Jews--what questions?

Question

We all know that lots of questions get asked repeatedly of us here on Y!A--now, no one's complaining ;-) but which question are you most tired of answering, or which answer are you most tired of giving?

Peace

I've got mine in mind.

I did ask this question of Jews, but if Xians want to answer I guess that's okay lol

mama_pajama, I know exactly what you mean...the first thing I said was oy givalt lol

Gershon somehow I don't think so :-/

Answer 1

I don't mind giving repetitive answers in general because it's just easy points. But I guess if there are quesitons that kind of get to me, it's where Christians keep asking if Jews believe in Jesus, if they celebrate Christmas, or possibly phrased as how could we possibly not believe in Jesus because he's our messiah, etc., etc. The ones that are phrased as questions asked out of curiosity are annoying because it suggests that there are many Christians out there who are so clueless that they don't realize that Judaism and Christianity are separate religions (though I guess it's less offensive to be asked whether or not I worship Jesus than to be spat on and called a "Christ-killer" by a Christian who is slightly less clueless but more hate-filled). The ones that can only be read rhetorically ("how can you not believe?") are annoying because they suggest that there are many Christians out there who are so arrogant that they presume to tell us that our scriptures, that are part of our heritage, written in our language in the context of our history and culture, they can read them in the form of a questionable translation, and suddenly they know them better than us. They've got it right, and we've got it wrong. And if, G-d forbid, we should point out the obvious and say something like "but that Hebrew word means X, not Y," well, we're still wrong, and it just shows how obnoxious we are to dare question their version. I say, let them have King James' version of the Bible. We'll keep King David's version! :)

A lot of the questions asked of Jews are pretty stupid, but most of them are innocuous. It's the verbal Jew-baiting that drives me crazy. And the fact that I waste my time taking the bait, as it were. I put all this time and effort into a coherent, reasonable, researched, well thought-out reply, and then the asker goes and picks a one-sentence answer from his or her amen corner.

Am I the only one bothered by this?

EDIT: Glad to hear I'm not alone. Hey, if you guys want to hear these messianics getting their asses handed to them, you know, just for fun, you've got to listen to some of the lectures available on Simple to Remember. They've got stuff by Rabbi Leib Keleman (I've actually had the privilege of learning from this guy in person - he's incredible, and one of my favorite authors), Rabbi Tovia Singer (a real macher in the world of kiruv/counter-missionary work), Rabbi Akiva Tatz (another great author/speaker), and others.

A few that I've been listening to lately at work:

Rabbi Keleman on the divinity of the Jewish revelation:

http://www.simpletoremember.com/audio/Rational_Approach_Divine_Origin_Torah-B.mp3

...and the divinity of the Oral Torah davka:

http://www.simpletoremember.com/audio/Rational_Approach_Divinity_Oral_Tradition-B.mp3 (These are somewhat reminiscent of his book "Permission to Receive.")

Rabbi Singer explores the strategies being used by missionary and cult groups targeting the Jews specifically:

http://audio.simpletoremember.com/singer/lb/What%20are%20we%20doing%20Wrong.mp3

Rabbi Keleman tells us the TRUE story of Christmas - very timely:

http://audio.simpletoremember.com/misc/Real-Story-of-X-mas-and-New-Years-b.mp3

Note, these are all direct downloads optimized for high-speed internet connections. For low-bandwidth downloads, as well as streaming connections (so you can listen without downloading), just browse the media section of http://www.simpletoremember.com where you'll find all these, and many other great shiurim.

Enjoy!

Answer 2

Great post :)

I am fed up with having to explain to 'messianic jews' such as SHMUEL who answers first here, that they are NOT JEWISH THEY ARE CHRISTIAN.

I'm worried I'm in danger of getting RSI, in fact, from typing the same comments and explanations over and over and over - to no avail.

I mean, what's so hard to grasp about what we tell them? They wouldn't argue that a person can be both Muslim and Catholic, would they? Yet they feel perfectly confident answering on behalf of Judaism when what they believe DIRECTLY CONTRADICTS all that Judaism teaches and stands for.

They are Christian and they should be proud of their religion.

SO TO ANY MESSIANICS OUT THERE - GET OFF THE FENCE! YOU HAVE TO CHOOSE, YOU'RE EITHER JEWISH OR CHRISTIAN BUT YOU CANNOT BE BOTH, AS DEFINED BY JEWISH LAW.

ONLY JEWISH LAW GETS TO DEFINE JEWISH IDENTITY.

sorry for 'yelling', but it's so frustrating!


SUPERJEW

- no, if you read my post you will see that you are far from being the only one who is immensely frustrated with it. I don't know why some people bother asking a question about Judaism, only to then ignore EVERY answer from Jews and rely instead on the answer from a Christian who is getting it all wrong! It's absurd.,

Answer 3

answer: i've got starred for my Jewish contacts. As I comprehend it (and that i'll be incorrect) - Messianic Jews have faith that Jesus is the messiah and that he grew to become into divine. it is in contradiction to the Jewish faith. That makes them Christians. Jesus did not fulfill the prophecies. He grew to become into supposedly of divine beginning - the messiah should not be. G-d can't grow to be human. Jesus is presented as a human sacrifice, taking on the sins of each physique - it is against Jewish teachings. The Messiah would be human and fulfill each and all the prophecies in one existence time - no 2nd coming. there is not any unique sin to be stored from. No risk of hell. See how Christianity is incompatible with Judaism? you may't be Christian and Jewish on the comparable time. and there is not any Jewish bible. this would be a Christian term. there is the Tanakh, not the outdated testomony and no New testomony in Judaism. # # # If somebody would not have faith Jesus grew to become into divine, then he grew to become into basically a prophet and not the messiah. He did not fulfill the prophecies. Christians justify worshipping him because of the fact they declare he will return and fulfill those he did not. If he grew to become right into a prophet, he won't be returned. meaning he could not be the messiah - divine or not. He did not fulfill the prophecies. If somebody believes Jesus grew to become right into a prophet basically, they had extra probable be a Muslim. Jews don't think he grew to become right into a prophet the two. in the event that they think of of him in any respect it extremely is in many cases as a instructor. # # # Then I actually have a question: does your Jewish bible have the recent testomony?

Answer 4

I can't decide between THREE different questions actually..but they're usually not questions but rants or excuses to either demonize or missionize to us.

1) Why don't Jews believe in Jesus and having to explain why presenting Christian dogma as Jewish is offensive to anyone who is of the Jewish faith.
2) accusations of Zionism being some evil racist plot and victimizing Palestinians preventing them from having a state of their own. ( that is the one I'm sickest of after all )
3) Are Jews a race or a religion

I'm tired of giving the same answers over and over also knowing that others answer the same things and have done so and will continue to do so..over and over and over...

EDIT..good grief...I couldn't even get it POSTED yet and someone doing number 1 comes while I'm typing my answer and answers the question asked of Jews. And look, the melodramatic preface that they expect "attack" immediately before posting something that they know is disrespecting of Torah and offensive to people of the Jewish religion to see ..maybe number 1 is the one that sickens me the most. I know it SADDENS me greatly. I said I had a hard time deciding.


PAPERBACK AND SUPER JEW: They ask those questions about Judaism and choose the completely topsy-turvy to correct answer as best answer because they CAN. It is a willful method to misrepresent and missionize to the unwary. There are several "top contributors" who are "messianics" who have even earned the ire of some of the very Rabbis whose words we often quote to help explain Judaism. One of those rabbis, in fact, is connected to me and has told me of his frustration at just what SuperJew mentions..taking great lengths to give authentic information about Judaism in easily understood and straightforward manner only to have it ignored for a willful misrepresentation of Jewish belief. I've even recognized a few of the same "teams" he identified and recognized more than a year before I ever arrived in Y/A.

In some areas, they have already been accepted by Christians as representing a legitimate Jewish voice despite every branch of Judaism speaking out against this new form of Christian evangelism. We can only continue to hope that by exposing them with simple, straightforward honesty, that IT instead will grow to replace the cancer that is trying to envelop us with such misrepresentation.

They are not doing Christianity, Judaism or humanity any service by such efforts to misrepresent Judaism in order to gain "souls".

Shalom

Answer 5

I think all of us have had to explain that if we believed in their messiah we wouldn't be Jewish, but by definition, we'd be Christian. It's impossible to be both. Once one follows Christian teachings, one may be Jewish by origin, but is no longer a believer in Judaism; it's impossible to have it both ways. Most of my non-Jewish friends are educated, so any explanation I have to make is to people outside my own circle of friends and acquaintances.

Answer 6

Questions that keep bashing Israel and the Jews, e.g., Holocaust denials, Israel's right to exist, and East Jerusalem status.

Answer 7

I am so tired of answering why we (Jews) do not believe J*sus was the Messiah....
I must have answered this question at least twelve times...

Answer 8

If we just stopped answering those questions they would go away. :)

By going away, it means they would cease to have an impact on us.

More and more, I'm avoiding those questions all together and the people who ask them. We pretty much know they are just trolling.

Answer 9

Ok here is everyones chance to attack lol

As a Messianic Jew I get tired of answering how I can still be Jewish and believe in Y'shua (Jesus) as the Messiah.

Also I get tired of answering why I type 'G-d' without the 'o'

Oh and I get tired of people asking me what the 'little beanie' is that I wear ;)

Anyways shalom and G-d bless!
EDIT: The reason why I said 'attack' me is because I hear from both Jews and Gentile Christians. One group says I'm no longer Jewish, the other says I'm 'too Jewish'.