24 thoughts on “Shana Tova”

  2. You’re welcome. It’s a major holiday which many Jews will observe, from sundown today through sundown Friday. An observant Jew would not work on either day, just like on the Sabbath. In most of Israel everything will be shut down. It begins a solemn period or reflection and reevaluation (and divine evaluation) that finishes with Yom Kippur. I don’t think there’s a parallel in Christianity.

  4. Well, I am the opposite of a model of religious observance. But yes, blogging would count as work, if that’s what you meant, and it wouldn’t be allowed. In general, as for the Sabbath, work is prohibited, and writing is considered work. Reading is allowed, though running your computer probably isn’t, so I don’t know how reading/scrolling on your monitor would be treated. You are not allowed to kindle a spark, so cooking is out, but you can leave food in an already-warm oven or use light from an electric light as long as you don’t flip the switch during the Sabbath or holiday. You can travel within limits, but generally not in a vehicle. You can use an elevator if it stops automatically on every floor. There are many rules and interpretations, and new interpretations are made as technology changes. I’m sure there’s a lot of information about this stuff on the Net if you google around.

  11. Dan from Madison – I do not think (Jonathan will,I hope, correct me if I’m wrong) that Jews refer to people who eat pork as “infidels”.

    I don’t want to get into a religious nitpick today, and, if goys are allowed, I’d like to wish Jonathan and other Jews who hang around this joint, Shana tova.

  14. Dan from Madison – You’re missing the point. I wrote:

    “I do not think (Jonathan will,I hope, correct me if I’m wrong) that Jews refer to people who eat pork as “infidels”.

  15. Verity, thanks for your kind wishes for the new year!

    You are right that Jews don’t refer to non-Jews as infidels, but I know what Dan meant. The rascal. Anyway, isn’t infidel just another word for nonbeliever? I think that is how they talk in Madison — e.g., “Ya, hey dere, infidel!” (Or maybe that’s “flatlander infidel.”)

  16. Thanks for the friendly words, Jonathan, but no. Words are things. Words are thoughts. Words are what people carry in their heads.

    Yes, that Jews do not refer to the rest of us (who aren’t Jewish) as infidels was my important point. The mohammedans do. It’s a curse word and a challenge. Convert the infidel. If the infidel won’t convert, we may decide to spare him, or not, but then we will allow dhimmi status and he will have to pay the jizya and we may, or may not, allow the dhimmis to wear shoes – yes, really. Either way, if a muslim wants to step in line in front of them, they must give way.

    Infidel is a very important word, Dan in Madison, and you would do well to learn the nuances because islam is on the march.

    Forewarned is forearmed.

  17. Verity, I do not think that the cause of jihad is advanced if a buddy of mine jokingly refers to himself as an infidel. Indeed I know other non-Muslims who refer to themselves as infidels as a way of showing contempt for PC norms and maybe even Islam in general. Perhaps that is part of what Dan had in mind?

  18. Again, Jonathan, the point is being missed.

    Your friend was referring to himself as an infidel defined by Judaism, and, as we know, there is no such definition.

    I could write more, but I might be in hot water.

    But one cannot apply the ethos of one religion that has its roots in the Middle East, to another. And one should not use the mores of one to describe the other, nor the terms.

    It’s dangerous to confuse them.

    This is proved by, I believe, your “buddy” applying the term “infidel” to someone who is not Jewish.

    There is a sly advance of islam in the West and we should not be allies in it.

  19. He is an infidel as defined by Judaism, that is, he is not a believer in Judaism. However, the Jews don’t mind infidels. And as I suggested earlier, it is possible for the West to play the language game at least as well as its enemies do.

  20. Verity, lighten up friend. You said it yourself:

    “Your friend was referring to himself as an infidel defined by Judaism, and, as we know, there is no such definition.”

    It was a joke, nothing more, and I have even said that once in this thread. I apologize if you are offended.

    I believe it is a sign of strength for people of a religion or race to be able to take a little, ahem, ribbing once in a while. It is the sign of weak minded individuals to NOT be able to take a joke, or even the tiniest bit of criticism as the furor over the Dutch cartoons showed us.

    Up here in Wisconsin there are always jokes about Germans, Norweigans, Swedes, Swiss and all of the others who have settled here over time. One of my customers has the nickname of “kraut”. He doesn’t seem to mind. And I don’t mind either, even though I have a lot of German blood. Maybe it is something about this area of the country that makes us thick skinned. Probably the harsh winters that toughen us up.

    And to answer your question Jonathan, yes, flatlanders are indeed infidels, but I don’t use the term too freely because I am originally from Rockford, IL so am a flatlander by birth. Don’t tell anyone.

  21. Gmar hatima tova = Be Inscribed in the Book of Life. A good year to all.

    We Jews do not think non-Jews are infidels. A Jew has 516 commandments to fulfil in order to be considered OK and candidate to heaven, while other peoples, the non chosen, achieve exactly the same degree of holyness if they comply with the eight commandements to Noah (not to kill, not to fornicate the neighbor’s wife, and so on.)

  23. Well the generosity of the vision posited by j is rather lovely and may explain why of the half dozen people I see in my life who seem to live in grace – that is to kindly and thoughtfully make life pleasant for others, a disproportionate number are Jews. (That there are Baptists in that small number has also helped me rethink my reaction to much that is Baptist.) And it reminds me of my Catholic friend’s comment – we are certain there is a hell, but we have hope that there is no one in it.

  24. Wow! Five hundred and sixteen commandments! No wonder Jewish mothers are so vigilant.

    BTW, I like Ginny’s Catholic friend’s comment on hell.

    Dan from Madison, you are missing my point and perhaps the fault lies with me.

    I don’t think there’s anything unique in the air or history of Wisconsin that allows the residents to be so relaxed about joking about other people. It’s a pretty universal habit in my experience. As an example, les rosbifs and the froggies have been leaning against the wall laughing helplessly across the 22 mile English Channel for 1500 years.

    But my point is, this is a public forum on the internet. I believe that drawing an equivalency between islam and Judaism is an invitation to islamic opportunists, who don’t miss a trick.

    Thank you for the grace of your apology in case you “offended” me, but I am not Jewish. My post was purely practical. And in turn, I apologise if I sound school ma’armish. We’re at war. Let me just add that in Finland, there is a new political party. The Shariah Party. Finland was, I believe, the first democracy in the world. Their elected parliament met two or three times a year, and if there was nothing to discuss, they all went home – or went out for a few drinks and then went home. Possibly the least controlling legislature in the history of the world. Now they’ve got a Shariah Party.

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