Summary: Comparing Hinduism And Judaism
Michelle Vias
Mr. Hill
HRT3M0-A
November 3, 2014
Comparing Hinduism and Judaism Hinduism and Judaism are the two oldest religions to this day. This would make them very similar due to them being the first two religions to come into existence, Hinduism being a dharmic religion and Judaism being a monotheistic religion which would give them different religious rules and views. The similarities and differences between Hinduism and Judaism are striking and they deserve to be thoroughly examined. These similarities and differences between the religions occur in their daily rituals, their beliefs about god, and in their views on life and death
Daily rituals are series of acts that are done the same way every day. Hindus pray to an idol where …show more content…
they are suppose to pray three times a day by themselves or with family. “The majority of Hindu homes have a shrine where offerings are made and prayers are said… Family members often worship together. Rituals should strictly speaking be performed three times a day.”(Professor Gavin Flood, 2014) Hindu families are often seen worshiping in a group, this is supposed to help in receiving presences from god due to many people worshiping. These prayers are usually said in early mornings, afternoon and in the evening so they can maximize their chances of experiencing god. Likewise, the Jewish also pray three times a day. “Jewish Law makes it our duty to pray three times daily: in the morning, in the afternoon and at nightfall.” (Nissan Mindel, 2014) Jewish people are required to recite their prayers a total of three times a day to understand the teaching in the torah and to use these teaching in their day to day life hopefully learning something every time they recite it. Though both these religions have the rule of praying three times a day, they have different views on god; Hindus have multiple gods whereas Jewish people strictly believe in one.
God; the creator and ruler of the universe, a superhuman being or spirit and source of all moral authority. In Hinduism there are multiple mighty beings, who they may call god or goddess that Hindus worship. “Brahma is the first god in the Hindu triumvirate, or trimurti. The triumvirate consists of three gods who are responsible for the creation, upkeep and destruction of the world. The other two gods are Vishnu and Shiva.” (Professor Gavin Flood, 2014) Here we acknowledge that there are three different main gods that control different aspects of one’s life. Brahma being the creator who was responsible for the creation of the earth and human beings, Vishnu is responsible for the upkeep and preservation of the earth while Shiva is the opposite he destroys in order to re-create and continue the cycle. On the other hand, in Judaism they have a strong belief in there being only one mighty supreme being. “There is only one God. No other being participated in the work of creation. God is a unity. He is a single, whole, and complete indivisible entity. He cannot be divided into parts or describe into attributes. And you come to ascribe attributes to God is merely mans imperfect time to understand the infinite.” (Jewfaq.org, 2014) Here we see that there are strict rules that Jewish people must know, that there is one god and only one god. Also, it is repeated many times that there is only one god who created everything, there were not any others that helped and it was merely that one god that does all.
After all how often do we get a second chance at life?
Now that would be something someone who is not Hindu would say, because after all Hindus believe in being reincarnated seven times, before eternal salvation can be achieved. Where they are then visited by a god to see if they are worthy of life after death. “Hindus await the coming of the 10th avatar of Vishnu. Moreover, the belief in life after death also is prominent in both religions but Hindus believe in 7 reincarnations.” (Celine, 2013) This explains that once a Hindu has lived their seven lives they must then at the seventh death wait for Vishnu who will decide if they are granted an afterlife. Oppositely, the Jewish believe that there is only one life, and once you live this life you either go to hell or heaven. “The belief is Angels, like prophets, is only found in Judaism…Jews await the coming of the Messiah.”(Jewfaq.org, 2014) Jewish believe in one life rather than reincarnation like Hindus, so once a Jewish person has lived there life they go to ‘sleep’ and are awaken once the Messiah comes to differentiate between the good and bad Jewish. The good Jewish people are granted eternal life whereas the bad are sent to hell to serve their eternal sentence. Considering these religions have different views on afterlife, the aspect of a person who come to receive the good people are quite similar. In Hinduism, Vishnu would come to get the Hindus who have been good in their seven lives, and in Judaism, the Jewish wait …show more content…
for their Messiah to come grant them eternal life if they have been good.
In conclusion, though these religions Hinduism and Judaism and the two oldest religions and are considered to be very different from the day to day practice, with their death beliefs and their views on god. These points are also shown to be some of the similar traits in Hinduism and Judaism.
References
Bbc.co.uk,.
(2014). BBC - Religion: Hinduism. Retrieved 5 October 2014, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/
Celine,. (2013). Differences between Hinduism and Judaism | Difference Between | Differences between Hinduism vs Judaism. Differencebetween.net. Retrieved 2 November 2014, from http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/religion-miscellaneous/differences-between-hinduism-and-judaism/
Griffin, S. (2014). Five Major World Religions. Workersforjesus.com. Retrieved 1 November 2014, from http://www.workersforjesus.com/five.htm
Jesus</a>, &. (2014). Comparison Chart: Buddhism, Hinduism, Traditional Judaism, and the Gospel - Jews for Jesus. Jewsforjesus.org. Retrieved 5 October 2014, from http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/v10-n04/chart
Jewfaq.org,. (2014). Judaism 101. Retrieved 5 October 2014, from http://www.jewfaq.org/index.shtml
Torahveda.org,. (2014). Torah and Veda. Retrieved 5 October 2014, from http://www.torahveda.org/
Weinstein, G. (2013). What do Hindus and Jews Have in Common? A Lot. New Voices. Retrieved 5 October 2014, from
http://newvoices.org/2013/04/24/interfaith-gathering-highlights-hindu-jewish-relationship/
Mr. Hill
HRT3M0-A
November 3, 2014
Comparing Hinduism and Judaism Hinduism and Judaism are the two oldest religions to this day. This would make them very similar due to them being the first two religions to come into existence, Hinduism being a dharmic religion and Judaism being a monotheistic religion which would give them different religious rules and views. The similarities and differences between Hinduism and Judaism are striking and they deserve to be thoroughly examined. These similarities and differences between the religions occur in their daily rituals, their beliefs about god, and in their views on life and death
Daily rituals are series of acts that are done the same way every day. Hindus pray to an idol where …show more content…
they are suppose to pray three times a day by themselves or with family. “The majority of Hindu homes have a shrine where offerings are made and prayers are said… Family members often worship together. Rituals should strictly speaking be performed three times a day.”(Professor Gavin Flood, 2014) Hindu families are often seen worshiping in a group, this is supposed to help in receiving presences from god due to many people worshiping. These prayers are usually said in early mornings, afternoon and in the evening so they can maximize their chances of experiencing god. Likewise, the Jewish also pray three times a day. “Jewish Law makes it our duty to pray three times daily: in the morning, in the afternoon and at nightfall.” (Nissan Mindel, 2014) Jewish people are required to recite their prayers a total of three times a day to understand the teaching in the torah and to use these teaching in their day to day life hopefully learning something every time they recite it. Though both these religions have the rule of praying three times a day, they have different views on god; Hindus have multiple gods whereas Jewish people strictly believe in one.
God; the creator and ruler of the universe, a superhuman being or spirit and source of all moral authority. In Hinduism there are multiple mighty beings, who they may call god or goddess that Hindus worship. “Brahma is the first god in the Hindu triumvirate, or trimurti. The triumvirate consists of three gods who are responsible for the creation, upkeep and destruction of the world. The other two gods are Vishnu and Shiva.” (Professor Gavin Flood, 2014) Here we acknowledge that there are three different main gods that control different aspects of one’s life. Brahma being the creator who was responsible for the creation of the earth and human beings, Vishnu is responsible for the upkeep and preservation of the earth while Shiva is the opposite he destroys in order to re-create and continue the cycle. On the other hand, in Judaism they have a strong belief in there being only one mighty supreme being. “There is only one God. No other being participated in the work of creation. God is a unity. He is a single, whole, and complete indivisible entity. He cannot be divided into parts or describe into attributes. And you come to ascribe attributes to God is merely mans imperfect time to understand the infinite.” (Jewfaq.org, 2014) Here we see that there are strict rules that Jewish people must know, that there is one god and only one god. Also, it is repeated many times that there is only one god who created everything, there were not any others that helped and it was merely that one god that does all.
After all how often do we get a second chance at life?
Now that would be something someone who is not Hindu would say, because after all Hindus believe in being reincarnated seven times, before eternal salvation can be achieved. Where they are then visited by a god to see if they are worthy of life after death. “Hindus await the coming of the 10th avatar of Vishnu. Moreover, the belief in life after death also is prominent in both religions but Hindus believe in 7 reincarnations.” (Celine, 2013) This explains that once a Hindu has lived their seven lives they must then at the seventh death wait for Vishnu who will decide if they are granted an afterlife. Oppositely, the Jewish believe that there is only one life, and once you live this life you either go to hell or heaven. “The belief is Angels, like prophets, is only found in Judaism…Jews await the coming of the Messiah.”(Jewfaq.org, 2014) Jewish believe in one life rather than reincarnation like Hindus, so once a Jewish person has lived there life they go to ‘sleep’ and are awaken once the Messiah comes to differentiate between the good and bad Jewish. The good Jewish people are granted eternal life whereas the bad are sent to hell to serve their eternal sentence. Considering these religions have different views on afterlife, the aspect of a person who come to receive the good people are quite similar. In Hinduism, Vishnu would come to get the Hindus who have been good in their seven lives, and in Judaism, the Jewish wait …show more content…
for their Messiah to come grant them eternal life if they have been good.
In conclusion, though these religions Hinduism and Judaism and the two oldest religions and are considered to be very different from the day to day practice, with their death beliefs and their views on god. These points are also shown to be some of the similar traits in Hinduism and Judaism.
References
Bbc.co.uk,.
(2014). BBC - Religion: Hinduism. Retrieved 5 October 2014, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/
Celine,. (2013). Differences between Hinduism and Judaism | Difference Between | Differences between Hinduism vs Judaism. Differencebetween.net. Retrieved 2 November 2014, from http://www.differencebetween.net/miscellaneous/religion-miscellaneous/differences-between-hinduism-and-judaism/
Griffin, S. (2014). Five Major World Religions. Workersforjesus.com. Retrieved 1 November 2014, from http://www.workersforjesus.com/five.htm
Jesus</a>, &. (2014). Comparison Chart: Buddhism, Hinduism, Traditional Judaism, and the Gospel - Jews for Jesus. Jewsforjesus.org. Retrieved 5 October 2014, from http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/issues/v10-n04/chart
Jewfaq.org,. (2014). Judaism 101. Retrieved 5 October 2014, from http://www.jewfaq.org/index.shtml
Torahveda.org,. (2014). Torah and Veda. Retrieved 5 October 2014, from http://www.torahveda.org/
Weinstein, G. (2013). What do Hindus and Jews Have in Common? A Lot. New Voices. Retrieved 5 October 2014, from
http://newvoices.org/2013/04/24/interfaith-gathering-highlights-hindu-jewish-relationship/