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Thank You Walter. I'll look around. My concern is I have to be certain it came from an animal that was slaughtered Kosher for it to be halal. At least I know I wont be offending anyone or asking them to compromise their beliefs if I find and buy some.
Since the hind quarter can be butchered to be kosher -- it is in Israel where they do not have as large a hotel/restaurant trade -- it is not a sin to sell the hind quarter as is from a kosher slaughter house to the hotel/restaurant trade.
There are a few, mostly Sephardic kosher butchers, I think, in the U.S. that can and do properly butcher the hind quarter so that it can be sold and eaten as kosher.
Fine, let me rephrase my question (and I would appreciate a response from the OP). What do you (the OP), being an Orthodox Jew, think of Jews who don't take the Torah literally? Are they considered outcasts in your view?
I'm not sure you're asking the right question. At least not the first question you should ask, which is who wrote the Torah? Reform Jews may or may not even have an opinion - certainly no consistency in opinion. Orthodox Jews will pretty uniformly tell you that G-d wrote it.
In terms of taking it literally, that's a loaded question. The written Torah has literal layers, non-literal layers and meanings hiding behind more meanings and so on, like peeling back an onion. And then all of that must be reconciled along side the Oral Torah, also known as the Talmud (which itself is made up of mishnayos and Gamara). So one would be terribly limiting himself if he read the Torah with a strict set of "literal glasses." You miss all the beauty of Torah if you approach it too literally. But do i think all the people listed in it, and all the miracles that occurred in it are non-fiction? For sure - 100%.
I can't speak for the beliefs of Reform Jews - I know very few. But I can tell you no matter what they think about Torah and observance, they are still 100% Jewish, and I certainly have no ill will towards them as a movement. I love and respect reform Jews as much as any other fellow Jews.
i am a christian religious ed teacher and i want to talk to my students about jesus as a practicing jew of his time--where can i get my most accurate information???do i contact a local orthodox or reformed congregation or will my approach to telling students about jesus's jewish background be offensive to those of the jewish faith?
i do get students of mixed background and i want them to explore both their religious heritages
auntieannie, I hate to tell you this, but there is exactly zero Jewish literature discussing Jesus and his time on earth. The Torah doesn't mention him. The epic Talmud, written partially in the time of Jesus, does not mention him. And to this day, a significant number of Jews think Jesus never actually existed. You simply will not find a Jew, and surely not a rabbi, who has much of anything to comment about Jesus' Jewishness.
Re-reading your question, I'm not sure if you want info on Jesus' level of Jewish observance, or just general info on the time period. If the latter, you can go to the The Jewish Website - aish.com,where there's lots of good Jewish history links.
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?
The Nev'im and Ketuvim are different than the Torah itself, since these were written more through divine inspiratin (or prophesy), while the Torah was written by the Al-mighty Himself. But there are so many key learnings in these works that I don't know how one could be a Jew and not recognize their value to a rounded out jewish knowledge.
I'm not sure you're asking the right question. At least not the first question you should ask, which is who wrote the Torah? Reform Jews may or may not even have an opinion - certainly no consistency in opinion. Orthodox Jews will pretty uniformly tell you that G-d wrote it.
In terms of taking it literally, that's a loaded question. The written Torah has literal layers, non-literal layers and meanings hiding behind more meanings and so on, like peeling back an onion. And then all of that must be reconciled along side the Oral Torah, also known as the Talmud (which itself is made up of mishnayos and Gamara). So one would be terribly limiting himself if he read the Torah with a strict set of "literal glasses." You miss all the beauty of Torah if you approach it too literally. But do i think all the people listed in it, and all the miracles that occurred in it are non-fiction? For sure - 100%.
I can't speak for the beliefs of Reform Jews - I know very few. But I can tell you no matter what they think about Torah and observance, they are still 100% Jewish, and I certainly have no ill will towards them as a movement. I love and respect reform Jews as much as any other fellow Jews.
Is that what you were hoping to hear?
I was hoping to get your opinion, and it appears that you have given it. Thanks.
Do you believe that Adam and Eve were real people, that Eve conversed with a talking snake, and that the world was created in the manner spelled out in Genesis? Do you believe that there was a global flood (aka, Noah's flood)? Doesn't the god of the Torah seem like a rather selfish, vindictive sort, with all his revenge killings and such? Considering that the Jews constitute a rather small minority of the world's population, isn't it rather exclusive,Moderator cut: delete to suppose that the Jews, and ONLY the Jews are his chosen people? Just curious.
Last edited by Miss Blue; 12-31-2011 at 12:10 PM..
Reason: deleted "racist"
Do you believe that Adam and Eve were real people, that Eve conversed with a talking snake, and that the world was created in the manner spelled out in Genesis? Do you believe that there was a global flood (aka, Noah's flood)?
I'll start with these questions. Yes, I believe Adam and Chava were real people who actually existed. I believe Gan Eden was a real place. Chava did converse with the "snake," but this wasn't a snake like snakes we know today. For one thing, the snake stood upright on two legs.
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Doesn't the god of the Torah seem like a rather selfish, vindictive sort, with all his revenge killings and such?
You'd have to give me a specific example of what you mean. There's no way for me to speak to such a generality. But by the nature of your question and how you asked it, I can't see how I'm going to be able to overcome the notions you already bring to the table with this question.
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Considering that the Jews constitute a rather small minority of the world's population, isn't it rather exclusive, perhaps even racist, to suppose that the Jews, and ONLY the Jews are his chosen people?
Perhaps you don't understand how the Jews became so dear to Hashem. We understand that before Moses and Mount Sinai, Hashem offered the Torah to the nation of Esau (whose decendants today are generally considered to be Europeans, who are mostly Chrstian), and Esau turned it down. He didn't like the rules that one couldn't murder whoever they wanted. Then hashem offered the Torah to the nation of Ishmael (today's Arabs), and he too turned it down. Then it was offered to Biilam (the Caananites), and he turned it down. Then to all of the 70 nations in the world, and each one of them turned it down. Then the tiny nation of Yakov's decendants said "Naase v'nishma." We will do and we will hear. What does that mean? it means the Jews accepted Hashem's Torah sight unseen. Chrstians focus a lot on this term "chosen," but i rarely if ever hear a Jew say it. I suspect the word chosen has been responsible for many thousands of Jewish deaths at the hands of their Chrstian neighbors over the last 2,000 years. Very sad.
I'll start with these questions. Yes, I believe Adam and Chava were real people who actually existed. I believe Gan Eden was a real place. Chava did converse with the "snake," but this wasn't a snake like snakes we know today. For one thing, the snake stood upright on two legs.
You'd have to give me a specific example of what you mean. There's no way for me to speak to such a generality. But by the nature of your question and how you asked it, I can't see how I'm going to be able to overcome the notions you already bring to the table with this question.
Interesting. How do you reconcile modern psychological knowledge about our negative human emotions born of our human weaknesses with the fact that you seem to believe God has these same weaknesses? I specifically refer to things like jealousy, anger and vengeance. If it is just ignorance of psychology, is it deliberate?
Considering that the Jews constitute a rather small minority of the world's population, isn't it rather exclusive,Moderator cut: orphaned, to suppose that the Jews, and ONLY the Jews are his chosen people? Just curious.
Contrary to popular belief, Judaism does not maintain that Jews are better than other people. Although we refer to ourselves as G-d's chosen people, we do not believe that G-d chose the Jews because of any inherent superiority. According to the Talmud (Avodah Zarah 2b), G-d offered the Torah to all the nations of the earth, and the Jews were the only ones who accepted it. The story goes on to say that the Jews were offered the Torah last, and accepted it only because G-d held a mountain over their heads! (In Ex. 19:17, the words generally translated as "at the foot of the mountain" literally mean "underneath the mountain"!) Another traditional story suggests that G-d chose the Jewish nation because they were the lowliest of nations, and their success would be attributed to G-d's might rather than their own ability. Clearly, these are not the ideas of a people who think they are better than other nations.
Because of our acceptance of Torah, Jews have a special status in the eyes of G-d, but we lose that special status when we abandon Torah. Furthermore, the blessings that we received from G-d by accepting the Torah come with a high price: Jews have a greater responsibility than non-Jews. While non-Jews are only obligated to obey the seven commandments given to Noah, Jews are responsible for fulfilling the 613 mitzvot in the Torah, thus G-d will punish Jews for doing things that would not be a sin for non-Jews.
Last edited by Miss Blue; 12-31-2011 at 12:13 PM..
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