My ongoing journey through the Torah

My ongoing journey through the Torah

It has been brought to my attention that the subtitle of this blog My ongoing journey through the Torah could be taken in a flippant sort of way.  That is not at all what I mean.  The word Torah means different things depending on the context.

When I wrote the subtitle, I meant it as looking at the world through new jewish eyes. — meaning my eyes.  I’ve converted from being a Methodist Christian to a Reform Jew just a few weeks ago so it is almost like looking at a brand new world using Torah tinted glasses.  I’m alot more aware of the darker side of being a Jew such as anti-semetic remarks in the media as well as just how much we (the Jews) have influenced western society.

Reading and understanding the Torah is a life long endeavor whose meaning will change depending on my point of view (thanks ObiWan! ;-).  I think the Torah is the ultimate guide to living.

Many of the laws in the Bible (Torah = Bible IMHO) no longer apply as health standards of living have increased dramatically.  We try to keep all the laws laid down in the Torah, even those that don’t really apply any more, out of respect of tradition but mostly because Adonai told us to.

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ראש השנה

Happy Rosh Hashanah everybody!!  Even though it doesn’t start until sun down later this afternoon (sundown = end of the day), I thought I would like to wish everyone a happy New Year! 

This holiday is the first of the Yamim Noraim (Hebrew, "Days of Awe"), the most solemn days of the Jewish year; the Yamim Noraim are preceded by the month of Elul, during which Jews are supposed to begin a self-examination and repentance, a process that culminates in the ten days of the Yamim Noraim known as Asseret Yemei Teshuva - The Ten Days of Repentance, beginning with Rosh Hashanah and ending with the holiday of Yom Kippur.  — Wikipedia

Even though I enjoy the High Holidays (yes, even the never ending seeming services), sometimes they seem to come at inconvenient times.  In only sixteen days I will be getting married and there are a thousand little things to do and I have work stuff to do and the list goes on and on.  In truth, I’m rather grateful for the High Holidays because they make me STOP and lookaround for a bit.

You know what I’m looking forward to the most?  It is the round challah bread with honey!  When we have challah in the house and my fiance isn’t looking, well, you would be surprised at how much honey challah can absorb without turning into mush!

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FW Townhall: Surprise as America’s “most popular” religion

With all the recent talk about anti-Semitism, who would have thought that Jews would prove so popular?

A new Gallup Poll (released September 7, 2006) asked respondents how they felt about ten different religious groups, ranging from “Fundamentalist Christians” to “Atheists.” By every measure, Jews drew the most favorable reaction, with the highest “positive” rating (58%) and the lowest “negative” rating (only 4%). By contrast, Americans expressed decidedly mixed feelings about Mormons (with a net negative rating, 29% to 28%) and Muslims (30% to 26%). The least popular religious groups in the survey proved to be Atheists (an overwhelmingly negative 44% to 15% rating) and, most especially, Scientologists (a stunning 53% negative, to just 11% positive – thank you, Tom Cruise!).  Read more…

I couldn’t help smiling when I read the article but at the same time, I’m sad because it really shouldn’t make any difference what religion a person participates in as long as the religion is generally non-violent IMHO.

Why generally?  Well, there are always times when the members of the religion have to take on violent ways for survival.  Note that I’m not including the murder of innocents that groups like Hezbollah seem promote.

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The Torah

Everyday I learn more about the Torah (aka the first five books of the Old Testament) and how it relates to my life.  I hope to share it with anyone that is willing to listen.

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