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Are Jews Losing Faith?

There are a number of Jews that have long forgotten the religious aspects of their community because of the hate, war and greed of mankind. I have as one of my online team members a professor in Israel that is so fed up with the constant war and bombs that she no longer can say anything uplifting. I have also contacted a few that share a similar view. Are Jews losing faith or is it those that just live in the immediate war zones?

Faith Losing Jews Are

I don't think its just that, its also that way with jews abroad. My boss married a jewish woman. He is not jewish. Much to her parents dismay, all of their children married none jews. They came from Israel because of the constant war and fighting that they didn't want their children to grow up in that environment. But only one of the five children still practice. I'm not sure specifically why, but I know one of the reasons is that the Messiah was supposed to come and save them from the conquerers abroad, yet since Isaiah first prophesied it, there has been on invader and conquerer after another. Jews have learned that they have to fend for themselves and are beginning to stop relying on God to save them.

Are Jews Losing Faith? Judaism Studies

Hi,

I'm not sure I'd agree that the loss of faith among Jews has a lot to do with the lack of a Messiah and Jews having to fend for themselves. The latter is, unfortunately, true, historically, though less so, lately, in countries such as the US.

I am Jewish and having been brought up in a secular family, I have some experience with the loss of faith. I grew up in New York where the Reform Jewish movement is alive and well. If I had to cite the most powerful factor for the loss of faith, I'd say it would be the influences of the cultures that some Jews are in. This is not a particularly Jewish phenomenon; I've known as many Christians and Jews and I feel that they too have experienced their culture at large making inroads into the intensity of their faith.

My feeling is that living in a large cosmopolitan culture, such as the US, tends to make ties to religion more social and cultural than spiritual. Not that my friends in New York and I don't believe in God. It's just that the rituals of religion aren't present as much as they might have been at other times. All of us go to work and have to suspend our religious activities while we're working. I think this has quite an effect on how intense religion can or can't be in every day life.

In my experience with American Reform Judaism, the issue of the Messiah's arrival is not one that comes up a lot. The emphasis seems to be on ethics and what you do in your life on earth. I think that there are a lot of Jews for whom the arrival of the messiah is not a central issue in their religious life.

Finally, their is the issue of being "the chosen people". There's obviously a lot of room to interpret that statement. What I've always heard is that Jews are "chosen" only in that they have a responsibility for spreading God's word and being a "light to the nations". That is not a statement of superiority but an obligation to spread the message of peace. I realize that we can all look at Jews who are living very secular lives and caring more for work and their families than a larger overriding spiritual quest, but, as I mentioned before, that's true for many people in western countries. To me, the separation from faith is the result of a slow but inexorable trend toward considering it to be "okay" to suspend our ethical and religious beliefs while we deal with day to day modern life. I think that's a pity.

Thanks for listening.

Faith Losing Jews Are

I know some people who used to be more religious, and with the current situation, are losing their faith, and questioning how they are experiencing so many difficulties when they are the chosen people of God. It is harder, however, to shake the super conservatives of their faith, those who Talmud, and not only the Torah.

I have also heard of reverse cases, where an agnostic becomes more faithful in times of trouble when he feels the need to believe in something that will bring it's end.

Faith Losing Jews Are

I find it interesting that the Jewish faith is having a similar problem of the Catholic faith. I think people in general are reevaluating what they believe and how to practice what they believe.

Are Jews Losing Faith?

Jews, as a whole, have been becoming less religous over the past few hundred years. IIRC Orthodox Jews only comprise 10% of all Jewry currently.

Are Jews Losing Faith

The lack of faith among Jews and Christians is due to modern civilization and the secular society. As a child we are born with the soul of our previous life. The data within the soul contains our personality and salient points of our previous life. The spiritual system works on FIFO which means that memories of this life replace past memories. The child can have very strong religious beliefs but as soon as the child grows his mind is filled with modern learning and modern society. By the time the child is an adult all the secular knowledge has replaced the majority of information within his soul. Compounding this problem is the fact that the Bible appears incorrect to the person. He cannot rely upon the Bible because he does not understand the manner by which God created the Universe. Each day of God is one Universe. Thus the events in the Bible occurred on the past universe.
Isaiah predicts a new Earth. This is not here upon this universe but it is part of the future universe. As the past is erased, the future forms. With this in mind the Bible and the Gospels as well get clear. Therefore with more advanced scientific understanding God will get clear and faith will be restored.

Are Jews Losing Faith Studies Judaism

Like anything else if I were experiencing great hardship and someone were 'preaching' to me about brighter times I would be doubtful. I would also seriously doubt if I saw my spiritual leaders doing nothing to bring peace but instead the opposite. I'm not saying this is the prime reason that Jews are losing their faith but it is silly to fight over religion, nationality and ethnicity because you believe your 'god' is somehow better than the next guy's god.