Essay On Religion In The Devil's Arithmetic

“Judaism is not a religion, it is a relationship.” In Jane Yolen’s The Devil’s Arithmetic, a girl Hannah travels to a world where she takes on the role of a girl her age named Chaya (A.K.A. her hebrew name), and she isn’t sure why. Although some people believe that throughout her time in this new world Hannah is becoming more attached to her jewish religion, she still has the same understanding as she did before. In this new world Hannah, or Chaya meets four girls, Rachel, Shifre, Yente, and Esther that were jewish as well. She tells about her Catholic friend from the other world, Rosemary and they deny her saying that it is against the rules to associate goy (a person who is not jewish). According to some people, even though Hannah was hurt about the remarks …show more content…
Your parents must choose your spouse, as tradition, and they must discuss this with the badchan, or the marriage broker. In favor of the opposing side, Hannah can be somewhat accepting of this tradition. The book proves, “So it may happen in Lublin that a Jewish girl marries for love.’ said Shifre. ‘ But here in the country, we still marry the one our parents pick out with the shadchan, the marriage broker.” Hannah is aware of her “uncle,” Shmuel and his soon-to-be wife fell in love without the need of a marriage broker. In regards to the bachan, when she met this man Hannah thought that he seemed like a Jewish jester, which made her laugh. She thought this man was funny looking not one to go against in terms of marriage rules. According to the more realistic side of things, Hannah is not happy with the marriage rules. “ Even today, Hannah asked, not sure of when today was.” Hannah is perplexed. She neither understands nor agrees with your parents choosing your spouse. Besides, with being Chaya she doesn’t have any parents to choose who she is tomorrow. She is more focused on getting back to the real world,