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 Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2008 8:10 pm
I've been trying to look for a thread that talks about the actual religious texts (i.e. not commentary on them) but couldn't find one... or is it not in this section? Sorry. N00ber tendencies. burning_eyes
What I cannot distiguish is whether you have different names for the same text or if they're different books or if they're different sections of a book (like similar to the Book of Matthew from the Holy Bible). Pray tell, is there a difference between the Talmud and the Torah? And what is the Kabbalah?
I've heard of these in passing and skimmed through them in Wikipedia... but honestly, Wikipedia articles on religions don't really give much information unless you already know something about it.
What is the book that a Jew uses most for religious purposes? I guess I'm looking for the Jewish equivalent to the Holy Bible for Christians. Because I will be reading in English, is there any translation discrepancies I need to be aware of? People have been pretty a**l with the Holy Bible and translating them according to the political climate at the time so ehhh... yeah. I now have 6 versions. redface
And can you purchase this at a synagogue? I know you can get Korans and stuff at a mosque but I got my bibles from Christian bookstores. Is there any etiquette or dress code I need to be aware of when entering a synagogue? I'd hate to do/wear something stupid out of ignorance.
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 6:46 am
Actually, the Wikipedia articles are extremely helpful if you read them through completely. Search for Torah, Talmud, Jewish Scriptures, Jewish Bible, Tanakh. If you keep reading articles, and then going back and reading the first few you read, you'll educate yourself fairly well.
Short answer: Tanakh stands for Torah, N'viim, and K'tuvim (Torah, Prophets, and Writings) -- the entire written Hebrew Bible. It is not, contrary to popular belief, identical with the "Old" Testament. Calling it "Old" implies that it is outdated, which it is not, or that it has been replaced or improved upon, which it has not. The books of the Tanakh are arranged by topic. The books of the Old Testament in the Christian scriptures have been re-ordered, placed in order of chronology instead. There are sections in which verses are numbered differently, such as all over Psalms, in which the Jewish text begins with verse 1 which usually is something like "A song of David," or "A song of ascents," while the Christian translators/redactors considered this a prologue rather than a proper verse in its own right. Translations, too, are full of discrepancies. As a great rabbi once said, "Reading the [Hebrew/Jewish] Bible in translation is like kissing your bride through her veil." There's definitely something missing.
Torah means "Teaching," as in, "that which is taught." It is the first five books of the Jewish Bible. Genesis (B'reishit, in Hebrew), Exodus (Sh'mot), Leviticus (Vayikra), Numbers (Bamidbar), and Deuteronomy (D'varim).
Moving, Talmud ("Studies," that which is studied) is also called the Oral Law or the Oral Torah. For many generations it was not written down, but rather was memorized by its scholars. In the time of the scattering of Yisrael throughout the nations, about 2000 years ago, the sages realized that they were too scattered and there weren't enough scholars left who had memorized the Oral Law, so they began to commit it to writing so that it would not be lost for future generations.
Kabbalah means "Received," and is a whole different thing. Here, Wikipedia is less useful, because it is user-edited rather than scholar-edited. So many people think that what half of Hollywood are doing is real Kabbalah. It isn't. A child can study Torah. An adult (13 year old boy, 12 year old girl) can study Tanakh (the rest of the Hebrew Bible, in depth). But a person must be offered Kabbalah training; he cannot ask for it. And it will never, never be offered by a master of Kabbalah until a person is at least forty years of age, and is absolutely known to be devout, pious, observant, scrupulous in all ways, and already a fine scholar of Torah, Tanakh, and Talmud. Only then will he be offered an opportunity to study Kabbalah -- if then.
I'll answer more in the next post.
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Eloquent Conversationalist
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Eloquent Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2008 7:03 am
The book that an observant Jew uses most often is a prayer book. There are a good many different ones, but they all have certain things in common. Search Wikipedia for Siddur (prayer book). This book is used when first arising, for morning prayers (Shacharit, "dawn"). It is used again at midday for Mincha prayers ("offering"), at the onset of evening for Ma'ariv ("evening"), and at bedtime for the bedtime prayers. It is used at a boy's circumcision and naming, a girl's naming ceremony, daily at home, on the road, at synagogue. It is used for a wedding, it is used on the sickbed to ask for healing, it is used again when an ailing patient has recovered and wishes to give thanks. It is used on the deathbed by someone who wishes to make final atonement and reaffirm faith. The siddur is used as a dead body is prepared for burial; it is used at the gravesite at burial; it is used every day of mourning, again at the gravesite a year after death for headstone dedication, and again every year on the anniversary of death. The prayer book is ubiquitous in our lives as Jews. It comforts us when we are devastated, gives us scope for expressing our highest joys, and it challenges us at every moment of the day to improve daily: to be better than we are, to feel more than we feel, to serve Hashem (God) and the world better than we do. To be given a relative's ancient, worn prayer book as a gift or inheritance is to be given a piece of his or her life, passion, and peace. You can sometimes buy a prayer book in a synagogue gift shop (which will never be open on the Sabbath or holidays, since handling money is forbidden on those days). However, it should be made clear that a non-Jew should not own one. The name of God is written in each prayer book, and this is to be treated with great reverence. It cannot be taken into a place of odiousness (filth, odor, or unsavory activity). One cannot be undressed, or dressed immodestly, in the presence of a prayer book. If it falls to the floor, it must be picked up, brushed off, and kissed as if it were a child with a skinned knee. If it is ever torn, stained, or punctured, the entire book must be given to a rabbi to be buried with as much care as if it were a (God forbid) dead infant. However, if one wishes to attend a synagogue for any reason, one should wear something suitable for a place of worship. Formal business/corporate attire would be fine. Also, the body must be covered (at the very least) from just below the elbow, to just above the collar bone, to just below the knee. Married women should cover their heads with a hat or scarf; men and boys over the age of three should also cover their heads with a hat (and if you don't have one, no worries, because all synagogues will have a box of skullcaps near the entrance that you can borrow while you're there). You can learn more about synagogue etiquette here -- Scroll down to where it discusses "Non-Jews Visiting a Synagogue."
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