Re: Religious Query

BS"D
Dear Anita,
In truth, when G-d created the world, we all followed the same "one-G-d".
Even Cain, for all his miserableness (not our grandfather), he even had a personal "one-on-one" relationship with G-d.
This has not changed.Whether one is a Jew or not, this relationship exists eternally.

10 generations later, you have Noah (he comes from Seth, our great granfather).10 generations later you have the first Jew, Avraham (Abraham).

10 generations later we find Moshe (Moses) getting the Torah from G-d on a mountain in the middle of a wilderness.

Whom did G-d give this Torah to?
At that time there was only ONE Jew that G-d knew about and just as the essential relationship has not changed since the time of Adam, so too, whom is a Jew has not changed.
G-d has not changed, his miracles and wonders that he did for the Jews have not changed.

What has happened is that WE have changed.
Throughout history, you always had more religious, less religious, not at all religious, but the person still remains a Jew.

If one comes from a Jewish mother or converts in the traditional manner, by going before a Rabbinical court and declaring a sincere intent to live a Jewish life, keeping Kosher, Shabbat, and family purity, so then they cannot refuse to accept him or her.

When G-d gave Adam the first commandment, it was not to eat from the tree.
This is important to understand.
The way G-d wants us to have a relationship with him in this world is by doing what he wants.
Not in our hearts, but actually doing actions, sincere, not sincere, the main thing is the Action!

So, G-d gave us commandments of three types:
Thought, Speech and Action.
We think about certain ideas.
We avoid thinking about forbidden ideas.

We Speak permitted words.
We avoid hurting people with our words.
We say blessings.
We learn Torah (G-ds law) out loud, with our lips.

We eat kosher (not mixing milk and meat, taking bugs out of vegetables, eating only meat that was ritually slaughtered, drinking only milk that is certified to come from a kosher animal such as a cow or goat, eating only fish with fins and scales, onlyeating eggs from kosher birds, checking to make sure we are not eating blood in our eggs or meat)
We keep the Sabbath - from Friday night until Saturday night.We eat 3 meals, we make kiddush, We don't drive, cook, turn on lights. etc.

We keep family purity - A woman and her hubby are permitted together when she is not having her monthly flow.She keeps track of the cycle and counts 7 days after her flow stops, then she goes to a ritual bath called a "mikvah".
She is with her husband (in the same bed) until she sees blood again.Then they separate (for about 2 weeks).

There are 613 Commandments called mitzvot.
All of them involve doing in thought, speech or action.

A soul when it is above, cannot rise higher.
It will wait many years to come down again and be reincarnated into a body and be able to keep mitzvot again.
When it finishes a life in this world and goes to above, it is sent before a tribunal.The judges there decide if the soul fulfilled its purpose in the world by keeping its alloted measure of mitzvot.If not, it is sent back down to be reincarnated again.This is done as many times as it takes to fill its "quota".
When all the souls have come down, from the treasure house of souls called "Goof", then the moshiach, our righteous redeemer, must come!!

Anyways, when the soul is sent back upstairs after a life of 120 years on this world, so it is in a higher standing than when it was previously.
But, it must wait to come down here again, before it can rise higher.

In a nutshell, a Jew is a person of action.
This is why this world is called "Olam HaAsiyah".
The world of Action (Asiyah means: Action).
We do, and it has a reciprocal effect on us IN this world and in the world to come as well.
But, the main thing is what we do in this world.
Whether we see its good effects or not, the creator of the owrld has obligated us to be responsible for doing GOOD in this world.

And the only way one can do true Good is to do what G-d gave us to do, his commandments.
Otherwise, we are doing what WE want....

This state of itself is not a desireable one, as it delays our fulfilling our true purpose, and that is to turn the world over for Good until so much good is revealed that the Moshiach, the Messiah, must come!

So, it is always good that a person try to do as much as we can of what G-d wants, his mitzvot.
For Jews this 613 commandments.
For non-Jews there are 7 commandments:
1. Don't steal
2. Don't murder (courts can and must kill)
3. Have fair courts
4. Keep away from sexually deviant relationships
5. Don't eat the limb off of a living animal
(animals must be dead and not moving, before eating)
6. Believe in one G-d
7. Don't believe in other G-ds
(one can believe in One G-d and still believe in othergods too, so we are commanded as such.)

For whomever does this, Non-Jew or Jew, then G-d does for him like he did for the Jews in the Desert and just as there were clouds protecting the Jews, so too does he make miracles (seen and unseen) for that person as well....
I hope this was helpful.
Wishing you well,
Raanan Isseroff
Brooklyn, USA