What's the Difference Between Faiths?

There are those for whom the knowledge of God's existence is as clear and steadfast as a rock, and they wholeheartedly wish to fulfill His will. Yet, within them lies a certain confusion: Which Torah was truly given by God, and which 'torahs' were forged and penned by honor-seekers looking to establish new religions to elevate themselves? In the following lines, we will briefly address this fundamental difference between the original religion of truth and the counterfeit and imitation religions. Trust of Imagery - or of Knowledge? As is known, the word 'faith' (emunah) in Hebrew derives from the word 'trust' (emun). Whoever loans money to a friend does so because they trust them to repay. However, some trust is based on imagination, and some on knowledge. For example, lending a large sum to a person one doesn't know, trusting they will repay just based on appearance and self-testimony of honesty - this is trust based on imagination. It is simply imagining that the person is reliable and thus possible to lose all the money..

In contrast, there is trust based on knowledge, such as trusting a borrower after one's parents, relatives, and friends have testified that he is known to be reliable, careful with others' money, and always repays debts. With this clear knowledge, the lender gives full trust to that person. This is trust based on knowledge. The immense difference is obvious. All religions, whether the religion of truth or imitative religions, use the term 'faith.' This identical usage naturally causes superficial observers to wonder: What is the true religion? Each speaks of faith, claiming truth. However, those who delve deeper examine the root and foundation of each faith, and this creates the significant difference. The founder of Christianity, for example, demanded: 'Believe in me because God spoke to me'

Yet the great weakness in this faith lies in the simple fact that no one saw God speak to him; there's no testimony besides his claim of being God's messenger. Could he be lying? Maybe some mental illness made him hear voices, imagining it was God? In mental hospitals, many supposedly hear God speaking to them. For this reason, when Muhammad proclaimed himself as a prophet, his tribe, the Quraysh, challenged: 'If true, why doesn't God show us even once that He's talking to you?' Until this false prophet had to flee Mecca to Medina, from where he spread his doctrine with force, as is known. Judaism - A Faith Based on the Testimony of Millions Conversely, Judaism claims to be based on the unified and reliable testimony of millions of people. All of Israel, having left Egypt, witnessed the great revelation at Mount Sinai during the giving of the Torah. They all heard God announce the Ten Commandments: 'I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt.' They also saw Moses ascend and return with the Torah after forty days..

This testimony has been passed from father to son through countless Jewish families in an unbroken chain, marked by gatherings on specific dates like Passover and Shavuot. These Jewish holidays include customs commemorating the events, such as eating matzah on Passover, sitting in a sukkah during Sukkot, and more. Accompanying this personal chain of testimony from father to son, there is a lineage of rabbis from Moses at Sinai to this day, including birth and death dates, life locations, writings, and historical details. Significantly, the historical precedence compounds the clarity: The Torah was given in 1312 BCE, with the Exodus occurring over 3,300 years ago; Christianity started roughly 2,000 years ago, and Islam around 1,400 years ago. With an ancient primary source and subsequent imitations, the true origin is evident to the discerning..

It's no wonder all religions acknowledge the truth of the Torah and the historical event at Mount Sinai, while Judaism declares the other faiths to be imitative and false, proclaiming: God will never change nor replace His religion forever! Common sense dictates that the omnipotent Creator would give His creations an eternal Torah. Additionally, though external or scientific validation of the Torah's truth is unnecessary, we note that recent archeological findings corroborate the scriptures. We've yet to touch upon the Torah's proof mechanisms, such as its accurate future predictions, encoded messages, hidden secrets of nature and creation, the Book of Creation, the mystery of letters, and more captivating mechanisms proving the Torah's divine authorship. In sum, here lies the major difference between Judaism and imitation religions. Our faith is based on knowledge, while theirs on imagination..

The Torah explicitly distinguishes between our Torah, the Torah of truth, and 'imitative torahs.' The Torah states: 'For ask of the days past, which were before you, since the day that God created man upon the earth, and from the ends of heaven and to the ends of heaven, did any such great thing happen, or was heard like it? Did ever a people hear the voice of God speaking out of the fire, as you have heard, and live?' You have been shown to know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides Him. From heaven He made you hear His voice... and His words you heard from the fire... Know today, and bring it to your heart, that the Lord is God, there is no other. (Deuteronomy 4:32-39) And as Rambam writes in the Laws of the Foundation of the Torah (8:1): 'Israel did not believe in Moses from the signs he performed... but by the witness at Mount Sinai. Our eyes saw, not a stranger's, our ears heard, not another's, the fire, the voices, the lightning. He approached the cloud, and we heard...'

We now comprehend the widespread and seemingly strange historical fact that countless Jews suffered torment, were martyred and burned, because they refused to abandon their faith, despite being a persecuted nation. Meanwhile, many from other religions, lacking for nothing apparently, willingly left to join the oppressed Jewish people, knowing that discovery meant being burned alive. Both groups clearly stated their reason for clinging to Judaism: The undeniable truth evident in the original Torah versus the glaring falsehoods in the later imitation religions. And for these and all Jews today choosing to live by eternal truth rather than illusions, it is said, 'You who cleave to the Lord your God are alive, all of you, today.' (Deuteronomy 4:4)