Rituals & Religion
Professor Gruenwald’s lecture, titled “Ritual & Religion,” analyzes how ritual observance in Christianity and Judaism differ, but offer relatively similar functions. Gruenwald primarily discusses ritual in the context of the Christian faith, most likely because it serves as the most popular religion in the world. Gruendwald’s observation of Chrisitan ritual practices, compared with larger themes of Jewish ritual tradition, allow listeners to understand how rituals’ function enables organized religion to maintain relevance up to the modern day.
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Gruenwald further elaborates on the payoffs between ritual observance and faith by contrasting Christian ritual practices with the ones of Jewish tradition. Judaism is characterized by particular rituals, such as observance of the laws of the Torah and circumcision, that constitute a Jew as a Jew. Furthermore, Jewish tradition has laws and rituals that pertain to everyday activities, naturally weaving Judaism into the lives of its followers. The practice of defined ritual in Judaism enables the tradition to maintain relevance in the modern day, but, ultimately, Christianity’s heavy emphasis on faith, a trait that Judaism does not have, allows the religion - and the bureaucratic structures that accompany it - to be observed en masse.
