jewish-philosophy

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This EDM song utilizes lyrics from the Kaddish. I think it’s beautiful how the very words of Aramaic and Hebrew praise were structured into a contemporary song.

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Judaism and The Afterlife

Jewish people certainly DO believe in an afterlife, as is made abundantly clear by the Rabbinic literature and commentary. Shamyim (The Heavens) is part of the cosmos of existence. It has seven layers where the different types of Malakhim (Angels/Messengers) dwell. This is the closest thing to what many people in other religions call “Heaven”. There is also “Olam Ha-Ba” (World to Come). It could refer to the next dimension in reality to which we prepare ourselves for in Olam Ha-Zeh (This World). But then there’s discusion over the concept of an underworld. The Hebrew word “Sheol” literally means “the grave” and does not necessarily mean “hell” or anything you heard in Christianity or Islam. Although Sheol it is frequently interpreted to mean Gehena - which some Christians allude as purgatory. According to the Tanakh, Korakh and his followers were swallowed up by the Earth and winded up in Gehinnom.  However, to truly understand Jewish spirituality, one must break away from the chains of ideas that both Christianity and Islam have brought to the table and popularized because those ideas don’t always match our Judaic concepts.

The Soul is seen as a piece of the divine which belongs to G-d, and He may send it back to the physical world if He so chooses to. So not only do we believe in an afterlife, but we also believe in reincarnation. Yes, reincarnation. The soul may be sent back in order to fulfill it’s mission. Sometimes, a Soul can not experience all the things it’s suppose experience in a single life time and may be moved elsewhere to continue the learning. This isn’t something seen as uncanny in Kabbalistic circles. 

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Instrumental

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Karlin-Stoliner Hasidim singing and dancing to a very nice Nigun.

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This melody has a very Mediterranean feel to it.

This is interesting because Karliner Hasidim are from what is now Belarus.

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Father of The East

Does the Torah ever mention Asian cultures? Does it give an allusion to the existence of Eastern or Indian faiths like Hinduism? It’s very common for Jewish people to be interested in Hindu and Buddhist concepts. Within the Tanakh, Sefer Bereshis (Book of Genesis) makes many connections to the existence of such cultures. In Sefer Bereshis , Chapter 25, we learn that Avraham Avinu had children through a concubine named “Keturah”. We learn that her Children went to “the east”, and many people believe that this alludes to Eastern cultures. Now, why would one think that? Let’s look at the name of the Supreme God worship pied by Hindus.

Take Avraham and anglicize it as “Abraham”. The Hindu creator god “Brahma” sounds oddly like Abraham. The Hindu god, Braham, had a wife named Saraswati. Should we even be mentioning what this name is similar to? Let’s  mention the fact that Hindus pray three times per day.

Now, here’s where things get interesting. The Hawaiian folk religion, who have an Eastern root, has a word called “Kahanu” which refers to their priests. In Judaism, we have the Kohen which fulfills this duty.  If Eastern people even go as far as having a Kahuna for a Shaman, then there is clearly some sort of connection. These spiritual allegories only furthers the re-connection that I’ve personally had with Eastern cultures which I saw as being relevant towards my advancement in spiritual growth.

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Similarities and Differences between Judaism, Hinduism, and Buddhism

Different parts of Asia have spiritual movements that are significant in the world. The three faiths worth mentioning are Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. There are many similarities between them. All of them have a collection of recitable and repeatable chants. The Hebrew Prayer known as Kaddish is praying ritual which is supposed to enhance the holiness of God’s name. There are only 3 Jewish prayers a day much like how there are only 3 Hindu prayers a day. Hindu and Buddhist Mantras have similar purposes. In both Hinduism and some denominations of Buddhism, there are Gurus (which are essentially instructors to help someone find their spiritual path), and in Judaism a Rabbi/Rebbe has essentially  the same job. They are spiritual masters for their students. One of the most important deities in Hinduism is called “Brahma” which some scholars see as being similar to the Jewish patriarch “Abraham”. The wife of Brahma was Sarasvati which I personally think resembles the name “Sarah” (wife of Abraham). Jewish people are waiting for the coming of the Messiah (Moshiach) and Hindus are waiting for the incarnation of the god, Vishnu to come. Judaism says there seven layers of Heaven (Shamayim) while Hindus believe in that there are seven reincarnation cycles to achieve spiritual salvation. Some people, like myself, would consider this a striking “coincidence” of ideas.

Now stark contrasts are mostly theological. Judaism is Monotheistic.The Oneness of the Jewish God, HaShem (literally meaning “The Name) is an absolute belief for Jewish people. There isn’t an exception to this.  Hinduism has mixtures of Monotheism and Polytheism (and perhaps even Pantheism). Hindus have different spiritual activities and rituals pertaining to the different deities to whom they praise. Meanwhile,  Buddhism is about spiritual enlightenment and isn’t based around a deity. Nevertheless Buddhism believes in the supernatural but isn’t based on a theistic belief. Rather, the theological beliefs of a Buddhist are based on Buddhism being synchronized with the pre-existing faith in the region. In the case of Japan, they still have the Ethnic Religion of Japan (Shintoism) while having Buddhism. In theory, Buddhism could be fused/synchronized with Judaism and Hinduism. Judaism and Hinduism don’t encourage synchronization with other religions. Buddhists see purity in the form of emptiness and wish to have no desires while Judaism believes in moving on the right path regardless of one’s emotional desires. Hindus want to become one with God (practiced by achieving Moksha) while Judaism wants to go to the next level of existence whether it be on the same holy level that the Creator is on or it be the World to Come (Olam HaBa), and this dimension is seen as “preparing” for the next. Buddhism is a universalizing religion unlike Judaism and Hinduism which are ethnic religions. Buddhists have missionaries to spread their philosophy around the world. Another theological difference that the Hindus have with the other two faiths is the belief in different in the physical manifestation of God (Avatars) that can come to us in a “human” form isn’t part of the other faiths.

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“Love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18)

Judging by the title of this post, you may think this is an average post of mine admonishing all of you wonderful people to be upright in your ways and to be kind to others. 

Nope.

That is, as always, the general message, but this post will deviate from what I normally post. The last rebbe of the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak Schneerson, interpreted the famous verse of “Love your neighbor as yourself” in an interesting way. The rebbe interpreted it to mean “Love yourself as you love your neighbor.” If we don’t love ourselves for who we are, then how can we possibly project that love to others? We aren’t able to. 

Love yourself! You are a wonderful person, made in the Tzelem Elokim, the image of G-d, and you have lots to be loved for. You need to accept yourself for who you are and to stop pretending to be someone who you aren’t. Now, that does NOT mean that you can remain stagnant in your self improvement, because that is an area that can always be looked at and modified for the better. But if you were born into a certain family or look a certain way, you shouldn’t try to change that! You need to realize just how awesome, in every describable term, you are! Once you begin to truly accept yourself for who you are, then can you love others in the very same way.

Don’t feel like you are able to love yourself as a result of bad habits, attributes, or actions? G-d loves you more than anybody could ever imagine. His love for you, regardless of who you are, knows no bounds no matter what you have done. If G-d can love you with an infinite love, can’t you love yourself with just a fraction of that? 

So, my friends, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” but don’t get caught up in trying to love someone else when you can’t even love the incredible person that you are (and that you know you are)!

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מוּסָר

ומצד הכמות, גם כן קבלה יש בידינו אפילו אם עבר אדם על ��ל עבירות שבתורה ולא הניח שום עבירה שלא עשאה, עד שברוב ימים ושנים נעשה בידו חבילות רבות עונות עד אין מספר, עם כל זה הכל נתקן ונמחל בתשובה (תשובה מחיים).

Not only is Teshuva (repentance) effective against even the worst of sins, Teshuva also has the ability to achieve rectification against the quantity of sins one committed. Even if one committed all the sins possible and not one transgression remains that the individual has not committed, still sincere Teshuva can rectify and repair all that was damaged.

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The World is An Evil Place

The basic human decency in popular culture is so low these days that not only do I avoid most news sites, I can feel mentally sick just reading at a Right-Wing blog that discusses the level to which it’s dropped just from the mere mentioning of how extreme it’s gotten since that last time I checked. And I’m sure it began to plummet when abominable marriages became legally accepted in the world’s strongest country.   I’ve considered shutting away all together. I’m pretty much only here to at least give some semblance of truth to those who wish to follow. Other than that, I have no reason to be on any social media site. Even Facebook and Twitter are disgusting at this point. It was one thing for this toxic dumping site to have an unfair amount of waste in it, but now, it’s on all 4 corners of the internet. We are literally living in the most  degraded time period in human history.  I’ve even burned bridges with my so called secular “friends” who have no love or fear of the Heavens and its Ruler and no appreciation for the fact that Mankind already has a way to know Right from Wrong though society has chosen to ignore this.  Even my self-proclaimed Christian (Protestant) friends have basically succumbed to the mainstream trends in today’s society. This isn’t implying that they are doing the worst of the worst, but rather that what was considered unacceptable 50 years ago has already been accepted. Even the nature of how Heterosexuals behave in public is degrading. Though, we are so desensitized that most of us can’t even see it.

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Also, I don’t care about sexual degeneracy regardless of who does it since sexually immorality is against the 7 Nohaide Laws.  The fact that France has massive amounts of sexual Liberalism doesn’t make them any better than the psychopaths in Tel Aviv and or San Fransicko. Thankfully, most people I know are smart enough to know that sexual immorality is nurture-based. Yeah, kids, don’t raise your kids around dirty imbeciles because it will influence them. That’s why Orthodox Jews tend to live in seperate communities than Secular Jewish folk. Maybe the rest of the world should learn from this.

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A song about Rebbe Nachman of Breslev

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Orthodox Judaism is counter-culture in the sense that it opposes the mainstream society’s view on just about everything. 

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מוּסָר

ומצד הכמות, גם כן קבלה יש בידינו אפילו אם עבר אדם על כל עבירות שבתורה ולא הניח שום עבירה שלא עשאה, עד שברוב ימים ושנים נעשה בידו חבילות רבות עונות עד אין מספר, עם כל זה הכל נתקן ונמחל בתשובה (תשובה מחיים).

Not only is Teshuva (repentance) effective against even the worst of sins, Teshuva also has the ability to achieve rectification against the quantity of sins one committed. Even if one committed all the sins possible and not one transgression remains that the individual has not committed, still sincere Teshuva can rectify and repair all that was damaged.

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Karlin-Stolin Monsey Shul

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The day on which you were born, that is the day on which God declared that the world could not be preserved without you.

Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (via jewish-philosophy)