The Judaism Category on PalTalk was established in order to offer users the opportunity to learn about Judaism and to participate in other activities, such as chat and music, that are generally related to Judaism and which provide the opportunity for users to fellowship, share, and enjoy.

Recognizing the fact that the world's Jewish community is not homogeneous in terms of its degree and level of observance of the Jewish faith as well as some variations in how the precepts of the Jewish faith are observed, it is necessary to have some basic operational guidelines for the Judaism category on PalTalk.  These guidelines will describe the standards by which to determine whether teachings about Judaism belong in the category, and who may own and moderate groups within the category.

I.            Groups

As RAMBAM's (Maimonides') 13 Principles of Faith is widely considered the minimum requirements of Jewish belief, it was agreed upon by PalTalk that all teaching related to Judaism must be consistent these 13 Principles listed below (taken from http://www.jewfaq.org/beliefs.htm):

 1.  G-d exists

 2.  G-d is one and unique

 3.  G-d is incorporeal

 4.  G-d is eternal

 5.  Prayer is to be directed to G-d alone and to no other

 6.  The words of the prophets are true

 7.  The prophecies of Moses are true, and he was the greatest of the

      prophets

 8.  The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings

      now contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses

 9.  There will be no other Torah

10.  G-d knows the thoughts and deeds of men

11.  G-d will reward the good and punish the wicked

12.  The Messiah will come

13.  The dead will be resurrected

Consequently, groups that host teaching activites on matters related to Judaism must adhere to RAMBAM's principles for them to operate in the Judaism Category.  Other categories, such as Religious and Social Issues are available for other related activities.

II.            Group Owners & Group Moderators

Groups, permanent or temporary, in the Judaism category on PalTalk may be owned and moderated by persons who are Jews and Jewish as well as by persons who are Noahides (see below concerning specific exclusions).

The following definitions are provided to help administer this policy:

Jews and Jewish – Those who fall into one of the following categories, and who do not embrace a belief system, including Scriptures, that is outside of the general boundaries of the Jewish faith, regardless of their degree of observance:

Y      Born of a mother who is/was a Jew (traditional)

Y      Whose father is/was a Jew and who was raised within Judaism (liberal)

Y      Converted to Judaism via a conversion acceptable to the Rabbinic authorities (traditional)

Y      Converted to Judaism via a conversion acceptable to the State of Israel (liberal)

Noahides – Those who have declared themselves as followers of the Seven Laws of Noah, and who have adjoined themselves to traditional Judaism and its teachings, and who have renounced any and all other religious beliefs they may have followed in the past.

Specific exclusions – Those who may not own and moderate groups within the Judaism section are:

X     Persons who follow another faith (e.g., Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, etc.)

X     Persons who fall into the category of Hebrew-Christians (e.g., Jews for Jesus, Messianics, Nazarenes, etc.)

X     Persons who fall into the category of Hebrew-Muslims (e.g., Jews for Allah)

X     Any and all others who fail to qualify under the Jews and Jewish and Noahide descriptions

III.            General

To facilitate and help maintain orderly groups, it is requested that each public group that operates in the Judaism category have at least one group moderator (group administrator).  This can be the group owner or any others who qualify under the guidelines described in Section II, and with whom the group owner has shared the group administrative code.  Groups that operate without a group moderator may be allowed to continue to operate at the option of a Category Host, but may them be subject to restrictions on audio and text chat for newcomers.