Considering becoming Noahide

[Truthseeker]

Many jews do believe in reincarnation

Judaism and Reincarnation - Kabbalah on Judaism and reincarnation - First Steps (chabad.org)
'
What Judaism Says About Reincarnation | My Jewish Learning

Reincarnation and Jewish Tradition - aish.com

It looks like the source of this belief among some Jews is from Jewish mysticism, and has no basis actually in the Bible, which in my opinion is what a belief like this should be based on as Jews. They have no solid basis for believing this. The Old Testament says very little about the afterlife, so Jews are in a way free to speculate and come up with their own ideas. If the Jewish leaders had not kept them from believing in subsequent Revelations, they would not believe this doctrine.

I was not aware that this belief existed as much as it does among Jews.

 

[Starlight]

It looks like the source of this belief among some Jews is from Jewish mysticism, and has no basis actually in the Bible, which in my opinion is what a belief like this should be based on as Jews. They have no solid basis for believing this. The Old Testament says very little about the afterlife, so Jews are in a way free to speculate and come up with their own ideas. If the Jewish leaders had not kept them from believing in subsequent Revelations, they would not believe this doctrine.

I was not aware that this belief existed as much as it does among Jews.

Most jews in the world believe in both the Tanakh and Talmud. The only jewish sect that only believe in the Tanakh/Old testament in the Bible is Karaite jews

 

[Harel13]

I did not give a good answer to your question. It was late at night, I was tired, and I gave a short answer. In the Book of Certitude by Baha'u'llah, He says that the religious leaders of the past have always, through a combination of ignorance and lust of power, have always kept their followers from following the next Revelation. This would include the Jewish leaders. For this reason, in the Baha'i Faith, there is no clergy as such. This is the source of my view of Jewish leaders. I don't know the Talmud. I think there may be a number a different opinions about the Jewish scriptures, and in that book, the Jewish followers are free to pick and choose among the different opinions. If so, the Talmud is not a "bad" book.

Anyway, the above and what Jesus and the Qur'an said about Jewish leaders is the source of my negative comments about Jewish leaders.

I don't mind whether the answer was good or bad. I take issue with the fact that it doesn't address my question at all. Nor does this answer my question. All you did in the thread was post links about Judaism from Wikipedia and admit you don't know much of anything about Judaism, but thought that that Wikipedia provided enough info for one to make level-headed decision regarding Judaism. Now, tell me, what if I based all or almost all of my knowledge about Baha'i on Wikipedia - would you be comfortable with that? Would you feel I had a good, solid, objective and expansive understanding of your religion?

 

[viole]

I did not know that they believe in reincarnation.
The very LAST thing I would ever want is to come back to this world!
That would be hell.

It’s ok if you do not remember anything of your previous life.

ciao

- viole

 

[Trailblazer]

It’s ok if you do not remember anything of your previous life.

ciao

- viole

I did not have a previous life.

 

[Rival]

It looks like the source of this belief among some Jews is from Jewish mysticism, and has no basis actually in the Bible, which in my opinion is what a belief like this should be based on as Jews.

Not everyone treats their scriptures like Protestants.

As the Catholics say, Scripture is a product of the Church, not the other way around.

The Tradition is the main thing.

 

[Flankerl]

It looks like the source of this belief among some Jews is from Jewish mysticism, and has no basis actually in the Bible, which in my opinion is what a belief like this should be based on as Jews.

Deut. 6:6-8
And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thy heart:

and thou shalt teach them diligently to thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy arm, and they shall be as frontlets between thy eyes.


Are we expected to bind literal words unto our arms? Where is this specified?


Deut. 12:21
If the place which the Lord thy God has chosen to put his name there be too far from thee, then thou shalt kill of thy herd and of thy flock, which the Lord has given thee, as I have commanded thee, and thou shalt eat in thy gates to thy heart’s desire.

Where has the method been commanded?


There are more such instances where methodology is simply seen as obvious.
As if there is a tradition that is otherwise spread among the people.

The answer might trigger non-Jews and Karaites.

 

[Truthseeker]

I don't mind whether the answer was good or bad. I take issue with the fact that it doesn't address my question at all. Nor does this answer my question. All you did in the thread was post links about Judaism from Wikipedia and admit you don't know much of anything about Judaism, but thought that that Wikipedia provided enough info for one to make level-headed decision regarding Judaism. Now, tell me, what if I based all or almost all of my knowledge about Baha'i on Wikipedia - would you be comfortable with that? Would you feel I had a good, solid, objective and expansive understanding of your religion?

Think is why I think as I do. My original reference to the Wikipedia articles is not really why I feel as I do. Sorry. It is what I just said. I don't want to debate about the Wikipedia articles. The articles were a misplaced way to answer Starlight. I agree that the Wikipedia articles didn't express much about Judaism. I already said I didn't know much about it.

 

[Truthseeker]

Most jews in the world believe in both the Tanakh and Talmud. The only jewish sect that only believe in the Tanakh/Old testament in the Bible is Karaite jews

Very interesting. I have no idea what is in the Talmud except what I quoted from Wikipedia.

Karaite Judaism (/ˈkɛərə.aɪt/) or Karaism (/ˈkɛərə.ɪzəm/, sometimes spelt Karaitism (/ˈkɛərə.ɪtɪzəm/; Hebrew: יהדות קראית Yahadut Qara'it); also spelt Qaraite Judaism, Qaraism or Qaraitism)[a] is a Jewish religious movement characterized by the recognition of the written Torah alone as its supreme authority in halakha (Jewish religious law) and theology.[5] Karaites maintain that all of the divine commandments handed down to Moses by God were recorded in the written Torah without additional Oral Law or explanation. Karaite Judaism is distinct from mainstream Rabbinic Judaism, which considers the Oral Torah, codified in the Talmud and subsequent works, to be authoritative interpretations of the Torah. Consequently, Karaite Jews do not consider the written collections of the oral tradition in the Midrash or Talmud as binding.

Karaite Judaism - Wikipedia

That tells me something of the Talmud. I agree with the Karaites.

 

[Harel13]

That tells me something of the Talmud. I agree with the Karaites.

Here's a prime example of the problem of basing all of your knowledge on Wikipedia. Here you are thinking to yourself: Oh, look, there are Jews with some sense, Jews that don't believe in any oral traditions.
But if you took the time to look into Karaism just a teeny bit more, you'd see that this is very far from the truth. The original Karaites did indeed reject the oral tradition. And you know what happened? They died off: They couldn't manage to figure out a proper legal system to govern themselves by because they believed that every person is free to interpret Scripture as they saw fit. This led to more and more splits and splinter groups (kind of like what happened with Protestantism), until finally, a couple of centuries later, they decided to reinstate a kind of authoritative oral tradition, but somewhat different from the Rabbinic one. Now Karaites - whatever's left of them, that is - are much more uniform and united in thought, law, and yes, tradition as well.

 

[Truthseeker]

Here's a prime example of the problem of basing all of your knowledge on Wikipedia. Here you are thinking to yourself: Oh, look, there are Jews with some sense, Jews that don't believe in any oral traditions.
But if you took the time to look into Karaism just a teeny bit more, you'd see that this is very far from the truth. The original Karaites did indeed reject the oral tradition. And you know what happened? They died off: They couldn't manage to figure out a proper legal system to govern themselves by because they believed that every person is free to interpret Scripture as they saw fit. This led to more and more splits and splinter groups (kind of like what happened with Protestantism), until finally, a couple of centuries later, they decided to reinstate a kind of authoritative oral tradition, but somewhat different from the Rabbinic one. Now Karaites - whatever's left of them, that is - are much more uniform and united in thought, law, and yes, tradition as well.

Everybody should be free to interpret Scripture as they see fit. Baha'is believe in Independent Investigation. I don't believe in tradition. It has divided the world because everybody apes past tradition as opposed to all other traditions, and doesn't respond to current problems.

 

[Sedim Haba]

I believe in One God.

I believe in reincarnation.

The only abrahamic religion who believe in reincarnation is Judaism.

Now i consider becoming a Noahide. I also consider hinduism or buddism but in my heart I believe only in one God.

Any thoughts?

I know I'm late coming to this party...

You do know that Reincarnation in Judaism (Gilgul Neshama) is a curse, right? With severe negative stigma attached?

 

[Harel13]

Everybody should be free to interpret Scripture as they see fit. Baha'is believe in Independent Investigation. I don't believe in tradition. It has divided the world because everybody apes past tradition as opposed to all other traditions, and doesn't respond to current problems.

I don't know why you don't directly address my posts to you. What have you to say about Karaism now? Or about basing your understanding of things on a skim of Wikipedia?

 

[Harel13]

I know I'm late coming to this party...

You do know that Reincarnation in Judaism (Gilgul Neshama) is a curse, right? With severe negative stigma attached?

I'm not aware of severe negative stigma. There are different sorts of gilgulim described in sources. There's the sort that may come as punishment and that may even involve being reincarnated as a different creature. But you'd have to have been really bad to warrant that. Then there's reincarnation that comes when one hasn't fulfilled their duty in life, so they get a second chance. And the third type is when people receive a portion of someone's soul and carry their special traits and characteristics to continue that person's legacy.

 

[danieldemol]

Everybody should be free to interpret Scripture as they see fit.

In the Baha'i faith they are not free to interpret it as they see fit.

Baha'is believe in Independent Investigation.

Only as a marketing plot.

I don't believe in tradition. It has divided the world because everybody apes past tradition as opposed to all other traditions, and doesn't respond to current problems.

Que discussion on traditions such as loving gay sexual relationships being allegedly immoral, women being prevented from being on the Baha'i Universal House of Justice due to tradition etc.

In my opinion.

 

[RabbiO]

Are bigotry, ignorance and arrogance character traits Baha’i seeks to encourage and nurture or is that just part of one’s independent investigation?

 

[Truthseeker]

I don't know why you don't directly address my posts to you. What have you to say about Karaism now? Or about basing your understanding of things on a skim of Wikipedia?

I don't believe that anyone should base their unity on uniformity of belief. That was Karaism's error in falling apart, and they shoudn't have had to resort to uniformity in tradition or interpretation to find unity again. I did listen to what you had to say there. I don't know much about the subject and was trying to find a little understanding from Wikipedia. Of course it doesn't give me the understanding you have on the subject. I understand that I wasn't very clear in what I said, and I'm sorry about that. If you have something more to say on this to enlighten me, go right ahead.

 

[TransmutingSoul]

I believe in One God.

I believe in reincarnation.

The only abrahamic religion who believe in reincarnation is Judaism.

Now i consider becoming a Noahide. I also consider hinduism or buddism but in my heart I believe only in one God.

Any thoughts?

I see you have a great foundation in faith with the oneness of God.

Reincarnation is a complex subject.I see it will assist you in understanding what oneness entails.

The quandary we all face is where we source the teachings on the specifics of that topic.

What ideas have you considered on the topic of Reincarnation?

Regards Tony

 

[Truthseeker]

In the Baha'i faith they are not free to interpret it as they see fit.

You are mistaken. We are none of us free to impose our understanding on others. There are authorized interpreters of Baha'u'llah's Writings, but that's a different story. If Baha'is disagree with the authorized interpreters, that does not entitle anyone to kick them out of the Baha'i Faith, so we are free to disagree with them. After all, each person has free will, and may not understand. If a Baha'i condemns them for that, they are judging them, and it is clear from our Writings we should not judge others. They are still Baha'is in good standing.

Only as a marketing plot.

It is not a marketing plot. Our children are free to not be Baha'is, so it actually works against the growth of Baha'is. Those who are not Baha'is to begin with won't believe in that principle in many cases. They don't feel free to question what they h

Que discussion on traditions such as loving gay sexual relationships being allegedly immoral, women being prevented from being on the Baha'i Universal House of Justice due to tradition etc.

This is not tradition. It is from the Writings. Tradition I define as encrustations invented later but not in the original Writings. You are free to disagree on those. These are matters pretty much based on faith in what is laid out in the Writings, and in my opinion, it would be useless of me to try to convince you of this since you don't have faith in the Writings.

 

[Truthseeker]

Are bigotry, ignorance and arrogance character traits Baha’i seeks to encourage and nurture or is that just part of one’s independent investigation?

I do think I have exhibited some arrogance, and I'm sorry for that. It has nothing to do with our teachings, much to the contrary. Arrogance in our beliefs in a lot of cases leads to imposing our beliefs on others, and thus is not compatible with the independent investigation of truth.

I do believe that from the beginning of this thread, my attitude has been wrong. It's been a while since I've messed up this badly. It's a setback for me.