Judaism For Dummies®
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Rabbi Ted Falcon, Ph.D., one of the pioneers of Jewish spirituality within the Reform Jewish context, was ordained in 1968 from the Hebrew Union College– Jewish Institute of Religion, in Cincinnati, Ohio. He received a doctorate from the California School of Professional Psychology in 1975. He is a nationally recognized lecturer and teacher, and the author of A Journey of Awakening: A Guide for Using the Kabbalistic Tree of Life in Jewish Meditation, as well as a series of meditation tapes for healing and spiritual awakening. Rabbi Falcon founded Makom Ohr Shalom, a Synagogue for Jewish Meditation in Los Angeles, which is still among the largest synagogues of its type in the country. Ted lives in Seattle, where he is rabbi of Bet Alef Meditational Synagogue, a writer, and a psychotherapist in private practice.
David Blatner is an award-winning, best-selling author of eight books on a wide range of topics—from virtual reality to digital imaging to the number pi (π). Known for his easy-to-read and humorous style of writing about difficult subjects, Blatner is a Seattle-based freelance writer whose books have sold over 400,000 copies and have been translated into ten languages. He also frequently writes on the topic of electronic print and Web-based publishing, and has presented seminars in North America, South Africa, and Japan. Mr. Blatner has been a Jew his whole life.
Ted: To my son, Seth, with much love and ever-increasing respect.
David: To my father, Adam, who planted the seed. (In more ways than one.)
Remember the adage “Never trust a book by its cover”? Well, this cover has our names on it, but that only tells part of a much bigger story. We’d like to thank our many teachers, friends, family, and supporters (some of whom fall into more than one of those categories).
First, we’ve got to give a hand to our wives, Ruth Neuwald Falcon and Debra Carlson, whose patience and love made this grueling process bearable. Thanks, too, to our lead technical reviewer Rabbi Harry Zeitlin, who never failed to offer two interpretations when we had room for only one. His wise and kind availability provided us impressive support in this endeavor. We also relied on the wise and helpful comments of our second technical reviewer, Rabbi Yossi Liebowitz. Arielle Vale, Olivier Benhaim, and Amy Bearmon provided a great deal of useful material to help us with the Jewish history and Hebrew chapters.
Similarly, dozens of others—such as Kenana Amin, Avi Landau of the Diaspora Museum in Tel Aviv, Martin Jaffee of the University of Washington, and Esly Carvalho—contributed facts and figures that helped immeasurably. This book could not have been produced without considerable caffeine (Ted drinks decaf) from Seattle’s Emerald City Coffee (thanks Angie, Matthew, and Tara) and software provided by Davka Corp. and Lambda Publishers (of Encyclopedia Judaica fame). Many thanks to our agent, Reid Boates, and to the folks at Wiley, including Tami Booth, Karen Young, Gregg Summers, Mary Goodwin, and Stacy Klein.
David: I’d like to thank David Weinstein (and his family) for dragging me to shul as a child to eat great food, as well as Glenn Fleishman, Michael Friend, Leah Brass Livesey, Mordy Golding, and Julie Sklare for their inspiration, kind words, and help along the way. And great thanks go to my coauthor, Ted, whose profound, open-hearted teaching helped me see Judaism in a new way.
Ted: I would like to thank my teachers and my students (who are often the same people) over the years, and especially my communities in Seattle and in Los Angeles, who continue to teach me what it means to be a rabbi. For those friends who thought it perfectly reasonable for me to be writing this book, like Stephen Merritt, Sheila Dunn-Merritt, Rabbi David Cooper, and Rabbi Mordecai Magency, a special “bless you.” And a very important word of gratitude for the expertise, the humor, the wisdom, and the friendship of my coauthor, David Blatner.
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Title
Introduction
Judaism and Dummies: Not an Oxymoron
How to Use This Book
How This Book Is Organized
Icons Used in This Book
Pronouncing Jewish Words
Conventions Used in This Book
Feedback, Please
Part I : What Jews Generally Believe
Chapter 1: That’s Funny, You Don’t Look Jewish: Who’s a Jew and Why
The Jewish Tribe
Major Branches of the Tree
Guess Who Else Is Jewish
Chapter 2: One Singular Sensation: Judaism and God
Jewish Beliefs about God
Calling One God Many Names
Looking behind the Name
The Quest for Ultimate Reality
Chapter 3: Torah, Torah, Torah: The Unfolding of a Tradition
Torah: The Light That Never Dims
The Tanach: The Hebrew Bible
A Hidden Revolution: The Oral Torah
The Expanding Torah
Chapter 4: Setting Intentions: Judaism as a Daily Practice
Connecting to God: Mitzvah
The Way of Blessing and Prayer
Going to Shul/Synagogue/Temple
You Are What You Eat: A Brief Guide to What’s Kosher
Rites of Purification
The Garment District
Down Home, Jewish Style
So Go Now and Live
Chapter 5: Jewish Mysticism
Jewish Mysticism 101
The Magical Mystical Tour
Going Above and Beyond: Jewish Meditation
Maps to Understanding: The Images and Symbols
Part II : From Womb to Tomb: The Life Cycle
Chapter 6: In the Beginning: Birth and Bris
The Cutting Edge Ritual
Thanking God for Little Girls
Playing the Name Game
Buying Back the First Born
Chapter 7: Coming of Age: The Bar/Bat Mitzvah
Preparing for the Big Day
Celebrating the Bar/Bat Mitzvah
Confirming Your Beliefs
Chapter 8: Get Me to the Chuppah On Time: Weddings
Looking at the Origins of the Jewish Marriage
Preparing for the Ceremony
Enjoying the Wedding
Getting a Get: Divorce
Chapter 9: Stepping Through the Valley: The Shadow of Death
Planning for Death
Arranging the Funeral
Observing the Mourning Period
Saying Kaddish
Remembering the Dead
Part III : An Overview of Jewish History
Chapter 10: Let My People Go: From Abraham to Exodus
The Genesis of a People
The Son Also Rises
The Enslavement and Exodus
Entering the Promised Land
Chapter 11: The Kings of Israel: The First Temple
Finding the Right Guy to Be King
Continuing War and Peace
Living under the Lion of Judah
Telling a Tale of Two Kingdoms
The Fall of the First Temple
Chapter 12: Sects and Violence: The Second Temple
Finding a Home away from Home
It’s All Greek To Me
A Parting of Ways
All Roads Lead to Rome
An Edifice Complex
Sects and Violence
Chapter 13: From One Exile to Another: The First Millennium
Beware, the End is Nigh!
Exile to Go, Hold the Anchovies
Jews under Islam
Let My People Stay: Prosperity and Persecution
The Reign in Spain
Chapter 14: The Greatest Horror, The Greatest Triumph
Poland as a “Jewish State”
The Dawning of a New Age
Beyond the Pale
Responses to Enlightenment
The Rise of Nationalism and Racism
We Gotta Get Out of This Place
The Holocaust
A New Jewish State
Chapter 15: Jewish Buddhists and Other Paradoxes of the New Age
In the Shadow of the Holocaust
The Mixed Blessing of America
Jews as Spiritual Teachers of Other Traditions
The New Jewish Spirituality
Jew versus Jew versus Jew
Into a New Millennium
Chapter 16: The Question of Antisemitism
Recounting the Unaccountable
Fearing an Unknown Quantity: The Origins of Hate
Exploding the Myths of History
From Religion to Race: Antisemitism in Modern Times
Toward Healing
Part IV : Celebrations and Holy Days
Chapter 17: Shabbat: Paradise Regained
Understanding Shabbat
Shabbat: Restriction or Relief?
Welcoming the Sabbath
Concluding Shabbat
The Universal Aspects of Shabbat
Chapter 18: In with the New: Rosh Hashanah
It’s Judgment Day
The 40-Day Plan
Celebrating Rosh Hashanah
The Ten Days of Awe
Real Beginnings Mean Change
Chapter 19: Getting Serious: Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur Means Always Having to Say You’re Sorry
Celebrating Yom Kippur
Seeing the Light of Yom Kippur
Chapter 20: The Great Outdoors: Sukkot
Jewish Thanksgiving
How to Sukkot
Sh’mini Atzeret
Simchat Torah
Chapter 21: Guilt or Gelt: Chanukkah
Light on the Darkest Night
The Good Fight: What Chanukkah Celebrates
Spinning Oil Tales: Chanukkah Customs
The Real Gift of Chanukkah: Personal Renewal
Chapter 22: Planting a Tree on Tu B’Shvat
Tithing Fruits of Land and Spirit
A Seder of Fruit and Wine
Try This at Home
Enlightened Gardeners
An Ever-Living Tree
Chapter 23: The Jewish Halloween: Purim
Purim: Based on a True Story (Sort Of)
Why Purim Survived
Bang a Gong: Celebrating Purim
Bringing Darkness to Light
Chapter 24: From Groan to Glee: Passover
Looking at the Reasons behind Passover
Edible Do’s and Don’ts
First Things First: Preparing for Passover
The Seder: As Easy as 1, 2, 3 . . .
A Time to Think about Freedom
It’s Not Over till It’s Omer
The Universal Themes in Passover
Chapter 25: Spring Is Busting Out All Over: Shavuot
The Ideas Behind Shavuot
Searching for New Rituals
Rewakening
Chapter 26: Tisha B’Av: A Day of Mourning
Fasting, Reading, and Reflecting
Tu B’Av: Releasing into Joy
Today’s Tisha B’Av
Part V : The Part of Tens
Chapter 27: Ten Great Jewish Thinkers
Hillel
Rashi
Maimonides
Joseph Caro
Isaac Luria
Ba’al Shem Tov
Henrietta Szold
Abraham Isaac Kook
Martin Buber
Abraham Joshua Heschel
Chapter 28: Answers to Ten Common Questions about Judaism
Why Don’t Jews Believe in Jesus?
Why Is Israel So Important to the Jews?
What Does It Mean to Be the “Chosen” People?
Why Are So Many Doctors, Lawyers, and Celebrities Jewish?
What Is the Role of Women in Judaism?
What Is “Jewish Humor”?
What Role Does Music Play in Jewish Culture?
Who’s In Charge of Judaism?
Can You Convert to Judaism?
What’s the Relationship Between Judaism and Islam?
Chapter 29: Ten Folks You Should Know
Sholom Aleichem
Menachem Begin
David Ben-Gurion
Moshe Dayan
Anne Frank
Golda Meir
Reb Nachman
Shimon Peres
Yitzchak Rabin
Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn
Adin Steinsaltz
Elie Wiesel
Part VI : Appendixes
Appendix A: Oy Vey! and Other Words You Should Know
A Primer of Basic Words
Yiddish, Yinglish, Oy!
Appendix B: A Sampler of Jewish Prayers and Blessings
Sh’ma and V’ahavta
Upon Awakening in the Morning
Upon Going to Sleep at Night
Various, Sundry, and Otherwise Useful Blessings
Appendix C: Calendar of Jewish Holidays
Months and Years
Double-Day Celebrations
Appendix D: Go Now and Learn
Books for The People of the Book
On the Newsstand
Some Jewish Organizations
It’s amazing how many people have become interested in Judaism in recent years. Some people interested in Judaism are in search of meaningful connections to the past. Some have a hunger for deeper understanding and ritual, a longing for something precious to pass on to their children, something nourishing and loving to live by. For many Jews (and non-Jews, too) this has meant exploring the rich tapestry of Judaism—some discovering the religion for the first time, others re-examining the lost or forgotten traditions from their youth.
For non-Jews, perhaps this interest follows an increasing awareness of the significance of Judaism as the source both of Jesus as well as of the “Old Testament.” There also seems to be a greater openness these days to appreciating the depth of Judaism without seeing it as a threat to other faiths.
For Jews, perhaps this resurgence of interest stems from a community recovering from Holocaust horrors and rediscovering a trust that the faith and practice still exist. Certainly, much of the interest seems to come from the increasing realization that Judaism has much mystical, meditative, and spiritual depth to offer.
The problem is that the vast majority of Jewish books on the market today either tackle one particular subject in great depth (like 300 pages just on the holiday of Sukkot), or they approach Judaism from an orthodox perspective of “These are the 2,145 things you should do if you know what’s good for you.” There’s nothing wrong with either of these approaches, but we want to offer something different. We believe that even a subject as deep and important as Judaism can be fun to read about. And the more you find out about the subject, the more fun it is.
With that in mind, we offer you Judaism For Dummies. Wherever you’re coming from—whether you’re interested in the religion or the spirituality, the culture or the ethnic traditions—this book offers you a glimpse into Judaism that you’ve never seen before, one that helps you appreciate what all the excitement is about. We don’t assume that you have any prior experience with the religion; we explain all the rituals, ideas, and terms that you need to know in a way that you can understand, even if you’re reading about these things for the first time.
Being a “dummy” is not just tolerated in Judaism—it’s actively encouraged, and has been for over 2,000 years. Each spring, during the holiday called Passover (see Chapter 24), Jews around the world re-read a book called the Haggadah. The book tells the story of how the Hebrews escaped Egyptian slavery about 3,300 years ago, and it supplements the tale with a bunch of other poems, songs, and fables, including one about four children:
The “Wise” child searches for depth and meaning in the Passover story, trying to find hidden connections and spiritual truths in the holiday.
The “Wicked” child, whose rebellious nature requires detailed explanations for everything, demands that the holiday’s rituals be relevant in his or her own life.
The “Simple” child just smiles, saying, “Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.” This child wants to know how but not why, and finds deep comfort in the rituals themselves.
The Haggadah describes the fourth child only as the “One who doesn’t know enough to ask a question.” This child hungers for knowledge, but doesn’t know where to begin. This is the “dummy” that the title of this book refers to.
However, centuries of rabbis have taught that all these children live within each person, and that you must celebrate them all—and especially the dummy inside.
This book is designed for all four of your inner children. There are times when you might say, “Listen, I just want to know how this ritual is done.” So we describe rituals and give you step-by-step instructions. There are other times when you may want to stomp your feet and say, “What is this tradition? How is it relevant to me?” That’s good! Sometimes everyone needs to express some rebelliousness, so we discuss those things in the book, too.
If you’re a wise and worldly searcher with a longing for connection, you’ll also find jewels in each chapter of this book. Ultimately, we hope you read the book from the open and honestly curious perspective of the dummy’s “beginner’s mind,” which makes you available for deeper learning.
This book is a reference, meaning that you don’t need to read it from cover to cover. (Though you’re certainly welcome to do just that.) We wrote the chapters as self-contained packets of information, so for example, you don’t need to read Chapter 4 to understand and benefit from Chapter 5.
The Index is very thorough, and so is the Table of Contents. If you already have some specific questions about Judaism on your mind, look for them there and then dive in.
Of course, it’s impossible to encompass a topic this incredibly vast (literally millions of pages have been written about Judaism) in a little book like this, so we had to pick and choose what we consider the most important nuggets. If you don’t find what you’re looking for, check out our Web site (see the section “Feedback, Please” later in this introduction) and see if the answer is there, or go to one of the many sites we link to.
In order to get the most out of the book quickly and efficiently, we’ve broken it down into sections, each with its own theme.
We begin by exploring the different groups within the Jewish community, like Ashkenazi and Sephardic, and denominations, like Orthodox, Reform, and so on. Then we target two of the most important issues in Judaism—God and Torah—before discussing the basic practices of Judaism, like the kosher laws and what happens in worship services. Part I ends with a look at the ancient (and really cool) practices of Jewish mysticism (usually called Kabbalah).
In Part II we discuss how Judaism honors and celebrates the major stages of life with rituals, including the bris (circumcision for boys), Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, weddings, and funeral rites.
You can’t understand Judaism (or even Western civilization) without knowing something about Jewish history. But that doesn’t mean that the history has to be boring! In Part III we delve into the highlights and the low points—from the Biblical stories to modern day—focusing on what you need to know and why you need to know it.
Okay, so it’s Chanukkah again (or Passover or Sukkot, or whatever)—how do you “do it right”? In Part IV we explore every major Jewish holiday, from the weekly Shabbat to the weeklong Sukkot. If you want to know what, where, when, why, how, or who, this is the place to look.
If you’ve only got time for a quickie, make sure to put a bookmark at the beginning of Part V. We include a couple of lists of people you should know about, plus answers to common questions about Judaism.
If you’re in a heated debate with a Jewish person, you’d better know the differences between “shlemiel” and “shlemazl,” and between “tuchis” and “tsuris.” Don’t worry, we cover all this in the Appendixes, along with a quick easy-in/easy-out guide to prayers and blessings and a calendar of Jewish holidays. We also feature a list of resources to consult for additional information.
In order to highlight some important bits of information, we use the following icons throughout the text.
You can’t read about Judaism without bumping into the Hebrew language, and we include a lot of Hebrew throughout this book. However, there are a few things you need to know about reading Hebrew. For example, the Hebrew language is read right-to-left (remember this when you see it in Appendix B).
Hebrew doesn’t have a “ch” sound, like the English words “chew” or “lunch.” It just doesn’t exist!
On the other hand, English doesn’t have that guttural, throat-clearing sound like the Scottish make when they say “Loch Ness” (like saying “ha” down in your throat instead of in your mouth), and Hebrew does. Some people transliterate (“spell out the way it sounds”) this sound “kh” and others just use “h,” but we use “ch.” That means you should use the guttural sound when you see words like “challah” and “melech.”
However, Yiddish—that Eastern European mixture of Hebrew, German, and Slavic languages—does have the English “ch” sound, and every now and again, we include words that use this sound (like “boychik” and “kvetch”). In these few instances, we let you know which pronunciation to use.
There is one letter in the Hebrew alphabet that Ashkenazi Jews have traditionally pronounced “sav” and Sephardi Jews have pronounced “tav.” The result is that many words can be pronounced correctly in two ways. For example, Shabbat and Shabbos are both correct. Modern Israeli Hebrew follows the Sephardic tradition (with the hard “t”), but many descendants of Eastern European Jews prefer the softer “s” sound.
In this book, we almost always use the Modern Israeli pronunciation. If you’re more comfortable with “bris” (rather than “brit”), “Shavuos” (rather than “Shavuot”), or “B’reishees” (rather than “B’reisheet”), don’t call our publisher and complain—just swap them in your head.
Also note that Israelis tend to place the emphasis of a word on the last syllable, where Westerners tend to place it on an earlier syllable. So, you hear “Shah-vu-OHT” instead of “Sha-VU-ohs,” or “mah-ZAHL tov” instead of “MAH-zel tov.”
Hebrew vowels should be pronounced almost like Spanish or Japanese vowels: the a is said “ah,” o is “oh,” e is “eh,” i is “ee,” and u is “oo.” For example, Magen David (the star of David) is pronounced “mah-GEHN dah-VEED,” and Tikkun Olam (“the repair of the world”) is pronounced “tee-KOON oh-LAHM.” Whenever possible, we include pronunciation keys throughout the book.
We use several other practices throughout this book that might take some getting used to. First, when we discuss dates, we don’t use B.C. and A.D., because they’re based on Christian theology. Instead, we use B.C.E. (“Before the Common Era”) and C.E. (“in the Common Era”).
We also do our best not to assign a gender to God. As we describe in Chapter 2, Judaism makes it very clear that God is neither male or female. However, when we feel that something is being lost by not using masculine or feminine pronouns, we leave them in.
Finally, please note that translating one language into another always requires interpretation and compromise. The translations of Hebrew that you see here—which are either our own or came from traditional Jewish sources—may be significantly different than those in other books. If you find two different translations for the same text, there’s a good chance that both are true, depending on your perspective, and that there are lessons to appreciate from both versions.
The authors and publisher of this book would love to hear from readers. To contact the publisher (or authors of other ...For Dummies books), visit the publisher’s Web site at www.dummies.com, send an e-mail to info@hungryminds.com, or send paper mail to HungryMinds, Inc, 10475 Crosspoint Boulevard, Indianapolis, IN 46256. To get in touch with either of the authors of this book, check out our Web site at www.joyofjewish.com, send an e-mail to authors@joyofjewish.com, or send a real letter to Ted Falcon and David Blatner, P.O. Box 51241, Seattle, WA 98115.
In this part . . .
You’ll find out why you can never be sure someone is Jewish (or not) just by how they look. Plus, you’ll get the skinny on all the details about being Jewish, like is it a race or a tribe? Is it a religion or a practice? Do you have to believe in God? And what’s all this about meditation and the kabbalah? That stuff isn’t Jewish, is it?