Top 50 Googled Questions on the Bible
Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim
Foundational Beliefs
1. What is Judaism?
Bible, Torah and Judaism all refer to the same entity: the one true religion. 3,338 years ago 2 million Jews at Mount Sinai heard intelligence emanate from a mountain engulfed in flames, from which Moses descended with the Bible, the Torah. The Bible is God’s instruction for the perfected life, embodied by the patriarchs and matriarchs, and God’s laws fostering intelligence, peace, kindness, justice, holy days, restrictions, and prohibitions against fallacy, superstition, idolatry, immorality, and interpersonal perfection. No other religion validates its claim of divine origin. This explains why all other religions demand blind faith, for they have no proof of their claims.
2. What is Judaism’s worst sin?
False ideas of God, such as idolatry, polytheism, atheism, deification, the worship of man or beast, and superstition.
3. What is God?
God is the sole, non-physical cause and governor of the universe.
4. Do powers exist other than God, like mystical forces, luck, or astrology?
No, they do not. No evidence exists that one creation affects another creation other than through observed natural laws.
5. What’s my purpose in life?
God’s gift of the intellect to mankind and no other creation indicates that we are to use our intellect which means pursuing the life of wisdom.
6. Do Jews believe in Heaven and Hell?
God’s Bible has been proven divine and discusses reward and punishment. It refers to an afterlife for those who follow God and punishment for sin.
7. Why don’t Jews believe in Jesus?
Such belief in a man violates God’s prohibition against worshiping anything other than Himself. Jesus was not validated as God’s messenger, which requires miracles and full obedience to God’s word. He failed on both accounts.
8. Why am I here?
We each exist as God’s will is to benefit us all with the greatest experience of uncovering His wisdom.
9. Can one doubt God’s existence and still be Jewish?
No. Maimonides lists 13 core principles defining Judaism, the first being belief in God’s existence.
Jewish Texts & History
10. What are the sacred texts of Judaism?
The Five Books of Moses, the Prophets, and the Writings.
11. What is the Torah?
The Torah is the Bible: the Five Books of Moses—Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. The Christian New Testament violates God’s command not to alter the Torah and is therefore not of divine origin (Deut. 4:2, 13:1).
12. What is the Talmud?
It is the rabbis’ discussions of the Oral Law, recorded about 2,000 years ago and written over several centuries.
13. Why is the Torah considered divine?
As explained in Question 1, it was observed as being given through a miraculous event. No other religion claims mass witnesses to divine revelation.
14. Did the Jews really receive the Torah at Sinai?
Validated mass transmission demands that this must be true.
15. How old is Judaism?
Judaism is 3,338 years old, dating to Revelation at Sinai.
Practices & Rituals
16. What is Shabbat and how is it observed?
Shabbat is the Torah command to refrain from creative labor each Saturday, commemorating God’s rest after creation. This rest draws attention to the Jewish nation and spreads the truth of creation.
17. Why can’t Jews use electricity on Shabbat?
All creative activities are restricted to enforce rest, thereby providing one day each week to be fully immersed in Torah study.
18. What does kosher mean?
Kosher refers to animals permitted for consumption and the laws governing permissible food combinations.
19. How do Jews keep kosher?
This is done by eating only permitted species and permitted mixtures. Refraining from detestable species (insects, reptiles, crawlers and shellfish) retains a level of abhorrence that helps us reject other detstible matters like poor character.
20. What are Jewish holidays?
Jewish holidays commemorate historical events in which God saved the Jews through overt and hidden miracles.
21. Why do Jews celebrate Passover?
Passover commemorates God’s refutation of Egypt’s false gods and beliefs, and the Jews’ liberation after 210 years of Egyptian bondage, known as the Exodus. Passover confirms monotheism, the greatest truth, and explains why any Jew failing to sacrifice the Paschal Lamb—the killing of Egypt’s prime god—loses his afterlife.
22. What is prayer in Judaism?
Prayer consists of praising God, requesting our needs from Him, and expressing gratitude.
23. Why do Jews sit separately by gender in synagogue?
Separate seating helps both genders focus on prayer rather than social interaction.
Jewish Identity & Community
24. What makes someone Jewish?
A Jew is traditionally defined as someone born to a Jewish mother and, more fundamentally, one who accepts Maimonides’ 13 Principles defining truths about God.
25. What are the denominations of Judaism?
God gave only one form of Judaism: Orthodox Judaism. Modern movements such as Conservative and Reform Judaism are distortions of God’s word, which He commanded not to alter (Deut. 4:2, 13:1).
26. Is Judaism a religion, a culture, or a race?
Judaism can be described as a religion or a comprehensive system of truths.
27. Do Jews expect a Messiah?
Yes. He will be a descendant of King David. Maimonides states that he will surpass King Solomon in wisdom and approach Moses in prophecy.
28. Can non-Jews go to Heaven?
God did not create religious or racial classifications, only man and woman. Any person who follows truths about God and lives morally can attain the afterlife.
29. Is Creation true?
Yes. The universe cannot exist without a beginning. It cannot be eternal nor self-creating. There must be a First Cause responsible for all existence.
Beliefs vs. Modernity & Science
30. How does Judaism view science and evolution? Judaism follows reality. Anything conclusively proven is accepted as true.
31. Why does Judaism have so many laws?
Asking this is no different from asking why the universe has so many laws. Both originate from God, whose wisdom is vast. Anything God creates will operate by many beautiful principles. Studying science continually unravels more and more principles. Another area of God’s wisdom is how man should live, and this refers to Bible which has many details about interpersonal relationships, truths about what God is what He is not, psychological principles, and the vast study of philosophy.
32. Why do Jews spend so much time studying Torah?
For the same reason great minds like Einstein devoted themselves to wisdom: it is deeply enjoyable. Seeing reality is of the greatest interest.
33. Why do bad things happen to good people?
Maimonides taught that evil falls into three categories: natural disasters, harm inflicted by others, and self-inflicted harm, which is the largest category. Even good people make mistakes at times. But for the most part a wise person understands how the universe operates and how people have various emotions and he makes decisions that avoid conflicting with natural law and people that can harm him. So for most part, a good and wise person avoids most problems. But we also cannot know the reason for everything and if we see a righteous person who is having problems, we may not have the answers but we trust that God is just.
Common Curiosities About Jewish Life
34. Why is Judaism different from other religions?
The Torah was given to two million witnesses. No other religion claims mass revelation by God, the only valid method of historical verification of God’s will.
35. Why are Jews called “the chosen people”?
God chose the Jews to teach mankind because Abraham alone rejected idolatry in an idolatrous era.
36. Are there different Jewish ethnic groups (Ashkenazi/Sephardi)?
Yes. This is a well-established fact.
37. Why do Jews wear a kippah/yarmulke?
“Yarmulke” means fear of the Kingdom—fear of God. We remind ourselves of God. Covering ourselves indicates we are of little importance. This helps follow God to a greater degree.
38. Why do Orthodox Jewish women cover their hair?
Married women cover their hair to signify a new stage of life and dedication to their husband. They no longer flaunt their beauty to attract men (Rabbi Israel Chait).
39. Why do some Jews not work on Jewish holidays?
Certain holidays prohibit labor in order to free our time for Torah study.
Controversies & Misunderstandings
40. Why don’t Jews accept the Christian Messiah?
God’s true messengers must perform miracles and adhere fully to God’s law. He failed in both.
41. Is Judaism racist for believing it is chosen?
No. The Jewish people were chosen to teach humanity, which is the opposite of racism.
42. Why do people hate Jews?
Rabbinic teachings describe this as resentment toward the people God chose to convey His teachings. Sibling rivalry.
43. Does Judaism teach human equality?
Yes. Judaism teaches that all people are created equal.
Jewish Law
44. Is Jewish law unchanging?
Yes. God repeatedly forbids adding to or subtracting from His law (Deut. 4:2, 13:1). As God knows the future and all the details of the human design that He created, He designed the Bible/Torah taking into account every consideration to ever unfold, which avoids any need to change his Bible. An update or an alteration is only necessary by one surprised by new considerations. Nothing can possibly surprise God who knows everything.
45. Can mitzvot be kept today?
Yes.
46. What is Halacha?
Halacha is the legal framework governing the performance of each mitzvah.
47. Where can I ask Halachic questions online?
www.mesora.org
Philo Q&As
48. What is “Tikkun Olam”?
It means repairing the world by teaching truth and helping society improve.
49. Where is God in times of tragedy?
This question asks why God does not intervene in every tragedy. God knows all and He may decide that a tragedy produces an ultimate good. This is the reasoning behind the Flood and the destruction of Sodom. There’s also a great wisdom behind when and where God relates to an individual or a group of people. Maimonides elaborates that depending on the spiritual level of the individual(s) in question, that’s going to determine what level of involvement God engages.
50. Can I convert to Judaism?
Yes. Anyone may convert to Judaism, and the prophets state that in the future humanity will recognize Judaism as the only God-given religion. n