We went back out to Temple Beth-El where Canter Bernard, Rabbi Micah Streiffer, and Rabbi Judy Schindler taught a class on the Shabbat Services for Friday evenings. There are different services for morning and also for holidays.
We arrived about 10 after 7 for the 7:30 class and we found the room without much trouble. Mr. Matt Wells came by to greet the class members about 7:15 but only Don and I were there by then. Anyway it was nice that he thought to come by. A lady brought in lemonade, ice water, and cookies and set up the food on a table.
The class started filling up and Canter Bernard came in and asked someone to go get the class some prayer books for use during class. There was a piano and two chairs in the center of the room.
The Friday night service begins with the Kabbalat Shabbat. This came from the mystics who would go into a field in the evening to welcome the Shabbat as the sun went down. They would welcome Shabbat as people welcome a bride. In today's services, Shabbat is symbolically welcomed by turning to the entrance door (which faces west in synagogues since the altar faces east). Shabbat is a foretaste of the perfect world to come so we welcome it every week.
The Kabbalat Shabbat consists of six Psalms representing the six days of the week gone by. This and other prayers/psalms are chanted in Hebrew by the canter. The congregation often joins in when they are able to use the Hebrew and many are. Some people in class joined in with the canter often during class.
The Psalms making up the Kabbatlat Shabbat are taken from Psalms 95 through 99. In the prayer book, the readings were Psalm 95: 1-7, Psalm 96: 1-6 and 11-13; Psalm 97:1-2 and 10-12; Psalm 98: 1-9; and Psalm 99: 1-5 and 9. The Kabbalat Shabbat is intended to make us think of the week gone by which is busy and difficult to stop the activity of the week. So we are gathering up the week gone by, embracing it, and then letting it go.
The Kabbalat Shabbat begins with the Hebrew version of Psalm 95:1-7 from the Jewish sequence of the Psalms (the Christian sequence may be different) which reads in English:
"Come let us sing joyously to Adonai;
raise a shout for our rock and deliverer;
let us come into His presence with praise;
let us raise a shout for him in song!
For Adonai is a great God,
the great ruler of all divine beings.
In God's hands are the depths of the earth;
the peaks of the mountains are His.
His is the sea, He made it;
and the land, which His hands fashioned.
Come, let us bow down and kneel,
bend the knee before the Lord our maker,
for He is our God,
and we are the people He tends, the flock in His care.
O, if you would but heed God's charge this day"
This chant is followed by the other 5 readings from Psalms included in the Kabbalat Shabbat which are listed above.
The Kabbalat Shabbat is a later addition to the service and the traditional service used to begin with the Bar'chum discussed below.
The Kabbalat Shabbat service is joyful in tenor and mourners do not attend right away after losing a loved one. They attend other services during that time of deep mourning.
Then comes a poem called L'Chah Dodi. The poem is by Shilomo Halere Alkabetz. There are nine verses to this poem but not all nine are done at all services. Usually five or six are chosen and quite often they use the same five or six week after week so the people can get accustomed to them. This is where the congregation stands and faces the back of the church to welcome the bride (Shabbat). (Safardic congregations have a center area where worship is conducted by the rabbi so they cannot face the back as there really isn't one section that is the back.) The L'Chah Dodi was chanted and there were lilting Laladelalalala's added that are nowhere in the Hebrew words in the Prayer Book. Someone asked about that and the answer is that Jewish tradition (nigume - sounds like) goes without words in music. In music, you can get beyond the precise meaning of the text. During the week, we use words all the time. Music doesn't mean anything. The mystics used this to help us get past the words and lift our souls. Some pieces go beyond the words and thus the added ladeladedalalalalala's. It is joyful.
Then we go to Psalms 92 and 93. Psalm 92: 1-7 and 13-16 are chanted and Psalm 93:1-5 is chanted. Psalm 93: 1-5 was demonstrated by the canter. This deals with the completion of creation and 93:1-5 goes:
"Adonai is sovereign,
God is robed in grandeur;
Adonai is robed,
God is girded with strength.
The world stands firm;
it cannot be shaken.
Adonai's throne stands firm from of old;
from eternity You have existed.
The ocean sounds, O Lord,
the ocean sounds its thunder,
the ocean sounds its pounding.
Above the thunder of the mighty waters,
more majestic than the breakers of the sea
is Adonai, majestic on high.
Your decrees are indeed enduring;
holiness befits Your house,
Adonai, for all times."
The next segment of the service is an invitation more than a prayer. It is the Bar'chum and is similar to the call to prayer by the Muslims. This is the call to prayer used in Judaism. Many people stand for this and some people cover their eyes. This is where traditional services began - with the Bar'chum or call to prayer. The previous sections were later additions to the service.
The leader calls out the command (in Hebrew); "Praise Adonai to whom praise is due forever." The congregation replies, "Praise be Adonai to whom praise is due now and forever."
Some of trhe pages of the prayer book have a blue line around it. This is where there are two versions of the same prayer side by side on two pages. You only use one side in this case and you can really choose which to follow. You either follow the right side prayers or the left side prayers but not both. The right side offers the more traditional options for a prayer. The left side gives more interpretive versions of that same prayer. But in any case, one side covers the 2-page spread.
Then comes Ahavat Olam which is a blessing and then the Sh'ma which is central to the service.
Sh'ma is often taught to Jewish children to be said first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It is:
"Hear, O Israel, Adonai is our God, Adonai is One."
Then "Blessed is God's glorious majesty forever and ever."
The Hebrew is:
"Sh'ma Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Eched." (This is the Hear, O Israel line).
Then "Baruch shem k'vod mulchutz l'olam va-ed." (This is the Blessed is God's ... line).
In the evening service, readings often talk about darkness coming while the morning services talk about light coming.
In the morning service, you might use the Latimah: Baruch atah, Adonai, hama arivim. which is Blessed are You; Adonai is the beginning.
People often stand for the Sh'ma which reminds us of God's Oneness and is not really a prayer. It is not a prayer to God but a reminder to ourselves of God's Oneness. Sometimes people cover their eyes when saying the Sh'ma. People used to sit for this and bend over and cover eyes to make themselves seem small and also to concentrate on prayer and not be distracted.
Then comes the V'ahavta and the L'maan tizk'rn.
Then the Mi Chamachah which is in Torah and was sang during the escape from Egypt.
So we have Welcomed Shabbat and Praised God. Now we do our petitions. Traditonally, people take 3 steps forward to signify the 3 parts of the service. Before we ask God for things, we sing "Adonai, open up my lips, that my mouth may declare your praise." This prayer focuses your mind since sometimes it is harder than other times to get focused on prayer.
In the prayer book, I spotted these words which seemed worth hanging on to:
"Pray as if everything depended on God. Act as if everything depended on you." I like that.
There is a prayer in the prayer book which is a weekday prayer. In it, you pray for 19 things but the Shabbat prayer only asks for 7. On Shabbat, the petitions are removed. This gives God a rest on Shabbat as well.
Avit V'Imahot: This prayer asks that God bless us because our forebears were good, not because we are. We are remembering our parents here. The Shabbat prayer asks that God resurrect the dead or in reformed thinking, instead of resurrect, ask for renewal. It also asks for God's strength, God's holiness (Holy is the day), it asks that God accept our prayers, then we give a prayer of gratitude, a prayer asking for peace, then silent prayer.
Page 86 of the prayer book shows a prayer for abundance. We can ask God indirectly if we don't want to say something so directly as "Blessed are you, Adonai, who blesses our wants and gives us abundance."
On Friday, the Reformed Temple reads Torah in the middle of the service. It used to be read on Shabbat morning and on Monday, Thursday. So it was read Monday, Thursday, and Saturday so the whole Torah was read once per year. But not as many people attend morning service so the Reformed Temple here reads it on Friday evening when more people are in attendance.
Torah services contain songs that ask for blessings such as "May Torah come forth on Israel" or "May people study war no more". Then comes a sermon-like talk which takes the words read in Torah and the rabbi (or sometimes a learned member of the congregation) talks about the reading.
There is a saying about turning Torah around and around for two reasons: (1) it is read through each year during services and (2) it is on scrolls which turn.
Torah is called the Tree of Life. It is alive to the Jewish people and it is on a scroll which turns on wooden rods. So it is a tree because it nurtures us and we live and grow through it.
Closing prayers. Aleim - We have prayed the whole service and we now need a sense of purpose for going into the world. The first prayer at the end of the service is the Aleim where we praise and thank God who has set us (Jews) apart from others. We give thanks that we have a special purpose and we try and lift the world to a perfect state. We (the Jews) are working for a Messianic Age and we all have a piece of that work to do to make the Messianic Age come about.
Kadesh is a reminder we are all part of a chain in this endeavor to bring about the perfect world. This prayer remembers those who came before us. Mourners Kadesh is what this is called but it does not talk about death. It is a doxology (a prayer in praise of God) and we re-commit ourselves to the work of making the world a better place.
It is:
"Exalted and hallowed be God's great name
in the world which God created, according to plan.
May God's majesty be revealed in the days of our lifetime
and the life of all Israel - speedily, imminently, to which we say Amen.
Blessed be God's great name to all eternity.
Blessed, praised, honored, exlalted, extolled, glorified, adored, and lauded
be the name of the Holy Blessed One beyond all earthly words and songs of blessing,
praise, and comfort. To which we all say Amen.
May there be abundant peace from heaven, and life, for us and all Israel.
in which we say Amen.
May the One who creates harmony on high, bring peace to us and to all Israel.
To which we say Amen."
On this, class ended and we visited with other class members. I met a lady named Maxine who told me she is taking Hebrew through individual tutoring over the phone. She arranged this through an organization called Partners in Torah.
Showing posts with label Streiffer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Streiffer. Show all posts
7/2/09
2009/07/01 Sixth Introduction to Judaism Class Notes
Rabbi Micah was the teacher and the class title is Holocaust/Israel.
The Holocaust and Israel have shaped Judaism as we know it.
There are two distinct Judaisms. One is European based and tends to be the way older Jews practice their faith and ethnicity. The other is Israel based and tends to be the way younger Jews practice their faith and ethnicity.
Today's Judaism is different from the way it was 200 years ago. Handout in class shows a brief outline of events in the last 200 years of Judaism.
There are two important terms we need to know while looking at this history. One is Zion which is another word for Israel. It is named for a mountain in Israel, Mt. Zion. Jews have yearned for the land of Zion over the years. Zionism arose out of this historic yearning.
Genesis 12:1-3. "The Lord said to Abram, 'Go forth from your native land and from your father's house to the land I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse him that curses you; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you.'"
So from the beginning (even as far back as the book of Genesis), Jewish identity has been linked to Israel - the land I will show you turns out to be Israel. It is indelibly linked to being Jewish.
Brit means covenant. This is the same as bris where Jewish boys are circumcised. it is the act of bringing someone into covenant.
There are two promises in this Genesis 12 passage, (1) Great nation: "I will make of you a great nation" and (2) Covenant: "I will bless you and make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse him that curses you; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you."
From the tenth through the fifth century BCE, Israel was a Jewish Kingdom. Psalm 126 is a psalm of the people in exile showing their desire to return to Israel. It is written in the past tense but is understood in the future tense. This psalm was under consideration for the national anthem of Israel but was not chosen.
Psalm 126: A Song of Ascents "When the Eternal restores us to Zion, we will be like dreamers. Our mouths will be filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then shall they say among the nations, 'The Eternal has done great things for them.' The Eternal will do great things for us, and we will rejoice! Restore our fortunes, O Eternal, like streams in the Negev. They who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Though he goes along weeping, carring the seed-bag, he shall come back with songs of joy, carrying his sheaves."
Yehuda Halevy was a poet in Muslim Spain. Edom is a metaphor for the Western and modern world.
Prayers- Jews face the East when they pray as that is the general direction of Israel. Prayer praises God for creation of light and for creating the natural world.
Love of Israel by Jews is ancient. It is the best place to be Jewish and they should want to return to it.
In the modern period, Zionism arose. It is a Messianic yearning for the land. This yearning has become political in the modern era. Birthright is an organization that sends young people to Israel because Jews have found that visits to Israel instill a love of Judaism into its young people and their families. It makes Jews more committed. It has a positive effect on Jewish identity. Aliyah is a going up. When Jews are called up to Torah, it is Aliyah and when a person moves (permanently) to Israel, it is Aliyah.
Kotel: Wailing wall, now called the Western Wall. The area outside this wall is treated as an orthodox synagogue with women on one side and men on the other. This is the outer retaining wall of the ancient Temple. The Temple Mount was on Mt. Moriah and was smaller due to limited space at the top of the mountain. Mt. Moriah is in the middle of Jerusalem. As we said, at one time the Temple was only on top of the natural mountain. Herod (who was a forcibly converted Jew) wanted to glorify the Temple and he fills in more dirt to make a larger mountaintop and builds a larger Temple on it. The tallest part of the Temple was the Holy of Holies. So the Western Wall is actually part of the retaining wall from the Herod enlargement of the Temple. The Temple Mount still exists and the Dome of the Rock is on the spot where the Holy of Holies once was. The Western Wall has become an outdoor synagogue. Currently, some of the Southern wall has been excavated. The area outside this wall is used for less sacred functions.
The whole city of Jerusalem is sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. When asked who had been to Israel, only a couple of people in the class raised their hand. One guy, who is Jewish, said he was bar mitzvahed there and had gone again "on aleya"? The teacher discussed this for a while saying trips to Israel really meant so much to Jewish people that they became more committed to Judaism after. Don raised his hand and said his trip meant a great deal to him as a Christian also. Rabbi Micah said yes, the city is very important to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
On the handout, the first page timeline is a history of how Zionism developed.
In the 1840's Europe was in the throes of nationalism. There was a rise of the states and countries separated. Earlier there were principalities such as Tuscany and Rome in Italy, but now these principalities combined into countries with their own identity. Zionism arose out of this sense of nationalism.
Jews in Germany had 2 choices: (1) Could say I am a German or a German Mosaist. Mosaist refers to Moses and is a way to stay away from saying Jewish. This is where Reform Judaism has its roots - as German Mosaists. (2) Could say I am Jewish and my land is Israel.
In the 1860s, modern settlement called Mishkenot Sha'ananim was built outside the walls of Jerusalem. This was the first modern Jewish settlement.
In 1878, the first Zionist settlement is built. It is called Petah Tikvah. and means Gates of Hope.
Jews were normalized in Europe. Jews could not own land and Christians could not charge interest so Jews became the bankers in Europe. Jews saw that real Germans worked the land in Germany so they went to Israel and worked the land. This happened in Petah Tikvah.
In 1894 the Dreyfus Affair occurred. This is where a French military officer (Jewish) is accused of treason (passing secrets to the Germans). His trial was not fair and showed latent anti-Jewish sentiment in France. Theodore Herzl was a journalist, an Austrian Jew and he was sent in the 1890s to cover the trial of the Dreyfus affair. Theodore Herzl writes about the unfair trial and this trial began the early Zionist political movement. Herzl concluded that Jews would always be outsiders in other countries so they needed their own land. The United States is a little different in that it is a land of immigrants so all are outsiders. Israel is somewhat the same except that most of its immigrants are Jewish. But Jews come in all shapes, sizes, colors so there is diversity among them.
Herzl ultimately failed to establish a Jewish homeland. He was buried in Austria but his body was later moved to Israel after parading it through the streets of Jerusalem and around the country. He is reburied on Mt. Herzl which is next to the Holocause memorial.
There is a lot of interplay between Israel being a homeland and the Holocaust but it is not exact to say that one resulted from the other. There were other factors also as the Dreyfus affair is one example of the other factors.
WWI and WWII - Israel was under British mandate. Cutoff of Jewish settlement in Israel. So illegal immigration occurred. Jews were trying to escape the Nazis.
On 5/14/48, the State of Israel was established. From 1948 through the 1950s, 650,000 Jewish refugees from Arab countries resettled in Israel.
1949-1950 - 49,000 Yemenite Jews were airlifted to Israel. It was called Ooperation Magic Carpet or Operation on the Wings of Eagles because the people being airlifted thought the airplanes were the eagles written about in the Bible that would come and take people away to a better place. (They had never seen an airplane before.)
In 1990, El Al (Israeli airline) took out seats from their planes in order to fly 14,500 Ethiopien Jews to Israel in 36 hours.
So Israel has become a mosaic of all kinds of Jews coming together.
Hatikvah has become the anthem of the Zionist movement - it is the National Anthem of Israel. It says Jews have always yearned to return. Since 1/4 of the citizens of Israel are not Jewish, this song as a national anthem is problematic in some ways. Other people do come to live and work in Israel.
Hatikvah:
"As long as the heart, within,
A Jewish soul is yearning,
And to the edges of the East, eastward,
An eye watches towards Zion,
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free nation in our own land
The land of Zion and Jerusalem."
Our handout gives the song in Hebrew as well and emphasizes the words, "to be a free nation in our own land."
Israel proclaims itself to be a Jewish democratic state. Non-Jews can be citizens and can vote. The ruling body has non-Jews in it as well. However, can a state be democratic but have an ethnic/religious identity also?
From Israel's Declaration of Indepence (14 May 1948): "The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave the world the eternal Book of Books. After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom."
Reform Jews said they did not need a land of their own in Israel. They were German or Italian or whatever nationality of the land they were in. Some even refused to face East for prayer and put their Temples facing West. Orthodox Jews have always faced East for prayer and their Temples face East. Now Reformed Jews are returning to more traditions but Israelis consider Reform Jews to be anti-Zionist. Israel was a country of the Orthodox religious or the secular, non-religious Jews. So Israel did not grow up with Reform Jews. Now Rabbi Mary Gold has a case in the Supreme Court of Israel to get recognized as a Reformed Jewish Rabbi. Now most Israelis don't grow up and join a synagogue so they identify more now with Reformed Judaism than they once did. Reformed Jews get people in Israel more through schools and other organizations rather than through synagogue since people there don't usually join a Temple or synagogue. Reformed Jews believe you can be modern and Jewish at the same time. Thus, they have some orthodox traditions which they are willing to change or compromise.
Eliezer Ben Yehuda: He is street-named Ben Yehuda. He was the person most responsible for reviving the Hebrew language. Herzl wrote "The Jewish State" in German and said Jews could speak all the languages and have all the best things Europe had to offer. Ben Yehuda said if we have a state, then we must speak a certain language and that language is Hebrew. For words which had no Hebrew translation such as electricity, automobile, he invented words. Sometimes he opted for the English word where there was no Hebrew equivalent.
The Holocaust and Israel have shaped Judaism as we know it.
There are two distinct Judaisms. One is European based and tends to be the way older Jews practice their faith and ethnicity. The other is Israel based and tends to be the way younger Jews practice their faith and ethnicity.
Today's Judaism is different from the way it was 200 years ago. Handout in class shows a brief outline of events in the last 200 years of Judaism.
There are two important terms we need to know while looking at this history. One is Zion which is another word for Israel. It is named for a mountain in Israel, Mt. Zion. Jews have yearned for the land of Zion over the years. Zionism arose out of this historic yearning.
Genesis 12:1-3. "The Lord said to Abram, 'Go forth from your native land and from your father's house to the land I will show you. I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you shall be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse him that curses you; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you.'"
So from the beginning (even as far back as the book of Genesis), Jewish identity has been linked to Israel - the land I will show you turns out to be Israel. It is indelibly linked to being Jewish.
Brit means covenant. This is the same as bris where Jewish boys are circumcised. it is the act of bringing someone into covenant.
There are two promises in this Genesis 12 passage, (1) Great nation: "I will make of you a great nation" and (2) Covenant: "I will bless you and make your name great and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and curse him that curses you; and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you."
From the tenth through the fifth century BCE, Israel was a Jewish Kingdom. Psalm 126 is a psalm of the people in exile showing their desire to return to Israel. It is written in the past tense but is understood in the future tense. This psalm was under consideration for the national anthem of Israel but was not chosen.
Psalm 126: A Song of Ascents "When the Eternal restores us to Zion, we will be like dreamers. Our mouths will be filled with laughter, our tongues with songs of joy. Then shall they say among the nations, 'The Eternal has done great things for them.' The Eternal will do great things for us, and we will rejoice! Restore our fortunes, O Eternal, like streams in the Negev. They who sow in tears shall reap in joy. Though he goes along weeping, carring the seed-bag, he shall come back with songs of joy, carrying his sheaves."
Yehuda Halevy was a poet in Muslim Spain. Edom is a metaphor for the Western and modern world.
Prayers- Jews face the East when they pray as that is the general direction of Israel. Prayer praises God for creation of light and for creating the natural world.
Love of Israel by Jews is ancient. It is the best place to be Jewish and they should want to return to it.
In the modern period, Zionism arose. It is a Messianic yearning for the land. This yearning has become political in the modern era. Birthright is an organization that sends young people to Israel because Jews have found that visits to Israel instill a love of Judaism into its young people and their families. It makes Jews more committed. It has a positive effect on Jewish identity. Aliyah is a going up. When Jews are called up to Torah, it is Aliyah and when a person moves (permanently) to Israel, it is Aliyah.
Kotel: Wailing wall, now called the Western Wall. The area outside this wall is treated as an orthodox synagogue with women on one side and men on the other. This is the outer retaining wall of the ancient Temple. The Temple Mount was on Mt. Moriah and was smaller due to limited space at the top of the mountain. Mt. Moriah is in the middle of Jerusalem. As we said, at one time the Temple was only on top of the natural mountain. Herod (who was a forcibly converted Jew) wanted to glorify the Temple and he fills in more dirt to make a larger mountaintop and builds a larger Temple on it. The tallest part of the Temple was the Holy of Holies. So the Western Wall is actually part of the retaining wall from the Herod enlargement of the Temple. The Temple Mount still exists and the Dome of the Rock is on the spot where the Holy of Holies once was. The Western Wall has become an outdoor synagogue. Currently, some of the Southern wall has been excavated. The area outside this wall is used for less sacred functions.
The whole city of Jerusalem is sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims. When asked who had been to Israel, only a couple of people in the class raised their hand. One guy, who is Jewish, said he was bar mitzvahed there and had gone again "on aleya"? The teacher discussed this for a while saying trips to Israel really meant so much to Jewish people that they became more committed to Judaism after. Don raised his hand and said his trip meant a great deal to him as a Christian also. Rabbi Micah said yes, the city is very important to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
On the handout, the first page timeline is a history of how Zionism developed.
In the 1840's Europe was in the throes of nationalism. There was a rise of the states and countries separated. Earlier there were principalities such as Tuscany and Rome in Italy, but now these principalities combined into countries with their own identity. Zionism arose out of this sense of nationalism.
Jews in Germany had 2 choices: (1) Could say I am a German or a German Mosaist. Mosaist refers to Moses and is a way to stay away from saying Jewish. This is where Reform Judaism has its roots - as German Mosaists. (2) Could say I am Jewish and my land is Israel.
In the 1860s, modern settlement called Mishkenot Sha'ananim was built outside the walls of Jerusalem. This was the first modern Jewish settlement.
In 1878, the first Zionist settlement is built. It is called Petah Tikvah. and means Gates of Hope.
Jews were normalized in Europe. Jews could not own land and Christians could not charge interest so Jews became the bankers in Europe. Jews saw that real Germans worked the land in Germany so they went to Israel and worked the land. This happened in Petah Tikvah.
In 1894 the Dreyfus Affair occurred. This is where a French military officer (Jewish) is accused of treason (passing secrets to the Germans). His trial was not fair and showed latent anti-Jewish sentiment in France. Theodore Herzl was a journalist, an Austrian Jew and he was sent in the 1890s to cover the trial of the Dreyfus affair. Theodore Herzl writes about the unfair trial and this trial began the early Zionist political movement. Herzl concluded that Jews would always be outsiders in other countries so they needed their own land. The United States is a little different in that it is a land of immigrants so all are outsiders. Israel is somewhat the same except that most of its immigrants are Jewish. But Jews come in all shapes, sizes, colors so there is diversity among them.
Herzl ultimately failed to establish a Jewish homeland. He was buried in Austria but his body was later moved to Israel after parading it through the streets of Jerusalem and around the country. He is reburied on Mt. Herzl which is next to the Holocause memorial.
There is a lot of interplay between Israel being a homeland and the Holocaust but it is not exact to say that one resulted from the other. There were other factors also as the Dreyfus affair is one example of the other factors.
WWI and WWII - Israel was under British mandate. Cutoff of Jewish settlement in Israel. So illegal immigration occurred. Jews were trying to escape the Nazis.
On 5/14/48, the State of Israel was established. From 1948 through the 1950s, 650,000 Jewish refugees from Arab countries resettled in Israel.
1949-1950 - 49,000 Yemenite Jews were airlifted to Israel. It was called Ooperation Magic Carpet or Operation on the Wings of Eagles because the people being airlifted thought the airplanes were the eagles written about in the Bible that would come and take people away to a better place. (They had never seen an airplane before.)
In 1990, El Al (Israeli airline) took out seats from their planes in order to fly 14,500 Ethiopien Jews to Israel in 36 hours.
So Israel has become a mosaic of all kinds of Jews coming together.
Hatikvah has become the anthem of the Zionist movement - it is the National Anthem of Israel. It says Jews have always yearned to return. Since 1/4 of the citizens of Israel are not Jewish, this song as a national anthem is problematic in some ways. Other people do come to live and work in Israel.
Hatikvah:
"As long as the heart, within,
A Jewish soul is yearning,
And to the edges of the East, eastward,
An eye watches towards Zion,
Our hope is not yet lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free nation in our own land
The land of Zion and Jerusalem."
Our handout gives the song in Hebrew as well and emphasizes the words, "to be a free nation in our own land."
Israel proclaims itself to be a Jewish democratic state. Non-Jews can be citizens and can vote. The ruling body has non-Jews in it as well. However, can a state be democratic but have an ethnic/religious identity also?
From Israel's Declaration of Indepence (14 May 1948): "The Land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spiritual, religious and political identity was shaped. Here they first attained to statehood, created cultural values of national and universal significance and gave the world the eternal Book of Books. After being forcibly exiled from their land, the people kept faith with it throughout their dispersion and never ceased to pray and hope for their return to it and for the restoration in it of their political freedom."
Reform Jews said they did not need a land of their own in Israel. They were German or Italian or whatever nationality of the land they were in. Some even refused to face East for prayer and put their Temples facing West. Orthodox Jews have always faced East for prayer and their Temples face East. Now Reformed Jews are returning to more traditions but Israelis consider Reform Jews to be anti-Zionist. Israel was a country of the Orthodox religious or the secular, non-religious Jews. So Israel did not grow up with Reform Jews. Now Rabbi Mary Gold has a case in the Supreme Court of Israel to get recognized as a Reformed Jewish Rabbi. Now most Israelis don't grow up and join a synagogue so they identify more now with Reformed Judaism than they once did. Reformed Jews get people in Israel more through schools and other organizations rather than through synagogue since people there don't usually join a Temple or synagogue. Reformed Jews believe you can be modern and Jewish at the same time. Thus, they have some orthodox traditions which they are willing to change or compromise.
Eliezer Ben Yehuda: He is street-named Ben Yehuda. He was the person most responsible for reviving the Hebrew language. Herzl wrote "The Jewish State" in German and said Jews could speak all the languages and have all the best things Europe had to offer. Ben Yehuda said if we have a state, then we must speak a certain language and that language is Hebrew. For words which had no Hebrew translation such as electricity, automobile, he invented words. Sometimes he opted for the English word where there was no Hebrew equivalent.
6/19/09
2009/06/17 Fourth Introduction to Judaism Class Notes
Rabbi Micah Streiffer was our teacher. Someone asked if the Judaic tradition had any angels. Rabbi Micah answered that thre are 4 archangels, all ending in the letter L (in English). This letter stands for God. These archangels represent pieces of God. (1) Uriel - Uri (I missed this one) so this angel is represents ?. (2) Michael - Micah means one who is like God so this angel is like God. (3) Gabriel - Gabri means strength so this is the strength of God. (4) Raphael - Rapha means healing so this represents the healing god. God is known also as the Lord of Hosts which is a phrase used often by Christians and is a sense of God as one who commands both the earthly and the heavenly world. The hierarchy of God, Angels, Humans, Animals was outlined. There are two levels of Creation, the heavenly world with God and Angels and the lower world, Humans and animals. God can create and make decisions, Angels do God's bidding but do not make decisions. Humans are like God in that they can create life and they can make decisions. Animals do not make decisions.
The real topic for tonight is Sacred Texts. The Jews were called People of the Book by the Muslim world. The Book is Torah. Torah is the basis of Judaism, which is like the constitution of Judaism. Judaism is the religion based on Torah. Other Jewish writings come from the base of Torah. Torah is at the center of Judaism and all laws of Judaism draw their authority from Torah.
Page 4 of pamphlet handout: Torah is the first 5 books of the Tanach. A portion is read each week and the Torah is divided into 52 sections so that it is read in full each year. For the most part (there are a few exceptions), the same passage is read everywhere alike. In Reform Judaism, belief is that it was written by humans and it is the Jewish way of approaching God. It was divinely inspired through the writers. The prophets were divinely inspired. The divinely inspired writers of Torah experienced God but the Torah was not dictated to them by God. Many Orthodox believe God wrote the Torah.
When was the Bible written down - Why, of course, during the Biblical period and when was that? It was around 585 BCE. The first Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE and people scattered out somewhat so it became necessary to carry on traditions in a little more documented manner than the oral tradition had allowed when everyone lived near the Temple.
Bible is called Tanach and it is contains the same books as the Christian Old Testament but not in the same order. Jews order their books by Torah (the first 5 books), Nevi'im - The Prophets and Ketu'im (Writings). (1) Torah is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. (2) Nevi'im (Prophets) includes Joshua, Judges, Samuel (2 books), Kings (2 books), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the 12 minor prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakkuk, Zephaniah, and Malachi). (3) Ketuvim includes Writings and they are Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles (2 books).
Torah is the only portion of Tanach read in full each year. Other books are read on holidays. These are Song of Songs (read on Passover), Ruth (read on Shavuot, a holiday commemorating the receiving of the Torah), Lamentations (read on Tisha B'Av, a holiday commemorating the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem and other Jewish tragedies), Ecclesiastes (read on Sukkot, a harvest holiday in the fall), and Esther ( read on Purim, a holiday celebrating the story of Esther). The writings were originally oral and then were written down. Some were performed. Poems have more archaic language than the stories. So it appears they came first. In Exodus, there is a Song of the Sea that likely came first. All these books were oral at first and it was easier to remember song than just words so songs and poems likely came first and were easiest to remember in their original form and words.
Noah - 2 stories. In one Noah takes 2 of each animal into the ark and in another he took 7 of each animal. In Genesis - Chapter 1 has earth being created in 7 days. In Chapter 2, tells creation story again with different order of creation. In Jewish tradition, Chapter 1 is seen as God's eye view of creation and Chapter 2 is the people's eye view of creation.
900 BCE - Period of David/Solomon.
586 BCE - First Temple destroyed and the beginning of the Babylonian exile (first diaspora). This is when we think the writing down of the Bible occurred because the Jewish people needed to do so to prevent their sacred texts from being lost.
587 BCE - Biblical era - Bible began being written down.
516 BCE - People were allowed to rebuild the Temple and this is the Second Temple period. Judaism begins to bifercate. (1) Lower class - Pharisees - priests who were into priestly sacrifice. (2) Upper class - Sadducees - Only Torah is basis of Judaism. No ability to expand. The Pharisees were the ancestors of rabbinic Judaism and they began to talk of writing Torah from the Oral Torah that had been passed down.
70 CE - Destruction of the second Temple. Again, started writing other things. Mishnah was written down around this time. This was the first Jewish code of law and was not based directly on the Torah.
Kiddish is a blessing over wine on Friday. Rabbis of Mishnah - Rule is you have to say something out loud about Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom is an example of a short saying that can be said out loud that makes people know it is Shabbat and remembers it out loud. This is the Law of Kiddish and this is where it came from - Mishnah. This is an example of legal creativity. Mishnah is the book of Law. It shows how to put Torah into practice.
Another rising literature is the Midrash. It is a homelike creativity and is non-legal. It is stories that arise surrounding the Torah. S
Stories and laws are both important.
Minutia of laws - Reform Jews are less concerned about the minutia. Torah is the source of law.
Mitzvah - means commandment and it is a good thing to do but not necessarily a good deed. Mitzvah is one of the 613 commandments. There is no list of these 613 commandments and ther are different lists with different commandments but all the lists have 613 and the first commandment is "Be fruitful and multiply."
The 613 Mitzvot are all found in Torah and find new meaning in the ancient text. Torah says to "remember the day of Shabbat." But how. Midrash and Mishnah tell you.
Over 300-400 years, mush discussion on how to be Jewish and it was hard to research because there were volumes and volumes of argument coming from every learned opinion. So in 500CE or 600 CE, these opinions were arranged by subject in the Talmud. Each page of Talmud tells the Mishnah (commandment) which is about 3 lines or so, then tells the Gemara (commentary or gathering place for all the ideas). The Gemara may be pages long.
The Talmud - if read one page per day it takes 7 years to complete reading it. It was originally written in modern day Iraq which was Babylonia at the time it was written.
After the Talmud cam the post Talmudic period which matches with the Medieval period as we are taught it in history books. In post Talmudic period, 2 main ways to get new information:
(1) Mishnah Torah - code of law not related to either Torah or Mishnah even though named for both. The Mishnah Torah tells you how to be Jewish. (page 14 in pamphlet handed out in class). The Mishnah Torah said not to read the Talmud anymore but it is okay to study it to see how history developed and see how ancestors made meaning out of their Jewish texts.
(2) Responsa - is a question and answer writing. It is exactly Q & A. You ask a rabbinic authority and this authority finds answer and writes you back with an answer. Rabbis kept copies of their answers. There are responsa committees that discuss questions of Jewish tradition. These can be new questions that arose only in modern life such as intermarriage, etc.
Our blue book that was given us as a text is a code of Jewish law. The author is interested in the minutia of the law.
In the 1500's Kabalah started. This is Jewish mysticism. "In 1492, Columbus sailed the Ocean blue and all the Jews got kicked out of Spain too" is a Jewish saying.
Each time there is calamity such as the destruction of the Temples, there has arisen out of that calamit new ways of Judaism. Torah can mean the 5 books of Moses but also can be all literature of Judaism which is all descended from those first five books.
The real topic for tonight is Sacred Texts. The Jews were called People of the Book by the Muslim world. The Book is Torah. Torah is the basis of Judaism, which is like the constitution of Judaism. Judaism is the religion based on Torah. Other Jewish writings come from the base of Torah. Torah is at the center of Judaism and all laws of Judaism draw their authority from Torah.
Page 4 of pamphlet handout: Torah is the first 5 books of the Tanach. A portion is read each week and the Torah is divided into 52 sections so that it is read in full each year. For the most part (there are a few exceptions), the same passage is read everywhere alike. In Reform Judaism, belief is that it was written by humans and it is the Jewish way of approaching God. It was divinely inspired through the writers. The prophets were divinely inspired. The divinely inspired writers of Torah experienced God but the Torah was not dictated to them by God. Many Orthodox believe God wrote the Torah.
When was the Bible written down - Why, of course, during the Biblical period and when was that? It was around 585 BCE. The first Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE and people scattered out somewhat so it became necessary to carry on traditions in a little more documented manner than the oral tradition had allowed when everyone lived near the Temple.
Bible is called Tanach and it is contains the same books as the Christian Old Testament but not in the same order. Jews order their books by Torah (the first 5 books), Nevi'im - The Prophets and Ketu'im (Writings). (1) Torah is Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. (2) Nevi'im (Prophets) includes Joshua, Judges, Samuel (2 books), Kings (2 books), Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the 12 minor prophets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habbakkuk, Zephaniah, and Malachi). (3) Ketuvim includes Writings and they are Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra-Nehemiah, and Chronicles (2 books).
Torah is the only portion of Tanach read in full each year. Other books are read on holidays. These are Song of Songs (read on Passover), Ruth (read on Shavuot, a holiday commemorating the receiving of the Torah), Lamentations (read on Tisha B'Av, a holiday commemorating the destruction of the Temples in Jerusalem and other Jewish tragedies), Ecclesiastes (read on Sukkot, a harvest holiday in the fall), and Esther ( read on Purim, a holiday celebrating the story of Esther). The writings were originally oral and then were written down. Some were performed. Poems have more archaic language than the stories. So it appears they came first. In Exodus, there is a Song of the Sea that likely came first. All these books were oral at first and it was easier to remember song than just words so songs and poems likely came first and were easiest to remember in their original form and words.
Noah - 2 stories. In one Noah takes 2 of each animal into the ark and in another he took 7 of each animal. In Genesis - Chapter 1 has earth being created in 7 days. In Chapter 2, tells creation story again with different order of creation. In Jewish tradition, Chapter 1 is seen as God's eye view of creation and Chapter 2 is the people's eye view of creation.
900 BCE - Period of David/Solomon.
586 BCE - First Temple destroyed and the beginning of the Babylonian exile (first diaspora). This is when we think the writing down of the Bible occurred because the Jewish people needed to do so to prevent their sacred texts from being lost.
587 BCE - Biblical era - Bible began being written down.
516 BCE - People were allowed to rebuild the Temple and this is the Second Temple period. Judaism begins to bifercate. (1) Lower class - Pharisees - priests who were into priestly sacrifice. (2) Upper class - Sadducees - Only Torah is basis of Judaism. No ability to expand. The Pharisees were the ancestors of rabbinic Judaism and they began to talk of writing Torah from the Oral Torah that had been passed down.
70 CE - Destruction of the second Temple. Again, started writing other things. Mishnah was written down around this time. This was the first Jewish code of law and was not based directly on the Torah.
Kiddish is a blessing over wine on Friday. Rabbis of Mishnah - Rule is you have to say something out loud about Shabbat. Shabbat Shalom is an example of a short saying that can be said out loud that makes people know it is Shabbat and remembers it out loud. This is the Law of Kiddish and this is where it came from - Mishnah. This is an example of legal creativity. Mishnah is the book of Law. It shows how to put Torah into practice.
Another rising literature is the Midrash. It is a homelike creativity and is non-legal. It is stories that arise surrounding the Torah. S
Stories and laws are both important.
Minutia of laws - Reform Jews are less concerned about the minutia. Torah is the source of law.
Mitzvah - means commandment and it is a good thing to do but not necessarily a good deed. Mitzvah is one of the 613 commandments. There is no list of these 613 commandments and ther are different lists with different commandments but all the lists have 613 and the first commandment is "Be fruitful and multiply."
The 613 Mitzvot are all found in Torah and find new meaning in the ancient text. Torah says to "remember the day of Shabbat." But how. Midrash and Mishnah tell you.
Over 300-400 years, mush discussion on how to be Jewish and it was hard to research because there were volumes and volumes of argument coming from every learned opinion. So in 500CE or 600 CE, these opinions were arranged by subject in the Talmud. Each page of Talmud tells the Mishnah (commandment) which is about 3 lines or so, then tells the Gemara (commentary or gathering place for all the ideas). The Gemara may be pages long.
The Talmud - if read one page per day it takes 7 years to complete reading it. It was originally written in modern day Iraq which was Babylonia at the time it was written.
After the Talmud cam the post Talmudic period which matches with the Medieval period as we are taught it in history books. In post Talmudic period, 2 main ways to get new information:
(1) Mishnah Torah - code of law not related to either Torah or Mishnah even though named for both. The Mishnah Torah tells you how to be Jewish. (page 14 in pamphlet handed out in class). The Mishnah Torah said not to read the Talmud anymore but it is okay to study it to see how history developed and see how ancestors made meaning out of their Jewish texts.
(2) Responsa - is a question and answer writing. It is exactly Q & A. You ask a rabbinic authority and this authority finds answer and writes you back with an answer. Rabbis kept copies of their answers. There are responsa committees that discuss questions of Jewish tradition. These can be new questions that arose only in modern life such as intermarriage, etc.
Our blue book that was given us as a text is a code of Jewish law. The author is interested in the minutia of the law.
In the 1500's Kabalah started. This is Jewish mysticism. "In 1492, Columbus sailed the Ocean blue and all the Jews got kicked out of Spain too" is a Jewish saying.
Each time there is calamity such as the destruction of the Temples, there has arisen out of that calamit new ways of Judaism. Torah can mean the 5 books of Moses but also can be all literature of Judaism which is all descended from those first five books.
5/23/09
2009/05/20, 05/06, 04/29 Taste of Judaism Sessions 1, 2, and 3
Don and I signed up for some Introductory classes in Judaism called Taste of Judaism at Temple Beth-El. We started in late April and finished this week. They were two- hour sessions and I think there were only three of them. We have now signed up for Introduction to Judaism which has eight one-hour sessions. We have enjoyed them all but I think the first session was the best.
Don asked for my notes so here they are and they are a little lengthy but I know I will forget if not written down soon.
4/29/09: The first Session: It was taught by Rabbi Micah Streiffer. He said Judaism is about Torah (learning), Worship, and Acts of Kindness. The synagogue is a place of prayer, study and gathering or community. The core components of Judaism are God, Torah, and Israel (meaning the people of Israel). The first five books of the Bible are the most important . These books go up through the death of Moses and tell the story of the foundation of who the Jewish people are. All the subsequent books draw their authority from the first five books.
Temple Beth-El is a reformed congregation which is a liberal brand of Judaism. There are other authoritative books that the Jewish people use. One is the Midrash (means to search) which is a series of books. Jewish people do not have denominations but they call their different "brands" streams. Orthodox is one stream and Reformed is another. Orthodox believe the Bible was written by God and Reformed believe the Bible was written by humans but was inspired by God. Another written authoritative book is the Talmud, the book of Jewish law.
Adam means human being and Adama means earth. God made the first human. There is a connnection between humans and earth. We came from the earth and we should care for it. Also , we were created in God's image . We can make choices. In Judaism, humans are higher than angels because humans can make choices and this is a Godly ability.
Rabbi means teacher. Jews repent on the Day of Atonement which is Yom Kippur. There are several high holy days and Yom Kippur is one of them (comes in the fall of each year) and Rosh Hoshana is another (also in the fall of the year). Rosh Hoshana comes first and Yom Kippur comes second.
Chet means sin in Hebrew and it means missing the mark.
Mit' veh - bringing holiness into the world.
Jews are supposed to pray three times per day as a tradition. To pray is to self-judge. Jewish people are a liturgical people - traditional prayers are a part of something larger. And Jews do personal prayer.
Interesting aside: There is a new Jewish Prayer Book used by the Reformed Jews. It gives English translations of the Hebrew prayers but still opens from what we think of as the American back of the book and the pages turn toward the front. This prayer book is blue, is brand new, contains the prayers in Hebrew and in English, and has made the prayers more gender neutral. The children in Jewish school are still required to say the prayers and learn them in Hebrew. The rabbi found the new prayer book in the room and showed it to us from his desk. We did not handle it but I always meant to ask to see one (didn't though).
YHWH: No vowels - this is the unpronounceable name of God.
5/6/09: Second Session: Rabbi Judy Schindler. Think of Judaism as a triangle with God at the top (there are 70 faces of God and 70 faces of Torah). God is many things: judge, healer, etc. God is eternal and is connected with our very breath. (If you try to pronounce YHWH, it is a breathy sound so the connection with breath is made this way.) Torah, The Hebrew Bible is another point on the triangle. Tanach is 1. Torah (5 books of Moses), 2.Prophets and 3. Writings (Psalms, Ruth, etc). Should always be studying Torah.
It is okay to challenge God in Judaism. Aaron Zeitlin has poetry about this. Torah can mean the first 5 books or the whole Hebrew Bible. Or it could mean the oral Torah - Oral Torah is where the Midrash, Talmud came from and all of it can be Torah if you are trying to be holy in your life. Torah is God and Torah is living concepts. Mitzveh means good deed but actually means commandments. There are 613 commandments in the Torah with 365 don'ts and 248 dos. The first one is "Be fruitful and multiply" because Jews need to multiply. Fruitful does not have to mean having children. To teach a child is also being fruitful and can be more fruitful than having the child. Some Jews go to their rabbi for permission to stop having children. There are 3000 years of commentary on this one verse.
613 Mitzvo (commandments) and the Orthodox believe in them all. Reformed Jews have a problem with them. About 300 involve animal sacrifice which is no longer necessary since the destruction of the temple. Jews believe the Torah was divinely revealed and divinely inspired. We do all struggle with the commandments but still believe strongly in them. Conservative Jews go to rabbis to determine what to do but Reformed Jews make their own decisions. There are also commandments between people. These are our ethics. Basic Jewish thought is that Good leads to good and Sin leads to sin. We strive, therefore, to obey even in minor things.
5/20/09: Third Session: Rabbi David E Powers: Rabbi Powers was retired I believe and he told us his father was born Catholic and converted. He seemed to think Catholics gravely misled, or at least that was my impression.
Muhammed called Jewish people "People of the Book" because they take their Scripture so seriously.
Rabbi Powers talked about Jews in community which is a very important concept to the Jewish tradition/faith/culture. There is discussion of the importance of community in ancient and in modern texts. The Jews see themselves as God's people. You are a covenant people and in covenant with each other and with God. They believe all Jews whether born at the time or not were at Mt. Sinai when Moses brought down the Torah from the mountain. Christians call their covenant with God the New Covenant or New Testament. Deuteronomy 29:9-14 is read at Yom Kippur as it is such an important passage and belief to the Jewish people.
Numbers 13: 9-13 Word and fact can be the same. So some believe it is dangerous to say something because then it might happen. This is an ancient belief. King Barak (some Bibles call him Balak) summoned Balaam to put a curse on the Jewish people. Numbers 22:5, 6 and 23:11. So King Barak hired a prophet to curse the Jewish people and this belief that saying things would make them come true was the foundation of that practice. (Numbers 22:5 and 6) He (Barak or Balak) said (to Balaam, the prophet) " A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people , because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed and those you curse are cursed." Then Numbers 23:11 and 12: Barak(Balak) said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them." He (Balaam) answered, "Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth!"
There is a passage that says "There is a people that dwells apart, not reckoned among the nations." This is again a passage about the Jewish people being set apart from others and this idea/concept can be a source of pride and a source of anti-Semitism. Jews still tend to live near one another but it is not as distinct as in past times where Jews really did live to themselves. Nowadays it is hard for a Jewish person to have no contact with others but in past times, that is the way they lived. Still Jews do tend to live close to temples/synagogues and this puts them in communities near one another and set apart somewhat from the rest of the world.
Later Rabbinic Texts: Mishneh (Hebrew for Second Torah): Quotes from this are:
1) Do not separate yourselves from the community.
2) All Israel is responsible for one another (This is why Jewish charities are so successful).
3) If I am not for myself, who will be for me. If I am for myself alone, what am I.
Jewish sacred Texts:
Shabbat says to do all this in community:
1) Study in the house of study daily. In other words, do not study alone. Tradition says there must be 10 in a group to make the study meaningful.
2) Welcome the stranger.
3) Visit the sick.
4) Rejoice with the bride and groom.
5) Accompany the deceased to their rest.
6) Pray with sincerity.
7) Make peace between one person and another.
Tradition says worship service must have 10 people. Reformed does not pay as much attention to this as orthodox or conservative.
God did not just give written law, he gave oral law as well and Shabbat came from this oral law. Shabbat comes from post-Biblical literature but it has the weight of Torah. Shabbat is derived from Torah, not added to Torah.
Synagogue is where the individual soul and the community are joined (Rabbi Alexander Schindler, 1991).
Rabbi Powers proceeded to give examples of Jewish prejudice in America starting with Peter Stuyvesant (1610-1672) who said the Jews were poor and would be a burden and they should be encouraged to leave. The Dutch East India Company responded that the Jews had provided them with money (they were stockholders) and had helped them take Brazil so the Jews would stay if they wished. George Washington said to Let the Jewish people continue to merit and enjoy the good will of other inhabitants, as though they could earn their way into community. He used a conditional phrase about merit and he talked of them as a group, not as individuals.
Someone in class said all Jews would recognize the initials, MOT, as being a Member of the Tribe.
(Added 7/13/09) I believe this is the class where a question came up about men wearing a yamulke (skull cap) sometimes spelled yamaka according to some web sources. The rabbi said there is no law concerning the wearing of yamulke. It is just a hat and there are no rules about it. Wearing these by men is primarily something that has become a tradition and it is identified with the Jewish people. But it is every person's choice as to whether they wear them.
Important laws around community are:
1) Ahavet Rea: Love your neighbor. (Leviticus 19:18) Care for one another and love your neighbor as yourself.
2) Hospitality - Hachnasat Orchim. You can't leave as a guest until getting food. Insults host if you do not partake in food.
3) Bikku Cholim - Visit the sick.
4) Respect the elderly, Hidur P'nay Zakayn, Leviticus 19:32 "You shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old."
5) Deuteronomy 16:20: Tzedakah (means charity in Hebrew) stands for social justice. Deut 16:20 "Justice, justice shall you pursue."
6) Shalom (Peace) "Be as sons of Aaron"
7) Honoring the dead, K'vod Ha-met. Very important work by the Jews toward one another. Someone sits with the dead person at all times. They bury dead quickly and do not look upon their bodies in order to afford them respect and allow them to keep their modesty.
8) Comforting the bereaved - Nichum Avelim - Jewish law says when you go to house of mourning, sit with them in silence. If they speak to you, then you can respond. Shivah is 7 days of mourning and meals are sent in by neighbors to the bereaved.
9) Acts of loving kindness (Gem'lut Chasedim). World is sustained by Torah, Worship and Acts of Loving Kindness. Jews are a kinship group and they feel the pain of other Jews.
10) Communal worship - tradition says pray 3 times per day in groups of 10 or more. Most synagogues do not do this any more but tradition says to do this. Sacred is communal worship.
11) Talmud and Torah - Study the Torah meaning the entire Hebrew Bible.
Institutions of Jewish community are:
Synagogue is a
house of assembly (it is social)
house of study (it is a place for education)
house of prayer (it is liturgical)
Today there are Jewish schools, Jewish community centers, Jewish Hospitals, Jewish libraries. and national Jewish organizations. There are kosher foods in grocery stores with a symbol with a U in the center of a circle.
Mikveh means hope and tells of a ritual bath which is used to remove ritual uncleaness. This bath is taken by a woman after her monthly cycle. Men can't touch woman during this time until 7 days after the cycle according to Jewish law. Else the man becomes unclean.
Rabbi Powell talked some on circumcision and ritual sacrifice as well as Kosher butchers and he named a number of national organizations and movements that are particular to the Jewish people.
Don asked for my notes so here they are and they are a little lengthy but I know I will forget if not written down soon.
4/29/09: The first Session: It was taught by Rabbi Micah Streiffer. He said Judaism is about Torah (learning), Worship, and Acts of Kindness. The synagogue is a place of prayer, study and gathering or community. The core components of Judaism are God, Torah, and Israel (meaning the people of Israel). The first five books of the Bible are the most important . These books go up through the death of Moses and tell the story of the foundation of who the Jewish people are. All the subsequent books draw their authority from the first five books.
Temple Beth-El is a reformed congregation which is a liberal brand of Judaism. There are other authoritative books that the Jewish people use. One is the Midrash (means to search) which is a series of books. Jewish people do not have denominations but they call their different "brands" streams. Orthodox is one stream and Reformed is another. Orthodox believe the Bible was written by God and Reformed believe the Bible was written by humans but was inspired by God. Another written authoritative book is the Talmud, the book of Jewish law.
Adam means human being and Adama means earth. God made the first human. There is a connnection between humans and earth. We came from the earth and we should care for it. Also , we were created in God's image . We can make choices. In Judaism, humans are higher than angels because humans can make choices and this is a Godly ability.
Rabbi means teacher. Jews repent on the Day of Atonement which is Yom Kippur. There are several high holy days and Yom Kippur is one of them (comes in the fall of each year) and Rosh Hoshana is another (also in the fall of the year). Rosh Hoshana comes first and Yom Kippur comes second.
Chet means sin in Hebrew and it means missing the mark.
Mit' veh - bringing holiness into the world.
Jews are supposed to pray three times per day as a tradition. To pray is to self-judge. Jewish people are a liturgical people - traditional prayers are a part of something larger. And Jews do personal prayer.
Interesting aside: There is a new Jewish Prayer Book used by the Reformed Jews. It gives English translations of the Hebrew prayers but still opens from what we think of as the American back of the book and the pages turn toward the front. This prayer book is blue, is brand new, contains the prayers in Hebrew and in English, and has made the prayers more gender neutral. The children in Jewish school are still required to say the prayers and learn them in Hebrew. The rabbi found the new prayer book in the room and showed it to us from his desk. We did not handle it but I always meant to ask to see one (didn't though).
YHWH: No vowels - this is the unpronounceable name of God.
5/6/09: Second Session: Rabbi Judy Schindler. Think of Judaism as a triangle with God at the top (there are 70 faces of God and 70 faces of Torah). God is many things: judge, healer, etc. God is eternal and is connected with our very breath. (If you try to pronounce YHWH, it is a breathy sound so the connection with breath is made this way.) Torah, The Hebrew Bible is another point on the triangle. Tanach is 1. Torah (5 books of Moses), 2.Prophets and 3. Writings (Psalms, Ruth, etc). Should always be studying Torah.
It is okay to challenge God in Judaism. Aaron Zeitlin has poetry about this. Torah can mean the first 5 books or the whole Hebrew Bible. Or it could mean the oral Torah - Oral Torah is where the Midrash, Talmud came from and all of it can be Torah if you are trying to be holy in your life. Torah is God and Torah is living concepts. Mitzveh means good deed but actually means commandments. There are 613 commandments in the Torah with 365 don'ts and 248 dos. The first one is "Be fruitful and multiply" because Jews need to multiply. Fruitful does not have to mean having children. To teach a child is also being fruitful and can be more fruitful than having the child. Some Jews go to their rabbi for permission to stop having children. There are 3000 years of commentary on this one verse.
613 Mitzvo (commandments) and the Orthodox believe in them all. Reformed Jews have a problem with them. About 300 involve animal sacrifice which is no longer necessary since the destruction of the temple. Jews believe the Torah was divinely revealed and divinely inspired. We do all struggle with the commandments but still believe strongly in them. Conservative Jews go to rabbis to determine what to do but Reformed Jews make their own decisions. There are also commandments between people. These are our ethics. Basic Jewish thought is that Good leads to good and Sin leads to sin. We strive, therefore, to obey even in minor things.
5/20/09: Third Session: Rabbi David E Powers: Rabbi Powers was retired I believe and he told us his father was born Catholic and converted. He seemed to think Catholics gravely misled, or at least that was my impression.
Muhammed called Jewish people "People of the Book" because they take their Scripture so seriously.
Rabbi Powers talked about Jews in community which is a very important concept to the Jewish tradition/faith/culture. There is discussion of the importance of community in ancient and in modern texts. The Jews see themselves as God's people. You are a covenant people and in covenant with each other and with God. They believe all Jews whether born at the time or not were at Mt. Sinai when Moses brought down the Torah from the mountain. Christians call their covenant with God the New Covenant or New Testament. Deuteronomy 29:9-14 is read at Yom Kippur as it is such an important passage and belief to the Jewish people.
Numbers 13: 9-13 Word and fact can be the same. So some believe it is dangerous to say something because then it might happen. This is an ancient belief. King Barak (some Bibles call him Balak) summoned Balaam to put a curse on the Jewish people. Numbers 22:5, 6 and 23:11. So King Barak hired a prophet to curse the Jewish people and this belief that saying things would make them come true was the foundation of that practice. (Numbers 22:5 and 6) He (Barak or Balak) said (to Balaam, the prophet) " A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people , because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed and those you curse are cursed." Then Numbers 23:11 and 12: Barak(Balak) said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them." He (Balaam) answered, "Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth!"
There is a passage that says "There is a people that dwells apart, not reckoned among the nations." This is again a passage about the Jewish people being set apart from others and this idea/concept can be a source of pride and a source of anti-Semitism. Jews still tend to live near one another but it is not as distinct as in past times where Jews really did live to themselves. Nowadays it is hard for a Jewish person to have no contact with others but in past times, that is the way they lived. Still Jews do tend to live close to temples/synagogues and this puts them in communities near one another and set apart somewhat from the rest of the world.
Later Rabbinic Texts: Mishneh (Hebrew for Second Torah): Quotes from this are:
1) Do not separate yourselves from the community.
2) All Israel is responsible for one another (This is why Jewish charities are so successful).
3) If I am not for myself, who will be for me. If I am for myself alone, what am I.
Jewish sacred Texts:
Shabbat says to do all this in community:
1) Study in the house of study daily. In other words, do not study alone. Tradition says there must be 10 in a group to make the study meaningful.
2) Welcome the stranger.
3) Visit the sick.
4) Rejoice with the bride and groom.
5) Accompany the deceased to their rest.
6) Pray with sincerity.
7) Make peace between one person and another.
Tradition says worship service must have 10 people. Reformed does not pay as much attention to this as orthodox or conservative.
God did not just give written law, he gave oral law as well and Shabbat came from this oral law. Shabbat comes from post-Biblical literature but it has the weight of Torah. Shabbat is derived from Torah, not added to Torah.
Synagogue is where the individual soul and the community are joined (Rabbi Alexander Schindler, 1991).
Rabbi Powers proceeded to give examples of Jewish prejudice in America starting with Peter Stuyvesant (1610-1672) who said the Jews were poor and would be a burden and they should be encouraged to leave. The Dutch East India Company responded that the Jews had provided them with money (they were stockholders) and had helped them take Brazil so the Jews would stay if they wished. George Washington said to Let the Jewish people continue to merit and enjoy the good will of other inhabitants, as though they could earn their way into community. He used a conditional phrase about merit and he talked of them as a group, not as individuals.
Someone in class said all Jews would recognize the initials, MOT, as being a Member of the Tribe.
(Added 7/13/09) I believe this is the class where a question came up about men wearing a yamulke (skull cap) sometimes spelled yamaka according to some web sources. The rabbi said there is no law concerning the wearing of yamulke. It is just a hat and there are no rules about it. Wearing these by men is primarily something that has become a tradition and it is identified with the Jewish people. But it is every person's choice as to whether they wear them.
Important laws around community are:
1) Ahavet Rea: Love your neighbor. (Leviticus 19:18) Care for one another and love your neighbor as yourself.
2) Hospitality - Hachnasat Orchim. You can't leave as a guest until getting food. Insults host if you do not partake in food.
3) Bikku Cholim - Visit the sick.
4) Respect the elderly, Hidur P'nay Zakayn, Leviticus 19:32 "You shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old."
5) Deuteronomy 16:20: Tzedakah (means charity in Hebrew) stands for social justice. Deut 16:20 "Justice, justice shall you pursue."
6) Shalom (Peace) "Be as sons of Aaron"
7) Honoring the dead, K'vod Ha-met. Very important work by the Jews toward one another. Someone sits with the dead person at all times. They bury dead quickly and do not look upon their bodies in order to afford them respect and allow them to keep their modesty.
8) Comforting the bereaved - Nichum Avelim - Jewish law says when you go to house of mourning, sit with them in silence. If they speak to you, then you can respond. Shivah is 7 days of mourning and meals are sent in by neighbors to the bereaved.
9) Acts of loving kindness (Gem'lut Chasedim). World is sustained by Torah, Worship and Acts of Loving Kindness. Jews are a kinship group and they feel the pain of other Jews.
10) Communal worship - tradition says pray 3 times per day in groups of 10 or more. Most synagogues do not do this any more but tradition says to do this. Sacred is communal worship.
11) Talmud and Torah - Study the Torah meaning the entire Hebrew Bible.
Institutions of Jewish community are:
Synagogue is a
house of assembly (it is social)
house of study (it is a place for education)
house of prayer (it is liturgical)
Today there are Jewish schools, Jewish community centers, Jewish Hospitals, Jewish libraries. and national Jewish organizations. There are kosher foods in grocery stores with a symbol with a U in the center of a circle.
Mikveh means hope and tells of a ritual bath which is used to remove ritual uncleaness. This bath is taken by a woman after her monthly cycle. Men can't touch woman during this time until 7 days after the cycle according to Jewish law. Else the man becomes unclean.
Rabbi Powell talked some on circumcision and ritual sacrifice as well as Kosher butchers and he named a number of national organizations and movements that are particular to the Jewish people.
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