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I borrowed (with permission) a question from Ahmed Han, which is:

People of every religion claim that they are the ones in the right path. Even the people of sects in these religions think that they are on a better path than the peoples of other sects are on. How come could they be so sure?

As a Muslim, how can I be sure that my religion or sect/madhab/path is the rightful one? How can I be sure that there isn't any other religion sent by Allah which is better than Islam, but it is wrongly advertised so that I think that it is wrong?

Change some words and we get:

People of every religion claim that they are the ones in the right path. Even the people of sects in these religions think that they are on a better path than the peoples of other sects are on.

As a someone who believes in Judaism, how can you be sure that the religion is the rightful one? How can I be sure that there isn't any other religion sent by God which is better than Judaism, but it is wrongly advertised so that I think that it is wrong?

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+1. Looks like you were right, though. Also, extremely related: judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/13764/… – HodofHod Aug 21 '12 at 19:45
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I get asked this question a lot and I find that he simplest answer is to say "Judaism is only the right path for you if you are Jewish." There might be religions sent by god which are better, but are not for you because he made you as a Jew. That's it -- no competition, just parallel paths. Yes, there are implications and consequences which are problematic, but the underlying approach resolves the question. God wants you to be who you are, not someone else. – Danno Aug 21 '12 at 22:43
Nice answer/comment Dan. It's similar to my personal belief system. Maybe you want to make that an answer instead of a comment. – user1550 Aug 21 '12 at 23:03
I get the sense that as an answer it would be more problematic than helpful. I have no sources or basis for it other than my own understanding. – Danno Aug 22 '12 at 0:27
@Dan I was always raised with that. – Charles Koppelman Aug 22 '12 at 15:40

3 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

Rabbi Kelemen’s book Permission to Receive is essential reading and provides four rational approaches to the Torah’s Divine origin. I can’t summarise it here.

The best evidence is our Mesorah – the tradition of transmission of the Torah.

The link site also has articles on our history with the critical paragraph:

On the fiftieth day after they began counting the Omer--that is, fifty-one days after the Exodus, all of the Children of Israel, men, women and children, over two million people, stood at Mount Sinai and received the Torah amidst great miracles and heavenly fire. They saw no form or picture of G-d, but they saw many miracles that proved that G-d is the Creator of heaven and earth. They heard G-d's voice speak and command Moses to instruct the Children of Israel on how to prepare to receive the Torah. Then they heard G-d speaking directly to them, the Children of Israel, and commanding them to keep the Torah. The Children of Israel accepted the Torah and all its Commandments, and they said: "We agree to obey, even before we hear the actual Commandments."

The article that establishes the age of the Torah is also worth looking at.

We have had the Torah for at least 3,313 years, when Hashem gave it to us at Mount Sinai.

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The quoted paragraph is the main point. You won't find another religion making the same claim, because it is impossible to fake, and almost impossible to imagine faking, unlike a revelation to an individual, or small group. – Yishai Aug 21 '12 at 21:47
@Yishai But it is very possible that the number started smaller, and grew zeros on the end of it as time progressed. – Double AA♦ Aug 21 '12 at 23:49
@DoubleAA, not really, as it represented the progeny of the original ones. People would have to accept a third party telling them a story they never heard from their parents, and that their parents actively deny hearing about (especially in the more hierarchical societies of the past). But I stand by my main point: The testable hypothesis is finding another competing claim with the same characteristic. It doesn't exist (to my knowledge). – Yishai Aug 22 '12 at 2:26
@yisai Yes really. There need not be third party; it would be organic. Imagine at first it was 60 people. By the time their grandchildren tell the great-grandchildren they say "'There were a lot of people.' 'How many, Dad?' 'Like a 100.'" Soon a hundred becomes hundreds becomes a thousand etc. We're talking about a shift over many many generations with no written record. It's not at all unfathomable that the number grew, especially when doing so increases the glory of the Revelation (parallel to Midrashim which talk about {some really large number} of enemies that Hero-Jew killed in one shot). – Double AA♦ Aug 22 '12 at 2:37
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@AvrohomYitzchok I was not arguing for that model and I certainly believe in Torah MiSinai! All I'm pointing out is that the 'proof' everyone quotes in the name of the Kuzari is not such a good one. If that was the entire basis of your religion then I'm sorry for you and for your teachers who taught you to be that way, but I see no reason to not discuss the merits of the MT source which you quoted, nor why the discussion I brought above cannot be had from a MT perspective. – Double AA♦ Aug 23 '12 at 2:51
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up vote 3 down vote

If you are truly seeking the right path I would suggest to read your own and other religion scriptures.(Torah,Bible or Quran)

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I whole heartily agree with you. If possible (not usually) try to learn the langue and read it in the original context. – user1550 Sep 8 '12 at 22:11
up vote 1 down vote

This is a very complex question (since there are many sub-questions etc)

In order to answer this question, one must know what religion is, as well as the basic parts of religion (like prayer, punishment and reward etc), and how this fits in to our ideology (vs others).

In order to get a satisfying answer I would suggest some reading up on it.

Here are some good places to start:

  • Kuzari (a sefer - translated into English - that discusses Judaism vs Christianity, Islam, and Aristotelianism)
  • Bachya ibn Pekuda wrote Chovos Halevovos (Duties of the Heart - also translated into English)
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Chovos HaLevavos was written by Bachya ibn Pekuda – b a Aug 21 '12 at 19:37
Thanks for the correction – pzkd Aug 21 '12 at 19:39
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I don't think this is really much of an answer to the question. Perhaps you could sumarize some of the main points from those sfarim? – Daniel Aug 21 '12 at 20:49
Also maybe just add the Kuzari Principle – soandos Aug 21 '12 at 20:59
I updated the answer a bit... as far as some proof, one famous one is the fact that there were 600,000 adults that witnessed the giving of the Torah, and since then in every generation no less than 600,000 people transmitted it to the next generation. – pzkd Aug 21 '12 at 21:18

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