tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760004395394142531.post427932406381413451..comments2023-10-23T14:19:00.021-07:00Comments on Atheodox Jew: How do you relate to Tisha B'Av?Atheodox Jewhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06404924424040480039noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760004395394142531.post-89605323369563215652013-07-17T00:21:38.869-07:002013-07-17T00:21:38.869-07:00Thanks for your thoughts. Not an easy day - I for ...Thanks for your thoughts. Not an easy day - I for one am glad to be on the other side of it.Atheodox Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06404924424040480039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760004395394142531.post-45031277762332536472013-07-16T13:27:19.660-07:002013-07-16T13:27:19.660-07:00> Do you mourn the loss of the Temple and sacri...> Do you mourn the loss of the Temple and sacrifices? Do you yearn for their restoration/rebuilding?<br /><br />Well yes in a logical sense but like many folks I'm limited by not being able to appreciate what I never saw. I know it's wrong we don't have a Temple and sacrifices and would like it to be rebuilt and restarted.<br /><br />> do you see the State of Israel as any kind of rectification, or a "nechama" (comfort)?<br /><br />The State of Israel is the start of a process which will end in the Final Redemption. It is an opportunity for us to advance history towards its prophetic conclusion.<br /><br />> Do you focus on the loss of life, national/communal calamities? How much does the Holocaust figure in?<br /><br />The Holocaust is the culmination of all the national tragedies but not the only one and although I very much focus on the Holocaust it's important to remember lots of other Jews died al pi kiddush HaShem over the centuries.<br /><br />> Do you attribute anti-Semitism to internal Jewish problems? How much blame to you place on the actual perpetrators?<br /><br />I very much believe that we are only as much victims as we allow ourselves to be by attacking one another. <br /><br />> How do you understand the "teshuva" aspect of Tisha B'Av?<br /><br />I don't. Tisha B'Av is about mourning loss and wondering how things went so wrong. Tomorrow I'll try to be better, today I'm just reflecting.<br /><br />> How do you relate to the traditional mourning customs - fasting, non-leather shoes, no unnecessary washing, no greeting people, no Torah learning, etc.? Do they help?<br /><br />They make a difference. They create a different atmosphere to ensure the day is noticed.<br /><br />> What do you think of the Kinnot?<br /><br />This year I did something new. Instead of simply reading them through in the Hebrew I spent time going over the English with the commentary. I got a lot more out of that. The Kinnos connect us to the pain and suffering of the last 1800 years but only if done right.Mighty Garnel Ironhearthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09571194550300367249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760004395394142531.post-17920292797130067242013-07-16T05:54:50.722-07:002013-07-16T05:54:50.722-07:00A good kavana re: hunger.A good kavana re: hunger.Atheodox Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06404924424040480039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760004395394142531.post-4875262402982754732013-07-16T05:52:44.331-07:002013-07-16T05:52:44.331-07:00Do you mean “miraculous” in the literal sense?
Co...<i>Do you mean “miraculous” in the literal sense?</i><br /><br />Come on, give me a little credit! ;-)<br /><br />Reading a bit about the different warring Jewish militias, it makes our current "disunity" sound like a veritable picnic.Atheodox Jewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06404924424040480039noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760004395394142531.post-86950371738376707382013-07-15T08:46:48.630-07:002013-07-15T08:46:48.630-07:00I only fast because other members of my family fas...I only fast because other members of my family fast, i.e. my kids. I brought them up to be observant (though I have serious qualms about having done so, but when I started, I sincerely thought it was the right thing to do). I can't ask the kids to fast if I'm not fasting. <br /><br />I dislike fasting but I have no ill effects from doing so. When I'm fasting I focus on those around the world who are suffering and don't have enough to eat. tesyaanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760004395394142531.post-81369864451979421202013-07-15T07:40:45.569-07:002013-07-15T07:40:45.569-07:00> We can can go and hear people alive today tel...> We can can go and hear people alive today tell their miraculous - and horrific - tales of survival.<br /><br />Do you mean “miraculous” in the literal sense? Because if so, remember that you only hear the stories of those who survived. <br /><br />> Even though I don't believe that the Temple was destroyed "because of" sinat chinam, hatred among Jews,<br /><br />It absolutely was destroyed because of sinas chinam, but not in a magical sense. The Beis HaMikdash was set on fire by the three Jewish militia groups who were holding it and were busy fighting each other while the Romans occupied the Antonia fortress next door.<br />G*3https://www.blogger.com/profile/06104739087560005056noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760004395394142531.post-53225174065989767382013-07-15T07:32:17.931-07:002013-07-15T07:32:17.931-07:00> Do you mourn the loss of the Temple and sacri...> Do you mourn the loss of the Temple and sacrifices? Do you yearn for their restoration/rebuilding?<br /><br />Don’t care<br /><br />> To the extent that the "Destruction" relates to the loss of Jewish national sovereignty in the Land of Israel, do you see the State of Israel as any kind of rectification, or a "nechama" (comfort)?<br /><br />Don’t care. I’m an American, not an Israeli, and I have no interest in becoming an Israeli. At most, I see Israel as possibly a last place to run to, but I put more faith in American’s sense of justice and liberty, and fallible as those have been historically, then in Israel’s ability to hold off a first-world military power that decided its mission was to kill Jews.<br /><br />> Do you focus on the loss of life, national/communal calamities? How much does the Holocaust figure in?<br /><br />Yes, and a lot. The Holocaust is, AFAIK, the only Jewish tragedy that we have photographs and film of. Also documentaries, movies, and lots of books. I would guess that there is more material on the Holocaust then on the tragedies of rest of Jewish history combined.<br /><br />The Holocaust is also more personal. My grandmother grew up in Berlin watching the SA march down her street singing Duetchlang Uber Alles, My wife’s grandmother went through Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen.<br /><br />> Do you attribute anti-Semitism to internal Jewish problems? How much blame to you place on the actual perpetrators?<br /><br />If you mean in a mystical, we misbehaved so Hashem allowed our enemies to defeat us, then no. That was an idea invented to explain how the Babylonians could destroy God’s Temple. I would say that some anti-Semitism is caused by traditional Jewish attitudes toward non-Jews, but most of it is that the Jews were blamed for killing Jesus and that we were an “other” living in the midst of culturally and religiously homogenous societies.<br /><br />> How do you understand the "teshuva" aspect of Tisha B'Av?<br /><br />Don’t care.<br /><br />> How do you relate to the traditional mourning customs - fasting, non-leather shoes, no unnecessary washing, no greeting people, no Torah learning, etc.? Do they help?<br /><br />No, they don’t help. They’re annoying and distracting. <br /><br />> What do you think of the Kinnot?<br /><br />Good idea, terrible execution.<br />G*3https://www.blogger.com/profile/06104739087560005056noreply@blogger.com