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To: Piranha

"Jews do not proselytize people of other faiths."
I was speaking of people that had no faith, belonged to no religious affilation...

I Thank You for your post, but I think now I understand

I have heard people say that Many Jews are uncaring and un-feeling maybe they say that because they do not understand like I didn't that in Judiasm there is no obligation to reach out to people and introduce them to GOD.

In Christianity it is a must to reach out to the lost and hopeless and introduce them to GOD his peace, love and forgiveness, at least we are making a start in understanding each other's faiths...


444 posted on 08/03/2004 11:13:39 PM PDT by missyme
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To: missyme
there is no obligation to reach out to people and introduce them to GOD.

Just to clarify, there is a Jewish obligion to reach out to people. After all, it is a Jewish commandment to love your neighbor. Jewish organizational life is famous for introducing free loan societies, free burial societies, charitable food distribution and other social services. Moreover, Jewish communities invariably organize religious schools so that the community children have resources where they can learn about their faith.

It is a Jewish obligation (not just a desirable thing, but an actual Jewish commandment) to give charity, and even to tithe one's income.

Much of the charitable money given by the religious Jewish community goes to support Jewish learning, for example to buy religious books for synagogues or classrooms or to pay for food, clothing and shelter for "kollels", or adult educational centers where married men study all day and therefore earn no money to support their families.

What Jews don't have an obligation to do is, as you write, to "introduce" people to G-d. I do admit, though, that I never have researched this question. There may be a minority rabbinical opinion that Jews do indeed have this obligation, but I never have heard of it.

445 posted on 08/03/2004 11:24:08 PM PDT by Piranha
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