Heh. Have you ever heard the joke about asking 2 Jews a question you get 3 answers. :) I'll try to break this down some. Judaism is splintered between the orthodox (which include Chasidic) who hold strictly to Torah law. Then there is the Conservative movement that believes that some of the laws can and should be modified to meet modern life. Then there is the Reform movement which basically allows it's members to follow whatever laws they want, including the requirement to believe in God. There are other smaller 'sects', but the point is that just having this division shows that there is no central body to keep people 'true' to what is considered (by me) as divine law. The Conservative and Reform movements are a lot more centralized with central committees and rule making organizations. The Orthodox have none. As I'm Orthodox, I'll continue speaking from an Orthodox position from this point on. There are respected authorities who are asked questions about interpretations of law. For example, the question of turning on a light on Shabbos. All of them have basically come to the same conclusion based on scriptures and previous laws which holds that turning on a light is akin to completing a circuit which falls under one of the laws of Shabbos and is not allowed. Leaving a light on or off is ok, but changing its state in Shabbos is not allowed. Such a ruling is basically discussed between other 'top' Rabbis and debated. It's more like scientific peer review than a single council making a decision. The center for the decision is Torah law. The same idea comes up when dealing with Kosher. There are more than one organization who oversees the requirements of Kosher law and as long as they hold by Torah laws, they are trusted. I'll eat anything with an OU or OK on it because I know those organizations follow the laws when overseeing products. On the other hand, the duncan donuts down the block is overseen by a Conservative Rabbi and I can't trust that he's following the laws as strictly as I am so I don't eat there. If I knew for sure that he was strict in his observance of Kosher and his oversight of the duncan donuts, then I would. So basically we have a central body for Reform, a central body for Conservative, and a peer review with the Torah as the center for Orthodoxy.
> I guess I never really thought about defining "organized" religion that > way. > If an organized religion does require a "central body", is there really > nothing in Judaism that would approximate that? No council of the learned, > or anything of that sort? No body that councils the believers on Judaic > philsophy or beliefs? No place to reconcile questions about the faith, > etc? > > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:196357 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
