2009/05/20 Taste Of Judaism Class 03 Jews in community

2009/05/20 Taste Of Judaism Class 03 Jews in community
5/20/09: Third Session: Rabbi David E Powers: Rabbi Powers was retired I believe and he told us his father was born Catholic and converted. He seemed to think Catholics gravely misled, or at least that was my impression.

Muhammed called Jewish people "People of the Book" because they take their Scripture so seriously.

Rabbi Powers talked about Jews in community which is a very important concept to the Jewish tradition/faith/culture. There is discussion of the importance of community in ancient and in modern texts. The Jews see themselves as God's people. You are a covenant people and in covenant with each other and with God. They believe all Jews whether born at the time or not were at Mt. Sinai when Moses brought down the Torah from the mountain. Christians call their covenant with God the New Covenant or New Testament. Deuteronomy 29:9-14 is read at Yom Kippur as it is such an important passage and belief to the Jewish people.

Numbers 13: 9-13 Word and fact can be the same. So some believe it is dangerous to say something because then it might happen. This is an ancient belief. King Barak (some Bibles call him Balak) summoned Balaam to put a curse on the Jewish people. Numbers 22:5, 6 and 23:11. So King Barak hired a prophet to curse the Jewish people and this belief that saying things would make them come true was the foundation of that practice. (Numbers 22:5 and 6) He (Barak or Balak) said (to Balaam, the prophet) " A people has come out of Egypt; they cover the face of the land and have settled next to me. Now come and put a curse on these people , because they are too powerful for me. Perhaps then I will be able to defeat them and drive them out of the country. For I know that those you bless are blessed and those you curse are cursed." Then Numbers 23:11 and 12: Barak(Balak) said to Balaam, "What have you done to me? I brought you to curse my enemies, but you have done nothing but bless them." He (Balaam) answered, "Must I not speak what the Lord puts in my mouth!"

There is a passage that says "There is a people that dwells apart, not reckoned among the nations." This is again a passage about the Jewish people being set apart from others and this idea/concept can be a source of pride and a source of anti-Semitism. Jews still tend to live near one another but it is not as distinct as in past times where Jews really did live to themselves. Nowadays it is hard for a Jewish person to have no contact with others but in past times, that is the way they lived. Still Jews do tend to live close to temples/synagogues and this puts them in communities near one another and set apart somewhat from the rest of the world.

Later Rabbinic Texts: Mishneh (Hebrew for Second Torah): Quotes from this are:
1) Do not separate yourselves from the community.
2) All Israel is responsible for one another (This is why Jewish charities are so successful).
3) If I am not for myself, who will be for me. If I am for myself alone, what am I.

Jewish sacred Texts:

Shabbat says to do all this in community:
1) Study in the house of study daily. In other words, do not study alone. Tradition says there must be 10 in a group to make the study meaningful.
2) Welcome the stranger.
3) Visit the sick.
4) Rejoice with the bride and groom.
5) Accompany the deceased to their rest.
6) Pray with sincerity.
7) Make peace between one person and another.

Tradition says worship service must have 10 people. Reformed does not pay as much attention to this as orthodox or conservative.

God did not just give written law, he gave oral law as well and Shabbat came from this oral law. Shabbat comes from post-Biblical literature but it has the weight of Torah. Shabbat is derived from Torah, not added to Torah.

Synagogue is where the individual soul and the community are joined (Rabbi Alexander Schindler, 1991).

Rabbi Powers proceeded to give examples of Jewish prejudice in America starting with Peter Stuyvesant (1610-1672) who said the Jews were poor and would be a burden and they should be encouraged to leave. The Dutch East India Company responded that the Jews had provided them with money (they were stockholders) and had helped them take Brazil so the Jews would stay if they wished. George Washington said to Let the Jewish people continue to merit and enjoy the good will of other inhabitants, as though they could earn their way into community. He used a conditional phrase about merit and he talked of them as a group, not as individuals.

Someone in class said all Jews would recognize the initials, MOT, as being a Member of the Tribe.

Important laws around community are:

1) Ahavet Rea: Love your neighbor. (Leviticus 19:18) Care for one another and love your neighbor as yourself.
2) Hospitality - Hachnasat Orchim. You can't leave as a guest until getting food. Insults host if you do not partake in food.
3) Bikku Cholim - Visit the sick.
4) Respect the elderly, Hidur P'nay Zakayn, Leviticus 19:32 "You shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old."
5) Deuteronomy 16:20: Tzedakah (means charity in Hebrew) stands for social justice. Deut 16:20 "Justice, justice shall you pursue."
6) Shalom (Peace) "Be as sons of Aaron"
7) Honoring the dead, K'vod Ha-met. Very important work by the Jews toward one another. Someone sits with the dead person at all times. They bury dead quickly and do not look upon their bodies in order to afford them respect and allow them to keep their modesty.
8) Comforting the bereaved - Nichum Avelim - Jewish law says when you go to house of mourning, sit with them in silence. If they speak to you, then you can respond. Shivah is 7 days of mourning and meals are sent in by neighbors to the bereaved.
9) Acts of loving kindness (Gem'lut Chasedim). World is sustained by Torah, Worship and Acts of Loving Kindness. Jews are a kinship group and they feel the pain of other Jews.
10) Communal worship - tradition says pray 3 times per day in groups of 10 or more. Most synagogues do not do this any more but tradition says to do this. Sacred is communal worship.
11) Talmud and Torah - Study the Torah meaning the entire Hebrew Bible.

Institutions of Jewish community are:

Synagogue is a
house of assembly (it is social)
house of study (it is a place for education)
house of prayer (it is liturgical)

Today there are Jewish schools, Jewish community centers, Jewish Hospitals, Jewish libraries. and national Jewish organizations. There are kosher foods in grocery stores with a symbol with a U in the center of a circle.

Mikveh means hope and tells of a ritual bath which is used to remove ritual uncleaness. This bath is taken by a woman after her monthly cycle. Men can't touch woman during this time until 7 days after the cycle according to Jewish law. Else the man becomes unclean.

Rabbi Powell talked some on circumcision and ritual sacrifice as well as Kosher butchers and he named a number of national organizations and movements that are particular to the Jewish people.