wws@siemens.UUCP (William W Smith) (07/25/84)
I have been attempting to read net.religion.jewish for the past few weeks. I find it very hard not to be discouraged that it is hopeless reading this group. I was raised a Methodist and have not had the ambition to follow up on an impulse to learn Hebrew. As a result, articles that contain Hebrew untranslated are very mysterious to me. When reading the article about a strange occurance at a ceremony which was posted several weeks ago weeks ago I wasn't sure the author was serious. Every fourth word was Hebrew and was nonsense to me. It seemed to be a satire on the other articles in the group. As a "Goyim" who is trying to learn about Jewish culture, I would appreciate help in understanding Yiddish or Hebrew that I can not be expected to comprehend. Thanks. Bill Smith ihnp4!astrovax!princeton!siemens!wws
dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman) (07/27/84)
In article <234@siemens.UUCP> wws@siemens.UUCP (William W Smith) writes:
~|
~| I have been attempting to read net.religion.jewish for the past few weeks.
~| I find it very hard not to be discouraged that it is hopeless reading this
~| group. I was raised a Methodist and have not had the ambition to follow up
~| on an impulse to learn Hebrew. As a result, articles that contain Hebrew
~| untranslated are very mysterious to me. When reading the article about a
~| strange occurance at a ceremony which was posted several weeks ago weeks ago I
~| wasn't sure the author was serious. Every fourth word was Hebrew and was
~| nonsense to me. It seemed to be a satire on the other articles in the group.
~|
The "strange occurrence at a ceremony" was not a joke or satire.
Here is pegasus!naiman's article, with translations of the relevant words.
~When I was 16 and going to yeshiva in Rochester, I was asked one Friday night
*** yeshiva = Jewish religious school (usually high school)
~to "lain" at a "shul" about 4 miles away, the next day. So, I stayed up
*** lain = read publicly from the Torah, without the benefit of vowels or
musical markings; requires substantial advance preparation
*** shul = synagogue
~all night and learned the "parsha". Little did I know that this "shul" had a
*** parsha = portion of the Torah read in shul for that week
~lot of problems getting a "minyan". Well, I trudged the four miles in the snow
*** minyan = quorum of 10 men needed for public prayer
~and got there, only to find out that they indeed did not have a "minyan"
~that "Shabbos". We started davening anyway and when "Borchu" came around
*** Shabbos = Sabbath (Saturday)
*** Borchu = point in the middle of the service which requires a minyan
if this piece is to be said
~and there were only 9 people I began to despair.
~
~Being that I was a yeshive boy, everybody looked at me as though I was the
~Rabbi, and asked me what to do. I was no specialist in the laws of
~"davening" without a "minyan", the whole idea of someone asking me the
*** davening = praying
~law for anything threw me. To make a long story short, I told them we'll
~just have to go on without "Borchu". In the meantime I was trying to
~figure out what the "halacha" is if we still didn't have a "minyan" by
*** halacha = Jewish law
~"laining". I was still reciting the "Shemona Esrai" when the "Chazon" started
*** laining = public reading of the Torah
*** Shemona Esrai = silent prayer which is the centrepiece of the service; it
is repeated by the Chazon if there's a minyan
*** Chazon = "cantor", or leader of the service. Whoever happens to
be leading that service is the chazon
~repeating it, he evidently didn't know that you need a "minyan" for
~"Chazoras Hashatz" and "Kedusha". I was trying to figure out what to do
*** Chazoras Hashatz = repetition of the Shemonah Esrai by the Chazon, for
which a minyan is required.
*** Kedusha = part of the repetition in which the congregation participates,
which also requires a minyan.
~when Lo and Behold !!! As the "Chazon" was saying "Mechayai Hamaisim"
~(He who returns the living from the dead) this guy with stringy, dirty hair,
~disgusting looking jeans, a guy I could barely see the features of his
~face through the dirt, walked in. The only thing I cared about though
~was that he had a "Kippah" on. After "shul", I asked around and nobody
*** Kippah = skullcap
~had ever seen him before.
Dave Sherman
Toronto
--
{allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsrgv!davefox@nimbus.DEC (Roberta L. Fox DTN 297-2110) (01/06/86)
A few months ago, someone posted an Iranian Jewish woman's
account of her family's experiences in Iran, and the subsequent
move to Israel.
Whoever you are who posted that, would you please get in touch
with me? Preferably by E-mail.
Thanks in advance,
Bobbi
USPS: 252 Aspinwall Ave, Brookline, MA 02146
UUCP: ...decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-nimbus!fox
ARPA/CSNET: fox%nimbus.dec@DECWRL