Babylonian Exile Research Paper

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I didn’t know what Judaism was until I was eight years old. From kindergarten to second grade, I went to a private Lutheran school. Every day, little first and second graders read about Jesus walking on water and curing the ill. Up until then, I knew only about that little slice of the world’s variety of religions; nothing else was presented to me. In the third grade, I switched schools and experienced a substantial change. Suddenly, I was going to a public magnet school with no religion implied nor enforced. On my first day of school a boy my age approached me and told me he was Jewish. It wasn’t until then that I realized there were other religions in the world. In fact, it wasn’t until then that I understood there wasn’t a single universal…show more content…
The painful fact that time after time throughout history Jewish folk have been forced to exit their homeland resonates not only within their culture but within everyone who understands their story. The Babylonian Exile and the Jewish Diaspora display occasions in which the Jewish people could not practice their faith in peace. Whether it was the result of a Babylonian King or the destroyal of the Second Temple, the outcome was the same: fleeing the land. Even in the modern world, the exile of the Jews during the Holocaust is a painful reminder of how one of the most powerful religions can be torn apart with enough hate. The question, then, is how does the Jewish faith continue to stand after such persecution? The answer is simple:…show more content…
What is religion without that adherence to holy ideals and passion for God? That is not what makes Judaism different from, say, Christianity or Islam. Judaism pushes beyond that common faith and instead places express importance in not only recognition of faith but the celebration of it. Unity through universal and yearly remembrance of the trials their ancestors endured connects them to their history. None of the holidays are dedicated to a single figure, such as Christianity with Jesus Christ. Instead, the holidays celebrate Jewish forefathers, remembering what they did to get the faith as celebrated as it is today. Jews look towards each other, coming together and bonding over their love for their God. Judaism is the people’s religion. Religion has never been my cup of tea; I have always been a cynic when it comes to unwavering faith in a deity in the sky. Learning and growing up with the Jewish faith in the background has taught me a valuable lesson. Regardless of what one believes, it is remarkable to see such support and passion not only for the values delineated in the Hebrew Bible but for celebrating the history and strength of an age-old
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