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From: teitz@aecom.UUCP (Eliyahu Teitz)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: Re: Beacon from a lost sheep from 11 lightyears away.
Message-ID: <1964@aecom.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 21-Oct-85 17:24:35 EDT
Article-I.D.: aecom.1964
Posted: Mon Oct 21 17:24:35 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 23-Oct-85 20:13:00 EDT
References: <808@nmtvax.UUCP> <2409@sdcrdcf.UUCP>
Organization: Albert Einstein Coll. of Med., NY
Lines: 50

> Now down to the text of your letter.
> 
> Judaism does not say you have to feel the presence of God.  It doesn't even
> put all that much emphasis on believing in God.  Having your good deeds
> exceed your faith is preferble to the reverse.  It's a truism that Judaism
> is not an Orthodoxy (right-faith) but an Orthopraxy (right-conduct).
> 


	Just one minute here. The Torah in many places stresses the importance
 of belief in G-D. Which is the first of the Ten Commandments. Why must we
 know G-D who took us out of Egypt. Just to say hello? No, one must believe
 in G-D. Also, Moshe ( Moses ) in Deuteronomy says ( Ch. 8 or 9 I think )
 What does G-D want from you? Just to love G-D and go in His ways and do His
 commandments. For a religion that doesn't stress a belief in G-D, it's doing
 alot of worthless talking. Unless, of course, there is more to believing in
 G-D than they taught in religious school. I think so.

	One other thing. What good are actions if there is no belief in
 who commanded the actions. If you don't believe in G-D then why bother with
 Judaism, unless you think it is a moral religion. But then just do good
 deeds, that has nothing to do with Judaism. Judaism is based on the Torah
 Anything that goes against the Torah cannot be defined as Judaism. If you
 don't believe in the Torah then what is you basis for defining Judaism. So
 belief must go hand in hand with deeds.




> Judaism prides itself of having lots of mitzvot (commandments) which sanctify
> us (as in the standard prayer beginning).  It also stresses that the Law3
> was given to live by, not die by, and that all but a few of these command-
> ments MUST be broken to save human life--and sanity.
> 


	I like this little editorial comment. By whose definition of sanity
 do you abide. Does keeping kosher lead one to insanity. The Torah didn't 
 think so. Pick any other mitzvah. None would have been given if they would
 have led to insanity. The keeping of a mitzva can endanger a life ( eg.
 not desecrating the Sabbath in a situation where someone has to be rushed to
 the hospital ). Maybe if someone were going insane and had to be rushed to
 a hospital for treatment we could desecrate the Sabbath ( I'm sure it has been
 discussed somewhere already ). However, if you feel that the mitzvot are too
 much of a burden and that that would lead to insanity, I don't think the
 comparison to saving a life is valid.



			Eliyahu Teitz.