# Do Jews Truly Believe in the Mosaic Law? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 3, 2011, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-jews-truly-believe-in-the-mosaic-law/595027 "2011-09-03T03:59:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-jews-truly-believe-in-the-mosaic-law/595027/61 "2011-10-20T18:28:17Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Anyone read A.J. Jacobs’ book _[The Year of Living Biblically](http://www.ajjacobs.com/books/yolb.asp)_, where he tried to spend a year as the ultimate fundamentalist, following every single Biblical instruction? Since you bring this up: Yeah, I read it. I thought it was interesting and amusing, but I wish he had stayed more on topic, and gone into more detail over exactly how he obeyed the specific laws and what the results were. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-jews-truly-believe-in-the-mosaic-law/595027/62 "2011-10-20T18:44:26Z")
The OP claims that the Torah mandates the death penalty for homosexuality. As Yom Kippur was two weeks ago, the definition of family (Lev. 18, IIRC) is fairly current in my memory. IIRC it says only that homosexual sex is an abomination; like all mitzvot of ethics and morals it does not prescribe a judicial penalty. Where’s the other reference to homosexual sex, and what does it say? I distinguish here between the act and the mindset, as much of Judaism is about what a person does. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-jews-truly-believe-in-the-mosaic-law/595027/63 "2011-10-20T21:33:00Z")
> [@Scuba\_Ben](#): > > The OP claims that the Torah mandates the death penalty for homosexuality. As Yom Kippur was two weeks ago, the definition of family (Lev. 18, IIRC) is fairly current in my memory. IIRC it says only that homosexual sex is an abomination; like all mitzvot of ethics and morals it does not prescribe a judicial penalty. Where’s the other reference to homosexual sex, and what does it say? Leviticus, JPS 1917, emphasis added: **20:13** And if a man lie with mankind, as with womankind, both of them have committed abomination: _ **they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.** _ > [@](#): > > I distinguish here between the act and the mindset, as much of Judaism is about what a person does. I think most people make that distinction. Jesus famously said (in reference to other sins like murder and adultery) that the thought is as bad as the deed, but with the exception of Jimmy Carter, and prosecutors in a conspiracy trial, not even most Christians seem to have accepted that premise. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-jews-truly-believe-in-the-mosaic-law/595027/64 "2011-10-21T01:03:17Z")
> [@brocks](#): > > There is a very famous example in the Christian gospels of Jesus saving a woman from being stoned for adultery. The passage is controversial for several reasons, but I’ve never heard anyone dispute it on the grounds that stoning for adultery was very rare in 1st century Israel. Aren’t people in this thread refering to current Jewish beliefs based on the Talmud? It seems to me that Jewish judges at the time of Jesus would likely be Saduceans with zero interest in oral tradition and rabbinic interpretation, and as a result would have no qualm about sentencing to death liberaly, no? ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-jews-truly-believe-in-the-mosaic-law/595027/65 "2011-10-21T01:20:51Z")
This thread has come alive again? The ‘rabbinic period’ was _after_ the birth of Jesus. ---
**Author:** ![raaswol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/858c86/32.png) [@raaswol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raaswol)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-jews-truly-believe-in-the-mosaic-law/595027/66 "2015-07-21T01:01:41Z")
> [@cmkeller](#): > > IvoryTowerDenizen: > > I have no idea where this comes from, but it’s entirely wrong. It is certainly possible for an atheist to perform certain meritorious actions, but “completely consistent” it is not. In Judaism (and clearly we are referring to the Torah-observant kind), actions do not “supplant” beliefs, they are an expression of belief. There are plenty of actions that, if done without the proper intention in mind (prayer being one of the most obvious), are invalid. I see some very informative answers to this question, correcting assumptions as well as acknowledging the validity of wanting to know and awareness more than most people have from outside. I think its important to note that interpretation of the Torah and extensive philosophical thought on it is an important part of Judaism. We are NEVER meant to follow blindly, nor to rescind the conclusions of one’s own faculties. A person of judaic heritage who abides customs is abiding the “law”, but may be looked upon as empty in their worship by others, or as devout- its varies. One who is lax in their practices but has a strong belief may receive the same praise as well as the same ridicule. We have the same debates as Christians- obedience vs. love from the heart (which is more important?)and modernization leads the younger ones to believe that intention is everything, but it must also be expressed in the actions you subject other humans to…just like youngin’s and hipsters do lol. However, we resolved to tolerate and incorporate philosophical debate with the rise of the Pharisees, long before wars within the Christian faith began. Not to act like we’re better- there’s good and bad in every race, I just mean that Christians should not assume Jews nor Muslims to be enacting harsh laws in accordance with religion. Muhammad preached tolerance and many paths. The crazies who act out atrocities happen in every community. And we’ve been avoiding that for some time, especially after the abuses our people have suffered over the past several centuries. Besides, we’ve been a minority for so long that capital punishment would have been considered a waste of seed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-jews-truly-believe-in-the-mosaic-law/595027.md?page=3)