Judaism, beliefs, terminology, etc

[buyjupiter]

Without getting too deeply into theology, I thought it might be a good idea to have a place to ask questions about Judaism, Hebrew language, and basic beliefs since I've seen quite a few things posted about Judaism lately that aren't quite...accurate.

Names of God, to begin with are pretty much: Elohim (as noted by Ireth this is plural and has some instances where it is used in a plural sense, but mostly just used in the singular), Adonai, El (and variations), and most popularly in English "The Lord".

YHWH, transliterated into "Yahweh" by Christian theologians, isn't used. There are reasons for this, most notably because the vowels were not put in (well they weren't ever put in, in the Torah) and any attempt to pronounce it would be wrong, and potentially offensive to God, so best to just not try.

The Hebrew language has noun endings that denote gender and number. The exception to this is the singular male nouns. They don't get endings. Everything else should have some kind of ending, but as my Hebrew isn't up to par, I don't recall what the exceptions are. I don't imagine anyone would want to get too far into creating text in Hebrew as it would have a very small audience that could read it. And transliterating text from a non-Roman alphabet can be problematic.

Another note on Hebrew: there's Torah Hebrew and there is modern Hebrew. The Hebrew used in the Torah is not spoken, except in study or in shul, or during prayers. Modern Hebrew is the language you're looking for when you're talking about Hebrew today. And it has rules and grammar and words that are not included in the Torah, and to be honest my Hebrew is better when it's related to the Torah.

As for basic beliefs: Torah is law, follow the law, do mitzvot (good deeds), keep kosher, study Torah (traditionally if you're a man, but this has changed outside of Orthodoxy), etc. It basically boils down to be a decent person, follow your traditions, celebrate what God has given you and you should be fine.

If there are any questions about the above or general beliefs, I would be happy to answer them to the best of my ability. I don't want to get into any thorny debates about the topic, but by "general beliefs" I mean asking what "mitzvot" are. Or what a Seder is. Not debating the translation of one line and what effect it has on a religion.

If anyone else is Orthodox or Conservative, your input would be appreciated as well. I'm from a Reform congregation that leaned Orthodox at times, so I probably have a weird blend of traditions.

 

[Ireth]

Man, I wish I remembered more from my Judiac Studies course in college! I'll help out where I can, but don't expect me to know everything.

 

[GeekDavid]

Apropos of nothing, I remember a kind old Jewish family friend who obeyed all the Kosher laws except one... he loved pork chops. As all my natural grandparents had passed on by the time I was old enough to know what a grandparent was, he became a surrogate grandfather to me.

I still miss him sometimes.

 

[buyjupiter]

Man, I wish I remembered more from my Judiac Studies course in college! I'll help out where I can, but don't expect me to know everything.

Heck, I'm probably not the best person for this one either, but I figure since I'm at least nominally Jewish, it'd be remiss of me to allow incorrect information to perpetuate.

I do want to say that I'll try to talk about the historical perspective more than the faith aspect of Judaism, because I feel more comfortable talking about history.

 

[buyjupiter]

Apropos of nothing, I remember a kind old Jewish family friend who obeyed all the Kosher laws except one... he loved pork chops. As all my natural grandparents had passed on by the time I was old enough to know what a grandparent was, he became a surrogate grandfather to me.

I still miss him sometimes.

Kosher can be difficult. I mean, cheeseburgers?

It's always nice to have surrogate grandparents, when your own have passed on.

 

[GeekDavid]

Kosher can be difficult. I mean, cheeseburgers?

Waitaminnit... cheeseburgers aren't kosher? I think I'd die without the occasional cheeseburger.

 

[Ireth]

Waitaminnit... cheeseburgers aren't kosher? I think I'd die without the occasional cheeseburger.

Nope, it's verboten to have meat and dairy in the same meal. Apparently the verse that says "never cook a kid in its mother's milk" (Ex. 23:19) has been extrapolated over the centuries.

 

[buyjupiter]

Waitaminnit... cheeseburgers aren't kosher? I think I'd die without the occasional cheeseburger.

Meat and milk products cannot be served in the same meal and cannot be prepared together. If you're really strict about it, you even have to wait several hours before consuming a milk product, after eating meat, that is.

I'm bad, and I'll have the occasional cheeseburger. I arbitrarily draw the line at pork, mainly because I can't stand it. When I'm living on my own it is far easier to keep a kosher household, but sometimes I slip up and eat cheeseburgers.

 

[GeekDavid]

Meat and milk products cannot be served in the same meal and cannot be prepared together. If you're really strict about it, you even have to wait several hours before consuming a milk product, after eating meat, that is.

But cheese and beef go so well together... in fact, cheese and chicken go well together too.

 

[buyjupiter]

But cheese and beef go so well together... in fact, cheese and chicken go well together too.

Dairy and fish are allowed together. Lox and bagels and cream cheese are quite yummy!

Personally, it's pretty easy for me to eat kosher. I try to eat kosher cuts of meat (when I eat meat). Hamburger can be kind of iffy. I don't like fish enough to worry about ever combining it with a meat dish.

I do miss the kosher deli I used to go to all the time for lunch. They had the best tuna sandwiches in the world. No mayo (yuck) and none of the nasty filler bits that normally go into tuna. Actually, they had the best everything there.

Kosher is also tied into meal preparation, what and when and how you can eat. During Pesach (Passover) for example, you take out your cookware/dishes/silverware that you only use for Pesach. You don't allow any bread products in the house for the week, and you remove all bread products that you previously had in your kitchen.

You'd have cookware for meat (and separate cookware for fish) and cookware for dairy dishes, and the two should never touch.

I think it leads to a lot of vegetarianism, to be quite honest. It's cheaper to be vegetarian than it is to consume meat, and this has been historically true as well.

 

[Ireth]

On the subject of meal preparation, there's another layer involved when a woman is menstruating. Menstruation renders a woman "unclean", and anything she touches during her period will likewise be unclean. She therefore has to use her own dishes when eating, and no one can sit on any piece of furniture she's sat on.

 

[buyjupiter]

On the subject of meal preparation, there's another layer involved when a woman is menstruating. Menstruation renders a woman "unclean", and anything she touches during her period will likewise be unclean. She therefore has to use her own dishes when eating, and no one can sit on any piece of furniture she's sat on.

This has been historically true, and it may even be true in some Orthodox congregations (or Hasidic ones as well), but from what I can tell from what women have said in Reform congregations I don't think that aspect is as observed as it used to be.

I believe that where staying apart during menstruation comes into play is within the context of a marriage.

 

[TrustMeImRudy]

I'll add in as well, although I was raised reform Judaism, and we were too poor to keep a lot of customs later in life. No Bar Mitzvah for me D: but I'm quite good on history when the need for that arises.

And yeah, in reforms that I have seen, typically it only counts within the couples, and menstruating women don't need to be kept apart in other parts of life.

 

[Dragev]

Wow nice topic!
I have Jewish family on my mother's side (they immigrated to Scandinavia from Lithuania or Poland around 1900), but the last Jewish person in my direct line is 6 generations back, so I don't know a lot about it.

I always wondered what connection Judaism has with the Old Testament? I don't remember what I learnt about it for catechism (didn't do my Confirmation anyway) because the pastor focused more on the New Testament. He once jokingly referred to the Old Testament as the "graphic testament" (as in graphic violence).

 

[TrustMeImRudy]

The Old Testament is the holy book of Judaism, or the interpretation of it anyways. It tells the story of the ancient Israelites and how they became [in Hebrew Canon] God's chosen people, and what happened thereafter. So it's all about how the jewish people were created, how they were chosen, how they went through phases of life, they grew up and worked at being good chosen, then they went through a couple mid-life crises' and may have gone off with a couple other gods a few times, got punished a bunch; [well there was a liberal smattering of punishment thrown about. lots of dalliances with idolatry may have been the cause(read: it was the cause)] and then got scattered and left with the hope of a messiah coming one day. To the Jews the Old Testament is a translation, the books are the Torah and the Tanakh, and a few other books help as well.

The Old Testament is very graphic. Not just in violence either.

 

[buyjupiter]

The Old Testament is very graphic. Not just in violence either.

I blushed reading "Song of Solomon". Quite a few times actually. And I'm so glad I didn't read it when I was younger, because I could imagine how those conversations would have gone. "Um, well, it's...something we'll discuss when you're older."

 

[GeekDavid]

I blushed reading "Song of Solomon". Quite a few times actually. And I'm so glad I didn't read it when I was younger, because I could imagine how those conversations would have gone. "Um, well, it's...something we'll discuss when you're older."

If those depictions are accurate, Solomon did have a lot to sing about, tho. :Wink:

 

[buyjupiter]

I'll add in as well, although I was raised reform Judaism, and we were too poor to keep a lot of customs later in life. No Bar Mitzvah for me D: but I'm quite good on history when the need for that arises.

And yeah, in reforms that I have seen, typically it only counts within the couples, and menstruating women don't need to be kept apart in other parts of life.

Sweet! It's always good to have another person good with the history.

 

[MattR]

my dad is an orthodox rabbi and altho im a secular jew now, i did go to seminary high school. any questions are welcome.

to Ireth - what your wrote about menstruation is not fully correct. while a menstruating woman may not touch any holy instrument in the temple (we don't have a temple since the roman empire), she may touch anything else without making it unclean or unholy. she do have to not touch her husband or share his cup, since it may lead to intimacy, and intercourse with a menstruating woman is prohibited by the Torah. Torah are the five first books in the bible, followed by a section containing all prophets and prophecies, and and then another section of "writings" which are the additional works such as psalms and song of songs, together binding 24 books of the hebrew bible

 

[buyjupiter]

Thank you Matt! It'd be nice to have an Orthodox perspective, as that is something that I'm not as familiar with.

Does anyone have any questions they'd like answered? I kinda put up the basics, but if someone had a question about Jewish writings (i.e. Talmud), or general reference books, I'd be happy to point out a few.

If anyone would rather ask a question privately, feel free to PM me, and I'll answer to the best of my ability.