www.mljewish.org |
Mail.Liberal-Judaism |
| Volume 12 Number 48 | Thu Mar 20 23:55:02 US/Pacific 2003 |
From: Sheldon Glickler <sheldonlg@attbi.com> Date: Wed Mar 19 15:14:26 US/Pacific 2003 Subject: Re: Book of Job Rabbi Sherwood does an amazing job (pardon the pun) of overlooking all the problems with the book of Job, and so I will tone DOWN my comments about it. That book is not about "gee, we can't understand the ways of God". It is about "why is God acting as such a "*(*&_&#" ? The book provides no answer. If I felt that this was an accurate description of the Jewish concept of God then I would run, not walk, to the nearest non-Jewish place. Job: (1) God looks at a good man and says "how can I make this shmuck miserable?". (2) He takes away his possessions (ok, possessions can be replaced). (3) He murders all his children (do they get ressurrected?). (4) In the end he has wealth restored (goody for him). (5) He has more children -- as if that compensates in any way for those that were murdered, never mind the capriciousness of simply killing the children on a whim. No, Rabbi Sherwood, the book of Job is a VILE book, no matter how you may wish to gloss over it. Shelly
From: Dina Tanners <tanners47@yahoo.com> Date: Thu Mar 20 15:02:21 US/Pacific 2003 Subject: Jewish Poet's Perspective on War I'm in New York, on my way home from a 12-day trip to see Jewish historical sites in Spain. I went with a Reform synagogue in Seattle, Temple Beth Am. One afternoon, we sat in the lower level of an Arab tea house in Granada, reading medieval Jewish poetry, and one poem by Shmuel HaNagid, felt particularly appropriate for the moment. I'm not at a computer with Hebrew fonts, so I will just write the translation as found in the Penguin Book of Hebrew Verse, page 291: Krav--War War is at first like a beautiful girl with whom all men long to play, but in the end like a repulsive hag whose suitors all weep and ache. Dina Tanners
From: ethel jean saltz <nietgal@airmail.net> Date: Tue, 18 Mar 2003 10:21:09 -0600 Subject: The Mishnah I've never been able to achieve a top-down understanding of all the Jewish religious documents. Because of my participation in ancient bible history study with a Yahoo group with people of many backgrounds and localities, it's helping me a lot. I also now discuss the talmud at a reform temple and it actually is a continuation of the yahoo group content as well as our temple Spinoza (Theological-Political Treatise) discussion group. It all merges in my mind. Just this past Sunday, after two months of study, I suddenly truly understand what the Mishnah is all about and the importance in Judaism. One more revelation for me, the discussions in the Talmud seem to be aped by so-called bible scientists today ;) And that was 2000 years ago. Be-ahavah oo-ve-shalom oo-ve-emet, Ethel Jean Saltz Salaam Ismail, Shalom Isaac mailto: nietgal@airmail.net
From: <larry@yudel.com> Date: Wed Mar 19 15:15:17 US/Pacific 2003 Subject: Online Passover Classes at JTS Prepare for Passover and beyond in a friendly, accessible online environment, in courses beginning this week and next: Redeeming God, with Dr. Shaul Magid March 20-April 10, $40 Bring new insights to your seder table this year! Learn from JTS professor Shaul Magid what the mystics have to say about the Passover Hagadah. Finding Spirituality in Prayer, with Dr. Eliezer Diamond March 20-April 10, $40 Through discussions and guided readings, learn how to find meaning in the experience of prayer. Talking about God: Created by Dr. Neil Gillman March 27-May 29 ($50) Learn the language of Jewish Theology. How do thinkers of various streams of Judaism describe God? How do we go about describing God with words? Revelation- What happened at Sinai: March 27- May 21 ($50) How does God speak to human beings? What happened at Sinai? Why does it matter? You'll also be able to learn: * How to read Judaism's most important legal work, the Talmud, in "Introduction to Talmud," created by Rabbi Joel Roth * How to read the Bible with new eyes, in our series "Re-introduction to Bible," created by Dr. Ora Prouser To sign up or request more information, please click on http://courses.jtsa.edu/adulted Note: You can sign up five days after the course begins without missing any material!
Submissions should be mailed to either submit@mljewish.org or mlj@shamash.org. Please clearly mark your submission as a submission, and include either a relevant subject line or a reference to the issue to which you are replying.
If you would like to subscribe to MLJ, please complete the Subscription Request Form, or send a message to the moderator (listmgt@mljewish.org) requesting to be added to the list. Please include your first and last names in your request.
Backissues may be obtained by Email by completing a Backissue by Email Request Form. A specific backissue may be retrieved interactively by completing a Request Form.
Publishing any of the mail.liberal-judaism digests or portions thereof on any other medium including soc.culture.jewish without consulting the moderator and/or the originator of the article represents a breach of trust. Please remember why this list was created and that contributers may not want to discuss the "correctness" of their beliefs from your point of view. Also note that many of the people who write in wish their privacy preserved. Thank you for your cooperation with these restrictions.
"It is not our task as liberal Jews to complain about the Orthodox attitude or to be bullied by it, but rather to choose our legitimate path according to the inner logic and development of liberal Judaism" (Rabbi Walter Jacob)
| Previous Issue: v12n47 | Next Issue: v12n49 | |
MLJ Home Page
|
Return to Retrieval Form |   |