Q&A: Judaism Through Modern Eyes
Judaism Through Modern Eyes
Question
Hello Rabbi,
What would you answer someone who claims that there is no difference between the murderous Islamic organizations (Hamas, ISIS, Al-Qaeda, and other such villains) and Judaism?
He argues that in the Torah too there is a commandment to kill idol worshippers, and there are the four executions of the religious court for things that seem minor in modern eyes, like desecrating the Sabbath, male homosexual relations, incest, etc….
According to him, there is no difference at all between Judaism and radical Islam. In fact, people’s opposition today to Hamas is also directed (in principle, not in practice at the moment) against Judaism, since Judaism is similar in the respects mentioned above.
Answer
This has already been asked here. I do not judge groups by their ideology but by their actions in practice. I have made that point more than once. See, for example, column 507. Beyond that, there is a difference between historical periods (in my view, even if we had the power today, we would not implement these Jewish laws literally. I assume that in Islam too there are many groups that do not advocate actually carrying out these laws in practice). Moreover, in Jewish law the fundamental directive underwent many sublimations, and it is doubtful whether it was ever carried out literally at all.