Thread: Ask a Jew....
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Old 09-08-2009, 02:48 PM   #85 (permalink)
levite
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Quote:
Originally Posted by loquitur View Post
Levite, is it also your impression (it's definitely mine) that Judaism and Islam are much more similar to each other than either one is like Christianity?
I'd have to say yes to that. Judaism and Islam are religions of laws, first and foremost. They construct a framework of daily ritual and practice that is grounded in a legal system of sacred laws derived by stylized exegesis from holy texts, or by interpreting the comments and deeds of the originators of the system, and their teachings (in the case of Judaism, the Rabbis of the Talmud and their teachings; in the case of Islam, the comments and deeds of Muhammad, and those who were taught directly by him, and their teachings, as I understand it-- Dlish, is that too egregious a simplification of sunnah, hadith, and fiqh? I admit I barely know the surface, let alone the complexities of how they interact).

Also, theologically, the absolute monotheism of Judaism and Islam are much more similar to one another than to the more complex, constructed monotheism of Christianity (i.e., that Christianity has to do some mighty fancy philosophical footwork to get the Trinity to be one God, whereas monotheism is self-evident from the texts of Judaism and Islam), and certainly is more philosophically similar than the Catholic or Eastern Orthodox systems, which incorporate not only trinitarianism but the cults of the saints.

This is really Reason One I've never gotten how Muslims and Jews don't get along better. You would really think it would be easy for us. It is a damn shame, which I hope won't last forever-- or even much longer. I personally have always felt much more kinship with the Muslim scholars I've run into than with the Christian seminarians I know-- though of course they're lovely people, and I am delighted to know them.

---------- Post added at 03:48 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:30 PM ----------

Quote:
Originally Posted by dlish View Post
muslims emulate Mohammad and carry out daily tasks that he used to do in terms of how he ate, spoke, dressed, acted etc.

do jews have a similar thing where they emulate the actions of a particular prophet like Moses?
We really don't have anything similar to this. The closest I can think of would be the way different Hasidic groups follow their masters, whoever their Rebbe or Grand Rabbi is, or their founding Rebbe was. They often emulate devices of speech, attitudes, even sometimes manners of dress. But that is still nowhere near the same level of importance or centrality, and it is only among some Hasidim, by no means a mainstream thing.

Even the Hasidic Rebbes don't encourage such a thing. Much closer to the main stream of Jewish thought would be this teaching: when Reb Zushya of Hanipoli (one of the early, great Hasidic masters) was dying, he trembled, and his students, seeking to reassure him, told him that surely he would be welcomed in the World To Come, because he was so learned, so great-- like Moses come again! And he shook his head, and replied, "When I come before my Creator, I do not fear he will ask me, 'Why did you not try to be more like Moses?' I fear he will ask me, 'Why did you not try to be more like Zushya?'"

As Sticky mentioned, we are traditionally taught not to compare ourselves with others, or to worry about what they did or did not do in minute terms. If we compare ourselves with others, generally we are encouraged to admire the learnedness, the devotion, the prayerfulness, or the humility of great figures in Jewish text and history. But not to emulate their dress, or their manner, or what have you.

As for the beard thing, traditionally, Jewish men have worn beards for two reasons: one is the commandment not to shave one's beard with a razor, which we extrapolate from the command in Leviticus 19:27 about not "rounding the corners of the head," which also explains the wearing of peyot or sidelocks. The other is that there are certain Kabbalistic teachings that emphasize beard growth as a mark of developing certain kinds of energies. Even today, if you run into any Orthodox man who doesn't have a beard, he will have trimmed it not via razor but via electric shaver, which, halakhically (according to Jewish law) acts like a scissors, not a razor, and is therefore permissible. Many Conservative men also follow that interpretation. On the rare occasions I have shaved, I have used an electric razor. But I don't keep a beard because I fear violating the commandment, or for Kabbalistic reasons, but rather because without it, I look 15 years younger and at least 120 degrees rounder in the apparent circumference of my face.....
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