Judaism versus the other guy...

Originally posted 12/14/08 and written in early 2007

Judaism and Xtianity: The Differences by Trude Weiss-Rosmarin dissects the differences between the two religions. Some aspects of this include: the G-d idea, miracles, sin, earthly pleasures, faith vs. law and J. I intend to mix book summary with personal experience to discuss this topic. Therefore some may find things in this discussion that are not in the book.


The Jewish G-d idea is monotheistic. The Xtian G-d is the trinity. If you talk to a Xtian, they will tell you they are monotheistic, however this is not accurate. Their argument is that G-d takes three different forms but, that it’s still one G-d. However, one of these forms is supposed to be a human form. If you take that away, there can be no “father” and thus you just get one G-d. A kindergarten math lesson would tell you that if you take away two so that you get one, you did not start with one, but three. Not too mention, if G-d is Omnipotent and Eternal how can He allow Himself to take a form that is power-restricted and transitory?

In Judaism, miracles are a foot note. In Xtianity, especially Catholicism, they are central to the religion. Weiss-Rosmarin points out that many have been duplicated by “black magic.” Thus, they do not seem to be that great of a litmus test upon which someone would base their faith in which version of G-d is our Creator. Another point to be made is that if faith is more important than works in Xtianity, why then, do they need their god to prove himself to them? What happened to the importance of faith?

In Judaism, sin is the result of choices made against G-d’s will. You atone for it by changing your behavior or asking for forgiveness and meaning it. In Xtianity, sin is something with which you are born in your soul. You atone for it by belief in J who was god’s son and also god, according to them. This god was then crucified for everyone’s sins. How can G-d be Eternal and yet die? How can G-d hate the sacrifice of one’s children and yet do what he hates? Does it make sense for an Omnipotent being to do what he hates?

In Judaism, earthly pleasures are something G-d gave us to enjoy while we are here, in moderation. In Xtianity, the ideal is the monk living in the mountains having given everything up. He does not get married and have kids. He has no money. He does not wear nice clothes. He does not eat steak or hot fudge sundaes. He does not drive a convertible on a sunny day with the wind in his hair. The only thing he gets that the Jewish guy does not get is a ham and cheese sandwich. Is this a sensible trade off?

In Judaism, the law rules over faith. In Xtianity, faith rules over law. At least that’s how it seems on the surface. The author of this paper sees it another way. In Judaism, you follow the law that the Creator laid down for you because you have faith. If you didn’t have faith, you would not think that He gave the Torah, so you would just do what you want, no? In Xtianity, they work on faith. They are on step one. The Jews are on step two.

In Judaism, views of J vary. Some hold that he is a false prophet. Some say that he was a rabbi. Most certainly, he was a mortal. The author of this paper has nicknamed him.
”the hustler,” because those who believe in him have obviously been hustled. In Xtianity, he is the cornerstone of the religion. He is god-incarnate. He was both god and a mortal. Again, how can a mortal also be god?

In conclusion, Judaism is obviously a more advanced religion. Jews can do math and grasp that one god minus two gods equals negative one for the religion. Jews do not need miracles to prove their faith. The Jewish G-d does not call His People “sinner” until the sin has happened. The Jews are encouraged to enjoy life (with proper moderation.) The Jews follow the law since faith is already there. Additionally, J was not our Eternal G-d, since he was not eternal, he was a mortal.

Jews can do the crime but, not the time....

I am ever increasingly SICK and TIRED of people Emailing me and FB inviting me to rally behind Jewish CRIMINALS, like Rubaskin. Someone, I can't figure out who, set me up with an invite on Facebook to a prayer service for him.

"THERE IS NO GREATER MITZVAH THAN PIDYON SHVUYIM (Redemption of Captives)


—RAMBAM ‘ הלכות מתנות לעניים פרק ח‘ הלכה י"
 
Are these people for real? Yep, the goyim did it. It's all the goyim's fault. Do you sense my sarcasm? There are far too many Jews who somehow think that they are priviledged to be above the rest of the population. The Torah commands us to be preists among the nations. Jews have forgotten this. Yes, I said "Jews" not "we"... Remember? I'm not a REAL Jew, as I'm often reminded.

Judaism versus the other guy...

Judaism and Xtianity: The Differences by Trude Weiss-Rosmarin dissects the differences between the two religions. Some aspects of this include: the G-d idea, miracles, sin, earthly pleasures, faith vs. law and J. I intend to mix book summary with personal experience to discuss this topic. Therefore some may find things in this discussion that are not in the book.




The Jewish G-d idea is monotheistic. The Xtian G-d is the trinity. If you talk to a Xtian, they will tell you they are monotheistic, however this is not accurate. Their argument is that G-d takes three different forms but, that it’s still one G-d. However, one of these forms is supposed to be a human form. If you take that away, there can be no “father” and thus you just get one G-d. A kindergarten math lesson would tell you that if you take away two so that you get one, you did not start with one, but three. Not too mention, if G-d is Omnipotent and Eternal how can He allow Himself to take a form that is power-restricted and transitory?



In Judaism, miracles are a foot note. In Xtianity, especially Catholicism, they are central to the religion. Weiss-Rosmarin points out that many have been duplicated by “black magic.” Thus, they do not seem to be that great of a litmus test upon which someone would base their faith in which version of G-d is our Creator. Another point to be made is that if faith is more important than works in Xtianity, why then, do they need their god to prove himself to them? What happened to the importance of faith?



In Judaism, sin is the result of choices made against G-d’s will. You atone for it by changing your behavior or asking for forgiveness and meaning it. In Xtianity, sin is something with which you are born in your soul. You atone for it by belief in J who was god’s son and also god, according to them. This god was then crucified for everyone’s sins. How can G-d be Eternal and yet die? How can G-d hate the sacrifice of one’s children and yet do what he hates? Does it make sense for an Omnipotent being to do what he hates?



In Judaism, earthly pleasures are something G-d gave us to enjoy while we are here, in moderation. In Xtianity, the ideal is the monk living in the mountains having given everything up. He does not get married and have kids. He has no money. He does not wear nice clothes. He does not eat steak or hot fudge sundaes. He does not drive a convertible on a sunny day with the wind in his hair. The only thing he gets that the Jewish guy does not get is a ham and cheese sandwich. Is this a sensible trade off?



In Judaism, the law rules over faith. In Xtianity, faith rules over law. At least that’s how it seems on the surface. The author of this paper sees it another way. In Judaism, you follow the law that the Creator laid down for you because you have faith. If you didn’t have faith, you would not think that He gave the Torah, so you would just do what you want, no? In Xtianity, they work on faith. They are on step one. The Jews are on step two.



In Judaism, views of J vary. Some hold that he is a false prophet. Some say that he was a rabbi. Most certainly, he was a mortal. The author of this paper has nicknamed him

”the hustler,” because those who believe in him have obviously been hustled. In Xtianity, he is the cornerstone of the religion. He is god-incarnate. He was both god and a mortal. Again, how can a mortal also be god?



In conclusion, Judaism is obviously a more advanced religion. Jews can do math and grasp that one god minus two gods equals negative one for the religion. Jews do not need miracles to prove their faith. The Jewish G-d does not call His People “sinner” until the sin has happened. The Jews are encouraged to enjoy life (with proper moderation.) The Jews follow the law since faith is already there. Additionally, J was not our Eternal G-d, since he was not eternal, he was a mortal.

Xtianity inside info for the Jew...

As I was commenting on the comments for another post, I began explaining some information about the various differences and lack thereof between protestant denominations. I will add a little something of what I know about Catholicism. After all, my Jewish friends and acquaintances are always asking me about these things. I think it's about time I blogged it.

As a former protestant, who even went to a protestant college, there really is no difference between most of the denominations and often two of the same denomination are nothing alike. For example, a black baptist church is NOTHING like the right wing fundamentalist baptist church I used to attend where everyone was white. I bet the women wear pants at the black baptist church. I wore pants to church one Sunday and I got more looks than I did when I wore a pantsuit to an Orthodox shul early in my conversion.

Now there was a guy in my college whose family was with their local Free Methodist church. So, I, the analytical girl that I am, had to ask what is the difference. Well, at one point churches or maybe just Methodist churches charged for seat or didn't let blacks in or something. Free Methodist was the first group to do this.

The Xtian college I went to was Weslyan which is a kind of Methodist. Now, as mentioned before, Methodist... Baptist... whatever... Actually, we didn't have a "dress code" like you will see that I encountered in the Baptist world. However, I don't remember problems with girls wearing short skirts or anything. Most of us wore baggy jeans and a t-shirt or sweatshirt.

As alluded to above, dress code changes as greatly across the spectrum of churches as it does across the spectrum of synagogues. The right wing fundamentalist baptist church where I found myself for the first three years of high school had a dress code similar to the Orthodox one.

One differences was that we didn't have to cover our elbows but, we did have to cover our shoulders because those were considered too sexy. I once saw a girl on a date in a kosher restaurant wearing a long sleeved shirt with the shoulders cut out. I can just imagine her defense, "well, my elbows are covered." I was so embarassed, as I was with an Xtian friend who said, "I thought Jewish girls were supposed to cover up?"

The rules regarding skirts and skirt lengths were the same. The skirt was supposed to be to the knee or lower and slits should be only below the knee. It's unfortunate that this seems to only be in theory in the Orthodox world, as I frequently see the super tight jeans skirt, you know the one I mean, above the knee with a slit in the back that goes waaaaaaaaaaaay up.

I promised you I would speak about Catholicism. My mother was raised Catholic and gram, who lived with us, still practiced while, my mother lapsed in her practice. So, I should know more about it, but, I don't really know much. The Catholics pray to saints and light candles. Their churches are large and echo a lot. They also smell funny. I think it's the candles and the old ladies' perfume. Catholics are the ones who make a big deal about Mary. Whereas, for the protestants, she is just a character in the story.

A lot of people send their kids to Catholic school, not because they are religious, but because they don't want their kids in the public school. This is where the misconception comes about that non-Jews are not religious and don't have required dress codes. Jews have told me, "but, the Catholic girls wear such short skirts..." Yes, but, these are not religious people letting thier daughters go about like this. I am, though, kind of surprised the schools don't hold a higher standard. I guess the schools just want the money.

Perhaps, we have just as many identifications in Judaism. However, we have these umbrellas: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform and Reconstructionist. Think about it though, how many kinds of Orthodox are there? Well, there's MO liberal, MO machmir, Shomer Mitzvos, Carlebachian, Yeshivish, Chabad-those who believe the rebbe was moshiach, Chabad-those who don't believe the rebbe was moshiach, whatever variation in the sephardic world and then we get into allllllllllllllll the types of Chasidic, as well as people who proclaim, "I don't fit into any group but, I'm Orthodox." I, of course, have no clue about whatever breakdowns might exist for the other umbrellas I mentioned.

Solutions for a marriage between born Jew and ger/gyoress

In addition to being offended by this notion that anyone who is married to a convert is in the same category as someone intermarried, there is more that bothers me.

I am bothered at this notion that assumes a convert will take the kids to the grandparents for Xmas and Easter. Personally, most of my family is deceased. Actually, we were small to begin with. However, if I had family, the solution would be to have spend Thanksgiving and/or July fourth with my family and eat kosher. If I didn't have space at my place, we could go to a restaurant or I could bring the food and a plug in blech to the relatives to reheat the food. You would use the disposable stuff that people use on Shabbos anyhow. Fourth of July is easier because you can buy kosher food (hot dogs, burgers, potato salad, mac salad, potato chips etc.) If it's hosted at someone else's house, you can buy a small cheap grill and bring it with you.

Some people invite gentile family for Jewish holidays. I think that would create more problems, especially with Passover where the kosher restrictions are more than the rest of the year. Perhaps the gentile family could come for the seudah mitzah on Purim. I actually think Chanukah would be a bad idea because their non-Jewish cousins would be talking excessively about Xmas.

Which brings me to another point, one should be prepared to explain Xtian holidays to Jewish children. This would be more of an issue for children of intermarriage, a converted parent and Jewish children in public school. However, I have seen it come up with Orthodox Jewish day school children whose parents are both Jewish from birth. After all, there is all that stuff in the stores. Personally, I would tell them that some people think G-d became a human, which is silly. Xmas is when they think this person was born. Easter is when they think he died and came back to life. It's that simple.

Judaism versus the other guy...

Judaism and Xtianity: The Differences by Trude Weiss-Rosmarin dissects the differences between the two religions. Some aspects of this include: the G-d idea, miracles, sin, earthly pleasures, faith vs. law and J. I intend to mix book summary with personal experience to discuss this topic. Therefore some may find things in this discussion that are not in the book.

The Jewish G-d idea is monotheistic. The Xtian G-d is the trinity. If you talk to a Xtian, they will tell you they are monotheistic, however this is not accurate. Their argument is that G-d takes three different forms but, that it’s still one G-d. However, one of these forms is supposed to be a human form. If you take that away, there can be no “father” and thus you just get one G-d. A kindergarten math lesson would tell you that if you take away two so that you get one, you did not start with one, but three. Not too mention, if G-d is Omnipotent and Eternal how can He allow Himself to take a form that is power-restricted and transitory?

In Judaism, miracles are a foot note. In Xtianity, especially Catholicism, they are central to the religion. Weiss-Rosmarin points out that many have been duplicated by “black magic.” Thus, they do not seem to be that great of a litmus test upon which someone would base their faith in which version of G-d is our Creator. Another point to be made is that if faith is more important than works in Xtianity, why then, do they need their god to prove himself to them? What happened to the importance of faith?

In Judaism, sin is the result of choices made against G-d’s will. You atone for it by changing your behavior or asking for forgiveness and meaning it. In Xtianity, sin is something with which you are born in your soul. You atone for it by belief in J who was god’s son and also god, according to them. This god was then crucified for everyone’s sins. How can G-d be Eternal and yet die? How can G-d hate the sacrifice of one’s children and yet do what he hates? Does it make sense for an Omnipotent being to do what he hates?

In Judaism, earthly pleasures are something G-d gave us to enjoy while we are here, in moderation. In Xtianity, the ideal is the monk living in the mountains having given everything up. He does not get married and have kids. He has no money. He does not wear nice clothes. He does not eat steak or hot fudge sundaes. He does not drive a convertible on a sunny day with the wind in his hair. The only thing he gets that the Jewish guy does not get is a ham and cheese sandwich. Is this a sensible trade off?

In Judaism, the law rules over faith. In Xtianity, faith rules over law. At least that’s how it seems on the surface. The author of this paper sees it another way. In Judaism, you follow the law that the Creator laid down for you because you have faith. If you didn’t have faith, you would not think that He gave the Torah, so you would just do what you want, no? In Xtianity, they work on faith. They are on step one. The Jews are on step two.

In Judaism, views of J vary. Some hold that he is a false prophet. Some say that he was a rabbi. Most certainly, he was a mortal. The author of this paper has nicknamed him
”the hustler,” because those who believe in him have obviously been hustled. In Xtianity, he is the cornerstone of the religion. He is god-incarnate. He was both god and a mortal. Again, how can a mortal also be god?

In conclusion, Judaism is obviously a more advanced religion. Jews can do math and grasp that one god minus two gods equals negative one for the religion. Jews do not need miracles to prove their faith. The Jewish G-d does not call His People “sinner” until the sin has happened. The Jews are encouraged to enjoy life (with proper moderation.) The Jews follow the law since faith is already there. Additionally, J was not our Eternal G-d, since he was not eternal, he was a mortal.