Recollection 1 - Jewish Religion
Speaking about her Jewish religion, Mrs. Sharon Helfer shared the knowledge gained by her own quest for meaning and her experiences. This first meeting, of a series of conferences oriented towards interreligious dialogue took place on November 22nd at Residence Marie-Rose Durocher. To expand on her presentation of explaining what the Jewish faith says about God and how to practice this religion according to various Jewish denominations, Ms. Helfer elaborated on the following three points: Who is God in the Jewish faith? What is the Jewish faith? And how to know and serve God?
Who is God in the Jewish faith?
The Jewish God has no physical appearance, he has no body even though the Torah speaks of the hand and the heart of God. He is the Creator of the universe. He is immanent in his creation. He is an intimate presence. The feminine aspect of God is called "Shekinah".
This scholar presents the Jewish God as a "God of the Covenant. A God who accompanies. All that He is, is beyond us. His uniqueness is proclaimed by the prayer that begins with "Hear, O Israel, God is One" (Dt 6:4-9).
This God of the Covenant is very well represented by the exodus from Egypt which constitutes a central moment in the Jewish faith. It is at this time that God proclaims "From now on if you keep my commandments, I will be your God and you will be my people."
What is Jewish faith?
The speaker presented a picture of some world religions to paint a fair picture of the situation. Percentage wise, Christians occupy the first place with 33.6% of believers, followed by Muslims with 20.28%. The Jewish religion is 0.23%, far below the population that declares itself atheist at 2.35%. This is why we say that "Jews are a proud minority."
The respect and love of the Torah is reflected in the profession of the scribe and the wearing of phylacteries and the possession of the mezuzah (an elongated case that contains two texts of the Law). They are also manifested by the feast of Simchat Torah where we celebrate the Torah by carrying the scroll and dancing on the 9th day of Sukkot.
The speaker presented a picture of some world religions to paint a fair picture of the situation. Percentage wise, Christians occupy the first place with 33.6% of believers, followed by Muslims with 20.28%. The Jewish religion is 0.23%, far below the population that declares itself atheist at 2.35%. This is why we say that "Jews are a proud minority."
The respect and love of the Torah is reflected in the profession of the scribe and the wearing of phylacteries and the possession of the mezuzah (an elongated case that contains two texts of the Law). They are also manifested by the feast of Simchat Torah where we celebrate the Torah by carrying the scroll and dancing on the 9th day of Sukkot.
Over time, the Jewish faith has evolved under the influence of women even if they still have difficulty finding their place. During her talk, Sharon presented a wheel that represents the liturgical celebrations of the year, celebrating the certain areas: agricultural, historical and family. While describing each of them she noted that the Passover is the most celebrated holiday. It also highlights the existence of a division between Jews. Those who come from Eastern Europe speak the Yiddish language (mixture of languages and Hebrew). Those from Spain, the Sephardic branch, under Arab influence, speak Ladino.