Answering Catholic bosses questions about religion

amother

Blonde

Wed, Nov 23 2016, 10:24 am

My employer is a very devout Catholic women. She has a lot of knowledge of Tanach and is very into religious issues and observance. We don't usually discuss religion but she offhandly asked me if I can direct her to a rabbi who can answer some questions she has on Sefer Shmuel. I should have simply avoided the issue but instead I asked her what her question is thinking I could probably answer it myself. One thing led to another until she said that her actual question is that she wants to understand why her religion broke off from Judaism from the Jewish perspective. And what is the Orthodox Jewish perspective on Catholicism in general.

Whatever I'm going to tell her has the potential of turning into a minefield. How should I go about this? For now I told her I'll think about who or where to send her to.

amother

Jade

Wed, Nov 23 2016, 11:01 am

Perhaps contact "Jews for Judaism". They could direct you to resources your boss could read on the topic or a rabbi to speak with.

Chayalle

Wed, Nov 23 2016, 11:02 am

Do you have a Rav you can asks about what to answer her?

I used to have a coworker who was the daughter of a Protestant minister. She asked me what our belief is re: oso haish, and I said we don't believe he was the son of G-d, we don't believe in immaculate conception. She told me she kinda doesn't believe that either......

I gotta say I was young then.....you have to be careful what you say.....

DrMom

Wed, Nov 23 2016, 11:29 am

She asked you to direct her to a rabbi, so why don't you do just that? He should be trained to answer such questions.

Give your LOR the heads-up first.

Roots

Wed, Nov 23 2016, 11:35 am

reffer her to rabbi yossi mizrachi's website. he has a long debate with a priest , she might find that very interesting.
the website is divineinformation.com

amother

Burgundy

Wed, Nov 23 2016, 11:38 am

Roots wrote:

reffer her to rabbi yossi mizrachi's website. he has a long debate with a priest , she might find that very interesting.
the website is divineinformation.com

I would really hesitate to recommend a rabbi who often distorts Judaism to anyone. If I had such a boss actually, recommended that and then she perhaps watched some other truly horrible speeches from him - I wouldn't want to deal with all the questions she's have about that!

imasinger

Wed, Nov 23 2016, 12:16 pm

You might want to prepare the way by commenting in a friendly way that these topics can be controversial, and you hope that her curiosity won't affect your excellent working relationship.

Likely, she'll say, "oh, no, never, of course not." But by having brought up the concern, she'll be less likely to have it get in the way.

Even if you direct her elsewhere, she might still want your thoughts on some piece of her learning. Don't be afraid; just keep sending the message that some things are complex, and you are not really comfortable discussing religion in a boss/worker relationship, you're sure she understands.

tichellady

Wed, Nov 23 2016, 2:26 pm

I would say, " this book might be a good resource for you. I am sure that if you have specific questions you could contact Jews for Judaism." https://www.amazon.com/Why-Jew.....10225

Personally, I love discussing Religion but if I were not comfortable I would also add, " I don't want to talk about something so personal at work."

Iymnok

Wed, Nov 23 2016, 2:49 pm

Jews for Judaism rabbis are very well equipped for these questions and should know the halachos of how to apply not teaching Torah to non-Jews.

debsey

Wed, Nov 23 2016, 6:42 pm

I've had this experience many times. I've been asked if Jews believe in G-d, been "witnessed" to, and had some really insightful, fascinating conversations with colleagues of all stripes.

Given that this is your boss, however, you could end up in an uncomfortable situation. I'd point her in the direction of a rabbi (you've gotten lots of good suggestions) and tell her something like "I value our relationship, and I've learned that there are two things that should never be talked about in the workplace - religion and politics - if you want to retain the relationships you value. So let's talk about something else....."

amother

Blonde

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 8:11 pm

debsey wrote:

OP - I'm curious what you ended up doing.....

I did a combination of a lot of the advice given here. I (1) gave her the aish.com website with a link to ask the rabbi (2)Recommended she look at the book Judaism and Christianity: The Differences and (3)I'm working for her for over seven years and this is the first time she ever brought up religion but still I told her that I'm sure those sources would be better at guiding her in the future than I could. She got the hint but wasn't offended in the slightest by anything I said.

Thank you all for your responses!!!

debsey

Sun, Nov 27 2016, 8:30 pm

amother wrote:

So glad it worked out for you!