Thursday, July 10, 2008

How to convince a Jew to believe in Judaism

B"H

Very recently I was facing a problem where I didn't know how to react. Actually I knew it but I just couldn't put anything into practice.

At a certain place in Tel Aviv, an Israeli woman came up to me and asked me if I could help her using the Internet, as she has no clue of how to use it.

"Sure, I said, what is it".

"Oh, just sending an e - mail to someone".

"Do you have an e - mail address at all ?"

"No, do I need that ?"

"Yes, but just let us open an account for you quickly".

That's what we did and afterwards she showed me the address of the recipient. She had prepared a letter for him and wanted me to type it in quickly.
The letter in the e - mail was supposed to go to the Dalai Lama. Obviously the Jewish woman with the more than Jewish surname "Cohen" had fallen in love with the Dalai Lama believe. I have no idea about Dalai Lamas and their ideology. Is it considered idol worship (Avodah Zarah) or not ? Well, definitely for a Jew.

I didn't know what to do and typed in the letter where she called the Dalai Lama her "spiritual master". After all the difficulties in her life and searching through different religions, she finally found the truth in Mr. Lama. Furthermore, she asked him for a blessing.

While typing I told her the story that once the Dalai Lama came to Jerusalem where he met the Chabad Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. Mr. Lama asked the Rabbi how it is possible that the Jews survived thousands of years without a temple and while undergoing so many pogroms. "Very easy, Rabbi Steinsaltz responded, we Jews have the Torah". The Dalai Lama was very impressed but didn't know how to respond.
After I told this short story to the woman she said that she knows Chabad but prefers the Dalai Lama who she met in Israel a few years ago.

I didn't try any further, as she apparently wasn't interested and I didn't want and didn't feel like missionizing her to Judaism. Maybe I failed carrying out a certain task in life. The whole time when I opened the e - mail account for her, I thought about what to say. In the end, I couldn't think of anything and just came to the conclusion that the woman has to realize by herself that Mr. Lama is neither the right way nor a spiritual master for a Jew.

How would you have reacted ?
I still see her from time to time but don't want to interfere into her life.

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