Posted on 12/29/2016 8:19:15 AM PST by Read Write Repeat
Rabbi Tovia Singer responds to a former Arab Muslim woman regarding her conversion to Conservative Judaism.
That's tempting for me! There is one question (well more than one but this is the biggest) I've always had about Judaism but the few times I've asked it of Jews I've either been scorned or ignored. If this is in any way offensive tell me please but it is ultimately a question out of ignorance.
I do believe Jews are waiting for the Messiah to come yes? Since I believe this is correct this is my real question: how will you know who is the Messiah when he is born? Will he be born into a particular family or is there some test he will have to pass when he reaches the age of reason?
Or will be simply he known "after the fact" so to speak, that is, after he saves all the Jewish people and restores the Kingdom of Israel? (Which is I believe what his function is to be although I'd appreciate correction there too if needed)
Thanks in advance. Again, it's always something I've wondered about your religion.
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/1188356/jewish/Melachim-uMilchamot-Chapter-11.htm
...If a king will arise from the House of David who diligently contemplates the Torah and observes its mitzvot as prescribed by the Written Law and the Oral Law as David, his ancestor, will compel all of Israel to walk in (the way of the Torah) and rectify the breaches in its observance, and fight the wars of God, we may, with assurance, consider him Mashiach.
If he succeeds in the above, builds the Temple in its place, and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the Mashiach.
He will then improve the entire world, motivating all the nations to serve God together, as Tzephaniah 3:9 states: ‘I will transform the peoples to a purer language that they all will call upon the name of God and serve Him with one purpose.’
If he did not succeed to this degree or was killed, he surely is not the redeemer promised by the Torah.
Rather, he should be considered as all the other proper and complete kings of the Davidic dynasty who died.
God caused him to arise only to test the many, as Daniel 11:35 states: ‘And some of the wise men will stumble, to try them, to refine, and to clarify until the appointed time, because the set time is in the future’...
Very interesting I look forward to reading more. Some basic questions: (to be sure I understand this resource correctly)
Is this (what you linked to) a record of the entire Oral Law?
Was this written in the 12th century?
Do all (or at least most) Jews accept this as authoritative, equal to the Torah itself?
Was there anything written later, or is this the “final word” so to speak on what is the Oral Law?
Thank you in advance.
Moses was in supernatural contact with God for several periods of 40 days. He spent 40 years teaching others what God taught him BEFORE he left Torah scrolls as reminder notes. What Moses taught for 40 years before there were Torah scrolls is the heart of ‘Oral Law’. It’s called ‘oral’ because that’s how Moses first taught it, and its transmission must be via an acknowledged teacher.
Think about the attitude one would have toward someone who claimed to be a physician because they had read Harvard medical texts without have been trained there.
Other religions and secularists make up their own versions of Jewish history. Jews that remain Jews from generation to generation do not have an alternative to ‘Oral Law’.
“I do believe Jews are waiting for the Messiah to come yes? Since I believe this is correct this is my real question: how will you know who is the Messiah when he is born? Will he be born into a particular family or is there some test he will have to pass when he reaches the age of reason?”
....It still could be my senior partner... he is son-after-son from King David (we keep track of these things,) an observant fellow... fiesty (fights the wars of G-d...) and used to build houses. I’ll let y’all know.
Though— a traditional answer is that there will be no debate over who the Moshiach is. The world will be transformed and we will all know.
Third temple rebuilt, every single person left standing is a Jew or righteous Gentile, all exiles return to Israel, the world resets to Garden of Eden status.
Mashiach will be from the House of David and completely human, and we’re forbidden from worshipping or praying to Mashiach. The action is one of redemption.
I would be sitting next to Golda Meir right now and having a conversation with her if that happened. That’s the resurrection of the dead.
“Jews that remain Jews from generation to generation do not have an alternative to ‘Oral Law’.”
You’re so right about that, it’s not even funny.
Think of it this way: if all the Oral Law was written down while Moses was in the desert, they would’ve needed many, many more Arks.
Plus all the zotting in place complicated things.
“Do all (or at least most) Jews accept this as authoritative, equal to the Torah itself?”
You cannot observe any of the major Holy Days without the Oral Law.
After going through pretty much all the Jewish movements, I feel confident in saying that it’s up to the individual to perform mitzvot. Getting rid of the Oral Law completely would require reinventing the wheel all over again (yes, I know there are movements that want to do this).
Children must be raised with a Jewish education, or you’re depriving them of a happy life where they know how to make good decisions.
Watch “Srugim” on Amazon Prime if you have it.
How do 'the righteous of all nations' attain this status?
So; this means a NON-human has to die to take away sin?
Oh boy!
And what might these be?
Well; what if He comes back to life again?
Can I read about this somewhere?
So...
...the oral law IS written down?
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/812102/jewish/What-is-the-Oral-Torah.htm
http://www.beingjewish.com/mesorah/1_moses_to_joshua.html
http://www.simpletoremember.com/media/a/Rational_Approach_Divinity_Oral_Tradition-B/
Really? Do you condone the charges made about Christ that i asked you about?
“So; this means a NON-human has to die to take away sin?”
if the Temple is up, it’s animal sacrifice. Since the Temple isn’t up, we have halacha as a substitute. And of course, the Days of Repentance including Yom Kippur.
Oral Law = instructions, judgements, and traditions before and after Sinai. Jews walk and talk, then write when they were about to enter Israel.
Think of an early judge.
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