What I don't understand about Judaism

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There is a lot of talk about Christianity but I have some questions about Judaism and would like to learn more.

Judaism is a monotheistic religion with a God that is creator and master of all the universe.

Here are some things that I do not understand.

1. The Torah is like the Bible and the Talmud is the Rabbinical interpretations about the Torah. I have read that some Rabbis place higher importance to the Talmud than they do to the Torah.

2. God gave Moses Ten Commandments yet the Ten Commandments are not given any priority over the other 613 Mitzvot or 613 Commandments. Manmade rules are on par with the Divine Word of God.

3. God tells His People not to worship idols yet:

A. The Temple has near Idolic status - The Temple (and today the Temple Wall) is the center of Judaism. I find it strange that a building could be so important.

B. The 613 Mitzvot are "Mystical" in nature - According to tradition, of these 613 commandments, 248 are mitzvot aseh ("positive commandments") and 365 are mitzvot lo taaseh ("negative commandments"). Three-hundred and sixty-five corresponded to the number of days in a year and 248 was believed by ancient Hebrews to be the number of bones and significant organs in the human body. Could the worship in numbers be a form of spiritual/metaphysical idolatry?

Where is the love for mankind? In the 613 Mitzvot LOVE is found in the following

4. To love Him
13. To love other Jews
14. To love converts
37. Not to love the missionary

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@z0z0,

The Torah is the Old Testament. Many other documents were also kept such as the Apocrypha (which was actually still in many Christian Bibles until 1880) and Rabbinical stories made to expand on Biblical characters who's back story wasn't covered by the Bible.

There were actually 3 Torah at one point, one was Babylonian, another Egyptian and the third... well I don't remember exactly where it was.

The concept of Original sin doesn't appear in the Torah, it was purposed by Jesus and it was solved by salvation. Jew's believed in atoning for their own sin, and didn't (and still don't) believe that it's impossible to live within the rule of God.

Orthodox Jews still follow the covenant, while the majority explain away the need for it even though their Holy book doesn't make any such claim.

Early Christians also believed it was a sin to create Idols, in fact the idea of looking upon a giant cross or idol of Jesus on the cross would have been blasphemous to them, that lasted right up until the creation of the Universal Church.

I'm surprised a Christian isn't familiar with the OT, Jesus was extremely familiar with it, aren't Christians supposed to do as Christ did?

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@z0z0,

Original Sin started with Adam & Eve. It is a great marketing gimmick stating "You are fundamentally flawed until you buy our product". Yes the OT is the foundation of Christianity - but I just do not see much value in it. What do I care about all the battles that the Jews were victorious in or who was whose brother? But enough of the questions about Christianity.

I want to better understand Judaism.

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@z0z0,

Early Christians were various in their beliefs, you can't say "Early Christians this or that" generally. If all or even most early Christians thought that way, the Catholic Church would not have adopted those beliefs. Visual aids (not idols, which are things worshipped in and of themselves) were necessary in an age of virtually zero literacy and where few had been over 10 miles outside their village.

Original sin and other loose ends also had to be tied up by Nicaea and other such doctrine making commitees.

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@z0z0,

Maybe the "Early Christians" had it right. They met in small groups to discuss and learn about God from one another. Then the "Institution" of the Church came into play. While I am Roman Catholic - sometimes I wonder if the Orthodox Church has it right because they are "closest to the roots" of the original religion.

Nicea may have been about power consolidation.

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@z0z0,

Nicaea was about taking these beliefs and making something lasting of it. The common early Christians could not make their own policies, that was best left to scholars. And Orthodoxy is not closer to original Christianity. The great schism happened because the Byzantines wanted to have their cake and eat it too, Emperor and spiritual leader all in one. Don't you think they should be separate?

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What I don't understand about Judaism

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