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From: amigo2@ihuxq.UUCP (John Hobson)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: The World of the Talmud
Message-ID: <737@ihuxq.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 5-Mar-84 12:46:02 EST
Article-I.D.: ihuxq.737
Posted: Mon Mar  5 12:46:02 1984
Date-Received: Tue, 6-Mar-84 04:17:33 EST
References: <937@ihuxr.UUCP>
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Naperville, IL
Lines: 28

Lew Mammel states:
>>	Actually, I did gain some appreciation for the significance
>>	of the rules of observance. I can almost see how a person
>>	could "get into it".  I still draw back, though, from the
>>	concept of unquestioning obedience to a code.

[Several lines omitted]

>>	So, I'm ready to go along with the idea of the richness and
>>	wisdom of Talmudic scholarship, and I have come a little
>>	closer to comprehending how people can subject themselves to
>>	all those rules, but it's still out of my sphere.

What many people fail to realize is that there is a *basic*
difference between Judaism and Christianity.  To a Jew, God is
inherently unknowable, "No one shall look upon the face of God and
live"; but to a Christian, God is revealed in the person of Jesus. 
What difference does that make?  Well, we must ask the question,
"how is a person justified?"  The answer is, do the will of God. 
How do we do that?  To a Christian, the answer is "be like Christ." 
To a Jew, the answer is "obey God's law."  How do we know what God's
law is?  By studying Torah.  And to make sure that we obey the law,
we follow the Talmud, which is a well defined statement of what must
be done to make sure that we fulfill the law.

				John Hobson
				AT&T Bell Labs--Naperville, IL
				ihnp4!ihuxq!amigo2