NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, my second semester of college is coming to a close (Two finals left and that's it) and I'll have a lot more free time in the coming future to spend on NS (Even more time than now, which is pretty damn close to twenty-four hours a day). So, I think it's as good a time as any to bring back this most excellent wisdom-increasing thread.

A lot of people are clueless as to the practices and beliefs of Judaism. I don't claim to be a master of the subject (I don't speak Hebrew, I need a calendar to remember when all the Holidays are, and I don't know even a tiny percentage of the history and teachings) but I am better informed than the majority of Earths populace.

So, if you have any questions about Judaism feel free to ask them here. I will answer to the best of my knowledge, but please do not expect exact and perfect explanations. What I don't know I will attempt to look up for you, and if I can't find it I will tell you so. I'll try not to make up to much stuff, but I make no promises ;)

As the title says, this is the third time I have posted this thread. Juts in case you want to look anything up, or check to see if you've already asked something, here are the past two threads.

The original thread http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=361180&

The second thread: http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=405332&

Frequently Asked Questions

1) What is 'Kosher' food?

Kosher food is food that is 'clean' (legal) to eat in the Jewish religion. The source of the food has to fit a number of specific criteria, it has been prepared a certain way, and it even has to be eaten a certain way. Pork is the most commonly known Un-Kosher food, since pigs do not have cloven hoofs (one of the requirements of the source animal) or chew their cud (another requirement).

2) What's the difference between Orthodox Judaism and other forms?

Unless you want to discuss minute and individual branches that are caused mainly by isolation from the rest of Judaism or extreme local situations the only differences are the level of observance. The same laws exist for Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform and we use the same holy books (Unlke the seperate branches of the Christian religion) but each level down the followers are less and less strict. For example, the Orthodox will not even turn on their stove to cook meals on Saturday, even going so far as to ask passer-bys outside to come in and do it for them (I'm serious here, I know Orthodox who do this). The Conservative will not spend the entire day inside doing massive amounts of physical labor and paper work on Saturday, but we'll turn on a microwave if we need to. Look at it this way, it's the difference between a person who will always drive the exact speed limit and never jay walks and a person who might drive 5 mph over the limit and will cross at a non-crosswalk.

3) What's your stance on Israel?

Though Israel is officially a Jewish nation and the majority of the nations population is Jewish I view it as simply one of hundreds of governments on Earth and judge it no differently. I judge it based on its actions, not on whether or not it's supporting Judaism. I do often root for it when it comes into conflict with other nations and neither side is clearly right, but not when it is obviously in the wrong.

Why are Jewish mothers objects of such bad jokes? :)

I thought the "ask a" threads where outlawed?

I thought the "ask a" threads where outlawed?
Thats what I thought, but I've seen a few new ones pop up.

Nah, only in when they come in massive swarms that cover the entire General front page. As long as they're kept in reasonable numbers the Mods are fine with them. At least, that's what it was the last time I posted this. It hasn't changed, right? Oh, please tell me it hasn't changed! PLEASE!

Here's a brain teaser.

Since Zionism is a political movement, is it possible to be not a Zionist and still a good Jew.

Sure it is. After all, I'm not a Zionist and I'm a good Jew. Well, I think I am, I'm not the one who makes the final judgement. As you said, Zionism is a political movement with no connection to Judaism beyond the fact that most of its members are Jewish. You could even be a Christian Zionist. The movement is for the creation and support of Israel, not the support of Judaism.

Nah, only in when they come in massive swarms that cover the entire General front page. As long as they're kept in reasonable numbers the Mods are fine with them. At least, that's what it was the last time I posted this. It hasn't changed, right? Oh, please tell me it hasn't changed! PLEASE!
It's the spammy and copycat nature of the "Ask A ..." threads that causes problems, as well as massive swarms and the general negative connotations associated with the name.

Klonor, you've got a legitimate topic. Why do you need to use a deprecated naming convention? You know it attracts copycats. Why not use something else for a change? It's not fair to other players to refuse them permission to this name, but let you post yet another one. Bad precedent for us, bad image for you. No winners.

I'll let it remain for now. If they swarm again, this one will get closed too.

~ Frisbeeteria ~
NationStates Forum Moderator

Well, I picked it as the title for the first thread because my original thread was, itself, a copycat of the "Ask a Mormon" thread. I used the same one for the second and third postings because I'm a person of habit, I like to stay a course. But, since it does seem to inspire more copies than if it had been "A thread for the posting of various inqusitive statements along the topic of the Jewish faith", I think I'll be using something else if this one dies and I go for a fourth in a few months. If you really do think it will inspire to many copycats, I would have no objections to a Mod changing it if they wanted to.

What's with Jews and pickles?

Do we have a thing with pickles?

Do we have a thing with pickles?

Everytime I hear about New York Jews they always seem to be eating a big green pickle.

Are Kosher food rules the same as Hallal (Muslim) food rules?

Wow

Note to self: Avoid New York Jews

Seriously, I'm not aware of any real Jewish/Pickle connection beyond normal 'American' cuisine (I eat them on my Whoppers and with some sandwhiches) but I suppose it could be because (at some point in time) pickles became in integral part in traditional Jewish food and the people you're thinking of simply eat more Jewish food than I do.

Or maybe they just like pickles.

Everytime I hear about New York Jews they always seem to be eating a big green pickle.
Its true! There is a jewish pickle shop around the corner from me-- it is quite small but all they sell is pickles.

Are Kosher food rules the same as Hallal (Muslim) food rules?

I would assume so (Note the stress placed on 'assume') since Islam is a derivative of Judaism, but there are probably some differences as the two religions have evolved along seperate tracts since the split. A good person to ask about this would be Keruvalia, he knows both sides of the wall.

This is going to be super controversial...by the way.

In your belief system, is your creator YHWH? (Sorry for taking sacred names out of context).

If so, doesn't that translate to Jehovah (darn all those vowels!). If so, then doesn't Jehovah = Jesus? (i.e. Jehovah's Witnesses, Latter-day Saints)

If that is true, then what do you think about Jesus as the Christians write in the New Testament?

Oy, names of God, I was hoping nobody would bring this up. Makes my head spin.

Anyway, YHWH is one of the names of God given in the Old Testament, there is never one single name given to refer to Him/Her/It. The reason there are no vowels is because, in Hebrew, vowels aren't letters in and of themselves (As they are in English) but rather little marks placed above, below, and before the consonants. In the Torah the vowels are usually left out (I knew why once, but have since forgotten) which is why it is often translated to English as those four simple consonants. YHWH was probably pronounced Yahweh, and I'm unaware of YHWH meaning Jehovah. According to Wikipedia.org, the confusion between YHWH and Jehova came when the vowels from the word 'Adonai' (Usually used in place of YHWH in prayer) were applied to the word YHWH to remind readers to say Adonai instead, and some translators mistook the vowels as beloning to the word and what came out was Jehova.

Regarding Jesus, I believe he was simply a normal man who got the short end of the stick. Judaism doesn't hold Jesus as anything supernatural, some scholars contest that he even existed, he was a regular person living a normal who was crucified by the Romans when they feared that he would unite Judaism in an uprising.

This is going to be super controversial...by the way.

In your belief system, is your creator YHWH? (Sorry for taking sacred names out of context).

If so, doesn't that translate to Jehovah (darn all those vowels!). If so, then doesn't Jehovah = Jesus? (i.e. Jehovah's Witnesses, Latter-day Saints)

If that is true, then what do you think about Jesus as the Christians write in the New Testament?


I hope you don't mind if I jump in here. I was raised in a loosely non-orthodox jewish household, so I might be able to add some information here. At the period of time when Judaisim first started to become what we know today, that was the 'name' of God. Most practitioners prefer to use titles when speaking of God. Jehovah, a translation of YHWH is simply another name of God. I won't pretend to know much about Jehovah's Witnesses (except I hate it when they knock on my door at 7am) ;) but it's possible that they believe (as some sects of christianity does) that Jesus is a part of God. Christians kinda confuse me on this part, when they try to explain it. Jesus is supposed to be the son, and yet God at the same time. I dunno.

Most Jewish people that I know, mostly family, don't recognize the new testament as anything more than the preachings of a prophet. That's stretching it a bit. It all depends on who you speak to.

By prophet I mean: A person gifted with profound moral insight and exceptional powers of expression. or The chief spokesperson of a movement or cause. Not necessarily translating the direct word of God or whatnot.

As to Jewish mothers, they give the best guilt trips ever and their sole function is to make sure their kids have kids who have kids... ect. At least in my family ;) Quite a shock to them to have a lesbian in the family, but kudos to them for a quick recovery. My grandfather is even prideful of the fact that I came out of the closet. But I digress.. =D

What's with Jews and pickles?real dill pickles are just soooo good (the sour kind, not those horrible sweet ones)
Here's a brain teaser.

Since Zionism is a political movement, is it possible to be not a Zionist and still a good Jew. Yes. It seems pretty straight forward to me. Although I admit to not knowing exactly how a "good Jew" is different from a good person of any other persuasion. if you mean a religious Jew, the answer is clearly yes. In fact, many ultra-orthodox jews (who may or may not live in Israel) don't recognize Israel as a state because they're waiting for the massiah to come and re-establish the kingdom of Judea, etc.

I have a question -

According to your faith, what happens when one dies.
What's the difference in between a Jew and non-Jew(is it Gentile?)?

Just wondering...

My grandfather is even prideful of the fact that I came out of the closet.
Is that where he kept you? :p

Afterlife....eek.

Okay, there is no set vision of the Jewish Afterlife. No clear-cut views of Heaven and Hell, not specified punishment or reward for specific actions. Judaism is rather a blank on this area because, when we were just beginning to broach the subject several millenia ago, that's when Rome marched in and conquered us. The evolution of our religion kinda stopped in place and picked up again years later, but we'd been forced to bypass that particular development. People have tried to piece together theories from obscure statements from the prophets, but nowhere in the Holy Books has anybody said "If you're good, this happens. If you're bad, this happens. If you're so-so, this happens." I have actually sat down with my Rabbi and asked him this specifically and he gave me an interesting answer.

He said that you can view the afterlife as two seperate rooms. In each room there is a table with food heaped upon it, food of every possible variety. Sitting on opposite sides of the tables are people, but each persons arms are twice as long as they normally would be. Becuase their arms are so long they can't bring the food to their own mouths. In one room the people are just sitting and staring at the food, maybe drooling a bit, whereas in the other room the people are eating their fill. They people in the second room are eating because each person is picking up food and placing it in the mouth of the person sitting across from them.

From what I can gather, its that your actions in life carry over to the afterlife (If you're a very bad person the odds are you're not going to be feeding somebody) but that your fate isn't sealed in stone (You could say "Hey, I'm hungry, I'll start feeding that guy across from me and he might do the same"). God, who is supposed to be forgiving and benevolent, would not condemn you for an infinite amount of time based on your actions during a finite time spent on Earth. No being worthy of worship would do such a thing.

So, you are held accountable for your sins here, but you can still make amends even after you've passed on.

Does that make any sense?

The difference between a Jew and a Gentile (Or a Goy, depending on which word you want to use) is purely religion. Well, at least one-way religion. A Goy can convert and become a Jew, but a Jew is a Jew from the day they're born to the day they die. Goys are not bound by the laws of Judaism, they are not required to keep Kosher and observe the Sabbath and so on, and for them to be rewarded in the afterlife they merely have to be a good person.

In fact, many ultra-orthodox jews (who may or may not live in Israel) don't recognize Israel as a state because they're waiting for the massiah to come and re-establish the kingdom of Judea, etc.
"Many"? You are talking about the Neturei Karta, a rather ugly fundamentalist Jewish group (some friends of mine call them the "Jewish Taleban". They are a small sect, numbering several tens of thousands worldwide.

Yes, That does make sense.

On that note, the long arms thing sounds familiar... maybe I read it in a book...

Is that where he kept you? :p

Considering that my closet is half the size of my room, it wasn't that bad ;)

Well I'm off to bed. Good night everyone. Be safe. :cool:

G'night!

There's a very nice, comprehensive Jew FAQ here:

http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/

:)

If additional information is needed.

Why do Hasidic Jews love Lakewood, NJ so much?

Afterlife....eek.


He said that you can view the afterlife as two seperate rooms. In each room there is a table with food heaped upon it, food of every possible variety. Sitting on opposite sides of the tables are people, but each persons arms are twice as long as they normally would be. Becuase their arms are so long they can't bring the food to their own mouths. In one room the people are just sitting and staring at the food, maybe drooling a bit, whereas in the other room the people are eating their fill. They people in the second room are eating because each person is picking up food and placing it in the mouth of the person sitting across from them.

From what I can gather, its that your actions in life carry over to the afterlife (If you're a very bad person the odds are you're not going to be feeding somebody) but that your fate isn't sealed in stone (You could say "Hey, I'm hungry, I'll start feeding that guy across from me and he might do the same"). God, who is supposed to be forgiving and benevolent, would not condemn you for an infinite amount of time based on your actions during a finite time spent on Earth. No being worthy of worship would do such a thing.

So, you are held accountable for your sins here, but you can still make amends even after you've passed on.

Does that make any sense?


I've heard about this, they mentioned it in the Bean Trees. Makes sense really, though isn't as good a recruiting tool as the Christian version.

Also for a "forgiving and benevolent" God he seems rather smitey if the Old Testament is to be believed, not mention perfectly capable of destroying a man's life just to win a bet.

Don't worry...

Despite the fact that Job's life Blowed. (XD)

He's in a better place now...

Florida, kvetching with all the other retired Jews. :D

I've heard about this, they mentioned it in the Bean Trees. Makes sense really, though isn't as good a recruiting tool as the Christian version.
Judaism does not seek converts. In fact, any person who comes to a Jewish rabbi with an intention to convert, has to first prove that his intentions are serious and that he does not do it just for some kind of gain.

That probably explains why their on the bottom of the heap.

I have a question on a cultural rather than religious point:

Why is it, that where ever you go, any area that has a large and reasonably comfortable jewish community, the cultural life of the region in general flourishes, specificly in Art and Music. My father pointed this out to me long ago, and the more I look, the more eveidence I see to support this. Art and Music programs aimed at making Art and Music more accessible to all citizens seem to be a dearly held cause for a surprsing number of prominent Jews and Jewish orginazations.

Being of German background and looking rather too Aryan for my own good, I've had friends, co-workers, classmates turn to me conspiritorily and say something to the effect of "There's a lot of Jews there" when reffereing to a city or even a neighbourhood, as if this is a bad thing. I don't understand that attitude at all. Being both an Artist and a Musician, I have reason to be thankful to hear there's a large Jewish population in any given city. All graduate year students at my art college were handed a 1 year FULL access memebership to the provincial art gallery, paid for by a Jewish philanthropist. This same man has already donated millions worth or art from his collection to the same gallery.

When trying to get noticed in the cut0throat world of Art Galleries, it was always the Jewish gallery owners that made a point of giving me at least a minute of their time to see my slide portfolio.

So what gives, why such a strong love for not just Jewish Culture, but Culture in general? Or is it just one of those things you can only guess at?


Well, in any case, Peace n' Respect.
The DMV

Well, the only reason I can think of for such outgoing and art-supporting actions is that we Jews simply rock, and we rock hard!

But going beyond the fact that we rock, there's also the fact that Judaism has never really had one place to live for any long period of time and has often been extremely nomadic. Traveling through many different nations searching for a place to call home probably exposed them to the benefits of dozens of different cultures. They've seen the good that can come of it and probably just want to make it easier for others to use that good.

--snip--

Judaism has never really had one place to live for any long period of time and has often been extremely nomadic. Traveling through many different nations searching for a place to call home probably exposed them to the benefits of dozens of different cultures. They've seen the good that can come of it and probably just want to make it easier for others to use that good.

That sounds about right. The appreciation for arts and culture must have come from all that exposure to so many cultures, some of them quite alien to the Jews.

I think that the older generation in particular appreciate how wonderful it is to have a home in a safe, friendly community. Most refugees feel this way.

It often seems to be the case that very succesful refugees love to share their success with the nation they've become citizens of.

Klonor: I just want to commend you on this thread. I saw the title and started composing a "this is just one person, remember that he doesn't represent all Jews" reply automatically, but to my surprise and pleasure, I've found it's not necessary. You respond to questions calmly and rationally, seeking to educate, not necessarily blindly defend. Your use of the strapped arms story (which I've heard before as well, and always loved as the example of the religion's afterlife) was above and beyond the call of duty. I hope your pesach is going well.

Everyone: Thank you for taking this seriously, being reasonable, and generally respecting the purpose of this thread. Having been (for the most part) a ghost in the more religiously-oriented threads (here and elsewhere) for a few weeks now, I've not been impressed with the way many threads deteriorate. You've pretty much renewed my belief in online discussion forums.

okay, many moons ago i was helping to clean the kosher co-op at college, as a gentile i wasn't as aware of issues as i might have been. i might have trafed(?) one of their sinks but dumping waste water i was cleaning an area of the kitchen with in it to dispose of it. they decided i didn't, or at least they would go on the assumption i hadn't.

my question is, if i had and no one knew about it, and would all the food came in contact with it be trafed even if no one who was jewish realized this contact had happened. would in effect the entire passover feast be unclean because i had dumped the wrong water in the wrong sink, as a non jew making an honest mistake no one knew about. in essense is kosher an absolute physical state, or a mental metaphorical state of honest effort and best attempts. i know this answer might vary from person to person but i'm assuming a fairly observant orthodox jew since that was probably the core group who were going to eat passover at kosher co-op.

okay, many moons ago i was helping to clean the kosher co-op at college, as a gentile i wasn't as aware of issues as i might have been. i might have trafed(?) one of their sinks but dumping waste water i was cleaning an area of the kitchen with in it to dispose of it. they decided i didn't, or at least they would go on the assumption i hadn't.

my question is, if i had and no one knew about it, and would all the food came in contact with it be trafed even if no one who was jewish realized this contact had happened. would in effect the entire passover feast be unclean because i had dumped the wrong water in the wrong sink, as a non jew making an honest mistake no one knew about. in essense is kosher an absolute physical state, or a mental metaphorical state of honest effort and best attempts. i know this answer might vary from person to person but i'm assuming a fairly observant orthodox jew since that was probably the core group who were going to eat passover at kosher co-op.


I hate to say it, but as far as I know, it is just a straight cut physical state, at the core of it. An omlette made with an egg that had a blood spot is unkosher, regardless of whether those eating it know or not.

That said, most, if not all, of the Jews I know who keep kosher (I personally don't) wouldn't blame you for it, and similarly wouldn't feel unclean having used the sink (though many would rekasher it--the act of making it kosher again--after finding out). ;) There's probably a prayer for having mistakenly used a non-kosher sink--there's a prayer for everything, in my experience.

Yet another Jewish opinion...

I'm a reconstructionist who attended a Jewish school for elementary school and spent my early years as an bordering on Orthodox conservative Jew.

Firstly, about the afterlife thing... A lot of orthodox Jews believe in reincarnation, especially if they believe in Kaballah. (Which Madonna wouldn't know it it bit her in her goyish tuchus, cough cough.)

Anyway, the idea is that the world has a limited number of good souls, so in order to keep things even, good people are reincarnated.

On the subject of the converting thing:

The first thing a rabbi does it someone wants to convert is try to talk the person out of it. Traditionally, the rabbi is supposed to turn away the convert three times, based on the events in the Book of Ruth, when Ruth wanted to go with her mother in law.

snip.I've heard that if you're making some food, and some traif gets in by mistake, as long as its an insignificant portion, like say 1/40, its still kosher. i actually don't know if this is hallachicly accurate, but perhaps the same principle would apply in the case of the sink.