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Mail.Liberal-Judaism |
| Volume 10 Number 104 | Mon Apr 9 23:55:01 US/Pacific 2001 |
From: Arthur K. Bernstein <artbernstein@home.com> Date: Thu, 5 Apr 2001 21:54:38 -0700 Subject: Biblical Hebrew Dictionary Previous responses have indicated that BDB is the definitive reference. I would add: (1) "Index to Brown, Driver & Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon" compiled by Bruce Einspahr (Chicago: Moody Press, 1976) ISBN: 0-8024-4082-7 Using a Hebrew dictionary (modern or Biblical) is a talent in itself. This book makes using BDB very easy. (2) "A Reader's Hebrew-English Lexicon to the Old Testatment" [Four Volumes in One] Compiled by Terry Armstrong, Douglas L. Busby, and Cyril F. Carr (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1989) "In the body of the book, words that occur fifty or fewer times in the Old Testatment are listed verse by verse in the order of their occurence." (Words occuring over fifty times are listed in an appendix. Reference to page number in BDB is also given for each word.) Both books have been tremendous aids to me in reading our Tanach. B'shalom, Asher
From: Barry Kingsbury <barryk@etnus.com> Date: Thu Apr 5 14:38:59 US/Pacific 2001 Subject: Passover with my In-Laws Passover every year is a special "treat". Our family is supposed to be running the oldest continually running seder in Rhode Island in one place--it was written up in the Providence paper like this and no one wrote the paper to tell them they were wrong--but who'd dare contradict my mother-in-law? Actually, her parents bought the house in the early '30s and they ran the seder until they died. After they died, my mother- and father-in-law and their kids (including the person who later became my wife) moved in and have been there ever since. So, it's been about 70 years. I've been in the family for over 30 years and the best synonym for the seder is "chaos". While some of the players have been the same, deaths, births, and marriages have changed some of the participants. In a bad year, we'll have about 20 people. A good year will have slightly over 30. Next Passover, we're looking to add another child and there may yet be another marriage. Actually, my mother-in-law throws a big spread like this on both days of Rosh Hashanah with two differences: we don't sit as nice on the seder and more relatives don't come after for desert. On Rosh Hashanah, we can get another 10 or so from one another branch. But I won't talk about them. Neither will the rest of us. Some of the family is fluent in Hebrew. Some are what we euphemistically describe as "born again"--but not in front of them. Some are kosher at home and anything at restaurants. Some (including) me believe that if it doesn't eat us, it's OK to eat it. My mother-in-law runs a kosher house. We don't know how many sets of dishes she has and I don't think she does either. You know with every day dishes and dishes for good and dishes for entertaining and the good china that is stashed away for when it is needed. And the same for Passover, except that often uses glass because its easier. True story. She bought some good china on her honeymoon in the 40s just after the war and they shipped it back to Providence. They shorted her a few pieces. During Montreal Expo in the '60s, she went back to the store and told them about it. Unbelievably, they had her records and gave her the pieces. I don't know if she's unpacked them yet. Another true story to show that it's genetic. Some relatives went to Denmark and purchased some good stainless steel place settings for me and my wife and the store mailed individual place settings to all the relatives so that we wouldn't have to pay import duties. They shorted us. A year later, another relative coincidentally went to Denmark and told them that we were missing a few pieces. They just gave it to her for us. My mother-in-law likes to preassign where everyone will sit. However, she's forgetful and she's always changing her mind and getting interrupted. This means that it can take up to an hour to just figure out where everyone will sit. Thankfully, the kids like to make place cards so we will know what she has decided. (Basically, we sit in the same place every year.) It's important because your age determines if you get the good china, the moderately good china, or the bad china. I usually am given plastic. Also, age determines what size glasses you get because we have to control how much is spilled. The seder somehow begins. We'd recline, but there isn't any room for it. If Elijah came, he'd have to leave because there wouldn't any room. We use a variety of haggadah. The niece has many sets acquired over the years, so one day we use one and the second day we use another. We never know which one will turn up but the tendency is to use some of the newer, more politically correct ones. I'm probably the worst here as I abhor political correctness--am I glad I never got that university teaching job--and always say something dumb about orange pips or the like--they tolerate me because they think the family is civilizing me. Because the order of each haggadah is different, every is always confused about what comes next. There are certain moments that we look forward to: * messing up the table cloth when we do the ten plagues. * passing around delicious potatoes that my mother-in-law makes at the beginning of the meal and them pouring salt water on them. * drinking grape juice because it's not as sweet as Manishevitz. * looking for my brother-in-law to be the wicked son. * the absolute look of amazement on people's faces when I read something in Hebrew--you mean he really is Jewish? * cajoling the youngest to do the four questions and having my 17 year old do them because the 7 year old is having a temper tantrum. * confusing diyanoo with my sister-in-law's daughter--diana. * singing "Pasach time" very off key. * kids crying because they can't find the afikomen. * At various times, relatives calling saying they wish they were there (and they probably mean it) and passing the cell phone around so everyone can say hello. For them, it's "next year, in Providence". * Enjoying the seder because it's the only time my sister-in-law's mother-in-law stops talking. * Threatening to have kneidel bouncing test. The kneidels are always wonderful but my mother-in-law is always concerned. And every year, how much better the chicken soup is on the second day and how even the vegetarians have the chicken soup. (This is true.) I guess we do a bad job of Passover, but we sure do a good job of "Family".
From: Ilan Hartuv <msih@mscc.huji.ac.il> Date: Thu Apr 5 14:40:57 US/Pacific 2001 Subject: Pesakh Kasher 30 years ago nobody wished me and other non-strictly Orthodox Jews a kasher Pesakh. Now, I get myriads of such greetings, in salesmen's solicitations, political party propaganda, and even from people who don`t keep a kasher Pesakh themselves. Personally, I don't eat bread and drink beer on Pesakh. But I certainly don't have kasher lePesakh dishes. Can anybody explain to me why people wish to others what they don`t want. Ilan
From: johanna <rebiljo@erinet.com> Date: Thu Apr 5 14:39:47 US/Pacific 2001 Subject: Re: Space for Karpas x 2? Can someone explain to me the additional space on the seder plate for more carpas, or some other vegetable? If this is redundant, my appologies. I've been out of circulation for awhile. Re: cos Miriam, my daughter (age 7 at the time) found a beautiful crystal glass that we thought was very feminine that we use for cos Miriam. Although it is actually taller than our more elaborate cos Eliahu, we decided that it was appropriate. Had it not been for the water that legend says Miriam provided in the desert, we would not have survived to welcome the Moshiach that Eliahu is to herald. Johanna Smith
From: Ilan Hartuv <msih@mscc.huji.ac.il> Date: Sun, 8 Apr 2001 13:03:50 -0000 Subject: Teffilat Tal (Prayer for Dew) Before the state of Israel was created,one of the arguments to prove that Jews were always Zionists and never forgot their desire to return to their ancient homeland, Eretz Yisrael, was, in addition to praying six times a day on week days ( more on Shabbat and chagim) for the return to Zion and uttering "Next year in Jerusalem" on the Seder evenings, was the fact that all over the Diaspora, Jews prayed for rain on Shminmi Atzereth and for dew on Pesakh. In most of those countries there was absolutely no need for winter rain and even less need for dew in the summer, but for 2000 years the Jews remembered the dire need for these seasonal commodities in the Land of Israel. I know that, of course those prayers are recited in Orthodox and Conservative synagogues. My query is, are they said in Reconsroctionist, Reform and Renewalist Synagogues. How about your communities? chag sameakh Ilan
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