Judaism - opinions, questions & answers

[METALLICA]

This is our resident thread for all things discussing Christianity. Let us try not to be redundant and not create too many threads discussing the same issues.

[Rubisco]

Why is there kosher certification marks on some brands of toilet paper? I understand the reasoning behind kosher branding for food, but this really baffles me.

[Phoenician]

Kosher is the Hebrew equivalent of Halal. It does not relate solely to dietary conditions. As far as toilet paper is concerned, maybe there are some factors in the production of that specific toilet paper which is not allowed under Jewish code.

My question is the following. Do the Jews believe in a single indivisible God? Because I have heard things like their belief in the divinity of the Messiah (actually I saw that in the Passion).

My second question and probably most important, relates to the Reformist tradition. I took a religion class once and one of the things we learned was that Reformists don't necessarily believe in the Jewish religion as a religion but rather as a cultural tradition uniting the Hebrew people. If that is the case then why are prayers still offerred and the Torah still recited?

[tsedek]

There exists all kinds and variations of reformists, not just one. In general reformists very much believe in the religion but wish to 'enlighten' it according to their own interpretations adjusted to this time.

Judaism is monotheism. It very much lies the accent upon the fact that God is One and there is only One God. A centerpiece in all morning and evening prayers is the Shma' Israel prayer, which is:

Shma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad
Hear Israel the Lord our God our Lord is One.

[DaManInChrist]

Originally Posted by tsedek

There exists all kinds and variations of reformists, not just one. In general reformists very much believe in the religion but wish to 'enlighten' it according to their own interpretations adjusted to this time.

Judaism is monotheism. It very much lies the accent upon the fact that God is One and there is only One God. A centerpiece in all morning and evening prayers is the Shma' Israel prayer, which is:

Shma Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad
Hear Israel the Lord our God our Lord is One.

Doesn't "echad" mean "compoundly one"? If so, this means that the Tanakh doesn't object to the possibility that God is of more than one person.

Also, why do you think "Elohim" is one of the titles of God?

[tsedek]

Originally Posted by DaManInChrist

Doesn't "echad" mean "compoundly one"? If so, this means that the Tanakh doesn't object to the possibility that God is of more than one person.

Also, why do you think "Elohim" is one of the titles of God?

No. Echad means one. To believe in more than one or in a divisible God is Haram (not kosher ) and not Judaism anymore. God is God = One. He also doesn't have any 'relatives' like sons or whatever. God is absolutely indivisible One and nobody and nothing else is 'divine'. It's called 'chilul ha-Shem' (meaning desecration of God) to believe in subdivision of Him and/or anything else but the duly acceptation of One.

As for the Meshiah being 'divine' in judaism, you could read up on it here where it says, among other things:

Jews do not believe that the messiah will be divine. A fundamental difference between Judaism and Christianity is the Jewish conviction that God is so essentially different from and beyond humanity that he could never become a human.

[DaManInChrist]

Originally Posted by tsedek

No. Echad means one.

I'm with you, but it can mean "compoundly one". There's another term that means "strictly one" which is "yachid".

Let me give you an example to show you why "echad" does not always mean "strcitly one". In Genesis 2:24, it says that man and woman become one (echad). Here, "echad" means "compoundly one".

To believe in more than one or in a divisible God is Haram (not kosher ) and not Judaism anymore. God is God = One. He also doesn't have any 'relatives' like sons or whatever. God is absolutely indivisible One and nobody and nothing else is 'divine'. It's called 'chilul ha-Shem' (meaning desecration of God) to believe in subdivision of Him and/or anything else but the duly acceptation of One.

As for the Meshiah being 'divine' in judaism, you could read up on it here where it says, among other things:

Ok, thank you for your answer. Note that I am aware that today's Judaism is theologically opposed to the doctrine of the Trinity. But this was not necessarily the case with the Judaism of the Old Testament days.

What today's Jews say about God's nature and about the nature of the Messiah are simply beliefs that aren't based on what the Tanakh actually says. They are based on the Jewish tradition.

You have to keep in mind that, in the Tanakh, God was telling the Israelites that He is One and that there is no god besides Him ... in order to point out to them that all the other gods worshiped by the pagans of those days are not real. They are all fake. This means that He is the only God, for no other god is real like Him.

And Christians agree with that 100%. That's why we worship only one God ... without worshipping pagan gods.

[Phoenician]

One final question. Do Jews believe in Heaven and Hell or do they believe our punishment and rewards occur during this lifetime?

[tsedek]

There is little writings about hell. The main believe is that there is no eternal 'punishment' (punishment is handed out differently, but seeing everything again over when one is dead but in the light of truth -olam ha-emet = world of truth- and that can be very painful) - and also there is a place called sheol where wicked souls stay for a restricted period of time - like a gehenom but to purify. But conclusive believes there are not.
(that's why I like judaism: so we are not thinking that we, in our physical form, can even pretend to be so 'know-all' about things only the divine can know)

[Rina _4]

True and very well said, tsedek