HEY JEWS

woot

I forgot the meaning of this holiday and did not remember that it is celebrated by some with eating certain food using dairy

So the Torah was revealed on Mt Sinai and we celebrate 50 days after Passover by eating (if Wiki is to be believed):

Dairy foods such as cheesecake, cheese blintzes,[8] and cheese kreplach among Ashkenazi Jews;[9] cheese sambusak,[10] kelsonnes (cheese ravioli),[11] and atayef (a cheese-filled pancake)[12] among Syrian Jews; kahee (a dough that is buttered and sugared) among Iraqi Jews;[12] and a seven-layer cake called siete cielos (seven heavens) among Tunisian and Moroccan Jews[12][13] are traditionally served on Shavuot. Yemenite Jews do not eat dairy foods on Shavuot.[12]

In keeping with the observance of other Yom Tovs, there is both a night meal and a day meal on Shavuot. Meat is usually served at night and dairy is served either for the day meal[9] or for a morning kiddush.[14]

Among the explanations given in rabbinic literature for the consumption of dairy foods on this holiday are:[15][16]

Before they received the Torah, the Israelites were not obligated to follow its laws, which include shechita (ritual slaughter of animals) and kashrut. Since all their meat pots and dishes now had to be made kosher before use, they opted to eat dairy foods.
The Torah is compared to milk by King Solomon, who wrote: "Like honey and milk, it lies under your tongue" (Song of Songs 4:11).

cheesecake! i plan to eat a lot.

also, observant jews stay up all night learning. i will not be observing that particular custom.

lol mordy i didn't actually know it was shavuot when i asked u about it

this was in response to iphone translating a random string into 'cushitic shavuot' fwiw

lol

In honor of this Yom Tov, I'm a gonna go eat some cheesy pizza. May or may not include pepperoni/sausage to defile the Yom Tov.

hey jews, easy fast (if you're fasting)!

Fast of Tishah B'Av
Mourning the destruction of the Temple and the exile of Israel,

I've never fasted on this day. Is this more an orthodox thing or do some conservative and reconstructionist and reform Jews follow this as well?

Oh shit I never remember the "minor" fast days.

Mordy, you always give great jew commentary--hope you will post some Tishah B'Av info for the undereducated and jew-wannabes.

Hey jews I'm gonna take yet another class in the fall, this time with a chick Reconstructionist rabbi!

it's not just an orthodox thing and is the second biggest fast of the year -- tho of course it's still no Yom Kippur which is considered midoraisa (having the weight of a biblical law) and tisha b'av is midirabbanin (having the weight of a rabbinic dictum). it commemorates the destruction of the second temple (done by the Romans) and consequently the end of the Kingdom of Judea and beginning of the galut (exile).

interesting factoid: the myth narrative about how the destruction started is that there were these two dudes named kamtza and bar kamtza. this guy was throwing a party and loved kamtza but hated bar kamtza, so he told his servant to invite kamtza but wouldn't you know it, he invited bar kamtza. when the host saw bar kamtza he was like, "wtf? go," and bk was like, "no dude, don't embarrass me. i thought you invited me to make peace." host: "i don't care go" bk: "i'll pay for my meal." host: "no way." bk: "i'll pay for half the cost of the whole party!" host: "no way." bk: "i'll pay for the entire party!" host: "gtfo." so he leaves and is all butthurt about the whole thing and is like, "the rabbis watched the whole thing and didn't stop him from throwing me out so fuck them." so he went to Caesar and said, "the Israelites have rebelled against you. send them a sacrifice for the Temple and see what they do." so Caesar sent a ram and when no one was looking bar kamtza mutilated the ram's eye (which would make it unfit for sacrifice) and so the Jews refused to sacrifice it and the Caesar decided they were rebelling and needed to be put down and then the Romans invaded Israel which led to the events of tisha b'av.

other interesting factoid: jewish tradition has it that tons of bad stuff happened on tisha b'av, not just the destruction of the temple. such as: the spies coming back from israel in the bible and saying it'll be impossible to conquer, destruction of the first temple by the babylonians, bar kochba's revolution being put down, the first crusade being declared, expulsion of jews from england, expulsion of jews from iberian peninsula during inquisition, deportations from warsaw ghetto, the bombing of jewish community center in buenos aires

Thanks, Mordy! I had heard the bad party host story (midrash?) before, but outside the context of Tishah B'Av. The story is even better with "gtfo" included!

I have slacked off on my studies and am realizing that I feel better (in multiple areas) when I'm actively engaged faux/minimally observant of some stuff like Shabbat. Really need to do Yom Kippur services this year--I skipped last year and regretted it.

Trying to explain The Three Weeks and Tisha B'av to my coworkers always makes me a little cranky.

It comes up every year because there are a few customers who mention they can't buy anything for three weeks, and everyone at work thinks that's the weirdest thing ever.

jewish tradition has it that tons of bad stuff happened on tisha b'av

what's the modern, liberalized, historically skeptical take on it as 'the saddest day in jewish history'? it's kind of weird that there would be one day like that—especially the destructions of the first and second temples so far apart—but i wonder how easy it would be to find significant date-recurrences throughout history that are associated with various groups. (like, i dunno, recurring terrorist bombings? recurring catholic miracles?)

i guess the caveat would be confirmation bias

well that's disappointing. can't it be, like, more than that, but less than… something else?

lol- I think those are the only two options

i had no idea that we fasted today

good luck with fasting, those of you that are. I don't do it anymore

well, it's all over now

MORDY, YOU ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED ON THE Waaaait, whut? Slowly reading and liveblogging the Bible! THREAD

Also, Hey Jews! What's shaking for the High Holy Days?

what's poppin'

shana tovah yo

Damn, those look excellent! I could eat about a dozen after fasting for Yom Kippur :(

http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/food/rosh-hashanah-foods-beyond-apples-and-honey/2011/09/15/gIQANyajiK_story.html

u know what's delicious? my wife makes this challah full of apple bits around rosh hashana time that is incredibly good.

I would eat all these rosh hashana foods, except maybe the gefilte fish.

oh man i love gefilte fish esp w/ this slathered all on top

http://www.alescifoods.com/images/prod/co206L.jpg

gross. why people would let stinky fish in their bath tubs to make the worst food in the world is beyond me.

Cause it's freaking delicious.

First high holiday away from home...

I'm not religious enough to want to seek out an ersatz rosh hashana dinner, and my meals are taken care of for me, so there's no incentive to squeeze a free meal out of strangers. I'd join the family table over skype, but I'd have to do it at, like, 1 AM. What do I do!?!?

What can a secular "cultural" Jew do to have fun on Rosh Hashanah? In los angeles

maybe go to Canter's

where are u, EDB? maybe hit up a chabad house -- sometimes cool ppl hang out at them

I have tickets for services, though I'm not planning on doing the Day 2s. No one has invited me dinner/break fast though, MAYBE BECAUSE I'M NOT EVEN JEWISH OMG.

Along the lines of "uh I'm not even Jewish," I'd really like to go to the mikveh before my upcoming marriage, but I wouldn't want to defile the thing with my goyness. Do they ask for some sort of proof of Jewishness, I wonder?

afaik you can't defile a mikvah. have fun!

I will Ask A Rabbi but I'm afraid she will tell me to gtfo. Also the mikveh at the Ask A Rabbi's 'gogue has, like, zero atmosphere; it feels like you should be doing some sort of physical therapy in it.

Maybe I should start reviewing area mikvehs on Yelp.

why don't u try http://www.askmoses.com/ which has the benefit of being anonymous when u ask

Why don't you just convert? I sort of assumed you already had!

Nah, I'm not there yet. May never get there, I dunno. I mean I *tried* to marry a Jew, at least! Not my fault that the goyim have taken over J Date!

i don't know how serious u are about converting, but if you want to discuss it w/ me i'm happy to give u some insight into your options

I would like that, Mordy! You are an A+ jew and I value your opinion and your jew learnin'!

Hey Jews, Are we warming up for the big one?

I meant Hey Janitors, sorry

Yeah this may be a good time to start goin to the gym again

I scored a break fast invite, but still no Rosh Hashana invite :(

Gonna eat apples and honey with just my (non-Jew) honey, I guess.

yeah most of my Jew family is in Ohio so I'm pretty much gonna be alone
Yom Kippur also comin up isnt it?

come to me for meals in philly! xp

rosh hashana fap