Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thanks for your reply. Wow. I knew there were a few translations/versions. Didn't realize how many.
Although I am not young in age, I can probably be considered "young" in my religious learning.
Maybe another Christian participating in this thread can help me answer your questions, or can try to help along somehow.
I know very little about the Torah, and only a bit more about some versions of the Christian Bible.
I've learned more by oral teaching (I see that there is a value in that as well in Judaism).
From what I've seen and heard, there are some similiarities between what Christians believe and what Jews believe at least in the teachings that came before Jesus.
Thanks for your reply. Wow. I knew there were a few translations/versions. Didn't realize how many.
Although I am not young in age, I can probably be considered "young" in my religious learning.
Maybe another Christian participating in this thread can help me answer your questions, or can try to help along somehow.
I know very little about the Torah, and only a bit more about some versions of the Christian Bible.
I've learned more by oral teaching (I see that there is a value in that as well in Judaism).
From what I've seen and heard, there are some similiarities between what Christians believe and what Jews believe at least in the teachings that came before Jesus.
Am I wrong about this?
Its difficult for a Jew to charecterize what christians believe, esp since there are so many variant forms of christianity (and its not our business to determine which are "really" christian) I think you are headed in the right direction - Jews revere G-d, believe in serving Him, consider creation an important miracle, believe in obligations to ones fellow man, etc, etc, etc.
flip - i admire you taking on this thread in earnest despite the thinly veiled -- and frankly, surprising to me -- attacks from those with different beliefs.
I expected the veiled attacks (and somebody here private messaged me to warn me to expect it). I suspect this is no different than what Jews have experienced the last 2,000 years. No matter how much we explain our beliefs and why we hold them, for those of a particular religion whose very core beliefs are threatened by the Jews' refusal to accept you know who, they attack and proselytize, but are very sure to never listen.
That being said, I can tell there are some very sincere people here who may have never had such an open invitation to ask a question to a Jew about Judaism. And lucky for all here, I'm not even the best or most qualified Jew at this forum to answer these questions. My fellow Jews here have stood up to the test and are doing a great job answering questions.
As far as you know...How similar or different are the Torah and The Old Testament of the Christian Bible?
The Torah is just the 1st 5 books of the Old Testament (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). Known as the Pentateuch in Greek. Adding the Writings and Prophets of the Old Testament, gives us the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible.
The most reliable form of the Hebrew Bible used by Jews is the Masoretic Text. Christians primarily originally used the Septuagint for their Old Testament, which is a Greek translation of the Tanakh. The Masoretic Text and Septuagint have differences between them though.
Thanks for your reply. Wow. I knew there were a few translations/versions. Didn't realize how many.
Although I am not young in age, I can probably be considered "young" in my religious learning.
Maybe another Christian participating in this thread can help me answer your questions, or can try to help along somehow.
I know very little about the Torah, and only a bit more about some versions of the Christian Bible.
I've learned more by oral teaching (I see that there is a value in that as well in Judaism).
From what I've seen and heard, there are some similiarities between what Christians believe and what Jews believe at least in the teachings that came before Jesus.
Am I wrong about this?
Well, prior to Jesus there was no Christianity (well, technically there was no Christianity until Paul since Jesus didn't create it per se). Jesus and the Apostles were all practicing Jews. 1st Century Christianity probably wasn't extremely different from Judaism aside from Jesus teaching that he was the Son of God. The rest of Christian theology sort of developed later from Paul, the influence from the Persians, and the rise of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.
I understand that Torah is the core to Jewish belief and practice. What place do the Nev'im and Ketuvim have? In other words, are they used for "doctrinal" purposes (sorry I can't think of a better word), merely considered books of history and wisdom or both?
they are regulary quoted in discussions of non legal matters - matters of outlook, philosophy, etc. While they are NOT considered sources of law, they can come up in legal discussions, to clarify or discuss the meaning of a word used in the five books of moses.
The official answer (per Rambam) When we speak of G-d using human terms, we speak in metaphor. G-d is radically different from man - we can no more charecterize His emotions than speak about or (heaven forbid) picture His body. To deny such radical difference - to consider G-D LIKE Man - is to commit idolatry, same as someone who carves a graven image.
Less official answer - you are referring to texts from an earlier state of religious development, when Jews were still reaching out in their existential commitment to G-d. They emphasized what is the core of religion - mans profound, loving, relationship with G-d. In doing so they necessarily charecterized their divine lover, as a lover, with emotions appropriate to a VERY intense human relationship. Not being philosophers, they didnt realize the traps this would leave for people as the Jewish view of G-d evolved. Later generations, however, kept Judaism fresh, renewed, meaningful, by creatively reinterpretating older texts. That chain of interpretation, that keeps us linked to the old texts, yet renews them for our time, is the genius of Judaism.
Very good explanation, BBD . . . and the "less official" revisionary feature of Judaism should have been adopted in Christianity as well. It is not wise to ignore advancing knowledge. Thank you.
they are regulary quoted in discussions of non legal matters - matters of outlook, philosophy, etc. While they are NOT considered sources of law, they can come up in legal discussions, to clarify or discuss the meaning of a word used in the five books of moses.
they are also key sources of Jewish liturgy.
In other words, the majority of the Jewish prayer service comes from these writings of the Nev'im and Ketuvim.
I expected the veiled attacks (and somebody here private messaged me to warn me to expect it). I suspect this is no different than what Jews have experienced the last 2,000 years. No matter how much we explain our beliefs and why we hold them, for those of a particular religion whose very core beliefs are threatened by the Jews' refusal to accept you know who, they attack and proselytize, but are very sure to never listen.
That being said, I can tell there are some very sincere people here who may have never had such an open invitation to ask a question to a Jew about Judaism. And lucky for all here, I'm not even the best or most qualified Jew at this forum to answer these questions. My fellow Jews here have stood up to the test and are doing a great job answering questions.
thank you for your response--in my christian ed classes i do not focus on the acceptance or not of the jews of jesus time(only to say he was not a religious leader in the jewish religion of his time)--i only want to honor the religion that he practiced and what it was then and now--both similarities and difference--and do not want to offend those practicing judaism now as some of my students have families that are in both religions
thank you for your links
in florida my long time home there was a beginning of a messianic jewish sect --any info if such a sect exsists in the north where i am now living?
in florida my long time home there was a beginning of a messianic jewish sect --any info if such a sect exsists in the north where i am now living?
They exist in nearly every major city in the US, and abroad as well. If you read my posts here, you will see that I rarely ever attack others and try to be a fair guy. Moderator cut: delete
Last edited by Miss Blue; 12-31-2011 at 12:36 PM..
Reason: sorry but that will surely hijack thread
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
