By now you've all selected some reading material from our class library-hopefully you all chose something that seemed genuinely interesting to you. In order to complete our next blog assignment, you will need to have read a couple of chapters (2-3 at minimum) from your chosen book.
Assignment: WHY, WHAT, HOW, CONNECT
In the comment space below, please write a 2 paragraph summary detailing why you thought your particular book looked like something worth reading, what you have learned from the book so far, and how what you've read has changed your thinking about a basic Jewish belief. Finally, connect something that you have just read to an idea we discussed this past week in our conversations about the Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith.
After you have written your own response, please write another comment with your thoughts on someone else's response.
This assignment is due before class on Wednesday, September 17th.
I thought the book I picked out was interesting to me because It seemed like the title hinted what I was looking for. The title of this book is, Handbook of Jewish Thought. I was looking for something to do with how to think and learn about Judaism and this was perfect. So far I have learned many things from this book. have learned that Hashem is not made up of matter because he created matter. Therefore he cannot be something that he created. In addition it says Hashem created his people in his image. Some people think that this means he looks like man, but this is not true either.
ReplyDeleteNot only did my view of Hashem change by reading some of this book but it also left me with some questions. Hashem is unchangeable. He does not change because of things. He did not create the world because he had to he just chose to. his brings me to the following question: What is the purpose of Hashem creating the world?
This past week we learned about Hashem and how he does things. This book relates to the principles because one of the faiths is this, Belief in the existence of the Creator, who is perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that exists. This shows us how Hashem is the one and only. He is the creator of the universe .Rambam shows us how these relate to eachother.
I totally see what you're saying, Kayla. This book seems very interesting and I am going to look into it. It seems like Hashem comes up a lot in it and I would love to hear more about Him. It's very interesting how you're reading about how He created so many things. Keep updating us! I love hearing what you have to say!
DeleteKayla, thank you for your insightful comment. The ideas that you've come across in R' Kaplan's book might sound simple, but they are actually deeply important to our attempts at understanding Hashem and His world. I hope you continue to gain from the book!
ReplyDeleteWhen I picked up the book, The Thinking Jewish Teenagers Guide to Life by Akiva Tatz , I automatically had a connection with it. Just by the title, I saw how I could really connect to this book. It is about how Jewish teenagers live their lives and how they should look at it. I think it looked like something worth reading because I could make many connections to it and I could learn many new things from the book on how to make myself a better person. I have learned many new things on how Jewish teenagers should live their lives. I learned that it is all about yourself. You, yourself make the decisions in life and run your own life. We all need to realize the most important thing to look at about being a human is the fact that we all have free choice. We all make our own decisions and we are all responsible for what we do.
ReplyDeleteBy reading this book, it has made me look at life in a different way. I learned that when I wake up, I need to take a minute and really focus on my decision making. Everything I do makes a change in the world and affects me and my life. The book really teaches me and makes me connect to how I should live my life. I look and see all the differences and ways to live a Jewish life as a teenager. In Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith it is said that he is perfect all around and lasts for eternity. When I was reading I saw that I could really connect. He is perfect and makes all his decisions himself. We make all of our life decisions on our own so if we try our best and do all the right things that we can, we can be like G-d and do our best to be who we are.
That seems like an interesting book. As Jewish teenagers, sometimes we dont always see things clearly. Cool.
DeleteRebecca, you touched on something important, which is that we are put here in this world with the task of "imitating G-d", and the very act of making decisions is something G-d-like, because as you noted, one aspect of G-d's perfection (Principle #1) is that He is the ultimate decider. The question then is, do we make the choices that G-d wants us to make, because he knows that they are best for us (Principle #10), or do we follow a different path?
DeleteThat looks like a book I might read and that's almost never! It seems really interesting.
DeleteI choose the book A Guide to Jewish Prayer, by Rabbi Isaiah Wohlgemuth. I thought that this book would be a good book to read because praying is something that we do everyday and it would be good to have a better understanding of it. The introduction of the book talks about G-d’s name. It discusses the different types of names that G-d is called by, what is in G-d’s name, and saying it in vain. I think that this is very important to understand the names because when we pray we say it a lot whether it is praising him, asking for something, or thanking.
ReplyDeleteWhen we pray we are following the first one of Rambam’s thirteen principles. The first principle is to believe in the existence of the creator. By praying to G-d were are doing that by acknowledging that G-d is there.
Prayer to G-d alone is also the essence of Principle #5, so you're on to something big! I'm so glad that you chose this book, and that you recognize it has daily relevance to your life.
DeleteRebecca decisions make up our daily lives. Making the right decision may be hard , but always pay off in the long run.
ReplyDeleteMy book talks about one of the more strange or scary topics in Judaism, life after death. In Judaism, it is important to believe in an after-life, but how can we even imagine what it's like to live without a body or anything physical? this part of the book really speaks to me because these are question I have all the time. Like, when we die, will we see Hashem? Will we be reunited with our loved ones? Without bodies, will we be able to recognize people who we knew in the past life? Do non-Jews have the same after-life? These are just some of the many questions I have and I know it's impossible to answer them all but at least we can have some clarity.
ReplyDeleteThe example that the book gives us is this: Imagine a mother is about to give birth to twins. If the twins knew where they were, one might say, "outside of the place is a world to come, even more amazing than where we are now." The other might say, "no, this place is it! We have food and safety, we don't need anything else!" These are the two types of people in the world. For Jews, we are commanded to be like the first baby and believe in something after this, something better than this, something where all is clear and we will always be safe in Hashem's loving arms, the way a new mother holds her child.
I love that analogy of the not-yet-born twins with their very different outlooks on "life after birth", because it helps us to understand the nature of Olam HaBah (the World to Come) in a much clearer way. It's not just the next stage of life, but the MOST IMPORTANT one--the real reason we were created! What happens in Olam HaZeh (This World) is meant to prepare us for the next. This is very much connected to Principles #11,12, and 13.
DeleteI love that you chose this book--it's totally the right one for you and the kinds of deep questions you often think about.
Posting for Chava due to technical problems:
ReplyDeleteThe reason why I decided to read the book I am reading now is because The title said “ Jewish Tennager’s Guid To Life. It did not say that it’s an adult book that was a book that adults would like. It’s directly towards teens, It caught my attention because Is say that it is a guide to life for teens. I think that means if you are have a difficult time choosing the right door to a life you want you have this book that tells you a little bit about what you can change to open the right door to where you want your life to go. Or you have a little bit of background info on what you are doing that is leading you up to this decision that you are making for your future path.
What I have learned from this book is that everyone sometimes have free will to do what they want, but sometimes they don’t. For example in this book it talked about this man who goes out for lunch everyday and he was looking at the menu and the food that he always got was non kosher and the other food he was looking at was cosher. The man had the free will to continue eating non kosher food or start eating kosher food. He could not decide on what to get. Finally in the end he got the kosher food. While time passed it started getting easier for the man to choose to get the kosher food rather than living his life on eating non kosher food. There for you have the the free will to choose a different door to go through then what you wanted to going through before.
How this book changed my thinking about basic life is that I have the free will to continue on learning to become a better Jew than I already am now. Or not worry about it and just stay the way I am now. For example Moshe had the choice to listen to hashem to take his people out of egypt.
The connection to what we have discussed in class this past week is that G-d gave each and everyone of us the chance to have free will in some points of our lives. He did not give us free will in everything because if we did then the whole world would be very different in many ways. Free will makes what people are now and who they are.
I chose the book "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism" because it formats its writing differently. Instead of giving you a lot of information, they make it quick and to the point, making it easier and faster to read. It also includes fun facts and a lot of interesting information making me eager to learn more. So far I have learned that there shouldn’t be any false gods because, after all, they can’t do anything. We should also just believe in G-d, no others. We shouldn’t be polytheistic. It also talks about how G-d is good and how He is more merciful than any other. In chapter two, it talks about the human life. We should take care of our bodies by staying healthy and being healthy,we need to do good for our soul by doing mitzvot and keeping ourselves pure. It also speaks about if G-d looks like us or if we are just like G-d and how He is two different genders.
ReplyDeleteThis book has made me think differently about Jewish life because it has given me facts and opinions and told me stories I have never heard before and it makes me think more about my life and to think deeper, to really dig deeper to find out answers and understand and agree to any statements the book has provided. This book connects to the 13 Principles because it speaks about how we should not have any false gods and we should only believe in one god, just as the 13 Principles, the 5th principal. It states, “The imperative to worship G-d exclusively and no foreign false gods.” Just like in the book, it talks about not having any false gods.