NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, inspired by the "Ask a Muslim" thread, I decided I'd start this. Being a full-out, bonafide, circumsized, bar mitzvaed, studied the Mishnah and Talmud and all that jazz Jew, I figured I could answer some questions. I'm not an endless cournicopia of Jewish knowledge, though-if another, wiser Jew-or even non-Jew-out there sees someplace I'm wrong, please, do jump in.

Oh, yeah, and come Sunday, I'll be going away for a month... so hopefully I can answer some stuff now and leave the rest to a fellow Jew, or just let this thread die quietly and friendless.

That being said... ask away!

This thread has already been done.

I, on my forumnal sojournings, saw nothing of the sort, but if this is true, then let the hammer of deletion come swiftly and powerfully.

Yes, I know forumnal is not a word.

Yes, I know forumnal is not a word.

Yah, but it should be.

Why don't you see Jesus as the messiah?

Is there a Jewish hell (or equivilant)?

What exactly does oy vey mean? I know it's a statement of exclamation, but what does it translate to?

Is there a Jewish hell (or equivilant)?



Sheol, although I'm not the Jew so perhaps he could answer it more aptly :D

Why don't you see Jesus as the messiah?


Ooo! Oooo! Can I take this one? Or help? As a little bat mitzvahed Jew who spends her time arguing with non-Jews all the time.

I have a very simple response to this, actually. He doesn't fit the Jewish criteria for the messiah.

The Jewish messiah? Announces G-d. Hell, he might even just announce Elijah who will announce G-d. And then peace will reign and the dead will be brought back and blah blah blah.

Therefore, Jesus is not the Jewish messiah. Simple, no?

full-out, bonafide, circumsized, bar mitzvaed, studied the Mishnah and Talmud and all that jazz Jew
I can attest that I am the worst Jew ever. I haven't been bar mitzvaed, I don't know any Hebrew, I've never been to temple, I don't believe in god, and all I do for any holidays is candle lighting on Hannukah.

Well, I can say the Hannukah prayer pretty convincingly, and from memory.

However, despite all this, I can answer Commie Catholics. Because he isn't.

What exactly does oy vey mean? I know it's a statement of exclamation, but what does it translate to?

One theory is that the "vey" is a corruption of the German "weh" meaning woe which would have been incorporated into Yiddish. So the usual answer is it means oh woe!

However, "oy" is a Hebrew word which you'll find in the Torah and which means woe itself. And by the 6th century you can find frequent references to both "way" and "wah" which are variously sorrow and joy.

So basically, it's an expression of emotion which, depending on circumstance can either be one of sorrow or one of joy.

(apologies to thread starter for leaping in there!)

What is the significance of the stones i see on gravestones in jewish graveyards?

Why don't you see Jesus as the messiah?

There are a great many prophecies in the Tanakh (Old Testament) concerning the messiah (or Moshiach, to avoid confusion with Christ) and they lay down very specific criteria for what has to happen before Moshiach will come. They also, importantly, never even hint that Moshiach will be anything other than a human being, not the son of God.

Intro to the Jewish Moshiach (http://www.jewfaq.org/moshiach.htm)

If you don't mind, Manahad, I'd like to 'jump in' and give my own two cents. (My qualification is also being Jewish :P)

Commie, that is a good question. Persoanlly, I do not know all the facts and rabbinical interpretations, but I can give you what I think is the case.

In the most basic of interpretations, the Messiah--according to Jewish belief--will come riding through the seventh gate of Jerusalem on a white horse. The gate has been locked since I forget when, and will only be opened to the person who is believed to be the Messiah, on a white horse. So, since Jesus never did this, most rabbi's who believe this idea will give you this reasoning.

I like to think of it in a different way. To be plain and simple, Jesus was a Jew. No getting around that. Jesus never wanted a whole religion to spring up after him. He taught what he believed in, and didn't create or necissarily want Christianity. His apostles (I don't know which or when) created the religion from his followers. People may have, at the time, believed that Jesus was the Messiah. Now, moving on from the background info; according to Judaism, and I THINK, Christianity, God is all-knowing and has his/her/it's "plan." If God knew what would happen anyway, why start a new religion from the Messiah if that would mean effectively losing the old religion (more or less)?

This poses the interesting idea that maybe us Jews are wrong? Or maybe we are simply stuck in the past? But then, you could look at Islam and Mohammed, the final prophet. Isn't he somewhat of a Messiah to Islam as Jesus was to Christianity? You could argue many points back and forth about this and the validity of religion as we know it, but bottom line, I feel that religion is necissary because it gives faith and hope to those that need it. And that can be a true blessing, regardless of who is actually right or wrong.

Hope I didn't stray off subject too much...

What is the significance of the stones i see on gravestones in jewish graveyards?

Mark of respect, echoing old stone cairns which you'll see all over the world. When you visit the grave you add a stone as a mark of respect.

There are a great many prophecies in the Tanakh (Old Testament) concerning the messiah (or Moshiach, to avoid confusion with Christ) and they lay down very specific criteria for what has to happen before Moshiach will come. They also, importantly, never even hint that Moshiach will be anything other than a human being, not the son of God.

Intro to the Jewish Moshiach (http://www.jewfaq.org/moshiach.htm)

That I understand. Thank you. :fluffle:

My pleasure. :)

Jesus the Messiah? (http://jewsforjudaism.com/jews-jesus/jews-jesus-index.html)

Accept Christ as your Messiah by all means, I have no problem with Christianity and with Christians, but don't pretend that he was the Messiah foretold by the Jews. We still await our Messiah.

My pleasure. :)

Jesus the Messiah? (http://jewsforjudaism.com/jews-jesus/jews-jesus-index.html)

Accept Christ as your Messiah by all means, I have no problem with Christianity and with Christians, but don't pretend that he was the Messiah foretold by the Jews. We still await our Messiah.

I wont do either. I'm atheist (until I'm convinced of something else). When he does come though, I'll put on a chicken.

I wont do either. I'm atheist (until I'm convinced of something else). When he does come though, I'll put on a chicken.

I meant generally, I only edited to add "my pleasure" directed at you after I saw you'd replied to my preceding link - if that makes sense.

And I know you're atheist, I saw you post it on another thread this evening!
:)

PS Make sure the chicken's kosher.

Just to present my credentials... I too am a Jew who became Bar Mitzvah. I've studied various Talmud and Kabbalah too.....


Anywho, what do my fellow Jews think of this Kabbalah fad sweeping through Hollywood?

Personally, I find it disturbing. I was walking by my local conveniance store the other day (I live in a relatively non-Jewish, black neighborhood) and saw an ad for "Kabbalah Energy Drink, fused with Kabbalah Water."

Disgusting. I actually heard an interview with the guy who created Kabbalah water... he said that there were "studies" done at Universities that "showed" that prayer changed the molecular structure of water!


Also, I've been in Nationstates awhile, but the only significant Jewish region I can find is Israel... which is primarily for Israeli Jews... is there any NS region for Diaspora Jews (as well as Israeli Jews)?

I meant generally, I only edited to add "my pleasure" directed at you after I saw you'd replied to my preceding link - if that makes sense.

And I know you're atheist, I saw you post it on another thread this evening!
:)

PS Make sure the chicken's kosher.

Will do.

This evening? Hey, you're in Scotland. What time is it over there. 1:30pm over here. I only woke up an hour ago.

There are essentially two schools of thought on how to approoach The Presence, and they hinge on assumptions about whether God is immanent or transcendent.

Traditional mainstream Judaism suggests a little of both, but tends towards immanence - that is, the idea that God is accessible to all at any time or place. This is the faith that the Tanakh teaches, especially since the loss of the Temple.

The opposite view is one that crops up a lot in Kabbalah, that God is transcendent, entirely other, and reachable only through certain mystical rituals and prayers. This is smells and bells, it's been around for a long time, but it's not really Judaism - more an offshoot.

I know which view I favour, and I also know enough chemistry to just snort derisively at kabbalah water.

Will do.

This evening? Hey, you're in Scotland. What time is it over there. 1:30pm over here. I only woke up an hour ago.

5am. You're in South Australia or NT?

5am. You're in South Australia or NT?

SA. What are you doing up at 5am?

SA. What are you doing up at 5am?

Breaking God's law it would seem, given the day of the week! Ahem.

Suffering from insomnia.

Breaking God's law it would seem, given the day of the week! Ahem.

Suffering from insomnia.

Can't help you there. I've never had that problem. I've got to go. Might speak to you some other time. Always nice to talk to a Scot. :fluffle:

http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=9088712&postcount=4
Let's put the official kibosh on the resurging "Ask a ... whatever" threads again. They've been banned at least twice, and they seem to be starting once again.

"Ask a ..." threads will be locked, moved to spam, deleted, or whatever the mod feels is appropriate. Spam warnings and forumbans may be issued for egregious offenders.

That is all.

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