Oy vey! Ask us about Judaism!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Oy vey! Ask us about Judaism!

Chernabog: Apr 16, 2007

Mexican (atheist) jew chiming in.

I'm no expert on Kabbala but I did go to a couple of presentations so I think I've got the gist of it. Take this with a grain of salt.

Basically "Kabbala" comes from "lekabel" which means "to receive" the light or knowledge from God. Previously it was only passed down in vocal form to the wisest leaders but in recent years some Rabbis decided that it was time to open it up for anyone who wished to study it. I don't know if this view is widely accepted or not amongst their ranks.

In very broad terms it seems like the core is to teach people to be good, I.e. not be angry, selfish, rash and so on.
The tree of life holds many of these teachings and meanings but it is too complex for my limited exposure to get into any more details.

There's also a mystical part involving numerology in the Torah where numbers are assigned to letters and words rearranged to find hidden meanings. It has a meditation component where the sounds of those words hold special properties when recited. The speaker didn't really cover this aspect much but one of the things he did say was that the word "amen" doesn't actually mean anything and is just channeling positive energy.

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Chernabog: Apr 16, 2007

Grandmother of Five posted:

Thanks for answering questions, by the way

Another area of interest occurred to me, about to what extent your social and every-lives take place within the framework of a Jewish community, and whether these communities are divided more or less formally.

Over here in Mexico it is divided literally into "communities" by place of origin, which are: Ashkenazim (Russia-Poland-Germany Area), Sefaradim (Western European) and Mizrahi (Middle East). They all have their schools and synagogues but there are also some mixed ones. Then you also have several other orthodox groups that have their own facilities.

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Like, do you have close personal friends and relatives who aren't Jewish or doesn't practice Judaism, or how far out on the family tree before anyone practicing Christianity or other religions appear?

Most of my friends are Jewish because I went to a Jewish school but I do have several friends that aren't. I met some at college, at work, with a shared hobby and so on. The ultra orthodox usually stick with their own so they are probably more insular.

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If you are part of a Jewish community, does this extend to something like hobbies and sports largely taking place within that Jewish community? Like, is your rowing or chess club or whatever specifically Jewish, formally or informally? To the extent that these communities exists, do you chose or engage in them or to engage elsewhere?

It does. There are sport events, art festivals and many more activities. I did engage in some of those but not anymore. I don't care if they are part of the community or not as long as they are good.

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Is it your experience that, within whatever Jewish communities you may be part of, that people, formally or informally, organize themselves or keep to social circles that are divided along the lines or practitioners of Judaism and secular Jews?

I think there is some division between communities but nothing too major. Maybe more between orthodox and other branches but there are all kinds of people and groups.

Chernabog fucked around with this message at 22:26 on Mar 22, 2017

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The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Oy vey! Ask us about Judaism!