The Rabbinical Council of America and Orthodox Union posted a response to the Muslim ban executive order today. You can read it above.
This article is from Inauguration Week, which is a little while ago, but the lesson is still a Good.
a group of jewish boys leading a dance/chant of “no ban, no wall” today during the protest at philadelphia intl airport
If you’d like to give yourself the chills, I would recommend reading this week’s Torah portion in the context of the events of January 20th. You can find it here with translation and Rashi with translation. Start at verse 8, if you’re short on time.
Although, you know, this may be the wrong attitude. Because as much as it’s bad, it also has the seeds of our redemption. We learn of the birth of Moshe (Moses), who would eventually lead us out of Egypt. As much as we were oppressed by the Egyptians, we are taught: “as much as they [the Egyptians] would afflict them [the Jews], so did they multiply and so did they gain strength.”
okay, is it just me, or is it ominous as anything that this week’s parsha features a transition of power from one pharaoh (the good one) to another (the bad one)? because. um.
a note on this, actually. yes, pharoah’s reign was horrible and terrible, but ultimately, we survive it. yes, many of us were hurt - most of us didn’t survive - but ultimately, we’re still around, and ancient egyptian society fell.
What kind of cheese do we eat on Pesach (Passover)?
Matza-rella!
Have a happy end to your Pesach everyone!
This post originally appears at Kevah.org.
What is holiness?
The concept of holiness (or ‘sanctity’) is central to Jewish theology, but commentators have struggled throughout the ages to give it precise definition. The word in Hebrew, kedusha (קדושה), has the connotation of ‘distinct,’ or ‘separate.’ Hence the first usage of the term in the Torah, to describe the Shabbat:
God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it (vaykadesh oto), because on it God ceased from all the work of Creation that he had done. (Gen. 2:3)
וַיְבָרֶךְ אֱלֹקים אֶת-יוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי, וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֹתוֹ: כִּי בוֹ שָׁבַת מִכָּל-מְלַאכְתּוֹ, אֲשֶׁר-בָּרָא אֱלֹקים לַעֲשׂוֹת.
Holiness also seems to have something do with closeness to God, who is the source of the sacred. This is the impression we get from the first appearance of the word in the Book of Exodus. In Moses’ encounter with the Burning Bush, God tells him:
Do not come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place on which you stand is holy ground. (Exod. 3:5)
וַיֹּאמֶר, אַל-תִּקְרַב הֲלֹם; שַׁל-נְעָלֶיךָ, מֵעַל רַגְלֶיךָ–כִּי הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר אַתָּה עוֹמֵד עָלָיו, אַדְמַת-קֹדֶשׁ הוּא.
We continue to see references to holiness, here and there, throughout the Book of Exodus, and it becomes clear that this is a value to be pursued. So we are told that we are to be “holy people” to God (22:30), and even that the Israelites will be known as a “holy nation” (19:6).
Yet it is not until the construction of the Tabernacle and the appointment of the priesthood that holiness truly comes into center stage in the Biblical text. The Tabernacle, meant to serve as a dwelling place for God on earth, is called a mikdash, or sanctuary – literally a ‘holy thing.’ And the High Priest who will oversee the sacrifices offered there is to wear a golden headband, upon which we are told to engrave: ‘Kodesh L’Hashem’ - Holy to the Lord.
So by the time we enter Leviticus, which presents itself as entire book devoted to detailing the work of the priests and the rituals of the Tabernacle, we have fully entered into a religion of holiness. The sacrifices themselves are described, again and again, as ‘holy’; the inner chamber of the Tabernacle is ‘The Holy of Holies’; and the priests themselves, dressed in their ‘holy garments’ are the official representatives of this holiness. In fact, it is in our parsha that they receive the most explicit description of their role:
Anonymous asked:
Hey anon!
It took me a long time to answer this because I wanted to reach out to queer Orthodox people I knew first to see what they said, because I thought their voices might be more helpful than mine.
As I probably should have expected, they had a lot of different answers. The key point they all made, though, is this: nowhere in the Torah is attraction prohibited. It’s that simple. Nowhere in the Torah is attraction prohibited. If someone is trying to tell you that it’s bad for you to like the same gender, they don’t have anything close to a foot to stand on. (Also, I will fight them for you.)
In terms of further discussion - for example, saying attraction is okay works, but people tend to feel the need to express sexuality - I would recommend talking to people one-on-one. There are a lot of answers that speak to different people. On tumblr, a few people offered to talk to you over private-message, whose blogs I can tell you if you message me and I can connect you to other people as well off tumblr.
(I won’t give anyone else your information, if you’re worried about that.)
One last thing: being queer and Orthodox can be hard and lonely. I don’t like that that’s the case, and I hope that will change over my lifetime. I just… hope that you know that, no matter what, there are frum people who will fight for you, who will accept you without a second thought, who will share your simchas, no matter what your gender is and what gender you love.
mynameisgoliath asked:
Kiddush Levana is specific to our moon, so if you can’t see it, you don’t do Kiddush Levana. (Actually, it can be argued that you don’t do anything religious outside of Earth, but that’s a longer story.)
Anonymous asked:
It doesn’t sound like it from what you’re describing - if your great-grandfather’s stepmother was ethnically Jewish, then she couldn’t have passed it on to your great-grandfather. You would have to know whether either of his biological parents were ethnically Jewish.
With regards to whether you’re Jewish, it depends on your family. Being raised atheist does not relate to being ethnically Jewish, since atheism is not believing in G@d and being ethnically Jewish does not have to do with religion.
Hope this helps!