Ask a Jew

[bioshockedcriticjrr]

1.) If a Jew were to eat some pork/consume a pork byproduct by mistake is it considered a big
deal?

2.) is there a since of kinship with other people who are in diaspora (Africans, Irish, ect).

1. for some jews maybe, but seeing as how I have friends who actively eat bacon, pork is not that big a deal in my book
2. kinda yeah, unless they're all in Israel, otherwise people tend to ignore one another

What's the meaning and significance of those little hats? They barely cover the top of the scalp and I've seen them being taken off more than I've seen them on heads.

I know there's a word for them...

you mean kippot, aka skullcaps, even if I knew, I couldn't tell you

What would you do for a penny?

I'd glare at you if this wasn't the internet.

Do you consider yourself jewish through religion or ethnicity?
Do you consider other jews from differing nations to be of the same race or religion as you?

I ask because often you see jews portrayed as a race of people and not a group of people with the same beliefs like most other religions are.

a combo of the two, because although we do have a specific religion of our own, we were seperated from the rest of the world for so long we developed traits unique to us. I'd go into more detail, but I don't want to encourage the whole "what is a jew" debate, seeing as how I've literally spent hours having structured debates about that kind of thing

 

[bioshockedcriticjrr]

oh, thanks wildflowers for clearing things up a little, by the way. I'd been wondering the significance of that myself

 

[Lang901]

have you met a Jewish midget/little person/dwarf?

 

[bioshockedcriticjrr]

have you met a Jewish midget/little person/dwarf?

no, but I have met someone who needed to take steroids to not end up a legal "little person"

 

[AntonicKnight]

Through out your 5000 years of existence, what do you think provoked so many attempts of extermination (i'm counting at least 20 by the Romans, the Spanish ,the Russians, the French , the Babylonians, the Germans etc.) Is it jealousy, greed or simply wanting to kill and older more advanced race ?

 

[Lullabye]

So a couple of weeks there was an "ask a pakistani" thread that was going on and I thought that it might not be half a bad idea to do one of those, except for Jews. I couldn't do it at the time because I was gonna go to Poland the next day (it's a long story). so if you have any questions, any at all, feel free to ask. Also, I'm giving free reign for any Jews to help answer questions, cause I may not be in for long (don's ask, it's not worth it).

How do you feel about holocaust jokes? I could understand someone being offended if they actually lived through it, but otherwise, I don't get it.
And also, how much of the Torah are you expected to memorize, if any at all?

 

[Nopraptor]

Israeli Jew Man is here to answer your questions!
the swinging chicken thing is called Kapara (atonement) you ceremoniously pass your sins to the chicken and stuff

the english word for the little hats is Yamachas but the hebrew word for them is Kippa (dome)
their supposed to represent our fear and respect and such to god (Yeriat Shamaim)

to the german who asked if he should feel guilty I think that you should ask yourself that, many germans who feel responsible come to volunteer in Israel to "make amends" you should know that some people will hold you responsible and some won't it depends on the person

If you break the Kosher rules it really depends if you kept Kosherness in the first place, I don't keep kosher so I eat whatever I want but for a Jewish Orthodox it's quite a diseaster

Personally I do have sympathy for other wronged peoples I don't know about other people but I do

I tell holocaust jokes, it's a way to deal with a painful subject some people hate them and I can understand that but I don't see the harm of Jews telling them amongst themselves (kinda like the N word)

 

[bioshockedcriticjrr]

Through out your 5000 years of existence, what do you think provoked so many attempts of extermination (i'm counting at least 20 by the Romans, the Spanish ,the Russians, the French , the Babylonians, the Germans etc.) Is it jealousy, greed or simply wanting to kill and older more advanced race ?

It's cause we were the "other" in most of those situations. people didn't know much about us and when people don't know anything about another people, they become scared of those people. frankly, being nationless, being the "killers of christ" and dealing with people's money, not the most noble professions, people didn't exactly trust us, hence why we were such great targets along with the Romani, aka gypsys, and communities of foreigners in general. Also, I really wouldn't consider one race more advanced, than the other, but that's just me

 

[Wildflowers]

Do you consider yourself jewish through religion or ethnicity?
Do you consider other jews from differing nations to be of the same race or religion as you?

I ask because often you see jews portrayed as a race of people and not a group of people with the same beliefs like most other religions are.

You can be jewish through either, so, consider yourself jewish through whichever is true to you? If you are a black Christian, what do you consider yourself, a black Christian through race or through religion? You can have someone of jewish heritage and be a devout Hindu.

As Bioshocked has stated though, you need to define the difference between the race (ethnicity) and the religion. Its rare that the two are intermingled, and no other religion is so firmly intwined. But there is significant difference.

What's the meaning and significance of those little hats? They barely cover the top of the scalp and I've seen them being taken off more than I've seen them on heads.

I know there's a word for them...

The yarmulke (pronounced ya-ma-ka) is worn by Orthodox Jews to permenantly cover your head. It is to signify the separation between God and man (more or less, alot more to it than that). Its actually not that interesting. Whats more interesting is the squaring of the head with leaving hair uncut (those jewish curls people notice? Thats actually a thing). Where do you think middle-eastern turbans come from?

 

[bioshockedcriticjrr]

So a couple of weeks there was an "ask a pakistani" thread that was going on and I thought that it might not be half a bad idea to do one of those, except for Jews. I couldn't do it at the time because I was gonna go to Poland the next day (it's a long story). so if you have any questions, any at all, feel free to ask. Also, I'm giving free reign for any Jews to help answer questions, cause I may not be in for long (don's ask, it's not worth it).

How do you feel about holocaust jokes? I could understand someone being offended if they actually lived through it, but otherwise, I don't get it.
And also, how much of the Torah are you expected to memorize, if any at all?

as my father puts it "there's no business like shoah business", (the shoah is the hebrew word for the holocaust), in other words holocaust humor is a good coping mechanism, just so long as non-jews say them, in the same way black people can use the n-word and white people shouldn't.
as for the torah, we really don't need to memorize the torah that much, save for bar/bat mitzvot, although there are lots of traditional songs using lines from the torah.

 

[DazBurger]

Are you rich? In that case... Can I haz golds?

 

[Wildflowers]

Through out your 5000 years of existence, what do you think provoked so many attempts of extermination (i'm counting at least 20 by the Romans, the Spanish ,the Russians, the French , the Babylonians, the Germans etc.) Is it jealousy, greed or simply wanting to kill and older more advanced race ?

Extermination of a race of people is rarely (if ever) a one sided affair. Given that Jews have dubbed themselves 'the chosen people' and went out to kill and convert everyone who wasn't Jewish for the first.. uh.. well, until Jesus came along, they made some enemies. Its hard to walk away from that.
Elsewise, its for the same reason anyone wants to wipe out another culture. Land (religious or resources), cultural (Christians vs Nords, FIGHT!), mistrust (having money and notority of conquering nations does that), and fundamentally not having a home national land tends to do that. When you look at the past of any longstanding civilization, they have all faced constant attack (and constantly attack). Look through Greco-Roman history. Look through Babylonian and French history. It isnt just Jews - but Jews managed to survive every one of them (whereas other civs.. didn't.). Maybe they are the children of god?

Try surviving for 5k years and not make a few enemies!

 

[bioshockedcriticjrr]

Are you rich? In that case... Can I haz golds?

hey just cause we were forced to be money lenders for a good millenia doesn't mean we were usurous because we felt like it. it's because we had no way of know whether we'd get our money back, an important thing to know when money lending is the only job you're allowed to have. but in all seriousness the reason we're always shown as having all the money was because we weren't allowed to own land, therefore forcing us to be moneylenders, which was convenient because, if I;m not mistaken, christians aren't allowed to usurious towards one another

 

[DesiPrinceX09]

What do you think of Muslims (like myself)? Do you hate us? Be honest please, I want to know what you really think.

 

[Wildflowers]

What do you think of Muslims (like myself)? Do you hate us? Be honest please, I want to know what you really think.

What is there to hate, exactly? There is a seperation of religion based on pursuit of how best to sustain that religion. Observances changed, idealogoy changed. Humanism remains the same. If you are asking are Jews SUPPOSED to hate Muslims? Technically, Jews are supposed to root out any and all who do not convert (seriously, read the old testiment, the thing is a bloodbath). So not any more than any other persons who is non-Jewish.
Oh, and the whole 'Holy Land' thing is somewhat of a sticking point. But when a whole lot of religions all want the same spot (the rock, if'n you will), it can cause deeper tensions.

Edit - Each person can and will find whatever reason they want to hate whoever they want. It just happens to be that Jews and Muslims want the same turf, and currently those with ferver fight for it. If you want a more embroiled hate, you should consider Catholics vs Muslims because they kinda want that rock too. And they managed to take it during the Crusades. So did the French. My point is, everyone wants it, Muslims just happen to be in that space at thus juncture of history.
As a whole? Not really about jews vs muslims. Can't we all just hate the Western Baptists?

 

[Ipsen]

Why all the hate?

Terribly naive question, so answer however specifically or generally you'd like.

From what I've gathered so far, its because...
-"Jews killed Jesus" claim
-Something about money?

 

[Ladette]

edited because.... Jews hate leprechauns?

Also is it true that Jews get secret martial arts training?

Spoiler

 

[bioshockedcriticjrr]

What do you think of Muslims (like myself)? Do you hate us? Be honest please, I want to know what you really think.

much to my distaste, there are lots of Jews out there who see Muslims as the "enemy", not just in israel but in the states. Now I've never met a muslim myself, despite the fact that you guys are like 1/6th of the planet's population, and I'm no position to jugde even though I have friends who work with kids in arab villages in Israel, but as long as you don't hate me and don't mind that I'm zionist in the sense that Israel should exist--even though it has a whole host of problems, as israeli guy will tell you--I won't hate you

 

[TheIronRuler]

What do you think of Muslims (like myself)? Do you hate us? Be honest please, I want to know what you really think.

There really isn't a reason for me to personally hate you. Believe what you wish, as long as you do not harm me or others. I feel the same for you as I feel for a Shintoist (Basically a Japanese person).
Are you a Sunni or a Shiite? Just curious.

 

[PrototypeC]

Do you know how Jew became a race? I believe it began as Jews only marrying other Jews for a thousand years, and then for the last 2 thousand years they were kept apart in their own communities... but I don't know if that's the case.