Jewish philosophy as well as Jewish perspectives - i.e. not only formal philosophy. NOT for questions about Jewish practice unless there's a philosophical component.
8
votes
6answers
469 views
does one have to take a Midrash/Aggadah literally?
Does one have to take a Midrash/Aggadah literally?
9
votes
2answers
249 views
“bad impression” vs “Judge your friend favorably”
There are two commonly known halachic concepts. "Marit Ayin", a bad impression, and "Dan Lekaf Zechut", "Judging favorably". Here is a nice article on the concept of Marit Ayin and it briefly talks ...
6
votes
1answer
599 views
Is there any difference between Jewish G-d and Muslim G-d? [closed]
Do Jews and Muslims worship the same G-d? If so, do they understand G-d the same way? As a related point, is there any linguistic or theological connection between "Allah" and "Eloha" (or "Elohim")? ...
13
votes
5answers
665 views
Is there “Torah Inerrancy”?
Is there Torah inerrancy?
In other words, does the Torah contain no factual errors: the Noah flood did occur, Garden of Eden did exist, Adam and Eve did live there and were subsequently expelled, etc ...
8
votes
3answers
981 views
Rainbow as a bad omen
There is a popular idea that seeing a rainbow is a bad sign, as if the world is deserving of a deluge (c"v) and the only reason Hashem does not do so is because of His promise. Is there any source for ...
11
votes
4answers
311 views
Is belief in a G-d a commandment?
I am studying to convert to Judaism and one of the questions I was asked was about the Ten Commandments. I remember reading at that time that there was debate about the division of the statements ...
12
votes
6answers
736 views
How do we know that God exists?
Simple enough question, and very much related to the topic.
According to the sources, on what basis should people believe that there's a God?
10
votes
7answers
399 views
Why did G-d not stop the holocaust?
Why did G-d not stop the holocaust? Is there anything written to explain why He would not have stopped it? or why He would have allowed it?
5
votes
4answers
283 views
Hashem is here and there and everywhere?
Is Hashem really in front of us, behind us, next to us, etc?
11
votes
2answers
222 views
Is it heresy to follow secular dating on the destruction of the first Temple?
There is a discrepancy between rabbinic and secular sources regarding when the first Temple was destroyed -- a difference of some 165 years or so, which are called the "Missing Years."
My question is ...
11
votes
3answers
218 views
Do people have an effect on the mood of God?
If a person commits idolatry or fornication he is sinful. Not only that, but the curse of Hashem is with that person. On the other hand, if a person does a lot of mitswots (commandments) and believes ...
7
votes
2answers
271 views
What are the characteristics of Sheol?
The Wikipedia article on Sheol is very unclear as to what it is and combined with the Christian understanding: quoting the New Testament in several places.
Who goes to Sheol once they die (Jews ...
11
votes
8answers
1k views
If Christianity is avodah zarah and Islam is not, why has the Christian world triumphed over the non-Christian, and why do Jews prefer to live among Christians and not Muslims?
The Rambam quite clearly considered Christianity to be avodah zarah. He did not feel the same way about Islam, however, going so far as to condone praying within a mosque, and many Orthodox Jewish ...
43
votes
2answers
511 views
Does “reputation scoring” make “the Torah a crown to magnify yourself with”?
I apologise in advance if this is not the place to ask this question.
Is "reputation scoring" against the spirit of Pirkei Ovos 4 (5) "Rabbi Tzaddok would say: Do not make the Torah a crown to ...
11
votes
5answers
570 views
May one love a non-Jew?
May one love a non-Jew? Not romantically in the sense of marriage, but rather in the sense that one loves a friend or family. May a Jew love his Gentile father, for example? May a baal teshuvah ...
9
votes
7answers
321 views
Any primary sources that all Jewish males should l'chatchila stay in learning forever?
Does anyone know of any specific sources in Chazal or Rishonim (or even earlier achronim) that indicate that l'chatchila all Jewish males should learn full time forever? I know that this is the ...
7
votes
2answers
190 views
Why does God care so much about Details
Kizayis, Kebeitzah, Toich Kedai Achilas Pras, Zman Kriyas Shemah
Why is god so into details what are their significance(e.x why does god care if I daven after Zman Kriyas Shemah)?
0
votes
3answers
191 views
Did G-d create evil? [closed]
Did G-d create evil? Scripture says that G-d created everything, right? So then if G-d indeed created everything, does that mean He created evil?
Is there Old Testament evidence for why He did or ...
13
votes
7answers
291 views
“I never saw a tzaddik be abandoned…” - how do we understand this?
At the end of bentching we say that "I was young, and I also became old, and I never saw a righteous person be abandoned, and his children asking for bread".
How do we reconcile that with the ...
12
votes
2answers
296 views
How do we know that we have free will?
Where in the torah does it state that humans have, and are entitled to in perpetuity, free will?
11
votes
7answers
950 views
How does Judaism deal with God and paradoxes?
How does Judaism deal with paradoxes relating to the omnipotence of God?
For example: Can God create a rock that he himself cannot lift?
11
votes
4answers
244 views
Voting for a person that will not uphold Torah values
It is well known that Rabbi Avigdor Miller Zatzal strongly condemned those that voted for candidates that would not uphold Torah values. Yet there were many Gedolim that had no problem voting for such ...
10
votes
5answers
341 views
Existence of Heaven and Hell
I heard from a Jewish colleague that the concept of Heaven and Hell were not originally part of Judaism. I couldn't find references to these concepts in the Old Testament. So
Were these part of ...
10
votes
4answers
197 views
Reconciling Nature with Continuous Creation
I have always understood that when God created the universe, he subjected it to a natural order and process under which the universe can function. The laws of nature are those that govern the ...
7
votes
1answer
128 views
Free will a prerequisite for punishment?
I read that the angel Metat was subjected to 60 pulsei de-nura (Aramaic: פולסא דנורא "lashes of fire"). I have been taught that angels do not have free will. Did this angel act from free will or did ...
6
votes
6answers
250 views
Tikkun Olam source
What is the source for the concept that Jews have to practice Tikkun Olam, and where in the classical Jewish sources is this concept defined? It seems people throw this term around a lot in the ...
4
votes
4answers
188 views
Why does evil exist?
I realize this is a very common question, but the problem of evil is an important one, and as far as I can tell, has not been asked here.
In short, why does G-d allow evil to exist?
3
votes
3answers
418 views
Bad Jew or Good Gentile?
Whom does Hashem love more: Gentiles who love Jewish people and Israel or Jews who are against Jewish people and Israel?
15
votes
2answers
397 views
Why does the Hebrew alphabet not have letters representing vowels?
(Re-asking this question in a way more suited to SE.)
The Hebrew alphabet is actually an abjad rather than a "true" Western-style alphabet, in that every letter represents a consonant, and vowels, if ...
11
votes
2answers
180 views
What is “emunas chachomim”?
My daughter came home from school with a textbook response for what "emunas chachomim" is. I disagreed strongly with what was written in the book, so I'm not even going to say what they said. ...
10
votes
2answers
161 views
Non-belief in Torah's divinity - Wickedness or Ignorance?
If a Jew breaks halacha because he honestly does not believe that the Torah is G-d's law or that he is obligated it follow it, is his nonconformance with the law considered wickedness or ignorance? ...
8
votes
1answer
94 views
Animals vs. plants: kashrus
Why did God make all plants, but only some animals, kosher? Sources, please.
7
votes
0answers
91 views
Do not separate yourself from the community: what exactly is the community?
Hillel teaches in Pirke Avot (2:4): do not separate yourself from the community. I'm not a historian, but I have the impression that at the time he was writing, towns tended to have one (Jewish) ...
7
votes
2answers
162 views
Can our deceased relatives observe us?
People often say (e.g. at s'machot and other such events) things like "Grandpa Chaim would have loved to be here today, but we know he is smiling down on us from shamayim"
Is this really a ...
6
votes
5answers
346 views
Do we believe in Heaven and Hell?
In yeshiva I was always told about gan eden and gehinnom, and how the good go to one place while the bad go to the other. However, in popular culture, Jews are always said to not believe in Hell (and ...
6
votes
8answers
336 views
do we really have free choice?
I was told Hashem created us with free will; so we can make a choice to do good or evil, right? Well, Hashem knows what we are going to do in 10 minutes. So do we really have free will? Hashem can see ...
4
votes
4answers
301 views
Why is the foreskin removed?
Why is the foreskin removed? God gave it men, did God also tell them to have it removed?
3
votes
3answers
176 views
Does God benefit from our keeping of the Mitzvos?
Does Hashem benefit from mankind doing the commandments of the Torah?
2
votes
0answers
112 views
Must one go according to his/her opinion (leshitato)?
Imagine that a Halakhic Decisor (decider?) maintains a certain Halakhic position or Hashkafic belief. [I am assuming that such thing as a Hashkafic Decisor exists.] Anyway, is it imperative that s/he ...
0
votes
1answer
121 views
Why Wait for Moshiach
The Rambam in Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah says God has no joy or sadness. If so, why do we wait for moshiach? For G-d's glory? G-d does not need anything from us. How are we supposed to have intent to ...
11
votes
6answers
488 views
Reconciling the evidence for the Uncertainty Principle with belief in an omniscient G-d
One of the foundations of modern quantum mechanics is the Uncertainty Principle. This principle is not an assumption, but rather is derived from assumptions made with regard to the structure of ...
8
votes
2answers
228 views
Moreh Nevuchim: To learn or not to learn?
I have come across many people who believe that it is inappropriate to learn Moreh Nevuchim especially at a younger inexperienced age. However, it seems that many important issues are discussed in the ...
12
votes
5answers
401 views
Why is there so much stuff?
If the point of all of creation is for the Jewish people to accept and carry out the torah [I realize this is not axiomatic and may be a point of contention - see Shabbat 88a] what is the need for the ...
12
votes
6answers
346 views
Being a light to the nations - what does it mean?
I'm working on this as my project for a yeshiva program, and I'd like some input
What does the concept actually mean? It's only mentioned briefly in most of our scripture and commentary.
Are there ...
11
votes
7answers
459 views
Answering Atheist about Torah miracles
How do we explain our belief in the story of Yonah living in a Fish, the Splitting of a sea, and all the other fantastic Miracles described in the Torah to a person who was not brought up religious; ...
5
votes
1answer
131 views
What attitudes toward Jesus are acceptable for a Jew?
What attitudes toward Jesus are acceptable for a Jew? I understand that idolatry, or embracing the mainstream Christian perception of Jesus as divine, is absolutely out of the question. Furthermore, ...
4
votes
1answer
320 views
Why did Rabbis stay away from Amei Haaretz?
The Gemara tells Torah scholars that they should not mix with Amei Haaretz, and shouldn't be around them, eat with them, etc. The reason is that the Torah Scholars would learn from their bad ways.
...
3
votes
1answer
447 views
English translation of Rambam's Moreh Nevuchim (Maimonides' Guide for the Perplexed) on the Internet?
Is there an English translation on the Internet of Rambam's philosophic treatise on Jewish philosophy, Moreh Nevuchim?
15
votes
8answers
795 views
Why are angelic icons not prominent in Judaism?
I learned that the song Shalom Aleichem is all about welcoming the Shabbat angels, and clearly angels are celebrated in Judaism. However I've noticed that images of angels are not very widespread in ...
14
votes
1answer
231 views
Who is Moshiach?
How do I know that someone is Moshiach? Will I just know? Are there requirements? If someone tells me that he is the Moshiach, is he to be believed. It would seem seem strange to say so.
