D&D Religion's "Ask About Judaism" Thread

Reply 180

~ABR~

10

gemgems89

Who? Judaism doesn't believe in any sons of G-d.

I found his name in English: Ezra (PBUH)

??

Reply 181

gemgems89

15

rivers_sid

just wandering, why is it that jews do not eat pork??

For the same reason that they do not eat ham or bacon, or indeed other non-Kosher animals; that is, they either do not chew the cud or have split hooves. I think pigs have split hooves but don't chew the cud. So they're not kosher. And no it's not an issue of cleanliness.

Reply 182

gemgems89

15

o0MorseyMan0o

I found his name in English: Ezra (PBUH)

??

We believe he's a prophet. Not the son of G-d.

Reply 183

Justintabib

11

zackinbaltimore

Do Jews have a concept of the afterlife? Not so much. It's referred to in different ways in the Bible as "Sheol" (Especially when Jacob says that if Benjamin dies, it will "send his head down to Sheol in grief"), but there is nothing explicitly stating what will happen when you're dead. What is know is that when the Mashiach (the messiah) come, he will resurrect everyone and rebuild the temple. Otherwise, there's no explicit Heaven, Hell and Judgement such as there is in Christianity and (from my understanding) Islam.

So if there is no concept of Hell, what do you think the fate of a person like Hitler will be? I guess you will say he will be disassociated with God once he dies - that is the end of him. But then again, does that recompense the evil he committed? We will all die, so for example how does my death differ from Hitler's?

Reply 184

Justintabib

11

So for a Jew who spent a miserable life, what will be his reward?
I am saying since Judaism does not pay much attention to afterlife, then this life is the one that a person has to live fullest right? So what reward can that person expect if this life is nothing but tragedies,sufferings,etc?

Reply 185

samba

6

Bismarck

There is none. A Jew shouldn't intentionally live a miserable life. Why do you think Jews value education so much?

A person should strive to make his current life as good as it can be.

Education and money aren't the only facets to life :p:

Reply 186

cheesecakebobby

9

it's a good point. If they didn't believe in an afterlife, how did Jews in concentration camps or suffering pogroms reconcile their faith with their desperate situation? I expect there is an answer...

Reply 187

Justintabib

11

Fair enough. But there are many unfortunates who are victims of tragedies, suffereings (as was in World War 2). I did not mean intentionally, more so due to fate. They had nothing good in their lives.

Then again there are Mafia's who are involved in crimes all their lives and they never get caught (they just live happily and die).
What news does God have (referring from Torah and Talmud) for them?

Reply 188

Justintabib

11

cheesecakebobby

it's a good point. If they didn't believe in an afterlife, how did Jews in concentration camps or suffering pogroms reconcile their faith with their desperate situation? I expect there is an answer...

I don't think Judaism requires you to disbelieve in afterlife. It's just that there is not much information about it from Torah. That is why Judaism does not put much emphasis on afterlife. (Correct me if I am wrong.)

Traditional Judaism firmly believes that death is not the end of human existence. However, because Judaism is primarily focused on life here and now rather than on the afterlife, Judaism does not have much dogma about the afterlife, and leaves a great deal of room for personal opinion. It is possible for an Orthodox Jew to believe that the souls of the righteous dead go to a place similar to the Christian heaven, or that they are reincarnated through many lifetimes, or that they simply wait until the coming of the messiah, when they will be resurrected. Likewise, Orthodox Jews can believe that the souls of the wicked are tormented by demons of their own creation, or that wicked souls are simply destroyed at death, ceasing to exist.

from http://www.jewfaq.org/olamhaba.htm.

Reply 189

samba

6

Bismarck

You have a chance of getting resurrected and he doesn't? And once again, Judaism does not pay much attention to the afterlife. That trend started with Christianity (and then Islam).

wow, are you religious?

There is a vast amount of literature referring to the afterlife (olam habah/ gan eden whatever), and its fairly explicit that a jewish soul is immortal and will not die. There is a maximum time for purgatory, and a definite timetable for acsension

The afterlife is one of the essential beliefs for a jew to have faith or emunah according to primary rabbinic sources.

Reply 190

*titanium*

12

Well Justin, maybe its because you should be able to leed a good honest life with out needing the promise of reward for it. A lot of religions seem to base acting decent not commiting sins on the reward after you die, but you dont see athiests going around thinking, well when oyu die you die and thats it so lets go and cause trouble and live a dishonrable life.

Reply 191

bohemian

About the afterlife thing, as people have said there's more of an emphasis on the life which we are currently in within Judaism. Some Rabbi (can't remember who) said something along the lines of...
'Who are we to understand death, we who cannot understand life?"
...which sums it up quite nicely. But yeah, there are plenty of references to some kind of afterlife, like in Daniel about the valley of dry bones and all that.
Frankly I think it's a good thing for a religion not to get excessivly hung up on the afterlife. As my (highly cynical) RS teacher pointed out, you never know if religious people (of some religions) are being nice "for duty's sake", as it were, or because they'll get a better deal in the afterlife. As far as I can see, G-d's shown us how to live, and if we can sort that one out, we'll get what we deserve afterwards, not only that but we'll have a fulfilled mortal life.
The holocaust thing...yeah, there were a good few Jews who lost their faith because of it. Others say it was a punishment from G-d. Other still see it as a sort of positive thing - it had a major impact on the creation of the State of Israel, it resulted in greater understanding of religious relations, the fact that Jews got through it and came out better than ever shows how G-d is still sorting things out, and so on. No-one knows why G-d acts how He does, if we did then it would sort of defeat the whole deal of Him being G-d at all.

Reply 192

Alasdair

14

*titanium*

Well Justin, maybe its because you should be able to leed a good honest life with out needing the promise of reward for it. A lot of religions seem to base acting decent not commiting sins on the reward after you die, but you dont see athiests going around thinking, well when oyu die you die and thats it so lets go and cause trouble and live a dishonrable life.

I quite rarely agree with you, but on this point, right on!

Reply 193

gemgems89

15

CBA looking through all the posts but there seems to be some confusion in this and since I wrote a 3,000 word essay (grumble grumble) on afterlife I'll try and clear a few things up.

The Jewish 'hell' isn't the hell most people associate with hell. Wow I really am good with my words this morning. I'll try again, the usual connotations of hell are not what Judaism prescribes 'hell' as. It's about spiritual repair, not fire, torture and brimstone. In the written Torah, there is hardly any reference to afterlife at all. And there's quite a simple reason for this; Judaism wants us to focus in this life and adhere to commandments and the Torah for the good of this world and because it's our Divine privilege to do so, not so it gets us up to heaven. Ergo, the rewards in the next world should not be a pertinent factor in influencing one's behaviour in this world.

There are a few subtle references in the written Torah such as when Biblical characters die (such as Avraham, Issac, etc) they are said to be "gathered unto his people." There are a few other references I can't be bothered going into but take my word for it.

The oral Torah elaborates a bit more on the afterlife and makes some comparisons about this world being a preparation for the next and how certain sins remove a person's share in the world to come.

Very wicked people will not get a share in the world to come. Righteous people will. It's quite complex and there's varying opinions as to what happens in the world to come and how each person gets there so if you want to know anymore then I'd advise doing your own research. Jewfaq is good, as is Wiki and a few other random sites on google.

Reply 194

Thud

17

Bismarck

Not entirely true. Non-Jews are supposed to follow the Noahide Laws. Any Jew who converts to another religion is no longer a Jew.

but then how does that mother-line thing work?

because in like, for example, eastern europe a load of Jews before WW2 converted to Catholicism in order to escape persecution, are they then instantly not Jews anymore?

and i've another question: can Jews drink alcohol?

Reply 195

Evil-Tuna

2

Thud

but then how does that mother-line thing work?

because in like, for example, eastern europe a load of Jews before WW2 converted to Catholicism in order to escape persecution, are they then instantly not Jews anymore?

It's a rule that really doesn't seem to make any sense. It's like the whole Natural Witch and one is born a witch thing in the world of Paganism and alt. religions. It makes no sense, and the idea of a natural witch has lost all credibility. The point is about religion and religion is not passed down through genes. Well thats what alt. religions believe. I think most have come to accept that religion is more or less a conscious choice for one reason or another.

If it's going to be linked to ethnicity, to make it clearer it shouldnt be directly related to religion. It just confuzzles everything.

Reply 196

cheesecakebobby

9

Thud

and i've another question: can Jews drink alcohol?

Erm yeah, you'll find at least a couple Jews who drink.... :p:

Reply 197

*titanium*

12

Thud

but then how does that mother-line thing work?

because in like, for example, eastern europe a load of Jews before WW2 converted to Catholicism in order to escape persecution, are they then instantly not Jews anymore?

and i've another question: can Jews drink alcohol?

yes and wine is part of practicing the religion, like on the Friday night kiddush, and in the pesach seder it really is an integral part, and all the little kids get grape juice instead lol Once your parents finally decided that you can have wine, you taste it and you hate it but you keep on drinking because you dont want to drink that lovely sweet grape juice like those little kids!

Reply 198

samba

6

Bismarck

A vast amount of literature and no real conclusion. And vast compared to what? Saying that the soul is immortal says nothing about what happens after death.

By "primary rabbinic sources", you mean all the major rabbis agreed on something? :rolleyes:

Its way beyond the scope this discussion to start talking about the various stages after death etc. There is solid conclusion and agreement on most of it.

By "primary rabbinic sources" I meant the mishnah and gemorah. It's explicit there, and as far as I'm aware, undisputed.