Talk:Judaism

re: Jews converted

This is controversial. Israel was established as a State of, by, and for Jews. The Law of Return automatically grants citizenship to any individual who is a Jew. A visa is granted unless the applicant is likely to endanger the public health or security of the State / is engaged in activity directed against Jewish people. Applicants are denied visas when they endanger security.

[1] Ariagia 23:05, 20 July 2007 (UTC) 06:58, 20 July 2007 (ETC)

jews converted

this link details some jews converted to islam TESTIMONIES OF JEWISH

So what? Some Muslims converted to Judaism. Big deal. — Rickyrab | Talk 07:33, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

there was never a muslim who coverted to judaism

so not true, Three Iranians seeking conversion to Judaism denied Israel visas Goalie1998 18:49, 12 January 2007 (UTC)

Shabbat

I just heard on BBC London news that something has been constructed(? not sure about that) that allows jews to carry out things on the Sabbath that they normally wouldn't be allowed to e.g. carrying keys, anyone know anything about this?

See Eruv. - Jmabel | Talk 21:47, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

cheersSam Hayes 22:42, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Jewish rabbi faces palestinians

Jewish rabbi calls for extermination of all Palestinian males [2]

Um, this is from a site that says the World Trade Center was demolished by explosives (and that there is somehow a Zionist cover-up), that Pope Paul VI was impersonated by an actor from 1975 to 1978, etc. Not exactly a reliable source for anything except its own beliefs. - Jmabel | Talk 21:52, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

But highly entertaining none the less :-) E Jaffe 13:34, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Naturei karta orthodox jews

I propose to add a link concerning orthodox jews [3]

This article contains almost no discussion of Zionism. Surely a link to a page about the tiny minority of Orthodox Jews who oppose Zionism would not be the way to introduce the topic. It is very hard to believe that this suggestion was made in good faith. - Jmabel | Talk 22:00, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

ADD Me being a vehement anti zionist--Shaul avrom 00:56, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

NK are about as fringe as you can get, and do not deserve mention on this page, b'ch'lal u'ch'lal -- Avi 01:03, 17 October 2006 (UTC)

So, nu, we won't add NK. We can add Edah Hachareidis though, their mainstream enough. --Shaul avrom 23:15, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

NK is only "fringe" in the West and among Modern Orthodox on down (in terms of Religiosity.) In Haredi Judaism, the Aggudists dont like them but consider them G-d fearing as per Aaron Kotler and the Steipler Gaon's instructions; the other non-Zionists just count them peers or heroes. When I was in Uman on ROsh HaShanah, Moshe Braun, second to the top in America's Neturei Karta,was shliakh tzibor at the Rav Aaron Satmar synagogue. This was the day after they had met with Iran's President in NY. Not to be out done in over the top support, Rav Zalman-Leib's Satmar tent blasted the Neturei Karta anthem in a loop for four hours on Motzei Rosh Hashana. Certainly Iran's 26,000 Jews view NK as protectors since they are the only foreign Jews with the ability to reach them and provide aid in various ways when necessary. 88.154.162.106 08:03, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

Protection

The page says that it was protected because of a dispute, but I don't see any substantive dispute meriting protection. If the issue is just vandalism, I would think that semi-protection would be more appropriate. If it must be fully protected because of vandalism, shouldn't it use {{vprotect}} rather than a template that falsely suggests a substantive dispute? - Jmabel | Talk 22:04, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

Edits I would hope we can make consensually

So... it's protected. But can we please get consensual agreement to remove an outright falsehood:

• "The Talmud was a compilation of both the Mishna & the Gemmorah (Aramaic for the word Tradition)." Surely this means to say "Gemara". (Similarly elsewhere.)

Less drastically, but I hope we could still get consensus to edit:

• "that these oral laws were rectored by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi": I have no idea why "rectored" here. I presume it means to say "recorded".
• "scholars Ravina & Rav Ashi" certainly should link. Probably should be reworded to include links to both Ravina I and Ravina II
• The same passage also contains a misspelling, "compleated".

Also, does anyone understand why "They soon developed oral traditions of their own which differed from the rabbinic traditions, and eventually formed the Karaite sect," was removed? - Jmabel | Talk 22:14, 23 September 2006 (UTC)

I see we are down to semi-protected; I will edit. - Jmabel | Talk 05:57, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

GA Re-Review and In-line citations

Note: This article has a very small number of in-line citations for an article of its size and currently would not pass criteria 2b.
Members of the Wikipedia:WikiProject Good articles are in the process of doing a re-review of current Good Article listings to ensure compliance with the standards of the Good Article Criteria. (Discussion of the changes and re-review can be found here). A significant change to the GA criteria is the mandatory use of some sort of in-line citation (In accordance to WP:CITE) to be used in order for an article to pass the verification and reference criteria. It is recommended that the article's editors take a look at the inclusion of in-line citations as well as how the article stacks up against the rest of the Good Article criteria. GA reviewers will give you at least a week's time from the date of this notice to work on the in-line citations before doing a full re-review and deciding if the article still merits being considered a Good Article or would need to be de-listed. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us on the Good Article project talk page or you may contact me personally. On behalf of the Good Articles Project, I want to thank you for all the time and effort that you have put into working on this article and improving the overall quality of the Wikipedia project. Agne 22:37, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

In Favor of Equality and the NPOV

Please stop removing the links to Messianic Judaism websites at the bottom of the article, whether the movement is contraversial or not, Messianic Judaism is still Hebrew-centric, Torah-based religion with a majority of ethnically Jewish practitioners, thus making it UNDEBATABLY Jewish under an objective viewpoint.

Or also remove the alternative Humanistic "Judaism" movement as listed at the bottom, a movement that is indistinguishable from culture-centric secular humanism and has nothing to actually do with Torah-based spirituality! Or keep both the Messianic and Humanistic Judaism links at the bottom, just to be fair.

Thank you.

It's not about fairness (or unfairness) to you personally. There are plenty of reliable sources that demonstrate "Messianic Judiasm" is rejected as a legitimate form of Judaism across the board by all mainline Jewish denominations, regardless of your personal beliefs that one can straddle both Christian and Jewish religions and be considered legitimate to both. --MPerel ^{( talk | contrib)} 23:52, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, but I couldn't disagree more. What do I think should at least be kept in the margins of the Judaism article? A spiritual practice that is Hebrew-centric, Torah-based, and has a majority of ethnically Jewish adherants. Wait, what was that again? It's called Judaism.

The part about worshipping another Jew as a deity seems to be one of the main exclusionary factors that the major Jewish denominations have with including it. ; ) --MPerel ^{( talk | contrib)} 00:39, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Messianic Jews do not "worship" Jesus, ever. Yeshua himself insisted that we pray only to the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (my editing is crummy sometimes), the one true G-d. Messianic Jewish study is partly involved in meditating and practicing the Torah (usually, in Hebrew), and discussing its meaning and application (mainly from the Talmud), as well as the role of Yeshua (Torah incarnate and Messiah) within the state of affairs. Everything you've heard about Messianic Jews being Christians with a Hebrew fethish is entirely false. Most Messianic Jews will have nothing to do with the evangelical Christian group Jews for Jesus, just so you know.

That's just your own POV, and it doesn't entitle to run rough-shod over other peoples' valid submissions Hoserjoe

Hopefully he prayed to the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (who is Eliza?). Meanwhile, what you or I think doesn't matter for the purpose of this article, just what reliable sources say. Mainstream Judaism sources across the board reject the movement. --MPerel ^{( talk | contrib)} 01:07, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

I realize that the other Jewish movements do not respect Messianic Judaism, but because it is still Hebrew Torah-observant faith with a majority of ethnically Jewish practitioners and hundreds of congregations & synagogues, for the time being it should be listed as a POSSIBLE movement in Judaism. Or remove the Samaritanism and Humanistic references as well. Perhaps you should read the following, from a synagogue in my area: http://www.bethsar.com/believersstilljewish.htm

Also, look at the horrendous re-edit Humus Sapiens has done of Alternative Judaism, he places pagan "Judaism" and other tiny movements over Messianic, clearly showing that he despises Messianic Judaism and does not have a NPOV. And noone seems to care, and it is tragic. Please help to reverse his edits.

Your synagogue's link about whether a Jew who follows other religions is still a Jew has no bearing on this article; are you trying to make the argument that any religion any Jew follows should have to be called "Judaism"? Meanwhile, I appreciate that you fixed your above edit, but the fact that a messianic Jew can't even keep straight the name of the G-d Jews worship sort of makes the very case in point made by mainstream Judaism sources that messianic Jews mostly just play dressup, attempting to make Christianity look like Judaism while adherents really have no clue what Judaism is. Whether or not you're offended by which movements are or aren't included within the realm of Judaism, you and I don't define the religion. --MPerel ^{( talk | contrib)} 02:54, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

MPerel & Jmabel, I'm curious how you are presenting yourself(selves) as the gate-keeper(s) of this conversation. Are you the final arbiter of Jewishness? Is there a board of admission that vets all submissions? There's a problem with this topic and it's that some intellectual pretenders are trying to gain control of the content under the guise of one Jew being more knowledgeable than the others and it's giving Judaism an aggressively ignorant, and uncomfortable, POV patina. That may be the norm in the synagogue, but not on Wikipedia. 07:44, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

The articles are simply for your use, not this discussion. It's not about Jews converting to other religions (that's what Jews for Jesus is), it's about Messianic Judaism. Also, most Messianic Jews keep Kosher, practice holidays such as Chanakkah, Rosh Hanasha, and Yom Kippur, and seek to build their knowledge of Torah and the rest of the Scriptures. Reform and Reconsturctionist Jews (more than 1/2 of Judaism) generally can't event attest to that much. What Judaism is: Torah-based spirituality. If you truly continue to hold your position, perhaps you should gloss over me and ask the 19th-generation rabbi.

Just to offer a logical sanity check here: You can't take Protestant Christianity, add some new holidays and slap a tallit on it and call it kosher. "Messianic Judaism" is a very diverse group but in general rejects several of the major tenets of Judaism. This is a matter of beliefs, not of practice. "Messianic Jews" can, indeed, be very observant of Jewish things, but the fact of the matter is that doesn't matter. If you pray to a deity other than God, or believe in the divinity of an entity other than God, being Jewish is just not possible. Kari Hazzard (T | C) 13:20, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Would you please sign your posts? (Use ~~~~.) Normally I use {{unsigned}} to add pseudo sigs, but I'm not going to follow around someone who posts half a dozen times without signing. - Jmabel | Talk 06:00, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Sorry, I use Wikipedia on a dynamic IP, making it very hard for me to sign ;)

If you'd take an account it would be no problem at all, and if all we get is a dynamic IP, that's fine. But if you have some principled reason not to, could you at least use ~~~~~ (five tildes) which will give a time stamp and no name? - Jmabel | Talk 05:43, 5 October 2006 (UTC)

Why Kari Hazzard is Wrong

"If you pray to a deity other than God, or believe in the divinity of an entity other than God, being Jewish is just not possible."

- Messianic Jews pray only to G-d, as Scripture and the oral traditions (Talmud, Mishnah, etc.) demand.

- I hope you understand that the ancient Hebrews were Henotheists (believed that other deities besides G-d could possibly exist). In the Messianic Tradition of Judaism, the heretical notion that Yeshua (The Messiah) is G-d made flesh is rejected. He is the physical embodiment of the Torah and G-d's vigil/word to humankind.

- Are angels divine? According to our Bibles, they are equal parts heat and moisture, fiercly masculine, speak Hebrew, and can teleport. And they are divine, yet physical. Then that is a being other than G-d that is divine. Judaism does not require the belief that G-d is necessarily the only divinity that exists, but that He is the only divinity worth bowing before. "You shall have no other G-ds before me". The Messiah is at the right hand of G-d, something of an embodiment of everything He represents, yet still something infinitely less.

The following, in my belief, is required reading for anyone to make an educated decision about Messianic Judaism:

http://yashanet.com/library/law_1.htm

http://www.rabbiyeshua.com/articles/index.html

Zorkfan 23:13, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

• Please don't use WP to promote fringe views (or in this case, beyond fringe). The split between Judaism and believers in Messiahship of Jesus has occurred about 18 centuries ago, and those centuries were unforgettable. It is time for Christian-Jewish reconciliation, not a deception that two faiths are somehow compatible. ←Humus sapiens ^ну? 23:56, 29 September 2006 (UTC)

Humus: "Please don't use WP to promote fringe views (or in this case, beyond fringe)."

I would say that a movement with well over 100,000 members is well beyond fringe. I will support what I know is closest to the truth.

Humus: "The split between Judaism and believers in Messiahship of Jesus has occurred about 18 centuries ago, and those centuries were unforgettable."

Indeed: http://yashanet.com/library/fathers.htm Rome corrupts. You, however, are acting like antisemetism has anything whatsoever to do with Messianic Judaism. Not in a million years, friend: Messianic Judaism is Judaism, and I doubt that any sane person hates their very own race and culture.

Humus: "It is time for Christian-Jewish reconciliation, not a deception that two faiths are somehow compatible."

It doesn't matter whether the two faiths are compatible or not. Christianity grew out of Judaism, and so did many other smaller faiths. It doesn't matter that they may not be compatible, only that one descended from the other. This is an encyclopedia, not a virginity contest. 20:39, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Christianity is a hollow faith, IMO. Judaism has remained relatively pristine, and your definition that any belief that the Nazarene may be Messiah is default Christianity is unhealthy. It was relatively popular for the Hebrews to re-experiment with Baalite worship when they though they could get away with it, but that didn't mean that G-d didn't have other plans. When you possibly see Yeshua return to complete the remaining world peace and wisdom portions of the Messianic prophecies of the Tenakh, perhaps you may understand.

You're just getting wrapped up in your own POV, which is irrelevant. You might think that "Judaism has remained relatively pristine", but the next man might think that Judaism is mouldy and decrepit. Both are mere opinions and have no place in an encyclopedic reference 20:39, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Once again, the fact that you dislike Messianic Judaism doesn't make you correct. Zorkfan 00:17, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

Exactly! The purists like Humus sapiens and user 24.2.55.36 are contaminating this discussion and presenting Judaism as an aggressive and immature community of prigs. There is room in this discussion for offshoots and derivatives. If the content is sufficient, they can be supported by their own pages with WP links. But there's no problem discussing a topic as well as it's derivatives (except for the prigs and twits defending the purity of the Judaism topic). Who, except the censorious prigs here, cares if the topic is crossed with information about real and existing derivative faiths? This is not a synagogue of Philistines - it's an encyclopedia Hoserjoe 20:39, 17 June 2007 (UTC)

Stop using WP as a soapbox. This is not a place or time to start a theological discussion and address the intricacies of beliefs of ancient Israelies. On your main points, reliable sources prove you wrong. ←Humus sapiens ^ну? 00:41, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

I'm not using Wikipedia as a soapbox, but as a way to help bring people closer to the factual, objective truth. I don't necessarily need your blessing to do it. Since you probably haven't even scratched the surface of the required reading, I don't feel your opinions are fully educated. How much opposition to Messianic Judaism within other Judaism do you think is an affronted reaction to those 18 centuris of horrible persecution? Probably, a very considerable amount. I don't view things that way, but try to measure them as they are laid before me. As an intelligent human being, you should know from experience that majority is not a very reliable measure of plausibility. Though it seems to be a crime to even disagree with the majority, as I have experienced here. Zorkfan 01:03, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

Zorkfan. Dude. These are the qualities that I find in your arguments. Self rightous, unquestioned, unrelenting, fervent belief in your possession of Ultimate Truth. Unwilling to acknowledge the merits of others points; or even to listen to what others have to say. I must say, these are also the same qualities of arguments used by many Jehovah's Witnesses I've had discussions with. I feel that this manner of conversation becomes very boring after a short period of time. Perhaps there is a Messianic Judaism article you can work on? Out, Out foul Troll! 24.2.55.36 16:22, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

---

Don't you think somebody should translate haredi?

Haredi basically roughly translates to "one who trembles at the name of G-d". However, that isn't really sufficient to explain what it actually is as a basic definition. Haredi Judaism is "ultra-Orthodox" Judiasm.

Mraleph 00:04, 3 October 2006 (UTC)

Misc.

Hello this is a decent article, I did think the there was a huge gap in the begining of the article but I fixed it. There seems however that the article is too big. Any one else agree with me on this one. The Hinduism article is starting to take shape, but even it is still too big. --Seadog.M.S 00:03, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Spelling Of God

Might it be wiser to not spell out God, but rather write G-d so as not to offend more orthodox Jews?

No. This is an encyclopedia, not an Orthodox text book. Besides G-d looks nothing like YHWH or YHVH in Hebrew. ^rossnixon 01:01, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

We shall use G-d, not god nor Y-H-W-H or Y-H-V-H. Have a Git Gebentched Yor --Ah Frimer Yid, and it should say G-d, or Hashem, or HKB"H ^{Nu, so tell me something}

This is ludicrous. First of all, no Orthodox Jew is "offended" by seeing God spelled out. The entire issue is that they're not supposed to dispose of God's name (in any language), and spelling it as G-d is a way of avoiding the problem. But this doesn't apply to computers at all; look at all the Orthodox blogs, and you'll see that they almost uniformly write God in full. marbeh raglaim 02:40, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

I usually write G-d, but I am not offended by the full spelling. BTW, halachically speaking, CRT and LCD screens are not considered kesiva (they are optical illusions caused by excited phosphors or charged liquid crystals) so there is no issue of mechikas HaShaym to worry about. Rabosai, a bissle saychel here, please . -- Avi 03:10, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

Okay, time to play "offend the frummers" time. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. Yahweh. And a nice big Yahoo to you too. ;-) 204.52.215.107 06:01, 19 October 2006 (UTC) ok, how about "God"?

Asherah and Ba'al. — Rickyrab | Talk 06:04, 19 October 2006 (UTC) (oops, I had forgotten to sign in before)

Okay, I'm done "offending the frummies". Everyone feel better now that someone else broke the Big Taboo? =) — Rickyrab | Talk 06:06, 19 October 2006 (UTC)

Well, don't forget the fact that someone can print the page and then discard the name of G-d. Most Orthodox, Conservative, and Messianic Jews write G-d (or preferably, haShem), just to be safe. Writing G-d is just another way to revere his name. Btw, anonymous, you can attempt to pronounce the name of G-d all you want, but it is in vain. The true pronunciation has been lost to history, and this is discounting the possiblility that it is impossible for a human being to correctly pronounce the name of G-d, thus bastardizing it. Yeshua = Messiah! Shalom. 12.64.84.97 01:16, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Since "God" is most definitely not his name, it seems to me that treating it as if it were his name dishonors his true name. And if you want to reason that it is "one" of his names because people use the word in place of/as his name, then you are caught in a trap, because people use "g-d" in place of/as his name. "G-d" is as much God's name as "God" — or rather, as I see it, "God" is no more God's name than "G-d." Slrubenstein | Talk 12:29, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Actually, a wonderful compromise is not to say "G-d" at all, if such a thing can be done in modern society. Rather, say HaShem, which simply means "His Name". Anyone that knows Hebrew or practices Judaism will know who's name you are talking about. Shalom. 12.64.134.232 23:25, 21 October 2006 (UTC)

Perhaps. But Hachem is just the sam as God - a place-marker for God's name. Put another way, "God" is no more God's name than Hashem. One word is in English, another in Hebrew. Slrubenstein | Talk 10:50, 22 October 2006 (UTC)

Wrong, actually. When using HaShem, which means "His name", you are basically leaving a blank space where his name ought to be. Or, just go ahead and use Eloheime. That name was given to the Israelistes to refer to Him, and could be used anywhere except in unholy places (such as bathrooms). 12.64.222.77 01:00, 23 October 2006 (UTC)

Let's face it, God in English is called "God". That's how the concept came over to English - not YHWH, Yahweh, Yahoo, Ba'al, Allah, Ahura Mazda, HaShem, Eloheime, Elohim, Elohaynu, or Eloi (or G-d for that matter) - God. Or Goddess, if one is of feminizing-the-divine bent. Most Anglophones will understand the concept of God as "God". 204.52.215.107 05:09, 24 October 2006 (UTC)

Quite understandable, really. I hold your same opinion. In the future, all that can be asked is that you will refrain from attempting to pronounce the name that cannot correctly be pronounced, that He first revealed to Moses as most holy, the tetragrammaton. Btw, the Rauch HaKodesh (Holy Spirit) IS the feminine aspect of G-d as we see it. Yeshua is Messiach! Shalom. 12.64.216.185 23:55, 27 October 2006 (UTC)

Nadira

An editor called Hkelkar insists on adding the large template for Jews and Judaism to a small article on Nadira, a recently deceased actress who was once a star in Bollywood movies. She was born into a Baghdadi Jewish family, but she seems not to have been a practicing Jew and she was certainly not identified in any way with Judaism in her film career. The article identifies her as Jewish and links to the proper articles; there's absolutely no need for the template, which is about the same size as the article. I removed the template once and Hkelkar immediately restored it, on the grounds that she was a JEW, therefore the template must be displayed.

Hkelkar seems to identify himself as a Jew and he might be more receptive to counsel from other Jewish editors. Please ask him to desist from this silly provocation. Zora 06:03, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

Just like Zora "seems to identify" herself as Buddhist. Zora violated WP:OWN on many articles and any cat of template dealing with religion/ethnicity is immediately deemed (by her) "a tool for perpetrating massacre".Bakaman _Bakatalk 15:14, 29 October 2006 (UTC)

revert of edit to first sentence

I reverted a recent edit because it opens a can of worms unnecessarily in the first paragraph. The first paragraph should be as straightforwward as possible. The subject of the first sentence is "Judaism" and the sentence as stands is accurate - Judaism is the religion of the Jews, not of any other people. The subject of the sentence is Judaism, not jews. If one wants to say something about the Jews and their belief, fine, but that is more appropriate to the first paragraph of the article on Jews. Obvious the two are related and I have no objection to a section later in this article explaining that not all Jews adhere to Judaism. But then one needs to say more about the complex relationship between being Jewish and Judaism - and this belongs in a section in the body of the article, not up top. Slrubenstein | Talk 13:21, 12 November 2006 (UTC)

Monotheistic faiths

There seems to be a dispute as to whether this should say "the first recorded monotheistic faith" or "one of the first…". I think the latter. I see that the person who changed this says that the monothestic worship of Aten was influenced by what he terms yiddishkeit. I'm unaware of any scholarship firmly establishing which came first. Certainly Freud, in Moses and Monotheism, made the case that Jewish monotheism derives from the worship of Aten. I know that there are scholars who think he was right, and scholars who think he was wrong, but I have no idea if the balance comes down clearly on one side or the other.

I suspect someone working on this would know a lot more than I do. Can anyone point to some good sources on this? - Jmabel | Talk 20:06, 14 November 2006 (UTC)

Don't mean to be wishy washy, but could you phrase it as "one of the first, if not the first"? That would correctly convey that there are multiple points of view as to this question.

I have no problem with that formulation, but it is still little more than hot air without cited sources. - Jmabel | Talk 07:41, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

Protection Removed?

Is there a reason protection was removed from this page? It's definitely a target, as evidenced by the rapid-fire vandalism yesterday evening. -- Tuvok^^{Talk|Desk|Contribs}  09:20, 20 November 2006 (UTC)

"its central authority is not vested in any person or group"

So what is the chief rabbi and the rabbinate and the rabbinical courts? From what I have read, they are comparable to to the Catholic Pope, the college of cardinals and the ecclesiastical courts.

Chief Rabbinate of Israel "The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is the supreme Jewish religious governing body in the state of Israel. The Rabbinate is the halakhic authority for the state, and controls many aspects of life in the Jewish state. Issues under the jurisdiction of the Chief Rabbinate include Jewish marriages, Jewish divorce, Jewish burrials, Kashrut and kosher certification, olim, supervision of Jewish holy sites, working with various mikvot and yeshivot, and overseeing Israeli religious courts."

Sounds like a central authority to me.

I have also read that the Israeli rabbinate operates courts in russia.

I know that the pope is elected by the cardinals and the pope appoints the cardinals. But the corresponding info about the rabbinate & the chief rabbi seems to be a deep dark secret.

Is there some sort of taboo in judaism about mentioning this organisation? "the eleventh-largest organized religion" ? Anyway, I will delete the stuff in the title above unless someone explains how the rabbinate, etc, is not a central authority.

24.64.165.176 06:53, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Mentioning what organization? There is no taboo, Jews talk about the Chief Rabbi of their country whenever appropriate - if their country has one. The Chief Rabbi is a political position created by the state. It exists in some states (e.g. UK) but not in others (e.g. US). When a Chief Rabbi exists, it is because certain functions often monopolized by the state (e.g. performing marriages) are delegated to religious authorities; the Chief Rabbi has administrative jurisdiction over these functions. A chief rabbi may be a well-respected legal scholar, but by no means is he always a well-regarded legal scholar. Moreover, he does not by virtue of his position have any particular legal authority among Jews. Historically the most important Jewish halachik authorities in the 19th and 20th centuries have not been chief rabbis. The Chief Rabbi is an administrative position created by the state, even non-Jewish states (like the UK or Russia) to serve as a liason between the Jewish community and the state. If those states did not decide to create Chief Rabbis, chief rabbis would not exist. Moreover, the Chief Rabbi is in no way at all like the pope because rabbis are in no way like priests. Jews do have priests, but rabbis are not necessarily them (if a rabbi is a priest it is pure coincidence). Rabbis are not intermediaries between Jews and god, and ribbis do not necessarily speak for God (indeed a famous Talmudic passage has the majority of rabbis debating against God). In short, the article is correct, and if you revert this passage I will revert you without any further comment. Slrubenstein | Talk 13:37, 2 December 2006 (UTC)

Israel's chief rabbi (it has two) is nothing like the pope. He's the puppet for a secular government. Nobody takes anything he says seriously. The same with the rabbinut. The Israeli government runs it, and by law there you have to see them if you want to be married, but nobody takes them seriously and they are a big joke amongst the religious. Nobody who tries to eat kosher eats the food they mark kosher. If you ask any faithful Jew who they respect more, the Ashkenai Chief Rabbi of Israel, or the Brisker Rav, President of the Eidah Charedis, they are all going to say the Brisker Rav. 88.154.162.106 08:09, 17 January 2007 (UTC)

אני מאמין של היהודים

שמע ישראל ה' אלוהינו ה' אחד ה' מלך ה' מלך ה'ימלוך לעולם ועד —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.94.98.156 (talk • contribs) 16:34, 3 December 2006 (UTC).

אני מאמין של היהודים

שמע ישראל ה' אלוהינו ה' אחד ה' מלך ה' מלך ה' ימלוך לעולם ועד —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 84.94.98.156 (talk • contribs) 16:35, 3 December 2006 (UTC).

Eh? Why is someone posting the text of the Shema Yisrael and another prayer? (Does anyone recognize the second half of the text?) -- Tuvok^^{Talk|Desk|Contribs}  06:26, 4 December 2006 (UTC)

I recognize the last two words (transliterated into english) as leh-olam va-ed, the last 2 words of the Shema that i learned. I dont know the full language of hebrew that well, but i do know the basic prayers. it's most likely a different version of the Shema. There are, after all, many denominations of judaism, so there are different forms of many prayers. BTW, both appear to be the same text, just copied...?

--66.41.20.22 04:04, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

Actually, on a second look, it is an expanded version of the Shema, but without the "...ברוך שם" I know. (I hate using Character Map!) And yes, they are duplicates. -- Tuvok^^{Talk|Desk|Contribs}  18:04, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

"ה' ימלוך לעולם ועד" is said by congregations following the end of the Shema's last blessing but before the service actually begins the Amidah, no? Kari Hazzard (T | C) 19:19, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Its kind of irrelevant as to what kind of prayer it is. What's important is why this person is cluttering up the talk page with Hebrew in an English article. Asarelah 20:19, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

Its a Yiddishkiet (Judaism for those who don't speak Yiddish) article, and as the Shema is an essential thing in Judaism, and the fact that it is a TALK PAGE it doesn't matter. --Shaul avrom 21:41, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

While its true that this is an article about Judaism, there isn't any real need to put the Shema here on the talk page. Perhaps putting into the article would be useful, but putting prayers up on the talk page without even any context really seems like a waste of space to me. If you want to put Hebrew into the article itself, thats perfectly fine, just don't forget to put it into context and explain what it is to non-Jewish readers. Asarelah 22:15, 14 December 2006 (UTC)

It doesn't matter what we say, since the person was an anon anyway. He/she only made two contribs: the postings to this talk page. But why (s)he did it is a good question... -- Tuvok^^{Talk|Desk|Contribs}  23:42, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

ה' מלך ה' מלך ה' ימלוך means god is king, god was king, and god will be king" Goalie1998 01:41, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

Actually, it is a combination of verses from Psalms- 10:16, 93:1, and Exodus 15:18. It is said every night during the evening prayer service.38.117.213.19 18:37, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

User:CyberAnth/Religious views on masturbation#Judaism

For anyone who is interested, there is a draft of a new article, Religious views on masturbation, at User:CyberAnth/Religious views on masturbation. Please feel free to expand the draft, especially the section User:CyberAnth/Religious views on masturbation#Judaism! After it looks good on user space, it can be posted on to article space. CyberAnth 08:22, 18 December 2006 (UTC)

what is Judaism? and who is a Jew

Judaism is specifically the religion of one people, Israel. Halakhah (Jewish law) defines permitted interactions between Jews and non-Jews, thus setting the parameters for the traditional Jewish theology of the "other." Applying biblical concerns, Jews are absolutely prohibited from any activity that might generate idolatrous behavior by any human. Rabbinic halakhah expands this discussion to permitted positive interactions with those who obey God's laws for all human civilization, the seven Noahide laws which include a prohibition of idolatry. For non-Jews, fulfillment of these laws is the prerequisite for salvation. Human self-identity begins with the negative definition of "self" as "not other," spanning from the infantile recognition that parents have independent existences and extending to communal definitions of characteristics or boundaries that place some people "in" and others "out." We all live in overlapping circles of such communal boundaries, defined by such things as family, geographic proximity, co-workers, ethnicity, and religion. While some of these social structures are informal, others are defined by codified rules determining who is "self" and who is "other." Religious communities and national communities tend to be the most formal in defining these boundaries. Judaism, as primarily a national/ethnic community, traditionally handles these distinctions through the mechanisms of halakhah, of rabbinic legislation. This halakhic definition of "self" creates the underpinnings for the more theological expressions of this concept. At its most fundamental level, the definition of "Jew" is neither religious nor theological, but ethnic. By the emergence of rabbinic Judaism in the late Second Temple period, anyone born to a Jewish mother was automatically considered a Jew. But while this matrilineal descent determined membership in the nation, one's father's status determined one's type of membership. As long as one's father was himself a Jew and had married appropriately, his children inherited his ritual status in the Temple as a priest (kohen), levite, or Israelite. Certain elements of this status remain relevant even today, long after the destruction of the Temple. Thus, while matrilineal and patrilineal descent both play roles in the construction of Jewish society, matrilineal descent is the more fundamental category. Thus, as long as one's mother is a Jew, one is by definition oneself a Jew, a citizen of 'Am Yisra'el, the people Israel, and a participant in Israel's covenant with God.--HIZKIAH (User • Talk) 11:38, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Human self-identity begins with the negative definition of "self" as "not other," spanning from the infantile recognition that parents have independent existences and extending to communal definitions of characteristics or boundaries that place some people "in" and others "out." We all live in overlapping circles of such communal boundaries, defined by such things as family, geographic proximity, co-workers, ethnicity, and religion. While some of these social structures are informal, others are defined by codified rules determining who is "self" and who is "other." Religious communities and national communities tend to be the most formal in defining these boundaries. Judaism, as primarily a national/ethnic community, traditionally handles these distinctions through the mechanisms of halakhah, of rabbinic legislation. This halakhic definition of "self" creates the underpinnings for the more theological expressions of this concept. --HIZKIAH (User • Talk) 14:40, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

Era notation issues

Upon first visiting Judaism, I noticed use of the term "BC" right away in terms of the era, and there is also usage of "BCE", "CE", and "AD". Generally, Wikipedia suggests that we only use one era notation per article, so I was wondering what we might need to do about this. A compromise I think we should use here is the usage of "BC", but usage of "CE" for years after 1 CE. It would be using both eras, but it would solve the annoying problem of when people tend to add "BC" instead of "BCE" when editing. Any other suggestions?. — RunningAway 18:38, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

"BC" looks fine to me.--HIZKIAH (User • Talk) 19:05, 11 January 2007 (UTC)

BCE and CE do fine. Hizkiah, I'm not sure whether you understand that in that case we are referring to Yoshke when giving years of before the common era. --Bear and Dragon 15:23, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Please don't change the notation from neutral BCE/CE. BC means "Before Christ" and AD means Anno Domini (Jesu Christi) - highly inappropriate in Judaism-related articles because a neutral alternative BCE/CE exists and is commonly used. ←Humus sapiens ^ну? 20:48, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

For the newly arrived, CE means "Christian Era" and BCE means "Before Christian Era". This is an attempt to make consistent BC/AD which is mixed English and Latin. Some misguided atheists try to claim that CE refers to "Common Era", but they are obviously detached from reality.Hoserjoe

POV forking of Criticism

"Even if the subject of the new article is controversial, this does not automatically make the new article a POV fork. However, the moved material must be replaced with an NPOV summary of that material. If it is not, then the "spinning out" is really a clear act of POV forking: a new article has been created so that the main article can favor some viewpoints over others."[4]

We should restore "Criticism" section to be more NPOV. Christianity and Islam article have Criticism section. Vapour

We should yes. Mikebloke 23:00, 19 March 2007 (UTC)

Wrong Information In The Article

I have to say that it can't possibly be true that Judaism has 14 and 18 million followers at the same time. Why doesn't someone correct the number?

That's what Jewish population says, I'm not sure why you decided to choose one of those values as being more correct than the other, and remove the 18 million value. --ArmadilloFromHellGateBridge

Second sentence

The second sentence is a fragment. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Zazaban (talk • contribs) 24 January 2007.

Actually, I didn't add the above, but returned it after it was deleted. It was added by an anon. Zazaban 17:55, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

I corrected the ungrammatical second sentence. I also changed "Hebrews" to "Israel" because it is the prefered term both in the bible and works by Biblical historians (e.g. John Bright, Y. Kaufmann). I also added "Talmud" because of course the Hebrew Bible does not refer to the Jews as such. Slrubenstein | Talk 16:34, 2 March 2007 (UTC)

would someone like to correct the page?

I refer the "note" before "contents". —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 87.14.226.236 (talk) 11:13, 2 March 2007 (UTC).

My recent edit

I edited a sentence to make two corrections. First, the Hebrew Bible does not refer to the Torah. Second, it does not present this history of the Children (or People) of Israel from the beginnings of time. I do not know why Shaul would revert my corrections but it is so inexplicable it verges on vandalism. this is an encyclopedia and has to meet a minimum standard of accuracy. Slrubenstein | Talk 13:58, 4 March 2007 (UTC)

Why is the number "26" so important to Jews?

I was wondering why the number "26" is so important to Jews? I thought it was always that the name of G-d in Hebrew added to "26" but I tried to add Hashem and I don't get 26.

I added the numerical values of YHVH, and I got 26. 68.164.151.90 03:43, 13 July 2007 (UTC)

When trying to use Gematria you must find out the value of the Hebrew Letters of G-d's Name. Yod=10 Heh=8 Vav=6 Heh=8 (which equals 32 (and for those who combine that further 3+2=5) not 26. Please read the main Wikipedia article on Gematria. Nimrauko 23:25, 20 July 2007 (UTC)

Please add the link to Ido Wikipedia

io:Judaismo - thank you,io:User:Joao Xavier 12:47, 31 March 2007 (UTC)

Sacrificing live animals ???

The nature of the mentioned sacrifices should be specified. Isn't it "notable" that the Jewish nation with its nuclear weapons engages in such ancient rites? 24.64.165.176 03:52, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Umm... huh? There are no sacrificed animals in Judaism today. And what does that have to do with nuclear weapons? Jayjg ^(talk) 04:03, 2 April 2007 (UTC)

Any who, who said it was the Jewish Nation has nuclear weapons. The secular zionist nation has nuclear capabilities. --Shuli 21:23, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

The original posters post is quite obviously a ruse, some teenager (or someone with a similar mentality) trying to be funny, and sadly failed. I know that Israel has admitted to having nuclear weapons (Although I cant find where they said it) but I dont see why they shouldnt be able to when everyone else is rushing to get them. An article where they feel they found them in israel (Possiably) is here [5]

Hebrew Bible to Tanakh

I changed "Hebrew Bible" to "Tanakh" in the first sentence of the section "Traditional view of the development of Judaism". This is consistent with the word used in the first paragraph of the article. Additionally "Hebrew Bible" links to a page on the term "Hebrew Bible", not the Tanakh itself. --Steven J. Anderson 05:25, 9 April 2007 (UTC)

External links cleanup

I removed a number of external links. I did it one link per edit to make it easy for others to check my work. I'm trying to get the section in shape to get rid of the cleanup tag. Does it make sense to link to external pages in Hebrew since this page is for English speakers? (I didn't remove any links to pages in Hebrew, just wondering what others think) Comments here or at my talk page.--Steven J. Anderson 02:40, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Internal links

I removed a number of internal links that duplicate the Judaism portal. WP:MOS discourages gratuitous lists of links. Steven J. Anderson 02:41, 14 April 2007 (UTC)

Traditional view of the development of Judaism

Final paragraph:

In pre-Constantinian late antiquity and even after, Judaism was extremely attractive to a substantial percentage of the Greco-Roman world. However, the numbers of Gentiles who actually undertook circumcision and the obligations of Sabbath observance were actually many fewer than those who found Judaism otherwise attractive. Without formal conversion, these Gentiles remained outside of Judaism.

What has this to do with the traditional view of the development of Judaism?--Steven J. Anderson 19:32, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

Also consider the preceding paragraph:

Common editions of the Talmud today have the Mishnah followed by its associated Gemara commentary. Then, the next Mishnah, often only a few lines or short paragraph, followed by the commentary relevant to that Mishnah which may be pages long, and so on until that particular tractate of Mishnah is completed. There may be many chapters of Mishnah in any given tractate (Ma'sechta in Hebrew).

I can't see what this description of the page layout of the Talmud has to do with the traditional view of the development of Judaism. I'm sure it would be fine in an article or section on the Talmud. I'm in favor of removing both, but don't want to remove that much text without seeking consensus first.--Steven J. Anderson 03:42, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Deleted both after a week without comments. --Steven J. Anderson 15:38, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

Oh good, I'm glad you took these out. I didn't even see your comment on Talk: until after I was already wondering about those two paragraphs myself, particularly the last one. I was puzzling over the oxymoron "pre-Constantinian late antiquity", asking myself, hmmm, now when would that be? I also found the unsourced claim that "Judaism was extremely attractive to a substantial percentage of the Greco-Roman world" highly unlikely or at least exaggerated hyperbole. As I read through the section, I thought it suddenly deteriorated and went askew upon reaching those paragraphs. Good move removing. --MPerel ^{( talk | contrib)} 07:08, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Critical historical view of the development of Judaism

I added the sources tag. Just about every sentence in this section has at least one claim that needs to be cited.--Steven J. Anderson 06:28, 19 April 2007 (UTC)

Priorities

I don't want to be a nag, i'm not helping but, this article really is too long, break it up into other articles, simplify it and, try to make it a feature article - this is such an important subject yet, it is not an FA. Also, archive this page. If you need help or any non factual work done, drop me a line :)

--talk to symode09's or Spread the love! 16:43, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

holidays & kashrut

The sections on kashrut and holidays are full of misinformation, not to mention being poorly written. These (and probably other sections) need a major rehaul. --Gilabrand 19:05, 22 April 2007 (UTC)

specifiy the errors please. Slrubenstein | Talk 09:14, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Better yet, correct them. — Malik Shabazz | Talk 18:49, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

No, better yet let us know what they are first - because I haven't noticed any errors. Slrubenstein | Talk 08:52, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

ultra Orthodox

The term "ultra-Orthodox" is not pejorative. Maybe you are thinking of "dos." --Gilabrand 21:17, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

The fact is, many people perceive it as pejorative, and that includes the people to whom it is most often applied. So even if you disagree, it's a fact that most Haredim dislike the term, even though the secular media has adopted it as an official term.

If you look at the history of the prefix ultra- when applied to social movements, it is almost invariably pejorative, a label applied by outsiders to any movement perceived to be "beyond the pale." Although the prefix literally means "beyond" (as in ultraviolet), I think that in the context of political or religious movements a better definition would probably be "excessive." Here, for instance, is the definition by the Online Etymological Dictionary:

prefix meaning "beyond" (ultraviolet) or "extremely" (ultramodern), from L. ultra- from ultra (adv. and prep.) "beyond, on the further side," from PIE *al- "beyond." In common use from early 19c., it appears to have arisen from Fr. political designations. As its own word, a noun meaning "extremist" of various stripes, it is first recorded 1817, from Fr. ultra, shortening of ultra-royaliste "extreme royalist." [6]

Of course, it is possible for pejorative expressions to become official (a lot of names for various groups have less than flattering etymologies), and members of a group may start to wear a pejorative expression as a badge of pride. You will find people who proudly identify as ultra-conservative or ultra-liberal, even though those terms were originally slurs. And I have encountered Haredim who claim not to have a problem with the term "ultra-Orthodox," though I suspect this is more a matter of begrudging surrender to a trend they feel powerless against.

One blogger I encountered, for example, told me that he doesn't mind being called ultra-Orthodox, just as he wouldn't mind being called ultra-beautiful or ultra-smart. That's an interesting argument, but I think it proves my very point: people rarely use phrases like "ultra-beautiful" or "ultra-smart," because the word "ultra" is usually reserved for insults. marbeh raglaim 21:35, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

Out of pure curiosity, I just did a small experiment: I examined the first 10 Google hits that come up under the phrase "ultra-Orthodox." This is what I found: two Wikipedia articles, two allegedly neutral news articles, one site complaining about the term, and five sites critical of Haredim. Not a single one of these pages uses the term in a positive, complimentary sense. I suspect you will find a similar breakdown if you were to do a bigger search. marbeh raglaim 21:54, 23 April 2007 (UTC)

The term "orthodox" wrt Jews was first invented by Reform Jews as a pejorative. "Ultra-orthodox" is, in effect, an ultra-pejorative. The only reason it's not believed to be a pejorative by those who use it, is because they're so encrusted in their bigotry that they don't even realize how obstinately and obscenely dismissive of and condescending toward people they don't believe to be as "enlightened" (or "reformed") as themselves. That the media élites and their pseudo-intellectual fellow-travellers regard the term as normative is, in that light, easily understood. Tomer^talk 06:07, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Judaism divisions

This section has a number of problems. It starts out discussing the historical origins of Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews (a discussion perhaps more relevant to Jews than Judaism). It then segues to a description of Jewish denominations, a subject already well handled in the following section, entitled (appropriately) Jewish denominations. I think everything from about the sentence beginning " Orthodox Jews assert the supreme authority ...", or perhaps "The Hasidic sects of eastern Europe ..." should come out and the remainder be rewritten with a view to describing how the Ashkenazic and Sephardic groups developed different religious practices, since this is an article about a religion, not an ethnic group. I realize that the religious and ethnic aspects of Judaism/Jewry are difficult to dissect away from each other, but I really think this section needs some work. --Steven J. Anderson 19:05, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

I think your idea of putting Ashkenazik and Sephardic in the section on Jews, rather than here, makes sense ... except there are differences in the practice of Judaism, some differences in the liturgy and also in kashrut and perhaps other things. I think the way to handle it is this: between the compilation of the Talmud and the Enlightenment, with the exception of the Karaites and Messianic movements, the basic principles of Jewish thought and practice were widely shared, although there was often considerable variation in local customs - in other words, if two Jews differed in the way they practiced Judaism it was most likely because they came from two different places that had different local customs. After the Enlightenment this continued to be true - but new (and arguably more profound) differences emerged specifically over how Jews responded to modernity, which has taken the form of antagonistic views concerning the nature of the Jewish people, the revealed nature of the Torah and the rest of the Tanakh, and the authority of Rabbis and Halakha - differences expressed in distinct movements (or denominations, I prefer the word movement). Slrubenstein | Talk 19:25, 25 April 2007 (UTC)

I edited that by deleting most of it and making the rest part of Jewish denominations. Please look, respond or re-edit. --Steven J. Anderson 21:19, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Judaism Divisions

"Judaism Divisions" is not English - I would give it a different heading. --Gilabrand 11:14, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Article Introduction

Anyone else think it seems amazingly NPOV that the opening to the article seems to state that the covenant between God and Moses is some type of absolute fact. Perhaps it should say "based on the belief in a covenant" or something like that. 70.191.222.17 13:32, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

Didn't read the whole introduction, I am an idiot, wording is fine, disregard, I shouldn't edit before I have had my coffee :) 70.191.222.17 13:33, 26 April 2007 (UTC)

people of the book

Hello, Steven J. Anderson. I see you are doing good work in cleaning up this article, but I wondered why you think "people of the book" is only a Muslim term for the Jews. The Jews call themselves "Am Hasefer," meaning "people of the book." Certainly it is not a label I would be ashamed of. --Gilabrand 10:20, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Hi, Gilabrand. I was basically following links and verifying that they went to relevant articles. When I went to people of the book I saw mainly information on Islam and thought the phrase ought to come out. Then I took another look and saw a brief reference to Judaism near the end of the article. That's why I self-reverted. Nice catch though, and thanks for the kind words. I like your edits, too. --Steven J. Anderson 18:59, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Does Judaism have a clergy or not?

Please look at this:

"Judaism does not have a clergy, in the sense of full-time specialists required for religious services."

from here and this:

"The most common professional clergy in a synagogue are:"

from here.

I realize this is a bit sticky semantically, but the statements fall within a few lines of each other, and are bound to be awfully confusing to a general reader who comes to this article looking for information that he doesn't already have. Something tells me that the text got the way it is as a result of a semantic dispute, so I thought I'd look for comments here first before revising. Of course, anyone else who wants to take a shot is welcome. --Steven J. Anderson 01:49, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Another silly statement, of which, unfortunately, there are many in this article. The point being made, as far as I can see, is that a shul can be run without a rabbi (which is the case in most shuls in Israel), but that doesn't mean there is no clergy. Maybe the person writing this is also making an implicit comparison to the Pope - in Judaism there is no Pope with a capital P, but there are many, many, many popes (or would-be popes) with a small p...So I think you can re-write this as you see fit.

--Gilabrand 11:48, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

I edited the first of the two paragraphs. --Steven J. Anderson 20:03, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Beta Israel

The Beta Israel article says the term may be considered pejorative. Does it belong in this article? --Steven J. Anderson 09:31, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

I know "Falasha" is pejorative; I did not think Beta Israel is - I wonder if this is an artefact of poor editing? I think so - and solved the problem just by moving an end-parenthesis. Slrubenstein | Talk 09:50, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Thanks, Slrubenstein. Looking a little more closely, I see how I misread it, but it sure was confusing before. --Steven J. Anderson 11:07, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Not your fault at all - someone else did a shoddy editing job and it was entirely misleading. By the way, in general, I appreciate your careful edits. Slrubenstein | Talk 14:54, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Israel a Western nation?

Look here. Is Israel a Western nation? It's located in a part of the world that used to be known as the Occident Orient. Maybe this is hairsplitting, but I'd like to get it right. --Steven J. Anderson 11:16, 9 May 2007 (UTC) Oops. it was late--Steven J. Anderson 19:34, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, Israel is considered part of the "Western world" from a cultural standpoint, but I think the sentence is badly phrased anyway. It should be something like "In many parts of the world today, secularism is growing" or whatever.--Gilabrand 11:42, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

What qualifies a nation as being "Western" in a cultural sense? That it's democratic and industrialized? That its residents like European music? Would you say the same thing about Japan? Statements like that seem to reflect some level of prejudice. Also, Israel is located in the part of the world once known as the Orient--and indeed, Jews from that area are still called Oriental by some writers. (The Occident is actually the old term for what we now call the West.) marbeh raglaim 12:43, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

And your point, Mr. Marbehraglaim? Personally, I am not a fan of labels, but maybe we should invent a new cultural-geographical term called The Accident. LOL

--Gilabrand 13:15, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Israel ain't related to Judaism. --Shuli 13:31, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

That statement (a) isn't true (b) has nothing to do with this conversation.

I'm amazed that people don't seem to understand what I was saying even though I was being perfectly clear. I was making two separate, unrelated points:

1. I was asking what makes a nation "Western" in a cultural sense. I have yet to see someone provide a coherent answer.

2. I was making a small, minor correction to Steven J. Anderson's description of the Middle East as the "Occident," which I'm sure is not what he meant. Occident is the obsolete term for what we now call the West; Orient is the nearly obsolete term for what we now call the East (Near or Far), though it is still occasionally used in limited contexts, such as in the phrase "Oriental Jew."

Now what was so difficult about that? marbeh raglaim 14:02, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

I think many Israeli's view Israel as a Western nation, and also I bet there are many who do not view it as a Western nation. Note: I am not arguing that this is right or wrong, just that this is something people believe. One could write "an arguably Western nation" or find someother way to register that there are different views. As far as I know, the geographical location of Israel/Palestine was never "the occident" it may have been the Lavant, the orient, the Near East, or the Middle East, but not the Occident. When writing about the religion of ancient Israel (i.e. the people who wrote the Bible) I think they are most commonly refered to as "ancient Near Eastern" but this si still a little arbitary. The religion of ancient Israel has antecedants in ancient Egypt and ancient Mesopotamian societies e.g. the Sumerians. Rabbinic Judaism developed largely in Persia/Babylonia. But Zionism is definitely a predominantly Western movement, informed as it was by various Western discourses of nationalism, representative democracy, and socialism. Slrubenstein | Talk 15:02, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Well, ok, that was one of the sillier things I've written. I guess I shouldn't edit that late at night. Let me see if I can recover a little of my dignity. Israel, of course, is located in what used to be called the Orient. It has a modern, western economy and its culture is heavily influenced by western culture. It also has cultural and economic ties to the west. I wasn't trying to open up a philosphical dispute that can probably never be settled, just looking for help in making an edit to a statement that I thought was questionable. Thanks for your comments. They all helped and I made an edit. Please have a look and respond or improve it. --Steven J. Anderson 19:54, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Syncretic beliefs incorporating Judaism

This section has the "too few opinions" template. My understanding of these templates is that an editor who sees an article that he thinks needs work is supposed to place them and then open a discussion on the talk page about how to improve the article. Does anyone know how it got there? I'm posting this to open a discussion on it, but I'm in favor deleting the template. --Steven J. Anderson 21:33, 9 May 2007 (UTC)

Adding a Link

Does anyone object to adding a link to http://www.torahforme.com/files/Q%20and%20A/ a site that has basic questions and answers about Judaism? Shadchan 14:19, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Two weeks have passed and no protest, so i am posting the link. Shadchan 21:46, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

I removed the link because this article is intended to be a basic overview of Judaism, and I don't think that the sound files at that site are consistent with the nature of the article or with the other links at the bottom of it. Compare the Q&A you added with Judaism 101 or Shamash's Judaism resource page, both of which provide general information about Judaism. I think that Q&A about halakhic interpretation of Torah regarding, for example, Israel's borders or lesbianism are too specific for an overview of Judaism and also represent only the views of one Jewish movement, and don't belong here. — Malik Shabazz (Talk | contribs) 22:56, 19 June 2007 (UTC)

Question: Does converting make you a Jewish person?

The first sentence made me think this, forgive me for not knowing about the religion--or reading the threads--in advance:

Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people

If Judaism is the religion of the Jewish people, what do the converts follow under? Or better yet, once you become a part of the Jewish religion, does converting make you a Jew? 147.153.57.138T.McCarthy147.153.57.138 23:18, 6 June 2007 (UTC)147.153.57.138

It, in fact, makes you a Jew. "Jewish person" is almost exclusively a circumlocution used by people who regard the word "Jew" as pejorative. Tomer^talk 03:29, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Yes, if you convert you become a Jewish person. Converts are given as part of their Hebrew names "son of Abraham" or "daughter of Sarah" because Abraham and Sarah were the parents of the Jewish people. Slrubenstein | Talk 10:31, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Jewish converts are not always received as equals by those born Jews. Deuteronomy 23:3 still prevails 18:42, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Deuteronomy 23:3 does not, in fact, still prevail, as Gzuckier aptly points out below...it remains in effect, but is only interesting from a historical perspective, since the 10th generation of Ammonites and Moabites has long since passed away. A great deal of text has been expended, in fact, opining that the entire purpose for the inclusion of the Book of Ruth in the canon is specifically intended as a declaration that the period of prohibition against Moabites and Ammonites converting is now concluded. Tomer^talk 03:29, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

As Jew and Who is a Jew? say, the Jewish people consist of people who are Jews by heritage (i.e., those who are born Jewish) and those who have converted to Judaism. In Judaism, it's considered a sin to remind a convert that she or he wasn't born Jewish, and in almost every regard they are treated exactly the same. — Malik Shabazz (Talk | contribs) 17:23, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Yes, and therefore the "ben Avraham Avinu" thing is, in fact, a sin, since the convert is reminded, betzibur, that he is a convert every time he is addressed publicly. Tomer^talk 03:29, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Note that in the Book of Ruth, Ruth is a convert (and a Moabite no less: Deuteronomy 23:3 No Ammonite or Moabite shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord. Even to the tenth generation none of their descendants shall be admitted to the assembly of the Lord); and not only does she get a whole book dedicated to praising her, but she ends up being the great-grandmother of King David; and therefore, by tradition, the ancestor of the Messiah (and/or Jesus). All because she was nice to her mother-in-law. Now that is being treated equally. Gzuckier 19:05, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

Not to give fodder to antisemites, but beyond the "ben Avraham Avinu" thing above, the prohibition against Leviim marrying converts remains in effect (not that I'm complaining, just saying, "being treated equally" isn't entirely complete.) Tomer^talk 03:29, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

egotistic and self-centred reverts

Jayjg, would you please control your arbitrary reverts without discussion. As far as I know, this is not your personal website and there's no place for removing legitimate contributions without discussion. It's rude, ignorant and selfish to act this way and you may end up receiving a whole lot of complaints about you being here. If you can't keep yourself under control, you'll have to removed. If you disagree with a submission, discuss it here first. I'm reverting the content, and asking you to stop with vandalism of legitimate contributions without discussing it first. You're not the only bright light in the universe, so get a grip on your delete key. Hoserjoe 04:23, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

New comments belong at the bottom. The problem is your edits, not other editors. This article is not about the history of Christianity. Your other edits are either over-simplistic POV or simply factually wrong. Unfortunately WP articles related to Jews are regularly inundated with clueless and/or malicious activists, and to explain exactly how they are wrong would take full time. ←Humus sapiens ^ну? 06:36, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

It's not enough to opine that a submission is "over-simplistic". That reflects either (a) your lack of education or (b) malicious intent - not my submission. The heading was "Judaism and Christianity", and your arbitrary censorship is unwarranted in an encyclopedic forum. This is not a Jewish propaganda site for the sole purpose of insulting other religions, it is an encyclopedia, and the submission was useful and supportable. If it's factually wrong, you're not entitled to remove content without discussion, but you must provide contrary information or request sources (which authors will be pleased to provide). If you continue to do this, others will sift through WP and delete all YOUR submissions as "oversimplistic" in retaliation. Please back up your accusations promptly so that others can continue developing this topic without inconsiderate attacks on other people's work. 154.20.137.51 16:21, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

LOL. Thanks for proving my point. ←Humus sapiens ^ну? 23:10, 11 June 2007 (UTC)

I placed the talk up top to try to get the attention of the inconsiderate and ignorant person who was reverting without discussion - was that you using a different login? Saying "LOL, etc" sounds like you're intent on insulting others rather than improving a WP topic. It's immature and spiteful, not to mention inconsistent with WP objectives. Sometimes some folks get the idea that WP is their personal sandbox. Hoserjoe 07:16, 13 June 2007 (UTC)

Good article review

I am seeking a Good Article Review because this article is mostly origional research.--Sefringle^Talk 04:23, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Considering the current state of this article with the abundance of fact tags and cleanup templates, lack of sufficient inline citation for an article of such length, and unnecessary list incorporation, this article has been delisted from WP:Good Articles. Once issues have been and any other aspects of the article that may not comply with WP:WIAGA are corrected, the article can be renominated at WP:GAC. Regards, LaraLove^T/_C 05:43, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Sefringle, the problem isn't that it's mostly original research, it's that a bunch of stuff that is common knowledge has been flagged with {{fact}} tags. That's fine, sources exist for all of it, I'm sure. Seeking WP:GA/R, however, is not the way to get citations. That is not what GA is for. Instead, why not work on finding citations, or finding someone with the time to seek them out? Tomer^talk 05:51, 23 July 2007 (UTC)

Jewish people?

"According to traditional Jewish belief, the God who created the world established a covenant with the Jewish people"...

amm.. the covenant wasn't with the Jewish people but with the children of Israel.. before there were even Israelites.. so it can't be with thw "Jewish people". GOER 20:26, 23 July 2007 (UTC)