Judaism: Resistance, Identity, and
religious Change in Israel by Yael Israel-Cohen." Shofar: An Interdisciplinary Journal of
Jewish Studies 32.2 (2014): 144-146.
Deshen, Shlomo. Israeli Judaism: The sociology of religion in Israel. Routledge, 2018.
Eleff, Zev. Modern Orthodox Judaism: A Documentary History. U of Nebraska Press, 2016.
Liebman, Charles S. Deceptive images: Towards a redefinition of American Judaism. Routledge,
2018.
Robinson, George. Essential Judaism: Updated Edition: A Complete Guide to Beliefs, Customs
& Rituals. Simon and Schuster, 2016.
Shapiro, Marc B. Changing the Immutable. How Orthodox Judaism Rewrites Its History.
Littman Library of Jewish, 2015.
Slomowitz, Alan, and Alison Feit. "Does God make referrals? Orthodox Judaism and
homosexuality." Journal of Gay & Lesbian Mental Health 19.1 (2015): 100-111.
Wyschogrod, Michael. "Orthodox Judaism and Jewish-Christian Dialogue." Unpublishedessay.
Accessed December2 (2015).