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If upon observance of Yom Kippur God forgives your all your sins...
What prevents anyone of Jewish faith from lying, cheating, stealing, robbing, being violent, not observing any other holiday, being immoral and sinning as much as he/she wants?
If upon observance of Yom Kippur God forgives your all your sins...
What prevents anyone of Jewish faith from lying, cheating, stealing, robbing, being violent, not observing any other holiday, being immoral and sinning as much as he/she wants?
The same thing that keeps a Christian, a Muslim, or any one else from "lying, cheating, stealing, robbing, being violent, not observing any other holiday, being immoral and sinning as much as he/she wants".
First, it doesn't work that way. The Talmud states: Yom Kippur atones for those who repent and does not atone for those who do not repent; in other words, one who sins without regard and confesses without repentance will not be forgiven. You have to acknowledge that what have done is wrong and make changes in your behavior to prevent it happening again.
Second, most people, regardless of their religion or lack thereof, are good and decent people. If you actually need the fear of eternal punishment (which we don't have in Judaism) or Divine retribution to keep you from doing those things, you're a pretty screwed up human being to begin with.
If upon observance of Yom Kippur God forgives your all your sins...
What prevents anyone of Jewish faith from lying, cheating, stealing, robbing, being violent, not observing any other holiday, being immoral and sinning as much as he/she wants?
Yom Kippur is about the culmination of a process of repentance, not about some automatic forgiveness. One cannot sin and say "but yom kippur will atone".
The same thing that keeps a Christian, a Muslim, or any one else from "lying, cheating, stealing, robbing, being violent, not observing any other holiday, being immoral and sinning as much as he/she wants".
First, it doesn't work that way. The Talmud states: Yom Kippur atones for those who repent and does not atone for those who do not repent; in other words, one who sins without regard and confesses without repentance will not be forgiven. You have to acknowledge that what have done is wrong and make changes in your behavior to prevent it happening again.
Second, most people, regardless of their religion or lack thereof, are good and decent people. If you actually need the fear of eternal punishment (which we don't have in Judaism) or Divine retribution to keep you from doing those things, you're a pretty screwed up human being to begin with.
Are you referring to Facebook posts? If so, you can easily block them without having to 'officially' unfriend that person. My wife does this with several of her Facebook 'friends'.
Yes, FB. And I do hide the posts because they irritate me. He posts other things I enjoy so don't want to block completely.
Yep, still that thread. And, yes, we do veer fairly often (we are Jews, after all ).
The only people I've seen lend much credence to "Messianics" are their fellow Christians.
I personally don't care if they celebrate Jewish holidays; if Christians want to "go back to their roots" and adopt the ancient holidays and add a touch of Hebrew to their services, it's their call. I just get upset when they try to claim that they're somehow practicing or are a part of Judaism.
As for other people using holiday greetings, I'm fine with it. I moved to New York a couple of months ago, and it seems like everyone and their brother knows which greetings go with each holiday. My boss emailed me on Erev Rosh haShannah to wish me a happy new year, my technicians respond with "Shabbat shalom" when I wish them a good weekend, and the cashier at the grocery store wished me an easy fast Tuesday afternoon.
I think what bugs me terribly is that many of his posts are deliberately confrontational, and he DOES think he is practicing Judaism. Nothing wrong at ALL with wishing a Happy New Year to people you know practice, but his always seem to have an edge, and some are actually rude towards mainstream Christianity/Catholicism...that their holidays (Christmas, Easter) are evil. That part makes me sad for my inlaws, who are lovely people.
I think what bugs me terribly is that many of his posts are deliberately confrontational, and he DOES think he is practicing Judaism. Nothing wrong at ALL with wishing a Happy New Year to people you know practice, but his always seem to have an edge, and some are actually rude towards mainstream Christianity/Catholicism...that their holidays (Christmas, Easter) are evil. That part makes me sad for my inlaws, who are lovely people.
In short, you are being irritated by something you have no control over. If that is the way you want to live your life, fine.
Most of us would not have that person affect our lives and we would let the inlaws take care of themselves.
In short, you are being irritated by something you have no control over. If that is the way you want to live your life, fine.
Most of us would not have that person affect our lives and we would let the inlaws take care of themselves.
You're right. I was thinking about that this evening. I'm letting go. When I first posted I was irritated by what I saw as his hijacking of the Jewish religion. After thinking it through, I think I'm just irritated by him in general. I do appreciate everyone's responses. Thanks!
You're right. I was thinking about that this evening. I'm letting go. When I first posted I was irritated by what I saw as his hijacking of the Jewish religion. After thinking it through, I think I'm just irritated by him in general. I do appreciate everyone's responses. Thanks!
I think you are doing the right thing.
The leader of another religion said, "If thy eye offend thee, pluck it out". That has been one of the guiding principles of my entire life. If something irritates me and I don't have the ability or desire to change it, I get it out of my life.
I can sympathize that it really is irritating to see someone hijacking your religion and bombarding you with posts to rub it in. My wife likes dogs, but one of her Facebook 'friends' kept posting zillions of dog pictures, so my wife had to block her posts. Occasionally, when she has the stomach for it, she will look on that person's page to see if anything worthwhile has happened.
. I'm wondering how Jewish folks of different denominations (Reform, Conservative, Orthodox) feel about this stuff.
The movements of Judaism (the 3 you mention, plus the 4th "Reconstructionist") ALL reject Christian Messianics as being outside the faith of Judaism. They might be decent people, but they are not practicing Judaism.
My own standard answer for, "what would you call a 'Jew for Jesus'?" is "A Christian."
And Christian Messianics, like Protestants, believe that salvation from God is a gift that depends upon belief in Jesus.
Sociologists might call what they're doing Cultural Appropriation, which is lifting things piecemeal that belong to, and are central, to another group. It can feel irritating and disrespectful.
Belief in Jesus as Messiah is too basic a difference between Judaism and Christianity; it's not a small difference. It's the place where the two faiths separated long ago.
I had a Christian neighbor, in "Church of God" whose church members practiced aspects of the Jewish holidays, for example, ate only unleavened products throughout Passover, did not observe Christmas, put up a sukkah. Also, no pagan days like Hallowe'en, either.
I asked her what was the binding idea? She said they try to live as they imagine Jesus lived in his time, and these would have been his holidays. But you see, that's all based on their core belief in Jesus as their Messiah, and trying to imitate his life as closely as they could. She never, ever would have called herself a Jew.
Last edited by BrightRabbit; 09-27-2015 at 12:12 PM..
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