The 2004 presidential election seemed to signal growing religious fervor across the political spectrum. Members of the media and pollsters alike were left wondering what went on inside the voting booth. Religion has long played a role in American politics, dating back to the Constitution of the United States of America. When components of government, the military, religion, and society converge, discussion and debate invariably follows. The United States military is a religiously pluralistic institution, with members belonging to an estimated 700 religions. The chaplaincy champions religious accommodation and the military itself supports over 245 faith groups. The chaplaincy is at the core of this religious accommodation since chaplains maintain a dual allegiance, as members of the clergy and as members of the officer corps. As religious diversity grows, the likelihood of controversy increases when, for instance, Indian members of the Native American Church take peyote, Wiccans observe pagan rites on military bases, and Muslim chaplains serve Muslim soldiers who find themselves at war within an Islamic country. This thesis explores some of the challenges inherent in ministering to so many diverse religions, and takes a critical look at areas of potential friction that might cause the Department of Defense to want to take a more attentive look at what such diversity means for the future.

This thesis attends to the major question ‘how is Jewish identity created and maintained in contemporary Britain?’ To answer this question, I have done one year of ethnographic fieldwork in Britain, which included 121 interviews with Jewish people of various ages and across different religious as well as non-religious denominations. This thesis identifies four major elements informing the creation and perpetuation of Jewish identity: One, a sense of difference from the majority population creates and maintains the identity. Jews can perceive themselves to be different religiously, nationally, ethnically and/or culturally from white Christian British people. Two, trauma memory has an impact on the creation and sustenance of this identity. Vicarious group trauma, meaning trauma experienced by proxy of previous generations, can inform identity through its influence on everyday experiences. Three, community affiliation plays a role in creating and particularly reinforcing the identification. The Jewish community provides resources, social interaction and thus signalled attention, and regard; all of them respond to innate human needs that a person aims to have satisfied. Four, a group norm of continuity is important in the perpetuation of this identity within and across generations. This norm is created and sustained by its members through their focus on endogamy. Wanting to have a partner from one’s own group, have Jewish children and raise them in a Jewish lifestyle can, thereby, reinforce and maintain a sense of Jewishness (inter-) generationally. Without members marrying within the faith and having children that are raised with Judaism, it would be difficult to preserve Jewish identity in a country where the group does not constitute the majority. The thesis concludes that there are two reasons why Jews in diaspora have been able to sustain as a group and maintain their identity over time. Firstly, the multi-dimensionality of the Jewish group and respective affiliation platforms have allowed its members to create a multi-faceted meaning of being Jewish, and, secondly, continuous external challenges to the group’s security together with constant reminders of those challenges; both have prevented the group from assimilating into mainstream society.

Diploma thesis "The Position of Woman in Judaism and Islam with Respect to Human Rights" deals with the status of woman in traditional religious communities. It points out the disparity between the status of woman and man, often inadequate concept of universal human rights. The work focuses on human rights itself, from the perspective of religion and from the perspective of the West. It shows their similarities and differences. Part of the work is devoted to the status of woman from ancient times until the present. A large part is devoted to the status of woman in traditional family and her obligations towards man. Mainly discusses marriage and divorce. Does not forget to even mention the current state of women's status in Israel and Saudi Arabia, as the dominant religious leaders. In this work are interpreted true testimony of women about their status. We will meet both responses, the positive and the negative.

Master thesis "The Elements of New Age in Contemporary Judaism (so called Jewish Renewal)" deals with mutual relationship between Judaism and New Age movement. In the first part it describes their main mutual elements such as holism, monism, environmentalism, tender issues and esotericism. The second part is focused on Jewish Renewal movement, which aroused in 60's of 20th century in the United states of America. This movement is transdenominational neoschasidic movement, which tries to renew Judaism through Chasidic and kabalistic thoughts adapted to present days, it emphasizes personal spirituality. The third part talks about the Jewish elements within new Age, which are mainly kabbalah and Jewish mysticism. The fourth part describes the phenomenon of dual religious identity, whose the best known groups are Messianic Jews, Jews for Allah, Jewbus and Hinjews.

Resumé This thesis concerns itself with legal position and operation of The Federation of Jewish Communities in Czech Republic. It brings the perspective on fundamental legal regulations which form a base for operation of The Federation of Jewish Communities and which the Federation is obliged to conform to. The thesis also includes historical insight and cultural background of Jewish religion and its relevant particularities. The aim of my thesis was to put the operation and standing of The Federation of Jewish Communities into Czech legal framework, to describe a specific linkage of legal regulations with religious practice and Jewish religious observances and to use real-life examples to demonstrate the impact and reflection of legal regulations in life of members of Jewish communities and associated organizations. This thesis is divided into four chapters (apart from Preamble and Conclusion), most of which is then further divided into subchapters and other sections. First chapter concerns itself with general definition of religious freedom in the context of Czech legal system, with basic overview of legal sources of Czech state ecclesiastical law and with assessment of Federation's position in the context of Legal Act Nr. 3/2002 Coll. on freedom of religious confession and the position of churches and...

Le rôle de la femme dans la tradition juive est un sujet qui fait l'objet de discussions depuis bien longtemps. Que ce soit la Bible ou le Talmud ou la dimension mystique, tous les commentateurs ont été amenés à évoquer ce sujet. Depuis l'apparition du hassidisme et plus encore avec la modernisation de la société, il suscite des interrogations : est-Il possible de concilier la définition moderne du rôle de la femme avec celle d'une tradition millénaire ? Avec l'évolution constante de la société moderne, cette question se pose constamment dans les milieux juifs orthodoxes, toutes branches confondues. Parmi ces dernières, la branche du hassidisme Habad, dont le dernier dirigeant, Mena'hem M. Schneersohn, mit en oeuvre le plus grande "révolution hassidique" de l'histoire du hassidisme, ayant permis une large diffusion de ses enseignements, au-Delà de toutes frontières, grâce à une véritable stratégie de développement reposant essentiellement sur l'envoi d'émissaires à travers le monde. Dans cette étude, je me propose d'examiner l'évolution de la place juive Habad dans la société depuis la "révolution" hassidique jusqu'à l'heure actuelle. Pour cela, je me pencherai, tout d'abord, sur les textes écrits par des maîtres hassidiques Habad sur plusieurs générations mettant en lumière le rôle de la femme au sein du mouvement, ainsi que les initiatives prises relatives aux activités des femmes Habad. Je me concentrerai plus particulièrement sur les écrits et réalisations de son dernier dirigeant : Mena'hem Mendel Schneersohn, qui fut un grand soutien pour la cause des femmes juives et les encouragea à se "libérer" tout en maintenant leur respect de la tradition biblique et talmudique. En conclusion, j'exposerai un regard actuel de l'activité des femmes Habad dans la société, et mentionnerai les nombreuses responsabilités qu'elles assument ainsi que certains défis les affectant. / The role of women according to Jewish tradition has been discussed by many throughout the ages. With the constant evolution and modernization of society, which brought about so many changes in the condition of women, a question arises : is it possible to live as a modern woman in today's world by the standards of an age-Old tradition ? This question is constantly asked amongst orthodox Jewish circles. In this study, I chose to focus on one particular branch within orthodox Judaism : the Chabad Chassidic movement, whose last leader, rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, led the greatest "Chassidic revolution" of all times, enabling so many worldwide to become more familiar to the Jewish tradition in general, as well as the teachings of Chassidism in particular.

II Title History interpretation in Fred Wander's literary works Abstract The topic of this diploma thesis is an interpretation of events during the Second World War in Fred Wander's literary work, an important representative of German written literature in the past century. The first chapter presents Fred Wander's life and work and is based on Wander's own autobiography and interviews. The following chapters are dedicated to individual analysis of his three writings: Der siebente Brunnen, Ein Zimmer in Paris and Hotel Baalbek. Wander especially focuses on mediating concrete personal life stories during that epoch. Hotel Haalbek work captures a situation during the first years of the war in the southern France. Der siebente Brunnen describes prisoners' lives in a concentration camp. Wander dedicates Ein Zimmer in Paris work to the topic of how to cope with war experience. The main target of this diploma thesis is about an interpretation of selected themes which are crucial for the mentioned works. It also points to the importance of history rendering in the writings by the author. Keywords Fred Wander, holocaust literature, the Second World War, judaism

The subject of this thesis is The Romance of Ferrara which includes the majority of prosaic work of Giorgio Bassani, one of the most outstanding Italian writers of 20th century. The introduction shows historical and social context of the period in which Bassani grew up and that gave rise to his life philosophy. Without this experience he would never have become a writer and his moral obligation to take down all the truth is based on this fact. The jewish origin of Bassani plays also an important role in his oeuvre; the judaism includes a sense of exceptionality and marginalisation at the same time. This ambivalent feeling is characteristic for majority of Bassani's heroes. The central part of the thesis outlines the thematic and stylistic site of The Romance of Ferrara. We will map even the relationship between the narrator and the author himself, between fiction and reality. The last two chapters concern Ferrara, symbology of the space (vertical and horizontal as well) and the location of characters on the stage of this microcosmos. We will follow characters on their way through Ferrara and will study which role different places are playing within the Bassani's work.

This dissertation seeks to find out what Paul means when he writes, "and so all Israel will be saved" in Romans 11:26. Does the phrase "all Israel" refer to the ethnic Israel, the elect Israel, or the church? What is Paul's view of salvation of Israel in the epistle of Romans? Chapter 1 shows that previous studies have not paid enough attention to the meaning of the phrase "all Israel" in its New Testament usage. The handling of the context of Isaiah in the interpretations of Romans 11:26-27 in previous studies has been inadequate. Chapter 2 studies Paul's use of the Old Testament, specifically, his quotation of Isaiah 59:20, 21 and 27:9. In Isaiah, there is a redeemed Israel, which will be blessed, and a rebellious Israel, which will be judged. Paul's quotation of the Isaiah texts emphasizes the forgiveness of sins brought about by the coming of the deliverer, referring to the first coming of Christ. The name "Jacob" stresses the ethnicity of the people. "Israel" and "Jacob," however, are often used interchangeably in the Old Testament, especially in poetic passages. Chapter 3 studies the use of the phrase "all Israel" in the Old Testament, early Jewish literature, and the New Testament. It refers to the covenant people of God in the Old Testament. It does not necessarily include everyone in Israel. In early Jewish apocalyptic literature, the phrase "all Israel" often refers to the faithful Israelites throughout the ages. Chapter 4 examines the biblical and theological contexts of Romans, followed by a careful exegesis of Romans 11:25-32. The researcher argues that "all Israel" in Romans 11:26 refers to the elect Israel throughout the ages. They are saved by faith in Jesus Christ. The fullness of Israel comes about by Israelites turning to Christ in faith through the preaching of the gospel. Chapter 5 evaluates and interacts with various views of salvation of Israel mentioned in chapter 1. The researcher applies the result of this study to the issue of Jewish mission. Finally, a conclusion summarizes the main theses of this dissertation. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

Este trabalho se propõe a estudar Janusz Korczak e sua relação com o judaísmo e o sionismo. Korczak foi um judeu-polonês, nascido em Varsóvia em 1878, e pertencia a uma família de eruditos bastante assimilada, sentindo-se um verdadeiro polonês. Foi médico, educador, jornalista, escritor e criador de dois orfanatos baseados nos princípios democráticos de educação: um judaico, Don Sierot (1912-1942); e outro cristão, Nasz Dom (1919-1936). A análise de correspondências, relatos de viagem, entrevistas, entre outros documentos associados à relação de Korczak com o judaísmo, o sionismo e a Terra de Israel, permitiu conhecer a visão de Korczak sobre a questão judaica em uma Polônia antissemita dos séculos XIX e XX. No tocante aos relatos de viagem, foram analisados documentos referentes às duas viagens do autor à Terra de Israel, incluindo impressões pessoais referentes tanto aos benefícios dessa Terra, como às dificuldades de adaptação à terra dos ancestrais e o abandono da terra natal. Korczak pretendia emigrar para a Palestina, porém foi vítima da Shoá e juntamente com as duzentas crianças judias e os educadores do orfanato, foi levado do Gueto de Varsóvia para o trem que os levaria a Treblinka. / The present work intends to study Janus Korczak and his relation with judaism and sionism. Korczak was a polish jew, borned in Warsaw, in 1878, who belonged to a family of assimilated scholars and felt trully polish. He was a phisician, an educator, a journalist, a writer and founder of two orphanages, that followed the democratic principles of education: one of them jewish, Don Sierot (1912-1942) ) and the other one christian, Nasz Dom (1919-1936). The analysis of correspondences, interviews, and other documents related to judaism, sionism and the land of Israel, allowed us to aknowledge Korczaks vision of the jewish question in an antisemitic Poland of the 19th and 20th centuries. The documents analised referred mainly to the two trips that Korczak made to the land of Israel, and included his personal impressions of the benefits of the Land, as well as the difficulties of adaptation to this ancestral ground, and of leaving the homeland for good. Altough Korczak intended to emigrate to Palestine, he was not able to do it, because as a victim of the Shoah, he was sent, with the 200 jewish children and the teachers of his orphanage, from the Guetto of Warsaw to the train hat would lead them to Treblinka.