In my case, it's pebble hard. And if I can get it to point anywhere, I'm too proud to notice which direction it is.
This is going to blow your mind. I went to synagogue a couple times a week on average growing up, then every Saturday and Sunday for a year to study and have my Bar Mitzvah. And to answer your question, I have no idea. I never heard the afterlife spoken about a single time. Judaism is about actions, doing right, being good, raising good kids, helping other people, learning history and learning lessons from history. It's just not really about what comes next. I'm sure some Jews could answer your question, but I can't. Yes. I think you nailed it. Also, the false prophet thing.
You're right, that does blow my mind. The notion of Judaism as a humanistic philosophy rather than a God-focused spirituality is complete anathema to anything I've ever heard. I'm curious how this developed. Definitely something for further study. Thank you.
Well, I am not saying that God wasn't a big part of being Jewish, just that you did stuff because it was the right thing to do, not because of some reciprocal arrangement. We would discuss why God might approve or disapprove is something, we just never discussed why it mattered what God thought. It was much more important what parents thought, what other Jews thought. Now remember, I was a conservative Jew, not an Orthodox Jew. I do not know how they viewed the covenant or the afterlife.
David Cross is a Jewish atheist. From 5:00 onward. [video=youtube;z09So1j4kpk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z09So1j4kpk[/video]
Let's just assume that Bill and Melinda Gates generally view global health issues as absolutely the most important. They have two choices: (1) they can start a foundation focused in that area, direct how the foundation works to address those issues, hire the people they want to hire to carry out the mission, and know that all of the money they donated focuses on global health or (2) they can write a blank check to the government, knowing that some of the money would find it's way to address global health issues, some of the money would go to build roads, some to fund medicare, some money would go to build drones, etc. They pick option 1 because they want to ensure their money goes solely to the address the problem that concerns them the most. It doesn't mean they're anti-government, anti-roads, anti-medicare, anti-drones, etc., it just means they want their money focused on global health.
Speaking of a cross and David Cross; Maeby (thinking about Christianity): Do you guys know where I can get one of those gold necklaces with a "T" on it? Michael: That's a cross. Maeby: Across from where? Only 12 more days!
They pick option 1 because even with 16x the entire worth of Microsoft to spend each year, government doesn't solve much. And they pick issues that government does spend huge sums on. The government alone spends more than Gates' entire net worth in 10 years just to fight AIDS in Africa ($5.6B/year). And, they could donate their money to specific organizations within the government, such as NIH: http://oma.od.nih.gov/manualchapters/management/1135/
