Q&A: Islam and Other Religions
Originally published:
This is an English translation (via GPT-5.4). Read the original Hebrew version.
Islam and Other Religions
Question
Hello Rabbi Michi!
How are you on such a pleasant day?
I have a few technical questions:
1. Is the Institute for Torah Studies at Bar-Ilan open to all students at the university?
2. Does studying at the institute exempt you from Jewish studies courses?
And an unrelated question:
Did you adopt a Jewish religious lifestyle because you studied other religions and came to the conclusion that Judaism is true? What keeps you, for example, from studying the Qur’an and the Hadith and finding out whether there is something to them?
Answer
On this pleasant day, unlike the previous pleasant days, I’m doing well too. 🙂
- Yes.
- Yes.
- No, but I have considered what they offer to the best of my knowledge. It’s impossible to examine everything, so you have to make preliminary judgments that filter what is worth investing effort and time in. I also don’t believe in religious exclusivity, since someone who does the best they can according to their understanding is probably doing what is required of them. Exclusivist discourse probably developed for internal needs.