Posted: April 24th, 2025

Judaism Discussion

After studying

Module 3: Lecture Materials & Resources

, as well as reviewing the

Judaism Resources

page, discuss the following:

In your reading of Chapter 10 – Encountering Judaism: The Way of God’s People as well as the other readings for the week, you have gained a better understanding of central themes of Judaism. As you learned more about the religion, you may have noticed the many similarities that Judaism shares with Christianity as the relationship between the two religions rather unique. Christianity is rooted in Judaism historically, scripturally, liturgically, and even theologically. No two major world religions have so much in common. Below are a handful of the common elements shared by these two religions, however it is important to note that even though these religions share several common elements, they articulate them differently. Last week, we expounded upon how some of these themes are understood in the context of Catholicism and now you will describe how they are understood in Judaism.

Select two themes from the list below and present the Jewish teaching on the chosen theme.

• Jewish Understanding of God
• Salvation
• Creation
• Eschatology
• Pain and Suffering
• Freedom and Free Will
• Virtues
• Sin 

Each selected theme must:

• Be explained in at least one paragraph
• Incorporate at least 2 direct quotations with accompanying in-text citations from either the required weekly readings or a resource found on the “Judaism Resources” page linked below.  

• Your initial post should incorporate 2 different sources, formatted and cited as the instructor indicated in the announcements. 

 Hello everyone, 

As we enter into Week 3 of this course, we will study the religion of Judaism.

MODULE 3: Oct. 26 – Nov. 3 — Judaism

There are two assignments for you to complete throughout this week. The first assignment is a discussion post due on Thursday, Oct. 31, where you will be asked to explain the Jewish understanding of two themes of your choosing. The list of themes can be found within the Discussion instructions, and you can refer to the following video instructions for further assistance if you need it:

https://youtu.be/14RjddYI3Go?si=8vzZnwkoS0nc_KD1Links to an external site.

Judaism Discussion Rubric

First Selected Theme Explanation – 40 points

– Excellent: Demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the selected theme in Judaism – 40
– Above Average: Demonstrated an accomplished understanding of the selected theme in Judaism –

34
– Sufficient: Demonstrated an acceptable understanding of the selected theme in Judaism – 30
– Poor: Demonstrated an unacceptable understanding of the selected theme in Judaism – 26
– Insufficient/Missing – 0

Direct Quotations and Citations for First Selected Theme – 10 points

– Incorporated 2 direct quotations with accompanying citations – 10
– Incorporated 1 direct quotation with accompanying citation – 8
– Incorporated only direct quotations or citations – 6
– Did not incorporate direct quotations and citations – 0

Second Selected Theme Explanation – 40 points

– Excellent: Demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of the selected theme in Judaism – 40
– Above Average: Demonstrated an accomplished understanding of the selected theme in Judaism –

34
– Sufficient: Demonstrated an acceptable understanding of the selected theme in Judaism – 30
– Poor: Demonstrated an unacceptable understanding of the selected theme in Judaism – 26
– Insufficient/Missing – 0

Direct Quotations and Citations for Second Selected Theme – 10 points

– Incorporated 2 direct quotations with accompanying citations – 10
– Incorporated 1 direct quotation with accompanying citation – 8
– Incorporated only direct quotations or citations – 6
– Did not incorporate direct quotations and citations – 0