Where's a Jew when you need one?

[Terry Sampson]

• Nota bene: In spite of the potentially flippant tone in this thread's title, absolutely no disrespect is intended.
• Given my historical difficulty in asking questions, I cringe while asking the following:
  • Introduction to my first question:
    • Deuteronomy 6:5. "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."
    • Jeremiah 17:5. "Thus said the LORD: 'Cursed is he who trusts in man,Who makes mere flesh his strength,And turns his thoughts from the LORD.' "
  • First question: Can a Jew heed the curse in Jeremiah, fulfill the command in Deuteronomy, and believe things are true that turn out to be false?
  • Second question--which in my mind is the same as the first question: Can a Jew be righteous, i.e. be a Tzaddik, and believe false things?

 

[Tumah]

Deut. is talking about loving G-d. Jer. is talking about not putting your faith in man. And your questions are about believing things are true when in reality they're not.

Analogy:
Can you love your wife while not relying on your kids and believe that the sky is green?

Maybe you have a particular understanding that would tie these things together?

 

[Terry Sampson]

Jer. is talking about not putting your faith in man.

Ahhh nuts! Instead of citing Jeremiah 17:5, I should have cited 17:7. "Blessed is he who trusts in the LORD, Whose trust is the LORD alone." I tend to think of the curse and the blessing as two sides of the same coin. [My reasoning: Can't love the LORD with your whole being and trust Him completely and turn your thoughts from Him simultaneously, no?]

Okay, so replace Jeremiah 17:5 with 17:7 in my OP and change my first question to: Can a Jew love and trust the Lord completely and believe things that are not true?

Something tells me that your next inquiry will ask me what kind of false things do I have in mind? And that's a big chunk of what I'm looking for and why I'm asking.
I'm still trying to sort the "things" part of my question out in my mind: What things does a Jew have to know correctly in order to love and trust the LORD completely?

In all likelihood my questions are going to evoke curiosity: i.e. why do I want to know?

My answer: Because they're just the beginning. And no, this thread is NOT a surreptitious proselytization ploy.

 

[IndigoChild5559]

• Nota bene: In spite of the potentially flippant tone in this thread's title, absolutely no disrespect is intended.
• Given my historical difficulty in asking questions, I cringe while asking the following:
  • Introduction to my first question:
    • Deuteronomy 6:5. "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."
    • Jeremiah 17:5. "Thus said the LORD: 'Cursed is he who trusts in man,Who makes mere flesh his strength,And turns his thoughts from the LORD.' "
  • First question: Can a Jew heed the curse in Jeremiah, fulfill the command in Deuteronomy, and believe things are true that turn out to be false?
  • Second question--which in my mind is the same as the first question: Can a Jew be righteous, i.e. be a Tzaddik, and believe false things?

Jeremiah is talking about putting your faith in man RATHER THAN in Hashem.

As Jews we put our faith in Hashem, and part of this means putting our faith in Hashem THROUGH men, especially those to whom Hashem has given His authority. In Deuteronomy 17:8-13 God himself gives the authority to the Levites and elders (judges/pharisees/rabbis) to interpret the Law. The authority is so absolute that God says it is the death penalty to even question it.

It certainly isn't "following God" to disobey his clearly stated wishes or to undermine them.

 

[Tumah]

Ahhh nuts! Instead of citing Jeremiah 17:5, I should have cited 17:7. "Blessed is he who trusts in the LORD, Whose trust is the LORD alone." I tend to think of the curse and the blessing as two sides of the same coin.

That sounds like it could be true.

[My reasoning: Can't love the LORD with your whole being and trust Him completely and turn your thoughts from Him simultaneously, no?]

I guess that depends on how you interpret turning your thoughts. But it could be true.

Okay, so replace Jeremiah 17:5 with 17:7 in my OP and change my first question to: Can a Jew love and trust the Lord completely and believe things that are not true?

I don't see why it shouldn't be possible.

 

[Jake1001]

• Nota bene: In spite of the potentially flippant tone in this thread's title, absolutely no disrespect is intended.
• Given my historical difficulty in asking questions, I cringe while asking the following:
  • Introduction to my first question:
    • Deuteronomy 6:5. "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might."
    • Jeremiah 17:5. "Thus said the LORD: 'Cursed is he who trusts in man,Who makes mere flesh his strength,And turns his thoughts from the LORD.' "
  • First question: Can a Jew heed the curse in Jeremiah, fulfill the command in Deuteronomy, and believe things are true that turn out to be false?
  • Second question--which in my mind is the same as the first question: Can a Jew be righteous, i.e. be a Tzaddik, and believe false things?

These are some bizarre questions, but I guess we have to deal with every loose screw in the engine.

#1- of course Jews can be wrong, do you think we are all King David ?

#2-no, Jews cannot believe false things