Judaism questions and how Jewish people would answer them?

Question

this question is for research I am doing on a Judaism paper that I have do. I am to ask a Jewish person these questions. I have to write a 3000 word essay on this religion. Any help would be greatly appreciated...1. How has the Holocaust affected you? 2. How has religion shaped your life?3. What are the challenges if any to practicing this religion? 4. Have you ever lost faith? and if so why? How did you get it back? 5. How do you feel about the scientific evidence regarding the big bang theory?6. How has the religion changed since you or your parents were children? There are many more questions but I am able to ask people I know. I would like a wider variety of answers so that I have more data to use for my paper

Answer 1

1. The holocaust affected me by depriving me of many family members. I had aunts, uncles, and cousins that were murdered for no reason other than our religion. And tell me, how would that affect you?

2. Religion shapes my life, not just in how I see the world and how I interact with it, but also in the way others treat me. To a religious person - at least to a Jew - life is to be lived according to G-d's Law. One cannot separate religion and life.

3. Spare ribs. OK, so maybe not -- but they smell really good. So, you try to travel and find Kosher food. I have said that sometimes I feel that if I see another can of tuna I will scream -- but I am grateful to be able to at least find tuna with the OU mark almost everywhere I've been. Last week I was out late shopping since I had worked late. The only store open was a Wal-Mart supermarket. Now I don't know about all of them ,but this one had NO kosher food -- except for water and fresh fruits or veggies. Admittedly, a healthy and kosher alternative -- but at midnight, when I had to be back at work by 8 am, I really did not want to have to wash and clean (and maybe cook) a bunch of veggies.

The other challenge has to do with how others see me. I have faced such hatred and disrespect that only another Jew can understand it. I actually joined YA here because of a "challenge" that I had to face - I found that all of you "ordinary" people had more wisdom (and a lot of hostility) than a judge, who was unable to see the difference between a Jewish burial and a non-Jewish one.

4. No. Actually, I never lost faith. Gom tzu l'tovah -- all things that G-d does is for the good. Sometimes we don't see the good, but it is there. I have often wondered at how much confidence G-d has in me, that he could throw so many problems at me, and still know that I can handle them. And often the only thing that can get me through those problems is knowing that although I don't have such confidence in me, that Hashem does. It is very flattering to be thought of so highly..

5. some day science will catch up with the Rambam. Scientists are still "discovering" things he wrote about in the 12th century.

6. It hasn't. Observant Judaism is constant. Well, ok, so they have invented Shabbos elevators, and it is easier to check an eruv, but that is not the religion, that is just life.

Answer 2

1. The Holocaust has affected me by robbing me of the chance to learn about Jewish culture and heritage from older generations of European Jews who would have otherwise been alive. The Holocaust basically destroyed European Jewish culture. It has also passed on to me a determination to act in whatever way I can to preserve what is left of my people, and to make sure the world never stands by again and lets a people be slaughtered.
2. Judaism should shape every aspect of my life, as it is less of a faith than a way of life. Jewish law should instruct me on how to do everything from mundainities like eating and bathing, to how to resolve conflict and do business, all in the most Jewish way.
3. In my previous answer, I said "should" quite a bit. This is because there are challenges to practicing my religion, especially in the US. It is difficult for me to maintian a balance between my Jewish life, and remain connected to the prevailing culture. There are many challenges out there, from finding places where I can eat out with non-Jewish friends, to the exposure through media to a constant bombardment of messages that are not compatible with a Jewish way of life. So I "should" do some things which I do not, and there are many things I could do better.
4. Yes, I have at time lost faith in the idea of reward and punishment in life after a personal tragedy. I struggle with it on a daily basis.
5. Science and religion are two separate things, and not incompatible. Perhaps some scientists are discovering the physical processes and manifestations of G-d's creation. But I don't dwell on it.
6. I don't really have an answer for 6.

Answer 3

1. I had family that died in the mass graves in Riga, Latvia; I have names of relatives murdered inTreblinka; the name of one 3rd/4th cousin killed on the street because an SS guard felt like it. Two cousins of my grandmother who survived the Holocaust and then escaped Stalin, when they were babies, and then sent to South Africa on an orphan ship. It's the loss of family, friends, neighbors, security, liberty, dignity. It's personal.
2. For me, I'm not observant, so religion is less a part of my life than faith is. But that's only if you count the ritual of religion. If you are talking about being Jewish in a general way, then it's very much a part of my life, because I left America and moved to Israel when i was 20.
3. I don't practice the things that don't make sense to me: not using electricity on shabat, not eating kosher, not driving on shabat, not wearing whatever I want... I keep the things that make me feel closer to G-d, that strengthen my faith. Lighting Shabat candles, observing the holidays and the major fast. I guess I'd say that I don't find it challenging, but uplifting; but then some would say I'm not practicing if I don't keep kosher.
4. I never lost faith. It keeps getting stronger the more I live and see and experience. But I wouldn't judge people who have. I know I've had an easy life in comparison to others, and I know that faith is an empty word to people who have known hunger, tragedy and fear.
5. Makes sense to me.
6. Almost not at all.

Answer 4

properly a christian merely believes in Jesus without needing and be conscious of-how of ways he substitute into raised. A messianic jew believes that jesus is the messiah that substitute into prophesied in the Torah and the Tanak that are incredibly the 1st 2 books of the Bible. A Jew believes and study the Torah and the Tanak, yet does not have faith that Jesus is the messiah. they suspect they're the chosen human beings to maintain the understanding of God sacred and don't think that the certainty of God could be shared. Jesus believed that the certainty of God could be shared with everybody and he substitute into jewish, yet he substitute into merely a dash a rule breaker. And while he have been given ticked off that the temple substitute into turning out to be a mockery and the corruption substitute into turning out to be rampant it incredibly is while they desperate to have him crucified through fact he stepped on their sacred cow which substitute into money and it fairly is the reason he substitute into crucified. properly the jews will never beleive through fact it incredibly is not what they suspect. yet why i admire Jesus is through fact he fought for the rights of everybody to be conscious of and learn the understanding of God. He additionally fought corruption and alter right into a rule breaker so which you merely can't help, yet savour how amazing he substitute into.