Dear Jew in the City,
I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but do you really think that just because you abstain from eating pork and the animal is killed in a certain fashion that brings you real closeness to God? Jesus said that nothing from the outside can make you "unclean," only your inner thoughts and actions.
Sincerely,
Tim
Dear Tim,
In a vacuum, not eating pork or only eating animals that were slaughtered in a certain way might not seem like they would bring a person closer to God. The reason observant Jews believe that they do is because we believe God told us to!
Though I'm not a Christian theologian, I have a basic understanding that Jesus's philosophy, as recorded in the Christian bible, was that circumcision should no longer be of the body but only of the heart. In other words, the only thing that matters is what one believes, not what one does.
The problem with that kind of logic, according to Jewish thought, is that the Torah, in fact, tells us otherwise. We're commanded to do many things, like circumcise a baby boy on his eighth day, refrain from eat pork and shellfish and eat only kosher animals that were slaughtered according to Jewish law. So while Jesus may have said that "nothing from the outside can make you "unclean," only your inner thoughts and actions [can]," all we Jews are doing is following the same Torah that Jesus agreed was God-given.
The difference between our views and those of Christians is that in sefer Devarim (the book of Deuteronomy) when it says things like, "...[They should] observe all My commandments all the days, so that it should be good for them and for their children forever," and "the entire word that I command you...you shall not subtract from it," observant Jews take these verses to mean that the Torah applies to all Jews in all times, and that it's not ever supposed to be changed.
Now even if I argue we have to keep the laws of kosher because the Torah says so, we're still left with a philosophical problem of how exactly eating animals slaughtered in a ritual way or refraining from eating certain foods makes one close to God.
We believe that the 613 commandments are broken into three different groups: mishpatim, edus, and chukim. Mishpatim are the common sense mitzvahs that we could have figured out had God not commanded them: don't kill, don't steal, honor your father and mother, etc. These commandments make us into better, more Godly people, and it makes sense that performing them would bring us close to God.
Edus are commandments that re-enact some part of our national history like eating matzah on Passover or sitting in a sukkah (a hut) during the holiday of Sukkot, just like the children of Israel did while they were leaving Egypt and wandering in the desert. These types of commandments are a bit harder to understand in terms of how they bring closeness to God, but when you consider that our national history is all about how God delivered us out of Egypt and watched over us in the desert, the connection becomes clearer.
But then we're left with chukim, which by definition are commandments whose reasons are not given. Don't cook a baby animal in its mother's milk, only eat animals which have split hooves and chew their cud, don't wear garments that contain both wool and linen, etc. One could try to come up with symbolic reasons for why these various acts are prohibited, but at the end of the day, we're not told why.
The reason we follow these mitzvos is simply because God said so. The closeness I believe that such mitzvah observance creates is learning to trust God. It's a very hard thing, as rational beings, to let go of the desire to comprehend something for ourselves. It's even ego-blowing to acknowledge that comprehension of certain matters is beyond our capabilities. But training ourselves to put our faith and trust in what God says and does creates a closeness that can't be created in any other way, so while the meaning of these commandments may never be known, their value can, with some explanation, be understood.
Sincerely yours,
Jew in the City
Love this answer. Well worded, thoughtful, clear. Love how you answered using both Jewish and Christian knowledge.
Thank you for bringing the knowledge to all people.
Shabbat Shalom.
Posted by Queenie on June 18, 2010 at 4:18 pm
i wonder:
Do Jews believe that Christians SHOULD follow the Christian Bible and that it is Jews ONLY who should follow the Torah and are commanded as you describe above?
Posted by Lark on June 19, 2010 at 7:00 am
Great question, Lark. Jews believe that only Jews are supposed to follow the Torah. In terms of non-Jews, we believe that they are only obligated in 7 basic moral principles called the Noahide Laws which include things like don’t kill, don’t steal, set up a fair government, etc. A non-Jew is welcome to convert and take Torah law upon himself, but we don’t seek out converts and even dissuade people from converting just so we make sure that they’re really serious about taking on the obligations that come with being Jewish.
Posted by Allison on June 21, 2010 at 6:54 am
Could you please edit that from “Don’t cook a baby in its mother’s milk” to “don’t cook a baby animal”? Really the baby version seems self-evident, and a little barbaric of us to need to be commanded.
Posted by B4S on June 24, 2010 at 12:58 am
Uh huh, I hear what you’re saying. We don’t want people to think that this includes human babies!
Posted by Allison on June 28, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Thank you for your kind and informative answer.
Posted by Lark on July 2, 2010 at 5:34 am
I’ve never heard of this wool/linen rule for garments (I’m catholic).
Could you please elaborate on it? I’m really curious!
Dominique
Posted by Dominique on July 8, 2010 at 3:59 am
A mixture of wool and linen in the same garment is called “shatnez” and the Torah very simply tells us to not wear garments that contain this mixture. People try to find symbolism in the commandment – not mixing an animal product (wool) with a plant product (linen) just as they try to find symbolism with the laws of kosher, i.e. not cooking a baby animal (which represents death) in its mother’s milk (which is life giving). I’m fine with trying to get some deeper meaning out of these commandments, but with shatnez, kashrus, and the rest of the commandments in this chukim category (where the reasons are not explained) I think the meaning we attach only goes so far since the true meaning is not meant to be known to us and yet we’re supposed to observe these laws anyway.
Posted by Allison on July 8, 2010 at 6:01 am
“In other words, the only thing that matters is what one believes, not what one does.”
Just so you know, that’s not what the Christian Bible teaches, although it’s a very common misconception. Christians believe the Law of Moses no longer applies today and that we are justified by our faith, not works, but that does not mean what we do doesn’t matter. Jesus said this in Luke 6:46 (“Why do you say to me, Lord, Lord, and do not do what I say?’) and in Matthew 7:21 (“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven”).
As you say, you are not a Christian theologian (neither am I, for that matter), but I thought I just wanted to make clear that Christianity does not teach that what you do doesn’t matter.
But anyways, I thought your answer to this question was very clear. Thank you for the explanation; I found it quite useful.
Posted by Jacqueline on September 26, 2010 at 4:46 am
Thanks for your comment, Jacqueline, but I’m a little bit confused by it (most likely due to my lack of knowledge about Christianity!).
If Christians believe that the laws of Moses no longer apply, then what “works” are Christians supposed to be performing?
Also, what do you mean when you say that you’re “justified” by your faith and not your works. I don’t understand what “justified” even means in this context, but I guess my basic question is what do Christians believe God is judging you based on? Thanks!
Posted by Allison on September 27, 2010 at 9:38 pm
Not sure if this adds anything to the post, but I feel like mentioning it:
Many might feel like it’s not a big deal for Jews today to eat pork because the law was created for health concerns. That is not true, but even if it was, today especially it is fitting for Jews everywhere to refrain from eating pork! At many times in history, most recently during the Holocaust, Jews were demanded to eat pork on pain of death, and usually (despite the halakhic ruling that to save one’s skin it is permissible) Jews chose death rather than eating pork!
Posted by David Reghay on January 30, 2011 at 10:29 pm