The most outstanding concept that stands out when reading through the Hebrew bible is God wants his followers to devote themselves to him and him alone. There is always a common notion in the Christian circle that God is a selfish God. The Hebrew bible has not fallen short of proving that. God demands that those who claim to follow him should be ready to let go of all the worldly pleasures and follow his ways. This message was cross cutting amongst all the people that were mediums between him and the Israel nation time and again.
In the books of Torah, God is seen to reward Abel the younger brother of Cain when they offered they presented their sacrifices to him. Abel’s sacrifice was more appealing to God because he chose the best of the produce and the animals for offering. That alone is a sign of devotion that the brother Cain lacked and as a result his sacrifice was never consumed by the fire from heavens. While in the wilderness, God told Moses that if the Israelites kept the covenant and obey him fully they would be his treasured possession. He went ahead and gave Moses the Ten Commandments, a set of laws that were to govern the Israelites relationship with God and amongst them. The promise he gives to Moses is that if the Israelites devote to him they were posed for greater things ahead.
Orthodox Judaism is a religious Judaism approach that adheres to the interpretation and application of both the oral and written Torah. Reform Judaism is a sect in the Judaism that encourages the examination of religion with an eye towards rationality and egalitarianism (http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/reform_practices.html). These two movements have numerous differences however, interpretation of sacred texts and the status and the role of women stand out.
The orthodox Jews take the Torah both the written and the oral bit offered to be of divine origin. Because of this belief, the orthodox Jews tend to be very strict in following the rules laid down In the Torah. This is evident from the book of genesis whereby it writes on how God created the universe and everything that s in it within 6 days and rested on the seventh day. However, the reformists Jews are of the opinion that the book of Genesis should be understood symbolically and not literally as their orthodox counterparts do. They do believe God is the creator of all phenomena revealed by modern science.
Reform Judaism separate men and women during their services. This is different from the Orthodox Judaism which requires men to always occupy the front seats while women take the back seat. Women are always given the back seat because they are deemed as unclean during their menstruation period and often are seen as distraction to men when they are worshipping.
These differences are brought about by the doctrines that each belief is associated with. The Orthodox Judaism wants to retain and follow to the latter the ideal Jewish culture that was practiced for the past several years. The Reform Judaism is more liberal and mutating to the modern ways the world is offering. No wonder they have been in the frontline championing gay rights citing they are also God’s creation and they should be loved just as we do love ourselves.
References
Michael, M. (2009): Experiencing the world’s religions. Retrieved from http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0073535648/student_view0/chapter8/chapter_outline.html
Jewish virtual library: Retrieved from http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/reform_practices.html
