FAQ: What's a Mezuzah?

Question: I noticed that my Jewish boyfriend's parents have a little metal thing attached on the diagonal at the entrance door to their apartment. What is that?
Toni from Chicago

Answer: Toni, that's a mezuzah. You'll see on attached to the right side (as you enter) doorpost of most Jewish homes. It is placed there in accordance with the commandment in Deuteronomy to inscribe the words of the Shema, the most important Jewish prayer, which begins "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one....," "on the doorposts of your houses."
The little case may be made of metal, wood, clay--any material, really. The important part is the parchment scroll on which the prayer has been handwritten by a specially trained scribe (sofer).
The Mezuzah is placed slantwise because one famous medieval rabbi wanted it placed vertically, while another preferred horizontally, so a compromise was decided upon! Another interpretation says that pointing the top towards the interior symbolizes that God and his commandments are entering the home.
Often you will see Jews touch the mezuzah and then kiss their fingers, just as they do when they touch the Torah scroll in synagogue. They do this to remind themselves of their love of God and His mitzvoh (commandments).
I think it's nifty that the Chabad Lubavitcher sect of Judaism calls the Mezuzah "the Jewish security system."

Before You Get Serious, Dear Shiksa, Read This:

A helpful site, Judaism 101, has a fine article, "Jewish Attitudes Towards Non-Jews," that should be required reading for all shiksas who are getting serious in relationships with Jewish men.

Chai=Life=18

Many thanks to Cassandra, who helpfully sent this comment on my "What's a Bar Mitzvah?" posting:

"I just thought I would mention that when we give money, my husband and I always give denominations of 18 (chai). Usually $180, but could be less or more depending on our relationship. Perhaps you can write a future post on chai, since aside from the number the word/idea comes up in many contexts (toasts, jewelry, Fiddler on the Roof...)."

I have heard of this custom of giving in multiples of 18, but never really understood it until Cassandra called it to my attention. I've learned that the symbol chai, pictured above, consists of two Hebrew letters which together spell "living," and are interpreted by some as referring to the living G-d, and by most as simply to life itself. In the system of gematria, in which numerical values are attributed to letters of the alphabet, the sum of the word chai is 18.

Cassandra knows so much about Judaism that I, like many of her readers, assumed that she is Jewish, but she is a shiksa (like us!). Her excellent web site, which is called "Baby Smiling in the Back Seat...or that's the goal anyway," is devoted to the subject of infertility, but one of her postings is especially interesting to us shiksas, as she talks about her experience of marrying into her husband's "fairly observant" family.

FAQ: What is "kosher," anyway?

When I brought my Jewish fiancee home to Warrenton,Mo., I introduced him to my dad's boss,Mr. Eisenstein. The very first thing Mr. Eisenstein said to Fred--I kid you not--was "I love ham."
Poor Mr. Eisenstein, it must have been lonely and uncomfortable all those years being the only Jew in town. Still, "I love ham" is sort of an odd conversational gambit! Surely it was his way of saying he had thoroughly assimilated, and Fred had just better not expect any Yiddishkeit (Jewishness) from him.

But back to your question, What does "kosher" mean, anyway? In a general sense, "kosher" means proper, or worthy. The most common use of the word refers to the following of Jewish dietary laws, a practice also called by the Hebrew word kashrut. The laws are set forth in Leviticus and interpreted in the Talmud by generations of rabbis. The subject is extremely technical and complicated, but I hope that this posting will provide a brief intro.

Until recently, Reform Jews opposed the practice of keeping kosher, but that seems to be changing. In general, most Conservative and all Orthodox Jews keep kosher. However, Jews vary widely in how strict they are. For example, I know quite a few people who keep kosher at home but will eat at non-kosher restaurants or at the homes of non-kosher friends.

Keeping kosher involves eating kosher meat--i.e. meat which is slaughtered in a certain way under rabbinical supervision. The animal, which is killed in one swift stroke of the knife, is drained of blood because the Bible says "You shall not consume the blood of any creature; for the life of any creature is its blood, whoever consumes it will be cut off." Only certain animals can be kosher; for example, pigs and shellfish are prohibited. (Many, many other animals, such as snakes, worms, crocodiles, weasels, and birds of prey, are prohibited also, but I'm assuming they won't be a problem, right?) Fish with scales are okay. Prohibited foods are called treif (pronounced trayf).

A key principle in kashrut is the separation of meat and dairy because of the biblical injunction against boiling a calf in its mother's milk. Apparently the Chaldeans, neighbors of the ancient Hebrews, featured this dish. Some modern scholars argue that the law against mixing dairy and meat functioned by preventing the Hebrews from mixing with the polytheistic Chaldeans.

Keeping kosher involves eating either a dairy or a meat meal,and waiting a certain specified number of hours in between. To make sure that meat and dairy do not mix, a kosher cook needs two sets of dishes, separate pots and pans, and separate kitchen areas for food prep and storage.Foods that are neither dairy nor meat, such as fruit and vegetables, are called parve. They can be served with either dairy or meat meals.

Prepared foods which we find in supermarkets--boxed, canned, frozen, for example--are either kosher or unkosher. Small symbols, called hechshers, indicate which rabbinical authority has supervised the processing. If you see a small D, that indicates that the food contains dairy. The symbol with a U inside a circle indicates the high standards of the Orthodox Union.

Why keep kosher? To Orthodox and many Conservative Jews, the answer is clear: it is God's law. In addition, the laws encourage kinder treatment of the animals we eat. A further reason, as stated by Lise Stern in her new book How to Keep Kosher, is "Keeping kosher helps us pause and think about what we eat, and how we eat it, and elevates the act of eating into a spiritual as well as a physical activity."

We shiksas sometimes find the plethora of Jewish dietary laws quite alien. Some of us were taught about Jesus who, in the role of reformer/revolutionary, said that it is not what we put in our mouths, but rather what comes out of them, that is most important. Nevertheless, we know that those who keep kosher are engaged in a very demanding discipline which commands our respect.

Here's a fun joke about keeping kosher. Remember that treif (pronounced trayf) means non-kosher, and therefore forbidden.

FAQ: What are Jews for Jesus?

Question: I've seen an organization called Jews for Jesus on street corners, and I've been curious but reluctant to stop and ask. What is it? I enjoy your blog, by the way. Sincerely, Carrie

Answer: Carrie, thank you for your question! I never stop either, but my husband, who likes to argue, will hang out with them if he's in the mood for a good harangue.
Although the group says that it encourages its members to observe Jewish tradition, it is actually an evangelical Christian group dedicated to converting Jews. It is certainly not recognized as Jewish by either Reform, Conservative, or Orthodox Jews. It was begun in the 1970's by a Baptist minister named Rosen who was Jewish by birth but converted to Christianity when he was 17.

Simchat Torah

Fall is such a busy season for Jewish holidays. At sundown tonight, Oct. 21 (remember that days in the Jewish calendar go from sundown to sundown), Simchat Torah, which means Rejoicing in the Torah, begins. This one-day holiday marks the end of the annual cycle of weekly readings of Torah chapters (from the beginning of Genesis through the end of Deuteronomy). Just as it celebrates a completion, it also marks a beginning--at the same service the reading starts anew, beginning a new yearly cycle with Genesis.
All the Torah scrolls are brought out and are paraded with singing and dancing seven times around the synagogue, and sometimes outside as well. Children wave flags or carry toy stuffed Torah scrolls. "On Simchat Torah," goes the beautiful hassidic saying, "we rejoice in the Torah, and the Torah rejoices in us; the Torah, too, wants to dance, so we become the Torah's dancing feet."
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