A dialog you won’t hear everyday on the subway.
2005.05.17 — Alfred, Ohio. The following dialog will make more sense if you first read the post on Russell’s blog that started this dialog. It is very short. You really would be ahead to read it now, before going any further. 30 seconds tops.
Hi Russell,
I have questions. Please forgive my ignorance. I was raised Catholic and know next to nothing about being Jewish. You have known me long enough to know that I'm merely interested in the knowledge, not looking to be converted, not looking to poke fun at your beliefs. So... with my preamble and all due disclaimers in place, here goes.
I have questions. Please forgive my ignorance. I was raised Catholic and know next to nothing about being Jewish. You have known me long enough to know that I'm merely interested in the knowledge, not looking to be converted, not looking to poke fun at your beliefs. So... with my preamble and all due disclaimers in place, here goes.
Dave no problem on the preamble – I have no problem answering people’s honest questions about Judaism. If
someone were to asking simply to be a jerk, well that’s a whole different story. Anyway here is the rundown (and it turns out I got long winded and had to write in mulitple sessions):
Mazel Tov? What/who is that? Is it an event? A holiday? A person? If I replaced it with Happy Anniversary, it would make sense in the context you used it in. I suspect is has somewhat that meaning but must be something slightly more given that it has a name other than happy anniversary.
1) Mazel Tov - roughly translated it means
congratulations. As such its used on many occasions (births, weddings, confirmations, B'nai Mitzvah . . .)
B'nai Mitzvah? I've heard of Bar Mitzvah (though don't really know what that is either). It seems to me that a Bar Mitzvah may be a rite of passage from youth to adult for Jews. I'm thinking it is only for boys maybe. Do girls have a Bar Mitzvah or anything similar? I've heard the term B'nai around the OU campus but again, have no idea of the meaning. It is just a sect of being Jewish, similar to
Protestants, Methodists, Catholics, etc. all more or less claiming to
be Christians?
2) B'nai Mitzvah - When a boy becomes a man under
Jewish law it is indeed the Bar Mitzvah. When a girl
becomes a woman under Jewish law it is a Bat Mitzvah
(sometimes called Bas Mitzvah). More than one Bar
Mitzvah or a Bar Mitzvah and a Bat Mitzvah is B'nai
Mitzvah. In other words its the plural. The plural
of Bat Mitzvah is B'not Mitzvah. Of course the plural
of mitzvah (a good deed) is mitzvot. The reasoning
behind is simply a matter of grammar and probably
makes no more or less sense than why the singluar of
data is datum or any other singular/plural pair in
English. Now the reason that Bat Mitzvah is sometimes
Bas Mitzvah has to do with how a particular hebrew
letter was called and used over time and in different
parts of the world. Remember, Hebrew was considered a
holy language and didn't gain wide prominence in daily
life until 1948 (though it did have some daily uses
prior to that of course). As such, the final letter
in the word "Bat" (daughter) is sometimes a "Sov"
(suff) and sometimes a "Tov" (tuff). This will be
important in just a moment. Another grammar note
while I'm babbling, you will sometimes here people say
they were "bar mitzvahed". This is incorrect. Bar
Mitzvah is a noun. They may have "become a Bar
Mitzvah" or "had a Bar Mitzvah ceremony" but they were
not "bar mitzvahed".
Brit Milah? Means nothing to me. I don't recall ever hearing the term
or anything close.
3) Brit Milah - also know as the Bris Milah or Briss
or circumcision (here we have the s/t thing again).
Now you might wonder why you would wish Mazel Tov to
the boy (or converted man) who underwent the Briss.
The reasoning is that this is the first step on the
path of a Jewish life. Therefore its "a
congratulations and welcome to the group" kind of
thing. Of course the sarcastic response is "see it
starts off bad and only gets worse . . "
Additionally, you may have heard "B'nai" in multiple ways. For example, the B'nai B'rith or the synagogue in Parkersburg - B'nai Israel. I really cannot elaborate on that at this time . . .
Additionally, you may have heard "B'nai" in multiple ways. For example, the B'nai B'rith or the synagogue in Parkersburg - B'nai Israel. I really cannot elaborate on that at this time . . .
Funny isn't it (sad actually) that I would know so little about the
Jewish faith. Small wonder that people find it so easy to pick up guns
and go after each other that have different beliefs than themselves.
Assuming that you answer these questions, would you object to me someday writing about it on Frogtails? I've been giving some thought to writing about my personal beliefs. You would likely find them amusing.
Dave
Assuming that you answer these questions, would you object to me someday writing about it on Frogtails? I've been giving some thought to writing about my personal beliefs. You would likely find them amusing.
Dave
Feel free to post this on Frogtails. Actually, I think
you would be a little surprised at my beliefs if I
wrote fully about them.
Your Friend,
Russell
Your Friend,
Russell
Soooo… the stage is getting set for a discussion of personal beliefs. This is going to be fun.
