Religion Requires Validation

Moshe Ben-Chaim

Unfortunately still viewed as a taboo, Jewish education does not expose the fallacy of other religions, enabling the unparalleled, exclusively true status of Judaism to shine bright. I often think how enthusiastic our children and students might become, were they to possess clear, rational explanations that prove Judaism’s truths, and expose all other religions for what they are: fabricated events that never occurred, and beliefs in ideas that contradict reason.

I feel the following points might work as a good springboard into your further discussions. I have tried to be clear and concise, so as to minimize any misinterpretation. Please share these with your children, members and students:

HISTORY CANNOT BE CHANGED

If God did NOT give the Torah at Sinai as described, where is the “true” Jewish history of that time period? The fact remains: there is no other history of Judaism at that time period.

How could it be, that a “false” history (God's appearance at Sinai) would be accepted by all 2.5 million Jews, and no one at all would keep their “true” history? That cannot happen. We are forced to accept with 100% conviction that the Jews must have witnessed God giving the Torah as is described. This is the identical reasoning that demands we fully accept Caesar as Rome's emperor.

JUDAISM'S UNIQUE CLAIM

At no other time in world history did God communicate a religion to masses. No other religion makes this claim, that God revealed Himself to their people. This is because no nation or culture could successfully convince everyone that they witnessed something, which never occurred. Try convincing a nation today that their history is all wrong. Will they listen to you? Will they abandon what their entire nation agrees to, and replace what they teach, with your new story? Of course not. Similarly, had the Jews NOT witnessed Sinai, and Moses attempted to convince them that they DID in fact witness it; they too would not accept Moses.

From the event of God' s revelation at Sinai in 3321 years ago and throughout time, the entire Jewish nation has fully accepted and transmitted that event. It must be that God did NOT give any religion, except Judaism (Torah) to the Jews. This religion of Judaism has 613 laws for Jews, and about 60 for non-Jews (7 Noachide laws plus sub categories). God didn't abandon the rest of the world, but included in Torah a minimal system for gentiles, from which they might be imbued with an enlightenment to accept all 613 commands.

FALLACY OF OTHER RELIGIONS

It is crucial to recognize the baseless claims presented by Christianity and Islam, in contrast to those made by Judaism. Christianity and Islam transmit BELIEFS. For example, "BELIEVE Jesus died for your sins", or, "BELIEVE Jesus will rise from the dead", and "BELIEVE Jesus was chosen by God". Nothing proves he was chosen, even more, he was killed without doing anything. So regarding BELIEFS, there are no witnesses: you either believe, or you do not.

There is no proof. So why accept it?

And if we examine actual events, there is nothing within Islam or Christianity that makes either religion anything more than hearsay. Not one, single validation. In fact, Christianity’s history of Jesus contains four conflicting Gospels. How can a rational person trust a history that argues with itself?

Judaism on the other hand transmits FACTS – not beliefs – based on masses that witnessed so many amazing and unparalleled events. Literally everything Moses predicted, came true. All 10 Plagues occurred in Egypt on the exact date and times Moses predicted. Moses predicted our Salvation from Egypt…it happened. He predicted the miraculous, daily bread (manna) and meat (quails) that arrived in the desert. Receipt of the land of Israel also came true, through the other prediction, that we would conquer all our enemies.

EVERY one came true.

And of course, Revelation at Sinai. But Jesus didn't predict even one thing that came true. And he was killed.

Kind david’sMoses’ success could only be explained by the Creator’s endorsement of his prophetic status. He was God’s true emissary. Jesus failed, and did nothing, as is the case with Mohammed. Such failures must enlighten us to their status as false prophets.

We know all these Jewish events are true FACTS, as we said above: historical FACTS would not be transmitted throughout time, if there were really OTHER facts, and not these. A nation will not abandon what it knows is true about itself, and tell its children a false history.

A religion based on “belief”, thereby confesses to its lack of “facts”. It must be lies.

Historical facts that any nation affirms unanimously, must be true. This is because people will not suddenly change facts about what they know is true and lie to others. They would not be accepted if they did, and they would appear as fools.

But we will find fringe groups (Jesus’ followers, Lubavitch) who wish to deify their leader, and make him into a saint, or a miracle worker…one who will rise from the dead as Messiah. They pray to such dead, deified leaders, which violates God’s words. It is a crime that no one in the Lubavitch camp comes out and rebukes all those blind followers assuming the dead Rebbe is Messiah, or others, who put notes in his grave. Consulting the dead is idolatry, and unnecessary, since we can pray directly to God. But no one yet in that camp has the true dedication to God, enough to openly denounce such beliefs, and halt the practice of placing notes in his grave. This allows this crime to perpetuate itself. And it is this crime that God wished to avert by not disclosing Moses’ grave, and why our forefathers wished not to be buried in Egypt, lest they too be deified in death. If a Rebbe is made out to be infallible, or worse, a messiah, no number of outposts undoes the harm…but in fact it spreads the disease.

When minority groups spread such beliefs, we know they are in fact lies. And we never see any case in these groups where masses attest to witnessing miracles, except in authentic Judaism. Even in Christianity, the account of the supposed 5000 that Jesus miraculously fed, was not a story spread by those 5000, but it was spread by Jesus’ few disciples. And they sought to protect their lie by claiming that miracle was many decades in the past. But the 5000 truly did not exist, and this explains why others spread the story. It was only much later that Jesus followers liked this story, so they “believed” it enough to spread it. That is how it exists today: as a belief, not as a witnessed event.

In contrast, the Torah cites names and families from the patriarchs through the Exodus and further. And these people unanimously transmitted Moses warning, “not to forget what your eyes have seen”. The Jews would not transmit those words, if they in fact didn’t witness Sinai.

Of course, we do not base Judaism’s proof on the Written Law, for that would be circular: to prove a document, from that very document. We base our proof on the unbroken chain of oral transmission, and the credibility used to validate all historical claims: mass witnesses of easily perceptible phenomena. Mass witnesses are absent in all other religions.

In Deuteronomy 18:9, Rashi teaches we must teach our children the fallacy of other religions. If we do not, they will be defenseless against the inevitable questions that will rise in their minds.