24
votes
Accepted
Does the fact that "Elohim" is plural indicate that parts of the Tanakh hearken from a pre-Jewish polytheistic culture?
The reason this is confusing is that in Biblical Hebrew, the plural can be used to denote a position of authority. For example, in Exodus 22 the Bible refers to a property owner in the plural even ...
- 8,045
16
votes
Would anybody be able to point me in the direction of legitimate Jewish meditation practices?
I would recommend R' Aryeh Kaplan's book, Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide. It is halachically kosher and quite comprehensive
If you are interested in more theoretical sources, same author has
...
- 3,027
14
votes
Accepted
Is there anyway to repent for proselytizing for idol worship?
The Rambam doesn't say that such a person is unable to repent, just that Hashem won't provide him an opportunity like He does for most people (אין מספיקין בידו לעשות תשובה). In halacha 6 there, the ...
- 7,781
12
votes
Accepted
is idolatry one of the noachide laws? there is a discrepancy between websites
The source for these laws is traditional from Chazal, and they explicitly list them in Sanhedrin 56a:
תנו רבנן שבע מצות נצטוו בני נח דינין וברכת השם ע"ז גילוי עריות ושפיכות דמים וגזל ואבר מן החי
...
- 3,835
12
votes
Accepted
Source for it being a mitzvah to make fun of Avodah Zarah?
I'm quite surprised that in my below research, I did not see any references to the Gemara in Avodah Zarah 45b-46a (edit: I saw it mentioned as an aside in one source), which not only implies that it ...
- 20.9k
10
votes
Where is it written that anger is like idolatry
It is a a baraita in Masekhet Shabbat 105b:
המקרע בגדיו בחמתו והמשבר כליו בחמתו והמפזר מעותיו בחמתו יהא בעיניך כעובד ע"ז
שכך אומנתו של יצה"ר היום אומר לו עשה כך ולמחר אומר לו עשה כך
"If one ...
- 47.9k
10
votes
How can people dance around bonfires on Lag Lo'Omer - it's darchei emori?
Merely dancing next to a bonfire has nothing to do the ways of the Emorites, nor is it a form of fire worship, if the dancer(s) has/have no such intent.
The question is based on a misunderstanding of ...
- 4,892
9
votes
Is practicing Yoga against Torah?
The Lubavitcher Rebbe wrote the following letter:
By the Grace of G-d
Teveth, 5738
MEMORANDUM
It is well known that certain oriental movements, such as Transcendental Meditation (T.M.), Yoga, Guru, ...
- 40.3k
9
votes
Ramban and Shituf. What is his position?
R' Yaakov Kaminetzky discuses the opinion of Ramban in his Emes LiYaakov, parshas ViEschanan 4 19 on the verse
וראית את השמש ואת הירח גו׳ אשר חלק ה׳ אלקיך אתם לכל העמים תחת כל השמים.
He says there ...
- 33.4k
9
votes
Why is asking for a bracha allowed?
The gemara in Bava Batra 116a says
Anyone who has a sick person in his home should go to a sage, and the
sage will ask for mercy on the sick person’s behalf, as it is stated:
“The wrath of a ...
- 47.9k
9
votes
Does the fact that "Elohim" is plural indicate that parts of the Tanakh hearken from a pre-Jewish polytheistic culture?
R. Judah Halevi addresses this in Part IV of the Kuzari:
The word has a plural form, because it was so used by gentile idolaters, who believed that every deity was invested with astral and other ...
- 49.1k
9
votes
Does the fact that "Elohim" is plural indicate that parts of the Tanakh hearken from a pre-Jewish polytheistic culture?
Often I see ignorant skeptics of the Torah as using this argument to "prove" that Judaism adopted terms from polytheism, but this not at all the case.
The reason why Elohim ends with "-...
- 319
9
votes
Accepted
Is the following Trinitarian conceptual understanding of the deity polytheistic according to Jewish theology?
During the 1263 Disputation of Barcelona between Nachmanides and the Church of Aragon, Nachmanides was asked about the trinity (translation from the Jewish Encyclopedia):
"Fra Pablo asked me in ...
- 24.8k
8
votes
Ethics in video games: idol worship
A seemingly very similar question is posed by Rabbi Gil Student on his website https://www.torahmusings.com/2017/05/video-game-idolatry based on a version of the game Zelda. He goes through several ...
- 1,317
8
votes
Accepted
Was Baal worshiped via child sacrifice?
The prophet Jeremiah (19:5) clearly identifies the baal as one of the gods to which the Caananites offered their children:
וּבָנוּ אֶת בָּמוֹת הַבַּעַל לִשְׂרֹף אֶת
בְּנֵיהֶם בָּאֵשׁ עֹלוֹת ...
- 2,669
8
votes
Accepted
Sources on the Rogochover and Islam
In the book "Shu"t Ach Tov Leyisrael" by Rabbi Efraim Kachlon, he has a siman discussing the potential Avodah Zara status of Islam, and he mentions this claim about the Rogatchover (pg. ...
- 24.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Which ancient cults would cut out the hearts of live animals and offer them as sacrifices?
A possible answer:
Rambam on the mishnah states that this was done as part of worship of Baalim. The city of Baalbek, which was originally a Baal center of worship, eventually became a center of ...
- 24.8k
8
votes
Accepted
Why is the Trinity considered polytheistic in traditional Jewish thought?
Let's stop and think for a moment: "Aquinas goes to great lengths" - if the trinity was pure monotheism, why would one have to go to great lengths to prove it was so? And this is consistent ...
- 24.8k
7
votes
May a Jew be a Freemason?
R. Hayyim Joseph David Azulai tangentially discusses this in his diary. In the entry for April 18, 1774 he writes:
ומה אספר ורבו כמו רבו הענינים ופרטים בפרט וכלל רק את זה אומר שלילה א' אחר חצות ...
- 49.1k
7
votes
May a Jew be a Freemason?
Freemasonry is considered by some to be Luciferian (1). When witchcraft was legalized in the U.K., see here, Wicca copied the rituals of Freemasonry as their own magick rituals. It's based on ...
- 81
7
votes
How could Yaakov name his children Gad and Dan?
In my newest book, God versus Gods: Judaism in the Age of Idolatry (Mosaica Press, 2018) on pg. 322, I address this question:
R. Chaim Palagi (1788–1868) asks why Jacob allowed his son to be called ...
- 5,984
7
votes
Is there a problem with saying "for Pete's sake"?
Referring to the names of men or women made deities is not problematic. See Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Dei'ah 147:2.
The problem is that Beis Yoseif there quotes Rabeinu Yerucham (TAvC 17:5 [159c]) who ...
- 261
7
votes
Is Islam Avodah Zara?
Many jewish/rabbinical sources state that it is.
https://web.archive.org/web/20210226122037/https://www.jerusalem-herald.com/single-post/2017/12/13/is-islam-idolatry
"it appears that a legal ...
- 2,087
7
votes
Accepted
Why does specifically searching for a white chicken for kapparos "resemble the Amorites"?
According to the Mishnah in Avodah Zarah 1:5, white chickens are singled out as items associated with idol worship, especially when the person is looking specifically for them. Making an issue of the ...
- 5,114
7
votes
Accepted
May one immerse in a body of water that was used for baptism?
A private mikvah used for baptism would be prohibited. As per BT Avodah Zarah p.58B and 59A, though, a body of water in the public domain cannot become prohibited, see discussion below:
ר"ל איקלע ...
- 5,021
7
votes
Accepted
Is friendship with Christians and other idolaters permitted?
The Talmud says that if a non-Jew is destitute, we must provide charity; if ill, we tend to them; if they die without relatives, we bury them.
This applies even to downright pagans, and certainly to ...
- 131k
7
votes
Source for it being a mitzvah to make fun of Avodah Zarah?
Megillah 25 B
מר רב נחמן כל ליצנותא אסירא בר מליצנותא דעבודת כוכבים דשריא דכתיב (ישעיהו מו, א) כרע בל קרס נבו וכתיב (ישעיהו מו, ב) קרסו כרעו יחדיו לא יכלו מלט משא וגו' ר' ינאי אמר מהכא (הושע י, ה) ...
- 1,931
7
votes
How can people dance around bonfires on Lag Lo'Omer - it's darchei emori?
Rabbi Yechezkel Abramsky, in his commentary 'Tosefta Chazon Yechezkel' on the Tosefta, explains that the manner in which one qualifies for 'the ways of the Emorites' would be by dancing in order to ...
- 479
7
votes
What is in greater violation of the prohibition of blasphemy: Atheism vs Avoda Zara?
Rambam in Guide for the Perplexed 1:36 writes as follows:
How great, then, must be the offence of him who has a wrong opinion of God Himself, and believes Him to be different from what He truly is, i....
- 49.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Who were the Sabians?
That doesn't seem to be the case, according to the lines before what you quoted:
Moreh Nevochim 3:46:
" וכן היו כיתות מן הצאבה עובדים לשדים והיו חושבים שהם ישובו בצורת העזים - ולזה היו קוראים ...
- 24.8k
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