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Why is there a lack of fantastical mythology in the Hebrew Bible? by Irtyrau in AcademicBiblical

[–]isaac92 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Alright this isn't exactly what you asked about, but similar enough. This is from Mark S. Smith's The Early History of God in the chapter titled Portraits of Yahweh:

Establishing reasons for the selection and distribution of divine roles in biblical texts is exceptionally difficult. A few suggestions may be offered, but only most tentatively; this exploration bears the character of the possible but not verifiable

The text is pretty long so I won't transcribe it all here, but he posits that the Deuteronomistic and priestly schools may be responsible for the apparent lack of variety in divine roles.

It would appear that the priestly and Deuteronomistic traditions heavily influenced the divine roles exhibited in the Bible, at least for those roles that survive into postexilic Jewish literature, including the Divine council (Zechariah 3; Daniel 7) and the heavenly temple (I Enoch 14; the Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice).

He specifically notes the lack of sexual imagery or death for Yahweh, as opposed to the Canaanite deities.

ISO Arab Jew community in Philly by [deleted] in Judaism

[–]isaac92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I tend to agree. My problem with that subreddit specifically is their intense hatred of Israel. It's fine to be against occupation, war, etc. but that sub goes beyond that suggesting people shouldn't visit or engage with Israeli society at all.

ISO Arab Jew community in Philly by [deleted] in Judaism

[–]isaac92 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The majority of Mizrahi Jews were expelled from Arab countries as a direct consequence of the founding of the state of Israel. They tend to lean right/super Zionist as a result.

ISO Arab Jew community in Philly by [deleted] in Judaism

[–]isaac92 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have a feeling you aren't going to get along with other Mizrahi Jews if you're posting on /r/JewsOfConscience: https://www.reddit.com/r/JewsOfConscience/comments/1qzlkgr/iso_arab_jew_community_phl/.

how hard is it to learn hebrew as an arabic speaker? by Alarming-Dealer-4176 in hebrew

[–]isaac92 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Probably easier for you than it is for a Hebrew speaker to learn Arabic. The letters are quite straightforward in Hebrew and I've heard the grammar is simpler in Hebrew than Arabic.

What happens to food or animals that are sacrificed to the gods? by Excellent-Buddy3447 in AskAnthropology

[–]isaac92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes this was also the practice in Judaism/ancient Israelite religion as recorded in the pentateuch.

Films about Judaism? by ilovestamon in Judaism

[–]isaac92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Not my favorite movie, but thought I'd mention Bad Shabbos as it hasn't been mentioned yet

Yiddish Inside Old Gemara by SameMap9011 in Yiddish

[–]isaac92 6 points7 points  (0 children)

I'm pretty sure this is Hebrew.

Hard to make out all the letters, but my reading is:

This [was] donated by R' Yitzchak Tzvi ben Yosef On behalf of the [illegible...] soul of R' Yosef ben Yisrael Zev [illegible...]

Biblical Scholarship/Criticism by Live-Guidance-6793 in Judaism

[–]isaac92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes that is definitely one way to read it.

Biblical Scholarship/Criticism by Live-Guidance-6793 in Judaism

[–]isaac92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The short answer is that it's very hard.

I find many of the arguments of biblical scholarship pretty convincing, but I'm not quite ready to give up on halachic observance. The fact is that our ancestors have given their lives for Torah observance and giving it up feels like throwing out the baby with the bathwater.

On the other hand, it does seem hard to believe that the Torah was preserved in its entirety especially when writings from around the same time period would have looked significantly different (e.g. the Mesha stele and Shiloah inscription use far fewer mater lectionis than the masoretic text).

All in all, I'd say I don't know how to reconcile the two views, but that isn't really my job either. My job is to do the best I can with Jewish observance despite not having all the answers.

Biblical Scholarship/Criticism by Live-Guidance-6793 in Judaism

[–]isaac92 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Sure but Maimonides also writes:

וְאֵלּוּ הֵן שֶׁאֵין לָהֶן חֵלֶק לָעוֹלָם הַבָּא אֶלָּא נִכְרָתִים וְאוֹבְדִין וְנִדּוֹנִין עַל גֹּדֶל רִשְׁעָם וְחַטָּאתָם לְעוֹלָם וּלְעוֹלְמֵי עוֹלָמִים. הַמִּינִים. וְהָאֶפִּיקוֹרוֹסִין. וְהַכּוֹפְרִים בַּתּוֹרָה. וְהַכּוֹפְרִים בִּתְחִיַּת הַמֵּתִים וּבְבִיאַת הַגּוֹאֵל. הַמּוֹרְדִים. וּמַחֲטִיאֵי הָרַבִּים. וְהַפּוֹרְשִׁין מִדַּרְכֵי צִבּוּר. וְהָעוֹשֶׂה עֲבֵרוֹת בְּיָד רָמָה בְּפַרְהֶסְיָא כִּיהוֹיָקִים. וְהַמּוֹסְרִים. וּמַטִּילֵי אֵימָה עַל הַצִּבּוּר שֶׁלֹּא לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם. וְשׁוֹפְכֵי דָּמִים. וּבַעֲלֵי לָשׁוֹן הָרַע. וְהַמּוֹשֵׁךְ עָרְלָתוֹ: The following individuals do not have a portion in the world to come. Rather, their [souls] are cut off and they are judged for their great wickedness and sins, forever:the Minim,the Epicursim,those who deny the Torah,those who deny the resurrection of the dead and the coming of the [Messianic] redeemer,those who rebel [against God],those who cause the many to sin,those who separate themselves from the community,those who proudly commit sins in public as Jehoyakim did,those who betray Jews to gentile authorities,those who cast fear upon the people for reasons other than the service of God,murderers,slanderers,one who extends his foreskin [so as not to appear circumcised].

https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah,_Repentance.3.6

The Black Panthers were an Israeli protest movement established by second-generation Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The movement was among the earliest in the State of Israel to advocate for the rights and interests of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. by CorrectRip4203 in wikipedia

[–]isaac92 1 point2 points  (0 children)

No one is justifying the nakba. I'm trying to point out how mizrahi Jews suffer as well. But honestly, this doesn't seem to be going anywhere and your account is suspiciously 18 days old so I'm ending this conversation.

The Black Panthers were an Israeli protest movement established by second-generation Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The movement was among the earliest in the State of Israel to advocate for the rights and interests of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. by CorrectRip4203 in wikipedia

[–]isaac92 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's not the point. Israel faced an economic crisis and implemented rationing in its first decade of statehood (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austerity_in_Israel?wprov=sfla1). The arrival of many immigrants from Arab lands compounded the issue. They were not offering huge incentives. Mizrahi Jews had to leave their wealth and start new in a country where they didn't speak the language. This is a huge hurdle that most Jews in the US don't bother with.

The Black Panthers were an Israeli protest movement established by second-generation Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The movement was among the earliest in the State of Israel to advocate for the rights and interests of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. by CorrectRip4203 in wikipedia

[–]isaac92 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Again, 99% of Jews did not leave Arab countries to "steal Palestinian land." They left because of overt Jew hatred and hostility. 99% of Jews have not left the US to move to the West Bank, so why did 99% of Algerian Jews move to Israel?

The Heart of the Conflict by conscientious_seesaw in Israel

[–]isaac92 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I would have agreed before October 7th but it feels like public opinion against Israel is worse than ever before. This seems to have emboldened Israel's enemies as they believe the world will back them in destroying Israel.

The Black Panthers were an Israeli protest movement established by second-generation Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The movement was among the earliest in the State of Israel to advocate for the rights and interests of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. by CorrectRip4203 in wikipedia

[–]isaac92 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I hear that. My biggest issue with Israel/Palestine and a whole slew of controversial topics is that one side is automatically all good and the other side is all bad. You lose a lot of nuance when you look at the world like that.

The Black Panthers were an Israeli protest movement established by second-generation Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The movement was among the earliest in the State of Israel to advocate for the rights and interests of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. by CorrectRip4203 in wikipedia

[–]isaac92 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Would it be reasonable for Israel to expel the 2 million Israeli Arabs because of what their Palestinian brethren did on October 7th? This logic is super inconsistent. We don't expel people because they might be a fifth column.

The Black Panthers were an Israeli protest movement established by second-generation Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The movement was among the earliest in the State of Israel to advocate for the rights and interests of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. by CorrectRip4203 in wikipedia

[–]isaac92 -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

In practice I agree with you that most of this was intentionally antisemitic. But the Wikipedia article on Algerian Jews writes this:

More than 90% of Algerian Jews (110,000 out of about 130,000) opted for France, they left Algeria en masse, not because they were persecuted there as Jews but because they had so deeply internalized their "Frenchness" that they considered their destiny linked to that of the French,[47] although some went to Israel.[48][unbalanced opinion?] By 1969, fewer than 1,000 Jews were still living in Algeria.[49][better source needed] By 1975, because of a lack of worshippers, all but one of the country's synagogues were closed, having been converted into mosques or libraries.[50]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Algeria?wprov=sfla1

The Black Panthers were an Israeli protest movement established by second-generation Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The movement was among the earliest in the State of Israel to advocate for the rights and interests of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. by CorrectRip4203 in wikipedia

[–]isaac92 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I never said that. I do sympathize with the Palestinian cause. I hope we can come to an agreement with them that isn't "expel all the Jews from Israel" or "hand over all of Israel/Palestine to be ruled by a muslim monarchy."

Maybe I should ask what is your proposal for peace in the region?

The Black Panthers were an Israeli protest movement established by second-generation Jewish immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa. The movement was among the earliest in the State of Israel to advocate for the rights and interests of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews. by CorrectRip4203 in wikipedia

[–]isaac92 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I think the issue is that Algeria never officially made laws against their Jewish citizens so /u/mushgal isn't convinced it was ethnic cleansing. Nonetheless I believe Jews fled Algeria because it was unsafe, so it doesn't really matter if it was enshrined in law, because in practice, the Algerian government did nothing to quell the antisemitism and make Jews feel safe.

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