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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2016 9:15:09 GMT
Good morning all!
So... the Hebrew month in which Jewish New Year falls also contains other festivals, which makes work life pretty stressful at this time of year as us observant ones are in-out-in-out of the office. So Wednesday (day 10 of the month) was Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) when we complete our introspection and seeking forgiveness for our sins. We fast for 25 hours (no food or water from just before sunset on Tuesday night to just after sunset on Wednesday night).
The next festival is Tabernacles when there are four formal festival days, being days 15, 16, 22 and 23 of the month. It is sometimes easier to go away at this time, so here I am in Israel with a bunch of other pilgrims from around the (including some very nice Dutch Christians on my flight yesterday). 30C and sunny so I'm not complaining.
My rental car this time is a Toyota Corolla Saloon. A bit like a booted Auris. Ugly interior, steering that is so light I am sure it has been injected with Novocaine, but a decent size boot.
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Post by Hofmeister on Oct 14, 2016 11:14:39 GMT
Good morning all! So... the Hebrew month in which Jewish New Year falls also contains other festivals, which makes work life pretty stressful at this time of year as us observant ones are in-out-in-out of the office. So Wednesday (day 10 of the month) was Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) when we complete our introspection and seeking forgiveness for our sins. We fast for 25 hours (no food or water from just before sunset on Tuesday night to just after sunset on Wednesday night). The next festival is Tabernacles when there are four formal festival days, being days 15, 16, 22 and 23 of the month. It is sometimes easier to go away at this time, so here I am in Israel with a bunch of other pilgrims from around the (including some very nice Dutch Christians on my flight yesterday). 30C and sunny so I'm not complaining. My rental car this time is a Toyota Corolla Saloon. A bit like a booted Auris. Ugly interior, steering that is so light I am sure it has been injected with Novocaine, but a decent size boot. Now you see, as soon as a religion kicks on about us all being sinners and we need to atone, and be forgiven they lose me right there, in a heart beat. In my view SIN, the word Sin and its intonations and use by a religion its nothing more than a mediaeval attempt to control by instilling fear. Or even sometimes used as an abdication of responsibility for doing wrong. Why on earth can they not celebrate and reflect on the good (or even mediocre) their flock has achieved, rather than constantly castigate them.
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Post by commerdriver on Oct 14, 2016 11:59:22 GMT
2 things Z,
1 It goes back way before medieval thousands of years.
2 For most Christians and for Jews as well it's less about sin and more about forgiveness and atonement, which apart from anything else tends to keep one reasonably grounded. Fully accept your right to find it all hocus pocus etc. Believing is optional for everyone, as is not believing.
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Post by Humph on Oct 14, 2016 12:08:42 GMT
I sometimes wish I was a bit more religious. Then at least I'd think there was some sort of point to it all. As it is, it's just about survival and trying to have a bit of fun until the lights go out. :-(
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2016 12:29:59 GMT
My only two experiences of any size/significance;
The message given by the Catholic Church in La Reina, Santiago, Chile is oriented around all the bad things that will happen if you do not worship God and go to church.
The message given by the Anglican Church in Piddington, Oxfordshire is oriented around all the good things that will happen if you do worship God and go to Church.
I don't particularly accept either message, but I find the Anglican one a great deal less offensive and easier to understand.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Oct 14, 2016 13:58:33 GMT
The Anglicans usually offer tea and biscuits afterwards, too. Catholic fire may be useful for heating the water but their brimstone doesn't improve the flavour of the tea.
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Post by Alanović on Oct 14, 2016 14:12:56 GMT
You lot should see the booze at a Serbian Orthodox funeral. Epic. But I have to be careful. The after party is just about the only gathering in Serb society where it is frowned upon to burst out in song once you have drunk the national slivovica lake.
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Post by Hofmeister on Oct 14, 2016 19:26:50 GMT
You lot should see the booze at a Serbian Orthodox funeral. Epic. But I have to be careful. The after party is just about the only gathering in Serb society where it is frowned upon to burst out in song once you have drunk the national slivovica lake. I have a funeral coming up, It will be the last but one of a once very very large but dwindling very notorious east end dockers dynasty. The last one, in the Radison Hotel docklands, ended up with a fight, a large proportion of the metropolitan police in attendance and the river police fishing someone out of the New Providence Wharf
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Post by Deleted on Oct 16, 2016 4:55:15 GMT
The Anglicans usually offer tea and biscuits afterwards, too. Catholic fire may be useful for heating the water but their brimstone doesn't improve the flavour of the tea. And there lies the problem. Become Jewish, go to the synagogue and enjoy alcohol and food after the service. There is a duality in Judaism which is a mix of 'if you do this then bad things will happen possibly now and possibly in the afterlife' and 'if you do that then your afterlife will be full of delight'. The question arises of if your really believe in the afterlife. Not sure I do, but there is something useful about a code which gives you a steer in the right direction when you come to a junction of decision. On this topic I saw a great T-shirt yesterday worn by a lad on the promenade in Netanya (written in Hebrew). "Why would you want 72 Virgins? Seven Prostitutes would be much better!"
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Post by Hofmeister on Oct 16, 2016 8:44:51 GMT
A Short Guide to Comparative Religions
Taoism, Shit happens. Confucianism, Confucius say "Shit happens." Buddhism If shit happens, it isn't really shit. Zen Buddhism What is the sound of shit happening? Hinduism This shit happened before. Mormonism This shit is going to happen again. Islam If shit happens, it is the Will of Allah. "Blessings be upon him" Stoicism This shit is its own reward. Protestantism Let this shit happen to someone else. Calvinism Shit happens because you don't work hard enough. Pentecostalism In Jesus' name, heal this shit! Catholicism Shit happens because you deserve it. Judaism Why does this shit always happen to us? Zoroastrianism Shit happens half the time. Marxism This shit is going to hit the fan. Atheism No shit. Seventh Day Adventist No shit on Saturdays. Existentialism Absurd shit. Agnosticism What is this shit? Nihilism Who gives a shit? Deconstruction Shit happens in hegemonic meta-narratives. Christian Science Shit is in your mind. Moonies Only happy shit really happens. Jehovah's Witnesses Knock, Knock, shit happens. Scientology Shit happens on page 152 of Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard Hare Krishna Ting Ting, Shit happens, Rama Rama. Hedonism There's nothing like a good shit happening. Rastafarianism Let's smoke this shit.
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Post by Alanović on Oct 17, 2016 8:54:41 GMT
I'm certainly in the right place then, atheism with hedonistic and rastafarian leanings. Tempted with a return to Protestantism.
But what about Orthodox and Coptic?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2017 5:04:15 GMT
Well here we are again. 354 days after New Year 5777, it is the eve of 5778. Will be signing off for a few days. Generally a good year for the family, business has been okay - the usual staffing issues - and we lost no one close to us.
In case you are wondering about the short year, unlike Islam which operates on a purely lunar calendar, so each year starts 11 days earlier than the last according to the solar and secular calendar, Judaism operates a hybrid, adding an extra month seven times in 19 years, so that the spring festival of Passover always is in spring. Thus your Hebrew and secular 19th birthdays are 99% certain to fall on the same day.
Happy New Year....
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Post by Humph on Sept 20, 2017 6:55:38 GMT
Enjoy !
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Post by Alanović on Sept 20, 2017 9:26:40 GMT
My head's going to go bang thinking about the mathematics. I think Dave Gorman got it right with his idea of a 13 month year, each month of equal length. Although I'm not too convinced we should call the new month Gormanuary. Stevetember would be my choice.
Happy New Year and best wishes to you all.
5778, eh? Seems like only yesterday it was 5762.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 20, 2017 10:06:46 GMT
My head's going to go bang thinking about the mathematics.
Tell me about it. There are something like 14 different versions of the Hebrew year, seven regular and seven intercalated (leap month). The decision as to which year is used depends on mathematical rules laid down at least 1,800 years ago and still work (although it is reckoned that in about another 2,000 years, the system will have broken down a little - but by then who knows where we will all be...). Curiously the principal driver of the type of year is the day on which Yom Kippur falls (the 25 hour Day of Atonement which this year falls a week on Saturday). It cannot fall on a Friday or Sunday because people who died would end up not being buried for over 24 hours and that is not permitted, as burials must take place in Jerusalem within 24 hours of death and burials do not take place on Saturday or Yom Kippur. All very arcane! See you on the other side...
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