INTRODUCTORY UNIT - RITUALS, CULTURE AND US

3. ABOUT THIS INTRODUCTION - OUR STRATEGY

Everything said in the first - general - part of the introduction now will be relevant to Judaism and the Jewish culture but it will be equally true for other cultures and belief systems. It is important to consider the question of Jewish ritual and Jewish life cycle ceremonies within a wider perspective than these are often viewed. Questions of ritual are not Jewish questions; they are universal human cultural questions and must be seen as such. What will be done in this program is to examine these questions within the framework of the Jewish ritual and value system, which provide an excellent reflection of all the relevant issues. The Jewish ritual and value system will provide the laboratory in which we will examine the questions of specific life cycle moments and processes.