Ask Moshe

UtahLama · April 18, 2012, 4:47pm

This is more of a combo question, but in Israel…everybody is required to serve a 2 year military service regardless of religion correct?

Is there friction among the non-Jews serving with Jews as brothers in arms? I.E. special accommodations (for religious reasons) for Jews vs. non-Jews?

Jewbacca · April 18, 2012, 4:51pm

[quote]UtahLama wrote:
This is more of a combo question, but in Israel…everybody is required to serve a 2 year military service regardless of religion correct? Is there friction among the non-Jews serving with Jews as brothers in arms? I.E. special accommodations (for religious reasons) for Jews vs. non-Jews?[/quote]

Only Jewish people and Druze are REQUIRED to serve in the military; others volunteer.

Historically, the arabs (probably 1/3 Christian and 2/3 muslim) did not join, but now the Christians are joining, I think largely because of what is happening to their families in neighboring countries/the PA.

The IDF is overtly secular (just like 50% of Israelis), and makes accomodations regardless of religion.

Tiribulus · April 18, 2012, 5:11pm

How will you know when the messianic prophecies, particularly of Isaiah let’s say, are being and have been fulfilled?

florelius · April 18, 2012, 5:12pm

[quote]Jewbacca wrote:

[quote]florelius wrote:
Another question here from me.

Are the samaritarian people considered jewish? [/quote]

They are considered Jewish by the State of Israel and, I believe, by the certain (but not all) of the religious authorities.

To bring this back some of the issues discussed on the thread, the issue there is many of them were “half Jewish” (dad only) descendants from Babylonian wives and (they and their families) were expelled from Jerusalem upon the return from captivity.*

They also have a highly-altered Torah.

As an aside, since they have a different Temple (not the Temple Mount), they still practice the Passover offerings. You can see them on Youtube.

Edit:

I do want to note they claim descent from two or more of the Northern Tribes of Israel, but that is disputed. They did a DNA analysis, and it appears they are (shock) a mix of Jewish and Assyrian, just like the Bible says. Mostly, they were forcibly converted to Islam and are probably the only legitimately “native” muslim residents of Nablis.[/quote]

So to get it right, there are muslims in Nablis who are samaritarians today and that wiew themself as samaritarians? I did not know that if thats the case, I thought the samaritarians all belonged to their own version of judaism( if its possible to say that ) and that they are very few( like just a couple of hundred individuals or so ).

Ps. If Dna testing shows that they are part hebrew, then they technically are descendants from the ancient hebrew people. Same as I am a descentandt from the old norsemen even thoug I have ancenstry from other groups of people( german for instance ).

Jewbacca · April 18, 2012, 5:50pm

[quote]florelius wrote:
So to get it right, there are muslims in Nablis who are samaritarians today and that wiew themself as samaritarians? [/quote]

No, there are muslims in Nablis whose recent ancestors were Samaritans, but converted to Islam to avoid persecution and death under Turkish rule, just like there are muslims in Bethlem who just converted from Christianity to avoid persecution and death under PA rule.

There are Samaritans (a couple thousand) in Israel who still practice their version of Judaism.

[quote]
Ps. If Dna testing shows that they are part hebrew, then they technically are descendants from the ancient hebrew people. Same as I am a descentandt from the old norsemen even thoug I have ancenstry from other groups of people( german for instance ). [/quote]

Yes, and their origin was never in dispute — they are a mix of Jewish and Assyrian peoples, just like it says in the Bible.

Again (and this is an oversimpligication): (1) Babylonians conquered Israel, (2) took the skilled workers to Babylon as slaves, (3) after a period of time, the Jewish people were permitted to return to Israel, (4) some of them had (against Jewish law) taken Assyrian wives, (5) those who would not renounce their wives (or their wives would not convert), were expelled from Jerusalem; and (6) it is from this mixed group we get the Samaritans.

(The Samaritans were also colonist from Assyria who integrated into the non-skilled Jewish families that the Babylonian slavers left behind.)

florelius · April 18, 2012, 5:51pm

^okay I understand.

Jewbacca · April 18, 2012, 6:13pm

[quote]Tiribulus wrote:
How will you know when the messianic prophecies, particularly of Isaiah let’s say, are being and have been fulfilled?[/quote]

Lots of ways. This is a partial copy-and-paste job from a Jewish apologetic website, for which I apologize:

The mashiach will be a great political leader descended from King David (Jeremiah 23:5). The mashiach is often referred to as “mashiach ben David” (mashiach, son of David). He will be well-versed in Jewish law, and observant of its commandments (Isaiah 11:2-5). He will be a charismatic leader, inspiring others to follow his example.

The mashiach will bring about the political and spiritual redemption of the Jewish people by bringing us back to Israel and restoring Jerusalem (Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:8; 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5). He will establish a government in Israel that will be the center of all world government, both for Jews and gentiles (Isaiah 2:2-4; 11:10; 42:1). He will rebuild the Temple and re-establish its worship (Jeremiah 33:18). He will restore the religious court system of Israel and establish Jewish law as the law of the land (Jeremiah 33:15).

This age will be characterized by the peaceful co-existence of all people (Isaiah 2:4). Hatred, intolerance and war will cease to exist. Some authorities suggest that the laws of nature will change, so that predatory beasts will no longer seek prey and agriculture will bring forth supernatural abundance (Isaiah 11:6-11:9). Others, however, say that these statements are merely an allegory for peace and prosperity.

All of the Jewish people will return from their exile among the nations to their home in Israel (Isaiah 11:11-12; Jeremiah 23:8; 30:3; Hosea 3:4-5). The law of the Jubilee will be reinstated.

The whole world will recognize as the only true G-d, and the Jewish religion (together with Noahdic observance) as the only true religion (Isaiah 2:3; 11:10; Micah 4:2-3; Zechariah 14:9).

There will be no murder, robbery, competition or jealousy. There will be no sin (Zephaniah 3:13).

Here is where that is from:

As an aside, lots of Jewish folk (chiefly ones expelled from muslim countries) were convinced David Ben-Gurion might be the mosiach, despite his insistance otherwise.

Jewbacca · April 18, 2012, 8:40pm

[quote]Cortes wrote:
Does Judaism contain a clearly delineated system of determining one’s salvation? [/quote]

Not really. Judaism is not focused on the question of how to get into heaven.

We perform the mitzvot because it is our privilege and our sacred obligation to do so. We perform them out of a sense of love and duty – “be not like servants who serve their master for the sake of receiving a reward; instead, be like servants who serve their master not for the sake of receiving a reward, and let the awe of G-d be upon you.”

That said, yes there is theology of the afterlife:

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.

My understand is as follows (again, I am heavily cut-and-pasting for speed):

The righteous of all nations have a share in the Olam Ha-Ba (the World to Come).

The place of spiritual reward for the righteous is often referred to in Hebrew as Gan Eden (GAHN ehy-DEHN) (the Garden of Eden). This is not the same place where Adam and Eve were; it is a place of spiritual perfection. Specific descriptions of it vary widely from one source to another. One source says that the peace that one feels when one experiences Shabbat properly is merely one-sixtieth of the pleasure of the afterlife. Other sources compare the bliss of the afterlife to the joy of sex or the warmth of a sunny day.

Only the very righteous go directly to Gan Eden.

The average person descends to a place of punishment and/or purification, generally referred to as Gehinnom (guh-hee-NOHM) (in Yiddish, Gehenna), but sometimes as She’ol or by other names. According to one mystical view, every sin we commit creates an angel of destruction (a demon), and after we die we are punished by the very demons that we created. Some views see Gehinnom as one of severe punishment, a bit like the Christian Hell of fire and brimstone. Other sources merely see it as a seperation from G-d, where you see the harm that we have done and the opportunities we missed, and experience remorse for our actions.

Only the utterly wicked do not eventually ascend; their souls are punished for an extended period. Sources differ on what happens at the end the extended period: some say that the wicked soul is utterly destroyed and ceases to exist while others say that the soul continues to exist in a state of consciousness of remorse.

I would assume Hitler falls under the category of “utterly wicked,” but G-d forgives a lot.

Jewbacca · April 18, 2012, 9:01pm

[quote]Cortes wrote:
Is there some system for the forgiveness of sins beyond just personal prayer and sincerity?
[/quote]

This is an odd question for me to answer; I think this is coming from the Christian idea that Temple sacrifices, et al, (e…g., the Paschel lamb) were done for forgiveness of sin.

This is a misunderstanding.

The Temple sacrifices made one ritually clean, so one could pray, ask forgiveness, repent, and (as part of repentence) do the best one can do to repair the harm you have caused by your sin.

All the lambs in the world won’t make up (and never did) for intentional sin and G-d doesn’t care about such sacrifices. He cares about a repentent heart.

Obviously there is a big pagan shrine sitting on top of the Temple Mount, making the sacrifices impossible, but it is still possible to pray, repent, and repair.

Tiribulus · April 18, 2012, 9:04pm