# What Is The Real Point of Judaism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [April 1, 2007, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-real-point-of-judaism/398307 "2007-04-01T15:59:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-real-point-of-judaism/398307/61 "2007-04-08T00:52:51Z")
[QUOTE=BuickGNX1987] As far as i know, the OT, which is mostly, but not complelely the torah,(specificallly the first five books, called the patriarch) [/quote] I think the word you are looking for is Pentatuch. > [@](#): > > says that adulterers, those who have sexual relations who are not married, are to be condemned to death. So much for no hostility against sex for the jews. I dont think that i even need to get into their laws against homosexuality Actually, only adultery with a married woman and male homosexuality were punishable by death. Female homosexuality was not. In addition, under Talmudic law, the death penalty was quite rare. The rules of evidence are incredibly burdensome, making it nearly impossible for a death penalty to actually be carried out by someone who doesn’t actively want to die. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![zev\_steinhardt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/97f17d/32.png) [@zev\_steinhardt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zev_steinhardt)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-real-point-of-judaism/398307/62 "2007-04-08T00:55:10Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] If we were talking about Christianity then yes. I doubt that Judaism calls it the Pentateuch though. I’m not even sure if that portion is divided the same. [/QUOTE] It’s generally referred to among Orthodox Jews as the Chumash (which means the same thing as Pentatuch). It consists of the first five books of the bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Zev Steinhardt ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-real-point-of-judaism/398307/63 "2007-04-08T18:06:30Z")
If any religion was based on logic it would be called science. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2007, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-real-point-of-judaism/398307/64 "2007-04-08T20:50:53Z")
[QUOTE=zev\_steinhardt] The best analogy I can think of is when I bring a drink to my mother – I don’t do it because I need her to reward me at this point of my life – I do it because I want to make her happy.Zev Steinhardt [/QUOTE] –biting lip-- Must…not…be…disrespectful to **Zev** just cause his mom’s a shikker… must…not. 😃 Seriously, as usual **Zev** has shed light in an articulate way regarding the Tribe. I was raised a Jew. Around the house, doing a good thing, a Mitzvoth ( mitzvah ) was about as fine a thing as you could do if you wanted to be a good Jew. You serve yourself by serving others, you serve the community by serving one person, you serve God by serving others. T his explains all of the kindly waiters one finds in such fine dining estabilishments as Katz’s, The Carnegie Deli and Bernstein’s On Essex. 🙂 Cartooniverse [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-real-point-of-judaism/398307.md?page=3)