A Light Unto The Nations

[expat500]

 

[rylah]

View attachment 891590

Happy Tu B'Shvat Ahi!

May HaShem plant You and Your seed in His land
strong and fruitful, and may You see them offering
their presents of peace and wholeness soon in our time.

12,000 New Fruit Trees of Life for the 1,200 victims this Tu B'shvat

Every year, Tu B'shvat begins the planting season in Israel. This year is more important than ever before.

www.israelnationalnews.com

 

[rylah]

What you need to know to CRUSH anti-Israel lies - with Rabbi Manis Friedman​

Rabbi Friedman gives his uniquely clear-minded perspective on the moral questions of our time, the land of Israel, the modern revival of the Hebrew identity,
and current war in Gaza.



Entire conversation -

 

[rylah]

בס"ד

Historic Invitation | Open letter to the leading scholars of Islam: "We need 3 agreements"
-​

A Bridge between Faiths​

An Open Letter to Islam​

[Part 1]​

January 21, 2024
​

What does Judaism have to say about Islam?​

On the 7th of October, 2023, Hamas attacked the citizens of Israel. Over 1,200 children, women and elderly, Jews, and people of all religions were brutally murdered, hundreds were taken captive, and some were murdered in captivity. This attack was carried out by an Islamic movement acting in the name of Islam. This fact should lead us to reflect more deeply on the relationship between Judaism and Islam in the present and, more importantly, in the future. Facing this brutal attack, the Jewish nation has decided to fight to defend itself and has embarked on a mission to destroy Hamas.

Is Islam capable of progressing toward a spiritual goal that will prevent such atrocities in the future? The answer is to be sought amongst the leading Islamic religious authorities.

This question has become more salient today, mainly because the current moment in Arab history is unique. For the first time, a sovereign Jewish state arose again in a land that had been part of the Muslim world for a significant period (Dar al-Islam). This situation has engendered complex relations between Jews and Arabs in the land of Israel and across the Middle East.

Little has been written over the centuries exploring the Jewish tradition’s view of Islam. Such literature does exist, both in the philosophical realm and in that of Jewish law, but for the most part it is scattered across the rabbinic literature and challenging to find concentrated in one source. As well, few rabbinic authorities have also studied Islam in-depth.

In this letter I will fill this void. I have no intention to ignore or distort the problems between Judaism and Islam. Still, I am writing to the Islamic religious leadership in the hope that it will contribute to our mutual understanding and promote more peaceful relations between the sons of Abraham: the descendants of Israel and the descendants of Ishmael.

The Status of Islam in Judaism​

The status of Islam in the Jewish philosophical and halachic (legal) literature is a topic that few take the time to study in-depth, both among Jewish and Islamic scholars.

We must address this from multiple facets: in part 1 of the letter, I will discuss the points of commonality between Judaism and Islam and the points of contention. In part 2, I will address the status of the prophet Mohammad, the potential for joint action between Islam and Judaism as strictly monotheistic religions, steps that Islam must take from the perspective of Judaism to allow for such cooperation, the future of relations between the State of Israel and the Muslim world, the relevance of the seven Noahide laws for Muslims and the potential contribution of Judaism to Islam.

Points of commonality between Islam and Judaism​

• Islam and Judaism agree with the belief in monotheism (that God is One), the negation of God’s corporeality and the rejection of idolatry. The great Jewish scholar, Maimonides wrote that the monotheism of the sons of Ishmael is a “pure monotheism, without flaw,” meaning with no pagan components. Judaism recognizes that Islam worships one God despite the differences in understanding the meaning of this oneness, and this recognition has practical implications. One of them is that while Jewish law forbids a Jew from entering a place of idol worship, it allows entry to a mosque. All rabbis accept this, myself included. We have no desire to convert Muslims to Judaism nor to kill or subjugate them.
• From Judaism’s perspective, all people are obligated to accept and fulfill the seven commandments God gave to all humanity, referred to in the Jewish tradition as “The Seven Noahide Laws.” These laws are the prohibition of idolatry, prohibition of cursing God, prohibition of murder, the prohibition of sexual deviancy, prohibition of theft, the prohibition of eating meat torn from a living animal, and the positive obligation to establish courts of justice and a penal system. Islam accepts these commandments in principle, and therefore Judaism can accept Islam as a sister religion – and indeed we are both descendants of Abraham. At the same time, Islam has not yet clearly affirmed these principles as obligatory toward non-Muslims and this equivocation has been a blemish on Islam throughout its history, expressed once again by the events of October 7th.
• God has not commanded the Jews to convert non-Jews, but rather to accept only those who desire to join the Jewish people out of their own initiative. In contrast, Islam aspires to impose its rule on the entire world. The use of violence to further the spread of faith is considered entirely illegitimate by Judaism. However, from a Jewish perspective, the original intent of Islam could be expressed by Abraham’s initial phase, in which he built a movement for ethical monotheism, gathering tens of thousands of followers before he was commanded to found a particular nation.
• God commanded the people of Israel with 613 commandments, above and beyond the seven Noahide laws. The 613 commandments were given as part of the covenant God made with the people of Israel so that they would serve as a model of a holy nation for all humanity and collective holiness. The sons of Ishmael were blessed with fertility and abundance to fulfill the mission of spreading the worship of the true God to all people as individuals. In other words, the sons of Ishmael were given the role of spreading the knowledge of the One God and His ethical commandments to a more significant number of people. In contrast, the sons of Isaac and Jacob were given the role of founding a model of collective holiness based on the covenant with God to make them a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” to serve as a model for emulation for all humanity.
• For Judaism, the appearance of a new religion that recognizes God’s oneness and the Noahide laws was a cause for grand celebration, and many expressions of affinity could be found in the initial period of Islam, despite the difficult and violent conflicts of those days.
• In light of the crisis of values in many societies in our times, cooperation between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ishmael could bring great blessing to the world and promote the belief in God’s oneness and his ethical commandments.

Points of disagreement between Judaism and Islam​

Alongside the above commonalities, there exist many significant points of dispute between Judaism and Islam. We will focus here only on the main and fundamental points and not the peripheral ones.

• The first point of contention is the claim by Islam that the Mosaic Torah has been nullified and that even the Jews are called upon to accept Islam. For Judaism, the Mosaic Torah is eternal. Even if God sends additional prophets after Moses, and even if He sends them to other nations, the Torah remains valid, as it represents God’s word and is incumbent on all Jews. Likewise, it must be stated that according to Judaism, the commandments of the Mosaic Torah are not incumbent on Muslims.
• The second point of contention is Islam’s claim that the Jews have corrupted the holy scripture and erased, as it were, the predictions of the coming of Muhammad. This claim is not made across the board but instead mainly concerning any contradiction between the Torah and the Quran. Many of the stories of the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish tradition are brought in the Quran, which Muslims accept as accurate.
• The third point of contention, most relevant today, is God’s promise that the Jewish people will return to their land and establish a state.
• Islam holds that it must spread its faith to all humanity by force if necessary. Judaism rejects the use of violence as a tool for spreading its faith.

Therefore, for Islam to be truly accepted by Judaism as a legitimate religion for all peoples, three points must be agreed upon:

• The recognition of Islam as a religion parallel to Judaism and not as a replacement and that the prophecy of Muhammad has not come to invalidate the Mosaic Torah.
• The recognition that the Torah is God’s word, which carries a message to all humanity. This requires abandoning the claim of corruption (Tahrif), so that Judaism will be acknowledged as the religion from which Islam developed.
• The recognition of the divine promise that the Jewish people will return to their historic homeland and rule in it, as it says explicitly in the Quran.

Suppose the Islamic religious leadership should desire to build a bridge between the believers in the One God. In that case, they must be willing to listen to what Judaism has to say about additional essential issues, including Muhammad’s status, Judaism’s potential contribution to the world of Islamic faith, and more. I will address these topics in part 2 of this open letter.

With wishes for peace,
Rabbi Oury Cherki,
Chairman of Brit Olam Institutions

جسر الإيمان رسالة إلى حكماء الإسلام– الجزء الأول –

ما رأي اليهودية في الإسلام؟ في السابع من أكتوبر 2023، هاجمت حركة حماس مواطني دولة إسرائيل حيثُ قُتِل بوحشية أكثر من 1400 طفل وامرأة ومسن من اليهود ومن أتباع جميع الديانات، كما تم اختطاف المئات ممن قُتل بعضهم في الأسر. تم تنفيذ الهجوم الشائن على يد منظمة إسلامية تعمل باسم الإسلام. وقد تطلبت هذه...

noahideworldcenter.org

A Bridge between FaithsAn Open Letter to Islam[Part 1]

In the aftermath of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Rabbi Oury Cherki explores the complex relationship between Judaism and Islam. Part 1 delves into commonalities and disagreements, emphasizing the need for mutual understanding and peace. The article challenges Islam to align with Jewish...

noahideworldcenter.org

 

[rylah]

 

[rylah]

בס"ד

Historic Invitation | Open letter to the leading scholars of Islam: "We need 3 agreements"
-​

A Bridge between Faiths​

An Open Letter to Islam​

[Part 1]​

January 21, 2024
​

What does Judaism have to say about Islam?​

On the 7th of October, 2023, Hamas attacked the citizens of Israel. Over 1,200 children, women and elderly, Jews, and people of all religions were brutally murdered, hundreds were taken captive, and some were murdered in captivity. This attack was carried out by an Islamic movement acting in the name of Islam. This fact should lead us to reflect more deeply on the relationship between Judaism and Islam in the present and, more importantly, in the future. Facing this brutal attack, the Jewish nation has decided to fight to defend itself and has embarked on a mission to destroy Hamas.

Is Islam capable of progressing toward a spiritual goal that will prevent such atrocities in the future? The answer is to be sought amongst the leading Islamic religious authorities.

This question has become more salient today, mainly because the current moment in Arab history is unique. For the first time, a sovereign Jewish state arose again in a land that had been part of the Muslim world for a significant period (Dar al-Islam). This situation has engendered complex relations between Jews and Arabs in the land of Israel and across the Middle East.

Little has been written over the centuries exploring the Jewish tradition’s view of Islam. Such literature does exist, both in the philosophical realm and in that of Jewish law, but for the most part it is scattered across the rabbinic literature and challenging to find concentrated in one source. As well, few rabbinic authorities have also studied Islam in-depth.

In this letter I will fill this void. I have no intention to ignore or distort the problems between Judaism and Islam. Still, I am writing to the Islamic religious leadership in the hope that it will contribute to our mutual understanding and promote more peaceful relations between the sons of Abraham: the descendants of Israel and the descendants of Ishmael.

The Status of Islam in Judaism​

The status of Islam in the Jewish philosophical and halachic (legal) literature is a topic that few take the time to study in-depth, both among Jewish and Islamic scholars.

We must address this from multiple facets: in part 1 of the letter, I will discuss the points of commonality between Judaism and Islam and the points of contention. In part 2, I will address the status of the prophet Mohammad, the potential for joint action between Islam and Judaism as strictly monotheistic religions, steps that Islam must take from the perspective of Judaism to allow for such cooperation, the future of relations between the State of Israel and the Muslim world, the relevance of the seven Noahide laws for Muslims and the potential contribution of Judaism to Islam.

Points of commonality between Islam and Judaism​

• Islam and Judaism agree with the belief in monotheism (that God is One), the negation of God’s corporeality and the rejection of idolatry. The great Jewish scholar, Maimonides wrote that the monotheism of the sons of Ishmael is a “pure monotheism, without flaw,” meaning with no pagan components. Judaism recognizes that Islam worships one God despite the differences in understanding the meaning of this oneness, and this recognition has practical implications. One of them is that while Jewish law forbids a Jew from entering a place of idol worship, it allows entry to a mosque. All rabbis accept this, myself included. We have no desire to convert Muslims to Judaism nor to kill or subjugate them.
• From Judaism’s perspective, all people are obligated to accept and fulfill the seven commandments God gave to all humanity, referred to in the Jewish tradition as “The Seven Noahide Laws.” These laws are the prohibition of idolatry, prohibition of cursing God, prohibition of murder, the prohibition of sexual deviancy, prohibition of theft, the prohibition of eating meat torn from a living animal, and the positive obligation to establish courts of justice and a penal system. Islam accepts these commandments in principle, and therefore Judaism can accept Islam as a sister religion – and indeed we are both descendants of Abraham. At the same time, Islam has not yet clearly affirmed these principles as obligatory toward non-Muslims and this equivocation has been a blemish on Islam throughout its history, expressed once again by the events of October 7th.
• God has not commanded the Jews to convert non-Jews, but rather to accept only those who desire to join the Jewish people out of their own initiative. In contrast, Islam aspires to impose its rule on the entire world. The use of violence to further the spread of faith is considered entirely illegitimate by Judaism. However, from a Jewish perspective, the original intent of Islam could be expressed by Abraham’s initial phase, in which he built a movement for ethical monotheism, gathering tens of thousands of followers before he was commanded to found a particular nation.
• God commanded the people of Israel with 613 commandments, above and beyond the seven Noahide laws. The 613 commandments were given as part of the covenant God made with the people of Israel so that they would serve as a model of a holy nation for all humanity and collective holiness. The sons of Ishmael were blessed with fertility and abundance to fulfill the mission of spreading the worship of the true God to all people as individuals. In other words, the sons of Ishmael were given the role of spreading the knowledge of the One God and His ethical commandments to a more significant number of people. In contrast, the sons of Isaac and Jacob were given the role of founding a model of collective holiness based on the covenant with God to make them a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” to serve as a model for emulation for all humanity.
• For Judaism, the appearance of a new religion that recognizes God’s oneness and the Noahide laws was a cause for grand celebration, and many expressions of affinity could be found in the initial period of Islam, despite the difficult and violent conflicts of those days.
• In light of the crisis of values in many societies in our times, cooperation between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ishmael could bring great blessing to the world and promote the belief in God’s oneness and his ethical commandments.

Points of disagreement between Judaism and Islam​

Alongside the above commonalities, there exist many significant points of dispute between Judaism and Islam. We will focus here only on the main and fundamental points and not the peripheral ones.

• The first point of contention is the claim by Islam that the Mosaic Torah has been nullified and that even the Jews are called upon to accept Islam. For Judaism, the Mosaic Torah is eternal. Even if God sends additional prophets after Moses, and even if He sends them to other nations, the Torah remains valid, as it represents God’s word and is incumbent on all Jews. Likewise, it must be stated that according to Judaism, the commandments of the Mosaic Torah are not incumbent on Muslims.
• The second point of contention is Islam’s claim that the Jews have corrupted the holy scripture and erased, as it were, the predictions of the coming of Muhammad. This claim is not made across the board but instead mainly concerning any contradiction between the Torah and the Quran. Many of the stories of the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish tradition are brought in the Quran, which Muslims accept as accurate.
• The third point of contention, most relevant today, is God’s promise that the Jewish people will return to their land and establish a state.
• Islam holds that it must spread its faith to all humanity by force if necessary. Judaism rejects the use of violence as a tool for spreading its faith.

Therefore, for Islam to be truly accepted by Judaism as a legitimate religion for all peoples, three points must be agreed upon:

• The recognition of Islam as a religion parallel to Judaism and not as a replacement and that the prophecy of Muhammad has not come to invalidate the Mosaic Torah.
• The recognition that the Torah is God’s word, which carries a message to all humanity. This requires abandoning the claim of corruption (Tahrif), so that Judaism will be acknowledged as the religion from which Islam developed.
• The recognition of the divine promise that the Jewish people will return to their historic homeland and rule in it, as it says explicitly in the Quran.

Suppose the Islamic religious leadership should desire to build a bridge between the believers in the One God. In that case, they must be willing to listen to what Judaism has to say about additional essential issues, including Muhammad’s status, Judaism’s potential contribution to the world of Islamic faith, and more. I will address these topics in part 2 of this open letter.

With wishes for peace,
Rabbi Oury Cherki,
Chairman of Brit Olam Institutions

جسر الإيمان رسالة إلى حكماء الإسلام– الجزء الأول –

ما رأي اليهودية في الإسلام؟ في السابع من أكتوبر 2023، هاجمت حركة حماس مواطني دولة إسرائيل حيثُ قُتِل بوحشية أكثر من 1400 طفل وامرأة ومسن من اليهود ومن أتباع جميع الديانات، كما تم اختطاف المئات ممن قُتل بعضهم في الأسر. تم تنفيذ الهجوم الشائن على يد منظمة إسلامية تعمل باسم الإسلام. وقد تطلبت هذه...

noahideworldcenter.org

A Bridge between FaithsAn Open Letter to Islam[Part 1]

In the aftermath of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Rabbi Oury Cherki explores the complex relationship between Judaism and Islam. Part 1 delves into commonalities and disagreements, emphasizing the need for mutual understanding and peace. The article challenges Islam to align with Jewish...

noahideworldcenter.org

 

[rylah]

 

[rylah]

Courage and Strength - The beginning of Prophecy (a)

Holy community, dear family we won't be talking long. We have to touch the essence,
as things are clarified by Rambam in the 'Guide for the Preplexed', 2nd part ch. 45.

Rambam discusses the levels of prophecy, beside the prophecy of Mosheh, there are 11 levels
of prophecy according to Rambam - and he discusses which is the first one, we'll deal only with the first one.

The first degree of prophecy consists in the divine assistance which is given to a person, and induces and encourages him to do something good and grand, e.g., to deliver a congregation of good men from the hands of evildoers; to save one noble person, or to bring happiness to a large number of people; he finds in himself the cause that moves and urges him to this deed.

This degree of divine influence is called “the spirit of the Lord”; and of the person who is under that influence we say that the spirit of the Lord came upon him, clothed him, or rested upon him, or the Lord was with him, and the like. All the judges of Israel possessed this degree, for the following general statement is made concerning them:—“The Lord raised up judges for them; and the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them” (Judges 2:18). Also all the noble chiefs of Israel belonged to this class. The same is distinctly stated concerning some of the judges and the kings:—“The spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah” (ibid. 11:29); of Samson it is said, “The spirit of the Lord came upon him” (ibid. 14:19); “And the spirit of the Lord came upon Saul when he heard those words” (1 Sam. 11:6). When Amasa was moved by the holy spirit to assist David, “A spirit clothed Amasa, who was chief of the captains, and he said, Thine are we, David,” etc.(1 Chron. 12:18).

This faculty was always possessed by Moses from the time he had attained the age of manhood: it moved him to slay the Egyptian, and to prevent evil from the two men that quarrelled; it was so strong that, after he had fled from Egypt out of fear, and arrived in Midian, a trembling stranger, he could not restrain himself from interfering when he saw wrong being done; he could not bear it. Comp. “And Moses rose and saved them” (Exod. 2:17). David likewise was filled with this spirit, when he was anointed with the oil of anointing. Comp. “And the spirit of God came upon David from that day and upward” (1 Sam. 16:13). He thus conquered the lion and the bear and the Philistine, and accomplished similar tasks, by this very spirit.

This faculty did not cause any of the above-named persons to speak on a certain subject,
for it only aims at encouraging the person who possesses it to action;" - Guide for the Perplexed, Part 2 45:4


This is the spirit of HaShem, when we see mighty heroes rising to rescue, we know this is the beginning of the degree of prophecy. And we're in a very unique age, the nation of Israel returns to the land, the nation of Israel becomes the majority of the Jewish people in its land - we're going towards the renewal of prophecy.

(00:00-04:00)

 

[rylah]

Is the Moshiach in Our Midst? | The State of Israel, Prophecy and the transition to Monarchy

 

[rylah]

 

[rylah]

The President of Argentina, Javier Milei, has now landed in Ben Gurion Airport for his first diplomatic trip

The new president of Argentina, Javier Milei, a great friend of Israel, embarks on his first diplomatic trip overseas and chose Israel and Italy.

He arrived in Israel on an El Al commercial flight after taking another commercial flight from Argentina to Italy with ITA. He will meet with both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Yitzhak Herzog, as well as visit the areas affected by the October 7 massacre.

 

[rylah]

Argentine Embassy to open in Jerusalem

The President of Argentine, Javier Maili, landed in Israel today (Tuesday), on his first political visit as President of Argentina. Foreign Minister Israel Katz welcomed him.

Along with President Miley, the Foreign Minister of Argentine, Diana Mondino, the Secretary General of the Presidency, Karina Elizabeth Miley, and the President's rabbi, Rabbi Shimon Axel and Ahnesh, landed.

Foreign Minister Katz thanked Miley for his support for the State of Israel and for coming to strengthen the Jewish people and the State of Israel in the face of an attack by Hamas murderers. He also thanked the president for recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz to President Miley: 'You are a person of values who is committed only to the truth and it is no wonder that you chose to come to Israel immediately to support us in the just struggle to protect the Jewish people against the murderers of Hamas. Thank you for recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and for announcing now the transfer of the Argentine embassy to Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people and the State of Israel!

Welcome to Israel Mr. President - Viva La Libertad!'

עם הרב הקרוב: נשיא ארגנטינה נחת בארץ - וזה מה שהכריז

הוא נחשב לאוהד ישראל גדול, הכריז על העברת שגרירות מדינתו לירושלים, התפלל בציון הרבי מליובאוויטש אחרי זכייתו ואף אמר ששוקל להתגייר: נשיא ארגטינה חאבייר מי..

www.kikar.co.il

 

[rylah]

 

[rylah]

Indigenous Coalition opens Embassy in Jerusalem

 

[rylah]

 

[rylah]

בס"ד

Historic Invitation | Open letter to the leading scholars of Islam: "We need 3 agreements"
-​

A Bridge between Faiths​

An Open Letter to Islam​

[Part 1]​

January 21, 2024
​

What does Judaism have to say about Islam?​

On the 7th of October, 2023, Hamas attacked the citizens of Israel. Over 1,200 children, women and elderly, Jews, and people of all religions were brutally murdered, hundreds were taken captive, and some were murdered in captivity. This attack was carried out by an Islamic movement acting in the name of Islam. This fact should lead us to reflect more deeply on the relationship between Judaism and Islam in the present and, more importantly, in the future. Facing this brutal attack, the Jewish nation has decided to fight to defend itself and has embarked on a mission to destroy Hamas.

Is Islam capable of progressing toward a spiritual goal that will prevent such atrocities in the future? The answer is to be sought amongst the leading Islamic religious authorities.

This question has become more salient today, mainly because the current moment in Arab history is unique. For the first time, a sovereign Jewish state arose again in a land that had been part of the Muslim world for a significant period (Dar al-Islam). This situation has engendered complex relations between Jews and Arabs in the land of Israel and across the Middle East.

Little has been written over the centuries exploring the Jewish tradition’s view of Islam. Such literature does exist, both in the philosophical realm and in that of Jewish law, but for the most part it is scattered across the rabbinic literature and challenging to find concentrated in one source. As well, few rabbinic authorities have also studied Islam in-depth.

In this letter I will fill this void. I have no intention to ignore or distort the problems between Judaism and Islam. Still, I am writing to the Islamic religious leadership in the hope that it will contribute to our mutual understanding and promote more peaceful relations between the sons of Abraham: the descendants of Israel and the descendants of Ishmael.

The Status of Islam in Judaism​

The status of Islam in the Jewish philosophical and halachic (legal) literature is a topic that few take the time to study in-depth, both among Jewish and Islamic scholars.

We must address this from multiple facets: in part 1 of the letter, I will discuss the points of commonality between Judaism and Islam and the points of contention. In part 2, I will address the status of the prophet Mohammad, the potential for joint action between Islam and Judaism as strictly monotheistic religions, steps that Islam must take from the perspective of Judaism to allow for such cooperation, the future of relations between the State of Israel and the Muslim world, the relevance of the seven Noahide laws for Muslims and the potential contribution of Judaism to Islam.

Points of commonality between Islam and Judaism​

• Islam and Judaism agree with the belief in monotheism (that God is One), the negation of God’s corporeality and the rejection of idolatry. The great Jewish scholar, Maimonides wrote that the monotheism of the sons of Ishmael is a “pure monotheism, without flaw,” meaning with no pagan components. Judaism recognizes that Islam worships one God despite the differences in understanding the meaning of this oneness, and this recognition has practical implications. One of them is that while Jewish law forbids a Jew from entering a place of idol worship, it allows entry to a mosque. All rabbis accept this, myself included. We have no desire to convert Muslims to Judaism nor to kill or subjugate them.
• From Judaism’s perspective, all people are obligated to accept and fulfill the seven commandments God gave to all humanity, referred to in the Jewish tradition as “The Seven Noahide Laws.” These laws are the prohibition of idolatry, prohibition of cursing God, prohibition of murder, the prohibition of sexual deviancy, prohibition of theft, the prohibition of eating meat torn from a living animal, and the positive obligation to establish courts of justice and a penal system. Islam accepts these commandments in principle, and therefore Judaism can accept Islam as a sister religion – and indeed we are both descendants of Abraham. At the same time, Islam has not yet clearly affirmed these principles as obligatory toward non-Muslims and this equivocation has been a blemish on Islam throughout its history, expressed once again by the events of October 7th.
• God has not commanded the Jews to convert non-Jews, but rather to accept only those who desire to join the Jewish people out of their own initiative. In contrast, Islam aspires to impose its rule on the entire world. The use of violence to further the spread of faith is considered entirely illegitimate by Judaism. However, from a Jewish perspective, the original intent of Islam could be expressed by Abraham’s initial phase, in which he built a movement for ethical monotheism, gathering tens of thousands of followers before he was commanded to found a particular nation.
• God commanded the people of Israel with 613 commandments, above and beyond the seven Noahide laws. The 613 commandments were given as part of the covenant God made with the people of Israel so that they would serve as a model of a holy nation for all humanity and collective holiness. The sons of Ishmael were blessed with fertility and abundance to fulfill the mission of spreading the worship of the true God to all people as individuals. In other words, the sons of Ishmael were given the role of spreading the knowledge of the One God and His ethical commandments to a more significant number of people. In contrast, the sons of Isaac and Jacob were given the role of founding a model of collective holiness based on the covenant with God to make them a “kingdom of priests and a holy nation,” to serve as a model for emulation for all humanity.
• For Judaism, the appearance of a new religion that recognizes God’s oneness and the Noahide laws was a cause for grand celebration, and many expressions of affinity could be found in the initial period of Islam, despite the difficult and violent conflicts of those days.
• In light of the crisis of values in many societies in our times, cooperation between the sons of Israel and the sons of Ishmael could bring great blessing to the world and promote the belief in God’s oneness and his ethical commandments.

Points of disagreement between Judaism and Islam​

Alongside the above commonalities, there exist many significant points of dispute between Judaism and Islam. We will focus here only on the main and fundamental points and not the peripheral ones.

• The first point of contention is the claim by Islam that the Mosaic Torah has been nullified and that even the Jews are called upon to accept Islam. For Judaism, the Mosaic Torah is eternal. Even if God sends additional prophets after Moses, and even if He sends them to other nations, the Torah remains valid, as it represents God’s word and is incumbent on all Jews. Likewise, it must be stated that according to Judaism, the commandments of the Mosaic Torah are not incumbent on Muslims.
• The second point of contention is Islam’s claim that the Jews have corrupted the holy scripture and erased, as it were, the predictions of the coming of Muhammad. This claim is not made across the board but instead mainly concerning any contradiction between the Torah and the Quran. Many of the stories of the Hebrew Bible and the Jewish tradition are brought in the Quran, which Muslims accept as accurate.
• The third point of contention, most relevant today, is God’s promise that the Jewish people will return to their land and establish a state.
• Islam holds that it must spread its faith to all humanity by force if necessary. Judaism rejects the use of violence as a tool for spreading its faith.

Therefore, for Islam to be truly accepted by Judaism as a legitimate religion for all peoples, three points must be agreed upon:

• The recognition of Islam as a religion parallel to Judaism and not as a replacement and that the prophecy of Muhammad has not come to invalidate the Mosaic Torah.
• The recognition that the Torah is God’s word, which carries a message to all humanity. This requires abandoning the claim of corruption (Tahrif), so that Judaism will be acknowledged as the religion from which Islam developed.
• The recognition of the divine promise that the Jewish people will return to their historic homeland and rule in it, as it says explicitly in the Quran.

Suppose the Islamic religious leadership should desire to build a bridge between the believers in the One God. In that case, they must be willing to listen to what Judaism has to say about additional essential issues, including Muhammad’s status, Judaism’s potential contribution to the world of Islamic faith, and more. I will address these topics in part 2 of this open letter.

With wishes for peace,
Rabbi Oury Cherki,
Chairman of Brit Olam Institutions

جسر الإيمان رسالة إلى حكماء الإسلام– الجزء الأول –

ما رأي اليهودية في الإسلام؟ في السابع من أكتوبر 2023، هاجمت حركة حماس مواطني دولة إسرائيل حيثُ قُتِل بوحشية أكثر من 1400 طفل وامرأة ومسن من اليهود ومن أتباع جميع الديانات، كما تم اختطاف المئات ممن قُتل بعضهم في الأسر. تم تنفيذ الهجوم الشائن على يد منظمة إسلامية تعمل باسم الإسلام. وقد تطلبت هذه...

noahideworldcenter.org

A Bridge between FaithsAn Open Letter to Islam[Part 1]

In the aftermath of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Rabbi Oury Cherki explores the complex relationship between Judaism and Islam. Part 1 delves into commonalities and disagreements, emphasizing the need for mutual understanding and peace. The article challenges Islam to align with Jewish...

noahideworldcenter.org

'This was the most significant meeting in my life. I heard things that until today I thought the Muslim world could not say.'
***
Following the publication of the letter to Islam that he wrote, Rabbi Cherki was invited to head a delegation to the United Arab Emirates that returned to Israel last night after a 3-day visit, during which the delegation met with Emirati clerics and government.

 

[rylah]

New Embassy in Jerusalem Marks Historic, Even 'Prophetic' Beginning​

Recently, people from many nations came to Jerusalem and opened the first-ever Indigenous Embassy. The event marks what some believe to be an historic and even prophetic beginning.Jerusalem Deputy Mayor Fleur Hassan-Nahoum played a key role in establishing the embassy."When I was approached by the indigenous Coalition for Israel about a year ago, about their dream to open an embassy in Jerusalem, I couldn't think of a better expression – and this was before the war.

 

[rylah]

Rabbi Oury's plot to change Islam | Abū Isrā'īl​

Rabbi Oury Cherki, a fervent religious Zionist,
articulates his long-term goal to change Islam.

 

[rylah]

בס"ד

Binyamin Louria with Rabbi HaYnuka

​

 

[rylah]

Rabbi Oury's plot to change Islam | Abū Isrā'īl​

Rabbi Oury Cherki, a fervent religious Zionist,
articulates his long-term goal to change Islam.

This is a war that is critical for the future of civilisation​