Am I a “Good Jew”?

Question

Can I be a good Jew, and merely follow the Noahide Laws?

Also, am I a Jew?

Obviously I don’t follow the 613 Commandments, or 10, as I’m writing on the Sabbath 🙂

Background:
My mother is Jewish, my father is Christian.
As a baby, I had first a Bris, then a Baptism.
At 13, I received a Confirmation in the Catholic Church.
However, this was at the behest of my father.

Even at 13, I felt uncomfortable with the Christian core, that God is more than one being, especially three, and haven’t believed as such for decades.

Also, I never understood the Catholic practice of prayer to saints or asking for their blessings, since the New Testament doesn’t claim their divinity.

My reading found that even the Old Testament/interpretation of the Tenakh, is quite clear, there’s one God. So, a split into three, and prayer to men, alive or dead, aka saints, is nonsensical.

Thank you,

0

Answers

  1. The Just Ask! - AskTheRabbi.org Team

    The only way that a person can be a “good Jew”is by keeping the Commandments that are given specifically to the Jews. The Seven Noachide Laws are universal laws that are obligatory to all of mankind. Keeping them makes a person a “good Noachide” and a follower of Monotheism. But as Jews we have greater responsibilities and obligations than the other Peoples of the world and that is reflected by the Commandments that we are obligated in. The fact that a Jew is not keeping all the Commandments that he is supposed is not the only measuring rod as to whether he is a “good Jew”or not – God takes every single detail into account and that includes what a person is capable of doing at any one given moment of time and also what their spiritual aspirations and desires are.

    Best wishes from the AskTheRabbi.org Team