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Grew up in it. My parents. That the religion is a pervasive way of living and way of life. Though the individual elements are useful, they are all just signs pointing to one, all encompassing system. Those few moments that I have been able to lose myself in prayer -- totally lose track of where...

Chag Channukah Same'ach to any and all.

People might lecture but that isn't a formalized or codified punitive option.

We don't have a religious court system currently that deals with criminal cases. There are some ad hoc courts that deal with business or financial disputes and a couple of other topics, but not sin issues. We rely on faith that if something deserves punishment under divine law, the divine takes...

Judaism applies laws through a process detailed in the oral law. The Talmud relates that a court which executed one person in 7 years was considered cruel and harsh. So as stated, even acts which are punishable by death, generally aren't punished by death.

Orthodox Judaism is pretty united on this -- even for things listed as deserving a death penalty, we cannot carry out such a penalty now. And even if we could, the legal system is so complex that it is unlikely that anyone would be found guilty forcing the courts to carry out the penalty.

I'm not sure then what you mean by "mortal sin." As I stated, there are sins that are listed textually as deserving a death penalty. I would think that that makes them "mortal sins." However this does not mean that we can carry out that particular punishment.

Something's being listed textually as a sin deserving a death penalty does not mean that it is a sin for which we can necessarily apply a death penalty, even were this a time and place where there was a process by which we could apply a death penalty.

Israel is not a pure theocracy so its civil law allows for things that a pure theocracy would not. Orthodoxy does not approve of homosexual relations (though not homosexuality per se) but sees nothing as punishable by death (at least by a court system) today.

I mean that the laws and the codification have been established through Orthodox Judaism as the divine authority a long time ago. What we have since then is application and understanding of how and when to use the law.

Within Judaism, it has already been determined.

It is complicated because it isn't just about the laws but about the application of the laws. As to its evolving, it doesn't evolve at the same rate as social codes and, because the belief is that the underlying authorship is divine, some of the implications cannot be reconsidered as years go by.

Not all are applicable today and the ones that are, aren't in the same way as they were back then. Jewish law is complicated.

Yes, but that's often because the mores of the larger society have shifted so denominations which work themselves to align with the community standards change apace.

It wasn't very useful. A few people, mostly dead set against any version of Judaism that wasn't as liberal as can be, or any version of politics that didn't cooki Israel over a spit.

Gmar Tov to all. A Guten Mo'ed in the meanwhile.

Hi all -- I signed up this evening to fill a place in my dance card left empty by the demise of the Amazon user discussions. I have been active in online conversations on a number of sites for almost 20 years and enjoy helping people understand my faith and my understanding of the world. I am...

The Jewish perspective is, at the same time, blunt and nuanced. Distinctions between thought and act, and male and female behaviors are considered. The place of the sin within the identity and community are likewise complex even though the literal written text seems obvious. And, of course, with...