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| Volume 2 Number 5 | Mon Jul 6 9:27:20 1992 |
Date: Thu, 2 Jul 92 15:30:47 -0700 From: Peter Mark <pdm@sisters.cs.uoregon.edu> Subject: Re: Intermarriage Stephen Dubin VMD PhD (dubinse@duvm.ocs.drexel.edu) writes: >So my question is this: What is so bad about intermarriage? Perhaps it >should be viewed as value-neutral or even as a good thing so long as it does >not interfere with eating, sleeping and study! The only reason I see is a sentimental attachment to the observance of certain holidays (passover, channukah, succot) and life cycle celebrations (weddings, bar mitzvahs). But I'm also not convinced that intermarriage threatens them. Intermarriage is a symptom, not a cause. If people intermarry, it's an indication that they don't care about those celebrations and observances in the first place. Also: it is possible to enjoy and partake of those celebrations even though one is intermarried. It all depends on the understanding one has with one's spouse regarding this issue. Maybe the spouse even would like to join in those events. (I know several intermarried couples in which this is indeed the case.) Peter pdm@cs.uregon.edu
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 92 12:24:39 EDT From: davidc@ptltd.com (David Chesler) Subject: Re: Intermarriage Stephen Dubin asks "What is so bad about intermarriage?" I'm not going to address that question, but his analysis, which looks only at the individual progeny, and not the impact on our People, on the total population of Jews, however defined. In this country, the offspring of a Jew and a non-Jew are even more likely than the offspring of two Jews to not identify as Jews, but rather to identify with the default Christian majority. David Chesler (davidc@ptltd.com)
Date: Sun, 5 Jul 92 23:49:49 IST From: JODY@LIB.HAIFA.AC.IL (Yosef Branse) Subject: New List: Daf Yomi [True, this is really of peripheral interest to a liberal-jewish group, but given that we do have traditional readers, as well as liberal types who follow selected traditional practices, this may be of interest -- Yr. Mod.] DAF-YOMI is a discussion group based upon the worldwide Daf Yomi schedule of Torah study, in which one page (Daf) of the Babylonian Talmud is studied each day, leading to completion of the entire Gemara in some 7-1/2 years. Examples of topics appropriate for this group are the following: 1) queries/explanations regarding difficult passages in current material 2) chiddushim (novellae) based on current dappim 3) exchange of information regarding locations and times of shiurim (e.g., "I'm going to Riyadh on business next week. Where is there a Daf Yomi shiur?") 4) evaluation of and updates regarding learning aids, such as translations (Soncino, Artscroll), review publications, Dial-a-Daf, taped shiurim, etc. 5) information about offshoots of Daf Yomi - such as the Halacha/Mishna Yomit, or the Amud Yomi 6) hadranim given at the conclusion of learning a masechta 7) historical, biographical and anecdotal material relating to Daf Yomi and its devotees The above are just possibilities, which may be modified or expanded according to the interests of participants. In light of the fast pace of Daf Yomi study, and comments received following the initial proposal for the group, the list exists in two formats, giving participants the possibility of regulating the amount of material they receive: DAF-YOMI is an unmoderated group, in which you receive all submissions as they are sent by participants DAF-YOMI-M is a moderated group consisting of an edited digest of the submissions from the previous week Both lists are available via the listserver at NYSERNET.ORG. To subscribe, send a mail message to LISTSERV@NYSERNET.ORG, as follows: SUBSCRIBE DAF-YOMI "Your full name" SUBSCRIBE DAF-YOMI-M "Your full name" Yosef (Jody) Branse JODY@LIB.HAIFA.AC.IL
Date: Fri, 3 Jul 92 17:39:45 IST From: Natalie Cohen <0005277658@mcimail.com> Subject: New List: Kol-Isha The Kol-Isha mailing list is taking its first subscriptions. Kol-Isha, which is a moderated list available through the courtesy of israel.nysernet, deals with halachic questions and issues concerning women's roles in traditional Judaism. Our first postings will go out on July 6th. Kol-Isha encourages Achdut Yisrael (the unity of Israel) and so is open to a member of any group. We urge you to subscribe to the list. We have only two guide-lines: o First, we ask that you respect the role of halacha in the lives of Orthodox women. For women who are committed to Orthodox observance the question of whether halacha is valid is a moot point. o Second, we ask that you contribute to the discussion by engaging in the asking of new halachic questions. We accept the divinity of Torah and the timelessness of halacha. We also believe that times have changed to the point where where new halachic interpretations are inevitable. We expect Kol-Isha to be both educative and productive. Therefore we ask you to stay within our guidelines. We do not want to get pulled off our topic into circular debates between those who have no use for halacha and others who have no use for halachic innovation. It may be necessary to go to a closed list in the future if our guidelines are not conformed to. Given our strong feelings about Achdut Yisrael, that would be terribly unfortunate. To receive kol-isha, send a message to listserv@israel.nysernet.org, saying: subscribe kol-isha "Jane Doe" Substitute your name for "Jane Doe" Do not specify a Subject: line in the message, and do not include any other lines (e.g. do not include your signature). Specify your real name, not your computer address. Don't say "please" or "thank you" as this will only confuse the computer. Do not put any punctuation marks (including quotation marks) in your message. Natalie Cohen Moderator, Kol-Isha 5277658@mcimail.com
Date: Sat, 4 Jul 92 21:01:13 EDT From: Leavitt <research@oasys.dt.navy.mil> Subject: Re: Who's to blame? While I appreciate the variety of opinions on the topic, I'm not sure what the topic has to do with our general m.l-j approach. For those who are really interested in the topic, and are comfortable with what most consider to be a new approach to it, let me strongly recommend a little book callled "Ethnic America" by Thomas Sowell. Sowell is usually considered to be on the laissez-faire side of the economic spectrum. His book looks at most of the major immigrations from the early nineteenth century through today, and tries to use economic and sociological data to understand why some groups succeed in particular ways (cultural, economic, political) and others don't succeed in those ways. To do his argument a major injustice, I'll simplify and say that the major causes of differential success relate to the "human capital" that the groups bring with them to the United States. Human capital is not property; it is the particular values and work habits that the groups maintain in their "new world." For East European Jews and Asians, it appears that values of learning and enterprise get transferred over. For Irish, the values of gregariousness and political action were brought. For Italians, the values of community and family, etc. (I can't remember the others and the above is from memory.) One of the surprizing findings was that you can't generalize about blacks, since there have been two distinct immigrations, which have brought two different sets of values: the immigration of African Americans through slavery and then, through emancipation into "freedom," and the immigration of free Carribbean Islanders. "Ethnic America" should be required reading by anyone who wants to address the issue in the subject line. Mike Leavitt
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