Definitions of terms and/or links mentioned in the show:
- Tefillin (Wikipedia)
- Chabad Lubavitch (Wikipedia)
- Dolphin Reef, Eilat
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Jews in Alabama, Episode #2
In response to listener comments, we discuss the Orthodox and Chabad presences here in Birmingham; Eric rambles on about fundamentalism; and we talk about Alabama's relationship with Israel. What would we have talked about without listener comments? Write us -- apparently we'll discuss whatever you want to hear!!! (28 minutes, 49 seconds.)
Definitions of terms and/or links mentioned in the show:
Definitions of terms and/or links mentioned in the show:
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5 comments:
Just like Israeli's think that Alabama is full of people from the KKK they hear we are from Chicago and think gangsters.
I agree with Eric about the Chabad guys. They are not as open minded as they try to make people think. They use the feeling of welcome that they extend to people to introduce them and direct them to their way of practice. Not all negative though- I know the Chabad House in lets say Thailand has been a safe port in a storm for many an Israeli teen trekking around the world.
Our religion is patriarchal. When things started to be organized it was how society functioned and not God per say that made it so. But that's a whole other very long topic.
Carol
Hi,
I found your podcast through life of rubin. I've really enjoyed both episodes so far. Keep 'em coming!
Re: the whole Chabad superiority thing. I think this is characteristic of Orthodox Judaism in general. By definition, I think, Orthodoxy believes that it is the legitimate form of Judaism. As opposed, of course, to Conservative and Reform Judaism (along with other denominations) which see legitimacy in other variations of Judaism (I think - as I am Orthodox - question: does Conservative Judaism recognize Reform and others that are to the "left" of them?)
And as you move farther and farther to the right the adherents believe that only their level of observance and above is legit, not others, even within Orthodoxy.
Whadya think?
Carol: where in the Chicagoland area are you guys from? Raya spent several years growing up in the Lisle/Naperville area.
And I agree about Chabad, they're just a little too much like car salesman for my taste. It's like, "What do we have to do to get you to be our kind of Jew?"
J-- I think you're right, and that's true of any faith, not just Judaism. As you move further to the "right" or "fundamentalist" sides, you see less respect for the other denominations of that particular faith.
Conservative Judaism recognizes Reform conversions. However, I'm not sure about the new practice of Reform Judaism recognizing patrilineal descent. In many Reform temples, including the one here, a child born to a Jewish father and non-Jewish mother is recognized by the shul as Jewish if the parents "identify" the child as Jewish. In other words, they have to be raising him/her as Jewish -- they can't be sending the kid to church on Sundays!! But I don't believe our Conservative shul, or any Conservative shul, would recognize that child as a Jew without a conversion.
We lived in Elk Grove. It's next to Shaumburg. I think you could count the Jews in Elk Grove on one hand. Charley is originally from the South side of Chicago. I was a transplanted New Yorker.
To all your listeners- VOTE! You can vote for more than one podcast so spread the love! These guys are good.
I am a happy new subscriber referred to you from Israelisms. Fun podcast so far-- I'm almost through #2 and up to date! It is so weird that you have all that kosher meat in your supermarket. I am in Los Angeles, and even in upscale areas with quite a few Jews, there is not kosher meat or cheese in the main supermarkets. There MAY be in the chassidic and orthodox areas in the Fairfax District, but where all the famous Jewish actors and producers, there's no kosher meat or cheese in the fancy Gelsons supermarkets. They sell challah, and people buy it, but it's not kosher challah. To get kosher stuff you have to drive 15-20 miles.
My dad is also a convert to Judaism, and he had the same feeling as you did, but he was raised Baptist. When he started talking to the rabbi and cantor at the conservative synagogue I was going to, he got so excited-- for the first time in his life he was being valued for his inquisitive nature. As a child, he was always being shushed and told to have faith. And the conservative folks explained how his questions were very important and that the answers often weren't even as important or meaningful as the questions, and how Jewish it was to question and to debate the questions, and how many things are practiced one way now, but the question isn't really resolved until Elijah resolves it... he fell in love and is now on the orthodox side of conservative, being shomer shabbas and wearing his beard and kippah and tzitzis all the time. He and his wife made aliyah to Arad ten years ago, but had to come back because his wife's parents were ill and dying. They plan to go back as soon as they can save money up again. He finds Orthodox approaches as stifling as his Baptist heritage, though, and would never be a member of any congregation that segregated women. If the shul had women running things and had men in the balcony, though, I think he'd be ok with that. :)
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