Other religions

שו”ת › Category: faith › Other religions

asked 8 years ago

Hello Rabbi,
Do you think Judaism is the true religion and all other religions are lies?
If so, is this statement of yours completely disconnected from the fact that you were born into a Jewish family or is there a connection? And do you think all Gentiles should abandon their religion and convert or become keepers of the 7 commandments of the Noahide?
If not, do you see any impediment to religious conversion?
Thank you very much!

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מיכי Staff answered 8 years ago

I’m not sure whether this exclusive discourse is not a discourse for internal needs (to strengthen the faith and security of the Jews). It is possible that other people born in another place can believe and act according to other religions. I find it hard to believe that an innocent Polish gentile born in a village and doing everything the priest says with devotion would be punished for AZ. No Torah was given to the ministering angels. After all, most Jewish believers are not willing to consider their beliefs and examine them in truth, so why would he do that? There is no relativism or postmodernism here, since we are not talking about facts but about norms, and not even about moral norms but about religious norms. In this sense, the difference between a Gentile and a Jew may be like that between an Israelite and a priest. Each with his own norms. I didn’t understand the question about religious conversion. And if I see a barrier, does anyone who has decided to do so ask me? Don’t tell anyone, but I personally don’t consider it and don’t think it’s right for me. That’s how far I’m from heresy (see column 74).

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ברוך replied 8 years ago

Thanks for the answer!

I couldn't understand why there is no relativism here. On a factual level, was there a revelation of God to other peoples like at Mount Sinai?

Regarding religious conversion, I meant do you see it as morally/religiously wrong? If the Jewish religion is not superior to other religions, then a Jewish person who wants to become a Christian (for example) shouldn't be wrong about it, right?

מיכי Staff replied 8 years ago

I don't know if there were revelations to others (as far as I know their traditions, it sounds unlikely to me, but I can't rule it out, especially since I don't know enough). I'm just saying that at least on a principled level, it's possible (by the way, Rabbi Kook writes about this in his "The Embarrassments of the Generation") and there's no contradiction in that. This is their mission and for them it's the truth.

There's nothing morally wrong with converting a religion, regardless of my perception. What's morally problematic about converting a religion? At most, there's a religious problem here. But morally? Even if the Jewish religion is superior to other religions, it's on the religious level, not the moral level. If there's a religion that advocates distorted morality, then there's a moral problem. But assuming that everyone holds the same morality and the difference is only religious, I don't see it as a moral problem. The question of whether it's right to do so is of course something else. In my opinion, no.