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My friend was curious and confused, so I'm going to post what I said to him.....
Jews hope and pray for a day when there are no Jews, and no need for them.
Now before you say "huh"-let me explain
Have you ever seen a Jew going door to door trying to convert people? They dont heh-ever. There is no such thing(or ever has been in world history) as a Jewish missionary.
Judaism isnt about converting everyone to the religion, so they can "embrace the power of the one true God", and God dosent smite the non believers(If you follow the noakide laws... dont steal, commit adultery, kill... those kind of basic society things, i.e. love your bro ther as yourself)-nor are Jews supposed to look down on them.
Judaism has NOTHING to do with a messiah or an afterlife, both of which are not mentioned in the torah in more then a passing referance.
Jews are supposed to live their lives by certain rules(most of which are "good society" stuff, at the root of all Jewish law, even Kosher laws, is stuff which is good for society, love your brother, etc) in hopes that other people will see them, be inspired by the example and live better lives themselves.
If Jew's are kind, caring, loving, charitable and the rest, they hope that others will think to themsleves "hey, thats really nice, why dont I do that?", and through that way the whole world can become a better place.
There is no candy (heaven) when Jews die, just knowing that you obeyed God and did your best to make the world a better place-and leaving it to him in hopes that something nice will proboably happen to you when you die, but you dont know what, and dont concern yourself with it.
Its Jew's hope that in the future everyone will love each other, and they arent needed anymore-Jew's are supposed to be God's PR agents to a degree I guess heh.
When realizing the motivations for all the rules, its much easier to follow them.
If Jew's intermarry, who is there to help make the world a better place on God's behalf? It's our responsability, no one elses. If you want to help-the more power to you, but you arent expected to. That is the reason that Jew's are so vehemouthly against inter-marriage. It has NOTHING to do with a superiority complex, quite the opposite infact.
(Note: The Torah says almost nothing about a messiah and most of it was tacked on later... Judaism really isnt about waiting for a messiah, its about making the world a better place through action)
Jews hope and pray for a day when there are no Jews, and no need for them.
Now before you say "huh"-let me explain
Have you ever seen a Jew going door to door trying to convert people? They dont heh-ever. There is no such thing(or ever has been in world history) as a Jewish missionary.
Judaism isnt about converting everyone to the religion, so they can "embrace the power of the one true God", and God dosent smite the non believers(If you follow the noakide laws... dont steal, commit adultery, kill... those kind of basic society things, i.e. love your bro ther as yourself)-nor are Jews supposed to look down on them.
Judaism has NOTHING to do with a messiah or an afterlife, both of which are not mentioned in the torah in more then a passing referance.
Jews are supposed to live their lives by certain rules(most of which are "good society" stuff, at the root of all Jewish law, even Kosher laws, is stuff which is good for society, love your brother, etc) in hopes that other people will see them, be inspired by the example and live better lives themselves.
If Jew's are kind, caring, loving, charitable and the rest, they hope that others will think to themsleves "hey, thats really nice, why dont I do that?", and through that way the whole world can become a better place.
There is no candy (heaven) when Jews die, just knowing that you obeyed God and did your best to make the world a better place-and leaving it to him in hopes that something nice will proboably happen to you when you die, but you dont know what, and dont concern yourself with it.
Its Jew's hope that in the future everyone will love each other, and they arent needed anymore-Jew's are supposed to be God's PR agents to a degree I guess heh.
When realizing the motivations for all the rules, its much easier to follow them.
If Jew's intermarry, who is there to help make the world a better place on God's behalf? It's our responsability, no one elses. If you want to help-the more power to you, but you arent expected to. That is the reason that Jew's are so vehemouthly against inter-marriage. It has NOTHING to do with a superiority complex, quite the opposite infact.
(Note: The Torah says almost nothing about a messiah and most of it was tacked on later... Judaism really isnt about waiting for a messiah, its about making the world a better place through action)
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