Judaism?????

ava.cole91: Judaism?????
I just asked a question about Jesus being jewish and realised that i do not know anything about Judaism. Would someone be able to sort of summarise (if possible) Jewsih beliefs just so i know a little more about it. Serious answers only please. Thanks.

Answers and Views:

Answer by globar
You shoul look it up in wikipedia.com

Answer by hasse_john
Read the part of Scripture that the “Christians” have thrown out, the “Old Testament”.

Answer by Bubblewrap
I know they have the first five books of the Old Testiment, and they obey the law of Moses; which discuss the proper ways the House of Israel should live in their every day lives. Now I’m not sure if they regaurd all of the O.T. as scripture. It’s some what tough to get through, but try reading the first five books of the O.T. There are actually many wonderful things written with in.

Answer by Steve
Any and all of the Jews who i have known appeared to know themselves as holy and christly, whereas christians believe they are other than, or below christ. Thats the big difference i’ve observed.

Answer by Feivel
We believe God gave the Torah to the Jewish people. We believe in on God and believe the Messiah has not come. We believe in the 613 Mitzvot. We believe in trying to live as God commanded us to live.
We do not recognize Jesus or the “new testament”, the book of mormon or the koran as holy books. Only the Torah. We also study Talmud and other things that are important to our religion and way of life but we live by the Torah.
There are many things we do and believe in that set us apart (keeping kosher, wearing tzit tzit, wearing tefilling when davening etc) but we see these are abiding by the laws of the Torah.
You can look it up online at this link. It can answer you better than I.
https://www.jewfaq.org/beliefs.htm

Answer by danceillusions13
They dont believe that christ was the son of god.When Christ told them that God treats everyone the same and there is no “Chosen People” , the Israelites (Jews) got hacked off and crucified him.Coz they believe they are God;s Chosen People.They dont have chistmas or easter obviously, they have Chanukkah and Passover.And theyre not meant to eat pork.

Answer by paperback_writer
I’m Jewish, I’ll try and help 🙂

Here are basic Jewish beliefs:

– we believe in one G-d and only one G-d

– we believe that everyone is equal, that we are ALL the children of G-d, and that we ALL reach heaven, if we lead moral lives here on earth

– we believe that OUR messiah has not yet arrived. We follow the Jewish messianic prophecies in the Tanakh (‘old’ testament) which describe our messiah. He/she must achieve a number of specific things in ONE NORMAL HUMAN LIFETIME

– Judaism says that G-d NEVER takes human form; this idea is blasphemy for Jews

– Judaism says that no man can sacrifice himself for the sins of others. The Torah specifies that this is wrong and not acceptable. Thus Jews do not accept Jesus as messiah; that idea of blood sacrifice is purely Christian.

– we do not have any concept of ‘eternal hell’.

– we do not have a ‘devil’ in Judaism. In the book of Job, ‘HaSatan’ is like a prosecuting attorney, always under the control of G-d. Judaism is true monotheism: nothing and nobody can EVER equal or rival G-d in power!

– we focus on this life, we do not discuss much about heaven, though we have the concept of ‘Gan Eden’ – Garden Of Eden

Hope this has given you a basic idea; feel welcome to ask any other questions 🙂

Also, check out:

EDIT – to the person who answered just above me: stop talking about a religion you DON’T understand. THE ROMANS killed Jesus. You are talking utter rubbish.

Answer by aural margin
During the time of J., Judaism was a complex and developing phenomenon, as are all vibrant religions. It divided into several different groups, each of which had its own views concerning the true Jewish way of life. On the other hand, certain basic beliefs were common to them all:

–belief in One G-d

–belief in the covenant which G-d had made with his people Israel

–belief in the foundational Book of this covenant: the Torah, or Law

The covenant between G-d and Israel comprises of duties and commitments which pertain to both parties. G-d committed himself to treat Israel in accordance with its special position as His own people, and to teach the Israelites the principles of a good and blessed life.

Israel made the commitment to be obedient to G-d and to live a life befitting the people of G-d. These principles are found in the Torah or Law of Moses, its teaching and practical applications. It is important to note that in Judaism the Law is not a way of earning “salvation,” but an incorporation manifested in practice. The Torah also includes directions concerning atonement for offences committed so that the covenant might nevertheless remain in effect.
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As the J. Movement spread geographically and over time, becoming codified as Christianity, it diverged and eventually severed itself from Judaism. Judaism, naturally, continued its own independedent and developing practices all the while. Feivel’s post attests to many beliefs and practices of Judaism today, which continues thousands of years of inheritance. The link he provides is very good.
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Answer by shalhevet613
Judaism really can’t be explained very quickly or easily. First off, like Christianity, Judaism has many different sects. So ignoring that whole can of worms, there are some basics of Judaism:

A) The belief in One God. That God is One, and He is Whole. Now, technically, God is genderless, but in Hebrew things of power took on masculine forms (imagine Spanish having masculine and feminine nouns), so only one of His names is feminine. Because of this one-ness required of God, Jews rejected Jesus and the concept of the Trinity.

B) That Moses was given the Torah and the Oral Law (Talmudic law) at Mount Sinai. The Torah and Oral Law tell Jews how to live, and how justice will be faced. It is not all meant to be taken literally – e.g. – “an eye for an eye” refers to the fact that punishment should fit the crime, not that you should take out someone’s eye.

C) That there are 613 commandments (mitzvot) to follow. Not all can be followed by everyone. Not all can be followed at all anymore – some needed the Temple, which was destroyed (twice) and has not been rebuilt. Orthodox are the strongest adherents to this. Reform Jews think that ultimately the individual decides what mitzvot are needed. Conservatives believe you should follow the way, but a lot of them don’t.

D) Jews are the chosen people. This is often misinterpreted as Jews thinking they are better than others. While a lot of zealous Jews may believe so, the TECHNICAL meaning is merely that they are an example that will eventually cause the rest of the world to live in a justified manner. Since everyone is eligible to be righteous and have a place in the World to Come as long as they follow the seven laws of Noah (at least, non-Jews, since Jews have 613 laws), Jews see everyone as equals. In fact, folklore in Judaism is that God held Mount Sinai over the heads of the Jews after going to all the other nations of the world asking them to take the Torah, so there wasn’t necessarily much choice about it.

E) Judaism has no intermediaries. That means no one can communicate to God for you. In Judaism, everyone is part of the community (not so much emphasized in the more liberal sects) and there is no one to forgive you of your sins. You and the people you hurt are the only thing between you and forgiveness, no priest or random stranger can forgive you. And your communication with God must be direct. The phrase “No one can come unto the Lord but through me” is another reason for Judaism ultimately rejecting Jesus, because this made him, ultimately, an intermediary.

— Because of this, Judaism has the process of Teshuvah for forgiving sins. In the case of God, you seek repentance with him through this process. If your transgression was against a person, you must seek their forgiveness first.

F) Judaism places LOTS of emphasis on ethics, particularly the ethic of speech. It is considered a form of murder to hurt someone’s good name, and is said to kill the speaker, the listener, and the victim of who was being spoken of. Ethics also tie into dietary and other laws during living – such as not picking up food you have dropped so the poor may pick it up and eat it, and giving a portion of your income to charity.

G) Praying for Israel. And I don’t mean necessarily the state that was created in 1947/1948. A lot of Jews reject the current state of Israel because it was created by man. Many more do not. But by “Israel” I mean the biblical homeland where observant Jews pray towards… Just like observant Muslims pray towards Mecca. The most important prayer, the Shema, is said twice a day, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.” And on Passover, Jews say, “Next year, in Jerusalem” – understanding that the ultimate goal is to return to the spiritual homeland. That doesn’t mean they support the current Israel, though many do, just that ultimately, things were supposed to wind up that way.

H) Judaism has no concept of Original Sin, like Christianity does, re: eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge. The first time sin is mentioned in Judaism is when Cain kills Abel.

It would take forever to explain the whole thing. I’ll list books and websites.