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The whole subject of a messiah is different. The Jewish messiah will be a great man, but that man will be very much human, and we are still obligated to worship only G-d, and not any man, including the messiah.
For us to recognize the messiah, all of the prophecies must come true.
The Jewish messiah will rebuild the Third Temple. Unfortunately, right now, there is an Islamic mosque on the site of where the Temple will be built. Thus, the third Temple prophecy has not been fulfilled.
The messiah will usher in a world of peace. It may be peaceful where many reside on earth, but unfortunately, in Darfur, in the Middle East, and many other places, peace most certainly does not reign. Another prophecy unfulfilled.
When the messiah arrives, everyone on earth (Jews, Christians, Muslims, atheists, Buddhists -- everyone, literally) will recognize the messiah. Needless to say, no person has fulfilled that prophecy.
The messiah will not tell people to pray through him to get to G-d, which is the teaching of Jesus. Again, Jews pray directly to G-d, with no intermediaries.
The messiah will be a descendant of David. However, the Christian messiah had no biological father.
The word "alma" is the Hebrew word for young woman. Unfortunately, when the Torah was translated into Greek, the word was mistranslated into virgin. This means that mortals were impregnated by gods, and the Jewish messiah will descend from human parents via sexual intercourse.
The basis of Jewish belief is the sh'ma, which says that G-d is One. Thus, G-d cannot be composed of three parts (the trinity) or of two parts (the messiah and G-d).
There are many more reasons, but these are just a few.
Hope this helps.
I have a question! What verses in the Torah address these views on the Messiah? I'd like to look them up.
The body is usually buried as soon as possible after death (less than 24 hours) as required by the Torah. Unlike Christian funerals, Jews do not embalm the dead (it is seen as desecrating the body) and the body is not viewed by the mourners.
Ah, I knew I remembered something about how soon the burial must be after death but didn't realize it was as quickly as 24 hrs (that must cause some scheduling hassles if the next day is any kind of holy day, doesn't it?)
Interesting about the embalming and the open casket/viewing, because those are the two things I intensely dislike about Christian funerals. I'm not Jewish but I've left clear instructions that neither of those things are to be done in my case.
Thanks so much for the information; this is a really good thread!
There is no "satan" in Judaism. The Jews believe that there is evil, but a physical embodiment of evil does not exist. The Jewish "hell" is called Gehenna, the name comes from a burning garbage dump that existed outside of Jerusalem thousands of years ago. Gehenna is a place of punishment, it is similar to the Christian hell, but no "devil" is involved. However, not all Jews believe in Gehenna.
Yet Satan in mentioned in Tanakh. How is it, then, that there is no Satan in Judaism?
Yet Satan in mentioned in Tanakh. How is it, then, that there is no Satan in Judaism?
Sorry, I should have been clearer about this...
The "Satan" that is mentioned in the Tanakh represents the force of opposition in life, the force that goes against you, attempts to make you stumble, and challenges your sincerity and perseverance. It is not the physical embodiment of evil (as is the Christian Satan), nor does it rule over hell, it is not evil at all. So if you ask if there is an equal to the Christian Satan in Judaism, the answer is no, because the two "satans" are not at all similar.
Jews are buried in seperate Jewish cemetaries, or seperate sections within a cemetary, usually. A plain pine box and 24 hour burial (if possible). It's a blessing not to leave the deceased unattended. Creamation is not allowed. A piece of small black cloth is pinned to the lapel of the family at the burial site which is torn as a sign of grieving. The Mourners's Kadish [Cod'-ish] is also said. A star of David or a Tree of Life is a common inscription on the gravestone, which is not place on the grave until the first year anniversary. The ceremony for this is called an 'unveiling', with graveside prayers. Kohanim (those descended from the Kohan priestly family) are not allowed to have contact with the dead or enter the cemetary so as not to become unclean unless it's a family member.
Though the funeral is shortlived, there is a full seven days of mourning observed at the family's home where all the family and friends will gather for the week. No work is allowed. This is called 'sitting Shiva' [Shiv'-uh]. Mirrors and tv's are covered with a cloth so as not to be concerned with oneself or distracted from adjusting to one's current reality, a bowl of water is placed at the main door for handwashing, visitors and family spend the day recounting the person's life and giving support, and friends bring/serve food so the grieved don't need to concern themselves with daily tasks during that week. The Mourner's Kadish is said morning and evening for the full seven days at the family's home and people will come by daily especially at those times in order to make a 'minion' [Min'-yun].
[Minion - Ten adult (over 13) male Jews, many now include women in the count, which allow Jewish prayer to be held anywhere, ie, in the form of a congregation with or without a rabbi]
Besides their differences in religion, Jews were also persecuted and oddly enough, tolerated, because Jews were allowed to practice usury, which in its strictest sense, is lending money for interest. Christians in medieval Europe were not permitted to lend money at interest by a ban of the church. Nor could they change money because, again, there's interest involved. If you were a merchant, or noble who was a bit short of cash, you'd either borrow it from your friends for no interests OR, if you were short of friends, you'd go to the Jews. Jews were not bound by church law, which was also frequently civil law so they could do as they wished in some matters. Now if you were powerful enough and thought you could get away with it, and didn't particularly feel like giving back the money you borrowed, you could exile Jews from your fief/dukedom/county/country, but sooner or later they'd be back because let's face it, commerce needs banking. The Catholic church still has not changed its views on usury but now permits it if the loan money is being used for something, "productive."
Muslim law forbids usury to any degree and they instead use a system of Islamic banking that uses a complicated method of getting around the prohibition. Prior to Islamic banking however, once again, Jews were employed for the same reason in Muslim countries where they generally enjoyed better conditions than in Europe.
It was also pointed out that there's a mosque on the site of the former temple in Jerusalem. It's not just any mosque. It's the Dome of the Rock, and ranks as the thrid holiest site in Islam behind Mecca and Medina. Jews believe the rock to be special because that is the place where Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac until his hand was stayed by an angel, thus proving his devotion to God. The exact site of the rock would have been the site of the Holy of Holies in the temple itself. Muslims, however, believe that event took place somewhere else and, instead, Muhammed ascended bodily into heaven from the rock. Christians believe the Temple Mount is holy because an event in the life of Jesus took place there (driving out the money changers) and it was the site of a church founded by St. Helena. In any event, the rock itself is actually a meteorite. Make of that what you will. Though the mosque is now in Israeli hands, observant Jews are asked not to enter the temple mount around it because of its holiness. Otherwise, the temple mount, but not the mosque itself, is open to anyone who wishes to visit it so long as it is not a muslim holy day or services are being held.
Unrelated to this, I have noticed that some people are under the impression that Allah is a different god from that of the Christians and Jews. This is not the case. Allah is the Arabic word for, "god," and Christians and Jews who speak Arabic would use the same word. Islam, by law of Mohammed, recognizes Jews and Christians as worshippers of the same God as Muslims and even accords them special rights under Islamic law because they are worshippers of the same God.
The "Satan" that is mentioned in the Tanakh represents the force of opposition in life, the force that goes against you, attempts to make you stumble, and challenges your sincerity and perseverance. It is not the physical embodiment of evil (as is the Christian Satan), nor does it rule over hell, it is not evil at all. So if you ask if there is an equal to the Christian Satan in Judaism, the answer is no, because the two "satans" are not at all similar.
So the "Satan" mentioned in Job is a personification of adversity? That would make sense. To me, Job seems very much like didactic fiction--a kind of long, elaborate parable.
Just the same, your answer raises another question. In the Christian gospels, Jesus performs a number of exorcisms. At one point his opponents accuse him of doing this by the power of Beelzebub, "The Lord of the Flies." Jesus points out that this is logically impossible, and rhetorically asks his accusers by what power they perform exorcisms.
Since the gospels are of at least partly Jewish origin, they necessarily reflect the frame of reference of Judea/Galilee at the time that they were written. Several things are apparent from the passage to which I refer:
1. The existance of a malevolent spirit called "Beelzebub" was taken for granted;
2. Lesser malevolent spirits were thought to exist and to have the power to spiritually possess a human being;
3. It was believed that such spirits could be expelled through exorcism; and
4. Jews of the time performed exorcisms.
Now it's my understanding that belief in such things was not universal among the Jews of Jesus' time. Judaism's demonology appears to have been adopted from Persian religion; some Jews accepted it, while others didn't. Your answer suggests that the skeptics eventually won out. What do you know about this subject?
Last edited by Bellinghamite; 08-06-2007 at 10:41 AM..
Reason: add precision
Unrelated to this, I have noticed that some people are under the impression that Allah is a different god from that of the Christians and Jews. This is not the case. Allah is the Arabic word for, "god," and Christians and Jews who speak Arabic would use the same word. Islam, by law of Mohammed, recognizes Jews and Christians as worshippers of the same God as Muslims and even accords them special rights under Islamic law because they are worshippers of the same God.
Umm...not the same God. They may call him God and all three may have their roots in the Old Testament but to deny Jesus as God (from the Christian perspective) is denying God all together. Same for the Holy Spirit. In fact, the bible says that the only unforgivable sin is denying the Holy Spirit so that is a big difference.
So the "Satan" mentioned in Job is a personification of adversity? That would make sense. To me, Job seems very much like didactic fiction--a kind of long, elaborate parable.
Just the same, your answer raises another question. In the Christian gospels, Jesus performs a number of exorcisms. At one point his opponents accuse him of doing this by the power of Beelzebub, "The Lord of the Flies." Jesus points out that this is logically impossible, and rhetorically asks his accusers by what power they perform exorcisms.
Since the gospels are of at least partly Jewish origin, they necessarily reflect the frame of reference of Judea/Galilee at the time that they were written. Several things are apparent from the passage to which I refer:
1. The existance of a malevolent spirit called "Beelzebub" was taken for granted;
2. Lesser malevolent spirits were thought to exist and to have the power to spiritually possess a human being;
3. It was possible to expel such spirits through exorcism; and
4. Jews of the time performed exorcisms.
Now it's my understanding that belief in such things was not universal among the Jews of Jesus' time. Judaism's demonology appears to have been adopted from Persian religion; some Jews accepted it, while others didn't. Your answer suggests that the skeptics eventually won out. What do you know about this subject?
Ahhh...now we are getting into Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah.
According to ancient Jewish folklore, a "dybbuk" is a wandering soul that becomes a possessing spirit. The dybbuk either escapes from Gehenna or is turned away, from then on it invades the body of a living person whom it manipulates to complete the tasks that it never had a chance to perform. This is probably what the Christian scripture is referencing.
Ahhh...now we are getting into Jewish mysticism, Kabbalah.
According to ancient Jewish folklore, a "dybbuk" is a wandering soul that becomes a possessing spirit. The dybbuk either escapes from Gehenna or is turned away, from then on it invades the body of a living person whom it manipulates to complete the tasks that it never had a chance to perform. This is probably what the Christian scripture is referencing.
What Christian scripture is referencing this?
What Jewish scripture is referencing this?
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