Judiasm Essays - Book Of Exodus, Bo, Torah, Israelites, Moses

Judiasm Judaism was a parent of Christianity, and we probably know more about it than any other religion, excluding our own, right off the top of our heads. The ancestors of the Jews, called the Israelites, established a kingdom in Canaan-the land of Milk and Honey. The Israelites first began to see themselves in a special relationship with their God at about 1000 B.C.E. God had selected them to be a Chosen People. God had offered the Chosen People a covenant, or special agreement. In this covenant, the Israelites promised to worship only God, and in return God promised them preservation throughout history and the land of Canaan. Canaan was later called Judah, Israel, and Palestine. Central to the understanding of the Jewish convenant is the prosperous herdsman who heard and followed God's call, Abraham. Abraham answered God's call and led his family from Ur of the Chaldees to Canaan. Abraham mad a son, Isaac, and a grandson Jacob who also inherited the convenant. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob were called the patriarchs, or the founders of Judiasm. Moses, being one of the great religious leaders in history, God revealed his name Yahweh to him. Yahweh means ?to be? in Hebrew. The events recorded in Exodus indicate that through Moses a new and deeper understanding of God was revealed. The worship of Yahweh was unknown before Moses. The Israelites as a whole began to realize that the God of Moses was a very ?jealous God,? who would not tolerate worship of any other god. As the book of Exodus opens, we find that the Israelites are slaves in the land of Egypt. Exodus became the heart and soul of Judaism. Moses is the key character in Exodus and one of great religious leaders in history. The Exodus story is one that is very touching. The persecution of the Jews in the 1930's was horrible and will be remembered forever. After being crushed in the economic disaster in the Great Depression and being totally defeated in WWI, the time was perfect for Hitler to take anti-Semitism, or hatred for Jews-to a whole different level. Jews all over became victims of Hitler's awful laws such as those in Poland, Europe, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Germany. It was an awful time for the Jewish people and in camps all over Germany and Poland Jews were being murdered by starvation, disease, beating, mutilation, infection, gassing, and burning. Six million Jews, or about one-third of the entire Jewish population of the world was completely wiped out. Only fifty thousand Jews remained after the war. The faith of the Jewish people was tested greatly during the Holocaust. The vivid living faith of the Jewish people is shown through their mant festivals and celebrations throughout the year. Besides the Sabbath observance, the Jewish year is filled with yearly festivals. They are all based on the Jewish lunal calendar. Rosh Hashanah, or the Jewish new year, which is celebrated in October, opens ten ?Days of Awe?. There is a celebration at the beginning and end of the two days. Yom Kippur is the ?Day of Atonement?. It is considered the most holy day of the year and is the closest to repentance. Five days after Yom Kippur, the Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkoth, is celebrated. This is a week long feast in the fall celebrating God's presence when the Israelites were in the desert. The Rejoicing of the Torah closes the Sukkoth. Hanukkah is the Festival of Lights and is celebrated in December. It commemorates the restoration of the Temple after it was destroyed by the Syrians. Purin celebrates Esther's success to find a plot to massacre all Jews in the Persian Empire. One of the most important spring holy days is Pesach, or the Passover. There are many special foods associated with this holiday, especially those served at the seder (ceremonial meal). Fifty days after the Seder, the feast of the Pentecost which remembers the giving of the Law of Moses fifty days after the Passover. The Jewish calendar year is filled with many feasts and special ceremonies. There are three branches of Judaism. Orthodox Judaism is the oldest and largest of the three branches. It has the full tradition of Judaism. It calls itself the ?Torah-True Judaism? because of its strict adherence to the law of Moses. This stance seems to influence and shape tis approach to theology. The second branch of Judaism is Reform. The Reform branch is extremely liberal and call their houses of worship ?temples? and have begun to ordain female rabbis. They believe that the Mosaic law should not be

Thoreaus Resistance to Civil Government †English Literature Essay (200 Level Course)

Thoreaus Resistance to Civil Government – English Literature Essay (200 Level Course) Free Online Research Papers Thoreaus Resistance to Civil Government English Literature Essay (200 Level Course) While reading Resistance to Civil Government it is clear that Thoreau longs of a government that does not use a standing army and political manipulation to control the masses. It is clear that his vision of the â€Å"American Dream† is one where a citizens do not hand over their decision making powers and freedoms to the legislator or to any power other then themselves. Thoreau implorers the reader to formulate their own opinion on social and economic issues. He asks them to revolt against the â€Å"right hand of a standing government† and that participation in any act of the political process from voting to policing is merely fueling the fire that burns away at personal freedom. For it is freedom that Thoreau sees as the â€Å"American Dream† and nothing less. It is to this pursuit that Thoreau channels his frustration and anger towards. He believes that men are born free both in mind and body. He presents no valid reason why this should ever change. Anything less then this is merely seen as being cheated. â€Å"If you are cheated out of a single dollar by your neighbor, you do not rest satisfied with knowing that you are cheated†. Thoreau is no way a man that is at rest with himself, with dreams, with his government, with his country and certainly not with his readers. He demands action from principle and the performance of right. This is the America that Thoreau wants and anything less would only mean that his fight is not over. Thoreau goes as far as to say that the reader should be prepared to make great sacrifices for their fight to regain personal freedom. Participation in this fight may cause the reader to run the risk of compromising the little personal freedom that is currently possessed. â€Å"The true place for a just man is also a prison†, his claim that the current imprisonment of the mind is far worse then the physical imprisonment threatened. Imprisonment is seen only as a tool by the establishment to herd the masses and should not be feared, as Thoreau sees the reader’s daily life no more free. Thoreau expands on his vision of the â€Å"American Dream† in Walden, or Life in the woods. He makes his point of self-reliance clear within the first few paragraphs of the work by making sure that reader understands that he himself built his house at Walden and that his own hands provide him his living. Even that he feels inclined to state his distance between him and his closest neighbor shows the reader how important the idea of personal space is to him. Personal space not only as it relates the threshold for creative thought but in the very important, but simple, concept of physical distance from that which can control some element of your being. Thoreau sees that his way of life pertinent to his writing, for his conviction would go meaningless if not for his own dedication to Transcendentalism. In so many ways Thoreau, himself, is his main character. No fictional character could up ever live up this standard and it would be a great injustice to think of his life merely as a story. He is a revolutionary that has inspired major conquests in civil rights from Gandhi to Martin Luther King, Jr. Great men such as them would have been so implored by a tail where no real person suffered. Research Papers on Thoreau's Resistance to Civil Government - English Literature Essay (200 Level Course)Mind TravelQuebec and CanadaComparison: Letter from Birmingham and Crito19 Century Society: A Deeply Divided EraTrailblazing by Eric AndersonBook Review on The Autobiography of Malcolm XThe Effects of Illegal ImmigrationPETSTEL analysis of IndiaCapital PunishmentUnreasonable Searches and Seizures

Assess the role of small time Diplomats in the Egypt-Israeli peace Essay

Assess the role of small time Diplomats in the Egypt-Israeli peace making (1970s) - Essay Example The idea of partnership in the Egypt-Israel treaty replaces the emphasis on respect. U.S diplomats also played a crucial role in this treaty (Eisenberg 83). The role small time diplomats played was so effective that they did not need international peacekeepers to help them resolve their problems. Diplomats facilitated cooperation between the two parties such as trade cooperation. The Middle- east, during this period, saw all forms of diplomatic activity (Gat 177). More often than not they even advised the King or president on the formulation of foreign policies, but they would get ignored (Goldschmidt 160). Other than this, there has been a stable import-export cooperation of a limited list of commodities facilitated by diplomats. Egyptian diplomats also facilitated the speed on the agreement terms by giving a due date of agreement, failure to which would lead them to look for other alternatives. (Bar-Siman-Tov 200). The constant exchange of goods and services between the two nations played a critical part in helping them resolve their dispute. Diplomats envisioned the Egypt-Israel treaty based on the ‘reciprocity idea, recognition of each partys national interest. Delegations worked entirely on the basis of diplomats (Rabinovich 40). Therefore, that is to mean that th e treaty creates a narrow zone of demilitarization both on Israels and Sinais side. Diplomats vied for good neighbourly relations that would see the promotion of lasting security. Ephraim Evron was an Israel diplomat who was good at building networks and relationships (Eisenberg 17). However, some Israeli diplomats got banned in Cairo and Amman leaving them to feel isolated (Lukacs 196). The conflict, however, got somehow fuelled by refusal of Egypt to normalize their relationship with Israel (El-Nawawy 13) Religious diplomats also played a critical role in the peacemaking treaty. They did this by promoting interfaith relations that fostered mutual understanding based

Crark and Cocaine Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

Crark and Cocaine - Essay Example The drug is commonly known as ; troop,cookies,candy,badrock,dice,hardball,devildrug,Frenchfries,tornado,sleet,rocks,paste,grit,raw,crumbs,hot cakes amongst other names in the streets. The major symptoms and signs that show that a person is actually consuming crack include intense feeling of craving for it, irritability, fatigue, agitation and strong feelings of anger (Abadinsky 19). There are two kinds of cocaine commonly referred to as hydrochloride salt and the freebase.The hydrochloride salt is a type of cocaine that is found in powder form that is dissolved in water and taken through methods such as the intravenously which passes the drug to the vein and the use of intranasal means that is passed through the nose of the users. The freebase is a type of compound that is not neutralized by any type of acid to make it a hydrochloride salt. The drug was first developed in 1970 during the cocaine boom and it continued to be experienced into the 1980s.The cultivation of cocoa leaves is believed to be the genesis of cocaine which was being grown in Peru, Columbia and Bolivia and as result it found its way into the American market. In the early 1908s, there was a lot of cocaine that was shipped and it later flooded into the United States Of America market. Much of these drugs went into Miami through Bahamas .Due to the large quantities of cocaine into the market, the drug traffickers and peddlers decided to convert the cocaine powder into crack so that it could be sold into smaller quantities. Thus, due to its cheapness, simplicity in production, readiness to use and the large economic profits that the peddlers got from crack, it became very popular in the market. The packaging of crack also attracted a very large number of users from the poor neighborhoods who could not afford to go out to the clubhouses or those who felt uncomfortable taking it in social places. People had the assumption that the drug was more pure as compared to other powders in the market thus attracting a very large number of users. For example, it is believed that on average, crack contains 55% purity on every $100 per gram of crack .As for the price, crack went for as low as $2.5 in the market for a single piece. People actually started freebasing the drug so that they could get a better feeling once they started smoking it.Freebasing involved smoking the rocks with either and a flame and this proved to be very fatal leading to the death of several users of cocaine. As a result of the many fatalities and the unsafe mode of sniffing the drug, the drug peddlers decided to come up with a more safe method of smoking cocaine known as crack (Brownstein 34). The crack business in the United States is mostly controlled by the Mexican criminal gangs whereby they have controlled the central, pacific, great lakes, southeast and the west central regions. The Dominican and Columbia groups tend to control the northeast and the Florida regions. How crack cocaine is made. Crack cocaine refers to a highly and addictive type of stimulant that is prepared using the cocaine powder. There are two forms of cocaine commonly are known as hydrochloride salt and freebase.The hydrochloride salt is a form of cocaine that is in powder form that is dissolved in water and later on taken through intravenously by the vein and intranasal through the nose.Freebase compound is not neutralized by

Discuss evolutionary explanations of intelligence Essay Example for Free

Discuss evolutionary explanations of intelligence Essay Intelligence has been considered a unique feature of human beings as it gives us the ability to devise elaborate strategies for solving problems. There are three key evolutionary explanations of intelligence, which are, foraging/ecological, social and sexual selection.  Foraging is when animals learn food preferences from others. This ability has clear survival advantages because the animal can learn from others rather than using trial and error process to identify which foods are harmful. The larger the range of food required, the larger the foraging area must be and the greater the requirement for more complex abilities. Many primates have to balance their diet by selective eating through successful hunting, which requires forethought, planning, cunning and the ability to coordinate the actions of a number of individuals. Finding food over a particular area may require a cognitive map (memorized spatial knowledge).Obtaining the food requires tool use and hunting techniques, which is another indication of intelligence in both human and non-human species. Visalberghi and Trinca (1987) did a study to look at the effects of tool use. Capuchin monkeys were given task of pushing peanut butter out of a tube. They found that the monkeys were quick at finding a suitable stick but tried out many unsuitable ones first. This suggests no understanding of causal relationships and that many animals develop the skill through trial and error rather than insight. Only the great apes show the sophisticated understanding of cause and effect so this supports the link between tool use and intelligence. The association between the growth of hunting and intelligence shows that more intelligent individuals are more intelligent than less intelligent. However many species with very successful hunting techniques are not very intelligent and therefore it is unlikely that the benefits of hunting would account for human levels of intelligence. The efficiency in foraging of a particular animal has been shown by various psychologists. Galef (1988) did a study in which a rat was allowed to eat food with a distinctive flavour, with cocoa or cinnamon. A test rat was then put in with the demonstrator for 30 minutes, but with no food present. This test rat then had to choose between cocoa-flavoured and cinnamon-flavoured food. It was found that the test rats preferred food of the same flavour as that eaten by the demonstrator. This was still the case 4 hours after the demonstrator had eaten and when 12 hours had elapsed before the test rat made its choice. Therefore it can be concluded that interacting with a rat after it has eaten creates a particular preference for that food. These results could be interpreted in a number of ways, in terms of the rats been neophobic, meaning unwilling to try anything new. The test rat could have picked up on the smell of the particular food on the breath of the demonstrator and will have been choosing between what was familiar and unfamiliar rather than been influenced directly by the demonstrator actually eating the food. However despite this Galef also found similar results even when the test rats were familiar with both cocoa and cinnamon flavoured food. The social theory says that interactions with other members of a social group present an intellectual challenge and primate intelligence has been evolved in response to this challenge. It has been suggested that intelligence is an evolutionary adaptation for solving social problems. The most intelligent species are the social animals, which are bees, parrots, dolphins, elephants, wolves, monkeys, etc. The group living could have set the stage for the evolution of intelligence in two ways; sociality which increases the value of having better information, because information is one commodity that that can be given away and kept at the same time. For example a more intelligent animal within a group has the benefit of knowledge and what it can get in exchange for the knowledge. Secondly group living itself has new cognitive challenges. Social animals send and receive signals to coordinate predation, defence, and foraging and sexual behaviour. They exchange favours, repay and enforce debts, punish cheaters and join coalitions. Machiavellian Intelligence Hypothesis came from various related hypotheses, which Bryne and Whiten (1988) brought together. This suggests that deceiving and detecting deception are the primary reason for the evolution of intelligence. Evidence supports this, as Bryne and Whiten (1992) have shown that there is a strong positive correlation between neocortex ratio and the prevalence of tactical deception in various primates and this implies that there is a clear relationship between social manipulation and intelligence.

Group Norm Development and Leasership Essay -- Personality and leaders

Group Formation and Structure Group Development Norm Development Group communication networks Leadership Personality qualities relevant to leadership Task vs. Relationship Leadership Leadership Styles The purpose of this paper is to critically evaluate the members of group 1 (The Fantastics) in terms of behavior by looking at personal experience and connecting them to academic research and theory. The Fantastics consist of five members: team member A, 24-year-old female student in human resources Studies, team member B, 24-year-old male in psychology studies, team member C, 21-year-old female in psychology studies, team member D, 25-year-old female in psychology studies and team member E, 21-year-old female in psychology studies who dropped the course during the third week. She was an aggressive leader who everyone feared; team member A decided to replace her role and as a result the group adopted a more fluid structure. The findings of this experiment were that the teams’ roles became more obvious, norm developed and the group became more interactive, cohesive, efficient and productive in managing conflicts as well as completing tasks. Group Formation and Structure Group Development In the beginning, it was conspicuous that the team members felt low levels of intimacy. The team building activities on the first day were helping them become more familiar with each other and build rapport. Team member E took the leadership role and aggressively led the team while others remained polite and compliant. She took the liberty of choosing a name and a slogan for the group without considering their suggestions. With her presence there was no sense of cohesion due to her authoritarian style: therefore, upon team member... ...ambel, M. J., Curral, L., & Arana, J. M. (2009). The role of task-oriented versus relationship-oriented leadership on normative contract and group performance. Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal,37(10), 1391-1404. Tjosvold, D., & Chia, L. C. (1989). Conflict between managers and workers: The role of cooperation and competition. The Journal of social psychology,129(2), 235-247. Wang Dan, , & Xu Shi-jie, . (2013). Impacts of leadership styles on new venture performance. 2013 International Conference on Management Science and Engineering 20th Annual Conference Proceedings, , 1410-1415. doi:10.1109/ICMSE.2013.6586455 Zhang, X., Stafford, T. F., Dhaliwal, J. S., Gillenson, M. L., & Moeller, G. (2014). Sources of conflict between developers and testers in software development. Information & Management, 51(1), 13-26. doi:10.1016/j.im.2013.09.006

 Learning experience : How someone could become afraid of the dentist Essay

There are many reasons someone could become afraid of going to the dentist. Majority of people become afraid of the dentist due to a bad experience they have encountered. Just to name a few: the dentist was a painful experience, the dentist made your teeth worse, etc. In my own experience, I was afraid of the dentist because of a horror film. At nine years old, my sister let me watch a horror movie called the dentist. It was about a mentally unstable dentist who tortures some of his patients. A year or so after I had seen this movie my mother surprisingly brings me to the dentist for the first time. As we were walking into the dental office I cannot help but to tremble and burst into tears because I could not stop thinking of the dentist from the movie. That day I only had my teeth cleaned and x-rays. My mother scheduled me to have cavities filled in the next month. My brother and sister taunted me by telling me scary stories about trips to the dental so the day I was scheduled to ge t my cavities filled. I decided to run away to the library and stayed there until closing. My mother had to reschedule my appointment for the following week. That time she made sure I went. Conditioning My conditioned stimuli were triggered by walking into the dental office my condition response was crying and trembling because I was afraid that the dentist would torture me, therefore, my unconditional stimuli were watching the dentist torture and kill his patients. My unconditional response was to be scared of all dentists and run away for a few hours so I would miss my appointment. Operant Learning My training experience could have occurred through operant conditioning since I did not quite understand that what you watch on television might not be real. If my mother had not forced me to go inside the dental office would still be petrified and I would have never gone to the dentist; my teeth would be in bad shape. Observational Learning The learned experience could occur through observational learning if my mom or anyone else I knew were scared of the dentist that would have also made  me afraid of the dentist because I would be observing their response to the dental. Another reason I might have been scared of going to the dentist was hearing my brother and sister tell me scary stories about how the dentist pulls your teeth out and you can feel every slight of pain. Reinforcement My mother dragging me into the dental office is where reinforcement was experienced. When my mother gave me no other choice except to get my teeth clean I then realize that the dentist was not so bad.