Home » Discussion Area » Introductions & General » Interesting Experience
| Interesting Experience [message #6063] |
Thu, 03 September 2009 16:35  |
 james
Messages: 2144
Registered: April 2008
Location: Birmingham, AL |
Senior Member |
|
|
Earlier this year I met an Orthodox Jewish man, who I've gotten to know a little over the course of the summer. He goes to daily Synagogue(don't make the mistake of calling it a Temple, big difference to them) and prays and reads from prayer books or The Torah/Pentateuch. I invited him over to my place to read some scriptures to me in Hebrew. He read Psalms 91 and 103, and Genesis 1, plus he read some prayers they regularly pray. He explained a lot of their traditions and laws regarding how they conduct themselves; told me sayings that have been passed down from generation to generation. He went through the Hebrew alphabet and explain all the little differences between words and translations.( I'm thankful that God doesn't require me to understand, speak or write Hebrew, in order to go to heaven, whew!)
I have never known, personally, a practicing Orthodox Jew; and knew even less about the differences between the different sects. He is a interesting man and a wealth of information on Jewish ways and life. I really enjoyed learning a bit about Judaism, he promised to come back and visit again, and share. (He's respectful of my Christian beliefs, but will not discuss any thing about the NT or Jesus...Oh, he also wouldn't refer to ther OT as the 'old testament' because, he said there's only one testament, thus the NT doesn't exist in the mind of a Jew as being God's Word.)
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”
|
|
| |
| Re: Interesting Experience [message #6356 is a reply to message #6064] |
Sat, 28 November 2009 20:53  |
james
Messages: 2144
Registered: April 2008
Location: Birmingham, AL |
Senior Member |
|
|
The Jewish neighbor came over to watch football with me yesterday and I found that 'Christianity' is not the only religion with the problem of a lack of commitment by it's followers. He was telling me that among the local Orthodox Jews there is a huge range in obedience to their doctrines/laws. Some are OK with eating pork, others won't eat shellfish, and then some will eat anything. Their local synagogue is having the same problem many denominational churches are having with the members aging and slowly dying off, as the younger people aren't interested the following of all the orthodox traditions.
There's disappointment with the 'kids' of this generation (he's 70) who won't observe the Sabbath( from sundown Friday through Saturday, no work, partying, ect.)and some aren't willing to learn Hebrew(something he had to go back and relearn after many years of not being a 'practicing Oxthodox Jew')
And I found several examples of how legalism binds one up, they have so many 'laws and rituals' they follow and observe, that even they don't know why they do it. We were discussing the ten commandments(I found this odd, he didn't know where the ten commandments were located in a KJV Bible, he knew they were under the writtings of Moses, but that's about as close as he could get)he was a real stickler on each commandment and the order that God wrote them. I kept explaining for a 'Christian' believing in Jesus, we really concentrated on what Jesus said in Matt.22:37-39; that if we love God with all our heart, mind, and soul; and our neighbor as our self...then we'll not break any of those ten listed in OT. I went over how the first four apply to our relationship with God, and the other six apply to how we treat others. He acknowledged that even though Jesus taught it, it still was a good summation of God's law. I wanted to go deeper into how God is watching the heart(example,adultery) and not just an outward obedience, but he has a unique way of zoning me out when I go anywhere near doing anything from a pure heart or expressing what Jesus taught in the NT.
And if being an Oxthodox Jew doesn't make witnessing to him hard enough, he's a liberal Jew to go with it, very much into politics and a supporter of the president and his policies. I guess I gave back a little of his own medicine, just as he would clam up when I'd try to swing the conversation to Jesus; I clammed up when he went into Obama/socialism. Though socialism in a pure form, (I think) would be like unto the NT church were it was a one of all, all for one mindset. Materialism wasn't the early churchs' focus,(very much unlike the church of today). But like I said, politics is not a winable arguement, with anyone.
Still, it's an educational experience, just learning a bit about the culture...even though it's through the roof with legalism.
those that charge me with leagalism should spend some time with an Orthodox Jew...
“But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us,”
|
|
|
Goto Forum:
Current Time: Sat Jan 18 12:10:14 UTC 2025
Total time taken to generate the page: 0.00890 seconds
|
Members
Search
Help
Register
Login
Home
E-mail to friend 
