The legendary histories in early Genesis (before Abraham shows up) are considered to be teaching stories - events related to teach some kind of lesson to us about the relationship between God and humans (or 'us').
Some Jews consider the events to be historical facts (chiefly orthodox) and some Jews consider them to be allegorical, and scholars actually consider them to be oral histories of real events, poorly remembered and re-told from a theological POV. That is, scholars (and every geologist in like, ever) can say categorically that there was never, ever any 'worldwide flood' of the entire world, and certainly not during human history - BUT there were just as certainly FLOODS, especially in the very flat Mesopotamian delta region (where the Noah story is set, and the Babel story too, and the Adam and Eve/garden story - etc - so these are MESOPOTAMIAN stories specifically - which fits the Biblical narrative that Abraham et al originated in the southern Mesopotamian delta region.
So there was probably a flood (likely a lot of them) which was exceptionally 'large' (it wouldn't actually have to a lot of water, to cover 'everything in the world' from the POV of a delta resident - it is so flat in that area you can practically see the curve of the earth before you see any actual hills). That's the area where you also find ziggurats - man made hills or towers.
Anyway, the story as told is false, historically, but there was probably some story of a flood that was really big, where some people survived on boats with some farm animals, for a week or so. The magic of human retelling took over from there.
From the Jewish POV though, whether the events were or weren't 'historical' isn't a big topic to discuss (even though certainly most Jews believed them to be literally true stories in the past) because the Torah is 'true' on a spiritual level, not on a physical level, so the 'factual historicity' of those stories isn't 'important', really.
Most Jews would say that the Torah is 'true' in a historical sense once Abraham shows up, and certainly the 'feel' of the Torah from there on is a lot more rooted in 'real life' type things and a definite cultural setting. But again - scholars speculate that the three patriarchs (Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) weren't necessarily 'father, son, grandson' but were probably three different guys, later assumed to be related - and they may have been related, but maybe not that closely....we'll speculate about anything, basically.
Those ten or eleven chapters are read annually - in about a two week period. We don't spend a ton of time on them, but there are plenty of commentaries.
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History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
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It is the month of Elul, which is the month preceding the High Holy Days. The HHD's are also called 'the Days of Awe' or sometimes the Ten Days of Awe.
The ten days kick off with a two day holy 'day' called - in the Torah - the day of the Blowing of the Shofar (ram's horn). Nowadays we call it 'Rosh Hashana' meaning 'Head of the Year'. But in Torah, it isn't the start of a year - that early part of the Torah didn't seem to recognize 'years' as something you should count or measure. The Day of the Blowing of the Shofar is, instead, the seventh new moon (month) of months, counting from the FIRST month, which is the month of Passover.
So sue me - I had nothing to do with this - the Jewish calendar is amazingly complicated.
The YEAR (which is, after all, a SOLAR 'thing') is separate from the months, which are 'moons' literally. Months start on the new moon, and end at the dark of the moon. Every month's first day is on the new moon, and every month's '15th day' is the full moon. Maybe this is why our days begin at sundown.
YEARS, however, may start on a new moon, but after that, they are not related, particularly, to the lunar calendar - except that the 'months' don't fit a solar year very well at all - so every third year or so (7 times in 19 years) we add a month (it doesn't even have a name of its own. We stick it in right after the twelfth regular month and before the first regular month - so it arrives just before Passover, in the spring).
Lunar 'years' are 11 days plus random hours shorter than the solar year, which is (of course) 365 days and random hours long (which is why we have leap years, and add a day every four years - almost).
It would probably be easier to jettison the solar year and stick solely to the lunar one, HOWEVER when you do that (and this is the Islamic calendar - totally lunar) then your holidays drift 'back' through the year and you end up with Passover in late summer or midwinter, or wherever - but, for Judaism, the holidays are connected to the seasons.
Back to the solar year, then - except most of them are ALSO connected to moon phases.
sigh.
I have learned far more about moon phases than I ever worried about, before.
Anyway, we are in Elul (a month) preparing for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur (which bracket the 'Ten Days'). And five days after Yom Kippur we have ANOTHER holiday, the 'Festival of Booths' (Sukkot) which lasts seven days, plus an eighth day (don't know, its in Torah) followed by a NINTH day called Simchat Torah (Rejoicing in the Law) UNLESS you live in Israel, where the eighth day and Simchat Torah are the SAME day...
Did I mention it was complicated?
What is means though, is that for an observant Jew, you are having 'holiday' for about 23 days during the 30 days of Tishri (the name of the month where these holidays occur).
Fortunately, the rules about 'no work' only apply for seven of them. Or maybe nine....
It still makes September (mostly, these holidays fall in September) insanely difficult for Jewish kids in school, and not so easy for grown up Jews at work, either.
All you teachers out there, please be kind. That Jewish kid really isn't making this stuff up, and yes this year the dates ARE different from last year, and next year they will be different again - and Rosh Hashana might fall early in September, or in the middle, or later....it all depends on the calendar!
The ten days kick off with a two day holy 'day' called - in the Torah - the day of the Blowing of the Shofar (ram's horn). Nowadays we call it 'Rosh Hashana' meaning 'Head of the Year'. But in Torah, it isn't the start of a year - that early part of the Torah didn't seem to recognize 'years' as something you should count or measure. The Day of the Blowing of the Shofar is, instead, the seventh new moon (month) of months, counting from the FIRST month, which is the month of Passover.
So sue me - I had nothing to do with this - the Jewish calendar is amazingly complicated.
The YEAR (which is, after all, a SOLAR 'thing') is separate from the months, which are 'moons' literally. Months start on the new moon, and end at the dark of the moon. Every month's first day is on the new moon, and every month's '15th day' is the full moon. Maybe this is why our days begin at sundown.
YEARS, however, may start on a new moon, but after that, they are not related, particularly, to the lunar calendar - except that the 'months' don't fit a solar year very well at all - so every third year or so (7 times in 19 years) we add a month (it doesn't even have a name of its own. We stick it in right after the twelfth regular month and before the first regular month - so it arrives just before Passover, in the spring).
Lunar 'years' are 11 days plus random hours shorter than the solar year, which is (of course) 365 days and random hours long (which is why we have leap years, and add a day every four years - almost).
It would probably be easier to jettison the solar year and stick solely to the lunar one, HOWEVER when you do that (and this is the Islamic calendar - totally lunar) then your holidays drift 'back' through the year and you end up with Passover in late summer or midwinter, or wherever - but, for Judaism, the holidays are connected to the seasons.
Back to the solar year, then - except most of them are ALSO connected to moon phases.
sigh.
I have learned far more about moon phases than I ever worried about, before.
Anyway, we are in Elul (a month) preparing for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur (which bracket the 'Ten Days'). And five days after Yom Kippur we have ANOTHER holiday, the 'Festival of Booths' (Sukkot) which lasts seven days, plus an eighth day (don't know, its in Torah) followed by a NINTH day called Simchat Torah (Rejoicing in the Law) UNLESS you live in Israel, where the eighth day and Simchat Torah are the SAME day...
Did I mention it was complicated?
What is means though, is that for an observant Jew, you are having 'holiday' for about 23 days during the 30 days of Tishri (the name of the month where these holidays occur).
Fortunately, the rules about 'no work' only apply for seven of them. Or maybe nine....
It still makes September (mostly, these holidays fall in September) insanely difficult for Jewish kids in school, and not so easy for grown up Jews at work, either.
All you teachers out there, please be kind. That Jewish kid really isn't making this stuff up, and yes this year the dates ARE different from last year, and next year they will be different again - and Rosh Hashana might fall early in September, or in the middle, or later....it all depends on the calendar!
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
Re: Ask about Judaism
Elul is a month of preparation. Sort of like Lent.
Ideally, people prepare themselves mentally and spiritually for the upcoming HHD's. These are mainly synagogue - public - holiday observances, rather than 'home and family'. Rosh Hashana services begin in the evening and continue (well, not CONTINUOUSLY continue) for two days. Then there are seven 'intermediate days' followed by Yom Kippur, which also begins in the evening just before sundown, and ends the next evening just AFTER sundown.
The 'imagery' of the HHD's is that God arrives at 'the Heavenly Court' in God's role as King and Judge of the world, and you are going to have to appear and justify your life. The Rosh Hashana liturgy is full of praise of God and praise for God's mercy and judgment. (By all means, let us remind the Big Guy that he's supposed to be MERCIFUL, because we all know we are pretty miserably failing at this whole 'don't make any mistakes' thing).
Then for the intermediate days, presumably God is sitting with your defense counsel (probably a major angel) and the prosecuting attorney (that would be the satan, of course) to determine your sentence.
On Yom Kippur you get to show up and throw yourself on the mercy of the court and get one last chance to move your sentence from 'death' to 'life'.
(The liturgy repeats, again and again - on Rosh Hashana it (your fate) is written, on Yom Kippur it is sealed - the Great Book of Life (and Death) is opened on RH, your fate for the following year is determined - but it isn't OFFICIAL until it is 'sealed' (closed again) at the end of Yom Kippur).
Even people who don't believe any of this is literally happening are usually affected by the intensity and repetition of the liturgical themes and the length of the services - and fasting for 26 hours surely has an effect as well. It can get pretty intense.
The prayerbook for the HHD services is a separate book, and about twice as thick as the ordinary prayerbook for Sabbath and Holidays (which means, all OTHER holidays). It isn't even called the same thing - the HHD prayerbook is a 'machzor' rather than a 'siddur'. A siddur has 'ordered liturgy' (siddur comes from the same word as 'seder', order). 'Machzor' means 'cycle' as in something returning, coming around again.
h**p://www.myjewishlearning.com/category/celeb ... -hashanah/
h**p://www.myjewishlearning.com/category/celebrate/yom-kippur/
Ideally, people prepare themselves mentally and spiritually for the upcoming HHD's. These are mainly synagogue - public - holiday observances, rather than 'home and family'. Rosh Hashana services begin in the evening and continue (well, not CONTINUOUSLY continue) for two days. Then there are seven 'intermediate days' followed by Yom Kippur, which also begins in the evening just before sundown, and ends the next evening just AFTER sundown.
The 'imagery' of the HHD's is that God arrives at 'the Heavenly Court' in God's role as King and Judge of the world, and you are going to have to appear and justify your life. The Rosh Hashana liturgy is full of praise of God and praise for God's mercy and judgment. (By all means, let us remind the Big Guy that he's supposed to be MERCIFUL, because we all know we are pretty miserably failing at this whole 'don't make any mistakes' thing).
Then for the intermediate days, presumably God is sitting with your defense counsel (probably a major angel) and the prosecuting attorney (that would be the satan, of course) to determine your sentence.
On Yom Kippur you get to show up and throw yourself on the mercy of the court and get one last chance to move your sentence from 'death' to 'life'.
(The liturgy repeats, again and again - on Rosh Hashana it (your fate) is written, on Yom Kippur it is sealed - the Great Book of Life (and Death) is opened on RH, your fate for the following year is determined - but it isn't OFFICIAL until it is 'sealed' (closed again) at the end of Yom Kippur).
Even people who don't believe any of this is literally happening are usually affected by the intensity and repetition of the liturgical themes and the length of the services - and fasting for 26 hours surely has an effect as well. It can get pretty intense.
The prayerbook for the HHD services is a separate book, and about twice as thick as the ordinary prayerbook for Sabbath and Holidays (which means, all OTHER holidays). It isn't even called the same thing - the HHD prayerbook is a 'machzor' rather than a 'siddur'. A siddur has 'ordered liturgy' (siddur comes from the same word as 'seder', order). 'Machzor' means 'cycle' as in something returning, coming around again.
h**p://www.myjewishlearning.com/category/celeb ... -hashanah/
h**p://www.myjewishlearning.com/category/celebrate/yom-kippur/
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
Re: Ask about Judaism
You guys think coc Sunday morning services are 'too long'. Hah!
Rosh Hashana services:
erev (evening): 6:30 pm til 8
first day: Morning service 8:30 am to around 1 (or possibly 2)
first day: Evening 5:00 pm to 6:30 or 7
Second day: Morning 8:30 am til around noon or 1.
After all, we have to hear the shofar blown a MINIMUM of 100 times. Each day.
Yom Kippur:
erev (evening) 5:45 til probably 7 or later
Day: Morning service 9 am till (usually) 2 pm (safely past lunchtime)
at this point, most people go home and take a short nap
Afternoon: 4:50 pm
Ne'ila ('the Closing of the Gate' of Heaven) 5:45 pm
Final Blowing of the Shofar at 7:23 pm (this changes from year to year - it is based on sunset times)
and...
followed by a meal. Since nobody ate or drank anything since before the first evening service, the day before.
As my daughter put it a year or so ago, after Yom Kippur services -
'Being Jewish is not for Wimps!'
A friend of mine (Jewish) took his non-Jewish girlfriend to services for the first time, on Yom Kippur. By some miracle of human delusion, she still married him.
Rosh Hashana services:
erev (evening): 6:30 pm til 8
first day: Morning service 8:30 am to around 1 (or possibly 2)
first day: Evening 5:00 pm to 6:30 or 7
Second day: Morning 8:30 am til around noon or 1.
After all, we have to hear the shofar blown a MINIMUM of 100 times. Each day.
Yom Kippur:
erev (evening) 5:45 til probably 7 or later
Day: Morning service 9 am till (usually) 2 pm (safely past lunchtime)
at this point, most people go home and take a short nap
Afternoon: 4:50 pm
Ne'ila ('the Closing of the Gate' of Heaven) 5:45 pm
Final Blowing of the Shofar at 7:23 pm (this changes from year to year - it is based on sunset times)
and...
followed by a meal. Since nobody ate or drank anything since before the first evening service, the day before.
As my daughter put it a year or so ago, after Yom Kippur services -
'Being Jewish is not for Wimps!'
A friend of mine (Jewish) took his non-Jewish girlfriend to services for the first time, on Yom Kippur. By some miracle of human delusion, she still married him.
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
Re: Ask about Judaism
There is no accounting for chemistry. Love your comments.agricola wrote: A friend of mine (Jewish) took his non-Jewish girlfriend to services for the first time, on Yom Kippur. By some miracle of human delusion, she still married him.
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We had a good Yom Kippur.
Also, when looking for a shofar blower, GET A TRUMPET PLAYER!!! Ours was amazing. He didn't take a breath for over a minute. Maybe two. I've never heard that thing blown so long, with so consistent a sound. Someone said 'circular breathing' but whatever it was, it was breathtaking in more than one sense.
Also, when looking for a shofar blower, GET A TRUMPET PLAYER!!! Ours was amazing. He didn't take a breath for over a minute. Maybe two. I've never heard that thing blown so long, with so consistent a sound. Someone said 'circular breathing' but whatever it was, it was breathtaking in more than one sense.
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
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It's called circular breathing. I do not know the technique. Barbara Streisand can hold a long sustained note with incredible breath control. Many Jews are famous for their talents in music. This goes back to King David. Sorry about Leonard Cohen. He could grab the spiritual with his lyrics in a way that is not common. The bass floor is provided by Avi and Kevin. Incredible vocal ranges!. Kevin is the beat boxer. I am still trying to figure out his bass drum. He stomps the ground in the video but the microphone is so close that it could not be far away. I suspect a sound studio. Pentatonics covers "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen.agricola wrote:We had a good Yom Kippur.
Also, when looking for a shofar blower, GET A TRUMPET PLAYER!!! Ours was amazing. He didn't take a breath for over a minute. Maybe two. I've never heard that thing blown so long, with so consistent a sound. Someone said 'circular breathing' but whatever it was, it was breathtaking in more than one sense.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRP8d7hhpoQ
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From Rabbi Gordis, a quote:
Many people today begin their conversations about religion with the proverbial question “Do you believe in God ?” But Judaism understands that if that question is the first one, then people who cannot answer yes will not be able to begin the journey. That is why the question “Do you believe in God?” is not the central Jewish spiritual question. It is not an illegitimate question; Jews are certainly not forbidden to ask it. But Judaism has chosen a different emphasis, a focus not on belief, but on faith. Jewish life is interested not in proving God’s existence, but in feeling God’s presence. Judaism is interested not in philosophic arguments for God, but in what modem Jewish philosopher Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) called moments of “awe and wonder,” moments when God suddenly seems close.
From Belief to Faith | My Jewish Learning
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.
Re: Ask about Judaism
I really like this.Jewish life is interested not in proving God’s existence, but in feeling God’s presence. Judaism is interested not in philosophic arguments for God, but in what modem Jewish philosopher Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) called moments of “awe and wonder,” moments when God suddenly seems close.
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I'm answering a survey about the membership of a large (>10 thousand) member online discussion group which is exclusively Jewish (and majority orthodox) and ran across this question which made me smile. So here it is, and I would like all us ex-coc folks to share my feelings about it - that this question would NEVER present this spectrum of possible answers in a similar coc (or even other Christian) group, ever:
I especially like that 'other' choice.Do you believe in God?
(choose one)
Yes
Yes, but not as most people understand the concept "God"
Usually
Some of the time
Rarely
No / I am an atheist
Unsure / I am an agnostic
Prefer not to say
Other:
History is the fiction we invent to persuade ourselves that events are knowable and that life has order and direction. That's why events are always reinterpreted when values change. We need new versions of history to allow for our current prejudices.