Today is Friday, Februrary 6th, 2009 and it is now 2:21 AM here in the Philippines.
Continuation...
At age 3, like any traditional Jewish male I had my first haircut. Males are considered to be very valuable because they keep wealth inside the Clan, while females marry out and so leave their Clans. We believe that from birth to age 3 we are very vulnerable to demons, evil spirits and such so we keep our male childrens' hair as long as a girls to confuse evildoers into thinking "he" is a "she."
We teach that males and females are completely equal under G-D but that our roles and responsibilities are VERY different. I am not a feminist by any means but the idea that it SEEMS as if "demons" would not want a female, as much as they would a male. I can rationalise it though, by knowing our roots are as desert nomads, where males meant wealth and defence. Females meant an onus until their marriage because you had to support them and they could not do much for the Clan or tribe.
At the time of our first haircut our fathers or grandfathers take us to a learned and respected Rabbi (clergyman, means "Teacher" in a sense ). When reading Torah (5 books of the Old Testament" we use a silver pointer, so as to not miss a single sylablle, etc. The Rabbi takes the pointer, dips it in honey, and allows the young boy to lick the honey. it is to teach him that the "word" is precious and sweeter than anything else.
After this we begin our first schooling. From age 3 on we attend classes from 530 or 6 AM until nightfall for 5 days, with a half day on Friday, and off on Saturday. Most traditional teachers use physical discipline , and a child learns quickly to behave, at least in class. Imagine getting a 3 year old to study from dawn to dusk without stop except for praying. It is no easy task!
These first schools are called "Cheder," and last until one nears the age of adulthood, which for us is age 13 for males, and 12 for females. In traditional schools you are taught in Yiddish, Ladino or Hebrew and only have 2 hours of secular education which is required by the state. Those classes are 1 math class, 1 English class, and 1 physical education class which is a joke and which they meet by calling "recess" phys. ed.
Most traditional Jews despise secular educations and believe that the secular education their child needs can be supplied by their fathers and grandfathers and should only consist of things needed for business. Females are usually denied secular educations in alot of cases and generally only go to school until 18 or marriage, whichever comes first (almost always marriage by age 16).
In my case I attended Cheder until age 10 but then began acting out. I was switched the school for older males, called a "Yeshiva." I lived in Brooklyn and my yeshiva, "Rebbe Teitz" (The Teacher by the Name of Teitz" or as it is called in English, "Jewish Educational Center (sic)" in Elmora, NJ (right outside Elizabeth, NJ).
To get from my home in Midwood , Brooklyn to northern NJ I had to take the subway all the way into Manhattan, switch for the PATH train (PATH is a subway system that connects northern NJ cities with one another as well as with Manhattan). I would then take the PATH to Newark where a van would pick me and others up, and drop us off in front of our school. I would wake at 330 AM, do my morning abolutions, get dressed and take the subway at 445 AM, and my morning prayers as I travelled. I would get home usually at 9 PM or thereabouts.
It was on these astronomically long commutes that I began to get into trouble, even trying cannabis with non-Jews I befriended. It did not take long for my family to find out and after a family meeting I was shipped to my mum's family in the South Bronx. Her parents and siblings had perished in the Holocaust but her auntie was more like a grandmum to me, and I called her the Yiddish diminutive for "grandmum" ("bubbileh" or "bubby").
I did not change my ways in the Bronx, the different route of commute did not alter my ways and so I was shipped post haste to Israel. Perhaps 20% of all Israeli Jewish males attended religious boarding schools. Between them and the Disapora Jews lime myself there were many schools (and still are) boarding children.
I entered a Yeshiva system under Rav Kook. "Rav" is an Aramaic title and is the same as "Rabbi" or the Yiddish "Rebbe."
Rav Kook the Elder was an early 20th Century (CE/AD) Rabbi who was an anomaly for his time. At the time religious Jews and Zionism were almost totally incompatible. Many have little understanding of Israel and imagine it to be a religious state. It is the diametric opposite, founded by men who usually were atheists.
Most religious Jews of the time believed that refounding our nation should wait for the arrival of the Messiah. Rav Kook though took a different perspective. He said that even if Zionists were sinners, their sins had the aim to bring about the ingathering of exiles (a Jewish theological issue) and as such should be regarded as blessed as instruments of the Divine Plan.
This caught on like wildfire as the saying goes because it then allowed many religious Zionists to reconcile their two ideologies and as such is still today a vibrant movement.
I was 11 my first year there, in the Jordanian Valley, in what is called by some, the "West Bank." We had very spartan surroundings. indeed, our school had been a Jordanian army position and we lived in literally military bunkers. We had water trucked in, and we all were put to work.
That same year a man from the US, from my Brooklyn neighbourhood came to speak at our school. He would soon become famous worldwide. Rabbi Meir Kahane who had founded a group in Brooklyn in the late 1960s. "The Jewish Defense (sic) League."
In the late 1960s there was a lot of racial violence in the US (when has there not been?) and many traditional Jews were targeted by blacks since they were as close to whites came , and lived on the same streets as them. Jews were unorganised and Kahane saw that we needed to be able to defend ourselves and so the group grew from that basic premise.
In the early 70s its focus changed, so that it began engaging in overt political activity. Its main target was the former USSR, which at that time had been severely restricting Jewish Emigration. the JDL began engaging in more and more violence but only against strictly political targets. A good example perhaps was the bombing of the Aeroflot office in Manhattan which was reckless since the building also had other tenants but there you go...
When he came to my yeshiva Kahane was organising his first political party, "KACH." KACH is not translatable into English but can be said to be the equivalent of the English word "Thus," or "Ergo."
I can still remember his speech, how animated and passionate he was and he was certainly a masterful orator. He also had the adulation of many staff members at my school and most of the older students. He spoke about how we were the sons of kings, of might warriors. We were not the little mousy shopkeepers and bankers that the West tried to make us. We were strong, and when the Westerners' ancestors had been praying to oak trees and learning how to make fire we were already living in a strong nation with rule of law.
His words sent chills up my spine and so when in the next couple of months he sponsored a paramilitary organisation at the school I enthusiastically joined.
We began with after school drills 3 times a weeek for 2 hours at a time but within that first year those of us who tested in certain key areas were withdrawn from general studies and educated on a military track, with the majority of our days spent in actual exercises including live fire.
At age 12 they set specialised tracks for us. I tested high for Infantry and so was drilled and instructed along those lines and fully adept at the Galil and M16 by my Bar Mitzvah at age 13, my entry into adulthood.
The "Bar Mitzvah" means "Son of the Commandments/blessings." "Bar" is Aramaic and "Mitzvah" is both Aramaic and Hebrew. The custom dates only from the century around our Exile (via Rome) but has served us well as a unification ritual.
Many Westernised Jews have "Bat Mitzvah" for their daughters (at age 12) but the truth be told it is purely an American invention, like the giving of gifts on Chanukkah. A disgusting symbol of assimilation.
A Bar Mitzvah involves the 13 year old man reding from the Torah in front of the entire congregation/community, and a portion of the "Haftorah" which is another facet of Jewish Scripture. To do so he must lean "Trope" which is an entire system of symbols, another alphabet almost, that enables us to sing melodies accurately. Many are thousands of years old.
In the West it culminates usually with the man giving a "sermon" which is basically a lesson on that portion of Haftorah that was just read. My portion was "Achray Mote" which means "After Death" and involves the death of Noach (Noah).
In the West it involves ridiculous parties, and disgustingly Jews in America (at least) have themed parties, entertainment, and such. I have a cousin whose father paid 20,000 US for his and most of the family walked out but in the end he got what he wanted in that he aimed to impress neighbours and co-workers.
I am dead set against the commercilisation of religion in any form.
Well, character counts being what they are i will close here and continue soon...
Continuation...
At age 3, like any traditional Jewish male I had my first haircut. Males are considered to be very valuable because they keep wealth inside the Clan, while females marry out and so leave their Clans. We believe that from birth to age 3 we are very vulnerable to demons, evil spirits and such so we keep our male childrens' hair as long as a girls to confuse evildoers into thinking "he" is a "she."
We teach that males and females are completely equal under G-D but that our roles and responsibilities are VERY different. I am not a feminist by any means but the idea that it SEEMS as if "demons" would not want a female, as much as they would a male. I can rationalise it though, by knowing our roots are as desert nomads, where males meant wealth and defence. Females meant an onus until their marriage because you had to support them and they could not do much for the Clan or tribe.
At the time of our first haircut our fathers or grandfathers take us to a learned and respected Rabbi (clergyman, means "Teacher" in a sense ). When reading Torah (5 books of the Old Testament" we use a silver pointer, so as to not miss a single sylablle, etc. The Rabbi takes the pointer, dips it in honey, and allows the young boy to lick the honey. it is to teach him that the "word" is precious and sweeter than anything else.
After this we begin our first schooling. From age 3 on we attend classes from 530 or 6 AM until nightfall for 5 days, with a half day on Friday, and off on Saturday. Most traditional teachers use physical discipline , and a child learns quickly to behave, at least in class. Imagine getting a 3 year old to study from dawn to dusk without stop except for praying. It is no easy task!
These first schools are called "Cheder," and last until one nears the age of adulthood, which for us is age 13 for males, and 12 for females. In traditional schools you are taught in Yiddish, Ladino or Hebrew and only have 2 hours of secular education which is required by the state. Those classes are 1 math class, 1 English class, and 1 physical education class which is a joke and which they meet by calling "recess" phys. ed.
Most traditional Jews despise secular educations and believe that the secular education their child needs can be supplied by their fathers and grandfathers and should only consist of things needed for business. Females are usually denied secular educations in alot of cases and generally only go to school until 18 or marriage, whichever comes first (almost always marriage by age 16).
In my case I attended Cheder until age 10 but then began acting out. I was switched the school for older males, called a "Yeshiva." I lived in Brooklyn and my yeshiva, "Rebbe Teitz" (The Teacher by the Name of Teitz" or as it is called in English, "Jewish Educational Center (sic)" in Elmora, NJ (right outside Elizabeth, NJ).
To get from my home in Midwood , Brooklyn to northern NJ I had to take the subway all the way into Manhattan, switch for the PATH train (PATH is a subway system that connects northern NJ cities with one another as well as with Manhattan). I would then take the PATH to Newark where a van would pick me and others up, and drop us off in front of our school. I would wake at 330 AM, do my morning abolutions, get dressed and take the subway at 445 AM, and my morning prayers as I travelled. I would get home usually at 9 PM or thereabouts.
It was on these astronomically long commutes that I began to get into trouble, even trying cannabis with non-Jews I befriended. It did not take long for my family to find out and after a family meeting I was shipped to my mum's family in the South Bronx. Her parents and siblings had perished in the Holocaust but her auntie was more like a grandmum to me, and I called her the Yiddish diminutive for "grandmum" ("bubbileh" or "bubby").
I did not change my ways in the Bronx, the different route of commute did not alter my ways and so I was shipped post haste to Israel. Perhaps 20% of all Israeli Jewish males attended religious boarding schools. Between them and the Disapora Jews lime myself there were many schools (and still are) boarding children.
I entered a Yeshiva system under Rav Kook. "Rav" is an Aramaic title and is the same as "Rabbi" or the Yiddish "Rebbe."
Rav Kook the Elder was an early 20th Century (CE/AD) Rabbi who was an anomaly for his time. At the time religious Jews and Zionism were almost totally incompatible. Many have little understanding of Israel and imagine it to be a religious state. It is the diametric opposite, founded by men who usually were atheists.
Most religious Jews of the time believed that refounding our nation should wait for the arrival of the Messiah. Rav Kook though took a different perspective. He said that even if Zionists were sinners, their sins had the aim to bring about the ingathering of exiles (a Jewish theological issue) and as such should be regarded as blessed as instruments of the Divine Plan.
This caught on like wildfire as the saying goes because it then allowed many religious Zionists to reconcile their two ideologies and as such is still today a vibrant movement.
I was 11 my first year there, in the Jordanian Valley, in what is called by some, the "West Bank." We had very spartan surroundings. indeed, our school had been a Jordanian army position and we lived in literally military bunkers. We had water trucked in, and we all were put to work.
That same year a man from the US, from my Brooklyn neighbourhood came to speak at our school. He would soon become famous worldwide. Rabbi Meir Kahane who had founded a group in Brooklyn in the late 1960s. "The Jewish Defense (sic) League."
In the late 1960s there was a lot of racial violence in the US (when has there not been?) and many traditional Jews were targeted by blacks since they were as close to whites came , and lived on the same streets as them. Jews were unorganised and Kahane saw that we needed to be able to defend ourselves and so the group grew from that basic premise.
In the early 70s its focus changed, so that it began engaging in overt political activity. Its main target was the former USSR, which at that time had been severely restricting Jewish Emigration. the JDL began engaging in more and more violence but only against strictly political targets. A good example perhaps was the bombing of the Aeroflot office in Manhattan which was reckless since the building also had other tenants but there you go...
When he came to my yeshiva Kahane was organising his first political party, "KACH." KACH is not translatable into English but can be said to be the equivalent of the English word "Thus," or "Ergo."
I can still remember his speech, how animated and passionate he was and he was certainly a masterful orator. He also had the adulation of many staff members at my school and most of the older students. He spoke about how we were the sons of kings, of might warriors. We were not the little mousy shopkeepers and bankers that the West tried to make us. We were strong, and when the Westerners' ancestors had been praying to oak trees and learning how to make fire we were already living in a strong nation with rule of law.
His words sent chills up my spine and so when in the next couple of months he sponsored a paramilitary organisation at the school I enthusiastically joined.
We began with after school drills 3 times a weeek for 2 hours at a time but within that first year those of us who tested in certain key areas were withdrawn from general studies and educated on a military track, with the majority of our days spent in actual exercises including live fire.
At age 12 they set specialised tracks for us. I tested high for Infantry and so was drilled and instructed along those lines and fully adept at the Galil and M16 by my Bar Mitzvah at age 13, my entry into adulthood.
The "Bar Mitzvah" means "Son of the Commandments/blessings." "Bar" is Aramaic and "Mitzvah" is both Aramaic and Hebrew. The custom dates only from the century around our Exile (via Rome) but has served us well as a unification ritual.
Many Westernised Jews have "Bat Mitzvah" for their daughters (at age 12) but the truth be told it is purely an American invention, like the giving of gifts on Chanukkah. A disgusting symbol of assimilation.
A Bar Mitzvah involves the 13 year old man reding from the Torah in front of the entire congregation/community, and a portion of the "Haftorah" which is another facet of Jewish Scripture. To do so he must lean "Trope" which is an entire system of symbols, another alphabet almost, that enables us to sing melodies accurately. Many are thousands of years old.
In the West it culminates usually with the man giving a "sermon" which is basically a lesson on that portion of Haftorah that was just read. My portion was "Achray Mote" which means "After Death" and involves the death of Noach (Noah).
In the West it involves ridiculous parties, and disgustingly Jews in America (at least) have themed parties, entertainment, and such. I have a cousin whose father paid 20,000 US for his and most of the family walked out but in the end he got what he wanted in that he aimed to impress neighbours and co-workers.
I am dead set against the commercilisation of religion in any form.
Well, character counts being what they are i will close here and continue soon...
