Questions tagged [hashkafah-philosophy]
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.
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Is belief in Midrashim optional?
The Ramban in Sefer Havikuach (page 32, the bottom of the first column ) asserts with regard to Midrash:
מי שיאמין בו טוב. ומי שלא יאמין בו לא יזיק
Whoever believes in it, good, he who does not ...
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Does one have to take a Midrash/Aggadah literally?
Does one have to take a Midrash/Aggadah literally?
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Why don't Jews think Jesus is the messiah?
Christians say that Jesus is the Messiah spoken of in the Old Testament; Jews disagree. Why couldn't Jesus be the Messiah spoken of? Or could he possibly have been?
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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?
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Sheidim: are they fact, or fiction?
Are there really such thing as sheidim? If so, what are they? Please include sources.
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Bereishit vs. science
How does Judaism deal with the differences between scientific evidence of the beginning of the world and the account(s) in Bereishit?
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How can we be sure that Judaism is true/the truth?
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 ...
user1550
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How do we know that God exists?
Simple enough question, and very much related to the topic.
According to traditional Jewish sources, on what basis should people believe that there's a God?
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How does "eilu v'eilu" work out with an absolute truth?
I'm under the impression that religious Judaism believes in absolute truths. That being the case, how does the concept of "eilu v'eilu divrei elokim chaim" (Eruvin 13b) work out? When two scholars ...
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All the many, many details
I understand a number of reasons why the Jewish community keeps so many rules to the level of minutiae. But why SUCH a level of intricacy in some of these laws?
I looked through a large book on the ...
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Does Judaism permit sexual relationships outside of marriage?
I am eager to know more about different religions from Islam to Judaism. Furthermore, how different religions look at women and comparing their kinds of approaches to the matter of gender and ...
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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?
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Why a human Messiah?
I understand that Mashiach is going to be a human. What is the source for this, and are there any explanations why it must be so? Can't G-d Himself redeem us?
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40 Days Before Conception
It is written somewhere (I don't remember exactly where) that 40 days before conception, it is called out in Heaven who that person will marry. However, if the person gets married multiple times how ...
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Deviations of Ralbag from normative Jewish theology
In an article about the Rashba's views on science, Rabbi Dr. David Horwitz throws in the following sentence (p. 53):
No less than a radical thinker than R. Levi ben Gershom (Ralbag), who had no ...
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Do Jews believe in Heaven and Hell?
In yeshiva I was always told about gan eden and gehinnom, and how the good go to the former place while the bad go to the latter. However, in popular culture, Jews are always said to not believe in ...
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Bad things happening to good people
Why do bad things happen to good people?
And, even if they do, bad things, not good things, should happen to bad people!
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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?
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What is the machlokes between the Gra and Ba'al HaTanya?
What is the famous argument between the Vilna Gaon and the Ba'al HaTanya in understanding the Sod HaTzimtzum? And what are some ma'areh mekomos in their works where this Machlokes is seen?
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What are Rambam's "עיקרים"?
Rambam, in his Commentary to the Mishna (Sanhedrin 10), enumerates 13 "עיקרים" or "יסודות", which he holds are the core "principles" that every Jew is expected to believe. (Summary in English.)
But ...
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Does the Zodiac really have influence on our lives?
Ancient thought, even among the rabbis of the Talmud, was that the Zodiac controlled certain Earthly events. In Hebrew, the signs of the Zodiac are מזלות, now known as "luck".
For example, in Shabbat ...
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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 ...
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Are the Jews today still waiting for the Messiah to come?
Are the Jews still today waiting for the promised Messiah to come? If so, then what kind of Messiah are they expecting right now? When do they expect him to come?
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What is the Orthodox Jewish view of the afterlife?
What is the nature of life after death, according to Orthodox Judaism as it exists today? I have tried to read up on this, but I often hear very conflicted views... I mean I once read that Sheol is ...
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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.
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Moral Culpability in the Garden
Did Adam and Eve have moral culpability in the Garden before they ate from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil? It would seem that they were like small children in that sense, they were amoral--not ...
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Is Hashem 'involved' in everything that happens?
The view in current Haredi thought seems to be that Hashem actively runs the world down to the most minute occurrences. I have seen discussions allude to the fact that there are many Rishonim who did ...
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Should someone who isn't 100% certain of God's existence be considered a kofer?
I was told by two respected Roshai Yeshiva that one who isn't certain of God's existence (an agnostic) is not deemed to be a kofer (denier of His existence) as long as he thinks that His existence is ...
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How can the Rambam's Eighth Principle of Jewish Faith be believed in light of Hazal?
The Rambam's eighth Principle of Jewish Faith states that the entire Torah in our possession - every verse - was dictated to Mosheh Rabbenu and that it has not changed.
However, we have explicit ...
user3342
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
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How to go about finding a personal Rav
The mishna in Avot (1:6) tells us:
יהושוע בן פרחיה וניתאי הארבלי קיבלו מהם. יהושוע בן פרחיה אומר, עשה לך רב, וקנה לך חבר; והוי דן את כל האדם לכף זכות
When living in different areas I have gone ...
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Does "reputation scoring" make "the Torah a crown to magnify yourself with"?
Is "reputation scoring" against the spirit of Pirkei Ovos 4 (5) "Rabbi Tzaddok would say: Do not make the Torah a crown to magnify yourself with, ...."
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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; ...
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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 ...
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What does Kadosh really mean?
What do the terms קדוש (Kadosh), קדושים, קדושה, and קדיש really mean?
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Does Judaism consider virginity to be a virtue?
Wikipedia outlines the attitudes of various cultures towards virginity including:
Judaism
In Judaism, sex is not considered to be sinful. Though premarital sex is disapproved, there is no ...
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Is it heresy to read the Bible literally?
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in this debate with Richard Dawkins says:
Rabbis in the 10th century laid down the following principle: If a biblical narrative is incompatible with established scientific fact,...
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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 ...
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Is it wrong to be racist?
Is there anything wrong about being a racist?
By racist I mean believing that certain groups of people are objectively worse in any qualitative way based on their race.
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Dreams in Judaism?
What does Judaism have to say about dreams and do have any legitimacy?
Are they in any way binding, or are they assumed to be just products of an overactive imagination?
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Resources for learning about the foundations of Judaism
I recently met an intelligent Soviet immigrant interested in learning more about Judaism. He would like to start with understanding the basics. Such as:
How do we understand G-d?
What are the ...
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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")? ...
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How can I know a rav has daas Torah
I have been privileged to know rabbis of great wisdom and knowledge who could address my issues with unique and helpful insights through the prism of Torah. I always understood them to have "daas ...
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Why are we not fluent in Greek philosophy anymore?
Why is it that the Rishonim and many Achronim used to be fluent in philosophy (mainly Greek) and these days it's unheard of? Is it due to our weakness, and it is really allowed?
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Guaranteed olam haba?
Certain practices such as learning halachot daily or reciting ashrei three times a day are supposed to guarantee a person a place in olam haba. How exactly does this work? Can a person be an evil ...
user1668
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What is the purpose of life on this earth
We know that hashem created the whole world only for the purpose of human's on earth. Everything else is there for his benefit to obtain his purpose.
So the question is, what real purpose does he ...
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How do I get myself to yearn for moshiach if I'm comfortable in the diaspora?
Intellectually I know that we're supposed to yearn for the coming of the mashiach and the in-gathering in Eretz Yisrael. I know that one of the Rambam's 13 principles calls for this. We pray for ...
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