<p>I agree with you about that, dstark, and also about the things you love in Judaism but in the people trying to survive, surely it is significant that they are always returning to and celebrating the belief in a God who demands something of them that they have to live up to and that He is One -the creator and king of the universe-not excluding other people’s gods but implying that ultimately God is a unitary concept-the oneness of truth- just as in mathematics there can be many ways to solve a problem and many ways to represent an answer but all the possible right answers must be ultimately the same or equivalent for the universe to make sense.</p>
<p>As to Abraham sacrificing his son–isn’t it important that God does not let him do it? I have heard this explained as Judaism calling for the abolition of human sacrifice. Abraham learns something about the fundamental goodness of God–we must also read this (and much of the bible) as a very ancient story from a time when humanity was still evolving its basic values and thus did not indeed know “which end is up”. Think how many thousand years it took to get to the Declaration of Independence and inalienable natural rights and then how much longer it took after that to get even close to the reality of “all men (human beings) being created equal” --we’re still working on it!</p>
</i>
<p>“I would never, never, entertain the thought of sacrificing one of my kids.”</p>
<p>The situation then was different than the one now. God would never entertain the thought of asking you to sacrifice your kid. He was wrong, and he made up for this by allowing us to ask for forgiveness on Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashana. Then again if God revealed himself to you things would be different…Its just so hard to imagine God ‘talking’. Thats why it says that if God ever reveals himself to you will not be the same perosn.</p>
<p>I think it is similar tothe flood. God would never do it again.</p>
<p>No I have not seen the movie.</p>
<p>I am still very interested in Mini’s answer to my question, the one she avoided so strongly?</p>
<p>Well, good for you. You’ve already decided that I’m a Jew who is ashamed of my Jewishness, and that next time around I will be sent to the ovens, and that I am uncomfortable.</p>
<p>I thank you for your kind thoughts, but don’t perceive that you really care.</p>
<p>Yes Mini, next time around you will be sent to the ovens just as fast as the Hasid from Crown Heights, the Litvak from Lakewood, the daddude from the Northeast. Why? Becuase we are all Jews. Just because one of US is more observant than the other does not diminish our identity. I said it before and I will say it again, you do not like that I condemned you to the Jewish nation more than you dont like that I condemned you to, God forbid, another Shoah.</p>
<p>The fact is, I am beginning to think that you just “say” things for the sake of saying them. I ask you what turned you away from Judaism, what part of your Jewish culture are you ashamed of and you REFUSE to answer. </p>
<p>Prove me wrong and tell me that you are not ashamed of your ‘Jewishness’, but throughout these 5 posts or how ever many there were, you did not even deny that you are not ashamed of something.</p>
<p>Tell us all what turned you away from Judaism so much that not only did you abandon any observance but that you abandoned your people as well.</p>
<p>Mini, why don’t we end this right now. Simply clarify your position. Tell us all what turned you away from Judaism so much that not only did you abandon any observance but that you abandoned your people as well. Tell us why you did not want to answer the question. Tell us why you were so ambigious. Tell us why it struck a certain nerve when I told you, something you say already know, that given another Holocaust, you will go as fast as any of us?</p>
<p>There are too many bizarre attacks going on here. </p>
<p>Yes, there is discrimination and hatred in the world. Set a better example. Do good, everyone knows what to do to make the world a better place.</p>
<p>Since you’ve already decided that I’ve abandoned my observance and my people, and that I’m headed for the ovens, that I’m ashamed of who I am, and not comfortable, and that I hate Jews, I think that if you look deep down inside yourself, you already have your answer.</p>
<p>daddude – This hectoring is (a) really impolite, and (b) not appropriate here. I also don’t appreciate the way you trivialize the Shoah by tossing it around so readily.</p>
<p>Having read mini’s posts upthread, I think he’s given fuller answers to your questions than you have any right to demand.</p>
<p>Yes, why should Mini defend himself and his beliefs to any one on any level? Mini’s a thoughtful, erudite contributor to CC and doesn’t need his back up against the wall on a nice Saturday afternoon. Enough already!!</p>
<p>Yes come on Daddude, there’s a difference between asking questions in a respectful manner and throwing random insults (especially re: the Shoah) at people.</p>
<p>Daddude–I am appalled at your rude attacks on mini. You are apparently new here but you need to know we try to maintain civil discourse on this forum.</p>
<p>Daddude is not new. I have a strong hunch that he knows all the players, and is on his third or fourth moniker, having been banned for attacks under other names.</p>
<p>mini, I’m impressed with the care and thought you’ve put into your beliefs. I, too, have found it desirable to take some things from one religion and some from another, in order to make sense. And so both religions would probably spit me out ;)</p>