To Life

954 Words2 Pages

To Life

Everyone knows that in order to truly appreciate something sometimes you have to do without. I think that this can be related to my Catholic faith and studying about the Jewish faith. After reading the book, "To Life", I value my faith that I have much more. It has also helped me to appreciate the Jewish faith. Lastly, it has enlightened my mind with appreciation for the Jewish faith and how it has been a building block for our faith.

First of all, the Jewish people have a strong belief in community. On page ten it is quoted, "people before we had a religion." To the Jews this is a very important part of their religion. By following the traditions of their ancestors (Moses, Isaac, Jacob) they believe that they will fulfill their deeds as a Jew. One specific way in which they can fulfill the Jewish tradition is by obeying the Torah. The Torah is the Law or the first five books written by Moses. It is the story of Judaism and that is where most of the history of Judaism comes from. As for the Christians they believe in what they call and "idea-the incarnation of God in Jesus, the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as a way of redeeming man from sins." As a Christian I know that our religion comes from roots of Judaism. The Jews just haven't come to understand that Jesus is the Messiah.

Secondly, some of the Jewish beliefs that Harold S. Kushner reveals in the book, "To Life" are quite strict and can be a bit of a turnoff to many non-Jews.

The Jews believe that you don't have to be in the synagogue to worship. To the Jews, "everything we do can be transformed into a Sinai experience" and the "search for holiness is not confined to a synagogue." These are the quotes that suggest that Jews believe in prayers being...

... middle of paper ...

...tself. First of all, I am a very strong Catholic who loves the Catholic faith. I am so happy I was baptized in the Catholic Church. Reading about the Jewish faith allowed me to understand what they believe better and it also increased my knowledge of the Catholic Church. I know that I will need to know this information sometime in life in order to understand different people and their beliefs! To mean the last chapter was the most disappointing because it seemed to slam all of us Catholics and non-Jews. It seemed that Kushner wanted to tell us how to live our lives and practice our religion. I learned that it is not good to push ones religion upon another too much because then it can be disturbing! Therefore, I am going to do my best at accepting others beliefs, but at the same time never forgetting that I have such a special relationship with God…I have Jesus!

Open Document