Ex-Soviet Jewry: The Social Aspects Of Religion

Religion is a major foundation for many cultures. It is present all over the world in many different shapes and forms. But all religions have one thing in common, communality. Naturally, with rituals such as congregation people of religion are brought together. This community worships together, but this relationship extends further than the confines of a church. Members of the same church, or religion, have the same core values, and these commonalities result in a community that would not have otherwise existed. When there is a disregard for religion, there is a loss of community and thus a step

The nonfiction historical work by Daniel Beer, The House of the Dead: Siberian Exiles Under the Tsars was published in New York, New York by Alfred A. Knopf on the third of January 2017. The book contains fourteen chapters with a prologue and epilogue totaling in 378 pages of text. It also features sixteen pages of photographs depicting exiles on their journey and in their prisons, and four pages of maps covering the territory of exile provinces. This historical publication was obtained from the website, Amazon.com.

Religion has been a part of life from the time one can remember. The number of people involved in a religion has decreased in the past years and generations, nonetheless in the 1930’s in the Holocaust era; it was very much a part of peoples life. Victims and survivors of the Holocaust which were Jewish people, believed that “ God is on leave” (8) as Simon Wiesenthal narrates in The Sunflower. The Jews had so much believe in their all mighty God, the only rationalization was that God was on leave, the only way he would allow such a horrific era. Religion plays a dramatic role in

The Jews in Russia were constantly discriminated against. More than fourteen hundred laws were put in place to make life harder for Jews. For example, all Russian Jews were forbidden from practicing law, serving as an army officer, holding a bureaucratic job, owning land, and they were subject to pay high taxes on their businesses, etc.. Tsar Nicholas approved all of these laws and a group that made attacks against Russian Jews called the Black Hundred. The Black Hundred, also known as the Union of Russian People, was made up of three hundred thousand members and one thousand branches across Russia. After the signing of the October Manifesto there was six hundred and ninety-four separate attacks on Russian Jews and Nicholas did little to punish

The mere idea that religion is a personal venture, one that needs or asks not to be meddled with (especially by those who say that it is God’s plan that determines the journey) is tom-foolery, meant to draw the evangelic from his path to your enlightenment. Most revolting is the idea that God is potentially present in all religions, interpreted in a myriad of ways like any single aspect of life. There is one true God and he will send cleansing fire to scour this earth of those who believe differently.

Jewish history is a study of a people in exile. Since the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the experience of the Jewish individual in relation to non-Jewish society has often been that of an outsider looking in. In addition, the distinct Jewish culture, religion, and philosophy identifiably marked the Jews as a separate people. Although this demarcation exposed the Jews to many negative ideological trends, Isaac Deutscher’s “The Non-Jewish Jew” argues that this marginalization enabled the great thinkers of the 19th and 20th centuries to revolutionize the European continent. As the title suggests, the non-Jewish Jews were individuals that abandoned Judaism. Deutscher argues that the historical exclusion

Through out history religion has played a major role in history. For many people who settled in Northern New England came for religious freedom and the colonies were spread because of that. Believing in religion is often the spiritual thing that they lead their life with. Robert Putnam, in his book, American Grace; How Religion Divides and Unites Us claims that religion, when taken in high doses is toxic to civil life, this is true to an extent. Although many people can agree with his claim he isn’t completely right because religion can still be beneficial for people who truly believe in it. Its true religion has set back society a few steps with the prosecution of many innocent people and the deaths of thousands of people but, religion has also helped many people get through hardships they face.

However, there is another side to religion, one that is quite contrary to idea of unification and acceptance. When looking through the scope of history, we can also see religion as an exclusionary tool, often used to differentiate groups of people on an innate level. As many of these idealogies attempt to assert

Slavery in the colonies was inevitable, but we seem to forget that Native American’s were the first to actually be enslaved by the colonists rather than the Africans. They were not treated as equals, nor respected, their land was stripped away from them bit by bit, and the only reason why they were not used as slaves throughout the majority of America’s history, was due to the fact that an unimaginable amount of them died from foreign diseases; that of which Africans had already been exposed to, due to contact with Europeans for centuries.

During the late 10th century, Vladimir I, king of Russia, decided to utilize religion to his advantage. Surrounded by european states unified by a single monotheistic religion, he analyzed the benefits. The growing appeal of such belief systems lessened the attachment to the Russian gods. Centralization of Orthodox Christianity changed the trajectory of Russia forever. The russian alliance with the Byzantine empire grew even stronger in trade and military power. Additionally, Byzantine influence heightened in russian literature, art, and mannerisms. Russian religion separated the kingdom from Roman Catholic western Europe, creating a cultural division that still lasts today. Eventually when the Byzantine empire fell, Russia took it upon themselves

The social construction of religion should not be considered, in all, a bad idea. It does offer core values and represents in its simplest form – moral good, yet any man made thing can be corrupt. What led me to my position was where I

I did have a few questions that I was curious about that I wanted to ask Mr. D. As stated earlier, I wanted to know why he consider being Jewish as his race and religion. He stated that his parents taught him that at a young age that being Jewish was his race and religion. He did say that he know other races that are Jewish but it was kind of hard for him to accept that. Like I said before, Jewish people consider themselves as a family and according to Mr. D’s Jewish family, all of them where white. I can understand why he thinks the way he thinks about Jews as a race, I had to consider what time period his parents and Mr. D grew up in. Mr. D and his parents grew up in a time where races did not mixed with each other. So, it would be hard for Mr. D to see other races as Jews, because when he grew up everybody in the Jewish faith was white and his parents did not tell him any differently. I was curious about that because after reading Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz’s (2013) reading, I wanted to know why Mr. D consider it to be his race and religion. The reading states that Jews are not a race, but it is a religion. The article talked about how many other people of color believe in the Jewish faith and that anyone can believe in the faith. I just needed clarification to why Mr. D thought that.

After World War II ended, Jewish immigrants fled to the United States in order to find a more lucrative and prosperous future for themselves, and their families. Often viewing America as an “El Dorado”, Jews believed that moving to the United States would bring them success and happiness. Unfortunately, immigrants found themselves facing hardships instead. As a result, Jewish communities often quickly fell apart, and people generally viewed them as a whole separate “race”, instead of a religion, opening them up to facing prejudices as well. While enduring the post-war time period, many originally optimistic Jews faced much suffering and came to accept disappointment as a way of life. Often feeling alienated, immigrants clung to their religion as a solace from the world around them, in addition to helping them remember and keep alive their culture. Jewish doctrine taught at an early age the importance of doing well to others. That is to say, Jews would rather face suffering, than to live knowing they chose to do wrong to others. This fundamental “Jewish” concept is what people refer to as “The Golden Rule”. Bernard Malamud’s novel The Assistant follows an Italian man, Frank Alpine, through his journey of self-discovery, while using him to illustrate the dynamics of how the internal struggle differs for Jews versus non-Jews. Additionally, Bernard Malamud showcases Frank’s journey, in his novel The Assistant, to allow his readers a better understanding of the

I am writing to you concerning a matter that affects some 170,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Russia. On March 15, 2017 the Ministry of Justice in Russia filed a claim with the supreme court to declare the religious organization and the Administrative center of Jehovah’s Witnesses extremist. A ruling against the Jehovah’s Witnesses could result in criminal prosecution of my spiritual Brothers and Sisters for even reading the Bible together or talking to others about their faith. It is my hope that you will intervene on their behalf to ensure that religious freedom is protected in Russia. The right to freedom of religious worship is guaranteed in Article 28 of the Russian Federation’s Constitution. Article 28 also guarantees the right

Throughout history, religion has proved to be the main source of social stability in different communities and cultural groups. Everything that is part of a societal system, including law, is influenced by religious beliefs and practices of that society. This being said, most religions are based on the theory that there is a single more powerful entity, that has control over aspects of which humans do not. For the longest time in history, sociologists have argued that peer group, political movements, schools and most importantly, the family to be agents of socialization. Because of this reason, they have ignored the role played by religion in the perpetuation of cultural as well as social