Just a final project of the analysis of the Jewish religion through the vicarious program known as second life

1. z
Judaism through
second life

2. z
Second life Judaism
 Religion in Second life takes a slight
learning curve to find, however once
found is fairly easy to experience
 There was not a variety of resource
persons, so I stuck with just one to
answer the questions I proposed

3. z
Key points of the Faith: Community
 Boiled down to the core, key points of the Jewish faith were
Faith, Identity, and definition of Community
 Similar to other religions, Jewish people consider believers part
of the family that is Judaism.
 They emphasis the connection between members of the faith.
 Connection is displayed in all actions: as one member suffers,
so does the other members along with them. As one commits
crime and feels the penalties of shame, so do the others

4. z
Key points of the Faith: Faith
 The Faith originates with Abraham around 4000 years ago and considers
Abraham the Father of the religion.
 There are around 13 key points of the Faith
 1.) God Exists 2.) God is one and unique 3.) God is incorporeal (He is
incorporated into the daily lives of the followers of the faith) 4.) God is
eternal 5.) Prayer is directed toward God and no other 6.) The words written
and spoken by the prophets are absolutely true 7.) Moses’s prophesies are
true and Moses was the greatest of all prophets 8.) The written Torah and
oral Torah were given to Moses 9.) There will be no other Torah 10.) God
knows the thoughts and deeds of man 11.) God will reward the good and
punish the wicked 12.) The messiah will come 13.) The dead will be
resurrected

5. z
Key Points of the Faith: Identity
 In 1980, US supreme court ruled that Jewish people were a race, however
this is blatantly false (ruled for discretionary purposes)
 Jewish people are considered a ‘nation’ in the Torah, however this definition
has changed due to modern terminology
 Some ascribe Jewish people as being a culture. While there are some
distinct cultural habits like food, traditions, and holidays, this does not make
one “Jewish” rather is a quality exhibited.
 Jewish people hold their identity as a Family. All Jewish believers are
considered “children of Israel”, referring that they are all descendants from
Jacob. Family is used to emphasize the idea that despite the fact that they
all may not agree with one another at times, they till support those around
them during times of persecution and in times of celebration.

6. z
Interpreting the information
 How I chose to interpret the information on
Judaism was through compare and contrast
with my own religion
 Judaism and Christianity are rather similar
in their origins and scriptural characters
 Despite similar origins, there are many key
differences between the two religions
 Comparisons were made between the key
principles of faith in both religions

7. z
Comparison of Faiths: Community
 Community is centered around
the Church and its members
 People feel a deep sense of
connection through their faith
and consider all members of
the church to be family
 Fellowship is the term used to
describe the deep underlying
connection between believers
• Community is centered around the
people and their traditions
• People find connection on the
basis of family, as all who are
part of the faith are in the family
of believers
• People hold emotional ties in
community: as one feels
shame, so another. As one
feels pain, so another. As one
feels joy, so another

8. z
Comparison of Faiths; Identity
 The Identity of the Christian is
found in Christ
 We are taught that we are to die
to ourselves and take up our
cross, implying that our identity
is not in ourselves, but Jesus
 Some believers have an identity
with their specific denomination,
however this isn’t to be
confused with something
different than Christianity
• The identity of the Jew is found in the
concept of the Family
• Throughout the Bible, the Jewish
people are referred to as “Children of
Israel” alluding to the belief that all are
physical or spiritual descendants of
Jacob
• As one is admitted into the religion
through confirmation, they are
believed to be reborn into the spiritual
family of Judaism

9. z
Comparison of Faiths: Faith
 The Christian Faith is rather un-
agreed upon due to the differing
denominations
 Basic premise of faith lies on the
fact that Christ died for our sins
and in doing so freed us from our
sins
 Many denominations say that
grace alone is what saves us
while others say that acts of
goodness and selflessness
ensure a route to salvation
• The Jewish faith is similar with un-
agreed upon doctrines
• The premise of the Faith is to focus
on the relationships between man
and God, man and man, and man
and Israel
• Salvation is not seen as necessary
since Jewish believers don’t
inherently believe that man is evil in
the first place.
• Jewish believers also do not
believe in eternal damnation, which
would make salvation unnecessary

10. z
Visiting Jewish places in second life
 During the week days, there
was little human traffic, however
on the weekends there was
some traffic
 Of the people I was able to
interact with, a few said the
religious experience was more
symbolic

11. z
Second life religious scripture
 The actual scripture presented
in second life was surprisingly
accurate and realistic
 Couldn’t read it whatsoever,
however it’s believable to
assume that it’s somewhat
close

12. z
Second life religious temples
 The housing in which the
temples were held were
tradition in their style.
 Although not accurate in
reality, they provided a source
through which one may gain
some experience
 Again, second life is intended
to be symbolic, not
metaphysical.

13. z
Conclusions
 Judaism is considered tangential to other religions such as
Christianity or Islam based upon similar origins and characters
 Judaism is its own diverse sect of religion that focuses on family
and connection through community
 As all religions should be, this religion is respected by those who
practice it as well as those who observe it

14. z
Summary of Take away and lessons
from interpreting the faith
 Judaism is considered closer to my own religion than I previously thought
 Christianity was believed to branch off of Judaism as the early Christians
were Jewish and followed the Jewish traditions before Christ came
 Judaism and Christianity share a large part of scripture; the Old Testament
 The Jewish faith follows teachings strictly taught in the Old testament and
Torah while the Christian faith focuses more on teachings of Jesus and use
the Old testament as support for doctrinal teachings of Christ
 Both believe and follow the same God, however in different manners and
customs

15. z
Specific questions and answers
 1.) it’s mentioned that in the resource that converts
must be accepted based upon the decisions of the
community; what criteria is this based upon?
 2.) is it expected that those who follow the faith of
Judaism be able to speak Hebrew as that’s the
language that the services are given in or is there a
translation for lay folk?
 Is Brit Milah ever not honored since it’s customary
in most hospitals to circumcise the child anyway?
 What if a Jewish person were to go to a party and
eat something that was forbidden?
 How do you feel about the historical persecution of
your religion and the millions that have died due to
it?
- There is a confirmation that the
individual must go through; a
ceremonious process that the individual
proclaims Judaism as the religion in
their life
- - Hebrew is encouraged, however for
new converts or those that never
learned the language in the first place,
there’s a translation for them
- - Yeah, the point is on the 8th day.
Some followers are on the border about
it, so they may wait. However it’s easy
just to go back and have it done
- - Many followers don’t follow all the
customs to a T. Many traditions are
voided by those who live in a
contemporary society
- - No comment