I would like to know more about the jewish faith?

Question

I am a Christian, but I am having really strong doubts about Christianity, I do not like the christianity concept of hell torment for non belivers, I do not like that you are pretty much forced to accept Jesus not to burn in hell. I find it horrible.
I am not sure if the jewish religion, can you tell me more? Where do I start?

Answer 1

First, go to the link Nadine gave you. It is THE BEST.

Here are some other pieces of reading if you're interested:
http://www.whatjewsbelieve.org/
http://lessonsofjudaism.com/
http://www.chabad.org/library/article.asp?AID=63255
http://torahsearch.com/?gclid=CKrZmK7QoogCFSQiWAodWl11Ww
http://www.messiahtruth.com/response.html
http://www.torah.org/

I can also give you a short summary of some of the things we believe:

There are three major sects of Judaism: Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. I will give the Orthodox view on things here. All of them basically accept what we call Rambam's Thirteen Principles which sum up what Jews basically believe in:

1. G-d exists
2. G-d is one and unique
3. G-d is incorporeal (nonmaterial)
4. G-d is eternal
5. G-d alone is to be worshipped and no other
6. G-d's prophets are truthful
7. Moses was the greatest of the prophets
8. The whole Torah was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai (Written and Oral)
9. There will be no other Torah and the Torah will not be changed or annulled
10. G-d has foreknowledge of men's actions, thoughts, and words
11. G-d will deliver retribution
12. The Messiah will come
13. The dead will be resurrected at the coming of Moshiach (Messiah)

[Please note that Conservative and Reform generally have a differing opinion on #8.]

Messiah (Moshiach):

Judaism does NOT believe that the messiah will be divine. He will be a mortal, normal person like us who knows Jewish law and follows it all. (I think there is a midrash that says that every Jewish child before being born knows all of the Torah and law inside and out--but in being born, s/he forgets all of it and must learn again. The messiah will be the one who does not forget.) He will fulfill all of the prophecies without dying first, and will only come ONCE. He will not die, because in showing himself he will have accomplished world peace and the resurrection of the dead and established the World to Come on this world, etc.

Judaism believes that only you can be responsible for your sins. Nobody else can take them on or ask forgiveness on your behalf. Yes, we used to do animal sacrifices, but not at every sin because sacrifice alone could not atone for sin. We would do it at festivals and holidays. Still, sacrifice alone cannot atone for sin (and human sacrifice is ABHORRED by G-d). To atone for sins, a person must do teshuva, which includes: 1. recognizing the sin [knowing you did wrong] and feeling remorse for it 2. asking forgiveness of the wrong by the person you wronged (example: if you broke a Jewish law, you apologize to G-d, but if you broke your neighbor's favorite flowerpot, you must apologize to your neighbor for no one else can forgive you) 3. try to right the wrong you did--if you broke the flowerpot, either buy a new one or try to repair the old one sufficiently 4. actively resolve and try not to commit the wrong again--if you broke a law, create a reminder for yourself so that next time the opportunity comes up, you will remember.

We do not believe in proselytizing because we believe that nobody has to be Jewish to warrant a place in heaven. A non-Jew has as much right to the World to Come as a Jew does--a Jew just has more rules to follow to get there. We do accept converts (we are NOT a race!!) although it is a hard road because Judaism is a hard life to live. [notice I say life, not religion. Judaism is a way of life, not just a religion.] It takes years of study to convert and the rabbi wants to make sure the convert is sincere because nobody wants to waste at least a year of the rabbi's life (or the convert's life, for that matter). Once you are Jewish you can never be a non-Jew again UNLESS you take on another believe system directly contrary to Judaism's. For example, you can be an atheist but still be Jewish because your believe system does not contradict with Judaism--you do not believe in G-d, but you don't believe in another false god either. But you cannot be a Jewish Xtian because Xtianity is contrary to Judaism. If you are a Jew and suddenly start to believe in Xtianity, you are an apostate and not Jewish unless you repent and come home to Judaism.

We have two books: the Tanakh and the Talmud. The Tanakh contains Torah, Nevi'im (Prophets) and Ketuv'im (Writings)--> TNK--> TaNaKh. The Tanakh contains the Written Torah while the Talmud contains the Oral Torah plus the commentaries on the laws written by our sages and rabbis over history. (Oral Torah written down=Mishna, a part of the Talmud and commentary=Gemara, the other part of the Talmud)

Judaism is a religion of arguing. You hear the phrase "two Jews, three opinions," and it's completely true. One of our texts is a book of arguments on the laws. So the Judaism you get in one Jew is not necessarily the Judaism you get in another Jew, although most will have all I've said here in common.

I hope I've covered as much as possible while keeping it simple. If you need any more information or detail, feel free to IM me or drop me an email. Hope I've been helpful.

Peace,
L.S.

Answer 2

Yes, as someone else said. Study Jewish history. That's enough to keep you busy for the rest of your life!

I found these books to be a good starting point:
"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism" by Rabbi Benjamin Blech
and "The Book of Jewish Belief" by Louis Jacobs." They should be read in conjunction with synagogue attendance though so you also get the "feel" of it.

I also became interested in Israel (the State) and decided to start paying attention to what's going on over there. Up until that time I never really understood the background of the country. After reading "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Middle East Conflict" by Mitchell Bard, Ph.D., I have a more accurate picture of what's happening.

Answer 3

Well to where you start, it would be best to consult a local rabbi.Then after that see if there are any conversion classes there.But usually the rabbi would make sure if you really want to be jewish.Then when he finds your serious about it then you can start to study usually for 6 months - 12 months.Then you would be asked if you were circumcised.If not then you would be or if you have then there would be one drop of blood taken from the penis.After that you would immerse in a ritual bath called a mikveh.Then you would be asked what hebrew name you would like.Then you would sign a conversion certificate.Then you are jewish.Now though this process you will be a Orthodox Jew, then highest in observance of judaism.

But if you would like an alternative.You can convert as a Reform Jew.Which is the highest growing number of jews.Usually you would study for 3-6 months.Then usually you would meet with either three rabbis or a beit din.They would ask questions if you would really wanna convert.Then you would be given a certificate and you would be jewish.Now it is optional for you to immerse in the ritual bath or not.Same with circumsicion.

There is also Messianic Judaism.Which would let you still believe in jesus;Yeshua in hebrew.You would observe all the jewish holidays and you have to be Torah observant.Observe full judaism.They dont have the view of jesus that christians do.

But i would advise you to observe the holy shabbat tommorro night.Friday morning you should like clean a little around the house.And either cook or order out a wonderful meal that you enjoy.Then at Friday at sunset light one candle if your single or two candles if you are in a relationship or married.Then bless in the holy sabbath.Say bless are you lord our g-d king of the universe who sanctified us in thy commandments and commanded us to light the holy sabbath candles.Usually after that if you want you can go to your local temple or synagoge and see the times of services and you can go to a service friday night or saturday morning.After that on friday night you would usually say the kiddush blessing over any drink and say bless are you lord our g-d king of the universe who gave us the fruit of the vine.After that with bread you would say bless are you lord our g-d king of the univere that gave us the bread from the earth.Then after that you can eat.Usually saturday afternoon after services if you go you would eat a lunch.Usually during the day you can enjoy the saturday.At sunset on saturday you would light a candle and bless the beveage,candle,and you would then smell spices and say bless are you lord our g-d king of the universe who gave us spices.Then you would drink a little the beverage then with the rest you would pour it over the candle and say have a good week and even make it into a song.lol.

Answer 4

Nadine, LadySuri and L'Chaim have given you some excellent answers and resources. Just to reiterate: we Jews do not believe in the "hell" of Christianity at all. Traditionally, after death one goes to a place of spiritual purification for up to a year and then on to the world to come. "Hell", whatever that is, is probably best defined as "separation from G-d" and as a permanent abode is reserved for only a few extremely wicked individuals throughout history. We believe that anyone, regardless of religion, merits a place in the world to come provided that they are good people--which is defined as following the seven Noahide laws as a minimum.

One other thing--"Messianic Judaism" and "Jews for Jesus" are *****not***** Jewish. Period. No Jewish organization recognizes them as Jewish and we are the **only** ones who can define who we are.

Please feel free to e-mail me if you have any questions!

Answer 5

LOL - properly, there is an factor of certainty in considered one of those. Jewish families have a tendency to be very close and Jewish mothers do usually lavish affection, care, and specific foodstuff on their little ones! As for the project approximately money - traditionally in Europe, Jews have been barred from ALL jobs bar being moneylenders. with a view to proceed to exist, they had to do it sufficiently properly to place foodstuff on the kinfolk table. Jews are no longer inherently any 'extra suitable with money' than the different team in society. Nor do Jews 'love money' from now on than others. we are a blended bunch, in basic terms like Muslims possibly are. --------------------------------------..... Afraid I might desire to slightly staggering the previous poster. there became anti semitism in Arab international locations, in spite of the undeniable fact that it became no longer of the comparable theological nature or intensity as we detect in early Christian writings, as an occasion. And specific, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem became a great pal and best pal of Hitler and the Nazis. What we can call 'classical anti semitism' did, regrettably, originate with the Christian coaching that the 'jews killed jesus'. fortunately immediately, maximum Christian theologians renowned that this became no longer the case and definitely, 2 Popes have additionally publicly apologised for the unfair accusation against Jews in this regard. To the asker: - i've got faith the stereotypes partly undergo using fact we are the style of tiny minority, it is incredibly straightforward for a lot of human beings to on no account MEET a Jew or to truly get to be conscious of one! So if all they hear are the stereotypes, that are often bolstered in fiction and on television, it is not any ask your self they soak up them as 'actuality'. i'm a Brit yet i've got often talked approximately that American sitcoms do Jewish humour incredibly properly. that's usually with affection and not offensive. Frasier and could&Grace are evoked - some hilarious episodes featuring Jewish matters and/or characters.

Answer 6

Well, if you're still in school or near a college, you can take a Jewish History class (that's what got me interested.) Or just pick up an introductory book on Judaism.

Answer 7

I mean, thats an extremely broad question. I guess I would just review some basic principles of Judaism, like kosher, the sabbath, ten commandments...that should give you a pretty good idea.

Answer 8

Jews believe that everyone goes to heaven, Jew and Non Jew. People go to a place similar to purgatory where there life is reviewed and see how there life could have been, then enter heaven.

Answer 9

First, go to http://www.jewfaq.org and read about Judaism there. After reading that, if you are still interested, then go visit a synagogue and talk to the Rabbi. I wish you luck in your quest.

Answer 10

good luck.....you'll be giving up pork, the tastiest meat of all.......just think about what you'll be missing out on: pork chops, bacon, ham, sausage, hot dogs, bratwursts............you'd have to be crazy to give all that up kiddo