Torah on Hindus?

The Torah, the first five chapters of the Bible, is the holiest scripture of Jews. The Torah covers revelations from God to different apostles up to Moses. Later, many other apostles, including Jesus and Muhammad, also received revelations from the same God.

Though Jews, Christians and Muslims believe in the same God, they are at odds while practicing their faith. First, they call God by different but not inter-changeable names, like LORD God (or God of Israel), Father God (Jesus as the Son) and Allah (God in Arabic), respectively. Though, the Bible and Koran do recognize God’s messages in the Torah, the Koran recommends Muslims not to be friends of Christians and Jews (Koran 5:51). On the other side, Jews don’t recognize Jesus as the “Son” of God or holy Muhammad (pbuh) as God’s the last messenger of LORD God.

Jews, Christians and Muslim are collectively referred to as Abrahamic and “people of Book”. In general, Abrahamics are monotheist, exclusivist and supremacist. Some of them may consider Hindus as polytheists and idol-worshippers.

An exclusivist Abrahamic in an interfaith marriage relationship will insist that children follow only their own Abrahamic faith. Pluralistic dual labels, like Bar Mitzvah AND Baptism, on a child is not accepted by their religious leaders. A Dharmic (Sikh, Jain, Buddhist or Hindu) in relationship with an Abrahamic wishing to live Interfaith Marriage with EQUALITY of two faiths has to decide if such exclusivist Bar Mitzvah, Baptism or Sunat (BBS) “labeling” is justified for their interfaith children.

It is not the intention of this article (and Bar Mitzvah for Hindus?, Bible on Hindus? and Koran on Hindus?) to criticize any scripture, but to help Abrahamic-Dharmic interfaith couples make an “informed” decision for their planned married life. Ideally, it would be easy if one believes that scriptures were written by apostles/sages and should be interpreted in the context of their time. However, if a Jew believes that the Torah is literally a direct message from the God, the Hindu partner has to wonder why the LORD God of Israel did not consult Isvara before giving below listed conflicting statements.

For an interfaith couple, it is not what is stated in an individual’s scripture that is important but what an individual has learned from it. Here, select quotations from Torah are listed that a Hindu-Jew couple must read together to answer how these verses will impact their planned married life.

Part I: The Second Commandment

The Second Commandment of The Ten Commandments should be of major concern to any interfaith couple. Here, an angry and jealous God gives an absolute intolerant message towards other faiths. Any form or ways of worshipping God other than that described in the Torah is prohibited.

The Second Commandment: “You shall have no other gods¹ before Me. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above², or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God³, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who reject Me.” (Exodus 20:3-5)

God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai (around year 1593 BC). Later, Jesus modified the Second Commandment stating, “And the Second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39). Further, Jesus added, “There is no commandment greater than these (love thy neighbors)” (Mark 12:31). However, Jesus’ followers kept highlighting and repeating Father God’s seemingly exclusivist intolerant message while writing the Bible. Later, Muhammad perfected it in the Koran by adding even more severe punishments to those who do not follow Allah or Islam.

It is possible that such exclusivist and intolerant messages may be the root cause of many of interfaith problems in this World; starting from the killings described in the Torah and Bible, millions killed during the Christian Crusades, millions killed by Muslims in the name of Allah, holocaust, the 9-11 and more to come.

If a Dharmic is considering a lifelong relationship with an Abrahamic, it would be wise to know what kind of interpretation your intended spouse has learned during his/her life time. To make an “informed” decision, the Dharmic should ask the Abrahamic…1) Does Lord Krishna qualify as a/the God? 2) During Hindu wedding ceremony, the Hindu priest will invoke many Gods from heaven and earth, are you going to be okay to be part of such a wedding? and 3) are you going to be scared of your Jealous God if you have to enter a Hindu, Jain or Sikh temple, take prasad (offerings from God), or be a part of other Hindu rituals (idols worship?) at my parent’s home?

For a Jew-Hindu couple, it is important to make sure that the intended spouse does not believe in this Second Commandment literally and is not intolerant to Hindu’s beliefs that the Almighty may be worshipped in one or more different forms.

Part II: Angry and Jealous God

The Torah has described God as a “Jealous God” 10 times, as an “Angry God” 40 times and “fear” word is used 60 times; many of these citations are by the God Himself. The Bible and Koran have added many additional such stern warnings if you pray to “other” gods. (Read an alternative pro-Christian viewpoint on the Jealous God concept here)

If your Jewish intended spouse is fearful of jealous LORD God’s stern messages for other faiths, it could create problems in your married life while practicing Hindu belief system of seeing the Almighty in any and all possible forms, including females, animals, plants, rivers, mountains, sun and moon.

Part III: Torah on the “Other” gods

Hinduism believes in an absolutely one ultimate reality (Brahman) but Hindus have liberty to express the All Mighty God by different names and forms (Ekam sad vipra bshuda vadanti -Rigveda 1.164.46). Likewise, the Torah teaches that there is absolutely only one God or ultimate reality. However, the Torah has stern warnings for those who believe in “other gods” or express God with names or in any form and shape. If so, are Gods as described in the Hindu scriptures “other” gods?

A Hindu has the complete liberty to revere/worship and pray to the God in any and every way that works for one. For example, Mount Kailash, river Ganges, the monkey-God Hanuman, the elephant-head-God Ganesh, the Sun and Moon, the Mother Earth and some plants and animals are all sacred to Hindus. Not only sacred, they may be considered the earthly manifestations of God.

Some Jews, Muslims and Christians may not like Hindus’ ways of expressing the God in unlimited ways and call Hindus idol-worshippers. Why any one will want to take away the liberty of praying Her or Him the way one desires?

Swami Vivekananda had no reservation associating with the word “idol.” He has stated, “If such (his guru) Ramakrishna Paramahamsas are produced by idol-worship, what will you have – – the reformer’s creed or any number of idols? Yes idolatry is condemned! Why? Nobody knows. Because some hundreds of years ago some man of Jewish blood happened to condemn it? That is, he happened to condemn everybody else’s idols except his own.”

Below is a big list of citations from Torah about warnings against praying to “other” gods or idol worshipping:

The one with whom you find your (other) gods shall not live. (Genesis 31.32).

There upon Jacob said to his household and to all those who were with him, “Remove the deities of the foreign nations, which are in your midst, purify yourselves and change your clothes. (Genesis G35.2)

So they gave Jacob all the foreign gods they had and the rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them under the oak at Shechem. (Genesis 35.4)

I (God) will pass through the land of Egypt on this night, and I will smite every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast, and upon all the gods of Egypt will I wreak judgments I, the Lord. (Exodus 12.12)

You shall not have the gods of others in My presence. (Exodus 20.3)

You shall not make [images of anything that is] with Me. Gods of silver or gods of gold you shall not make for yourselves. (Exodus 20. 20)

He who slaughters [a sacrifice, offerings or prasad] to the gods shall be destroyed, except to the Lord alone. (Exodus 22.19)

He who sacrifices to any god, except to the LORD only, he shall be utterly destroyed. (Exodus 22:20)

Concerning all that I have said to you you shall beware, and the name of the gods of others you shall not mention; it shall not be heard through your mouth. (Exodus 23:13)

You shall not prostrate yourself before their gods, and you shall not worship them, and you shall not follow their practices, but you shall tear them down and you shall utterly shatter their monuments. (Exodus23:24)

But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (Exodus 34.13-14)

You shall make no covenant with them (unbelievers), nor with their gods. They shall not dwell in your land, lest they make you sin against Me. For if you serve their gods, it will surely be a snare to you. (Exodus 23:32-33)

Lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of his daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods. You shall make no molded gods for yourselves. (Exodus 34:15-17)

You shall not turn to the worthless idols, nor shall you make molten deities for yourselves. I am the Lord, your God. (Leviticus19. 4)

You shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, destroy all their temples, destroy their molten idols, and demolish their high places. (Numbers 33. 52)

Lest you become corrupt and make for yourselves a graven image, the representation of any form, the likeness of male or female. (Deuteronomy 4:16)

Beware, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God, which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image, the likeness of anything, which the Lord your God has forbidden you. (Deuteronomy 4:23)

When you beget children and children’s children, and you will be long established in the land, and you become corrupt and make a graven image, the likeness of anything, and do evil in the eyes of the Lord your God, to provoke Him to anger. (Deuteronomy 4:25)

And there you will worship gods, man’s handiwork, wood and stone, which neither see, hear, eat, nor smell. (Deuteronomy 4:28)

You shall not have the gods of others in My presence. (Deuteronomy 5:7)

You shall not make for yourself a graven image, or any likeness which is in the heavens above, which is on the earth below, or which is in the water beneath the earth. (Deuteronomy 5:8)

You shall not prostrate yourself before them, nor worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a Jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the sons, upon the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me. (Deuteronomy 5:9)

But so shall you do to them: You shall demolish their altars and smash their monuments, and cut down their asherim trees, and burn their graven images with fire. (Deuteronomy 7:5)

And you shall consume all the peoples which the Lord your God gives you; you shall not spare them, nor shall you worship their gods, for that will be a snare for you. (Deuteronomy 7:16)

The graven images of their gods you will burn with fire; you shall not covet the silver or gold that is upon them and take it for yourself, lest you be ensnared by it, for it is an abomination to the Lord, your God. (Deuteronomy 7:25)

And it will be, if you forget the Lord your God and follow other gods, and worship them, and prostrate yourself before them, I bear witness against you this day, that you will surely perish. (Deuteronomy 8:19)

And I took your sin the calf (idol), which you had made, and I burned it with fire, and I crushed it, grinding it well, until it was fine dust, and I cast its dust into the brook that descends from the mountain. (Deuteronomy 9:21)

Be careful, or you will be enticed to turn away and worship other gods and bow down to them. (Deuteronomy 11:16)

And the curse, if you will not heed the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn away from the way I command you this day, to follow other gods, which you did not know. (Deuteronomy 11:28)

You shall utterly destroy from all the places where the nations, that you shall possess, worshipped their gods, upon the lofty mountains and upon the hills, and under every lush tree. (Deuteronomy 12:2)

And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. (Deuteronomy 12:3)

Beware, lest you be attracted after them, after they are exterminated from before you; and lest you inquire about their gods, saying, “How did these nations serve their gods? And I will do likewise. (Deuteronomy 12:30)

If there will arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of a dream, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder of which he spoke to you happens, [and he] says, “Let us go after other gods which you have not known, and let us worship them, you shall not heed the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of a dream; for the Lord, your God, is testing you, to know whether you really love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul And that prophet, or that dreamer of a dream shall be put to death; because he spoke falsehood about the Lord, your God Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, and Who redeemed you from the house of bondage, to lead you astray from the way in which the Lord, your God, commanded you to go; so shall you clear away the evil from your midst. If your brother, the son of your mother, tempts you in secret or your son, or your daughter, or the wife of your embrace, or your friend, who is as your own soul saying, “Let us go and worship other gods, which neither you, nor your forefathers have known. (Deuteronomy 13:2-7)

And you shall stone him with stones so that he dies, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your God, Who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. (Deuteronomy 13:11)

You must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely,[a] both its people and its livestock. (Deuteronomy 13:15)

You shall surely strike down the inhabitants of that (idol worshipper’s) city with the edge of the sword, destroy it with all that is in it and its livestock, with the edge of the sword. And you shall collect all its spoil into the midst of its open square, and burn with fire the city and all its spoil, completely, for the Lord, your God; and it shall be a heap of destruction forever, never to be rebuilt. (Deuteronomy 13:16-17)

Who has gone and served other gods and worshiped them, either the sun or moon or any of the host of heaven, which I have not commanded …. then you shall bring out to your gates that man or woman who has committed that wicked thing, and shall stone to death that man or woman with stones. (Deuteronomy 17: 3, 5)

But the prophet who intentionally speaks a word in My name, which I did not command him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die. (Deuteronomy 18:20)

But of the cities of these peoples which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance, you shall let nothing that breathes remain alive, but you shall utterly destroy them. (Deuteronomy 20:16-17)

Cursed be the man who makes any graven or molten image an abomination to the Lord, the handiwork of a craftsman and sets it up in secret! And all the people shall respond, saying, ‘Amen!’ (Deuteronomy 27:15)

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed. You will not live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to enter and possess. This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live, and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (Deuteronomy 30:17-20)

And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, you are [about to] lie with your forefathers, and this nation will rise up and stray after the deities of the nations of the land, into which they are coming. And they will forsake Me and violate My covenant which I made with them. (Deuteronomy 31:16)

They provoked Him to jealousy with foreign gods;
 With abominations they provoked Him to anger….. They have provoked Me (God) to jealousy by what is not God; They have moved Me to anger by their foolish idols. But I will provoke them to jealousy by those who are not a nation. (Deuteronomy 32:16, 21)

Part IV: God’s “Chosen” People

Judaism is a monotheist (there is only one God), exclusivist and supremacist (Jews are God’s “chosen” people) religion. As per Torah, LORD God was for sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. At that time, why God was playing favorites only to a small number of Jewish people in Arabia when there were probably millions others human beings all over the World?

Here are verses showing God’s preference for Jews over non-Jews:

And I will establish My covenant between Me and between you (Jews) and between your seed after you throughout their generations as an everlasting covenant, to be to you for a God and to your seed after you. (Genesis 17:7)

But Pharaoh will not hearken to you, and I will lay My hand upon the Egyptians, and I will take My legions, My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt with great judgments. (Exodus 7:4)

And the blood will be for you for a sign upon the houses where you will be, and I (God) will see the blood and skip over you, and there will be no plague to destroy [you] when I smite the [people of the] land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:13)

You shall say, It is a Passover sacrifice to the Lord, for He passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He smote the Egyptians, and He saved our houses. And the people kneeled and prostrated themselves. (Exodus 12:27)

The Lord said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the statute of the Passover sacrifice: No estranged one may partake of it. (Exodus 12:43)

And now, if you obey Me and keep My covenant, you (Jews) shall be to Me a treasure out of all peoples, for Mine is the entire earth. (Exodus 19:5)

And you shall be to Me a kingdom of princes and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel. (Exodus 19:6)

I will dwell among the children of Israel and will be their God. (Exodus 29:45)

I will turn towards you, and I will make you (Jews) fruitful and increase you, and I will set up My covenant with you. (Leviticus 26:9)

But if you do not drive out the inhabitants of the Land from before you, then those whom you leave over will be as spikes in your eyes and thorns in your sides, and they will harass you in the land in which you settle. (Numbers 33. 55)

See, I have set the land before you; come and possess the land which the Lord swore to your forefathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them and their descendants after them. (Deuteronomy 1:8)

The Lord, your God, has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of the heavens in abundance. (Deuteronomy 1:10)

Behold, the Lord, your God, has set the land before you; go up and possess it, as the Lord, God of your fathers has spoken to you; you shall neither fear nor be dismayed. (Deuteronomy 1:21)

But the Lord took you and brought you out of the iron crucible, out of Egypt, to be a people of His possession, as of this day. (Deuteronomy 4:20)

And you shall do what is proper and good in the eyes of the Lord, in order that it may be well with you, and that you may come and possess the good land which the Lord swore to your forefathers. (Deuteronomy 6:18)

You shall be blessed above all peoples: There will be no sterile male or barren female among you or among your livestock. (Deuteronomy 7:14)

Only your forefathers the Lord desired, to love them, and He chose their seed after them you, out of all peoples, as it is this day. (Deuteronomy 10:15)

And the Lord has selected you this day to be His treasured people, as He spoke to you, and so that you shall observe all His commandments. (Deuteronomy 26:18)

In order to establish you this day as His people, and that He will be your God, as He spoke to you, and as He swore to your forefathers to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. (Deuteronomy 29:12)

Part V: Interfaith Marriages

The Torah has many stern warnings against interfaith marriages. Probably for this reason, a Torah’s true believer will want to solve this interfaith marriage problem by religious conversion of his or her Hindu fiancée. Today, in most cases, a Jew will not ask for religious conversion but will certainly ask for interfaith children to be Jews by Bris (circumcision of a male child on the 8th day) and Bar Mitzvah ceremonies. If one is looking for an interfaith marriage with equality of two faiths, why not keep the child’s religious “labeling” out and let the child decides his or her own faith at an adult age? (Also read NO BBS, Whose God will win?, Silent holocaust, rabbis’ views on interfaith marriages here and here)

Here are the Torah’s recommendations on interfaith marriages:

And I will adjure you by the Lord, the God of the heaven and the God of the earth, that you will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites (non-Jews), in whose midst I dwell. (Genesis 24:3)

We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who has a foreskin, for that is a disgrace to us. (Genesis 34:14) (read Circumcision)

But you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images (for you shall worship no other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God), lest you make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they play the harlot with their gods and make sacrifice to their gods, and one of them invites you and you eat of his sacrifice, and you take of his (non-Jew) daughters for your sons, and his daughters play the harlot with their gods and make your sons play the harlot with their gods. You shall make no molded gods for yourselves. (Exodus 34:13-17)

And to the children of Israel, you shall say: Any man of the children of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among Israel, who gives any of his offspring to Molech (non-Jew), shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall pelt him with stones. (Leviticus 20:2)

Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses regarding the Cushite woman he had married, for he had married a Cushite woman. (Number 12:1)

And when the LORD your God delivers them over to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. Nor shall you make marriages with them. You shall not give your daughter to their son, nor take their daughter for your son. For they will turn your sons away from following Me, to serve other gods; so the anger of the LORD will be aroused against you and destroy you suddenly. But thus you shall deal with them: you shall destroy their altars, and break down their sacred pillars, and cut down their wooden images, and burn their carved images with fire. (Deuteronomy 7:2-5)

When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for your wife, then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. And it shall be, if you have no delight in her…. (Deuteronomy 21:10-14)

An Ammonite or Moabite (non-Jew) shall not enter the assembly of the Lord; even the tenth generation shall never enter the assembly of the Lord. (Deuteronomy 23:4)

You shall not ever seek out their (non-Jew) welfare or their good, all your days. (Deuteronomy 23:7)

When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some uncleanness in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, when she has departed from his house, and goes and becomes another man’s wife, if the latter husband detests her and writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her as his wife, then her former husband who divorced her must not take her back to be his wife after she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God is giving you as an inheritance. (Deuteronomy 24:2-4)

Part VI: Torah on Circumcision

“There is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your descendants after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised,” God commands Abraham (Genesis 17:11), the Jewish patriarch. “Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Compared to Abraham’s message on circumcision, Jesus had a different view. He first time included all non-circumcised people to the God’s kingdom. If you are in love-relationship with a Jew, it is important to find out if your intended spouse is a progressive thinker (like Jesus) or not.

One has to wonder if the circumcision is science or superstition. A Jew may believe that if the male child is not circumcised, something bad will happen to the child. There are some scientific merits to circumcision, but no compelling argument could be made. American Pediatric Association has not yet “recommended” routine circumcision; thought cited benefits verses risks. Further, there is no major medical issue noted for billions of uncircumcised persons around the World, especially living in reasonable hygienic conditions. To have foreskin on the penis is not a birth defect to be surgically corrected, rather the foreskin has abundant nerve endings designed to increase sexual sensation.

Circumcision is an irreversible decision made by the parents without the defenceless child’s consent. An adult person circumcised as a child by his parents for their religious rationale may want to restore his penile foreskin, but obviously is now an impossible task. Read more on circumcision here.

This is My (God) covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with money from any foreigner who is not your descendant. (Genesis 17:10-12)

And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he has broken My (God’s) covenant. (Genesis 17:14)

And they said to them, “We cannot do this thing, to give our sister to a man who has a foreskin, for that is a disgrace to us. (Genesis 34: 14)

And should a proselyte reside with you, he shall make a Passover sacrifice to the Lord. All his males shall be circumcised, and then he may approach to make it, and he will be like the native of the land, but no uncircumcised male may partake of it. (Exodus 12.48)

And on the eighth day, the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised. (Leviticus 12:3)

Part VII: Torah on Animal Sacrifices

As you could read in the Old Testament, it was common practice to sacrifice animals to wash off human sin. Jesus changed that by saying, “…to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and (animal) sacrifices.” (Mark 12:33) If you are a vegetarian or an animal lover, you may not want your children to read and follow these God’s commandments in the Torah (or Bar Mitzvah).

Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs. (Genesis 9:3)

This is the law of the sin offering: In the place where the burnt offering is killed, the sin offering shall be killed before the LORD. It is most holy. (Leviticus 6:25)

If the anointed kohen sins, bringing guilt to the people, then he shall bring for his sin which he has committed, an unblemished young bull as a sin offering to the Lord. (Leviticus 4:3)

And this is the law of the guilt offering. It is a holy of holies. They shall slaughter the guilt offering in the place where they slaughter the burnt offering; and its blood shall be dashed upon the altar, around. (Leviticus 7:1-2)

The total of the cattle for the burnt offerings was twelve bulls, twelve rams, and twelve lambs in their first year with their meal offerings. And [there were] twelve young he goats for sin offerings. (Numbers 7:87)

Part VIII: Cruetly on Others and to Women

There are many verses in Torah that one may consider nothing more than cruel at today’s World standard.

Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that Jacob’s two sons, Simeon and Levi, Dinah’s brothers, each took his sword, and they came upon the city with confidence, and they slew every male. (Genesis 34:25)

Their flocks and their cattle and their donkeys, and whatever was in the city and whatever was in the field they took. (Genesis 34:25)

Therefore, keep the Sabbath, for it is a sacred thing for you. Those who desecrate it shall be put to death, for whoever performs work on it, that soul will be cut off from the midst of its people. (Exodus 31:14)

They mounted an attack against Midian, as the Lord had commanded Moses, and they killed every male. The children of Israel took the Midianite women and their small children captive, and they plundered all their beasts, livestock, and all their possessions. (Numbers 31:7-9)

So now kill every male child, and every woman who can lie intimately with a man you shall kill. (Numbers 31:17)

So the Lord our God also gave into our hands Og king of Bashan and all his army. We struck them down, leaving no survivors. At that time we took all his cities. There was not one of the sixty cities that we did not take from them—the whole region of Argob, Og’s kingdom in Bashan. All these cities were fortified with high walls and with gates and bars, and there were also a great many unwalled villages. We completely destroyed[a] them, as we had done with Sihon king of Heshbon, destroying every city—men, women and children. But all the livestock and the plunder from their cities we carried off for ourselves. (Deuteronomy 3:3-7)

And you shall consume all the peoples which the Lord your God gives you; you shall not spare them, nor shall you worship their gods, for that will be a snare for you. (Deuteronomy 7:16)

You shall not eat any carcass. You may give it to the stranger who is in your cities, that he may eat it, or you may sell it to a foreigner; for you are a holy people to the Lord, your God. (Deuteronomy 14:21)

And the Lord, your God, will deliver it into your hands, and you shall strike all its males with the edge of the sword. (Deuteronomy 20:13)

However, of these peoples’ cities, which the Lord, your God, gives you as an inheritance, you shall not allow any soul to live. (Deuteronomy 20:16)

When you go out to war against your enemies, and the LORD your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman, and desire her and would take her for your wife, then you shall bring her home to your house, and she shall shave her head and trim her nails. She shall put off the clothes of her captivity, remain in your house, and mourn her father and her mother a full month; after that you may go in to her and be her husband, and she shall be your wife. And it shall be, if you have no delight in her…. (Deuteronomy 21:10-14)

Read more on cruelty in the Torah/Bible here.

Part IX: Science

There are many discrepancies between Torah’s science and what is taught today in schools. An interfaith couple has to decide which source of science your children will believe.

For other comparisons, read Torah’s Science, earth creation, Galileo.

Part X: Can One Read Torah in Its Context?

Your intended Jewish spouse may believe that the Torah is a direct message from God and has to be followed literally in your married life. Are you ready to live your life as commanded by God of Israel and described in the Torah?

Do not add to the word which I command you, nor diminish from it, to observe the commandments of the Lord your God which I (God) command you. (Deuteronomy 4:2)

These are the words of the covenant, which the Lord commanded Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab. (Deuteronomy 28:69)

And this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel [just] before his death. (Deuteronomy 33:1)

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For Torah quotes used in this article, visit: http://www.chabad.org/library/bible_cdo/aid/9862 and http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/

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Other articles written by InterfaithShaadi:
Bar Mitzvah for Hindus?,
Torah on Hindus?,
Katubah,
Koran on Hindus?,
Bible on Hindus?,
Hindus, Abrahamics and Intolerants,
Can Allah be the Father God?,
A Jealous and Angry God,
One God, Allah?,
Idol Worshippers: Who is and Who is Not,
Circumcision: Science or Superstition? ,
Saif and Kareena: Religion and Marriage,
Religious Conversion for Marriage,
Ten Points of Interfaith Dating ,
FAQ on Interfaith Marriage,
45% of Muslims Marry outside their faith,
38% of Hindus marry Abrahamics,
Interfaith Marriages: A Message to Dharmics,
Hindu-Muslim marriages,
Hindu girl/boy, Muslim girl/boy,
Hindu-Christian Marriage,
Hindu-Jew marriages,
Meera Verses Margaret,
Marriage laws,
Follow Jesus not the church

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