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Member
Thank you Âlãn and dauer for the links you posted to sites explaining the Jewish views on the Messiah. They are answering my questions.
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Do you have questions about Traditional Judaism?
- Thread starter Deut 13:1
- Start date
HopefulNikki
Active Member
I have a couple of questions, if that's ok
: First of all, by "Traditional" Judaism, do you mean Orthodox Judaism? If so, I would ask why you are an Orthodox Jew rather than a Reform Jew or Conservative Jew?
Also, how does Orthodox Judaism view Kabballah (sorry if I spelled that wrong), the recently popularized mystical Jewish movement followed by Madonna, etc?
: First of all, by "Traditional" Judaism, do you mean Orthodox Judaism? If so, I would ask why you are an Orthodox Jew rather than a Reform Jew or Conservative Jew? Also, how does Orthodox Judaism view Kabballah (sorry if I spelled that wrong), the recently popularized mystical Jewish movement followed by Madonna, etc?
Ody
Well-Known Member
HopefulNikki said:I have a couple of questions, if that's ok
Also, how does Orthodox Judaism view Kabballah (sorry if I spelled that wrong), the recently popularized mystical Jewish movement followed by Madonna, etc?
Yes what we call 'Orthodox' is Traditional Judaism, all though that is not agreed by other movements. Why am I 'Orthodox'?
Simply put, it fits my idea of what it means to be a Jew and what responsibilities we have.
Chassidic Judaism a follower of which I am under tutelage believes in REAL Kabballah, not the hollywood stuff.
Ody
Well-Known Member
Ody
Well-Known Member
Sheol..."A place of spiritual punishment and/or purification for a period of up to 12 months after death. Often referred to as Gehinnom. "Buttercup said:
http://www.jewfaq.org/olamhaba.htm
ABOUT AUTHENTIC KABBALAH.
Learning from Authantic Sources.
Spirituality can be attained by studying the right books, meaning books written by a true Kabbalist. Reading the right books is like being led by a tour guide in a foreingn country. Withnthe aid of the guidebook, the traveler becomes oriented and better understands his new whereabouts.
We need books that are suited yo our souls, books by Kabbalists of our generation or the previous one, because different souls descend in each generation, and each generation requires different methods.
Living in our world, we absorb various pictures and ompressions. Because of that, we can all describe what we feel. But Kabbalistic books describe the experiences of a person who feels this world and the upper spiritual world at the same time. they describe the writer's feelings of a world that others do not sense.
This is why Kabbalah books and Kabbalist writers are unique. A Kabbalist teacher is not only a person who feels the Upper World, but also a person who can describe emotions in a clear language so that others can feel and understand them.By studying Authentic Kabbalistic books we nurture the missing senses within us, the ones that must be developed in order to feel the Upper World.
There is the book of true Kabbalist for our generation: commentary on The Zohar by Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag "HaSulam" (The Ladder).
___________________________________________________________________________________
Learning from Authantic Sources.
Spirituality can be attained by studying the right books, meaning books written by a true Kabbalist. Reading the right books is like being led by a tour guide in a foreingn country. Withnthe aid of the guidebook, the traveler becomes oriented and better understands his new whereabouts.
We need books that are suited yo our souls, books by Kabbalists of our generation or the previous one, because different souls descend in each generation, and each generation requires different methods.
Living in our world, we absorb various pictures and ompressions. Because of that, we can all describe what we feel. But Kabbalistic books describe the experiences of a person who feels this world and the upper spiritual world at the same time. they describe the writer's feelings of a world that others do not sense.
This is why Kabbalah books and Kabbalist writers are unique. A Kabbalist teacher is not only a person who feels the Upper World, but also a person who can describe emotions in a clear language so that others can feel and understand them.By studying Authentic Kabbalistic books we nurture the missing senses within us, the ones that must be developed in order to feel the Upper World.
There is the book of true Kabbalist for our generation: commentary on The Zohar by Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag "HaSulam" (The Ladder).
___________________________________________________________________________________
NoahideHiker
Religious Headbanger
From Jewfaq.org:
Kavanah: The Mindset for Prayer
When you say the same prayers day after day, you might expect that the prayers would become routine and would begin to lose meaning. While this may be true for some people, this is not the intention of Jewish prayer. As I said at the beginning of this discussion, the most important part of prayer is the introspection it provides. Accordingly, the proper frame of mind is vital to prayer.
The mindset for prayer is referred to as kavanah, which is generally translated as "concentration" or "intent." The minimum level of kavanah is an awareness that one is speaking to G-d and an intention to fulfill the obligation to pray. If you do not have this minimal level of kavanah, then you are not praying; you are merely reading. In addition, it is preferred that you have a mind free from other thoughts, that you know and understand what you are praying about and that you think about the meaning of the prayer.
Liturgical melodies are often used as an aid to forming the proper mindset. Many prayers and prayer services have traditional melodies associated with them. These can increase your focus on what you are doing and block out extraneous thoughts.
I also find it useful to move while praying. Traditional Jews routinely sway back and forth during prayer, apparently a reference to Psalm 35, which says "All my limbs shall declare, 'O L-rd, who is like You?'" Such movement is not required, and many people find it distracting, but I personally find that it helps me concentrate and focus.
Kavanah: The Mindset for Prayer
When you say the same prayers day after day, you might expect that the prayers would become routine and would begin to lose meaning. While this may be true for some people, this is not the intention of Jewish prayer. As I said at the beginning of this discussion, the most important part of prayer is the introspection it provides. Accordingly, the proper frame of mind is vital to prayer.
The mindset for prayer is referred to as kavanah, which is generally translated as "concentration" or "intent." The minimum level of kavanah is an awareness that one is speaking to G-d and an intention to fulfill the obligation to pray. If you do not have this minimal level of kavanah, then you are not praying; you are merely reading. In addition, it is preferred that you have a mind free from other thoughts, that you know and understand what you are praying about and that you think about the meaning of the prayer.
Liturgical melodies are often used as an aid to forming the proper mindset. Many prayers and prayer services have traditional melodies associated with them. These can increase your focus on what you are doing and block out extraneous thoughts.
I also find it useful to move while praying. Traditional Jews routinely sway back and forth during prayer, apparently a reference to Psalm 35, which says "All my limbs shall declare, 'O L-rd, who is like You?'" Such movement is not required, and many people find it distracting, but I personally find that it helps me concentrate and focus.
Harmonious
Well-Known Member
It isn't a visual. It is more of an idea that you can tell when God is listening.
It is hard to explain, as it is unique to every individual
We pray, and we learn Torah. The more we learn, the more we understand.
But praying works nicely.
Metempsychosis
Reincarnation of 'Anti-religion'
Can you tell me about Jewish afterlife beliefs in simple words.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Vasilisa Jade
Formerly Saint Tigeress
I have a question. It's about the argument over God being all good and loving and also being either all knowing and all powerful. They seem mutually exclusive. How does judaism answer this question?
Levite
Higher and Higher
Well, first of all Judaism never has one single answer for anything. There are always ranges of answers.
So, traditionally, many Jews don't claim that God is 100% Good. Isaiah 45:7 reads yotzer ohr uvoreh choshech oseh shalom uvoreh et ha-ra, ani YHVH oseh et kol eleh ("I form light and create darkness, make peace and create evil, I YHVH do all these things"); and thus the issue is solved.
For those who prefer to believe that God is all Good, there are certain mystical frameworks which lay out the possibility of a Good God who is in theory omniscient and omnipotent, but due to primordial accidents, is currently impeded from cohering those powers to maximum effect, in that God's energy is in part shattered and scattered into the Created universe. Or that God is all three, but His primordial contraction in order to make room for the universe gave rise to evil from the chaos of having produced a void free of God's energy, and God cannot amend this without uncreating the universe.
Others say that God is all three things, and the only evil in the universe arises from human beings, who are the sole creatures to have free will other than God and yet choose to work evil and not good.
Others believe that God is is all three things, and it represents a paradox which we must simply accept.
And still others do in fact believe that God is all good, but is not entirely omnipotent and omniscient.
I believe there are some other philosophical hypothesis that some Jews have been known to embrace also, but those are the major ones that I know of.
Personally, I hold with those who say that God is omniscient and omnipotent, but is not 100% Good. I have never been able to understand arguments that, given that God is the One Source of All Creation, and evil exists (whether in us or elsewhere or both) God is not responsible for it, and thus it must be part of His being.