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From: berman@psuvax1.UUCP (Piotr Berman)
Newsgroups: net.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Refutation of the Trinity and All Things Christian
Message-ID: <1796@psuvax1.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 16-Sep-85 03:13:20 EDT
Article-I.D.: psuvax1.1796
Posted: Mon Sep 16 03:13:20 1985
Date-Received: Thu, 19-Sep-85 03:23:50 EDT
References: <1670@akgua.UUCP> <3770004@csd2.UUCP>
Organization: Pennsylvania State Univ.
Lines: 47

> I apologize to Bob Brown for not responding promptly to his letter.
> 
> Pravoslavie is Russian  and means more  or less correct  prayer.   The
> Russian  Orthodox  on the    whole   produced  relatively   many fewer
> theological works than  Roman  Catholics.  They  felt that the   Greek
> Orthodox had produced  all  there was to   say  and  now only  praying
> correctly   was  left.  Simultaneously   since Ivan   III  the Russian
> orthodox have had a great fear of intellectual production that was not
> religious.  Consequently lay  life in pre-petrine  Russia had a rather
> eclesial quality.   These developments in Russian Orthodoxy   were all
> paralled by  similar  developments  among Ashkenazim   and   given the
> frequency of Judaizing heresies in Russian religious history there  is
> a strong possibility of cross borrowing.
> 
> Now it  is possible that the   Ashkenazi developments were independent
> (Yemenite Jews for instance  wrote almost no  non-religious poetry but
> as strict   Maimonideans were not opposed to   scientific knowledge as
> many Ashkenazim have been) but I doubt it especially because  strength
> of religious involvement  among Ashkenazim in  fact exactly  parallels
> strength  of religious involvement  among  the  Russian  Orthodox even
> after 2 or 3 generations of separation from Russia.
> 
> The ba`al tesubah movement  has a rather strong  parallel of religious
> revival among the Russian Orthodox.  In fact in  Russia itself, return
> (teshubah) to  Judaism  for many Jews  was  in  fact preceded  by  the
> adoption of Russian Orthodoxy by many Ashkenazim.
> 
> Needless to say the Sefardi population of the Soviet Union  never left
> Judaism and none have converted to Russian Orthodoxy.

Martillo gives several wrong impressions here.
1.  Ashkenazim did not live in Russia before Peter the Great.  In fact,
    vast majority of them lived in the "Commonwealth of Poland and
    Lithuania", and almost none in Russia.  
    The suggestion that the policies of tsars were influencing Ashkenazim
    in the span of years 1550-1760 is absurd.
2.  Sefardim happen to leave judaism.
    Sefardim include Jews of Portugal, Marans, which reconverted to Judaism.
    Since they were expelled from Portugal in spite of their official RC,
    it is not strange that they lost faith in RC.
3.  Martillo despises not only Ashkenazim, but also all Muslim, Lutherans,
    etc., etc.  He KNOWS that Yemenite Jews were more pius and had better
    intellectual life than Ashkenazim.  Good luck Martillo, let no
    Muslim, Ashkenazi, Lutheran, Catholic, etc. ever crosses your way
    (not to mention black cats)!
    
    Piotr Berman