Judaism

[Kaine for Senate '18]

This is a copy of Xahar's thread on Islam.  Anyone who has any questions about Judaism is welcome to come here and ask questions, hopefully I'll have the answer or another fellow Jew will answer for me

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Judaism belives that everyone's soul will spend eternity with God, so no, there is no Heaven and Hell per se, because everyone spends eternity in a heaven like place.

I've heard this explanation before...i guess I don't understand it...why would He have a chosen people...and why wouldHe allow vile souls (i'm not talking about debatable ones, I'm talking about the most vile people in human history) to have the same outcome?

Sorry, but what exactly is the question?

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Judaism belives that everyone's soul will spend eternity with God, so no, there is no Heaven and Hell per se, because everyone spends eternity in a heaven like place.

I've heard this explanation before...i guess I don't understand it...why would He have a chosen people...and why wouldHe allow vile souls (i'm not talking about debatable ones, I'm talking about the most vile people in human history) to have the same outcome?

Sorry, but what exactly is the question?

Why would Hitler or Stalin spend eternity in heaven?

I'm not an expert on the subject, but I believe that as long as someone repents their sins before they die, then they spend eternity with God.  So, to clarify, Hitler and Stalin would not spend eternity with God unless they repented.  God has said that He will forgive anyone, so long as they repent.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I honestly don't know.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Why don't you believe Jesus is the Messiah? He has all of the qualities of one.

From a Jewish standpoint, he has none of the qualities. https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=68847.0

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Why don't you believe Jesus is the Messiah? He has all of the qualities of one.

That's a pretty loaded question.

Yeah, but it's an easy one to answer.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I honestly don't know.

I mean that's what I don't get about Judaism...Christianity and Islam...say whatever else you'd like about them, you can kinda get why it pays to be a Christian (or in some circles, uphold the spirit of jesus taught even if you aren't one) or to be a Muslim (or as Xahar has pointed out, a reverant person of the book)...you get rewarded, and if you aren't, there are consequences...

as for Judaism, there doesn't seem, other than the cultural/nationalistic aspects, to be a reason why one should be jewish in faith as opposed to anything else...it seems everyone ends up in the same place, and even that God doesn't award perks to His people...

I might be totally off base, but thats what i've seen thus far from your explainations (and don't worry too much, I get similar explainations from my jewish friends.)

Sorry I can't give a more detailed answer; it's a question I've always had too.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Judaism belives that everyone's soul will spend eternity with God, so no, there is no Heaven and Hell per se, because everyone spends eternity in a heaven like place.

I've heard this explanation before...i guess I don't understand it...why would He have a chosen people...and why wouldHe allow vile souls (i'm not talking about debatable ones, I'm talking about the most vile people in human history) to have the same outcome?

Sorry, but what exactly is the question?

Why would Hitler or Stalin spend eternity in heaven?

I've never known my religion to have much concern with heaven/hell/afterlife. I believe one rabbi said that the focus of Judaism is to live the current life. Then again, i'm reform, so my beliefs are rather liberal. I can answer some questions too!

Sweet!  Another Reform Jew!

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Why don't you believe Jesus is the Messiah? He has all of the qualities of one.

That's a pretty loaded question.

How is it loaded? I just want to know why. I never seriously got that one.

If you look at the link I provided in my previous response, you'll notice that Jesus did not perform any of the requirements to be a Jewish Messiah.  That is why we do not believe he is the Messiah.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Why don't you believe Jesus is the Messiah? He has all of the qualities of one.

That's a pretty loaded question.

How is it loaded? I just want to know why. I never seriously got that one.

If you look at the link I provided in my previous response, you'll notice that Jesus did not perform any of the requirements to be a Jewish Messiah.  That is why we do not believe he is the Messiah.

You could argue that in effect he fufilled some of those promises, but it doesn't matter. Just be oepn too Jesus a little. It isn't like he is bad.

We don't believe that Jesus was at all bad; just that he wasn't the Messiah.  And no, you cannot argue that he fulfilled some of the promises, since not one of them has come true.  Also, the Messiah is supposed to be a man, not the Son of God.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Why don't you believe Jesus is the Messiah? He has all of the qualities of one.

That's a pretty loaded question.

How is it loaded? I just want to know why. I never seriously got that one.

If you look at the link I provided in my previous response, you'll notice that Jesus did not perform any of the requirements to be a Jewish Messiah.  That is why we do not believe he is the Messiah.

You could argue that in effect he fufilled some of those promises, but it doesn't matter. Just be oepn too Jesus a little. It isn't like he is bad.

We don't believe that Jesus was at all bad; just that he wasn't the Messiah.  And no, you cannot argue that he fulfilled some of the promises, since not one of them has come true.  Also, the Messiah is supposed to be a man, not the Son of God.

The Roman Empire did fall, with Arian Chrisitans, so in effect Jesus caused it. Israel is now a modern state thanks to Chrisitans.

But, the fall of Rome was not some sort of Christian revolution, it was a large variety of factors.  Also, none of the other requirements have been fulfilled as of yet.

Why don't you believe Jesus is the Messiah? He has all of the qualities of one.

That's a pretty loaded question.

How is it loaded? I just want to know why. I never seriously got that one.

If you look at the link I provided in my previous response, you'll notice that Jesus did not perform any of the requirements to be a Jewish Messiah.  That is why we do not believe he is the Messiah.

You could argue that in effect he fufilled some of those promises, but it doesn't matter. Just be oepn too Jesus a little. It isn't like he is bad.

We don't believe that Jesus was at all bad; just that he wasn't the Messiah.  And no, you cannot argue that he fulfilled some of the promises, since not one of them has come true.  Also, the Messiah is supposed to be a man, not the Son of God.

Well...i saw the post you wrote about the supposed requirements for the Hebrew messiah, and the only question I can raise is, how literally does one have to take those requirements...

We take these requirements literally, word for word.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

We take these requirements literally, word for word.

Which is interesting that you'd take such a strict standard with that, yet take many elements in the torah as allegory

Orthodox Jews take the entire Torah literally, although they may consider some details differently.  For example, I don't think they believe the world was created in 6 24 hour days.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Judaism is usually viewed as a race by many Orthodox Jews, rather than a religion. It it not evangelical, and Judaism is not supposed to be a religion people join. Although conversion is permitted, it is not promoted. Reform Jews believe it is more of a religion, but still it is not evangelical, but rather the literal idea of a Jew is not as precise.

For example if child A has a Jewish mother and a Christian father, but is raised as a Christian, then an Orthodox Jew would tend to consider child A a Jew, even though child A believes in Christianity because a Jew cannot lose their identity. However a Reform Jew will tend to believe that child A is a Christian.

If child B has a Christian mother and a Jewish father, and is raised as a Jew, then that child is considered Jewish by Reform Jews, but not a Jew in the Orthodox community because child B is not born of maternal Jewish heritage.

(i'm child B, so I'm Reform...)

I'm a Reform Jew, though both of my parents are Jews, and my mother was raised as a Conservative Jew.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I feel like bumping this thread.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

I feel like bumping this thread.

Good.  My opinion of Judaism has cratered in six months.  I now strongly support banning gefilte fish.  Since I don't know what that looks like, I'm just going to go ahead and ban all fish.

Why has your opninion cratered?  I agree about the fish, btw.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Why has your opninion cratered?

I have a complex mathematical algorithm.  It takes my current opinion of Lorne Michaels, subtracts what I'll call the "Wolf Blitzer Index," and divides that by the number of times my dad has used conversational Yiddish incorrectly this month.

Interesting.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Why has your opninion cratered?

I have a complex mathematical algorithm.  It takes my current opinion of Lorne Michaels, subtracts what I'll call the "Wolf Blitzer Index," and divides that by the number of times my dad has used conversational Yiddish incorrectly this month.

Interesting.

I'll admit that I still haven't figured out how to work in the Sammy Davis, Jr., effect.  For obvious reasons, that throws the whole thing out of whack.

Indeed.  Don't forget Mel Brooks and Larry David.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Positive overall. But I still personally think they missed the proverbial boat.

And I still think you guys jumped the proverbial gun.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Positive overall. But I still personally think they missed the proverbial boat.

And I still think you guys jumped the proverbial gun.

     & I still think both of you guys are on the proverbial wild goose chase.

So say you.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Question:

A friend of mine and myself passed by this Jewish temple in my neighborhood, once.  I'm fairly certain they are Conservative.  She wanted to go in and take a look, but I didn't think that was such a good idea.  She said that she couldn't see why they would mind us going in to look at the place, after all, she reasoned, Catholic Churches allow don't mind.

Me knowing that that's not exactly the way the world works again stated that I didn't know what the custom was and thought it would be a bad idea for us to just pop in.

Any thoughts?

As far as I know, they wouldn't have minded, although if you entered the Sanctuary, they may have required you to wear a Kippah, and if it was Orthodox, you and your friend would've had to be on the opposite sides of the room (since services are gender split).

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Question:

A friend of mine and myself passed by this Jewish temple in my neighborhood, once.  I'm fairly certain they are Conservative.  She wanted to go in and take a look, but I didn't think that was such a good idea.  She said that she couldn't see why they would mind us going in to look at the place, after all, she reasoned, Catholic Churches allow don't mind.

Me knowing that that's not exactly the way the world works again stated that I didn't know what the custom was and thought it would be a bad idea for us to just pop in.

Any thoughts?

As far as I know, they wouldn't have minded, although if you entered the Sanctuary, they may have required you to wear a Kippah, and if it was Orthodox, you and your friend would've had to be on the opposite sides of the room (since services are gender split).

Thank you.

Anytime

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Keeping Kosher has been tough for me, but I still do it just because I know I would be letting my family down and would feel extremely guilty if I stopped.

Really? It shouldn't be too hard.

Depends on how strict you are.  My friend doesn't eat shellfish or pork, but she says she can't do the no meat/milk thing, because it's too hard to remember.  There are a lot of laws, so it gets easier the more lax you are.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Keeping Kosher has been tough for me, but I still do it just because I know I would be letting my family down and would feel extremely guilty if I stopped.

Really? It shouldn't be too hard.

Not mixing dairy products and meat in a meal is intense.  My friends who do it have to constantly be on their watch.  A chicken caesar salad isn't kosher!

Also, having to make sure any animal you eat was bled.  That guarantees that you can only be comfortable buying meat from the kosher butcher.

Most people I know who are serious about keeping kosher end up becoming at least functional vegetarians, because it simplifies everything.

Exactly.  And I have to separate my silverware and plates in according to if they are meat or dairy.

My friend tried doing that for a while, but she says the rest of her family, especially her younger sister weren't able to do it.

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Yup!!!! does not effect me hence the heheheheheh!!!!!!!!

Please get out of my thread

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Is somebody whose mother is Jewish always considered a Jew, or do they have to make a decision to accept the law to become Jewish?

The Orthodox consider anyone who's mother was a Jew a Jew.