Post by hadassah on Apr 26, 2008 22:57:55 GMT -5
I am at a Jewish forum asking questions to a Rabbi. It is a very interesting place to learn but a tough place to be at since the board speaks bad of Christianity and Jesus.
Here are some of my questions to the Rabbi and here are some of his answers.
Does God have gender? Is He mother or father or both?
If you had read ProfBenTziyyon's post on the Thirteen Principles of Faith of Judaism to which I referred you in another post, you should have noticed #3:
3. I firmly believe that the Creator - may His Name be blessed - is not a body and that He is not subject to any physical occurrences, and that He does not have any form at all.
It follows directly from the fact that G-d has no physical form that He is neither male nor female. G-d has no body, no genitalia, so that the very notion that G-d is male or female is absurd. In Judaism, G-d is is referred to via masculine terms as a convenience, because Hebrew has no neutral gender. In the Hebrew Bible, G-d is referred to as our Father. Yet, G-d's Divine Presence, is a feminine noun, sh'chinah, which is a more characteristic attribute of a Mother (the term is not used in the Hebrew Bible).
by Rabbi Daniel
A better way of giving over Uri Yosef's message would be to say Judaism gives us glimpses of G-d in terms we relate to.
When we refer to Him as a provider, protector, ruler and other such typically male defined roles, G-d is depicted in masculine terms.
When the character[istic] described is more along feminine lines, such as the Shchinah- Presence of Hashem dwelling amongst the Children of Israel, then the terms are feminine.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More questions to the Rabbi:
What does a Jewish person believe about the After life?
The afterlife is a state where our souls will finally be able to understand the Divine plan. and with that, be able to bask in the glory of thw Holy One, Blessed is He/
Do you believe in a place call Heaven? Do you believe in a place called he**?
Yes to both, but not in accordance with the Christian concept of Heaven and he**. According to the Jewish belief, almost everyone makes it into "Heaven," some imediately after death, most after a time in Gehinom, where the impurities are tempered out of the soul. The period of time does not exceed 11 months, unless the person was so wicked, that they must remain there for 12 months. A very few people, who are so incorrigably evil, will have their souls toally burned up in Gehinom, and have no share in the world to come. The elevation of a soul out of gehinom is also based on the actions of the living on their behalf - through prayer, learning torah, acts of lovingkindness and charity, and other good deeds.
And what does a person have to do to be able to go to Heaven?
Jews have to perform the 613 commandments. Non Jews have the 7 Noahide commandments.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I heard that the Son's of God were angels that married the daughter's of men to make the giants. Is this true?
Nope. Not at all.
Angels have absolutely no independent thought or actions. They are limited to whatever mission they are assigned - no more, no less. Since an angel has NO human characteristics whatsoever, there is no way that they can marry a human woman. Angels are messengers, plain and simple.
The term Elohim (translated by you as the Sons of G-d) has several meanings. One of which is G-d. It is also used as judges, and also as leaders. The interpretation of bnei elohim is therefore Princes, or sons of nobility. Poor translations, without really understanding the original language, leads to poor understanding of the entire Torah (or Bible, if you prefer).
Rabbi Ezriel Yellin
Israel
RabbiEzriel@gmail.com
Here are some of my questions to the Rabbi and here are some of his answers.
Does God have gender? Is He mother or father or both?
If you had read ProfBenTziyyon's post on the Thirteen Principles of Faith of Judaism to which I referred you in another post, you should have noticed #3:
3. I firmly believe that the Creator - may His Name be blessed - is not a body and that He is not subject to any physical occurrences, and that He does not have any form at all.
It follows directly from the fact that G-d has no physical form that He is neither male nor female. G-d has no body, no genitalia, so that the very notion that G-d is male or female is absurd. In Judaism, G-d is is referred to via masculine terms as a convenience, because Hebrew has no neutral gender. In the Hebrew Bible, G-d is referred to as our Father. Yet, G-d's Divine Presence, is a feminine noun, sh'chinah, which is a more characteristic attribute of a Mother (the term is not used in the Hebrew Bible).
by Rabbi Daniel
A better way of giving over Uri Yosef's message would be to say Judaism gives us glimpses of G-d in terms we relate to.
When we refer to Him as a provider, protector, ruler and other such typically male defined roles, G-d is depicted in masculine terms.
When the character[istic] described is more along feminine lines, such as the Shchinah- Presence of Hashem dwelling amongst the Children of Israel, then the terms are feminine.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
More questions to the Rabbi:
What does a Jewish person believe about the After life?
The afterlife is a state where our souls will finally be able to understand the Divine plan. and with that, be able to bask in the glory of thw Holy One, Blessed is He/
Do you believe in a place call Heaven? Do you believe in a place called he**?
Yes to both, but not in accordance with the Christian concept of Heaven and he**. According to the Jewish belief, almost everyone makes it into "Heaven," some imediately after death, most after a time in Gehinom, where the impurities are tempered out of the soul. The period of time does not exceed 11 months, unless the person was so wicked, that they must remain there for 12 months. A very few people, who are so incorrigably evil, will have their souls toally burned up in Gehinom, and have no share in the world to come. The elevation of a soul out of gehinom is also based on the actions of the living on their behalf - through prayer, learning torah, acts of lovingkindness and charity, and other good deeds.
And what does a person have to do to be able to go to Heaven?
Jews have to perform the 613 commandments. Non Jews have the 7 Noahide commandments.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I heard that the Son's of God were angels that married the daughter's of men to make the giants. Is this true?
Nope. Not at all.
Angels have absolutely no independent thought or actions. They are limited to whatever mission they are assigned - no more, no less. Since an angel has NO human characteristics whatsoever, there is no way that they can marry a human woman. Angels are messengers, plain and simple.
The term Elohim (translated by you as the Sons of G-d) has several meanings. One of which is G-d. It is also used as judges, and also as leaders. The interpretation of bnei elohim is therefore Princes, or sons of nobility. Poor translations, without really understanding the original language, leads to poor understanding of the entire Torah (or Bible, if you prefer).
Rabbi Ezriel Yellin
Israel
RabbiEzriel@gmail.com