Torah or the Law Essay Example for Free

Torah or the Law Essay Torah or the Law is the substance of Gods covenant and is not merely the moral code delivered by Moses through the Ten Commandments in Mt. Sinai but also the prescriptive elements the Mosaic Law functioned primarily as the constitution of the nation as basis in determining civil and criminal cases. It also serves a guide to worship, good family and social relationships, most of all Israels guide to relationship with God. 1. Discuss the expression of `righteousness` in the Torah, prior to the giving of the righteousness AND ten commandments, with special examples. Exodus 19 suggests that the God of judgment is also the God of the law, his judgments express his concern for righteousness (Deut 6:25) because He is also righteous (Jos 10;1). The righteousness becomes a command to win the favor of God in response to his glorious act of blessings including the possession of land (Deut 9:4). To note, The Ten Commandments is a perfect expression of Gods revealed will of righteousness (Deut 9:5). God in the law established a requirement for his people in the highest possible standard. (Exo.13:8-10, Exo.20:3-17, Deut.4:5,9,10; Deut.5 :6-21, Deut.6:4-9, Deut.11:18-21, Deut.32:46-47). But it is not by the deed that they gain God’s favor. Deut 9:5-6 states that by nature, men are wicked so they offer sacrifices (Deut 33:19) to gain the righteousness that God requires but only by Gods faithfulness and favor that they become righteous. 2. Discuss the definition of `covenant,` and its expression in specific examples in the Torah. Merriam-Websters definition of covenant is a written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action. For the Israelites, covenant happened at Sinai through the Ten Commandments (Ex 19-24,Ex 34:28; Dt 5:2-3; 9:9) where the following were revealed (Zondervan Reference Library Software): 1. Everyones person is to be secure (Ex 20:13; 21:16-21, 26-31; Lev 19:14; Dt 5:17; 24:7; 27:18). 2. Everyone is to be secure against slander and false accusation (Ex 20:16; 23:1-3; Lev 19:16; Dt 5:20; 19:15-21). 3. No woman is to be taken advantage of within her subordinate status in society (Ex 21:7-11, 20, 26-32; 22:16-17; Dt 21:10-14; 22:13-30; 24:1-5). 4. Punishment for wrongdoing shall not be excessive so that the culprit is dehumanized (Dt 25:1-5). 5. Every Israelites dignity and right to be Gods freedman and servant are to be honored and safeguarded (Ex 21:2, 5-6; Lev 25; Dt 15:12-18). 6. Every Israelites inheritance in the promised land is to be secure (Lev 25; Nu 27:5-7; 36:1-9; Dt 25:5-10). 7. Everyones property is to be secure (Ex 20:15; 21:33-36; 22:1-15; 23:4-5; Lev 19:35-36; Dt 5:19; 22:1-4; 25:13-15). 8. Everyone is to receive the fruit of his labors (Lev 19:13; Dt 24:14; 25:4). 9. Everyone is to share the fruit of the ground (Ex 23:10-11; Lev 19:9-10; 23:22; 25:3-55; Dt 14:28-29; 24:19-21). 10. Everyone, down to the humblest servant and the resident alien, is to share in the weekly rest of Gods Sabbath (Ex 20:8-11; 23:12; Dt 5:12-15). 11. The marriage relationship is to be kept inviolate (Ex 20:14; Dt 5:18; see also Lev 18:6-23; 20:10-21; Dt 22:13-30). 12. No one, however disabled, impoverished or powerless, is to be oppressed or exploited (Ex 22:21-27; Lev 19:14, 33-34; 25:35-36; Dt 23:19; 24:6, 12-15, 17; 27:18). 13. Everyone is to have free access to the courts and is to be afforded a fair trial (Ex 23:6, 8; Lev 19:15; Dt 1:17; 10:17-18; 16:18-20; 17:8-13; 19:15-21). 14. Every persons God-given place in the social order is to be honored (Ex 20:12; 21:15, 17; 22:28; Lev 19:3, 32; 20:9; Dt 5:16; 17:8-13; 21:15-21; 27:16). 15. No one shall be above the law, not even the king (Dt 17:18-20). 16. Concern for the welfare of other creatures is to be extended to the animal world (Ex 23:5, 11; Lev 25:7; Dt 22:4, 6-7; 25:4). 3. Discuss the way in which the Torah uses `family` as a narrative perspective. The Israelites in Moses’ time lived in a patriarchal culture and the law expressed an emphasis on the responsibility of the fathers as head of the family. Their families were confronted with immorality so the Law (Torah) gave light and direction to preserve the family relations from corruption. As such, marriage was mentioned several times in the Law (Exod 21-22, 34; Lev 18, 21; Num 5, 25; Deut 7, 21-22, 24-25, 27). Within the family, children were to honor and obey their parents (Exod 20:12; Deut 5:16; 21:18-21; 27:16). And since the family circle might include servants, slaves, and strangers also referred to them as family (Exod 12, 21-22; Lev 19, 22, 24-25; Num 9, 15, 35; Deut 1, 12, 14-16, 23-24, 27). Family purity and respect were strictly guarded against sex (Lev 20:1-21; Deut 22:20:21) The law mentioned a perfect relationship between husband and wife, fathers to daughters, sons to mothers, fathers wife, sibling relationships, mother and fathers son or daughters, to own sons and daughters, father and mothers close relative, in-laws and close relative relationships and even with the neighbors (Lev.18). Deuteronomy 4:40 states a commandment to the Israelites to keep his decrees and commandments to teach and pass to their children and their childrens children with God’s promise of long life in the land. 4. Discuss the examples of readings from Genesis and Exodus that deal with issues of gender, race, ethnicity, or social class. Issues in Genesis and Exodus started in the birth of the Jewish race and the descendants of Abraham, the Patriarchs. The Patriarchal era socially classified the authority of the male and the female and family role. The family is composed of husband, wife, children, grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins, servants, concubines, friends, and visiting guests and followed some of the marriage practices of the surrounding nations and had more than one wife, a practice known as polygamy. One issue was when Abraham had a son with Hagar, Sarahs slave girl who became a surrogate mother for her mistress. A wife was like a property of his master but she had the highest position in the household. Moreover, birthright and sibling rivalry issue also arose when Isaac, son of Abraham from Sarah inherited everything Abraham owned (Gen 25:5) though Ishmael, son from Hagar was the eldest. Sons of concubines did not normally share equally with the sons of a mans wife (or wives) and the oldest son was entitled to the birthright, normally a double-share of the inheritance (Wolf, Herbert. An Introduction to the Old Testament Pentateuch, Moody Press, 1991). Same thing happened when Esau sold his birthright to Jacob sons of Isaac. Inheritance issue was also involved between Jacobs wives Rachel and Leah against their father Laban who did not give them the portion of the bride payment usually transferred to the daughters as dowry (Gen. 32). From the wives of Jacob and to his twelve sons the rivalry passed on when the other ten sons envied Joseph and sold him to be a slave of Egyptians but later put him in a better social and political status as Egyptian official.

Alice Walkers The Color Purple: Celies Struggles Expressed in Letter

Alice Walker's The Color Purple: Celie's Struggles Expressed in Letters "Dear God, Gets me out of here. I needs to love and laugh. I needs to be free of this bastard and these white people." At a very young age, Celie begins writing letters to God. In her letters she explains her fears about her stepfather raping her, her mother and sister being beat, and her fears for her sister, Nettie. This epistolary novel (a novel in which the narrative is carried forward by letters) takes place during the early twentieth century, where slavery still existed in the South, and black people lived discriminating lives. Even though many black Southerners formed tight-knit communities, physical, mental and sexual abuse was still brought on to many of the black women living in the frame of male civilization. In The Color Purple (1983), Alice Walker portrays these harsh realities and struggles through the letters of a young woman named Celie. Celie turns to God after her father says, "You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy" (1). This passage was used by Celie and... Alice Walker's The Color Purple: Celie's Struggles Expressed in Letter Alice Walker's The Color Purple: Celie's Struggles Expressed in Letters "Dear God, Gets me out of here. I needs to love and laugh. I needs to be free of this bastard and these white people." At a very young age, Celie begins writing letters to God. In her letters she explains her fears about her stepfather raping her, her mother and sister being beat, and her fears for her sister, Nettie. This epistolary novel (a novel in which the narrative is carried forward by letters) takes place during the early twentieth century, where slavery still existed in the South, and black people lived discriminating lives. Even though many black Southerners formed tight-knit communities, physical, mental and sexual abuse was still brought on to many of the black women living in the frame of male civilization. In The Color Purple (1983), Alice Walker portrays these harsh realities and struggles through the letters of a young woman named Celie. Celie turns to God after her father says, "You better not never tell nobody but God. It'd kill your mammy" (1). This passage was used by Celie and...

Joyce’s novel Essay

The novels Mrs. Dalloway and A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, written by Virginia Woolf and James Joyce respectively, are tales of persons who are challenged by the society in which they live. The roles traditionally handed down to men and women become elements of restraint for many of the characters within the stories. While convention dictates the actions that the characters should perform, the readers get the impression that the authors are in opposition to these traditions. Throughout the day spent with Mrs. Dalloway and her friends, situations arise in which characters become critical of others’ choices in a way that depicts the ideas of the narrator or author. Likewise, in the experiences of Stephen Dedalus and the other characters of Joyce’s novel, one finds that they often desire to perform actions alien to the stereotypical roles of their genders. In these novels, therefore, we find that there is no apparent desire within characters for males or females to inherit traditional gendered roles. In fact, we discover a desire to occupy a multi-gendered identity. This is important because it gestures at an identity separate from societal construction of gender. Hermione Lee relates that Virginia Woolf sought a â€Å"combination of sensibility and tenacity† in her work (xvii). This suggests a similar mixing of feminine and masculine qualities with which she imbues several of her characters in Mrs. Dalloway. Clarissa Dalloway has become a woman who ostensibly fits perfectly within the role societally configured for her gender. She is the wife of a statesman and the mother of a beautiful daughter. She throws fine parties and does the traditional female jobs of overseeing the servants, visiting the sick, and other things. Yet, Woolf appears immediately to intimate to the reader the undesirability of all this tradition to Clarissa herself, as she is seen at the outset of the novel going on an errand that should normally have been reserved for her servants. Her desire for independence is asserted in the first sentence, â€Å"Mrs. Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself (Woolf 1). Though this rebellion is a small one and is buried in the guise of â€Å"womanly† work (going to buy flowers), the commercial aspect of it places her in the position of a business person, just as the errand frees her from the confines of the home. On this walk she thinks of Peter Walsh, a man with whom she once shared her passions for literature and freedom. Her thoughts and desires break through conventions that dictate the subservience of women. She considers marriage in a way that seems alien to its constitution, as she imbues her role in it with the type of independence that one does not usually find in the traditional view of marriage. She explains that her decision against marrying Peter was made because â€Å"In marriage a little licence, a little independence there must be between people living together day in day out in the same house; which Richard gave her, and she him† (Woolf 5). This demonstrates the extent to which she desires not to be subsumed by her husband as women often are in marriages. Continuing, she thinks, â€Å"When it came to that scene in the little garden by the fountain, she had to break with him [Peter] or they would have been destroyed, both of them ruined, she was convinced† (6). This tells what she considers her life would have been like with Peter. She seeks to add a portion of masculinity to her role by keeping something of herself and continuing to show herself to the world—a right that is usually granted without reservation to married men, but tacitly withheld from women of that time. Clarissa continues to demonstrate her inner tendencies to throw off the traditional gender role and to fulfill her political and occupational dreams. During that time in England, women’s occupations were limited to household-related chores. She considers other women who had lived non-traditional lives, and longs to have her life to live again so she could make different choices. The first of those choices would have granted her an occupation that would defy her gender. The narrator assures us that Clarissa Dalloway â€Å"would have been, like Lady Bexborough, slow and stately; rather large; interested in politics like a man; with a country house; very dignified, very sincere† (Woolf 8). The use of the phrase â€Å"like a man† is telling, in that it highlights the extent to which Mrs. Dalloway longs to be released from the confines of her sex. She wants to be endowed with the possibilities that attend a man. Also telling is her desire to be â€Å"very sincere† (8). Sincerity is not a trait that has been traditionally accorded to women, as they were encouraged to keep their thoughts to themselves (or perhaps not to have any at all). Therefore, a woman with any ideas or opinions can be considered to have been somewhat forced into insincerity by their very act of subordination to the will of their husband and in their pretence at never having anything to say beyond remarks about the running of the household. Clarissa’s urge to speak sincerely demonstrates her desire to combine traditionally masculine qualities with her feminine ones.

Racism A Concept That Is Not Exclusive - 2628 Words

Michael Roura Professor Emmert Introduction to Sociology April 27, 2015 Racism: A Concept That is Not Exclusive to the Majority Race Racism is a problem that has plagued the world since the very beginning of mankind. It is a very small minded idea that one human being is superior to another simply because of his skin tone. Racism does not define people as scholars or athletes or anything in regard to one’s personality, it defines a person as white, black, Asian, Latino, and so on. The concept of racism can express that someone who has done nothing with his life or struggles financially or lacks education is automatically superior than another who may have graduated from an Ivy League College or works as a head of a large company, simply because the first person in the example is white and the second person is black. Racism is the cause of many of the problems the world has faced. Racism is what fueled American slavery. Racism was the cause of Apartheid in South Africa. Throughout most of the world, racism has been viewed in a sense that whites are superior than other minority races. Therefore, one can conclude that whites are the only race that can show racism in places where the majority race is white. However, the focus of this essay is to examine whether or not this conclusion is plausible. That is, are whites the only race that can express racism, or can a minority group such as blacks be racist as well. The idea that blacks can be racist is sort of a myth in todaysShow MoreRelatedThe Sneetches Analysis838 Words   |  4 Pagesoften think of racism. However, racism and prejudice are not interchangeable terms. Through the phrase â€Å"power plus prejudice,† we have learned that racism, for example, can only be achieved with power. One can only be racist towards someone else if he or she has the power to do so. Meaning, is this person white or black? If they’re white, they have power ergo can be racist. 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