Little Traditions - Assignment Example

Their liberal tendencies may also be a function of demographics, in that Jews are usually more affluent and better educated than other populations. Thus the great tradition of American Jewry could be described as being untraditional in the devout, orthodox sense. This tradition of skepticism I believe could be linked to their refusal to believe in the divine powers of Jesus. Little Tradition Little traditions in my opinion are those that are not essential to the institutional structure of a society, and which can change without threatening the functioning of the culture, in contrast to great traditions which are required for the effective operation of that particular culture.

For example great traditions can include family structure, religious and ethical values, political systems and economic institutions, etc. whereas little traditions can include those that put a “face” on a culture such as food, clothing, the arts and humor which can evolve without affecting the fundamental structure of a society. An example of a Jewish little tradition is portrayed in the book “25 Years of Jewish Humor”. (Yuan 2006)This book paints a picture of everyday Jewish life such as human foibles, family friends and dating.

Sephardim According to the author (Ray 2008), the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492 created the conditions that eventually gave rise to the origin and development of a Jewish sub ethnic group, namely the Sephardim. The exiled Jews settled in the Mediterranean area and the throughout much of the rest of the world. The Sephardim immigrants were those Jews who did not integrate well in their host nations and felt alienated from them. Instead they identified strongly with where they considered as their homeland, whether that be Spain or Israel.

Sephardim people, whether within Israel or elsewhere, could be described as Jewish fundamentalists as they are ultra religious, intolerant of non Jewish religion, very conservative in their values, and believe Israel must be a strong monolithic state to defend itself against its’ Arab neighbors. Ashkenazic The Ashkenazic Jewish identity developed as a counterpoint to the Sephardic one, and was facilitated by the 18th century codification of Jewish law, the “Shulla Arikh(Davis 2002) The coding of law can erase local differences, and serve a universalizing goal such as in the writing of a constitution to unite former separate states into one nation.. While Ashkenazic communities originated in Germany they spread throughout Central and Eastern Europe thereby becoming multi national and multi ethnic.

The question then arose whether these immigrant Jews should adopt the customs of their new homeland or retain those of where they came from, and whether Ashkenazim should be defined in terms of residency, lineage, or “corporation.” ”Corporation” in the medieval sense meant a community in which membership was permitted by residents implicitly to others. Eventually the corporation designation prevailed so that the Ashkenazic community was one that self identified as such. Karo and other Jewish scholars felt that although some local variation was acceptable, there should be a base of fundamental law applicable to all Ashkenazic communities, and hence the codification of the “Shulla Aikh” Aided by the invention of the printing press, this codification was generally accepted in Ashkeazic communities in face