1O Cαиe: How does religious polity work in Judaism?
A few questions wrapped into one:
1. Is there any form of hierarchy in Judaism? Any final arbiter of doctrine?
2. Is there any sect/denomination of Judaism that has legal dominance in the state of Israel?
3. If the temple were to be rebuilt, WHO would be in charge of it? Would only members of a certain branch of Judaism be allowed to attend?
Answers and Views:
Answer by NovaisLyfe♥
Try this site. I find it able to answer many questions on the subject. It answered my questions a good number of times. Hope it does the same for you 🙂
https://www.jewfaq.org/index.htm
answers: 1. No, there is no hierarchy except the board of directors or such for each congregation. There is no central authority like a pope or national board.
2. Yes, Orthodox Judaism determines if someone can marry a Jew or is considered a Jew in Israel. Reform and Conservative Jews can immigrate to Israel but they can’t marry an Orthodox Jew or be buried in a Jewish cemetery.
3. That would have to be determined, probably after years of discussion. Odds are that any who are Jewish could attend, as to who would do the rituals and services in the Grand Temple, that would have to be hashed out.
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Thanks Cher – I stand corrected and welcome it, as always. Sad to see D### at it again. There is some real resentment there for some reason. Perhaps they’ve tried to convert Jews and weren’t successful?
Answer by Ambivalent Bittern PJA1. We don’t really do final arbitration of doctrine. Judaism is more like a 3500 year argument. Of course, there are some things which are accepted as basic, which are all expressed in the key prayers – but these can be interpreted differently by different strands. Different strands are organised in different ways; so, for example, Modern Orthodox in the UK have a Chief Rabbi. But rather than doctrine, the main issue is deciding things according to Jewish law, and for that we have, in our different strands, each a Beit Din which is a group of rabbis who make decisions.
2. I’ll leave it to the Israeli Jews here to try to explain that. But you are asking on Shabbat, so the Orthodox Jews as well as many others just won’t be here until Saturday night, their time. You may need to ask again, although I’m starring in the hope some of my contacts might catch this when they come back on.
3. I don’t do soothsaying. This is all hypothetical just now. I personally doubt it’s going to happen in my lifetime, anyway.
EDIT: DSM is off on her/his anti-Jewish agenda, as usual. When I said Judaism was a 3500 year old argument, I wasn’t talking about different ‘sects’. I was referring to the fact that we wrestle (Israel = one who wrestles with G-d) with the meaning of Torah, turning it this way and that, producing different views, discussing it endlessly. DSM knows too little about Judaism to have understood that and the sentiment behind her/his post is simply nasty.
Answer by Cher1. Hierarchy, in charge, final arbiter, in Judaism? Very funny. No, everyone is in charge. Rabbis are more studied but still are not authority figures in the way the other religions use.
2. Legally Israel is a secular democracy. Every religion has it’s own self-rule there. The legal system is not Jewish. Within Judaism, Orthodox dominates the Jewish religious “courts”. For a while it was two chief Rabbis (instead of one) but I think it’s down to one now.
3. Jews would be in charge. Jewish branches or movements are more fluid between them than Christianity & regardless of internal disputes, are part of the same religion. I go to services of any of the branches & fit in fine. At any point in my life I could join a synogague from any of the branches. Not only would Jews be able to attend the Temple, but same as in Temple days, non-Jews would come to worship at the Temple. I dont’ know that anyone would want to when it’s finally rebuilt, but they could. We don’t sit around waiting for the Temple to be rebuilt; it will happen when it does & meanwhile there’s a lot to do in the here in now to improve the world.
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Asher –
You’re thinking of for the law of return & converts only. Otherwise, orthodox jews can marry non-orthodox in Israel & the courts don’t get involved in much else! For converts because reform & conversative use different standards, there’s an issue.
I would also think it wouldn’t take years of discussion at all to decide who could attend. Any Jew could (& non-Jew). Orthodox would run the rituals since they’d be more knowledgable on that & Reform & Conservative wouldn’t have a problem with it. There would be years of debate on the specifics of the rituals though :).
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DSM
Your answer in no way reflects accurate knowledge of how Judaism operates which is clearly what the asker was asking for… rather than a bashing with non-Jewish taught misconceptions about Judaism. It’s been your policy to run after Jewish questions & do this. That’s called bigotry.
To give clarity:
1. After 2000 years in disapora jewish beliefs were stunningly similar across groups from as wide as Europe & India, when they gathered in Israel. There’s a religious concept in Judaism that topics should be debated to look for truths — so the idea of authority truth is irrelevant in the religion, hence Amibivlant’s answer.
2. If you read the other answers, atheist is obviously only the older political bashing answer that Israel was founded by secular Jews. Two problems, first a misunderstanding of secular & thinking that’s atheist or similar to how the words used in the US. It means less observant vs. more observant is all. Second it’s stuck in a political commentary rather than the reality of the country.
3. Your answer is just a bashing of Judaism has not having a valid way to relate to God as though Jewish prayer doesn’t work because it’s Jewish (rather than to the holy spirit, I’ve seen this completely my Xtians before) or Judaism can’t exist without the Temple, or Elijah, a beautiful concept, has anything to do with any of this. Also, the lineage to Aaron is so well preserved that a genetic link to the levites & cohens has been found in 75% of Jewish men who say they are from the lineage.
Answer by DS M1. As Ambivalent Bittern PJA said, “Judaism is more like a 3500 year argument.” You would need to get the different sects of Judaism to agree to have ONE voice of Judaism. Otherwise, you have as many religious polities as you have sects of Judaism.
2. The Atheists.
3. The Tanach does not speak to how re-establish a lineage to Aaron once that lineage has been lost. But that is not all that has been lost.
While prayers are certainly offered, hearing God’s response is not expected as they were back in the day. Back in the day when the Tanach was being put together, God spoke and acted. Today, no respected Rabbi will be quoted as saying he/she heard a word from God or that God did ____ in answer to a prayer.
Therefore, you have responses like: Ambivalent Bittern PJA said, ” I don’t do soothsaying. This is all hypothetical just now. “I personally doubt it’s going to happen in my lifetime, anyway.” As if the Tanach allowed Israel to live as a free people without a Temple….
Or that the ideas of Elijah coming to fill one of the millions of places set for him each Passover is so distant that that the idea of God speaking and acting in this generation is to go beyond the faith of Judaism.
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