Many people struggle with some things because they do not fit in with their mindset of the religious/social/political set they have chosen to adhere to.
a. We die and that’s it.
There is no afterlife, no meeting up with relatives, no infinite life in paradise/heaven/ambrosia/valhalla or any of the other scenarios we have created. We experience a loss of consciousness every night. Death is when we don’t wake up from it.
b. The earth is warming and this will have catastrophic effects of civilisation and wildlife.
Whatever Trump might wish in his desire to make money out of old polluting technologies and to win votes from disillusioned voters left on the rubbish heap by history, global warming is real and the world is in grave danger. The greenhouse effect is real but we do have the technology to put things right – we just lack the will.
c. Human beings are flawed and dangerous.
We seem to have a great love of violence and our lives are ruled by selfish greed, a battle for status and power and love of inflicting pain. Any really intelligent species would run the world a lot better. There would be no war, poverty, pollution of environmental disaster. History clearly shows that we have a genetic flaw. We have always made a mess of things. We elect psychopaths to lead us and are led by fear, hate and revenge.
We are nuts. We are destroying the very thing we depend on to live.
d. Evolution is real.
The human body is far from perfect and obviously not designed (unless by an inept and malicious designer eg.:
One opening into the lungs connected to the digestive tract so we choke easy (evolved from a swim bladder)
Excretory, reproductive and egestory opening in the same place so that our reproductive system is tainted with urine and faeces (evolved from a common cloaca)
Brain stuck out on a flimsy vulnerable neck prone to breaking resulting in paralysis (result of evolutionary cephalisation)
Joints and spine not adapted to walking upright hence they wear out and we end up we slipped discs, spinal problems and the need for new hips and knees (evolved from apes who moved more like chimps – on all fours)
I could go on with a long list of ‘design’ faults! Evolution is a bit arbitrary. We function imperfectly but we function. The faults extend to cellular and molecular anomalies – genetic defects, cancers and various disease – all of which all faults.
d. Science knows much more than religion.
Religion was born out of superstition. Science is born out of investigation, observation and testing of results. Science can be replicated and is based on the verifiable. Religion is a mixture of wishful thinking and guesswork.
e. The earth is not flat. We did land on the moon. The Nazis were ultra right-wing. The genocide of 6 million Jews did happen. The CIA did not blow up the Twin Towers. The Russians are interfering with Western elections. Covid vaccinations only have a small risk. Vaccinations have transformed our survival rates for numerous diseases with very little risk. Immigrants are not all rapists, murderers and drug dealers. These are all conspiracy theories.
f. The election was not stolen from Trump. The counting of the legitimate postal votes came late after the other counts and were predominantly Biden votes. The Republicans had dissuaded their voters from using postal votes.
g. Gun ownership does not make anybody safer. It merely arms criminals, psychopaths, political/religious extremists and those who are mentally/emotionally unstable. The statistics show how crazy it is.
h. The American constitution was written hundreds of years ago and really is no suited to modern-day civilisation.
i. Populist politicians like Trump, Johnson, Oban, Erdogan……….. spread lies about immigrants, election fraud, trans people, in order to spread hate and fear and drum up support. It’s an age-old tactic. Their simplistic, draconian policies do not solve problems but are geared to pull the triggers for emotional responses.
Your a is a basic tenet of Judaism/Reform Judaism, I understand
Really? that’s interesting.
What is the difference between the Torah, Talmud, and Mishnah?
Marc Lipshitz Been involved in counter missionary work for 20+ years
First you need to understand what the Mishnah is. When Moshe received the Torah on Har Sinai he spent forty days and nights studying it and getting taught the performance and explanations of it. Thus when he came down he had two things- the written Torah and the explanations and details of its performance. The written Torah is what is also known as the “Chamishe Sifrei Torah”, commonly translated as “The Five Books of Moses”.
The explanations and details of performance were only passed on orally and are commonly referred to as the Oral Torah. Before the Bar Kochba revolt which resulted in the massive exile of the Jews 80 or so years after the destruction of the Second Temple Rabbi Akivah organized the oral law into a more organized and easier to teach format.
After the Bar Kochba revolt with the bulk of the Jews in exile in different places (the difference to the prior Babylonian exile was that there the bulk of the Jews were in one place, albeit outside of Israel) there was a fear that the oral Torah would be forgotten or altered, so Rebbi Yehudah HaNasi, the head of the Sanhedrin at the time, compiled the Oral Torah into the form we have today and we refer to this written compilation of the Oral Torah as the Mishnah.
However, there was discussion on its application, philosophy, ethics, what to do in different situations, the trying to grasp the essence of the law so it could be utilized in different, unenvisaged situations, the mysticism and the practical. These discussions were recorded in the Gemorah. This is how we get to the Talmud- it consists of two main parts- the Mishnah and then the associated Gemorah to that Mishnah.
In modern editions there are also multiple commentaries, footnotes, cross references to passages in the Torah, prophets and scriptures when they are mentioned etc. Typically it is published in 20 volumes- the ArtScroll translation is 73 volumes! It is not something that you just read but something that requires intense study and a teacher so you know how to study and understand the methodology utilized in the Talmud.
Moshe Kerr: No. Totally incorrect. Rabbi Yechuda named his Mishna based upon the בנין אב/precedent that Moshe Rabbeinu named דברים the Mishna Torah — which means common law. The Mishna codified by Rabbi Yechuda in 210 ce follows the משנה תורה common law model established by the Book of דברים. Common law legal system stand upon precedents. The Hebrew for precedent: בנין אב.
The Gemara, compiled by a later set of scholars AFTER Rabbi Yechuda “sealed” the Mishna, based upon the precedents of the sealing of the T’NaCH, caused Rav Ashi and Rav Ravina to seal the Gemara in about 450 ce. The purpose of sealing this Oral Torah methodology of common law, to prevent a perversion of the seal masoret/traditions from counterfeit imposters like the New Testament replacement theology to pervert the seal masoret/traditions unto tumah avoda zarah.
A second primary purpose of sealing the masoret/traditions: that all down stream generations of Israel inherit the identical masoret, thereby preventing an equal Av tumah avoda zarah commonly known as ירידות הדורות – understood that later generations cannot dispute the rulings made by earlier generations. This Av-tumah avoda zarah collapses when confronted with Oral Torah logic which validates that no one generation enjoys a monopoly of Torah logic over later generations.
The correct understanding of ירידות הדורות refers to the idea of “domino effect”.
Talmud, which means learning (Yeshivot fail to learn Talmud, when they study Gemara.), the Gemara brings halachic precedents from across the Sha’s Bavli as precedents. The purpose of the precedents, the Common Law Baali Tosafot commentary/criticism of Rashi p’shat on the Talmud, fundamentally erred and failed to learn a halachic precedent to re-interpret משנה תורה the k’vanna of the language of the Home Mishna which the Gemara brings outside precedent halachic sources to re-interpret the k’vanna of the language of Rabbi Yechuda’s specific Mishna.
This failure of Reshonim scholarship went across the board, some Reshonim better than others. The B’hag, Rif, Rosh common law halachic commentaries, like the Baali Tosafot – correctly learned and understood the Gemara commentary to a specific Mishna as Common law. Not so the super-commentaries written on these excellent Reshonim scholarship of Talmudic common law. The later scholars confused and perverted Talmudic common law unto Roman statute law. Students in Yeshivot across the world, never receive any instruction which differentiates between T’NaCH/Talmudic common law from Roman statute law. A most basic and fundamental error. Which has plagued g’lut Jewry down through the Ages.
In like manner, and equally as bad: the Reshonim scholars abysmally failed to discern (One and All, they failed to make the מאי נפקא מינא הבדלה with discerns “like from like” the basis which observance of all Torah and halachic mitzvot most fundamentally require. A most basic and fundamental error. Which has plagued Jewry down through the Ages. The Av/toldot relationship between tohor time-oriented from positive & negative toldot commandments.
Even Rashi’s common law commentary to the Chumash (as opposed by his טיפש פשט reading of the Talmud. Rashi changed his sh’itta of p’shat as learned from to Chumash and contrasted by his sh’itta of p’shat made upon the Talmud! Reshonim scholarship disgracefully failed to note this fundamental contradiction in Rashi scholarship. Proof that the Reshonim learning had derailed itself and gone off-track. Why? Because the Reshonim and later rabbinic lackeys failed to understand how the concept of ירידות הדורות refuted the Xtian avoda zarah known as “Free Will”.
A colossal error made by a great Jewish leader: be it King Shlomo who built an assimilated Catholic Cathedral or the Rambam who perverted Talmudic common law unto Roman statute law. Once a great sage/leader worships avoda zarah, (Shlomo perverted the priority of establishment of Federal Great/Small Sanhedrin courtrooms as the k’vanna of building the Beit HaMikdash), the Av tumah of this perversion which validates the 2nd Sinai Commandment, all down-stream generations likewise pursue this Av-tumah avoda zarah abomination, from generation to generation to generation! Hence the concept of ירידות הדורות invalidates the Xtian dogmatism of “Free Will”.
The Torah mitzva of Moshiach does not learn from a NaCH source. Torah mitzvot learn from Torah sources. Why? Because Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest of all prophets. The failure of Reshonim scholarship to correctly grasp how the Chumash learns, proof of the cursed existence of g’lut Jewry who lacked the wisdom to do mitzvot לשמה.
The Torah operates upon a most basic: Av/Toldot relationship. The Book of בראשית, together with the tohor time-oriented commandments codification known as the Siddur, commands Av tohor time-oriented commandments. “Time” not tied to a watch, but rather to crisis situations which threaten the chosen Cohen people with Shoah; like Akadat Yitzak, or the mitzva to remove the sciatic nerve! The latter explained by targum Uziel. Esau approach “toast” Yaacov with an Army lead by 400 officers. NaCH precedents D’vorah and HaDassah whose רשות מצוה defines the k’vanna of תפילת ערבית according to rabbi Yehoshua. Av tohor time-oriented commandments learn from women that doing mitzvot with k’vanna — a רשות rather than a חיוב.
In the defence of the Reshonim: in the Gemara of ערבין the Baali Tosafot did not know how Rav Ashi could change the dispute between Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yose haGelili. According to the כלל, the halacha should follow the opinion of r. Akiva. The Baali Tosafot clearly did not have access to the Targum Uziel. Otherwise, they would have understood that Rav Ashi’s recognition that Uziel agreed with the opinion expressed by rabbi Yose haGelili and therefore changed the halacha expressed in that halachic dispute as recorded in the Gemara of ערובין.
Therefore, the First Book of the Torah serves as the אב טהור זימן גרמא מצוות. The second, third, and forth Books of the Torah serves as the תולדות מצוות; hence the B’hag ruled in his Hilchot G’dolot: that 100 blessings, nar shabbat, nar hannuka, kre’at m’gillah, etc qualify as mitzvot from the Torah!
The Rambam, whose Yad Chazaka perversion worshipped avoda zarah: understood as a) assimilation b) intermarriage with Goyim, as opposed to the Xtian abomination which erroneously translates avoda zarah as idolatry; the 30 year-war slaughtered as many as did WWI when western Europe’s population about 1/3rd of 20th Century Eupean populations, over a debate over the catholic cruxifics and worship of saints.
The Rambam abomination of avoda zarah assimilation to ancient Greek logic, that fool did not understand the kabbalah of how Rabbi Akiva’s פרדס interprets the k’vanna of the revelation of the Oral Torah at Horev. A most basic and fundamental error. Which has plagued Jewry down through the Ages.
The last and 5th Book of the Written Torah משנה תורה commands the generations to learn the Torah through the wisdom of common law ie Rabbi Yechuda and the Gemara sages as codified in the Talmud.
The gravity of ירידות הדורות avoda zara, this question fails to address the Midrashic scholarship which defines the contribution made by the Geonim. As a loom has a warp/weft relationship, the Talmud has halacha/aggadita relationship. Midrash functions as the Geonim scholarship which delved into the Aggadic portion of the Talmud. Yeshivot across the world do not know how to learn, not only Midrash as the primary source-commentary which links the דרוש-פשט with T’NaCH prophetic mussar; like as learns Rashi’s Chumash p’shat. As contrasted by the halachic Oral Torah logic of רמז-סוד. A most basic and fundamental error. Which has plagued Jewry down through the Ages.
Hi Moshe. Good to see that you haven’t been massacred yet. See you’re still dabbling in religious nonsense though.
You confuse the pursuit of judicial justice with religion. LOL As erroneous as day from night.
All related and part of the same evil. Where does this ‘law’ stem from?
From the revelation of the Torah at Sinai. The basis of all Jewish culture and customs.
There you are – religion!!
Opher: [There you are – religion!!] No. Israel left the judicial injustice of Egyptian slavery for the explicit purpose of ruling the land of Canaan with judicial common law justice. This shares absolutely nothing with religion.
OK – but it emanates from religion, so is surely permeated with it??
No. Torah functions as the ideal for a Written Constitution of the Jewish Republic of Israel. Talmud serves as the model for lateral common law courts judicial system in Israel. Religion, an abomination developed by rabbis in the Middle Ages in Europe and North Africa.
OK.
michael9murray writes:[Your a is a basic tenet of Judaism/Reform Judaism, I understand]
As a secular Israeli, we view Reform Judaism as a post Napoleon freed the Jews from the Ghetto, Judaism. This Reform Judaism famous for declaring in the early 20th Century that Berlin was their New Jerusalem! Israel a secular state NOT a religious state. Torah understood as Jewish ‘political science’ which establishes the Constitutional/Judicial theory of the Jewish state.
There are inherent inconsistencies in this stance: the two most obvious being – the law stems from religion and the whole premise on which Israel is founded on is the Biblical claim to the land.
I am all for a secular Israel free of the extremism of orthodox Jews. I am all for the existence of Israel. I am all for a two state solution in which all are seen as equal. I am opposed to all violence – The Hamas terrorist thugs, the Iranian threats, the belligerent Arabs, the militant Muslim extremists of ISIS etc and the belligerence and racism (the genocide) of the Jewish Government (ruled by warmongering extremists and religious fanatics).
Common law stems from courtroom rulings. Courts share nothing in common with religion(s). And if they do, then those court inherently corrupt.
Orthodox Judaism lost its good name reputation prior to the Shoah with Orthodox opposition to Zionism.
Bunk on the 2-state solution. Israel aint defeated post war Nazi Germany.
Post ’67 War this Israeli victory radically changed the balance of power in the Middle East to the detriment of England and France. Recall the ’56 War where England and France attempted to steal the Suez canal away from Nasser’s Egypt. Post ’67 France and England introduced UN Resolution 242 – the basis of all anti-Israel UN condemnations thereafter.
I am aware of the impact of the Suez War. How did the 67 one affect the UK??
The ’67 War radically changed the balance of power in the Middle East in Israel’s favor. Europe down graded from first world to 2nd world status.
It certainly changed the balance of power!!
The Torah mitzva of Moshiach clearly defined.
As the Mishna has its Gemara, so too the Prophets have their Holy Writings. This the Way, how to correctly learn the T’NaCH.
Talmudic common law not a surface reading of law books! Common law stands upon the יסוד of learning by means of outside בנין אב precedents. Herein explains how the Gemara of the Talmud learns each and every Mishna!
The 3 major prophets compare to the Avot of בראשית. The 12 minor prophets: to the sons of Yaacov toldot. In the Holy Writing the Book of תהלים likewise an Av Sefer. A ‘Gemarah’ of Holy Writings, to this ‘Mishna’ prophetic sugya Isaiah 11:1-9: תהלים צ: ונבא לבב חכמה; the tefillah of Moshe Rabbeinu.
The xtian perversion of their bibles which translates in all cases: prayer – in the stead of tefillah. Wrong, just that simple. Tefillah a tohor time-oriented Torah commandment. Prayer a praise like reading prayers found in the Book of Psalms. Reading “Psalms” not a tohor time-oriented Torah commandment. Just that simple.
The dedication of the tohor time-oriented Torah commandment of Moshiach: The unification of the divided Houses of Yechuda and Israel. Isaiah 11:10 – 12:6: According to Midrash, the Moshiach must give Goyim two commandments: like lulav and building a Sukkah. Which “Goyim” does the Midrash refer, seeing that all Goyim reject the revelation of the Torah at Sinai? Answer: the 10 Tribes of Israel which rejected the korban Moshiach dedication of the House of David to unify the divided houses of Israel.
Herein explains the second sugya ישעיה יא:יא – יב:ו. Moshiach a tohor time-oriented commandment stands upon the Torah בנין אב||precedent|| of korbanot. King David the Av Moshiach and all the kings as found in the Books of מלכים toldot Moshiach. The mitzva of Moshiach applies equally, straight across the board, to all generations of Israel. To do this Torah time-oriented Moshiach commandment: Israel does not “wait for the coming of any Moshiach”.
The abomination of the Xtian church waits for the 2nd coming of JeZeus. This Av-tumah avoda zarah share no part with the Torah time-oriented commandment of Moshiach as a mitzva to all generations of the Jewish people to live and do in their own lives upon this Earth.
This tohor time-oriented Torah Moshiach commandment – in our hands to Create the World from nothing. תמיד מעשה בראשית. Wake up and smell the coffee.
The relationship between the Prophets and the Holy Writings is analogous to that of the Mishna and Gemara in the Talmud. The Prophets serve as the “Mishna,” while the Holy Writings function as the “Gemara.” The structure of the Prophets and Holy Writings parallels the Avot (patriarchs) and the Toldot (12 Tribes, sons of Yaakov) in the Torah. The Book of Tehillim (Psalms) serves as a “Primary text” in relation to the Prophetic books, while the Toldot Books of the Tanakh function as support texts, similar to how the Gemara supports the Mishna. The Mishna has greater authority than the Gemara.
The secondary Moshiach kings in the Book of Kings – do they follow the Av Moshiach of the pure/righteous David, or the Av Moshiach of the impure/unrighteous Saul? This qualifies as a crucial distinction. The kings that follow in the line of the Av Moshiach David are seen as the legitimate, pure Moshiach rulers. Whereas those who follow the line of the Av Moshiach Saul are considered impure and illegitimate.
The toldot Torah commandments compare to the house of Shaul. Whereas the Avot Torah time-oriented commandments compare to the Av Book of בראשית and the Av Book – the Siddur. Both command tohor time-oriented commandments rather than positive or negative commandments which do not require k’vanna.
The mitzvah (commandment) of Moshiach applies to all generations of Israel, not just a passive waiting for a future event. The “abomination of avoda zarah” refers to the Av tumah (impure spirits which emanate from the heart) that defiles the 2nd Commandment against worshiping other gods/soul of Man. The mitzvah (commandment) of Moshiach applies to all generations of Israel, not just a passive waiting for a future event.
King Shlomo (Solomon) followed the Av Tumah (impure spirit) of the Moshiach Shmuel, not the pure Av Moshiach tohor (righteous) spirit of David. When King Shlomo profaned the Torah dedication of the true Moshiach by building an assimilated “House of Wood and Stone” – essentially an idolatrous structure, he failed to uphold the Moshiach’s Torah dedication to pursue justice through the common law Sanhedrin courtrooms. The Torah defines “FAITH” not as blind belief, but as the judicial justice system where the Sanhedrin courts enforce fair compensation of damages inflicted by one Israelite upon another.
Shlomo’s actions a clear deviation from the true Moshiach model laid out by the mussar of Natan the prophet & David. The focus T’NaCH common law mussar & Talmudic common law halacha, razor sharp k’vanna upon ruling our people with judicial justice. This the central bedrock upon which stands the Torah’s conception of faith. Theological belief Creeds and dogmas, an Av Tumah Torah abomination of avoda zarah; which defines the historic oppression practiced throughout the cruel bloody history of both Xtianity and Islam.
The Torah concept of “faith” as centered around the judicial justice system of the Sanhedrin courts, Worlds of separation separates this concept of faith from the “blind belief” characteristic of theological dogmas like the Christian Trinity, dogmatized in the Nicene Creed or strict Muslim Monotheism concerning Muhammad as the prophet and no other God other than Allah.
Xtianity and Islam murdered countless genocides to enforce their evil decree, upon what a Man must believe.
Specifically, the strict Monotheism professed in Christianity and Islam violates and profanes the 2nd Sinai Commandment against the worship of other gods. If only one God, as Islam demands, then the commandment against worshipping other gods becomes meaningless and worthless.
This highlights a key fundamental difference between the Torah’s approach to faith, from the theological dogmas of other Abrahamic religions. Faith in the Torah simply rooted in the system of judicial justice and fair compensations of damages. Not blind adherence to metaphysical or philosophical claims about the divine.
In a court of law, what an individual “believes”, utterly irrelevant and gossip hearsay evidence. Torah courtrooms focus upon presentation of logical prior judicial courtroom rulings and eye-witness testimony as facts. The pursuit of objective judicial justice dedicated to enforcement of fair compensation for damages inflicted and suffered. Not personal theological convictions concern belief in imaginary theological God constructs.
Simply no commandment anywhere within the Torah to “believe” in any God. The nature of the Divine, utterly beyond the comprehension of the human mind, just as an ant cannot grasp human languages. Torah “faith” has nothing to do with belief in a deity, but rather centers on the obligation to uphold righteous judicial justice and pursue the fair compensation of damages, through common law Sanhedrin courts.
This Torah conception of faith, it stands in stark contrast to the theological dogmas like the Trinity or strict Monotheism which define Xtianity and Islam. These latter Av tumah avoda zarah religions viewed as “worthless philosophical speculations” rather than the practical application of justice. The Torah’s kabbalistic פרדס logic system, as exemplified by Rabbi Akiva kaballah, fundamentally different from the Greco-philosophical traditions as expressed through the works of Plato and Aristotle.
The Mishna serves as a codification of the common law judicial rulings made by the Sanhedrin courtrooms.
The Gemara then provides a study and analysis of how these common law Mishnaic rulings compare to other similar common law judicial decisions made by smaller Sanhedrin court rooms, in contrast to the rulings of the Mishnaic Great Sanhedrin. The Torah’s conception of “faith” is grounded in this practical application of righteous justice through the Sanhedrin legal system, rather than abstract theological beliefs. The Talmud codifies and examines this common law judicial tradition.
The core function of the Sanhedrin common law courts, as reflected in the Talmud, is to adjudicate cases by comparing them to similar judicial precedents and rulings made in previous cases. This system of common law, which evaluates new cases in light of prior legal precedents, the key legal aspect of how the Torah’s conception of “faith” manifests itself through the practical application of justice in the Sanhedrin courtrooms. Rather than relying on blind theological beliefs, the Sanhedrin courts uphold the Torah’s vision of “faith” by carefully examining new cases in reference to the evolving body of common law rulings and precedents documented in the Mishna and Gemara.
This emphasis on precedent-based jurisprudence, rather than abstract dogma, the critical distinction which distinguishes and separates the Torah’s approach of “faith” contrasted by the blind belief systems Av tumah avoda zarah as expressed by the other religious “sister religions”, traditions of tumah and oppression of minority theological opposition belief systems.
The Spanish inquisition despised justice. Similar vanity: The St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre: where Catholic mobs focused their murder hate against protestant Huguenots. This abomination of injustice, so resembles the annual Blood libel pogroms Xtians across Europe made against Jewish communities.