Transcript Customs/Religion & Culture— an example of the Jewish people

Customs/Religion & Culture
Jewish
• Funeral– The deceased must be buried as soon as
possible. No coffin is used.
• Cap on holy grounds
• Praying– at least 3 times a day; group praying
• Food—
Livestock: no rabbit meat, pork and horse meat
Fowl: no birds (chicken, duck and goose are o.k.)
Seafood: only the ones with fins and scales (no eels,
lobsters and crabs)
Daily product: Milk and cheese can’t be consumed with meat
at the same time (6 hrs apart; separate plates for daily product
and meat).
Absolutely no insects and bugs (vegetable cleaning)
• Star of David
• Sabbath—
starting from the sunset of Friday to the sunset of
Saturday
No working: farming, driving, writing, sewing,
cooking, shopping, business
No entertainment, traveling or war
Buddhism
• Buddhists believe that life does not begin
with birth and end with death, but rather
that every person has several lives based
upon the lessons of life not yet learned and
acts committed (karma 「因果報應」) in
previous lives.
• Buddhists believe that selfishness and
craving result in suffering and that
compassion and love bring happiness and
well-being.
• The true path to peace is to eliminate all
desire, a condition which Buddhists define
as ‘nirvana’ （「涅盤」、極樂世界；
『印度教』超脫、解脫) －state free of
desire, suffering, or further rebirth, in which
a person simply is, and is completely at one
with his surroundings.
Five Commandments in Buddhism
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Don’t kill.
Don’t steal or rob.
Don’t say inappropriate words.
Don’t drink alcohol.
Don’t lust.
Proper Behavior According to Buddhist Doctrine
• Great emphasis and value is placed on
outward forms of courtesy such as
politeness, respect, and self-control in order
to maintain harmonious relations.
• It promotes a non-confrontational society,
in which public dispute or criticism is to be
avoided at all costs.
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• To be openly angry with someone might
attract the wrath of the spirits, which in turn
could cause violence and tragedy.
• Openly criticizing a person is a form of
violence as it hurts the person and is viewed
as a conscious attempt to offend the person
being rebuked.
• Loss of face is a disgrace to a Thai so they
try to avoid confrontations and look for
compromises in difficult situations.
Buddhist Countries
Islam
• A single, indivisible God. (God, the creator, is
just, omnipotent and merciful. "Allah" is often
used to refer to God; it is the Arabic word for
God.)
• The Day of Judgment when people will be
judged on the basis of their deeds while on earth,
and will either attain reward of Heaven or
punishment in Hell. They do not believe that Jesus
or any other individual can atone for another
person's sin. Hell is where unbelievers and sinners
spend eternity.
Other beliefs:
• The supremacy of God's will.
• God did not have a son. Jesus (pbuh) is a
prophet, born of the Virgin Mary.
• Jesus (pbuh) was not executed on the cross.
He escaped crucifixion and was taken up
into Paradise.
• Alcohol, illegal drugs, eating of pork, etc.
are to be avoided.
• Gambling is to be avoided.
Ramadan
• It takes place during the ninth month of the
Islamic calendar.
• The name "Ramadan" is taken from the
name of this month; the word itself derived
from an Arabic word for intense heat,
scorched ground, and shortness of rations. It
is considered the most blessed month of the
Islamic year.
• Fasting is practiced by most Muslim during
the month.
Islamic Countries
Points of Etiquette
• Clothing—
modest and conservative
Violators of dress codes will be frown at or
evicted from various places, especially holy
sites.
Head Covering
The etiquette at many
Muslim holy sites requires
that a headscarf or some
other modest head covering
be worn. For women this might
be a hijab and for men it might
be a kufi, turban or keffiyeh.
turban
keffiyeh
Yarmulke
(Jewish men)
Kerchief/veil
(Orthodox Christian)
Clothing taboos for female visitors:
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Shorts
Skirts above the knee
Sleeveless blouses
Low necklines
Bikini at the pool
Both men and women from other cultures are
expected to wear non-revealing clothes.
Left hand
• Among Muslims, the left hand is reserved
for bodily hygiene and considered unclean.
Thus, the right hand should be used for
eating. Shaking hands or handing over an
item with one's left hand is an insult.
• Public displays of affection are often
frowned upon. This may even include handholding between people of opposite gender.
• In many cases, people of the same gender
holding hands while walking is considered
an ordinary display of friendship without
romantic connotations
• Many people in the Middle East claim a
more modest area of personal space than
that which is usual elsewhere. Accordingly,
it can seem rude for an individual to step
away when another individual is stepping
closer.
• In regard to vocal emphasis, volume and
body language, people in the Middle East
may communicate in ways which other
people (such as English and Germans)
reserve for when they are angry or upset.
This should be kept in mind when analyzing
the mood of a situation.
• Special respect is paid to older people in
many circumstances. This can include
standing when older people enter a room,
always greeting older people before others
present (even if they are better known to
you), standing when speaking to one’s
elders and serving older people first at a
meal table.
• Many people throughout the Middle East,
especially Arabs, take great pride in shows
of hospitality, never failing to at least serve
coffee and a snack such as figs but
preferring to present guests with a lavish
choice of expensive delicacies in abundance.
To refuse such hospitality can cause offense.
• In some areas in the Middle East, it is
common for people to take their food from a
common plate in the center of the table.
Rather than employing forks or spoons,
people may scoop up hummus and other
foodstuff with pita bread.
• In many Middle Eastern countries, grouping
the thumb and fingers together, and shaking
it up and down, fingers pointing upwards,
indicates "wait".
• In Iraq and Iran, the “thumbs up" gesture is
considered an offensive insult.
• Displaying the sole of one's foot or touching
somebody with one's shoe is often
considered rude. In some circumstances,
shoes should be removed before entering a
living room.
• Many in the Middle East do not separate
professional and personal life. Doing
business revolves much more around
personal relationships, family ties, trust and
honour. There is a tendency to prioritise
personal matters above all else. It is
therefore crucial that business relationships
are built on mutual friendship and trust.
Hinduism
• Hindus recognize one God, Brahman （婆
羅門成員之一）, the eternal origin who is
the cause and foundation of all existence.
• Moksha: Hindus believe that the soul passes
through a cycle of successive lives and its
next incarnation is always dependent on
how the previous life was lived.
• The soul: There are many different
conceptions of the soul. What is the soul,
where does it live and what happens to it
when we die?
Dinning Etiquette of Hindu
• The cardinal rule of dining is to always use
the right hand when eating or receiving food
and never the left.
• Everyone must thoroughly wash their hands
before sitting at the table as some Indian
foods are primarily eaten by hand.
Additionally, one must wash their hands
after eating the food.
• Almost all Hindus consider the cow sacred,
and never eat beef.
• In formal settings, it is expected that
everyone will wait for the host or the eldest
person - the elder taking priority over the
host - to begin eating before everyone else
starts.
• It is not necessary to taste each and every
dish prepared; but you must finish
everything on the plate as it is considered a
respect for served food.
Alcohol and Religion
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Some religions — most notably Islam, Sikhism, Jainism, the Bahá'í Faith, The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Theravada and most Mahayana schools
of Buddhism, some Protestant sects of Fundamentalist Christianity and Hinduism — forbid,
discourage, or restrict the consumption of alcoholic beverages for various reasons.
In the early Islamic period drinking was considered to be one of the two offences against God, the
other being illicit sex. Even now according to Islam several Qur'anic verses are commonly
understood to prohibit the use of alcohol. The Qu'ran says that although there are some benefits in
alcohol, the sins are greater than the benefits([Qur'an 2:219]). Only the use of alcohol for medical,
scientific, industrial and automotive purposes is allowed. But, the Islamic view on heaven includes
promises of "rivers of the finest wine" that are free from alcohol so believers will not suffer
intoxication therefrom([Qur'an 37:47]).
Many Christian denominations use wine in the Eucharist and permit the use of alcohol in moderation,
while others use unfermented grape juice in the Eucharist and abstain from alcohol by choice or
prohibit it outright.
The Jewish religion uses wine on Shabbat for Kiddush as well as in the Passover ceremony and in
other religious ceremonies, including Purim, and allows the moderate use of alcohol, such as kosher
wine.
Buddhist texts recommend refraining from drugs and alcohol, because they may inhibit mindfulness.
Many Pagan religions, however, have had a completely reverse view on alcohol and drunkenness some have actively promoted it as means of fertility cult on promoting fertility and sexual lust.
Alcohol is seen to increase lust and sexual desires and to lower the threshold of approaching another
person. For example, Norse paganism considered alcohol as the sap of Yggdrasil, and drunkenness
and intoxication by mushrooms was an important rite of fertility. Somewhat paradoxically, one
pharmacodynamic effect of alcohol reduces sexual arousal.