I’ll cover these questions from Casey on Monday night’s Torah Talk:
Hey Luke–thanks for indulging my curiosity. Here’s my ten questions:
1. What is the purpose of Judaism? (…and if your answer is, “to follow
the Torah,” then I want to know the purpose of that. That’s my real
question.)
2. Lust is a really interesting problem to me – and not just lust for
girls, but lust for idols too! Why does it seem like life would be so
much better if I could just lust after, and consummate with, whatever
girl or idol I want? Would this life be better without G-d?
3. One Jesus question, okay: was Jesus a better kind of Jew? Or a worse kind?
4. Why aren’t there any more Jewish prophets?—no more revelation?
5. Was it a mistake to translate the Septuagint?
6. Why have I had the impression that you have to have a Jewish mother to be Jewish?
7. You’ve heard jokes about Catholic guilt. Do Jews have guilt like
that? How does the guilt go away, if, say, you lust after a pretty
shiksa? Or if you bang her?
8. Is there some benefit to studying Torah and Talmud “a little bit,”
from an outsider’s perspective? Or is it all or nothing?
9. Are the 613 Mitzvot true because G-d said so, or would the be the
best way to live even in a universe without G-d? In other words, is
it somehow “healthy” to not eat pork and observe a day of rest once a
week?
10. Do you think “burning bush” is a metaphor for “smoking pot?”—was
Moses high when he talked to G-d?
