On Judaism

dauer wrote:

Quote:

Rubbish!

Deal with what the Torah descibes...or acknowledge that you are not up to the task.

I think I said already that I don't agree with the biblical perception of God. I don't believe God ever interferes with the laws of physics. If it says, "God did this." I say, "Why was it written that way?"

This one is not a Jew Frank, he's a deist. He doesn't recognise the torah or any other writing as an authority on god and its actions, and he does not belive god interferes with the laws of physics. That off course makes the Tora nothing more than a collection of speculations.

I think if you stop trying to debate the deist as a jew, even though he identifies himself as such, you'll have more luck.

Also, Christianity was an alternative to the militancy of the various Jewish factions at the time of the Roman occupation. It offered love as a response to the occupation, and also, more enveloping, as a way of life.

InfraBlue wrote:

Also, Christianity was an alternative to the militancy of the various Jewish factions at the time of the Roman occupation. It offered love as a response to the occupation, and also, more enveloping, as a way of life.

I disagree. The Sages were plenty loving, and most of them opposed war. Here's a bio of one of my favorites:


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hillel_the_Elder

He was born before Jesus and was very popular.

Dauer

Moishe3rd
How do I explain this. I am torn between my emotions and logic. In my heart I believe there is a supreme being. Is it because I was brought up to believe in God or I need the emotional support and comfort in believing that there is something more than our moment on earth. And admittedly as I grow older the need becomes greater. I do not know. As for religion itself, despite the fact that I am Jewish and am rooting for our side. I find it very difficult to believe that religion any religion is not a creation of mans fertile mind.
I should note that I have been exposed to all sides of our religion. Although I was brought up in a secular household I had a Hasidic phase while attending the Lebavitcher Yeshiva for three years ages 10 thru 13. My Mom yanked me out when she witnessed the Hasidic Simchas Torah celebration

My Mom yanked me out when she witnessed the Hasidic Simchas Torah celebration

Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you do it? Why? Why get up? Why keep fighting? Do you believe you're fighting for something? Something more than your survival? Can you tell me what it is? Do you even know? Is it freedom or truth? Perhaps peace? Could it be for love? Illusions, Mr. Anderson. Temporary constructs of a feeble human intellect trying desperately to justify an existence without meaning or purpose. And all as artificial as the Matrix itself, although, only a human mind could invent something as insipid as love. You must be able to see it Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now. You can't win. There's no point in fighting. Why, Mr. Anderson? Why? Why do you persist?

Hi Moishe I did indeed read your response but I'm not always good at small talk so while I put off formulating a reply while I thought about it and then I forgot about it.


It sounds like you've been on a journey. That's the type of journey it would be nice if more people took. I'm not talking about journey into a heavy religiousity specifically, but any spiritual searching. Was all of the reading you did a part of it?

Dauer

Orthodox Jews Celebrate End of a True SabbaticalBy ANDY NEWMAN

Published: March 2, 2005


Like Orthodox Jews the world over, Simcha Friedman, a supermarket owner from Borough Park, reads a page of the Talmud every day. And every seven and a half years, at the end of the synchronized reading of the 2,711-page text of Jewish law and lore, Mr. Friedman joins thousands of Jews at a huge celebration.

In 1982, at the age of 9, he was in the crowd at the Felt Forum in Madison Square Garden, praying and dancing. In 1990, he celebrated in Israel. In 1997, when the event, known formally as Siyum HaShas, was held upstairs in the much larger main arena at the Garden, he was there.

But last night, Mr. Friedman and two of his sons had to settle for watching the festivities on a video screen at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center. All the seats at the Garden were sold out, as well as those at the Continental Airlines Arena in the Meadowlands.

"It's a shame," Mr. Friedman said on the subway to Manhattan. "Maybe next time if they build a stadium on the West Side we'll be able to go."

With every repetition of the cycle, begun in 1923, the crowds seem to grow. Last night's, the 11th installment, was the biggest yet, according to the organizers, with more than 100,000 Jews packed into arenas and auditoriums in North America and about that many more around the world. Names of cities flashed on the overhead screens at the Garden - Calgary and Caracas, Cleveland and Columbus, Bethlehem (the one in Pennsylvania) and Buenos Aires.

And all around the Garden, beneath the retired basketball jerseys of Frazier and Reed and the signs reading Bud Lite and "This Is Our Town" (the slogan of the MSG television network), thousands of men and boys in black sat rapt as Orthodox Judaism's most prominent rabbis took turns on the dais singing the praises of the Talmud and Torah. Women, who do not usually take part, were confined to the upper tiers.

In the hallways, clusters of latecomers called out to passers-by "mincha, mincha" (afternoon prayer service), hoping to get together a 10-man prayer group, or minyan, because they had missed the prayers at the beginning of the program.

On stage, the mood was defiant and celebratory. "It's delicious, but we want more!" shouted Ephraim Wachsman, a rabbi from Monsey, N.Y. "We want to daven with millions!"

Another speaker, Rabbi Yaakov Perlow, noting the imminent publication of a 73-volume English translation of the Talmud, predicted the further spread of the teachings.

The Talmud, a vast and dense compendium of laws expanded with commentary, covers every conceivable aspect of observant Jewish life, "from cutting your toenails to menstruation," said Rabbi Avi Shafran, public affairs director for Agudath Israel, the event's organizer.

The entire last book of the Talmud is devoted to descriptions and proscriptions regarding impurities, many of them involving bodily fluids. Yesterday's final teaching addressed the question of when a woman is considered unclean. Shortly after 7 p.m., as silence fell on the Garden, an aged rabbi named Chaim Stein read the last lines of the Talmud: "Whoever learns the laws every day is assured that he is destined for the world to come."

Then with a great flutter of black coattails and program pages, the congregants stood and recited a prayer that addresses the Talmud directly. "We will return to you, and you will return to us."

Soon - in about half an hour in fact - the 2,711-day process would start again, with the reading of the first page of the Talmud.

But first, it was time to rejoice. "Siman Tov, Mazel Tov" ("Good sign, good luck"), a song often played at weddings, boomed over the speakers, and men and boys linked arms and danced in the aisles.

Some were too moved to dance. "I cannot express my joy at seeing this," said Michael Jacobovits, 79, a retired steel worker who fled Germany and France during the Holocaust. "I remember a time when Jews could not walk in the street."

Mr. Jacobovits stood unmoving by his seat, taking in the spectacle. Finally, he said, "This makes me cry."

Thousands Worldwide Finish Talmud - Then Start it Again
17:41 Mar 02, '05 / 21 Adar 5765


(IsraelNN.com) The Daf-Yomi daily-page celebration of siyum finishing the Babylonian Talmud (Oral Law or Shas), Judaism's most important compendium of law and much more, has already gotten started at locations around the world.

Here in Israel siyum celebrations are taking place in many cities. More than 6,000 are expected at perhaps the largest tonight, the English-language Siyum HaShas of Daf Yomi, in Jerusalem's Binyanei haUma Convention Center. From the media statement we read:

"The Siyum, which will feature several addresses by leading Torah luminaries, the actual Siyum HaShas and the beginning of the new cycle of Daf Yomi, musical intermissions and other special features, are being planned and organized by Kollel Iyun Hadaf of Jerusalem, producers of the Daf-yomi Advancement Forum (DAF). Headed by Rabbi Mordecai Kornfeld, the scholars of Kollel Iyun Hadaf prepare study material on every page of Gemara, in both English and Hebrew, which is distributed free of charge to subscribers around the world. More than 2,500 subscribers in 30 countries receive the Kollel's material, and many others avail themselves of the archived material, available on virtually all of Shas.

"While not all of those coming to the Siyum are subscribers to the Kollel's prodigious resources, many are. One subscriber is flying in from California to celebrate this milestone event in the Jewish world and in his own life with his brother, with whom he has been learning Daf Yomi over the phone, relying on the Kollel's comprehensive study material to help him understand the Daf (page). Another participant, from New York, is a Maggid Shi'ur of Daf Yomi who uses the Kollel's resources to help him prepare his daily Shi'ur. Other beneficiaries of the Kollel's Harbatzas Torah are coming from cities such as Chicago, London, and Johannesburg, as well as from all over Israel."

Further updates as the joyous celebrations develop.

I actually want to try doing daf yomi but I don't know enough Hebrew or any aramaic, and I have nobody to study with. Maybe next time.

Dauer

M3, (there's something fun about abbreviating names)

Thanks! I just watched the video for today. But I have nothing to follow, which is a little confusing. Do you know if there's anywhere that has questions that go along with each day's daf?

The guy on the video sounds like my Zaide, what with the Litvak. Why does he do singsong for the Hebrew and English sometimes? It sounds like my Zaide davenen quietly to himself. He says it's a British accent on his Hebrew, but it's clearly Litvak.

It actually makes it a little difficult to understand the Hebrew of the daf guy. Do you happen to have a Litvak-Modern Hebrew dialect translator handy?

Thanks again.

Dauer