Beit Alpha

We went on a full day tiyul today to the north. We started our day in Beit She'arim and later went to Beit Alpha. Beit Alpha is a kibbutz in northern Israel that has an ancient temple that has a beautiful mosaic that holds details to how the Jewish people represented themselves back then. 
When we got to Beit Alpha, we began talking about the Oral Law and how it draws a red line for when people can consider themselves Jewish. We tried to develop a line that would apply to modern day times. Many people said that if someone goes to church and wears a cross or believes in Jesus, but considers themselves Jewish is a Jew. Judaism is not just a religion, it is a lifestyle.
As soon as I heard this I was a little bit confused. It didn't make a lot of sense to me that someone would consider themselves Jewish, but do so many things that are against their religion. Judaism is not like most other religions, such as Christianity, where if you consider yourself Christian then you are Christian. There are certain requirements that are needed to be met in order to be Jewish. One major thing is to follow Hallacha, or Jewish law. It is not enough to just consider yourself Jewish because it is very hard to be accepted within the Jewish community that way. Not only that, but it is also a little bit like cheating.
Another thing that should be a very important thing for Jews is to observe the high holidays. Going to services on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur at least is a great way to get closer to the Jewish community. 

BACK TO THE TIYUL

When we went into the ancient synagogue, there was a beautiful mosaic on the floor. The only problem was that it had the face of the Greek sun god, Helios, on it. This shocked me a little bit. I understand that the Jewish culture was influenced by Hellenism back then, but the scholars of Beit Alpha should have known better not to bring that influence to a Jewish place of worship. 

Being influenced by outside cultures is not a bad thing. There are many good things that come with it like technology and logic. Despite these great advancements, there are also many huge disadvantages. Much of the class believed it was fine to have a Greek god in the synagogue if it wasn't going to be used for and idolized purpose. 

I don't care whether it was idolized or not, if it was put in a place of worship it automatically makes the place unholy to Jews. One of the first commandments is no idolatry. Hellenism could influence Judaism to the extent that it would not effect the way Jews praise HaShem. Places of worship are sacred places that should not be tainted by the influence of foreign cultures and religions.