Questions about Jews & also Isis

[Cheeks]

I grew up on a dairy farm in the country so I lived a pretty sheltered life.  Anyways, I have always wondered: why do so many worldly people hate ppl of the Jewish faith or those whose background is Jewish...?  Also, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I mean no disrespect but how can you tell if someone is Jewish?  I mean, Jerry Seinfeld is Jewish, so I have been told, but he looks like anyone else.  I can tell someone who is Spanish alot of times by their name or appearance, or someone who is Italian by their name, etc.

 

Also, maybe not connected with the Jewish beliefs/background, but what exactly does Isis want?  They committ horible acts of torture and death, but what is their end-game?

Edited February 24, 2015 by Cheeks

[Beggar for the Spirit]

HI Brother John,

 

Here is some helpful information that might help.

 

 

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*** g04 9/8 pp. 4-5 The Face of Prejudice ***
Prejudice Through the Centuries
At one time Christians were prime targets of prejudice. Shortly after Jesus’ death, for example, a wave of cruel persecution was directed against them. (Acts 8:3; 9:1, 2; 26:10, 11) Two centuries later professed Christians faced cruel mistreatment. “If there is a plague,” wrote the third-century writer Tertullian, “the cry is at once, ‘The Christians to the Lions.’”

Starting in the 11th century with the Crusades, however, Jews became the unpopular minority in Europe. When the bubonic plague swept through the Continent, killing about a quarter of the population in just a few years, the Jews were an easy target for blame, since they were already hated by many. “The plague gave this hatred an excuse, and the hatred gave people’s fear of the plague a focus,” writes Jeanette Farrell in her book Invisible Enemies.

Eventually, a Jewish man in the south of France “confessed” under torture that Jews had caused the epidemic by poisoning the wells. Of course, his confession was false, but the information was heralded as truth.

Soon entire Jewish communities were slaughtered in Spain, France, and Germany. It seems no one paid attention to the real culprits—the rats. And few people noticed that Jews died of the plague just like everyone else!

Once the fire of prejudice is set ablaze, it can smolder for centuries. In the mid-20th century, Adolf Hitler fanned the flames of anti-Semitism by blaming the Jews for Germany’s defeat in World War I. At the end of World War II, Rudolf Hoess—the Nazi commander of the Auschwitz concentration camp—admitted: “Our military and ideological training took for granted that we had to protect Germany from the Jews.” In order to “protect Germany,” Hoess supervised the extermination of some 2,000,000 people, most of them Jews.
 

*** g93 8/8 p. 13 Is the “New Testament” Anti-Semitic? ***
Why Anti-Semitism in Christendom?
It can therefore be seen that the “New Testament” is not anti-Semitic. Instead, the “New Testament” records the teachings of a man who lived and died as a Jew and who taught his Jewish followers to respect the ideals of the Mosaic Law. (Matthew 5:17-19) But if the “New Testament” is not to blame, why has there been such persistent anti-Semitism in Christendom?

Christianity itself is not to blame. In a way similar to that of the false Christians in the time of Jude who were “turning the undeserved kindness of God into an excuse for loose conduct,” professed Christians throughout history have dragged the name of Christ into the mire of bigotry and prejudice. (Jude 4) Thus, the anti-Semitism in Christendom has been due to the selfish prejudices of people who have been Christian in name only.

Interestingly, Jesus himself foretold that some would claim to have performed all sorts of powerful works in his name but would really be “workers of lawlessness”—no friends of his! (Matthew 7:21-23) Many of these have tried to use the “New Testament” as a justification for their hatreds and prejudices, but reasoning people can see through that hollow pretense.
False Christians will have to answer to God for their anti-Semitism.
 

*** g89 3/8 pp. 29-30 Watching the World ***
Who Is a Jew?
That question has recently stirred up a heated debate that affects millions of Jews, especially in Israel and the United States. The leaders of Israel’s 400,000 Orthodox Jews have long sought to change the “Law of Return,” which lets any immigrant Jew become an Israeli citizen, so that it would exclude those who were converted to Judaism by non-Orthodox rabbis, such as those of the Conservative and Reform branches. An outcry has arisen against such strict views of “who is a Jew,” especially from Conservative and Reform Jews in the United States. According to The Jerusalem Post, Israeli diplomat Abba Eban “criticized attempts to disqualify ‘a majority of the Jewish congregations, rabbis, temples and ceremonials in the world from the pride of their Jewish identity.’” Orthodox Jews make up less than 10 percent of Israel’s population.
 

*** sh chap. 9 pp. 226-227 Judaism—Searching for God Through Scripture and Tradition ***
Judaism—A Religion of Many Voices
  There are major differences between the various factions of Judaism. Traditionally, Judaism emphasizes religious practice. Debate over such matters, rather than beliefs, has caused serious tension among Jews and has led to the formation of three major divisions in Judaism.

 

ORTHODOX JUDAISM—This branch not only accepts that the Hebrew “Tanakh” is inspired Scripture but also believes that Moses received the oral law from God on Mount Sinai at the same time that he received the written Law. Orthodox Jews scrupulously keep the commandments of both laws. They believe that the Messiah is still to appear and to bring Israel to a golden age. Because of differences of opinion within the Orthodox group, various factions have emerged. One example is Hasidism.
Hasidim (Chasidim, meaning “the pious”)—These are viewed as ultraorthodox. Founded by Israel ben Eliezer, known as Baʽal Shem Tov (“Master of the Good Name”), in the mid-18th century in Eastern Europe, they follow a teaching that highlights music and dance, resulting in mystic joy. Many of their beliefs, including reincarnation, are based on the Jewish mystical books known as the Kabbala (Cabala). Today they are led by rebbes (Yiddish for “rabbis”), or zaddikim, considered by their followers to be supremely righteous men or saints.
  Hasidim today are found mainly in the United States and in Israel. They wear a particular style of Eastern European garb, mainly black, of the 18th and 19th centuries, that makes them very conspicuous, especially in a modern city setting. Today they are divided into sects that follow different prominent rebbes. One very active group is the Lubavitchers, who proselytize vigorously among Jews. Some groups believe that only the Messiah has the right to restore Israel as the nation of the Jews and so are opposed to the secular State of Israel.

 

REFORM JUDAISM (also known as “Liberal” and “Progressive”)—The movement began in Western Europe toward the beginning of the 19th century. It is based on the ideas of Moses Mendelssohn, an 18th-century Jewish intellectual who believed Jews should assimilate Western culture rather than separate themselves from the Gentiles. Reform Jews deny that the Torah was divinely revealed truth. They view the Jewish laws on diet, purity, and dress as obsolete. They believe in what they term a “Messianic era of Universal brotherhood.” In recent years they have moved back toward more traditional Judaism.

 

CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM—This began in Germany in 1845 as an offshoot of Reform Judaism, which, it was felt, had rejected too many traditional Jewish practices. Conservative Judaism does not accept that the oral law was received by Moses from God but holds that the rabbis, who sought to adapt Judaism to a new era, invented the oral Torah. Conservative Jews submit to Biblical precepts and Rabbinic law if these “are responsive to the modern requirements of Jewish life.” (The Book of Jewish Knowledge) They use Hebrew and English in their liturgy and maintain strict dietary laws (kashruth). Men and women are allowed to sit together during worship, which is not allowed by the Orthodox.
 

*** sh chap. 9 p. 207 pars. 5-6 Judaism—Searching for God Through Scripture and Tradition ***
Israel had 12 sons, who became the founders of 12 tribes.

One of those was Judah, from which name the word “Jew” was eventually derived.—2 Kings 16:6.

In time the term “Jew” was applied to all Israelites, not just to a descendant of Judah. (Esther 3:6; 9:20) Because the Jewish genealogical records were destroyed in 70 C.E. when the Romans razed Jerusalem, no Jew today can accurately determine from which tribe he himself is descended. Nevertheless, over the millenniums, the ancient Jewish religion has developed and changed. Today Judaism is practiced by millions of Jews in the Republic of Israel and the
 

Edited February 24, 2015 by Beggar for the Spirit

[Beggar for the Spirit]

And as far as ISIS is concerned,

here is a link to some interesting posts about them that could be helpful.

 

Topic on ISIS

[Shawnster]

HI Brother John,

 

Here is some helpful information that might help.

 

 

__________________________________________________________________________________

*** g04 9/8 pp. 4-5 The Face of Prejudice ***

Prejudice Through the Centuries

At one time Christians were prime targets of prejudice. Shortly after Jesus’ death, for example, a wave of cruel persecution was directed against them. (Acts 8:3; 9:1, 2; 26:10, 11) Two centuries later professed Christians faced cruel mistreatment. “If there is a plague,” wrote the third-century writer Tertullian, “the cry is at once, ‘The Christians to the Lions.’”

Starting in the 11th century with the Crusades, however, Jews became the unpopular minority in Europe. When the bubonic plague swept through the Continent, killing about a quarter of the population in just a few years, the Jews were an easy target for blame, since they were already hated by many. “The plague gave this hatred an excuse, and the hatred gave people’s fear of the plague a focus,” writes Jeanette Farrell in her book Invisible Enemies.

 

Which is ironic because if everyone in Europe had followed the Law Covenant, especially in regards about cleanliness, the plague wouldn't have been as deadly.

[Greg Dent]

Thats what you get when you throw dead bodies in the street along with your bed pan that could have who knows what in it. It was common practice to throw your feces in the street in the 1400 to 1800's

[JSmith]

Many European countries that became nominally christian created laws that excluded non-"Christians" from working in certain professions. Since the Jews had to make a living somehow, many went into the money-lending business. This increased their unpopularity to those that owed them money and amplified the prejudice already against them for being the race labeled as "christ-killers" and led to many modern stereotypes of the Jews as being greedy money grubbers.

As far as prejudice against jews in the middle-east, that has more to do with the fact a non-muslim nation (Israel) was carved out of formerly Muslim territory. The Koran sets the goal that by Jihad the whole world be made Muslim. The modern nation of Israel is a reversal of that.