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STRAIGHT ANSWERS TO TOUGH QUESTIONS Question: It is said that
the Torah was transmitted from one generation to the next. How is it
possible for us to know that there were no changes made along the way? Answer: When the Jewish nation arrived from the Diaspora to Israel, after 2,000 years of dissociation between all the dispersions, everyone arrived in Israel with the same Torah scroll. A Torah scroll from Yemen, Poland, North Africa, from the U.S., is the same Torah scroll. Everyone arrived with tzitzit, which have eight strings. No one arrived with a tzitzit having nine strings or seven strings. Everyone arrived with black, square tefillin, with the same sections written inside. Everyone arrived with mezuzot, with exactly the same two sections of the Torah. Everyone celebrated Passover on the same date. Everyone knows what to eat and what not. Everyone hold a Hagaddah, and recited the same text. The same is true regarding all the mitzvoth. It is exactly the same thing, for all the mitzvoth from the Torah. Everybody does the same thing – all the Jews in all their lands of dispersion. Question: don’t Jews from different places conduct themselves in different ways Answer: Customs differ, not mitzvot! You wear short-sleeved shirts, I wear long sleeves. However, tefillin, and the reading of the weekly Torah portion are the same for everyone. Customs that took root, are of Rabbinic origin. They are different types of food, each one according to his custom, as transmitted by his father and grandfather. Question: I was born I France, I grew up in France. I came to Israel to serve in the army, and I got my Israeli citizenship. But, being that I did not grow up among Jews, and that I went to Christian schools, I don’t identify myself with Judaism. Question: Is your mother Jewish? Answer: My mother is Jewish. Answer: So you too are a Jew. Question: But I don’t feel Jewish. Answer: Oh, but there is only one small difference. That is I keep Torah and mitzvoth according to Judaism. And you, perhaps, do not. Just as there can be two UK citizens, on law-abiding, and one not, you are a Jew, whether you want to be so or not. You can deny your Israeli citizenship, decide to be someone else – it doesn’t matter. Your father and mother bore you, and even if you deny them you are you – a Jew. by: Harav Amnon Yitzchak SimpleToRemember.com - Judaism Online |