Home as the centre of Judaism Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Home as the centre of Judaism - Essay Example The two movement that will be considered as a show of the various precincts through which the home is a centre of Judaism is the conservative and reformist movements of Judaism. Conservative Jews believe in the core values of its rituals and roles as the practice of what one believes in the daily practices. Reform Judaism believes that the written and oral laws are because of human intervention and the time of its giving as regards the Torah. In both the conservative and reformists, the core value is on the language, Hebrew as the reflection of the beliefs of Judaism and their cultures. It is what holds all Jews together is the language used as a family; hence, forming the first way where a home is a basis for Judaism (Neusner, 1994).  Ã‚  Ã‚     Largely, the home has become the centre of Judaism owing to the various roles, rituals, and practices that are practiced and observed at the home by family members. These rituals and practices are diverse as presented in the following pa rts of this essay. Judaism has been centered at home owing to the rules of dressing by Jews that occur within the family unit. The Halacha forms the basis for the generation of community customs and modesty that determine the dressing code for the Jewish women (Hoffman, 2008). The Halacha gives a number of guidelines for a Jewish woman’s dressing with the sleeves having to be at least below the elbow while the dresses and blouses must have necklines that do not show any cleavage. Skirts won by the women must be high enough. to ensure that when seated the knees are not exposed. Skirts are mainly worn by women in all occasions but there are exceptional instances where they are allowed to be in pants. These instances include agricultural activities where the wearing of the dress would lead to inefficiency in the performance of the various duties. At other times, they have to have to wear their skirts. However, the conservationists Jews are the ones who strictly follow the guidel ines in the Halacha while the Reform Judaism movement does give the adherent’s freedom to choose which rituals to follow. The conservationist movement is very clear in its statement of the superiority of men over women in the home set up. This is also shown by the segregation of women and men at the synagogue during worship and in leading rituals and other religious practices. This is however different in reformist movement where there is acceptance of the universal equality of men and women in all religious rituals, study and the observance of the rules.