Judaism and Non-Jews
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Ben Stada
Who was Ben Stada? The Talmud (Shabbos 104b) mentions a person named Ben Stada, and says that he was also called Ben Pandira and that his mother’s name was Miriam. The suggestion has been made that this is a reference…
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The Divinity of Jesus in Christianity
Why is it so widely believed by Christians that Jesus is divine? Not all Christian denominations accept the divinity of Jesus. Only an expert on the history of Christianity could explain what factors led to this doctrine being so widely…
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The Trinity
Do Jews believe in the trinity? G-d has many attributes, but they aren’t separate personalities. In Christianity, Jesus was transformed from a Davidic messiah into a savior who was an incarnation of G-d. The incarnation obviously couldn’t be identical to…
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Jesus as the Messiah
Why didn’t the Jews accept Jesus as the Messiah? The Jewish view (Maimonides, Kings 11:4) is that the Messiah will be a descendant of David who will inspire the Jews to follow him, establish a monarchy in the Land of…
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Changing Sabbath to Sunday
When and why did the Christians change the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday? Changing the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday (the day on which Jesus was said to have been resurrected) was debated for a long time — as far…
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The Arabs and the Jews
Why do the Arabs hate the Jews? The Arabs’ ancestor Ishmael didn’t hate them; when Abraham was buried, he gave precedence to Isaac (Gen.25:9). But Mohammed had serious clashes with the Jews in Arabia, probably because they wouldn’t accept him…
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The Prohibition of Intermarriage
Why does the Torah forbid intermarriage? The Torah forbids intermarriage between Jews and non-Jews (Deut. 7:3ff: “You shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughter to his son, nor take his daughter for your son”) because it…
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The Conversion of a Child
How is a minor child converted? When there’s a good reason to convert a child (adoption, or conversion of a parent), the conversion is done by a Rabbinical court, but when the child’s parents didn’t also convert, the child’s conversion…
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The Converted Convert:
I am a Jew by choice. What would my status be if I chose not to continue to practice Judaism? Part of the conversion ceremony is a commitment to keep all of the Halachah. Once a person has done this,…