Jewish thought

It is. The fact you have poor grammar and do not know what grammar is makes my point. Are all right wingers illiterate morons? Yes.

Are spelling, punctuation and capitalization part of grammar?


no. capitalization is not grammar.

No. Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are all part of writing. Writing is not language -- it's the representation of language, which is spoken. In real (i.e, spoken) language there is no spelling, no punctuation, and no capitalization. But there is grammar; the OED definition is correct, because it refers to spoken language.. English grammar applies to the language, whether it's written or spoken; but spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are strictly for writing. Just modern technology, not grammar.
John Lawler
May 10, 2017 at 1:49
 

Are spelling, punctuation and capitalization part of grammar?


no. capitalization is not grammar.

No. Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are all part of writing. Writing is not language -- it's the representation of language, which is spoken. In real (i.e, spoken) language there is no spelling, no punctuation, and no capitalization. But there is grammar; the OED definition is correct, because it refers to spoken language.. English grammar applies to the language, whether it's written or spoken; but spelling, punctuation, and capitalization are strictly for writing. Just modern technology, not grammar.
John Lawler
May 10, 2017 at 1:49
Amazing you prefer to use poor grammar.
 
Amazing you prefer to use poor grammar. <-- sentence fragment
I do reject capitalization. but grammar is more important.

if you were smart you could learn to understand the difference.

sucks for you. <-- sentence fragment
 
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Judaism emphasizes action over belief. Discussions are essential to the goal of deciding what those actions should be.
Judaism begins with the 613 mitzvot (rules to live by), but does not end there. It says, “OK, we understand that we shouldn't work on Shabbat (the sabbath), but what qualifies as ‘work’?” One of the traditional answers is that lighting a fire is a form of work.
(That said, it would be a mistake to consider all this to be critical thinking in any logical or scientific sense. Living a life in accord with the mitzvot is the goal here; understanding the universe is not. Yet the habit of questioning can prepare the mind for more rigorous thought, and a Jew may become less religiously observant and more secular as a result.


  1. Because of our theology, or more accurately our lack of it. In Christian thought, belief is all important. Merely by having an errant thought that God might not actually exist, or that Christ might not be his son, or any other thought that contradicted Church doctrine (like thinking that the earth revolved around the sun), you were committing a grave sin. Since we do not and cannot control what goes through our minds, Christians (until the modern era, and for fundamentalist sects until today) are constantly in danger of sinning every time they indulge in critical thought. We have no such problems, since for us we only sin by actually doing something, not merely thinking about it. Judaism is an action based religion, not a faith based one. We have no original sin, and no state of grace. We have life, and a set of rules, beliefs and values as how best to live it. These have evolved over time, as life and circumstances changed. but however we interpret those values and beliefs, its what we do that matters, not what we think or believe. The only belief required from us is not to believe in the existence of more than one God. In Christianity being an atheist is, in itself a mortal sin. In Judaism it would only be a sin if your reason for not believing in God is because you believe in two or more gods. Bottom line, for centuries Christians avoided critical thought, which easily led to sinning, which leads to guilt feelings, and if you were unlucky, to being burned at the stake. We have never had that problem.
  2. Our history. Since Queen Salome Alexandra aka Shlomtzion (147–61 BCE) introduced compulsory education in Judea, Jews have had a high literacy rate. Whether in a Jewish state, or in the diaspora, literacy among Jewish males was always over 80%. No other Western society reached such levels until the modern age. Literacy promotes learning, which promotes critical thinking.
  3. Our history. Since the final defeat and dissolution of Judea (135 CE), when the center of Jewish life moved to the diaspora, we lived by our skills. Any population that is highly skilled (relative to its time) is going to have a greater propensity for critical thought.
WTF is Melchizedek doing here!
 
I do understand that the Christian perspective on Judaism is that it’s legalistic and judgemental, and where Jesus went and got crucified so y’all wouldn’t have to, the theory you’ve been taught is that Jews still have to be punished for our sins, since our messiah isn’t available to do it for us.

The problems with that view are twofold. The first is that the Christian view on what a messiah is differs markedly from a Jewish one. To the extent that Jews believe in the prospect of a literal, human messiah, at all—as some do—he isn’t someone who gets punished for the things you do wrong. He’s a military and political leader who keeps Jews from getting murdered so much, and ushers in an extended—not necessarily eternal—reign of peace. Jesus fails on literally all of those counts, so he’s clearly not our guy.

Jews don’t believe other people can absorb the burden of our wrongdoing for us. Messiahs or otherwise. Our mistakes are our mistakes, and it’s our job to deal with them.

The Jewish God is not a torturer, and doesn’t threaten people into good behavior with the threat of eternal punishment. More like an attentive kindergarten teacher—if you make a mess, clean it up. If you’re mean to someone, say you’re sorry, and don’t do it again. If you were really mean, and you feel really guilty, do all of that, and then maybe go to therapy and donate some money or time to a charity on their behalf. You don’t have to be punished; you just have to do your best to make it right, and say you’re sorry—and when your bad behavior has done some damage, or become habitual, do the personal work to keep from doing it over and over again.

Jewish “punishment” for being bad amounts to: try harder to be good.
 
For the past two thousand years, Christians have been trying to convert Jews. Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent on this effort -- "Jews for Jesus," and "Chosen Peoples Ministry" are just two dedicated to this goal. Those organizations will tell less educated Jews (and non-Jews) that you can be Jewish and "follow Jesus." They reason that "Jesus was a Jew, and his followers were Jews, so to follow Jesus is a very "Jewish" thing to do."

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Just because a Jew does something does not make it Jewish (or right). Consider all those Jews in the bible (which Jews call the T'nach) who worshiped false gods like Moloch and Ba'al. Did the fact that they were Jews make it acceptable to the prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah?

This is the key.

No one at Mount Sinai ever heard of Jesus.

No one at Mount Sinai was told to pray to or through Jesus to "get" to G-d.

We are warned time and again that if someone entices a Jew to any form of worship that we were unfamiliar with at Mount Sinai it is FALSE.

Just because someone is a Jew doesn't make what they do correct. Thus if Paul or any other Jew says something counter to what G-d Himself told us (all of us) at Sinai -- it is false.


A Jew cannot believe in Jesus and remain Jewish.

This website is dedicated to exploding the "Judaeo-Christian Myth." Many people seem to think that the only difference between Judaism and Christianity is that Christians believe Jesus was the messiah and Jews don't. While that is a difference, it is only one and not as major as one might think. What are the differences? This website is dedicated to explaining them.

It must be a little worrisome for the average Christian (if he ever thinks about Jews at all) to ask himself "since Jesus was a Jew, and he taught and preached to Jews why didn't all the Jews become Christians?"

How can missionaries justify their belief in Jesus as the "Jewish messiah" when Jews don't accept him as such?

Some will say "well, Jews are blind." This may satisfy some, but most would admit that Jews, though a very small minority, are a pretty smart people. Even world renowned atheist Richard Dawkins has said he is bewildered at the disproportionate amount of Nobel prizes won by Jews. Between 1901 and 2013, the Nobel Prize has been awarded to approximately 855 laureates. At least 193 (22%) of them have been Jewish even though the global Jewish population is 0.02%!

So, no we're not stupid people.

Why would G-d "blind" the very people He calls His first born son? (Sh'mot / Exodus 4:22), his beloved? Why would G-d tell us Torah and our covenant with Him is eternal -- only to "blind" us to the "truth" that it was all a joke, we were just waiting for Jesus to show up?


he problem for the missionary (where the Jew is concerned) is whether all those promises by G-d were lies -- or are they mistaken and Jews are not blind. . . they were lied to by the Christian bible and their teachers?

Jews believe in G-d.

Jews believe that G-d does not lie.

Jews believe that G-d is not a man and He does not change His mind. (Bamidbar / Numbers 23:19). Thus when He says that Torah is eternal, His promises to the Jews are eternal He is not lying.

 
I do understand that the Christian perspective on Judaism is that it’s legalistic and judgemental, and where Jesus went and got crucified so y’all wouldn’t have to, the theory you’ve been taught is that Jews still have to be punished for our sins, since our messiah isn’t available to do it for us.

The problems with that view are twofold. The first is that the Christian view on what a messiah is differs markedly from a Jewish one. To the extent that Jews believe in the prospect of a literal, human messiah, at all—as some do—he isn’t someone who gets punished for the things you do wrong. He’s a military and political leader who keeps Jews from getting murdered so much, and ushers in an extended—not necessarily eternal—reign of peace. Jesus fails on literally all of those counts, so he’s clearly not our guy.

Jews don’t believe other people can absorb the burden of our wrongdoing for us. Messiahs or otherwise. Our mistakes are our mistakes, and it’s our job to deal with them.

The Jewish God is not a torturer, and doesn’t threaten people into good behavior with the threat of eternal punishment. More like an attentive kindergarten teacher—if you make a mess, clean it up. If you’re mean to someone, say you’re sorry, and don’t do it again. If you were really mean, and you feel really guilty, do all of that, and then maybe go to therapy and donate some money or time to a charity on their behalf. You don’t have to be punished; you just have to do your best to make it right, and say you’re sorry—and when your bad behavior has done some damage, or become habitual, do the personal work to keep from doing it over and over again.

Jewish “punishment” for being bad amounts to: try harder to be good.
Not true.
Your sins are no worse than anyone else.

See, you still feel special in your sinning.

It's actually not about you.
 
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