Avodah

Avodah
For the Israeli political party, see Labor Party (Israel).

Avoda, or Avodah (Hebrew: עֲבוֹדָה‎), is a Hebrew word, literally meaning "work".

In a modern context, usually refers to business-type activities, it can also mean agricultural work and, more traditionally, serving God.

In its original, traditional sense, "avodah" was applied to sacrifices offered in Temple in Jerusalem. The word was also used to described the epitome of sacrificial rite, the complex and fraught main service of the The High Priest on Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). Today it refers to a liturgical reenactment of the aforementioned ceremony which is recited during the Musaf Amidah of Yom Kippur.

Contents

Avodah in Chassidism

In chassidism:

1. Avodah generally refers to Divine service (or worship). For example, it's part of the Divine service to serve God with joy.

2. "eizohi Avodah shebelev? zu Teffilah."[1] - What is the service of the heart? that is teffilah, prayer. That is why in chassidism there is a great emphasis on prayer

Avodah and Bnei Akiva

Avodah is one of the two words that underlie the ideology of Bnei Akiva. (The other is Torah).

In this ideological framework, the word was originally utilised in a strictly agricultural context. "Avodah" meant working on a kibbutz.

In more recent years, Bnei Akiva has had to redefine the terminology. Tens of thousands of its members currently live, or plan to live in an urban setting in Israel.

A strictly agricultural interpretation of Avodah therefore marginalises members.

Furthermore, it is generally perceived that the "needs" of Israel have developed somewhat since Bnei Akiva was founded. Draining malarial swamps and "turning the desert green" have assumed somewhat lower priorities than in earlier years. To give an example from exporting, Israel is now known for its high tech industries as much as for its Jaffa oranges.

The movement has therefore subtly redefined Avodah, to mean work that contributes towards the building up of the land of Israel.

AVODAH: The Jewish Service Corps

AVODAH combines social justice work, Jewish learning, and community building into a program for recent college graduates. At locations in New York, Chicago, Washington D.C. or New Orleans, participants work full time at grassroots organization to create positive change on urban poverty issues such as hunger, literacy, public health, domestic violence, and housing. At the same time, they share a year living and learning with other young, Jewish adults to integrate social change and Jewish values in a pluralistic environment.

There are currently 45 participants bringing housing, education and other basic services to over 10,000 people each year and saving the organizations they work for more than half a million dollars. An alumni community of over 200 people furthers the work and learning once the participants complete the program.

References

  1. ^ Talmud Bavli, Ta'anit 2a

External links


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • AVODAH — (Heb. עֲבוֹדָה; literally service ), name for temple ritual, applied to the central part of the Musaf liturgy on the day of atonement . This poetically recounts the sacrificial ritual in the Temple on the Day of Atonement. The ritual, based on… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • AVODAH ZARAH — (Heb. עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה; Idolatrous Worship ), tractate of the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmuds in the order of Nezikin; its name is already referred to in the Babylonian Talmud (Av. Zar. 56b). The tractate   was assigned to… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Avodah Zarah — This article is about portion of the Talmud. For Jewish views of idolatry, see Idolatry in Judaism. Avodah Zarah (Hebrew: foreign worship, meaning idolatry or strange worship ) is the name of a tractate in the Talmud, located in Nezikin, the… …   Wikipedia

  • AḤDUT HA-AVODAH — AḤDUT HA AVODAH, the name of several publications issued by the different labor movements in Ereẓ Israel at various times. (1) The first such periodical was published in 1919, a few months prior to the formation of the Aḥdut ha Avodah Party,… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • AḤDUT HA-AVODAH — AḤDUT HA AVODAH, Zionist Socialist Labor Party in Palestine founded in 1919. First steps toward its formation were taken in 1918 by soldiers of the jewish legion at Tell el Kabir, Egypt, where many Palestinian Jewish workers and members of Po… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • AḤDUT HA-AVODAH-PO'ALEI ZION — ( Unity of Labor–Workers of Zion ), Zionist Socialist Party established in 1946. emerged as an independent party in 1944 after a faction in Mapai calling itself Si ah Bet (B Faction) seceded from it because of its objections to the policies of… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • GEDUD HA-AVODAH — (Heb. The (Yosef Trumpeldor) Labor Legion ), first countrywide commune of Jewish workers in Palestine. The Gedud was founded in the autumn of 1920 by 80 pioneers of the Third Aliyah, disciples of yosef trumpeldor . In the winter of 1920 the Gedud …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • TORAH VA-AVODAH — (Heb. Torah and Labor ), description of the ideology of the Zionist religious pioneering movement, as well as the name of the world confederation of pioneer and youth groups of the mizrachi movement established in Vienna in 1925 at a conference… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Akhdout Ha'Avodah — Poaley Tzion et Akhdut Ha avoda  Sionisme  …   Wikipédia en Français

  • POLITICAL LIFE AND PARTIES — Introduction It was largely due to the existence of the pre state political parties, which had conducted intensive political activities for almost half a century within the framework of the yishuv , under the British Mandate for Palestine, that… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”