71
votes
Accepted
Does the Talmud say, "The Jews are called human beings, but the non-Jews are not humans. They are beasts."?
This is a situation in which inadequate understanding of terminology causes confusion.
In the referenced text, the Jews are called Adam, and the Gentiles are not called Adam. The Gentiles are the non-...
- 2,140
34
votes
Accepted
Did Hitler support zionism?
Wiktionary support, verb:
To back a cause, party, etc., mentally or with concrete aid.
To help, particularly financially.
Although there is evidence that Hitler agreed to (perhaps initiated) a ...
- 17.7k
29
votes
Accepted
Did fewer Jews die of the Black Plague because of ritual washing?
So, the JewishHistory.org website touts the hygiene of the ghettos in this way:
The sanitary conditions in the Jewish neighborhood, primitive as it
may be by today’s standards, was [sic] always ...
- 44.9k
25
votes
Accepted
How old is Judaism?
The comments on this question have correctly pointed out that it is possibly unanswerable because of the variety of meanings attributed to the word "Judaism." The question, as well as the ...
- 44.9k
20
votes
Accepted
Do certain religious traditions believe that Eve had sex with the Serpent?
Eve having Sex with the serpent
This is also called the serpent seed theory.
The idea is that the arch angel Samael was the serpent and used that form to have sex with Eve, which then resulted in the ...
tim♦
- 51.9k
17
votes
Accepted
Are Jewish students over-represented at Harvard University?
Jewish students are overrepresented in Harvard compared to the percentage of Jews in the US total population, but the graph shown misleading and is based on wrong numbers.
The Graph is Misleading
...
- 32k
8
votes
Accepted
Did the ten plagues take place in Ancient Egypt?
I'll take a crack at an answer based on Matthew's sources (Ipuwer papyrus. This is a "best effort" answer, since we don't really have anything definitive, and can't prove a negative. ...
7
votes
Does the Talmud say, "The Jews are called human beings, but the non-Jews are not humans. They are beasts."?
In chapter 114b of Baba Metzi'a (page 404 of the linked PDF), I find these lines in the first paragraph to be closest to the claim:
The graves of Gentiles do not defile, for it is written, And ye ...
- 19k
6
votes
Accepted
Was the Pentateuch dated back to the second millenium B.C.E?
The source you quote makes the case for authorship in the Mosaic era (or even by Moses himself, as is the tradition), based on internal textual evidence and where there is an apparent lack of motive ...
- 44.9k
5
votes
Did the ten plagues take place in Ancient Egypt?
Cristobol's answer discusses an Egyptian text that lists generic disasters hitting Egypt. There is, however, another Egyptian source which connects such disasters to the Jewish Exodus... supposedly.
...
- 44.9k
5
votes
How old is Judaism?
One of the leading biblical scholars in the United States, Michael D. Coogan, dates the archeological evidence for the events described in the Old Testament at ca. 3300-1200 BCE.1
The first five ...
- 10.8k
5
votes
Did fewer Jews die of the Black Plague because of ritual washing?
Compliance with rules for hygiene could not reduce mortality from plague so much -
...today it is accepted that the percentage of Jews who died in the plague was not less than the percentage of ...
- 151
4
votes
Did the Hebrew exodus from Egypt ever happen?
The Exodus
The Exodus is considered a myth by most non biblical historians.
Wikipedia defines the Exodus as:
The Exodus (Hebrew: יציאת מצרים, Yeẓi’at Miẓrayim: lit. 'Departure from Egypt') is the ...
- 2,792
4
votes
Is the story of a divine miracle at Mt. Sinai, witnessed by a national audience, unique among cultures or religions?
Christianity points to its founding on the Day of Pentecost, described in Acts 2, when an entire group not only observed a miracle but each one personally participated in it. The event is ...
- 141
4
votes
Does the Talmud say, "The Jews are called human beings, but the non-Jews are not humans. They are beasts."?
TL;DR - the claim is false, partly a phrase taken (slightly) out of context (the first part) and partly a complete fabrication (the second part).
I've heard this claim before, and got intrigued, ...
- 1,304
4
votes
Did The Maharal of Prague claim this verse was recursive?
The Maharal surely didn't use the word "recursion", which is from the 20th century (and in English, which he didn't speak). I understand Sussman's dedication as an interpretation of the Maharal's ...
- 621
3
votes
Accepted
Did the Israeli paper Ma'ariv run an article titled "The Jews Who Run Clinton's Court" in 1994?
The article seems real, but mentions influence, not control.
There seems to be a bit of a mix up about who said what:
An article published in the Israeli newspaper Maariv in 1994, authored by ...
- 621
1
vote
Did a Jewish rabbi precisely calculate the duration of the full moon cycle 1800 years ago?
It is written in the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah p.25), which is dated 200-500 CE, and attributed of Gamlial (a Jewish leader early in the first century CE), who claimed to have learnt it from his ...
- 143
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