Criticising Judaism, can/should Christians do it without getting into Antisemitism?

[RiderOnTheClouds]

I recently stopped following the Noahide laws, and decided Jesus was a better path. The way I see it, it isn’t antisemitism to criticise elements of Judaism, especially the forms of Judaism which encourage the Noahide laws. I was advised not to study any of the Torah beyond the 7 laws. I also heard truly horrendous things from my fellow Noahides, that Arabs should be removed from Israel like a malignant Tumour and that Christians were idol worshippers, filthy, and human garbage. This led me to conclude that many Orthodox Jews had distorted the true message of the Torah, which according to not just Jesus and Paul but also Rabbi Hillel, was to ‘love thy neighbour’.

My other concern is that Rabbinical Judaism really isn’t too different from the religion of the Pharisees, which Jesus criticised in Matthew 23. I have to ask, although it ‘uses’ the Bible and biblical traditions, is ‘Rabbinical’ Judaism really any more true than Islam or Mormonism?

 

[Salibi]

The way I see it, it isn’t antisemitism to criticise elements of Judaism

Of course. It’s not anti-Semitic to criticize Judaism as a religion. It is anti-Semitic to criticise or attack Jews for being Jewish. A good rule to follow is “Critique the idea, not the person.”

This led me to conclude that many Orthodox Jews had distorted the true message of the Torah,

Don’t think so. Noahides aren’t Orthodox Jews. What they say or believe should not be considered to be representative of Orthodox Judaism. I can assure you that Orthodox Jews do NOT believe the above for the most part. Maybe some of them, but “Christians are human garbage/ Arabs are a tumour” are not mainstream Orthodox Jewish beliefs. Don’t know much about Noahides, so I can’t tell if such beliefs are peculiar to your own former group or are actual beliefs of that religion.

Rabbi Hillel, was to ‘love thy neighbour’.

Indeed. The full quote is “ That which is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary.”

 

[BartholomewB]

especially the forms of Judaism which encourage the Noahide laws.

It was my impression that all forms of Judaism, without exception, encourage compliance with the Noahide laws. What are the forms that don’t?

 

[Bithynian]

It was my impression that all forms of Judaism, without exception, encourage compliance with the Noahide laws. What are the forms that don’t?

I think the OP is probably thinking along the lines of “encourage compliance with the Noahide laws like Noahidism”, that is, those Gentiles who formally subscribe and “convert” to the Noahide laws and the traditional rabbinic interpretations of these laws.

I think the only Jewish branch that affirms Noahidism is Orthodox. It seems that most other Jewish communities (Reform, Conservative, etc.) tend to refrain from promoting it due to several ongoing controversies, namely that many Noahidites are disaffected, former Christians.

 

[Salibi]

Is there anything in Judaism that mentions a formal conversion to the Laws of Noah, or is anyone who follows the Noahide Laws (as most major religions do) considered a Noahide?

 

[TK421]

Obviously there are theological and orthopraxic differences between Christianity and contemporary Judaism, as these two religions have developed on separate paths for two thousands years. It would be lunacy for a Christian to accept all of the belief systems of contemporary Judaism, and there are increasingly wide levels of disagreements within Judaism itself. People and academics are allowed to discuss and realize these differences.

If a person is arbitrarily going around making personal attacks on Jews, then yes, that is anti-Semitism and it is evil.

If a person is criticizing Judaism for pleasure, in a spirit of arrogance, in a spirit of bitterness, in a spirit of anger, or without a constructive purpose, then it isn’t charitable and it is evil.

These rules apply to every religion and every group of people.

 

[Bithynian]

Is there anything in Judaism that mentions a formal conversion to the Laws of Noah

I used “convert”, but it’s likely not an appropriate word for the process. I don’t believe there’s a formal act of conversion, more something like “active identification and participation” in Noahidism.

anyone who follows the Noahide Laws (as most major religions do) considered a Noahide

I think there is where much of the controversy resides. Noahidism, as it currently stands, is by many counts a “religious community” that has its own theological literature, its own affiliated religious teachers (usually rabbis from the Chabad movement) and its own religious controversies (can a Noahide observe the Sabbath?). The term “Noahide” is, in most instances, only applied to this particular community.