Zoroastrianism v.s. Judaism [closed]

Question

Does anybody think Zoroastrianism inflenuced Judaism, cause online people say Zoroastrianism was the first monotheistic religion http://avesta.org, and that Judaism copied it, also that Zoroastrianism was the first to have Angels, messiah, resurrection of the dead, etc http://www.cais-soas.com/CAIS/Religions/iranian/Zarathushtrian/zoroastrianism_influence.htm , and that Judaism copied that as well, Zoroastrianism is wrong because the Torah is true, enhance fourth Judaism was the first monotheistic religion., Also The Zoroastrian claim Ezra was a Zoroastrian priest, and that supposed the priests in the temple were Zoroastrian priest that pretended to be Cohens.

Answer 1

Unfortunately due to lack of definitive timelines (just try to find out when Zoroaster lived) and lack of written evidence which scholars and and historians would accept, it would be hard prove who influenced who.

What we do know is that Chazzal were very honest when they did accept anything from anywhere and when there was actual change. See for instance Sanhedrin 21b where a possible change of language and alphabet from ancient times is discussed.

Concerning some of the points you raised, the Talmud Yerushalmi in Rosh Hashana chapter 1, right in the beginning of the gemara on halacha 2, tells us that the names of the angels and the months came up from the Babylonian exile. Again, honest and straightforward.

See now the begining of the last chapter in Sanhedrin called Chelek. Chazzal spend a lot of time telling us how important belief in the messiah is and that it's not enough to believe in the concept. We must also believe that this is an ancient belief hinted to multiple times in the Torah. This would mean that under no circumstance can one think this idea came from an outside source. Also, as mentioned before if it would have come from an outside source, chazzal would have told us.

Answer 2

Reading the definition of Zoroastrianism in different places seems to imply a belief in tw "gods" with one being good (creator) and one being evil (destruction), even though modern people claim that it is monotheistic. In any case, people living in a society have been influenced by that society in the way they think and act, as we see nowadays. However, the statement as you give it or, as places like Wikipedia seem to try to imply, that Zoroastrianism influenced the foundation of Judaism is incorrect.

Since the Jews were part of the Persian Empire (as in the time of Purim or in Bavel in the time of the gemora), then there would have been influence in the same way that we are influenced by the nonJews today. However, since the Jews were not under the influence of the Persian Empire before Persia conquered Bavel (after the destruction of the first Temple), Zoroastrianism could not have had any influence on the Jews before then. Thus they had no influence on the inception of Judaism or any other point in Jewish history until then.

While it is theoretically possible that a dualistic religion arose during the 292 years between the flood and the birth of Avraham or during the 752 years before the Bnei Yisrael went down to Egypt, They would not have had any influence on them during that time.

Wikipedia

In Zoroastrianism, the creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil originates from him. Thus, in Zoroastrianism good and evil have distinct sources, with evil (druj) trying to destroy the creation of Mazda (asha), and good trying to sustain it. While Ahura Mazda is not immanent in the world, his creation is represented by the Amesha Spentas and the host of other Yazatas, through whom the works of God are evident to humanity, and through whom worship of Mazda is ultimately directed.

Zoroastrians believe that there is one universal, transcendent, supreme god, Ahura Mazda, or the "Wise Lord". (Ahura means "Being" and Mazda means "Mind" in Avestan language).[8] Zoroaster keeps the two attributes separate as two different concepts in most of the Gathas and also consciously uses a masculine word for one concept and a feminine for the other, as if to distract from an anthropomorphism of his divinity. Some Zoroastrians claim Ahura Mazda as the uncreated Creator to whom all worship is ultimately directed, thereby formulating a panentheistic faith with a transcendent divinity, widely believed to have influenced the theology of Isma'ilism.[9] Other scholars assert that since Zoroastrianism's divinity covers both being and mind as immanent entities, it is better described as a belief in an immanent self-creating universe with consciousness as its special attribute, thereby putting Zoroastranism in the pantheistic fold where it can be easily traced to its shared origin with Indian Brahmanism.[10][11] In any case, Ahura Mazda's creation—evident is widely agreed as asha, truth and order—is the antithesis of chaos, which is evident as druj, falsehood and disorder. The resulting conflict involves the entire universe, including humanity, which has an active role to play in the conflict.[9]

and Zoroastrianism

The Zoroastrian concept of God incorporates both monotheism and dualism. In his visions, Zarathustra was taken up to heaven, where Ahura Mazda revealed that he had an opponent, Aura Mainyu, the spirit and promoter of evil.