I liked how you showed a documentary about Judaism as a whole because not everyone in the class knows about Judaism or isn’t Jewish. With this documentary it gives a good general background and history of Jews and Judaism. The first thing he says resonates with me because most people think that it’s just a religion when it’s a culture, ethnicity and way of life as well or a civilization. They also have a language when most other religions don’t. Most have a language from the country they are from.
The way they filmed it was to me a little off. That you only have an older man as the Rabbi reading the Torah in English when most read it in Hebrew or do it in both. That it seems like they interviewed or filmed using less observant Jews from movements such as Reform.
Now what group of people had to go through all of the hardships to have Israel back then or now? They were enslaved, persecuted by Essau, kicked out of so many countries, had the Temple destroyed two times and exiled from their country and have lost tribes. They also had to deal with the Crusades. Jews also had many kings ruling over them and then endured the Holocaust and all the wars that occurred when the Jews had control of Israel.
One good trait this documentary shows is that the Jews will not to go down without a fight. That every time they are oppressed they put up a fight and wouldn’t convert or assimilate to whoever was in charge at the time. Wherever Jews lived outside of Israel they would build Jewish communities anywhere, and because they didn’t have the Temple, synagogues would become their mini temples.
Even after all of the hardships and killing Jews are still around but scattered around the world, some in America, and some in Europe, some in Israel (Asia), South America or Africa etc.
It is also good to show people what Jews have been through and that there is no need to hate them and treat them badly. Don’t keep repeating history. It also shows to non Jews that Christianity and Islam came from Judaism and the New Testament or the Koran is derived from the Torah and that those two are the major differences. The Oral Torah is the set of laws that help explain the Torah and differences from other religions. Non Jews who weren’t Muslim, Indian or polytheistic wanted a religion so the Romans and others took Jesus’ followers writing and made a religion and this made it hard on Jews. It also shows that no matter where the Jews lived they contributed in all fields no matter where they were like in the Renaissance or in science.
They also talk about the Chassidim and Reform Jews which were two branches. The Jews had separated themselves from what all Jews were back then by being Orthodox which was being a traditional Jew. That it teaches everyone that it isn’t just Christianity that has sects in their religion because Judaism has as well. It also shows them that Chanukah isn’t the major holiday when in fact it’s Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Passover, Succot, and Shavuot.
So this documentary does a great job at explaining the religion has a whole, the history, and all the laws that are a part of it.