Aish HaTorah

I'm back! Thank you, Pam. It's me, Aish HaTorah. I am now a rabbi. And I am very well-pleased to be back among such fine people.

That is illuminating, thank your for answering.

I am not sure how to word this, and I do not wish to offend, so please forgive if I ask the wrong thing. In your faith, is a convert considered "on par" with members who were born into the church? Do they enjoy the same blessings and standing within the church?

Well, thank you. It's an honor just being nominated. Wait...what?!

Back to Sunday21's questions... My rabbi would say that breaking any one of the 613 mitzvot (commandments) required of Jews is "the greatest sin." Gentiles, we believe, only have to obey 4 mitzvot. Generally speaking, sins of man against man are considered of far greater severity than sins of man against G-d. This, too, is complex. Simply put, our purpose is "to love the L-rd G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." (Deuteronomy 6:5) We know this by truthfully answering that we are loving G-d, serving mankind, and experiencing joy/pleasure (not to be mistaken with comfort). Obeying the 613 mitzvot, of which 248 are positive (i.e. do's) and 365 negative (i.e. do not's). This one is the most beautiful. The Shema... Deuteronomy 6:4-9 Hear, Israel, the L-rd is our G-d, the L-rd is One. Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom for ever and ever. And you shall love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be in your heart. And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them when you sit at home, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down and when you rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be for a sign between your eyes. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Hello Sunday21! How are you, my friend? Thank you kindly for the questions (a note to all...if you asked me something, and I failed to respond, please remind me. My deck is full and I often forget things), I shall do my best to answer them. If I go into too much detail (or not enough) kindly let me know. As with so many things in my faith, ask two people and you'll get (at least!) three opinions. I can best describe the Jewish concept of life after death as...ambiguous. I could be clever and say that there isn't anything after life, because life never ends. Our soul is set free from our mortal flesh and rises higher toward the source of our creation. Heavy theological terms such as resurrection, heaven and hell, as well as the immortality of the soul all figure prominently in Jewish belief and tradition, but the details of what these concepts mean and how they relate one to another is nothing if not vague. It provides endless hours of debate for those far wiser than I! The idea of resurrection is clearly stated (if not frequently) in the Tanakh. The Book of Daniel, for example, states in Chapter 12 that - "Many of those that sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, others to reproaches, to everlasting abhorrence." Resurrection will be followed by a judgment. Those who are found standing at the end of this judgment will have eternal life and those judged to be wicked will be held to punishment. This is largely the same in our belief. Women share equality with men while enjoying unique blessings specific to gender. The woman, for example, is responsible for Shabbat. She lights the candles and ushers in the Ruach. You may find it interesting to note that, in Judaism, G-d is neither male nor female (what?!). I am going to continue in a separate post.

That was your first mistake, friend! "Reasonable" and "sense" do not belong in the same sentence. In short, many Jews need something about which to kvetch. It is in our blood. The touchy-feely part comes in specifically with regard to victims of the Shoah (the Holocaust). Jews have been persecuted (much like LDS) virtually since our conception. Many, many groups of people, sadly, have committed atrocities to our people in the name of religion, politics, and...well just about everything you can think of. Those of our ancestors who died such cruel deaths in the Holocaust are largely considered heroes to our people. When another group (not just well-meaning members of your church) does something that is perceived as taking away from the connection we feel for our heritage and Covenant (L'Dor V'Dor), it is sometimes hurtful. It has a flavor of delegitimizing what we hold most dear. It is this sense of delegitimization that rubs many of our people the wrong way.

I am looking, but I see no logic here. By what logic do most Jews vote for Democrats? Many of them view Israel as a pariah state and do not recognize the legitimacy of Jerusalem as its capital. I cannot speak for all Jews, of course, but I would no more consider an open atheist (or generalized Deist, for that matter) to be adherents to "Jewishness" any more than I would "Messianic Jews" or "Christian Jews." On a side note, the term "Messianic Jew" as used in a Christian context by followers of that dogma is somewhat offensive to Jews. Most Jews consider ourselves to be Messianic. We look to the Mashiach to come as promised.

You ask weighty questions, my friend. Before I respond, allow me to put to bed forever one thing that you mentioned. I am not now, nor have I ever been, an authority on pretty much anything. Just ask my children. They will be all too happy to confirm this conviction! I have no agenda here whatsoever. I am your humble servant. So, here goes...(I will answer the questions in separate posts as my computer has a terrible habit of timing out when I dally) 1) By what authority do adherents of Judaism accept the Talmud? Ummm...my rabbi? Seriously, have you met him? My grandmother is worse. But, I digress...Let it be said from the outset that Torah was and is and will be the ultimate authority on all things regarding Jewish beliefs and practice. I don't know of a Jew that would argue that point. The Torah, however, is a bit dusty and terse. It is old. Sometimes it is somewhat challenging to consider the thoughts, feelings, and intentions of the writers. Enter the Talmud. It was, of course, written by rabbis of old (not quite as old as Torah, but still). Luckily for us, Torah itself anticipates that there would be questions as humanity marched forward in time, and would need possible interpretation for some of the stickier concepts. For authority, we turn to Torah itself. Specifically Deuteronomy 17... 9 And thou shall come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days; and thou shalt inquire; and they shall declare unto thee the sentence of judgment. 10 And thou shalt do according to the tenor of the sentence, which they shall declare unto thee from that place which the LORD shall choose; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee. 11 According to the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare unto thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. 12 And the man that doeth presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and thou shalt exterminate the evil from Israel. 13 And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously. This passage instructs us to follow decisions made by Jewish authorities "in those days," meaning, in our contemporary time. Essentially, the Torah itself authorizes the rabbis to make decisions on matters of Jewish law. Rabbis in our time are successors to Talmudic rabbis, and, as such, they are the authority for us regarding these matters.

Questions #2 and #4 can be combined. Abraham is considered to be the first Jew. The Covenant remains the same today as in days of old. We believe that G-d established His Covenant through us and for us. As Genesis states in chapter 17 (beginning with verse 6): ו וְהִפְרֵתִי אֹתְךָ בִּמְאֹד מְאֹד, וּנְתַתִּיךָ לְגוֹיִם; וּמְלָכִים, מִמְּךָ יֵצֵאוּ. 6 And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. ז וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת-בְּרִיתִי בֵּינִי וּבֵינֶךָ, וּבֵין זַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ לְדֹרֹתָם--לִבְרִית עוֹלָם: לִהְיוֹת לְךָ לֵאלֹהִים, וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ. 7 And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. ח וְנָתַתִּי לְךָ וּלְזַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ אֵת אֶרֶץ מְגֻרֶיךָ, אֵת כָּל-אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן, לַאֲחֻזַּת, עוֹלָם; וְהָיִיתִי לָהֶם, לֵאלֹהִים. 8 And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land of thy sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.' ט וַיֹּאמֶר אֱלֹהִים אֶל-אַבְרָהָם, וְאַתָּה אֶת-בְּרִיתִי תִשְׁמֹר--אַתָּה וְזַרְעֲךָ אַחֲרֶיךָ, לְדֹרֹתָם. 9 And God said unto Abraham: 'And as for thee, thou shalt keep My covenant, thou, and thy seed after thee throughout their generations.

This is a task and a blessing. I will answer them in posts below. Please keep in mind that this is my understanding, and that I am in no way the authority on all things Jewish. As my rabbi often says, "I have one brain, one desire, and 10 opinions, so that qualifies me!"

You ask questions in the true Jewish fashion...without asking.

I forgot the joke! Oy gevalt, I'm glad my children are at school. A father was telling Torah stories to his young children. He read, "The man named Lot was warned to take his wife and flee out of the city and never look back. But, his wife looked back, sadly, and so was turned to salt." His son asked, "What happened to the flea?"

Shalom, my friends. I hope the peace of HaShem is upon you now and always. I thought I would start this thread to entice you to ask those burning questions you may have (or, perhaps you don't!) always wanted to ask of a Jew. Please, feel free to share. No question (other than those that are antithetical to the forum rules) will be considered too great or too small. Many of you have asked delicious questions in other threads, but there is always room for more sharing and understanding between our people. Now, some ideas and a joke to get the cogs in your brain turning... 1. Are Jews followers of a religion or members of a race/ethnicity? 2. What does the Covenant of Abraham mean to us today? 3. What is the difference between a Synagogue and a Temple? 4. Who was the first Jew? 5. Why do Jews believe that Palestinians have no historical claim to land? 6. Is the Rabbi the same as a Priest or Pastor? 7. How can we say Mormons are Gentiles and you say that we are Gentiles? 8. Is my daughter driving me crazy preparing for her Bat Mitzvah? (Uhhh...) What is a Bat Mitzvah, anyway? 9. What's so wrong with a bacon cheeseburger? 10. Can animals be Jewish? 11. Whatever other burning questions you may have! So my mishpacha...have at it! Don't beat me up. Unless you want to, then it's ok I suppose. And may the odds be ever in your favor...

The shirt references the Jewish people and not necessarily the state of Israel. I do think Israel, the nation, does fairly well in holding its own surrounded by hostile regimes who have made no secret, in some cases, about their desire to wipe Israel and Jews off the face of the earth.

This is a difficult thing to ponder... I would have to say Yom Kippur first, followed closely by Rosh Hashanah.

This is a fascinating topic, thank you. Isaiah 2:3 And many peoples shall go, and they shall say, "Come, let us go up to the L-rd's mount, to the house of the G-d of Jacob, and let Him teach us of His ways, and we will go in His paths," for out of Zion shall the Torah come forth, and the word of the L-rd from Jerusalem. גוְהָלְכוּ עַמִּים רַבִּים וְאָמְרוּ לְכוּ | וְנַעֲלֶה אֶל הַר יְהֹוָה אֶל בֵּית אֱלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב וְיֹרֵנוּ מִדְּרָכָיו וְנֵלְכָה בְּאֹרְחֹתָיו כִּי מִצִּיּוֹן תֵּצֵא תוֹרָה וּדְבַר יְהֹוָה מִירוּשָׁלִָם

I want to wish each of you a very blessed Sukkot. May you dwell forever in G-d's generous bounty and may you find peace in His shelter.

From your lips to G-d's ears!

Shalom to each of you. May your name be written in the Book of Life this Rosh Hashanah. I am a bit late posting, as it is now Sukkot.

A post I just made in another thread reminded me of one of my favorite signs. It combines two cultures brilliantly.

See...my mother just told ME to die when I asked her for the bagillionth time if she would buy us Chinese for supper. Doesn't matter how old you get. *sigh* Hey, at least we get Chinese!

Squidward is definitely the best character.

There really isn't too much thought put into this by your Run-of-the-Mill Jewish person. There are a few theologian/thinkers through the ages who have put in their .02 on the matter. One was Shlomo Yitzchaki (more commonly known as Rashi) who lived around 1100(ish) CE. The other was Moshe ben Maimon (sometimes called by his Greek name - Maimonides but more commonly known to us as Rambam. He lived around 1200(ish) CE. Rashi said the following: It was something that was both required for the High Priest and needed in order to judge or discern truth. The High Priest was described as having worn eight layers, one of which was embedded with the urim vetumim.

Thank you kindly for that.