Ask me anything: Judaism

Author: David

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I figured I'd throw up an AMA related to Judaism. If you have any questions about the Jewish faith, I'd be happy to answer them here. 
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@David
Socialists are very anti-religious. Socialism has been overtly atheistic since the beginning.

I guess what I am saying is, it seems to me that as a Jew, socialism would be the furthest thing from being desirable. 

How is socialism compatible with Judaism? 






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LOL
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@Mopac
Socialists are very anti-religious. Socialism has been overtly atheistic since the beginning.

I guess what I am saying is, it seems to me that as a Jew, socialism would be the furthest thing from being desirable. 

How is socialism compatible with Judaism? 


I see socialist plans (Warren/Sanders) to be not only compatible with Judaism but, in many ways, required by Jewish law. For example, Jewish law says to welcome the stranger and give refugees a home, Jewish law states that there should be a solid safety net, Jewish law says that debts should be forgiven, Jewish law would almost require a universal health coverage. 
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@David
When I think of socialism, I think of abolishing private property, government ownership of production, and the eradication of religion as government policy. I think the soviet union that killed over 20 million Orthodox Chriistians(and many Jews as well). I think China which puts the religious into reeducation camps, forces people to worship in state monitored facilities, and puts portraits of their president at the altars of churches. When I think socialism, I think atheist theocracy.

In other words, I do not think of the things you are talking about.

But I suppose this isn't really a topic about socialism, so eh...


Got a favorite quote from any Jewish sages ancient or modern?




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@Mopac

When I think of socialism, I think of abolishing private property, government ownership of production, and the eradication of religion as government policy. I think the soviet union that killed over 20 million Orthodox Chriistians(and many Jews as well). I think China which puts the religious into reeducation camps, forces people to worship in state monitored facilities, and puts portraits of their president at the altars of churches. When I think socialism, I think atheist theocracy.

In other words, I do not think of the things you are talking about.

But I suppose this isn't really a topic about socialism, so eh...


Got a favorite quote from any Jewish sages ancient or modern?
Fair enough. I don't support atheist theocracy either. Perhaps I'm more in line with Social Democracy than I am with hardcore Marxists. 

I don't think I have a favorite quote, but there are quite a few quotes that I love from The Ethics of Our Fathers:

Yossei the son of Yochanan of Jerusalem would say: Let your home be wide open, and let the poor be members of your household. And do not engage in excessive conversation with a woman. This is said even regarding one's own wife—how much more so regarding the wife of another. Hence, the sages said: One who excessively converses with a woman causes evil to himself, neglects the study of Torah, and, in the end, inherits purgatory.

Rabbi Shimon the son of Gamliel would say: By three things is the world sustained: law, truth and peace. As is stated (Zachariah 8:16), "Truth, and a judgement of peace, you should administer at your [city] gates.''

If I am not for myself, who is for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?

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@David
Tell us about God.
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@David
So a year ago my jewish boss of 28 year died.
Great bloke, always cracking jokes are the jews hey. Well trying to.
I first started work when i was around 16 at this time i started to have to go get my boss lunch for him, 

Now I'm 16 , and i probably should have known this but ummmmmmmmmm, i don't think i did.
Long & short. They had none of my bosses usual chicken wrap things that he loved. Yes and a can of that 5 bean crap.
Anways Anways I've had to get he something so i grabed what i was having and that being a HAM AND SALAD WRAP THING. 
I handed the old boss his and i believe he WAYYYYYYYY Over reacted and said .
YOU KNOW I CANT EAT THIS. ? 
Now I'm 16 years old at the time , and i was errrrrrrrrr Bad.  I was bad.  Sooooooooooooooo it was at this time i started hiding ham / bacon and what ever other porky meats on his lunches. Even crumbled up  porky bits. 
This went on for well over a month. I reckon i feed him 20 /25 times  now that was when i was 16  so 40 to 50  times means , definitely at least 30 meals where tainted with pork. I got real godd at it   Pathetic of me i now know. The first time he ate some , i thought he would melt 

Nowwwwwwwww my question is. 
Lets say i feed him one kilogram of pork.

Would this effect his " heaven " entrance.? 

15 year ago i come up with  someone needs to invent (  PIGGY POWDER) , A fine powder off pigs where like one teaspoon contains NO LESS , thats NO LESS the 10,000 swine , piggy bits.  Tasteless. 
Why with just two teaspoon per jew or musl you will be needing to do realllllllllllll well if you expect a great after life. 

Question. 
If you ate 20,000 different pigs in my piggy powdered form , THEY AIN'T GOING TO THE HEAVEN PLACE  and ARE They ?
I've since found out if Muslims say some special crap three times, their non hulal food is all good. 

For My next post Virt,  I'd like to talk about the My foreskin and your religion, 
Good day.


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@Mopac
Tell us about God.

In contrast to Christianity, God is one and not a Trinity. The 1st 5 of the principles of faith deal with who God is:

1. Belief in the existence of the Creator, who is perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that exists.
2. The belief in G‑d's absolute and unparalleled unity.
3. The belief in G‑d's non-corporeality, nor that He will be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling.
4. The belief in G‑d's eternity.
5. The imperative to worship G‑d exclusively and no foreign false gods.

So our concept of God is pretty similar to the Islamic concept of Allah (which is God in Arabic). 

The basis for Judaism is the national revelation - the giving of the Torah to the Jewish people at Mt. Sinai.

In Hebrew, the four-letter name is ineffable so in prayer, we address him as "Adonai" (lit "Lord") while in normal conversations we would say Hashem (which literally means "The Name"). The watchword of our faith is "Sh'ma Israel, Hashem Eloheinu, Hashem Echad" - "Hear, O Israel, Hashem is our God, Hashem is One." 



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@Deb-8-a-bull
Can I have vinaigrette with that word salad? 
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@David
deb's style is difficult, but it's not word salad.

He wants to know more about Jewish dietary laws, particularly how they apply in the case of eating pork unknowingly.


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@David
Contrary to what you may have heard, we believe the same things about God.

The Trinity has to do with how God is revealed. Not that God is in 3 parts, divided, or even worse yet 3 Gods.

God is revealed through His Word, and His Spirit. The Word that all things were created from, and the spirit that enlivens. It is how we describe God being with us. So we certainly do believe that God is One.

Another thing The Trinity expresses is right relationship with God. We Worship The Father in Spirit and in Truth.

All this...


1. Belief in the existence of the Creator, who is perfect in every manner of existence and is the Primary Cause of all that exists.
2. The belief in G‑d's absolute and unparalleled unity.
3. The belief in G‑d's non-corporeality, nor that He will be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling.
4. The belief in G‑d's eternity.
5. The imperative to worship G‑d exclusively and no foreign false gods.

We certainly accept. 
David
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@Mopac
that's interesting. I've always understood the Trinity as three distinct persons (whatever that means) who are all "one God." It seems mindbogglingly incoherent from my POV. 
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@David
It is called a divine mystery for a reason! It is even more confusing with heterodox Christians because they don't understand The Trinity at all. It is a subject matter of great fumbling for them. 

In a really profound way, it acknowledges the fact that we worship God through an image. We would say that other monotheists, such as Muslims, do not acknowledge the image and are thus mistaking a conception of God for God.


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@Mopac
Interesting! Of course, in Judaism, worshipping God through an image is absolutely forbidden. 
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@David
Well, it is unavoidable.

The Most Perfect Image of God, that is, The Son in The Trinity or The Word of God is.. The Truth!




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@keithprosser
Thanks old keithy 
I pressed the post button and just knew id get this response. 

I'll try it again saying what you said..
Cheers man. 

Hey keith, they can translate scripture with such ease and brilliance.    i wouldn't think my writings differ to much from thst.  
To make it even clearer I'll start my next post with a . Jessica 17 : 22 



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@David
Pauline 29 : 77 
Hi virt.  
Hey if a jewish person unknowingly eats a pound of bacon , is there a chance they can still go to the  jewish heaven place ?

How much piggy is to much piggy ?

For 20 years  I've casually eating bacon here and shellfish there,   Have i totally ruined my chance of one day being jewish.?
Thanks.

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@Mopac
When I think of socialism, I think of abolishing private property, government ownership of production, and the eradication of religion as government policy. I think the soviet union that killed over 20 million Orthodox Chriistians(and many Jews as well). I think China which puts the religious into reeducation camps, forces people to worship in state monitored facilities, and puts portraits of their president at the altars of churches. When I think socialism, I think atheist theocracy.
The word you are conflating with socialism is fascism and your country is marching inexorably down that path.


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@Mopac
When I think of socialism, I think...
Perhaps if you thought 'old age pensions, free education, free health care, sick pay, a right to adequate housing' you'd have a better picture of what most socialists value.

When the workers and peasants rose up in Russia they didn't do it because they dreampt of a future with a repressive police state, forced relocations and gulags.   But that is what the russian workers and peasants got, and the new vile elite that repaced the old vile elite called it 'socialism'.

It wasn't socialism or communism that caused the death of millions of Christians and others in Russia - it was the willingness of ruling elites to do anything to hang on to power. 

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@Deb-8-a-bull
In Judaism there is a concept of an unknowing sin which is not punished. There are actually different types of unkown sin:

1. Not knowing that the action was a sin
2. Not knowing that the time when the otherwise permissible action was done made the action a sin
3. Never having learned about sin
4. Not intending to do the action.

While there are differing levels of culpability and therefore different responses by the individual, none has the effect of an intentional behavior.

This all, though, begs a more complex discussion of what it means to affect someone's afterlife/soul status.
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@David
Deb tampered with his bosses food cause he hates Jews. 
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@witchypoo
poor thing.


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Now I'm 16 years old at the time , and i was errrrrrrrrr Bad.  I was bad.  Sooooooooooooooo it was at this time i started hiding ham / bacon and what ever other porky meats on his lunches. Even crumbled up  porky bits. 
This went on for well over a month. I reckon i feed him 20 /25 times  now that was when i was 16  so 40 to 50  times means , definitely at least 30 meals where tainted with pork. I got real godd at it   Pathetic of me i now know. The first time he ate some , i thought he would melt 
Deb tampered with his bosses food cause he hates Jews. 
keithprosser
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In Judaism there is a concept of an unknowing sin which is not punished. There are actually different types of unkown sin:
That's good news for Deb's boss, but what about Deb himself?  Tricking a Jew into eating pork - even unknowingly eating pork - has got to be wrong, doesn't it?  Also does it matter that he is not a Jew?   Cutting to the chase, am I allowed to stone him or not?

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@keithprosser
A variety of good questions!

One is that, according to Judaism, there are 7 universal laws that non-Jews are held to, and each has a broader application than just the simple meaning. So the law against "stealing" applies to what in Hebrew translated to "stealing of thoughts" which includes misleading someone. Also, the law about setting up courts includes notions of justice and fair play. Check here for more. As to whether anyone can stone the person, that depends on whether there is a viable religious court that exists and which has the power to carry out capital punishments. At this point, there is none. Also, the Jewish concept of stoning someone is a bit different from what people think. The talmud (Tractate Sanhedrin, folio 45) describes a 3 step process starting with pushing someone off of a building.


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@rosends
pushing someone off of a building.
Reading this
I think it might be referring to pushing into a deep pit. 

I also note from the same source that men are to be naked when stoned, but women should be covered, although 'Rabbi Judah' advocated the exposure of a woman's breasts only if her bosom was unattractive.  Amazing what Priests discuss.

Deb8 also asked about how his 'misbehaviour' might affect his bid to convert to Judaism.  What can you tellus about that?

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@keithprosser
I'm no expert but there must be a height, so I guess any height relative to the landing location (a cliff, a pit, a house, I don't know) would qualify. The text mentions a pit but also a "beit skilah" which literally translated to the "house of stoning".

A person's prior acts are subject to sincere repentance. If, in the eyes of the court covering the conversion, his repentance is complete and thorough, then he can surely convert. But laws like this are not an area of expertise of mine.
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@keithprosser
Nobody who ever embraced socialism expects it to be what it looks like in real life.

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@rosends
I can see from the linked material that Jewish law is not easy to be expert in!   Hoever I suggest Deb avoids deep holes and high buildings in the company of his Jewish friends, just in case.

Would you agree that 'Jewish' is not a religious identity nor an ethnic identity but something of both (or neither?).  It is not like 'English' or 'American', nor like 'Hindu'.   It may be the hardest religion to convert to, in practice if not theory.