Reform Judaism In The 19th Century Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

Reform Judaism In The 19th Century Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers Reform Judaism in the 19th Century The most extreme precursor to the Reform movement was a man by the name of Samuel Holdheim. He was born in 1806 in Kempo in the province of Posen. At a young age he studied at a yeshiva and received a Talmudic education. He began to study German and secular subjects after his marriage to a woman with a modern education. After their divorce several years later, he began studying at the University of Prague and Berlin and received a doctorate from the University of Leipzig. Following service in Frankfurt -Am-Oder he became a Landesrabbiner or chief Rabbi of Mecklenberg-Schewerin. In the year 1847 he became the rabbinate of a reform congregation in Berlin . At this point he already disapproved of most liberal Rabbis and came to be known as the most exemplar of reform Rabbis in all of Europe ( 241) The question comes to mind as to what exactly triggered this different belief in Judaism which differed significantly from previous tenents. It started during the time of the French revolution, a time when European Jews were (for the first time) recognized as citizens of the countries in which they lived in. Ghettos were being abolished, special badges were no longer required and Jews could dress the way they wanted, settle were they pleased and work the occupations they desired. Many Jews settled outside of Jewish districts, and began to live like their neighbors and speak the language of the land. They went to public schools and began to neglect Jewish Studies and forget about he Shulchan Aruch. In 1815, after Napoleon's defeat, Jews lost the rights of citizenship in many countries. Many Jews converted to Christianity in order to retain those rights. Many thoughtful Jews were concerned about this. They realized that many of these changes took place not because of a dislike for Judaism, but in order to obtain better treatment. Many rabbis believed that the way to address this was to force Jews to give up public schools and universities. This didn't work. Rabbis suggested that observance might have to be changed in order to appeal to the Jew living the modern world. They realized that every now and then old practices and new ones were introduced, resulting in a different lifestyle then 4000 or even 2000 years previously. They fathomed that these changes often made life easier for the Jew. They concluded that in order to make Judaism attractive to all Jews this change had to continue. A group of Rabbis assembled in Germany, and changes began, thus developed the start of Reform Judaism. Holdheim a reform Rabbi himself felt that the Jews living during his time period should change the laws given to them at Mt. Sinai and the halacha that the Talmud and Mishna state. Holdheim believed that the laws of the Torah and the Talmud that were in effect when the Jews had their own country and government have lost their legitimacy. Judaism now had to be in accord with both the letter and the spirit of laws of the nations they were living among. Even the laws of the Torah whose source was God had to be regarded as valid for certain times and places as he said " with the change of the circumezces and conditions of life for which God once gave those laws , the laws themselves cease to be operative, that they shall be observed no longer because they no longer can be observed". Thus , Holdheim said that the biblical and Talmudic laws concerning marriage, divorce and personal status are no longer relevant and the Jews in these cases should be ruled by the state government (Sasson 835). He concluded that laws between man and man should be left to the rule of the state they lived in but questions of prayer and religious institutions should be left to the Rabbis because prayer was the most important part of religious life. Holdheim denied the authority of the Talmudic dicta, the oral law. He says that it was written by the hand of man but was divinely inspired. His conclusion was that Jewish life should be based on spiritual and ethical guidance of the Torah. Even though

The Medieval Joseon Dynasty of Korea

The Medieval Joseon Dynasty of Korea The Joseon Dynasty (1392 to 1910), often spelled Choson or Cho-sen and pronounced Choh-sen, is the name of the last pre-modern dynastic rule in the Korean peninsula, and its politics, cultural practices and architecture reflect an explicitly Confucian flavor. The dynasty was established as a reformation of the hitherto Buddhist traditions as exemplified by the preceding Goryeo dynasty (918 to 1392). According to historical documentation, the Joseon dynastic rulers rejected what had become a corrupt regime, and reconstructed Korean society into the precursors of what is today considered one of most Confucian countries in the world. Confucianism, as practiced by the Joseon rulers, was more than simply a philosophy, it was a major course of cultural influence and an overriding social principle. Confucianism, a political philosophy based on the teachings of the 6th century BC Chinese scholar Confucius, emphasizes the status quo and social order, as a trajectory aimed towards creating a utopian society. Confucius and Social Reformation Joseon kings and their Confucian scholars based much of what they perceived as the ideal state on Confucius stories of the legendary Yao and Shun regimes. This ideal state is perhaps best represented in a scroll painted by An Gyeon, the official court painter to Sejong the Great  (ruled 1418 to 1459). The scroll is titled Mongyudowondo or Dream Journey to the Peach Blossom Land, and it tells of Prince Yi Yongs (1418 to 1453) dream of a secular paradise supported by a simple agricultural life. Son (2013) argues that the painting (and perhaps the princes dream) was likely based in part on the Chinese utopian poem written by the Jin dynasty poet Tao Yuanming (Tao Qian 365 to 427). Dynastic Royal Buildings The first ruler of the Joseon Dynasty was King Taejo, who declared Hanyang (later to be renamed Seoul and today called Old Seoul) as his capital city. The center of Hanyang was his main palace, Gyeongbok, constructed in 1395. Its original foundations were built according to feng shui, and it remained the main residence for the dynastic families for two hundred years. Gyeonbok, along with most of the buildings in the heart of Seoul, was burned down after the Japanese invasion of 1592. Of all the palaces, Changdeok Palace was the least damaged and so was rebuilt shortly after the war ended and then used as the main residential palace for Joseon leaders. In 1865, King Gojong had the entire palace complex rebuilt and established residence and the royal court there in 1868. All of these buildings were damaged when the Japanese invaded in 1910, ending the Joseon Dynasty. Between 1990 and 2009, the Gyeongbok Palace complex was restored and is today open to the public. Funeral Rites of Joseon Dynasty Of the many reformations of the Joseons, one of the highest priority was that of the funeral ceremony. This particular reformation had considerable impacts on 20th-century archaeological investigations of Joseon society. The process resulted in the preservation of a wide variety of clothing, textiles, and papers from the 15th through 19th centuries, not to mention mummified human remains. Funeral rites during the Joseon Dynasty, as described in the Garye books such as the Gukjo-ore-ui, strictly prescribed the construction of tombs for the members of the elite ruling class of Joseon society, beginning in the late 15th century AD. As described by the neo-Confucian Song Dynasty scholar Chu Hsi (1120-1200), first a burial pit was excavated and a mixture of water, lime, sand, and soil were spread on the bottom and the lateral walls. The lime mixture was allowed to harden to a near-concrete consistency. The body of the deceased was placed in at least one and often two wooden coffins, and the entire burial covered with another layer of the lime mixture, also allowed to harden. Finally, an earthen mound was built over the top. This process, known to archaeologists as lime-soil-mixture-barrier (LSMB), creates a concrete-like jacket that preserved virtually intact coffins, grave goods, and human remains, including over a thousand pieces of very well preserved clothing for the entire 500 year period of their use Joseon Astronomy Some recent research on Joseon society has been focused on the astronomical capabilities of the royal court. Astronomy was a borrowed technology, adopted and adapted by the Joseon rulers from a series of different cultures; and the results of these investigations are of interest to the history of science and technology. Joseon astronomical records, studies of sundial construction, and the meaning and mechanics of a  clepsydra made by Jang Yeong-sil in 1438 have all received investigations by archaeoastronomers in the last couple of years. 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