Do Jews see ghosts/get haunted?

[gometros]

Now, there's the answer in a nutshell!! Thank you! (of course, Jews don't kneel and bow, either, but that's a whole different story . . . )

Not exactly true. We do prostrate ourselves during certain religious services..

 

[nuke]

Cool thread. I'm not Jewish, but my husband and I follow Judaism so we named our son Moshe Israel. Do I believe in ghosts? To some extent, yes. Have I seen one...no. And I hope I NEVER do.



I do believe that is the truth, about the mezuzah. Hubby and I have one on our front and back doors.

I would LOVE to read your novel. Is it real scary? Me and horror don't generally get along, but I can do some. Freddy Krueger for example to this day makes me laugh now. Jason and Mike Meyers still scare the poo out of me! Even though it wasn't horror, I couldn't get through Van Helsing. Is that the correct name?

Do ghosts only come in through the doors? What about the windows or can't they just go through the walls?

 

[luvsJack]

I see it the opposite way. Christians should not believe in ghosts. If ghosts exist for Christians, then clearly heaven does not. How can one have faith that if they are a Christian they will go to heaven when they die, yet believe their dead relatives are ghosts sitting on the edge of their bed at night. Mama can't be in heaven happy and free if she's wandering around the house as a ghost. The two don't go together.

Are there demons? Christians should say yes because demons are not christian and don't go to heaven.

I am a Christian and I believe in ghosts. But its not saying that I think that ghosts are the spirits of people who were unhappy in heaven. But we don't know exactly what heaven is like; maybe while in heaven you have the freedom to go back and forth? I don't know, but I do know the sounds and feelings that we all get in my Mom's house and that we all are well aware fo a presence there.

 

[Tiggerlover91]

Can Christians put one on their door also or would it be sacreligious or disrespectful to the Jewish Religion?

Mmmm....I don't believe you can as a Christian. It's something those of the Jewish faith are very serious about. It's one of the FIRST things our Jewish friends wanted us to do when we moved into our new home...put up the Mezuzah. There are passages written on it about a prayer called the SHEMA. So being you're a Christian and don't follow that commandment of saying the SHEMA it would be disrespectful to have one on your doorpost.

 

[mpls_mm]

Mmmm....I don't believe you can as a Christian. It's something those of the Jewish faith are very serious about. It's one of the FIRST things our Jewish friends wanted us to do when we moved into our new home...put up the Mezuzah. There are passages written on it about a prayer called the SHEMA. So being you're a Christian and don't follow that commandment of saying the SHEMA it would be disrespectful to have one on your doorpost.

That's right! I used to live in an apartment in the Eruv (neighborhood) that had always been inhabited by orthodox jews, when I left I had to take all of my mezuzahs with me because I could not be sure the people moving in were Jewish. If you know the people moving in you can leave them but if there are no guarantees you must take them. The Rabbis want to be sure.

 

[SNylund]

You must have never watched the show Ghost Hunters. Very cool show, definitely has made me a believer in ghosts with all the evidence they have gathered. You should watch it. It comes on Wednesday nights on the SyFy channel.

 

[kittychatalot]

I have never seen one but I had a priest who was ordained by Pope John Paull II as an exorcist. I think the Jewish thing comes up because there are some Jewich sects which do not believe in a traditional idea of an afterlife, so therefore there can be no ghosts. Not sure which one it is, but just like in Christianity there are different groups withe different beliefs within Judaism and it gets confusing. I always wonder at Christians who don't drink for Religious reasons. Untill Jesus comes back to earth, and starts turning wine into water, I am drinking!!!

 

[I Am What I Am]

I'm Christian and believe in ghosts.

I believe that while in Heaven a person can come back to visit their loved ones. (Or go to Disney World)
I also believe that if there is a child's ghost it is either a child visiting their family or a demon trying to fool you.

I'm not sure about ghosts being "held back" by an evil entity. But that's one of life's great mysteries.

 

[BuffettFan]

We're Cathloic.
I dont believe in ghosts.....at all....ever.
But my sister-in-law (also Catholic) wholeheartedly does, and travels all around the country visiting "haunted" sites.

My teenage son has a collection of pictures on his phone of places he's "seen Jesus". In grass clippings, clouds, ketchup....you name it. He keeps saying that he's going to start up a website with them.....but DH and I keep discouraging it ! haha !!

 

[snykymom]

Not exactly true. We do prostrate ourselves during certain religious services..

Right, but I didn't want to get into all that. (And it's not all that often either - Yom Kippur, I believe.) I was primarily kidding - referring to the smilie . But Jews do not "kneel in prayer" as that phrase is generally understood by Christians. No "fall on your knees" either. We don't kneel by the bed to say our nighttime prayers.

That's all I meant.

 

[Soarin08]

I'm Christian (Mormon) and believe in ghosts. I've seen one. I know they exist. Some things can only be explained by ghosts.

 

[Zuzu03]

This is a really interesting thread and I love reading everyone's comments. And I also love that show Ghost Hunters, spooks the heck out of me though.

 

[Aisling]

I think the Jewish thing comes up because there are some Jewich sects which do not believe in a traditional idea of an afterlife, so therefore there can be no ghosts.

I'm the OP jumping back in. For me, the Jewish thing comes up because on all the "haunting" TV shows/books I've seen have only Christians being haunted. ...well, the ones where their religion is mentioned. That's how I began wondering don't Jews get haunted, too?


Thanks for keeping this thread cultural and non religious, per Dis rules.

 

[metalis4ever]

You must have never watched the show Ghost Hunters. Very cool show, definitely has made me a believer in ghosts with all the evidence they have gathered. You should watch it. It comes on Wednesday nights on the SyFy channel.

Uhh huh and Chris Angel can levitate

Although Ghost Hunters is an entertaining show the evidence is far from Scientific. As Benjamin Radford stated in an article concerning CSI "you may own the world's most sophisticated thermometer, but if you are using it as a barometer, your measurements are worthless. Just as using a calculator doesn't make you a mathematician, using a scientific instrument doesn't make you a scientist."
Furthermore, the findings on the show are unsupported by external evidence and the unedited internal evidence collected on the show is not open for Scientific review by any external organizations such as the James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF).

As I previously stated ones Religious affiliation does not determine ones belief in ghosts and/or the supernatural but rather the willingness to believe in something without tangible scientific evidence in other words Faith.

 

[challer]

Clarification. Sephardic Jews will not name a child after the father, but it is traditional to name the first born male child after the paternal grandfather. My grandfather was Samuel (Shmuel), hence I was named for him. My son is named Yitchak after my father, who was alive at the time he was born. It makes genealogy research a pain sometimes, since there is so much repetition of similar names.

Funny, you don't look Sepharadi...

BTW, you want another cultrual, Jewish ghost/possession, see the classic Yiddish film, Der Dybbuk. Freaky...

 

[gometros]

Funny, you don't look Sepharadi...

BTW, you want another cultrual, Jewish ghost/possession, see the classic Yiddish film, Der Dybbuk. Freaky...

Only if it comes with subtitles. You know, I work with Hasidim all day and have yet to pick up a word of that language. My father would turn over in his grave if I did (fyi - for those not in the know. Sephardic Jews speak Ladino, a language related to Spanish in the same way Yiddish is to German).