|
NikkolasKing posted:you guys definitely don't have Devil who is out there trying to make us suffer for all eternity. that's because we do it ourselves.
|
#
¿
Mar 13, 2017 13:20
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 03:53 |
|
|
Cowslips Warren posted:I will try a non-political question this time. Your first question isn't really "political" but it's also not really a question about Judaism, it's just human nature. If you look at the history of anti-Semitism you will find plenty of cases of individual Jews being aligned with (or even friends with) various anti-Semites when convenient to their agenda or just for their own personal emotional reasons, but that's not unique to Judaism and anti-Semitism, you can find these sorts of relationships between people from all sorts of directly opposed groups/ideologies all throughout history, especially if you are looking at people in positions of power. in that light, without getting into the details, I think you can probably do the math and figure out a reason why someone representing the Israeli government might be willing to turn a blind eye to the bullshit coming from the current administration here. Earwicker fucked around with this message at 14:14 on Mar 13, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Mar 13, 2017 14:11
|
|
|
if you have serious interest in kabbalah or Jewish mysticism in general, start reading the books of Gershom Scholem and Aryeh Kaplan, their work is good, clear, accessible, and very grounded in history and scripture.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 18, 2017 15:27
|
|
|
Reene posted:I started in culinary before transitioning to my current administrative position so my question is about keeping kosher. We keep two separate industrial kitchens in my facility as well as using separate silverware and dishes for serving meat or dairy. I've heard that this is both far beyond what kosher law actually calls for as well as being a relatively recent practice. Beyond kosher law itself, where did these relatively recent practices come from and why? It's more a question of how the law is interpreted than whether or not its "beyond" the law per se. Those practices you refer to are generally associated with Haredi, or what people call ultra-Orthodox Judaism. These movements themselves aren't exactly "recent" as they have been going for centuries, but they experienced a sort of rebirth and expanded significantly after WW2. Earwicker fucked around with this message at 21:52 on Mar 19, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Mar 19, 2017 21:49
|
|
|
Here's I think one way a lot of Jews see it: it's hard enough to make sure you as an individual are following the laws in your own life. Harder still to be sure of your family, let alone your particular branch of the Jewish community, let alone the Jewish community as a whole. You aren't going to have the time and competence to make sure your own house is in order and also be concerned about whatever laws the gentiles are following. Another way that some Jews deal with this is by turning to political/social activism rather than religious evangelization per se.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2017 13:33
|
|
|
CountFosco posted:I just fundamentally disagree with this. What would you rather have: your soul or your stomach? You can only choose one. Are you saying you disagree with it as mindset for your own life, or you that disagree with the idea that this is how a pious Jew would see things?
|
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2017 19:01
|
|
|
CountFosco posted:my point is that the soul is something of value far greater than any particular body part. I mean, do you disagree with this? The quotation doesn't disagree with this. It's saying look after your soul more than your own stomach, and more than worrying about the souls of others. Looking after the stomachs of others is also a part of looking after your soul. Earwicker fucked around with this message at 19:35 on Mar 22, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2017 19:11
|
|
|
CountFosco posted:The former. I suspect that it is universally true that it is good for us to care about both the stomach and the souls of our neighbors, It's not up to me to decide what a "good soul" is on behalf of other people, that's personal. To rephrase what I said earlier, but more from my personal perspective: everyone has their own relationship with God or the universe or however they want to see it, there are lots of moral laws people follow and ways that they interpret and follow them, it is more than enough work to get right with it in my own life, I don't have the knowledge or equipment to tell other people what that relationship should be and I feel it would be hypocritical to do so. quote:but far be it from me to insist that other people should have such a conscience. Oh no of course not, you'll just make lovely passive aggressive remarks like this instead. 
Earwicker fucked around with this message at 19:25 on Mar 22, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2017 19:21
|
|
|
CountFosco posted:It seems clear to me that, as morally confused as we may be at times, there are certain actions that we can clearly judge as immoral, sinful. Murder, for example. A person commits a murder, we are obligated to condemn that. If a friend of family member of mine committed murder, I would be worried for their soul, wouldn't you? Even things that seem universal like "murder is wrong" are not truly universal because so many groups of humans have come to define "murder" in so many different ways. Or to put it another way, many different societies - and groups within those societies - have decided that there are morally acceptable reasons for one human to kill another, and these range from self defense to punishment to defense of property to defense of one's perceived "honor" or the honor of one's family, or even in vengeance for a previous wrongdoing. Killing that falls outside of these boundaries is what is called "murder", but those boundaries are all over the place, there is no universal definition. To answer your question, of course if a friend of family member committed murder - or even if they had killed someone in purely self defense, and had no choice in the matter - I would be worried for their soul. But it generally stays on that personal level, this does not expand into me somehow believing that my own moral standards need to be applied to others. To me, that is kind of presumptive, it's saying you've morality all figured out and know whats best for everyone, and I don't really believe that's true of anyone. I think you'd have to be psychic to have that kind of knowledge. quote:If Judaism is really not concerned about other peoples' souls, I think you are kind of off the mark about what is meant by "concern" or "care" here. It doesn't mean to be unconcerned in the sense of not giving a poo poo, it means to be unconcerned in the sense of not dictating what being a good person means to others. Earwicker fucked around with this message at 23:27 on Mar 22, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2017 23:18
|
|
|
CountFosco posted:Now, RagnarokAngel has a strong agnosticism in regards to the fate of future souls, and that's fine, but this strong agnosticism didn't seem to me to be the norm throughout the global Jewish community, or among the majority of Rabbis. I haven't seen any hard data or anything but in my experience, which is mostly in Conservative and a little bit in Reform communities, most people are really not concerned with the afterlife at all. It's just not something people talk about as any kind of motivation for their thoughts or actions, if they do they certainly keep it very private but generally the whole idea of life after death in re: one's actions during life is just not a major point of discourse. Again, purely anecdotal, but it has always seemed to me that Jewish people in these communities are generally much more concerned with how their actions will affect living people here on Earth, and certainly in future generations.. but here not in a "hereafter". Even most rabbis I've known have been far more concerned with the fate of the Jewish community (or various forms of it) or with the fate of humanity as a whole, than they have been with anyone's eternal soul. Probably different in Orthodox communities though. Earwicker fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Mar 22, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2017 23:34
|
|
|
CountFosco posted:You're jumping from caring about the souls of others to presuming that this same person has morality all figured out and is going to impose it on the world (presumably through domination?) for their own benefit. That's a leap. Caring about the future of others is caring about the future of others, and if other peoples' futures extend past death (which it may very well not) then one can care about that as well. I'm not talking about domination specifically, but I'm also not forgetting that part the context of this particular branch of the conversation is the question of evangelism. I'll put it this way: of course I and, I'm pretty sure, almost all other Jews care about the souls of others, whether they are Jewish or not. But this "caring about" does not translate into presuming to have any knowledge of moral standards that other people need to follow in order for their souls to be right with God, or right with the universe or their own moral standards. Whether in terms of a hypothetical afterlife or otherwise. That's for them to decide. And to be clear, this isn't the same thing as pure moral relativism. But I make a distinction between the material and the spiritual. We can, as a society, through dialogue and introspection decide what kind of moral standards we should collectively uphold for the benefit of everyone in said society. But as to what standards make your soul right with God, or what happens to you after you die, that's personal. Earwicker fucked around with this message at 23:53 on Mar 22, 2017 |
|
#
¿
Mar 22, 2017 23:45
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 03:53 |
|
|
RagnarokAngel posted:So a reform conversion is often not seen as valid by conservative or orthodox, but reform will accept all 3. That's not just a conversion issue, a lot of orthodox don't really see reform Judaism as "valid" converted or not. but yeah the only time I can see a family demanding orthodox conversion is if that family is orthodox themselves. most conservative or reform families are not going to care about being accepted by the hasidic communities
|
|
#
¿
Mar 26, 2017 16:02
|
|