I need some help in the realm of religion. If I can get a person of the judaism faith to answer some q's?

Question

1. Have you practiced this faith your whole life, explain?

2. What kinds of rituals or practices do you do in your faith?

3. What is your thoughts on celebrating holidays; do you and why?

4. What are the differences between your faith and Christianity; in your opinion?

5. Are there things in your faith which you disagree with or don’t necessarily agree?

6. How often do you come together as a group to meet for worship?

7. Are there restrictions in your faith, such as food or modern technology?

8. Have there been advances in your faith from when it was originally started?

9. Do you think there will be more advances in the future, why?

Lastly, do you believe your faith is going to become more universally known and practiced?

1. Do you think your religion is expanding or declining?

2. Do you practice modern religion style or do you practice historical view in your particular religion?

3. Does family history have any involvement in this particular religion?

Answer 1

These are long and difficult questions, so my answer is going to be long.

1. No--when I was younger, my family was not religious at all. Now they're Catholic. I'm the only Jew.

2. Lots of things--keeping kosher, saying brachot, tznius--you can look them all up at www.jewfaq.org

3. Holidays are an important part of our religion, we love to celebrate them. Purim, Hanukkah, Sukkot, Pesach, Rosh HaShana, Shabbat--again, you can read all about them at www.jewfaq.org

4.

Judaism believes that only you can be responsible for your sins. Nobody else can take them on or ask forgiveness on your behalf. Yes, we used to do animal sacrifices SOMETIMES, but most sacrifices were a mix of flour and oil. Still, sacrifice alone cannot atone for sin (and human sacrifice is ABHORRED by G-d). To atone for sins, a person must do teshuva, which includes: 1. recognizing the sin [knowing you did wrong] and feeling remorse for it 2. asking forgiveness of the wrong by the person you wronged (example: if you broke a Jewish law, you apologize to G-d, but if you broke your neighbor's favorite flowerpot, you must apologize to your neighbor for no one else can forgive you) 3. try to right the wrong you did--if you broke the flowerpot, either buy a new one or try to repair the old one sufficiently 4. actively resolve and try not to commit the wrong again--if you broke a law, create a reminder for yourself so that next time the opportunity comes up, you will remember.

Xianity believes to get forgiveness from your sins, you need to ask J*sus because he sacrificed himself for the sins of the world. Judaism thinks that this is crazy.

We do not believe in proselytizing because we believe that nobody has to be Jewish to warrant a place in heaven. A non-Jew has as much right to the World to Come as a Jew does--a Jew just has more rules to follow to get there. We do accept converts (we are NOT a race!!) although it is a hard road because Judaism is a hard life to live. [notice I say life, not religion. Judaism is a way of life, not just a religion.] It takes years of study to convert and the rabbi wants to make sure the convert is sincere because nobody wants to waste at least a year of the rabbi's life (or the convert's life, for that matter). Once you are Jewish you can never be a non-Jew again UNLESS you take on another believe system directly contrary to Judaism's. For example, you can be an atheist but still be Jewish because your believe system does not contradict with Judaism--you do not believe in G-d, but you don't believe in another false god either. But you cannot be a Jewish Xtian because Xtianity is contrary to Judaism. If you are a Jew and suddenly start to believe in Xtianity, you are an apostate and not Jewish unless you repent and come home to Judaism.

Xianity believes that you have to be Xian and accept J*sus as your savior to get into heaven.

(I'm sorry my sentences on Xianity are so short--the Judaism ones just require more explanation, I think)

Of course, Judaism does not believe in the trinity. The belief that G-d can be three gods while still being one doesn't make sense. Xians believe in the trinity.

Oh, and Judaism does not always take the Bible literally. For instance, the creation account. Most of us realize it is not to be taken literally. But in the writings of the prophets, however, they are to be taken literally in most places (unless the scripture says otherwise) because the writings of the prophets are what the prophets actually saw. Xianity does the opposite: takes the creation account literally and the prophets metaphorically (for example, it says that the messiah must re-build the Temple. Obviously, this has not physically happened yet. But Xianity says J*sus rebuilt the Temple in heaven.)

5. Yes

6. Men are supposed to meet three times a day for prayer, women aren't required to meet for prayer but we usually go to Shabbat services, at least the first one if not the other two.

7. Food, yes. see kashrut. Modern technology, only on Shabbat. see melachot.

8. What do you mean by "advances"?

9. See above

10. Probably not. It's too hard for most people to want to take on.

1. Expanding

2. Historical, as much as I can

3. Not really

Peace

Answer 2

4. http://www.convert.org/differ.htm