ABSTRACT
Throughout the year Jews observe a wide range of holidays and festivals beginning with Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year). These include Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), the Pilgrim Festivals, Festivals of Joy and Fasts. Also included is the weekly Sabbath service.
Astonishment, the philosopher argues, is the appropriate feeling for those ceremonies that give thanks to God – in view of the Holocaust and sufferings of the Jewish community throughout history. That there is talk of a Jewish community and of Judaism gives rise to the question of what constitutes their identities; and that gives rise to the proposal to think of ‘Jews’ and ‘Judaism’ as family resemblance terms, a philosophical concept promoted by Ludwig Wittgenstein. There is disagreement between the rabbi and the philosopher here.
The ceremonies and festivals and identities are, it is suggested, grounded in myths by which Jews live – though none the worse for that for, as found in Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, myths may be a vital part of human reality.
