General Category > Ask JTF
Ask JTF for Sunday December 13, 2009
Christian Zionist:
Shalom Chaim,
I know you follow Menachim Meiri's interpretation of the Jewish Halacha. That is one of the reasons you want to work with Christians.
However I heard that Menachim Meiri's interpretation is considered as a liberal view. I also heard that other Halachic arbitrators in Judaism do not qualify Christians as Righteous Gentiles unlike Meiri and they believe that Christians will go to hell because of idol worship?
In Israel also I see a vast majority of Orthodox Jews do not follow Meiri's interpretation?
Christian Bible also says all Christians cannot go to heaven if they don't do the will of the Father in heaven. Therefore just because someone calls himself/herself as Christian does not qualify him/her to become a citizen of heaven in the world to come.
Your thoughts?
Thanks!
Christian Zionist
Gimatria:
Dear Chaim,
my young nieces and nephews resent me because I do not buy them gifts for Chanukah. To me, buying gifts on Chanukah is a disgusting tradition that has no place in our theology. First it starts with gifts - what's next - "Chanukah trees" and all manner of hideous imitations - am I wrong to classify this as "Avodah Zara"?
Chanukah is about celebrating Matisyahu and his sons smashing Antiochus (yemach shemo vezichro, ve'ye'abed zecher zichro) and the evil Hellenists, cleansing the Bet HaMikdash and of course, the great Nes.
The Maccabees were great Jews - proto-Kahanists, in a way. Instead of celebrating these heroes, Jews choose to celebrate by imitating gentiles and giving gifts.
Am I wrong to take this stance?
Toda Raba lecha Chaim, al kol ha'avoda sheh atah oseh bishveelanu. Chag Sameach oo mevorach.
Gimatria
Chai:
Shalom brother Chaim ..i hope you are feeling better.
do you think the repeal of the Prohibition of alcohol was due to the the difficulty of enforcing such a law? this phenomenon of criminalizing drugs is a relatively new one.
do you think in the days of the bait hamikdash such laws were inforced, becase dugs such as cannibus, opioum and alcohol were quite prevalent in the middle east
is there a place in the oral/written Torah that makes such a prohibition against recreational drug usage , because i know the first thing hashem tells Adam is he can consume all greenery, what was forbidden was to consume animals so i am puzzled with this issue
as we all know the war on drugs in the U.S. is a failure and a waste of money. as pm how would you enforce drug laws.
David Ben Moshe fan:
Chaim:
Wouldn't it be easier for you to get into Israel via Egypt, Jordan or Lebanon? Couldn't you just sneak in like all the damn arabs do?
Shalom
Lisa:
Dear Chaim,
I hope you're feeling better.
My question is regarding Channukah. I remember last year how you did a video explaining the real meaning of Channukah, rather than the ones so-called rabbis peddle about one day's worth of oil lasting for eight days. Why do you think rabbis and Jews don't celebrate what really went on, for example, how Matityahu killed the evil Syrain Greeks and a self hating Jewish collaborator?
Today via Worldnetdaily.com I found an article on The Jewish Journal called "Maccabes Heroes Or Rabble Rousers."
http://www.jewishjournal.com/chanukah/article/heroes_or_rabble-rousers_the_real_story_of_the_maccabees_20091210/
According to this article, not even all the religious Jews of the time agreed with the Maccabes:
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In the first centuries of the common era, the Jewish sages of Mesopotamia sought to minimize the Maccabees’ significance in the Chanukah story. These scholars of the Babylonian Talmud focused instead on the miracle of the menorah oil, emphasizing the divine element of the story over the military victory of the Maccabees.
Richard Kalmin, chairman of rabbinic literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary, says the rabbis’ irreverent treatment of the Hasmoneans was based on the concerns of their era.
“The rabbis were competing with a class of wealthy local Jews over influence,” Kalmin said. “The stories of the Hasmoneans portrayed them as aristocrats, therefore entitled to be in a position of respect.
“However, the rabbis of Babylonia thought studying the Torah was more important. One of the ways in which they fought for their values was to engage in propaganda portraying the progenitors of the Hasmoneans as not coming across too well.”
Largely as a result of this, the festival of lights for centuries focused on the miracle of the oil. Then, in the late 19th century, the Zionist movement revived the cult of the Maccabees. The story of Chanukah, which evokes images of warrior Jews fighting for independence, mirrored their own ambitions, and many early Zionists considered the holiday more important than Sukkot or Rosh Hashanah.
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So my question to you Chaim, is why were the religious Jews of that time really against the Maccabes when Matityahu went so far as to stand up to those Greeks, re-dedicate the Temple and even kill a self-hating Jewish traitor?
You often attribute the refusal of many Jews to fight for what is right to their ghetto mentality. So how do you explain the behavior of the Jewish sages of Mesopotamia being that there was a sovereign Israel, thanks to the Maccabes, and the Temple was back in Jewish hands?
Also, being that it's Channukah, can you please explain for us once again why the Books of the Maccabes were never made part of the Jewish Bible. Italian Zionist asked you about it a while ago. But I would love it if you could elaborate once more.
Thank you very much.
Lisa
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