tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-104942432909993520.post1816501007765629511..comments2024-03-07T02:11:48.612-08:00Comments on Fusion 613: Hebrew; A language that is a tapestry of historyfusion 613http://www.blogger.com/profile/04527618316229889614noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-104942432909993520.post-61890059608134124832011-05-11T14:51:20.890-07:002011-05-11T14:51:20.890-07:00part two of two:
In point of fact, Eliz. B' Y...part two of two:<br /><br />In point of fact, Eliz. B' Yahuda was quite brave in what he did with Hebrew, as by then, the Ashkenazi traditionalists (read 1700's Polish), considered Ivrit a Holy Tongue, and not one to be used for daily social intercourse. They had Yiddish for that.<br /><br />In the USSR's and now Russian Jewish Autonomous Oblast, the Yevreyskaya Avtonomnaya Oblast's, capital city of Birobidzhan, Yiddish is today still spoken in the streets, with Hebrew used for tephila only. Yiddish and Judaism are taught in the 14 Russian public schools.<br /><br />Indeed the newspapers in Israel of the so- called Orthodox sects, are published in Yiddish and not Ivrit, especially when they photo- shop out the head of the USA's Secretary of State, for their 'modesty' halacha.<br /><br />USA and world wide Judaism has a lot of catching up to do since WW 2. We have devoted, and correctly so for self- preservation, much time, money, and energy into Israel and Holocaust awareness. While these still need to continue, along with the learning of Ivrit, the URJ 1999 Platform also said that we Jews need to do the mitzvoth of ,bein adam la-chaveiro, of our relations to other human beings. This Derek Eretz of behaving properly to other humans is of primary importance in Judaism. It is taught by our sages that all of Torah and Talmud is to teach us chesed, kindness.[Talmud Bavli Tractate Kiddushin 40b].<br /><br />Eating falafel, [an Arabic, actually a Coptic Egyptian dish, which the Jews of Palestine co-opted], singing Hebrew songs, and being a ba'al lashon ha ra, does not a good Jew make. <br /><br />To quote the 1999 URJ rabbis again : "We are committed to a vision of the State of Israel that promotes full civil, human and religious rights for all its inhabitants and that strives for a lasting peace between Israel and its neighbors....Baruch she-amar ve-haya ha-olam. Praised be the One through whose word all things came to be. May our words find expression in holy actions. May they raise us up to a life of meaning devoted to God's service. And to the redemption of our world.'' Amein.<br /><br />Your chaver:<br />Shalom uvracha v'ahavah,<br />Avrael<br />Rabbi Arthur Segal<br /> www.jewishspiritualrenewal.orgRabbi Arthur Segalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03947065948583008845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-104942432909993520.post-44848140095970672632011-05-11T14:51:20.891-07:002011-05-11T14:51:20.891-07:00Shalom chaverli R'Brad:
in 2 parts with your p...Shalom chaverli R'Brad:<br />in 2 parts with your permission.part one of two.<br /><br />I agree with you that Hebrew is definitely the language to learn for the modern Jew. I was happy that the new Reform Platform of 1999 agreed : " We affirm the importance of studying Hebrew, the language of Torah and Jewish liturgy, that we may draw closer to our people's sacred texts. ''<br /><br />Note that this was not for conversational Hebrew, although that is a worthy course of study, but so that we can study our texts.<br /><br />When we look at translations of the Torah by Plaut , Stone, and Hertz, they all differ, and when we read the King James version in hotel rooms, they call ''meal, i.e. grain" offerings, 'meat' offerings. Understanding helps us understand the meaning as opposed to some author's political or religious agenda.<br /><br />The irony however is that many of our texts, indeed the entire Talmud's Gomorrah, are in Aramaic, and many from our Golden Age in Moorish Spain are in Arabic. <br /><br />Most Hebrew classes teach one how to READ Ivrit but not how to UNDERSTAND Ivrit. Our sages were very clear in the Gomorrah that while Hebrew is the best, it is much better to pray in our 'street' language, with understanding and with kavenah, spiritual intention, than to pray in Hebrew while not understanding half (if that) of what we are saying [Talmud Bavli Tractate Beracoth 5a].<br /><br />''This is not an excuse to drop Hebrew study, but the sages are trying to express that prayer is a personal communication between you and God. Kavenah is not found in the words, but in the honesty behind the words.'' [The Handbook to Jewish Spiritual Renewal: A Path of Transformation for the Modern Jew..Rabbi Arthur Segal] <br /><br />The sages even go so far as saying that we are better off hearing three verses of Torah in our street language and understanding it, than to hear an entire Parasha chanted in Ivrit, not understanding much at all.Rabbi Arthur Segalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03947065948583008845noreply@blogger.com