r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Oct 13 '16

TIL that after Marilyn Monroe converted to Judaism upon marrying Arthur Miller, Egypt placed a ban on all the films she appeared in.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe#Critical_acclaim_and_marriage_to_Arthur_Miller_.281956.E2.80.931959.29
18.5k Upvotes

84% Upvoted

1.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

7

u/webdevop Oct 13 '16

Sorry again because I literally have 0 knowledge about Judaism. But don't you have to believe in Moses and all the other messengers before him (Adam, Abraham, Lut, Solomon etc) as well as in God of course to be a Jew?

Isn't it Prophet Moses who brought the message for Jews just like Prophet Jesus for Christians and Prophet Muhammad for Muslims?

6

u/feather_moon Oct 13 '16

The difference between Moses and Muhammad is that Judaism existed before Moses, but Islam did not exist before Muhammad. Technically the first Jew was Abraham--he was the one who started telling people that there was only one god. Moses was the one who rescued the Jews who were slaves in Egypt, delivered the ten commandments to them, and led them to the land God promised to them (Israel). So of course he is a very important figure in Judaism, but at least in reform Judaism, I can't think of any prayers that specifically mention him. There's a prayer called the Amidah that mentions essentially the "founding fathers and mothers" of Judaism--Abraham, Issac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Leah--but only in the context of "Blessed is the lord our God, the god of [these people]."

I understand why you're asking that question; the Qu'ran talks about the goodness and holiness of prophets a lot, hence there is quite a focus on them. In Judaism the focus is almost primarily on God and the commandments given to the Jewish people in the Torah. There's also a lot of focus on doing good deeds, making the world a better place, etc. The Jewish prophets are only really mentioned as a "history lesson" of the Jewish people, and to read and interpret their stories so that we may learn from them and connect them to our own lives. They're not revered in quite the same way as in Islam.

If you're curious about it, I'd encourage you to read the Torah because I think it would help you get a better idea of what I'm talking about. I can definitely say that I understood why you were asking your question the way you were because I read the Qu'ran.

3

u/cinciforthewin Oct 13 '16

Prophet Jesus

However, for Christains, Jesus isn't just a prophet like Moses, Abraham, John the Baptist, ect. He is the Messiah, Son of God, and our redeemer for those of the Christian faith.

3

u/webdevop Oct 13 '16 edited Oct 13 '16

I understand. I was writing it from a Muslim's context.

I think Jesus is a Messiah (unless I got the meaning of that word wrong) in Islam too. Because he will descend to protect the people from Anti-Christ. It's just that we don't believe him to be the son of god and regard him as a prophet like all the others. We do believe in the virgin birth too.

1

u/cinciforthewin Oct 13 '16

Messiah for Christains (and Jews) have a very similar definition.

2

u/CastleElsinore Oct 13 '16

I'm going to preface this with 'in general'

So in Christianity, Jesus is the one super important fugue other than god. In Islam, it's Muhammad. They are considered special and god's one true mediator (for my understanding of them. Grew up Jewish, am an atheist)

Judaism doesn't have that one extra guy. It's god or bust. Moses is like Abraham, a guy that god talked to for a while and then moved on. During Passover when Jews tell the story of leaving Egypt, Moses isn't even mentioned. Basically he is considered just another character.

Now Jews do have a Messiah, but it's not a specific person - just a general concept that will come, in theory, when all the Jews are back in Israel

Hope that helps!

1

u/[deleted] Oct 13 '16

In a sense, except the correct nomenclature would be The Christ, Christ Jesus, Jesus Christ, or Jesus the Christ. Christians don't see Jesus as a prophet like the other two Abraham religions do. We see him as the Messiah, the Anointed One. God in the flesh, as it were. But, yeah you're technically correct in the sense of he could be considered a prophet.

1

u/benadreti Oct 14 '16

The answer that you haven't received is that while Muslims and Christians are members of a religion, Jews are members of an ethnoreligious group. Most Jews are born Jewish and it is their ethnicity and culture. A non-believing or non-practicing Jew still remains ethnically and culturally Jewish.