Browsing by Subject "juutalaisuus"
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(2014)Object.There is a small minority of Jews in Finland whose continuity has been threatened most of all by strong assimilation. Finnish Jewish young adults who almost without exception intermarry are bringing up and educating the next Jewish generation. The purpose of this research is to find out how do the Finnish Jewish young adults understand the conception of Jewishness and most of all, what does their Judaism mean to them. Secondly the purpose is to examine their double identity with the help of a model (Dencik 1993). In other words the aim is to find out what does the Jewish identity mean to those who will continue the inheritance of the Finnish Jews and how they tackle the double identity. Lundgren (2002) has made a research of the traditions and attitudes of the Finnish Jews and Dencik (1993, 2002) both in Sweden and in Denmark. With the help of this research it is the intention to participate in the discussion of the identity-negotiation (Kuusisto 2011, Klingenberg 2014, Rissanen 2014). Method. This research was put into practice as a qualitative multiple case study by sending inquiry to all 137 members of the Jewish Community in Helsinki who were born between 1976-1986. The inquiry was answered by 28 young adults. The meaning of Judaism to the Finnish Jewish young adults was studied with qualitative methods and inductive approach, and at the same time theory based approach. The double identity and thus acculturation attitudes were approached with the help of Dencik's (1993) model of a diasporic Jew. I analyzed the answers with the help of material-connected content analysis and theory-based analysis. Conclusions. With the help of material-connected content analysis it turned out that Judaism meant to respondents most of all Judaism as the interpreteter of experiences and belonging to the Jewish people (Dencik 1993). This section of Judaism included conceptions of Judaism as giving and receiving, Judaism as a way of living and as a feeling of togetherness to other fellow Jews. As for double identity, it showed that the Finnish and Jewish sides of identity were in balance, in other words, the respondents experienced their Jewishness as The Jews of Finland, whose homeland is Finland.
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(2017)Objects: For the past few years there has been a lot of discussion about circumcision performed on infant boys based on religious reasons. NGOs such as Sexpo and Central union of child health care, to mention only few, reject circumcision based on religious and cultural bases. However Jewish organizations consider that the freedom of faith would be violated if circumcision would be criminalized. This thesis tries to clarify the origin of circumcision in Judaism and the importance it has in Judaism and for Jews. It also aims to explain the link between circumcision and Jewish identity. One of the main topics is human rights concerning circumcision. Circumcision does violate the immunity of child's body (TANE 2008; Sexpo 2012; Sexpo 2013; Central Union for Child Welfare 2013). Jewish agencies feel that criminalizing circumcision would be violation against freedom of faith and would endanger practicing of Judaism (Bolotowsky & Kantor 2012; White Paper 2012; Nadbornik 2015). In Judaism, circumcision can be seen as an initiation rite where baby boy is welcomed as a member of Jewish community (Eilberg-Schwartz 1994, 160; Hoffman 1996, 22; Kimmel 2001; Bolotowsky & Kantor 2012). Circumcision can be understood as socialization into the Jewish community (Goldberg 2003, 37). Methods: Qualitative methods were used to gather and analyse the data. Data consists of two discussion groups. To analyse the data I used content analysis and conversation analysis. I used an inductive method in the analysis and interpretation of data. Conclusions: Circumcision still has a strong status among the Finnish jews. It seems to have strong connection with jewish identity and upbringing. A lot of criticism arouse amongst the study participants. Circumsicion was seen as a "necessary evil" to attain certain goals, such as the aforementioned. Human rights were reflected against circumsion with contradictory feelings. The parents were aware about violation of immunity of child and irreversibility of surgery. Still human rights were seen more broadly, and there was enlargement of child's rights. For a future study it would be interesting to investigate if the difference in attitude towards circumcision between mothers and fathers could be generalized.
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