questions about judaism

[john.dane]

hi my name is john i have a few questions about the jewish faith befour i post any questions i want to state that these are just question i dont know about judaism so i dont know what is an offensive question and what is not so i whould just like to say if i say anything that is offensive please do not get angry and start to insult me simply tell me the anwers and tell me that what i sead was wrong please dont be offended as i am only asking questions if anybody can agree to these requirements please respond and i will start with the questions

[The One and Only Mo]

hi my name is john i have a few questions about the jewish faith befour i post any questions i want to state that these are just question i dont know about judaism so i dont know what is an offensive question and what is not so i whould just like to say if i say anything that is offensive please do not get angry and start to insult me simply tell me the anwers and tell me that what i sead was wrong please dont be offended as i am only asking questions if anybody can agree to these requirements please respond and i will start with the questions

Yeah, I know what you mean. Whenever I asked Christian questions, it seems they took offense. Partially my fault because I didn't word it properly, but still. I'm sure anything you ask will be fine.

[Moshe92]

Please ask us the questions.

[john.dane]

well the first question may be a bit sensative but i read that in the jewish holy book it states that the jews where exiled by god and forbidden to return to israel untill there messiah returns no if this is correct then whouldent israel be going against your own holy books once again i just wish to learn please dont get offended

[Lisa]

That's open to interpretation.  There are some rabbis who say Jews should settle the land of Israel even though the Messiah has not come.  Some others, like the Neturai Karta, who are nutjobs, are completely against the state of Israel.

[ProudAndZionist]

I think the easiest way to learn about the Jews would be the Torah. That's also the Holy Book of Christians.

[The One and Only Mo]

It is true that in the end times the Messiah will be around, but just because the Messiah is not here doesn't mean that the Jews aren't supposed to return to Israel and start building the Temple.  We know this because this situation has happened before in the Tanach itself.  By the end of the Tanach, the Jews had already been exiled to Babylon for 70 years, and some of the tribes had returned back to the land--with no messiah.  It was just a governorship.  And it was the Persian King Cyrus who allowed the exiles to return (he controlled the land) and the Jewish leader/scholar Ezra encouraged people to take advantage of this and start resettling the land and rebuilding the Temple.  Here is one thing Ezra said:

Ezra 9: 6-9
6. And I said, "O my G-d, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift up my face to You, my G-d, for our iniquities have increased over our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.         
7. Since the days of our forefathers, we are in great guilt until this day, and because of our iniquities, we were delivered-we, our kings, our priests-into the hands of the kings of the lands by the sword, in captivity, and with plunder and with shame-facedness as of this day.         
8. And now, for a short moment, favor has been granted by the Lord our G-d, to leave us a remnant and to give us a peg in His holy place, so that our G-d may enlighten our eyes and grant us a little life in our servitude.         
9. For we are slaves, and in our servitude our G-d has not forsaken us, and He has extended loving-kindness upon us before the kings of Persia, to give us life, to exalt the House of our G-d and to erect its ruins, and to give us a fence in Judea and in Jerusalem.

Notice that they were going to be there temporarily ("for a short moment"), because they were later going to be exiled by the Romans after the Tanach was finished.  But they were still encouraged to settle Israel at that time because G-d had granted it through foreign kings.  That compares to the situation nowadays.  Foreign powers allowed for a Jewish state, and therefore Jews should take the opportunity to build it up as a Torah state, just like Ezra encouraged the people in his time to do.  The King of Israel (Messiah), the Levitical priesthood, and the Temple will all be anointed in the end times (read Ezekiel 37-48) but they are not necessary for Jews to go back to Israel.  The Mishneh Torah (a code of Jewish law summarizing the Talmud) says that Jews should go to Israel, so the scholars (the "Ezras" of our day) have ruled that Jews belong in Israel.  Neturei Karta is a group of heretics who collaborate with Jew killers, so I wouldn't listen to their interpretation.  So the ingathering of all the Jewish tribes will be COMPLETE during the time of the Messiah, not BEGIN at the time of the Messiah.

Yasher Koach.

[Moshe92]

There are some anti-zionist Jews who are against going up en masse to the land of Israel, but I think that their reasoning is flawed. They base their opinion off a midrash which is not necessarily part of halacha, and they ignore everything else the sages and the tanach say about living in the land of Israel.

[Moshe92]

Maybe this thread should be moved to the section "torah and the Jewish idea."

[john.dane]

ok my 2nd question i was also informed that most israeli jews are khazar jews (i dont think i spelt it right sorry) that they are the descendents of eurapeans who converted to judaism and some arabs living in the palestine area are semetic if this is the case dont they semetic muslims also have a right to the land as they are indiginus to the land aswell as the semetic jews once again i dont mean to offend just trying to learn

[Yochai]

ok my 2nd question i was also informed that most israeli jews are khazar jews (i dont think i spelt it right sorry) that they are the descendents of eurapeans who converted to judaism and some arabs living in the palestine area are semetic if this is the case dont they semetic muslims also have a right to the land as they are indiginus to the land aswell as the semetic jews once again i dont mean to offend just trying to learn

First off, before you keep saying you were "informed" or "told" something, please say who told you these things.  The things you state people have told you are very far left, or just Muslim, and I am suspicious of these hearsay stories.

Secondly, no.  Israelis and Jews are not the descendants of Khazar, of whom a tiny fraction converted to Judaism, which is ocmpletely acceptable.  Judaism allows converts.  DNA testing has proven this.

Lastly, there were no Arabs in the land of Israel until the marauding rapist came through with his gang of horse-riding menaces.  Arabs have as much as a claim as Romans.  Both of them usurped the land from its rightful owners, the Jews, and now the rightful owners have the land back.

[john.dane]

i say that to make it clear that it is not what i say but what i was told the last thing i want is to piss people off and get banned i get told things so rather than just beleive what i am told i ask jews for there side of the story then i try to find the evidence and base my opinions on that is there anything wrong with that ?

[john.dane]

just been informed that some of the things i was told is anti semetic people please dont get angry with me like i sead i whould rather find out the facts there will be more questions so please try to answer then in order to inform me of the facts and so i dont say anything else antisemetic as i am not anti semetic thank you

[Ben Yehuda]

i say that to make it clear that it is not what i say but what i was told the last thing i want is to piss people off and get banned i get told things so rather than just beleive what i am told i ask jews for there side of the story then i try to find the evidence and base my opinions on that is there anything wrong with that ?

Have you ever had a problem with being banned?

[john.dane]

no this is the first time on here but other sites simmeler to this i got banned simply for asking questions about shia islam they dident like it so they banned me

[Zelhar]

I have a question for you- what are you- a troll or what ? You ought to do some research on your own, and asking questions at random forums is a poor substitute for that.

[john.dane]

thats what i am doing reserch i get told things horrid things but i dont just believe what i sm told first hand there are 2 sides to every story so i get both sides what is wrong with that and what the hell is a troll i know its a mythical monster but what do you mean when you say it on the net ?

[Zelhar]

thats what i am doing reserch i get told things horrid things but i dont just believe what i sm told first hand there are 2 sides to every story so i get both sides what is wrong with that and what the hell is a troll i know its a mythical monster but what do you mean when you say it on the net ?

Oh I assumed you're a Viking, and hence know all about trolls.

[john.dane]

i am not sure weather you are trying to insult me or not if you are try harder

[Zelhar]

i am not sure weather you are trying to insult me or not if you are try harder

No man, no offense was meant.

[john.dane]

ok no worries and if anythin i say is insulting just let me know and i will avoid tha subject

[The One and Only Mo]

ok no worries and if anythin i say is insulting just let me know and i will avoid tha subject

It's not insulting, you just don't understand Torah/Jewish law or right-wing ethics and values. What's worse is that it seems 99% of the world, and even most Jews are just like that,too.

[Zelhar]

ok no worries and if anythin i say is insulting just let me know and i will avoid tha subject

I don't want to limit your freedom of expression or something like this. But for me, there is no point in going over baseless "theories" like the supposed Khazar origin of Jews. I mean what's next then- "the protocols of the elders of zion" ? I just don't want to waste everybody's time.

[Boyana]

The newly fashionable Khazar mythology holds that modern day Ashkenazim, and especially the European leadership of the Zionist movement, are not Jews at all in the racial sense, but rather descendents from non-Jewish Khazars; therefore, the Khazar "theorists" claim, Zionists and Israelis have no legitimate claims to the Land of Israel.

It would be hard to exaggerate how widespread the misuse of the Khazar myth is among those seeking to delegitimize Israel and Jews today. A recent investigation showed nearly 30,000 websites using the Khazar "theory" as a bludgeon against Israel and Zionism.Steven Plaut

[Moshe92]

I hate those people who always say "Jews are Khazars." I've had arguments with people on youtube who called me a "racist Khazar" and a "devil Khazarian."