I've been asked (ironically by my Muslim cysters ) to start a new thread clearing up common misconceptions many people have about the Jewish people and the Jewish faith, either through misinformation or through ignorance. I firmly believe in education of all types. All of you are welcome to ask questions, if I don't know the answer, I'll look it up for you. A little bit about my religious background, I went to an Orthodox school in Mamaroneck, NY from kindergarten through 6th grade and got a very thorough grounding in my faith. Moving to Florida in 7th grade was a culture shock, but I continued my education in synagogue through high school and into college. I am an adult in my community, having had my bat mitzvah at age 12, so I'm fairly comfortable with the topic. I am going to start with a specific topic, but I welcome any of my fellow Jewish cysters to jump in here with their two cents if they wish!
I think the first misconception that irks me quite a lot is the one that says that Jews call their God "Yahweh" or Jehovah. I'm sorry to tell you all that that's just not true. In the Torah, the name of G-d is refered to by four Hebrew letters, Yud Hay Vov Hay. It stands for the true name of G-d, which has been lost to humanity. Nobody knows what it truly stands for. However, in the translation of the "Old Testament" from Hebrew to Greek to Latin to German to English, the four letters were literally translated into "Yahweh." This has been reprinted over and over again. It was even in my history books whenever we got a footnote mention in history. To be correct, Jews refer to G-d in prayer as "Adonai" or "Our God," and in just speaking of G-d in conversation as "Adoshem" or "Hashem" which translates as "Our Name" or "The name," respectively. I hope this clears up a misconception for a lot of people. Throw me some questions if you want, I love questions!!
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I call Heaven and earth to witness that whether one be Jew or gentile, man or woman, only according to their good deeds does the Divine Spirit rest upon them. -Midrash
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I'm gonna ask a really really dumb, meaningless question but I have wondered about this...what makes kosher salt kosher? LOL. I use it because it doesn't have dextrose added (can you BELIEVE they add sugar to salt!?) and because the texture is awesome if I make pretzels or bagels, but what makes it kosher? Is it just the style used for cooking meat a certain way?
This is officially the dumbest question ever but I am curious!
I've been curious about kosher. Do you have a link to the guidelines? I believe there's a lot of healing power behind what God wants us to eat and not to eat and I've been interested in reading about it but don't know what websites are authentic or not. Thanks in advance.
Mariam
__________________ Mariam - 26
DH - 29
married 3 years
1st mini goal:
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Yay, I finally get a chance to get on the 'puter and get involved in this thread!
Ok, Chigal, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for starting this thread!
I also wanted to say thanks for explaining the whole "name" issue.
I'm also with all the other ladies wondering about the whole Kosher salt thing too. LOL And, Ammaarah, NO it's NOT a stupid question. Of course, I have the same one! LOL
__________________ Celtic Spirit
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WOW! You ladies work quick, thank you so much for your support! I'm going to try to answer the questions in the order that they were posted. Hopefully, I'll be as fast with my fingers on the keyboard as you all are with yours!
Diamond- Thank you so much for encouraging me to start this board! The reason why I type G-d like this is because the His name is special and holy. If you write His name, any paper that has the name on it can't be thrown away. Jewish letters will start with the letters Bet"Hay, which stand for Bizrat Hashem, in the name of G-d. In casual letters, we will write His name this way so as not to invoke the name. It's just sort of translated to cyberspace.
Ammaarah- My friend, Asaalam Aleikum. It's not a dumb question at all! Kosher salt is coarsely ground, and as you correctly pointed out, doesn't have dextrose added. It's used as an agent to make meat kosher. In order for meat to be kosher, all the blood and impurities must be removed. Salt is the easiest way to do this. The salt is kosher inherently because it is a natural product of the Earth, as all fruits and veggies are inherently kosher because they come from the Earth. This is not a dumb question, but a very intelligent one! *Hugs!*
Shifaa- Thank you for your question. There are many good websites out there. This is a good general overview as to what makes something kosher or not kosher. http://www.jewfaq.org/kashrut.htm If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer them for you. They're very similar to the laws of sharia, from everything I've read about them.
CelticSpirit- Thank you for your kindness! Please give me lots of questions, I love educating my friends and fellow cysters!
Keep em coming, ladies!
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I call Heaven and earth to witness that whether one be Jew or gentile, man or woman, only according to their good deeds does the Divine Spirit rest upon them. -Midrash
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Then I want to say, you will be gettin alot of business here. LOL!
My question:
Can you explain the differences between Reformed, Liberal, Conservative, Orthodox? I have seen Liberal Orthodox and Ultra Orthodox writtne a couple times also...Thanks, no hurry!
Also, we don't throw away anything with Allah's Name on it. That was interesting to know.
Again, thanks!
__________________ Amber 33 DH 37 DD 11.5 DS 7.5
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xxAmberxx, you're welcome...but I'm not sure what I'm saying you're welcome for! If it's for starting this thread, you're more than welcome. It's sad how ignorant we can all be of each other sometimes, when as I've pointed out in other posts, we are so similar, like with what you pointed out with not throwing away anything with Allah's name on it. If we are as similar as I think we are, any Qu'rans or anything with Allah's name written on it would be buried as a person would be buried, am I right?
As to your question, I believe I answered this in the other Misconceptions thread, started by Diamond. Basically, the differences are how strict one is in following one's religion. Reform Jews are the most relaxed, Conservatives are somewhere in the middle and Orthodox are the most strict. Ultra Orthodox are the ones who shun modern life the most. They are the ones who stick to tradtions, are the most conservative and follow the Torah to the last letter. Modern Orthodox follow the Torah strictly and such, but they attempt to live in the modern world more. An Orthodox woman won't wear a hijab, of course, but she will wear sleeves to the wrists, skirts to the elbows and she will either cover her hair all the time or wear a wig so that nobody sees her hair but her husband. I hope both these posts clear up your question.
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I call Heaven and earth to witness that whether one be Jew or gentile, man or woman, only according to their good deeds does the Divine Spirit rest upon them. -Midrash
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Chigal,
Lovely idea to start this thread... so you're from NY, I am in Queens..and it is freeeeezing..Forida sounds great right about now!
Good Luck,
Rania
__________________ -Rania MARRIED SINCE 07/2001 TTC since 02/2004 - lost a baby 04/2004
Hi ranikinani, yes I am from NY, but I'm from Westchester county. Where in Queens are you? I've got family in Bayside and my mom used to live in Flushing. Stay warm!
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I call Heaven and earth to witness that whether one be Jew or gentile, man or woman, only according to their good deeds does the Divine Spirit rest upon them. -Midrash
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wow, I am in Bayside! actually on the Bayside/Douglaston border. Do you ever come up this way? I had my wedding reception in Westchester at the Surf Club.
rani
__________________ -Rania MARRIED SINCE 07/2001 TTC since 02/2004 - lost a baby 04/2004
I don't keep a kosher kitchen. My husband is not Jewish, so it's unfair to him not to have the foods that he's used to. I have been in many kosher kitchens in my life. It isn't the easiest thing in the world to do. Keeping kosher is more about understanding that something has to die so that you may live and eat, like halal. When one keeps a kosher home, mixing milk and meat is not allowed. So, you need 2 sets of dishes, one for milk and one for meat. THEN, you need 2 more sets of dishes that are used only for Passover, since during Passover, you cannot use anything that has touched anything with leven in it (yeast and such), plus silverware for all of it. It's not easy to do and it's a lot to manage!
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I call Heaven and earth to witness that whether one be Jew or gentile, man or woman, only according to their good deeds does the Divine Spirit rest upon them. -Midrash
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A kosher kitchen would also require a sperate set of pots and pans for meat and dairy.
Two additional interesting facts are:
1. Parve food - which is neither meat nor dairy - mainly fruits and veggies, but fish as well, much to the surprise of some of my friends from India - and so can be used with both.
2. Glass is considered non-porous and as a result may be used for both meat and dairy.
Chigal - I hope you don't mind my joining in, while you're asleep.
__________________ Oshrat 32
DX 09/01
Got symptoms under control with no meds.
Jewish Misconceptions Made Clear 
) to start a new thread clearing up common misconceptions many people have about the Jewish people and the Jewish faith, either through misinformation or through ignorance. I firmly believe in education of all types. All of you are welcome to ask questions, if I don't know the answer, I'll look it up for you. A little bit about my religious background, I went to an Orthodox school in Mamaroneck, NY from kindergarten through 6th grade and got a very thorough grounding in my faith. Moving to Florida in 7th grade was a culture shock, but I continued my education in synagogue through high school and into college. I am an adult in my community, having had my bat mitzvah at age 12, so I'm fairly comfortable with the topic. I am going to start with a specific topic, but I welcome any of my fellow Jewish cysters to jump in here with their two cents if they wish!
Throw me some questions if you want, I love questions!!
Yay! I'm so glad you've started this thread.
Of course, I have the same one! LOL
