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The article analyzes the beginnings of cultural change in the Sephardic community of Coro, Venezuela, based on three conversion events to Catholicism in 1855. These baptisms marked the lack of cohesion and structural weakness of the small community, which never had a synagogue or a rabbi. The individuals who converted faced Venezuelan culture, which imposed the Catholic faith. It is concluded that the offer of a new religious interpretation and the attraction of the Catholic world were more convenient than their own Jewish identity. The article also deals with cultural and economic disagreements in Venezuela in the years 1831 and 1855, as well as the active participation of the Levy Maduro and Curiel families in the community life of Curaçao and their migration to Coro, Venezuela. In addition, tensions between Jewish merchants and local authorities due to unpaid loans are mentioned, as well as the economic prosperity of the Jewish community during the Guzmancista period starting in 1870. The legal and religious limitations faced by the Jewish community at that time are also discussed, as well as tensions between criollo groups and non-Catholic immigrants. Finally, the influence of external and internal factors on the conversions to Catholicism of Jewish men in Coro, Venezuela is explored. [Extracted from the article]

In this article, the most recent work of Jürgen Habermas is analyzed, where he attempts to revalue religion in today's society and establish genealogical connections between secular contents and worldviews that emerged in the Axial Age, including Jewish monotheism. It is proposed that a genealogical approach to monotheism from the perspective of those involved should start from the undetected origin context that constitutes the ethical universalism of Judaism: the Noahide code. Narrative and conceptual elements of axial and non-axial cultures are analyzed, and their parallels with the seven laws of the children of Noah as the moral core of humanity are evidenced. The article discusses the Seven Laws of the children of Noah, also known as the Noahide code or Noahide tradition. It is suggested that this Noahide code can be considered as the "undetected origin context" of axial traditions, including Jewish monotheism. The possibility of finding Noahide elements in cultures of axial origin and in traditions that are not included in the axial analysis is proposed, with the aim of supporting the perspective of the Noahide code. Additionally, the importance of problematizing genealogy is mentioned in order to understand the familial connections that continue to function without reflection. This text discusses the genealogy of religious beliefs and the separation between faith and knowledge in the present day, originating from the Protestant Reformation. Limitations in Habermas' work are raised in relation to the equality of argumentation in dialogue. The importance of the Noahide code as the core of monotheism and its influence on worldviews is mentioned. Additionally, the universal Flood is mentioned as an event present in various traditions and its relationship with the Noahide laws. The text presents seven biblical laws that are binding for all of humanity, known as the Noahide laws. These laws prohibit idolatry, blasphemy, forbidden sexual relations, theft, murder, anarchy, and improper treatment of nature. It is mentioned that different cultures, including ancient civilizations, have legislated minimally on theft, murder, and sexual promiscuity to maintain internal order. Additionally, there are coincidences between biblical-rabbinic traditions and Andean-American traditions regarding the Flood, suggesting a possible universality in religious learning throughout history. The researcher argues that the name Wiracocha was not conceived as a creator ex-nihilo, but as the organizer of the world. In Andean cosmology, there was the idea of a Supreme Being that escaped any characterization and was not part of worship. Andean morality was based on the need for order in reciprocal and communal relationships, and not on reflections on individual virtue. The Noahide code is a common spiritual and moral possession that has influenced different traditions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The article discusses the relationship between Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism through the Noahide code. It is mentioned that Paul, known for his proselytism among non-Jews, directed his speeches first to Jews and then to God-fearing non-Jews. It is emphasized that the Church recognizes in the Ten Commandments the fundamental ethical precepts for Judaism and considers them valid for other nations. Additionally, the connection between Islam and Judaism is mentioned, as well as the influence of Abraham's teachings on Hinduism. The importance of the moralization of things is highlighted. [Extracted from the article]

The article analyzes the emergence of Christian anti-Judaism in Late Antiquity and its relationship with modern antisemitism. It examines the anti-Jewish discourse in the praxis of the population and in the addressees. It also relates fundamental texts of the genesis of antisemitism in the 19th and 20th centuries to the late antique anti-Jewish discourse. The text concludes that anti-Judaism was not an inherent characteristic of Christianity and that there were tensions and possible different interpretations regarding the Jews. In the study of modern antisemitism, the difference between anti-Judaism and antisemitism is highlighted, and Wilhelm Marr is mentioned as one of the first to use the term "antisemitism" in the 19th century. [Extracted from the article]

The article is about religious diversity in the Jewish community of Chile. Different currents and rabbis representing each of them are mentioned. The arrival of rabbis trained at the "Marshall T. Meyer" Rabbinical Seminary in Buenos Aires is highlighted, as they introduced innovative ideas in the communities. The Masorti (Conservative), Reform, and Orthodox currents are mentioned, as well as the rabbis representing them. The World Union for Progressive Judaism and the openness of communities to people from different Jewish thought currents are also mentioned. In recent years, there has been an increase in the presence of Masorti (Conservative) Jews, and there has been noticeable growth in areas such as home delivery of kosher food and products. Additionally, various institutions and services have been established to serve this community, such as schools, seminaries, mikvaot, and kosher restaurants. Each community has several hired rabbis to assist the official rabbi in the multiple activities they carry out. Several rabbis and Jewish communities in the country are mentioned, including Diego Edelberg, Lucas "Pato" Lejderman, Alejandro Bloch, Pablo Gabe, Daniel Zang, Efraim Rosenzweig, Yoni Szewkis, Shmuel Szteinhendler, and Beit Emunah. The growth of Orthodox communities is highlighted, and it is mentioned that Jewish communities in Chile tend to be "rabbi-centric," with people showing a preference for a particular rabbi or community. It is suggested that the growth of Orthodox communities may be due to the search for meaning and spirituality in modernity. It is concluded that a new study is needed to obtain updated information on the religious participation of the Jewish community in Chile. [Extracted from the article]

This article aims to analyze the historiographical concept of "Hellenization"' in light of the book of 2 Maccabees and the historical reality of Hellenistic Judaism. The central theme of this investigation, therefore, is the relationship between the Jews and the Greek culture in the Hellenistic period, in order to ascertain the validity of the term "Hellenization" to express the situation of this historical context. The author, after explaining the specific use of the Greek term Έλληυισμόϛ in 2 Maccabees as the Greek way of life imposed over Jewish culture (Ἰουδαïσμόϛ), analyzes how the very book of 2 Maccabees and the historical reality contradict the opposition that the author of such book proposes to the terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the evolution of attitudes towards borrowing money with interest within the Jewish world, inserted into a succession of pronouncements of many civilizations of the ancient world and before the burst medieval Christianity with extreme sentencing position. This review reveals the high degree of dynamism and fluctuating belief systems to the economic practice and emphasizes how the legal system was prepared mosaic increasingly sophisticated reasoning to it, based on a case-type case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article examines the role of Dov Ber Borochov's Marxist thought in the reconstruction of Latin American Jewish identity between the 1950s and 1970s. Borochov (1881-1917) fashioned the most compelling synthesis between Jewish aspirations for national self-determination and the basic premises of historical materialism. The translation of his major works into Spanish and its diffusion among the most politicized sectors of Latin America's Jewish youth enabled Zionism to participate in the period's revolutionary discourse. By reading Borochov and his various interpreters, the present author claims that several generations of leftwing Latin American Jews were able to maintain a Jewish identity and express loyalty to the State of Israel in a manner that dovetailed smoothly with local revolutionary ideological movements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article tries to deliver a vision of Jewish traditional history and culture and the "possible harassments" that they could have suffered over the centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the concepts of ethnic group and identity are described. Identity as a distinctive unit of certain group and their identifiers as features which delimit the frontiers between "Them" and "Us". Identity as a construction that contains essential features, where their contents evolves and adapts as time goes by. The Jewish collectivity is considered within the category of ethnic group, because is a group that has achieved permanency in spite of the internal and external changes. Five general Jewish features are pointed out: religion, traditions, Jewish peoplehood, Israel and Holocaust. These identity elements are being briefly described as well as how they are manifested and exhibited within the Latin American Jewish group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider different perspectives on Chilean and Argentinean Judaism, related to four main traits: a) the organization of Jewish and secular identities, with progressive and liberal components, although religion is not the central identity element; b) the consolidation of a religious orthodox space; c) the formation of new Jewish identities, that are not integrated into the structures of institutional Jewish communities; e) the emergence of some dissidence in Chilean and Argentinean Judaism, as part and parcel of a reaction to the official discourse about the Arab-Israeli Conflict. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper focuses on the emergence of a new religious-ethnic educational stream in Israel, Maayan Hachinuch Hatorani, ("The Wellspring of Torah Education"). It was founded in 1984 and is controlled by the leadership of Shas, a movement of religious renewal and Sephardic-Oriental identity. Discriminatory policies, implemented by the ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi establishment, brought the leaders of the Shas movement to initiate a new system capable of responding to the hardship of a marginalized population. Shas schools, functioning within and being supported by the Ministry of Education, also became socializing agents for children and parents that were far from religious lifestyle. Thus, through the creation of strategies for the transmission of knowledge and behavior, the new stream challenges the secular national project, and contributes to the formation of a new cultural sphere. In this paper we explore how a religious movement embraces education to foster social mobilization and group solidarity. The research is an ethnographic study that was conducted between 2000-2005 in three cities in Israel. By transforming cultural boundaries and institutionalizing norms that contradict in some respects the principles underlying the relationship between government and mass schooling, Shas's education systems contributes to forge an Ultra-Orthodox Israeli Judaism based on an ethnic type of primordial identity. The case contributes to understand the challenges that religion holds to modern systems of education and to analyze new developments in Judaism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After reading some articles of Emmanuel Levinas, mainly those assembled in the book Difícil Libertad, the author of this article wrote a personal approach to the thinking of Levinas, and she did it from a Jewish perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]