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Lv 5
? asked in Arts & HumanitiesPhilosophy · 8 years ago

Jewish friends, could you give me a deep understanding of who HaSatan is?

I would appreciate it.

6 Answers

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  • 8 years ago
    Favorite Answer

    Generally speaking, the Christian devil. In Hebrew, it literally means the adversary. I have a lot of life experience with stuff like this, so I'm going to assume that your question comes from some sort of Christian, Nazarene or Messianic background.

    In Judaism, we don't have a "devil' like they do in Christianity where there is an evil enemy of God with some independent power, who battles God, and who is also the enemy and accuser of man. We have the good and evil inclinations, both of which are ultimately created by God and which can serve to further your ultimate good if you know how to channel it correctly. You want the evil inclination to be a servant of the good inclination (those little cartoon characters you've seen in cartoons like The Flinstones).

    In Christianity, there is this belief in a devil which influences people to do the wrong thing, and in some cases sends demons and minions to possess a person who is vulnerable. Ultimately the problem is that one, it allows people to abdicate personal responsibility for their actions by saying "The devil/demon made me do it." or "I was possessed." It also ascribes power to something other than God. In Judaism, God is the ultimate and only real power in this existence. To say that there is another power, even a creation of God (fallen angel) who has his own source of power and can stand up to be an enemy of God is blasphemous and limits God's power. Why? Because it says, there is another power, even though the theology says God/good will win out. God doesn't have enemies. There is nothing to challenge God's sovereignty, God's power, God's will. No creation (because God created everything, right?) can challenge God. It's impossible. If there were a separate power, God wouldn't be God! Think about it. It means, that there is a supernatural being out there that has some voluntary will and strength outside of God's control or dominion, or whatever. Impossible.

    What we do have is an angel (Satan is one name, I believe) who's task it is (all angel's missions are directly from God) to keep track of our shortcomings and accuse us in the "heavenly court' . It stands as witness and will testify against us, if we do not disarm his ability to do so. Traditionally there are ways to do this through repentance and atonement, etc. I'm sure there is a lot more info out there about this far beyond what I've said, but that is the basic.

    So, simply put, hasatan isn't anything like the red-skinned guy with horns, a tail, an evil sneer who carries a pitch fork and lives in a fiery pit with demonic minions.

    Source(s): Judaism
  • 8 years ago

    HaSatan only really makes an appearance in the book of Job. We understand him to be a sort of prosecuting attorney in Heaven. Nothing more.

    Source(s): I'm Jewish.
  • 8 years ago

    HaSatan? Never heard of him her them or it. If you mean the Devil, I think he is a fallen angel, AKA Lucifer (bringer of light) who staged a coup in heaven that was put down and resulted in him being cast down. Or possibly you mean the serpent that tempted Eve?

    If you mean Hasidism, it is one of the most conservative sects of the Hebrew faith, with a tradition of unhip, somber clothing and a repression of women in the home and the bedchamber nearly as bad as Islamic practices.

    I apologize if this is not helpful, but to be honest, I really don't understand the question in the first place. Hope you find your answer, and have lots of love, laughter and music in your life.

  • Anonymous
    7 years ago

    complex problem look on on to google or bing that will may help

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  • ?
    Lv 7
    8 years ago

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satan

    It is the Jewish conceptualization of Satan. It is different from the Christian notion and also spelled differently.

  • 8 years ago
    Source(s): Agnostic Jew, visit the Conservative movement for Cutlure & Praying purpose.
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