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| Place of origin | The Levant |
Persia (Iran) |
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| Place of worship | Synagogues and temples, home, Western Wall of the Temple in Jerusalem |
Dar-e Mehr (Persian) or Agiyari (Gujarati) or Fire temple |
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| Use of statues and pictures | Ancient times: Not allowed as it is considered Idolatry. Today, great artwork is encouraged. Statues of people are fine, but not as religious icons. |
Permitted, there are several drawings regarding Prophet Zoroaster and symbolic images of God (Ahura Mazda). |
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| Belief of God | One God (monotheism), often called HaShem—Hebrew for 'The Name', or Adonai— 'The Lord'. God is the one True Creator. God has always existed, none existed before him and will exist forever. He transcends life and death. |
One God. |
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| Practices | Prayers 3 times daily, with a fourth prayer added on Shabbat and holidays. Shacarit prayer in the morning, Mincha in the afternoon, Arvit at night; Musaf is an extra Shabbat service. |
Fire is used in Zoroastrian worship. Zoroastrians also pray 5 times a day. |
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| Founder | Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses |
Zarathustra Haechataspa Spitama or Zoroaster (Greek) or Zartosht (Parsi) |
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| Literal Meaning | Grateful person (named for Judah, who was named "gratitude" by his mother, Leah) |
Follower of Zoroaster. |
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| Scriptures | Tanakh (Jewish Bible), which includes the Torah |
The Zend Avesta. |
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| Goal of religion | To celebrate LIFE! To fulfill the Covenant with God. Do good deeds. Help repair the world. Love God with all your heart. Strong social justice ethic. |
To serve God, by good deeds towards others. To acquire and cultivate divine attributes, particularly “ good mind and righteousness; to elevate themselves in harmony with God and to listen to God’s guiding voice within them. |
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| Followers | Jews, Jewish people |
Zoroastrians. |
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| Life after death | World to come, Reincarnation (some groups); unifying with God, there are different opinions and beliefs |
Eternal life in Heaven, or in Hell. |
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| Means of Salvation | This is not a concept held in Judaism. Jews do not strive to achieve a status at the time of death. |
Good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. |
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| Human Nature | You must choose good from bad. You are responsible for your actions, not thoughts. |
equal ability to do good or evil. |
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| Clergy | Ancient times: Hereditary privileged priest class--Kohen and Levi. Present day: Religious functionaries like Rabbis, Cantors, Scribes, Mohels. |
Priests. |
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| About | Judaism was created by Abraham 2000 BCE and his descendants, Isaac and Jacob. |
Zoroastrianism is one of the most earliest monotheistic faith, in a concept of the one creator God (Known as Ahura Mazda) |
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| View of the Buddha | N/A. |
N/A |
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| Geographical distribution and predominance | Existing in Israel for 1500 years, but the Romans in 70 AD kicked all Jews out. Jews are dispersed all over the world, at one time present in almost every country. Now the majority live in Israel, USA, Canada, Russia, France, England. |
Middle East, Central Asia and Northern India. |
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| Prophets | Moses, and the subsequent Prophets of Israel as told in the Jewish Bible (Tanakh). |
Zarathustra (Zoroaster) |
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| Second coming of Jesus | Denied. (not part of liturgy) |
N/A |
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| Belief | Jewish central belief is that there is only one God, and God has a special relationship, a contract, with them that they can fulfill by performing mitzvot. |
There is a cosmic battle between the Good God, Ahura Mazda, and the evil god, Ahriman. |
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| God's role in salvation | Salvation is not a concept in Jewish faith. Each New Year, during Yom Kippur, Jews fast and pray for forgiveness from God, and if accepted, are written into the Book of Life, for the next year. |
Follow God's Commands to do good deeds. |
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| Abrahamic Lineage | Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are thanked every prayer day. Jacob's 12 sons became the 12 tribes of israel. Of these, 10 were lost during Assyrian Exile. |
N/A. |
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| Status of women | Equal to men in eyes of God and in the Law (Halakha). Woman traditionally have been granted more equal rights than most other world cultures. Today, traditions among the Orthodox and the Reform movements differ greatly. |
Equal to men |
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| Concept of God | One God |
One God |
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| Principle | By accepting the covenant, they choose to follow God's commandments. A unique ethnicity. Early monotheists. |
Good thoughts, good words, and good deeds. |
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| Angels | Angels serve God as messengers. World is full of beings existing that we cannot see or understand. Kabbalah includes mystical studies of this. |
Angels serve Ahura Mazda. |
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| View of Oriental religions | Jews accept others can have different religions. Jews must obey the law of the land, if ethical. |
N/A |
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| Ressurection of Jesus | Denied. |
Denied |
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| Concept of Deity | Belief in one God and teachings of the tradition, prophets and rabbis. |
One Good God, Who is in cosmic battle with one evil god. |
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| Population | Around 13-16 Million, debated. Population varies due to conversion (although some types are not recognized by the state of Israel) and "marrying out" (of the faith) |
Approx. 100,000 Zoroastrians in the world. |
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| View of other Dharmic religions | N/A. |
Zoroastrianism was founded in protest of worshipping numerous Aryan/Hindu deities. |
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| Virtue on which religion is based upon | Justice. |
Kindness. |
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| Birth of Jesus | Not mentioned in Jewish texts. |
N/A. They believe that Zarathustra was virgin born. |
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| Authority of Dalai Lama | N/A. |
N/A. |
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| Branches | Religious: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, Renewel, Reconstruction. Traditions: Sephard, (Spain, Arab countries, Turkey). Ashkenazi: (Europe, Russia). MIzrachi: (Iraq, Persia, India). |
Conservative Parsi, Conservative Irani, Gathas-only, modernists. |
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| Death of Jesus | Not mentioned in Jewish texts. |
N/A. |
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| Rites | Mitzvahs. Bar & Bat Mitvahs are the most well known, but, there are others too. |
Generally common. |
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| Holy days/Official Holidays | Sabbath, Havdalla, Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Simchat Torah, Chanukah, Tu BiShvat, Purim, Passover, Lag BaOmer, Shavout. Holocaust remembrance. |
Nowruz, Zartusht-no-diso, Jamshid nowruz |
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| Promised Holy one. | Belief in the Coming of a Messiah. |
Saoshyant |
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| Names of God | HaShem, Adonai, |
Ahura Mazda. |
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| Place and Time of origin | 1500 BC, Middle East. Religion formed over several centuries; was codified during the Babylonian exile. Literacy is encouraged to read Bible. Jews replaced animal sacrifice with prayer in Diaspora, after Romans destroyed Jerusalem Temple in 70 AD |
Priests |
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| Authority of Pope | N/A |
N/A. |
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| View of God | God is the one True Creator. God has always existed, none existed before him and will exist forever. He transcends life and death. God is one and the only holiness. God is the creator. He is beyond human understanding, he is omnipotent. |
God is All Good. |
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| Identity of Jesus | Simply not part of liturgy. Not mentioned one way or the other. |
Denied |
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| Views on the afterlife | Jews beleive in a human Soul, and Orthodox believe in A World To Come and a form of Reincarnation. Differing beliefs accepted. Very little discussion on afterlife. Focus is on time on Earth now. |
Heaven and Hell. |
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| Time of origin | c 1300 BC |
2000 B.C. |
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| Resurrection of Jesus | Simply not mentioned. not part of liturgy in Judaism. Considered authentic part of Christianity. |
Denied |
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| Geographical predominance | Israel, USA, Canada, France, England, Russia, Argentina. Has varied throughout history, Arabia, Persia, Babylonia, Rome, Greece, Ottoman Empire, Eastern Europe, due to various migrations and persecutions. |
Iran. After Islamic invasion of Iran in the 7th century, some Zoroastrians who did not convert to Islam were allowed to migrate to India and have maintained a community there ever since. |
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| Original Language | Hebrew has always been the central language of prayer. From 500 BCE, Aramaic and Greek koine and 'Aramized' Hebrew till 300 CE. Local languages and different extinct and living Jewish languages like Carfati, Yiddish, Ladino, Judesmo. |
Persian, Gathic Avestan |
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| View of Animistic religions | The earliest Jewish holidays correspond to agricultural seasons. Jews uniquely developed monotheism as a God of All. They were surrounded by pagen tribes who believed in gods based on their location, or nature. |
Pagan. |
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| Prophet | Moses, Samuel, Nathan, Elijah, Elisha, etc. |
Zarathustra |
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| Praying to Saints,Mary, and Angel | N/A. |
N/A. |
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| Clothes | Jews wear skullcaps called kippot, or yarmulkes. In prayer, Men over 13 wear shawls, called Tallit, and during morning prayer, leather straps called Tefillin, which awaken the spiritual connection with God. Women cover their heads with a prayer shawl |
Zoroastrians traditionally wear a sacred thread around their waist, the kusti. Both men and women must cover their heads. |
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Comments: Judaism vs Zoroastrianism
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