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CHAPTER EIGHT:Closing The Circle In Jewish Life Cycle: Rituals, Culture
And Us
Background
1. Jews and Life Cycles: Coherence
The voyage has come full circle: the programme of a lifetime comes to
its close, having explored all the major steps of the Jewish life cycle,
step by step, examining the rituals and ceremonies, and searching for
values and meaning.
The introductory chapter posited that in any coherent cultural system,
such as Judaism purports to be, the life cycle - and especially those
principal moments that are frozen into ritual ceremonies - will reveal
the basic value structure and the deepest truths of the system. Successive
chapters went on to explore the different stages of the lifetime of a
person, as reflected in the Jewish heritage.
In bringing together the findings and trying to make sense of what has
been learned, our first question addresses the issue of coherence.
- If Judaism represents a cohesive system, embodying a consistent set
of values, those values should be reflected in different forms, in many
different places in the life cycle.
- If, however, no consistency and no continuity appear between the
different stages of the life cycle ceremonies, the conclusion would
inevitably be that this is not a coherent system but, rather, a collection
of customs and superstitions.
After reviewing all of the major points of the life cycle,
the concluding suggestion is that there is indeed a systematic and coherent
logic underlying the Jewish life cycle.
It is possible, on the evidence reviewed, to talk about Judaism
being a coherent cultural system that expresses its beliefs in its values
and attitudes, as much as in its rituals and ceremonies. It
appears that, time after time, the different stages in the
cycle have borne witness to a number of very deep beliefs and viewpoints:
it is precisely these beliefs and concepts that unite the different stages
of the Jewish life cycle.
In conclusion, we shall therefore review the various values and ideas
that have appeared so consistently throughout this examination.
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