Sorry about the delay, have had a lot of issues to deal with lately and this blog got put aside. Anyhows got this question a few days ago.
I would like more information on the jewish religion and I would also like to ask can someone convert to the jewish religion being that he or she is African American
Yep, anyone is able to convert to Judiasm. Just find a sponsing Rabbi.
Over a month ago now (yikes), I got the following question.
Hi!
My father comes from a very long heritage of Jews, originally from Germany, Hungary and originally the Ural mountains. My entire family line from my father’s side were Ashkenazi Jews, many who perished in the second world war or who live in central and eastern Europe today.
My question is, am I considered Jewish to other Jews? I have dark curly hair, a “jewish” nose, high IQ like my father and all other stereotypical/non-stereotypical Jewish traits. As far as genetics go, my genes are 50% my father’s which were pure Ashkenazi (I have a somewhat complete family tree thanks to my Hungarian uncle but it is of course hard to trace family lines due to the war..).
However, according to Judaism I am not Jewish because my mother is not. This presents a problem since most people identify me as a Jew but according to Judaism I am not. The Ashkenazi’s are a people as far as I am concerned and evolution doesn’t discriminate; 50% of who I am genetically has been passed down from countless Ashkenazi Jews.
Am I Jewish by blood but not by faith? Or what gives/goes? I am not religious for the record, my father was atheist/Christian for a limited time, but nonetheless very much Jewish by blood.
This is my first time reaching out like this and asking, thanks for the site.
Karl
Well a short answer would be to say you are not Jewish as your mother isn’t but different groups of Judaism will see you as a Jew, others will not. I would say do not let it bother you and although the term is not correct and doesn’t make sense, if anyone asks just call yourself half Jewish (Judaism is a culture as much as a religion).
However that said if you want to be Jewish then go ahead and convert if it is right to you. Do not feel pressured to convert simply because others are calling you Jewish.
So today I got a question (like 10 mins ago actually from writing this one – it just caught my eye in time!). So the question is as follow.
I really hope that this does not come across as offensive, however as a part of my study of religion essay I need to get an ethnographic survey, and it would be fantastic to get your views on, “How could an all-loving, all-powerful and all-knowing God allow the Holocaust?” Truly it would be a great help. Thanks 🙂
First of all no worries about it being offensive, I have no issues answering actual legit questions. In two words – free will.
There is a couple of things you have to remember. The first is we can not simply understand what G’d is, how such a being came into existance or any grand plans but what we do know is G’d loves us and only asks that we love G’d back. The problem with this however is you can not be forced to do so – it isn’t really love at that point. Imagine you wanting for someone to love you and then holding a gun to their head so they have no choice – that isn’t really love is it?
Thus we was gifted with being able to think for ourselves and with this it means we are able to do what we please – the Holocaust is a very good example with this (but sadly it isn’t the first time something like that has happened within Jewish history). As we have been given free will to do as we wish it would also only be logical to assume G’d will not get involved as simply if he did then we don’t exactly have free will – simply applied will to what he wants.
The point I am making is simply G’d allows us to make our own choices and that we must live with it until the very end, then we are dealt with accordingly. If we agree that humans should have free will, we must also accept that we must live with what other humans do.
Just as an old saying says from a man called Elie Wiesel:
“After the Holocaust I did not loose faith in God. I lost faith in mankind”
So I got this question the other day from someone that did not leave a name asking about if picking up coins is anti-semtic.
A doctor (who is Jewish) told me that picking up change from the ground is anti-semitic. I can sort of see where he is coming from, but is that really a belief held by many Jews? Are you telling me that a person wouldn’t pick up a hundred dollar bill just because others would make jokes about a man who is Jewish bending over to pick up money?
Honestly, I would call this a lot of bull as you could make an anti-semitic comment about anything. While there are things regarding finding lost money and what not but that aside I would call you a fool not to pick up the money.
I would bet the same people that would make anti-semitic comments about Jews picking up every bit of money they can are also the ones that are picking up the same coins given the chance.
And thirdly and from experience, no one really cares nowadays unless you actually live in a anti-semitic area.
Just a quick one today, got loads to do! So just a few hours ago I got sent the following bunch of questions. They will be simple one line answers where possible so sorry if you are looking for a much more in depth answers.
We’re doing a project on Judaism and we need to ask you some questions please respond. Thanks
Q1: What is your most important holiday?
Q2: What are the most important holidays?
Q3: How often do you go to a synagogue?
Q4: Who wrote your Holy Book?
Q5: What do you do when you pray?
Q6: What is the Tanakh?
Q7: What is the Masoretic Text?
Q8: What’s your favorite Jewish food?
Q9: What are the holy books of Judaism?
Q10: How is religion affect your daily life?
Q1: What is your most important holiday?
Yom Kippur
Q2: What are the most important holidays?
The most important two I would say is Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur simply as they both deal with the same thing – being attoned. You can Google both of those for further information about what the holidays involved.
Q3: How often do you go to a synagogue?
Every week on the Sabbath.
Q4: Who wrote your Holy Book?
Tradition states it was Moses but it is widely accepted he couldn’t have written quite a bit of it – else he would have access to knowledge he didn’t at the time. It was written by quite a few people but whom I sadly could not tell you without further research.
Q5: What do you do when you pray?
This is actually a odd question to answer simply because there is so many. I myself simply pray to myself with the belief that G’d doesn’t really need us attend a place of worship daily just for us to be thankful for everything done for us. That said, Jewish tradition has a whole lot to say about praying and if you do not mind paying a little bit, you can buy aprayer book on Amazon.
Q6: What is the Tanakh?
Its basically the canon for all Jewish writing and beliefs. It has the Jewish scriptures which is broken down into the Torah, the Writings and the Prophets and often has the name the Hebrew Bible given to it.
Q7: What is the Masoretic Text?
This one is hard ish to explain so hopefully I can explain it well. These texts is named after a bunch of Rabbis called Masoretes who made it their goal in life to correct all the faults and problems that happened with the holy texts during the Babylonian captivity period. The other goal is to stop it from happening again.
It is worth noting that when the Dead Sea Scrolls was found, the Masoretic text actually was pretty close to the original text (the Dead Sea Scrolls being one of, if not the, oldest version of Jewish writing).
Q8: What’s your favorite Jewish food?
Depends how you define Jewish food but my favorite food is chips and cheese!
Q9: What are the holy books of Judaism?
The most holy book itself is the Tanakh which as written above has the three different important texts within it such as the Torah. The Torah itself is the most important part and includes the Five Books of Moses which I am sure you can Google for further information.
Q10: How is religion affect your daily life?
It hasn’t in a bad way, surprisingly. Only thing I can say is I have a far greater sense of community, culture and tend to see each day with more drive. Other then that nothing really changed.
A couple of days ago I got the following question (sorry for the late answering for these, got a whole back log!).
I have a question, when attending a Jewish burial would one have to remove there piercings? Only asking as if I get one I would not be able to remove it until it heals completely which could take months to even two years. Jewidism is a important part of me even if I don’t show it much, I would rather have a piercing then a tattoo as they can be removed if needed even though I do think of getting a tattoo at times.
Example snake bites.
Thank you for taking you time to answer this question.
Techinally from my understanding (and quite a few other Rabbis), piercings themselves is not against Jewish law and thus you could have them. However answering your question I would remove them as a sign of respect. As you have said about a burial, I am assuming you may be attending one soon and if so – why not just wait until afterwards and then get your piercings.
In other words, I would not worry too much about it but if you can remove them in such a event. Ultimately people are not going to be bothering over what you look like but for the mouring of the dead.
Hope it helps.
So today I got the following question from someone asking about the Talmud.
Why does the talmud seems so evil when it talks about gentiles?
Now at face value you are correct, it does seem so evil and seems Jews are able to steal from gentiles and pretty much do whatever we please but once you studied it you will see it isn’t like that all and everything has to do with context.
I will just do one example and that is stealing. Something we call the “Code of Law” clearly states that stealing is forbidden – even to a gentile (and not to say that in a superior way) and so does the Maimonidies also say the very same thing.
What it does say however is and it is example time again. Lets say you lost a tenner and I came across it (and by came across it I mean you dropped it somewhere) I would not be a sinner if I did not return it.
So no, we can’t go around stealing as many people think. I got a good link for you for further reading: http://www.sinaicentral.com/jewhaters/defending_the_talmud.htm.
How long each day does a 12 year-old have to study the quran???
Now I normally ignore every non Jewish or obvious trolling but I will answer this one. From my understanding of Islam I recall there is no limit set but studying it daily such as for an hour or two will allow you to remember the Qu’ran in pretty much no time at all.
Just keeping studying it and you will finally remember it.
Over the last few days I have been getting the same question from different people so I am guessing someone been assigned a project so I will answer the question (everyone who submitted sent the same question, just worded differently).
How important is a synagogue in Jewish 21st century life?
The Shull is very important to the Jewish community and ultimately will be what makes Judaism survive in the years to come, but from experience it seems a Shul is simply only important nowadays for the religous side of things and have lost its importants in terms of being the center of a Jewish community.
To me personally, a Shul is not that important as I am able to learn anywhere and if I need guidance, I am able to visit my local Rabbi and can even contact him by email without having to visit the Shul personally. If you are doing a research project, I would advise you to read a wonderful book by Rabbi Herring called Tomorrow’s Synagogue Today.
Overall in my opinion – it sadly is not as important as it used to be, although I would love to see it once again become the center of a Jewish community.
Do Jews say amen?
A nice and simple question today and the answer is – yes they do and is said as – Ah-mayn. This roughly means “so be it”. Other words are used such as Ken yhi ratzon and Bemet.