A Jewish Holiday Worth Borrowing

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converting us to Judaism...heh...no thanks

 

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Better to be in Congress.

Each year the congressional leadership is responsible for setting Congress' legislative calendar, and this year that calendar will be tightly packed with the smorgasbord of issues Congress must tackle in the coming months. The legislative work Congress fails to finish, however, may be what makes headlines in 2006. This year boasts the fewest legislative days for Congress in twenty years, and this compressed election-year schedule is sure to make finishing appropriations bills before the end of the fiscal year on Oct. 1, a task lawmakers find difficult even with more ample time, next to impossible.


In 2006, the leadership has decided to devote 72 days, or a little over two months, to official legislative business. When Mondays and Fridays are included in this total (voting generally only takes place Tuesday through Thursday), this number rises to 125 days. Since 1985, Congress has allocated an average of 152 days per session (including Mondays and Fridays) to legislative work.

Featured high on the list of reasons for this year's limited schedule are the upcoming midterm election and the accompanying pressure on lawmakers to hit the campaign trail early and often. Yet, in previous election years, Congress allocated significantly more time to legislative work than it has for 2006. In 2002, for example, Congress was in session for 149 days, and in 2000 lawmakers clocked 141 days.


http://wzpo.ask.com/r?t=p&d=mys&s=a....org/article/articleview/3272/1/248?TopicID=1

 

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You can't do that. The only way to surely become a jew is to be born of a yewish mother.

 

untrue. im a turkish/french american with zero ties to hebrew heritage. i converted back in 2000.
self taught myself hebrew, learned the scriptures..the whole shebang.
it is difficult, even actively discouraged by jewish temple leadership. this is because judaism isnt "religion lite". if you dont take spiritual development seriously, they will weed you out.
funny enough, its actually the natural born jews who usually neglect their religion.

 

Oh, ok, but weren't the chosen people of God supposed to belong to specific tribes?
I.e., God chose Israelites or whatever as their favourite sheep.
Is there a special ritual to enter the jew club?

 

Strangely enough, the 'chosen people' phrase is usually emphasised more by antisemites than by Jews themselves. They say the biblical story of Ruth is meant to show that origin doesn't matter so much as desire to serve God (according to Jewish law, of course). Ruth herself was a Moabite (i.e. non-Israelite) who joined the Jewish faith, but her descendants include the biblical king David, and the messiah.

It depends whether you're interested in orthodox or reform Judaism. Joining the reform jew club (the majority branch in the USA) probably isn't much more difficult than joining the muslim, christian or buddhist clubs. The orthodox Jewish authorities don't recognise reform conversions, though.

 

Wow..isn't Hebrew one of the hardest languages to learn? Pretty impressive.

 

eh..difficult, but i spent months applying myself to ONLY that. i literally bought enough groceries, cigarettes, and other smokables to last the 3 months i spent in one room, reading and learning.
all said, it cost me around 1200 dollars to learn hebrew.

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the idea of a "chosen people" in the sense that it is usually thought of (superiority or favoritism from g-d) is actually quite silly.
jews originally thought of themselves as teachers, not rulers. this is what the "chosen people" phrase references. it implies a burden placed on the jews to teach the rest of the world, not rule it. zionists, nazis, and pretty much anyone that cant read the torah in hebrew misinterpret the phrase to be one of kingship, rather than scholastics. *shrug*

yeah, i suppose so. nothing too homoerotic though.

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I disagree with the basic sentiments of this holiday. If you aren't aware of what you are doing at the time, what's the point of second-guessing yourself later? That is not the way to enlightenment. There is nothing to atone for and nothing that can grant atonement.

 

youve made a fundamental judgement about the holiday from an atheist point of view. this cant be done if you want to understand why jews celebrate it.

youve basically said "there is no g-d" here. that is best for a different thread, when the discussion is about the merits of a particular holiday.

as for the beginning of your post, i can understand why you say it...but jews tend to disagree.

 

So as to be aware of what you are doing next time? Just a thought - - - .

 

A similar content, but formulated in a much more constructive way, can frequently be found in various approaches to human productivity and how to improve it.


For example, from David Allen's Getting Things Done - here from the notes on Minezone.org:

Or a discussion on why we resist the weekly review and plan and what we can do about it at a blog and its summary at Lifehack.org:

 

Having studied it, I don't think so. Certainly much easier than Chinese and other Eastern languages. Hebrew uses 32 letters, not thousands of ideograms, and grammar is based on modifying the words, not the tone. Actually, I found Hebrew easier to learn than French. Fewer rules.

 

No, I never studied Chinese. Maybe some day I will have enough free time to study it (yeah, right!).

 

It's not second-guessing yourself - it is learning from your mistakes through reflection and introspection when you have a perspective from hindsight.
In this way, you can be more mindful and aware in the future - the two work hand in hand on a path towqrd enlightenment.

 

So what do you say about these: "The Jews are called human beings, but the non-Jews are not humans. They are beasts."
Talmud: Baba mezia, 114b

http://www.missionislam.com/nwo/talmud.htm