Ask JewishAmerica Archives
1998 - Volume 4

10/25/98
Unfaithful Husband

We published the following in our weekly series, "A Bit Of Maharal."

Torah law states that an adulterous married woman is forbidden to once again relate to her husband. Man is half of a whole. He is unified only when he is together with his spouse. An act which forbids a Man's wife to him - is an act that assaults his essence, by undoing his completion.

We received the following feedback:

>Very interesting..but then why isn't the reverse true??
>..An unfaithful husband can continue to have relations with his wife....

The Maharal that you quoted reveals a Kabalistic insight about the design and make-up of a person.

We received the Torah from G-d through Moshe (Moses) at Sinai some thirty-three centuries ago. It's framework and guidelines for living matches this design, best known by the Designer the  Author of the Torah.

The Torah accomodates polygamy and this was an accepted family institution throughout Jewry (and the general society) until around some nine-hundred years ago, when Rabbeinu Gershom issued a ban against it for the Ashkenazic (Europan Jewish) community.

He felt that the Jews in Europe were no longer able to handle it.

Polygamy has become socially and legally unacceptable in most communities where Jews live today.

It is still practiced in many Arabic countries and some Sefardic Jews who live there do have more than one wife, just as our ancestor Yaakov (Jacob) did.

So, until Rabbeinu Gershom, there was no such thing as an unfaithful husband because a man could have more than one wife.

Since Rabbeinu Gershom's time, an Ashkenazic husband who has relations with another woman is actually doing something perhaps worse than being unfaithful to his wife. He is being unfaithful to his faith, whether the act is done within wedlock or not.

Fortunately for women, a wife does not have to become divorced just because her husband disregards Rabbeinu Gershom's ban. This tragedy is limited to only the case when the wife disregards the Torah law and has marital relations with a stranger.

All the best from JewishAmerica.

10/25/98
Old/New Testament?

>How similar are the Torah and the Old Testament?
>How is the Torah used and viewed? Is it viewed as the word of G-d?

Christianity refers to the Five Books of Moses, the Books of the Prophets, and the Books of the Scriptures as the Old Testament. The last of these books were incorporated into the Bible some three-hundred years before the Common Era.

When Christianity later emerged, it incorporated additional books and called them the New Testament.

With all respect, the New Testament is not part of the Jewish library or heritage. We do believe that there were two sets of books, an old and a new.

The words of the Five Books of Moses were authored by G-d and written by Moses.

The words of the rest of our books (the Books of the Prophets, and the Books of the Scriptures) were authored and written by prophets, who had Divine inspiration.

The word, 'Torah,' can be used to refer to the Five Books of Moses. We also call a hand-written parchment scroll that contains these five books a 'Torah'.

Together with the written word, G-d also gave Moses a body of knowledge that was to be initially transmitted orally. This was named the Oral Torah.

The Torah charged us to provide safeguards to insure its observance. These took the form of guidelines that were authored by our sages throughout our history. They are incorporated into our Oral Torah.

The holidays of Purim and Chanukah were later added by the prophets and sages. The Talmud finds it necessary to find a basis for them from within the written Torah.

In fact, for the past thirty-three centuries, behavior and values are traditionally considered Jewish only when they have a basis from something that either Moses wrote, said, or would have said (based on that which we already know he wrote or said).

We sometimes use the word, 'Torah' to refer to our entire religious knowledge base.

All the best from JewishAmerica.

10/25/98
Recipie For Matzah

>What is the recipie for making the matzah eaten at Passover?

Just plain flour and water. Quickly knead, roll, spike, and bake.

Consult with a Rabbi if you plan to make matzah for actual Passover consumption to insure that it conforms to our dietary guidelines.

All the best from JewishAmerica.

11/8/98
Multiple Husbands

>Why can a woman not have more than one husband?

We believe that the human body and psychic is designed around the Torah's framework.

Since the Torah accomodates polygamy, we see that a man is designed to be able to emotionally and physically handle more than one wife. From Torah law we can infer that a woman is not designed to handle this well.

This is not to say that a woman can't do it. A person can do anything, even to the point of self-mutilation and abuse. Rather, this is an indication that besides the severe infraction of Torah guidelines, having more than one husband is not advisable for a woman from the physical-emotional standpoint.

This does imply that men can do some things better than women can.

After being married for more than twenty-five years, I can testify to the fact that there are things that women can do better than men.

11/8/98
Chosen Messiah

>I am writing a paper on the Jewish influences of Jesus of Nazereth with
>an emphasis on *why* he cannot be the chosen "Messiah." I am writing
>this paper from the ancient Jewish point of view.
>
>I am limited to my information, in the sense that I cannot include
>modern influences, such as the coming time, nor can I talk about the
>Zionists. I can only use ancient text and text based on the historical,
>not the modern effects.
>
>I know that the definition of "Messiah" is prophisized often through
>Isaiah and the such, but otherwise I am at a loss.
>
>Any help would be greatly appreciated.

This is a sensitive matter. As you well know, Judaism and Christianity have respectfully agreed to respectfully disagree on the role of Jesus of Nazereth.

We both await the coming of a Messianic era, during which this will be fully clarified for all.

We discuss our tradition in the Tour of Jewish and World History.

Pick up the tour from http://www.jewishamerica.com/TimeLine/tomorrow.htm

The First Zionist Congress was held in Basel in 1897.

Maimonedes, who we quote on the Tour, lived in Egypt in the 12th century. This should be 'ancient' enough for your research.

We today regard Maimonedes' work as an authoritative basis for our determining and understanding the Oral Torah.

All the best from JewishAmerica.

11/8/98
Public School

>I am studying to become a high school English teacher. My coursework
>includes studying various religions and how they affect public education in
>America. I would like to know what I can do, as a teacher, to accomodate
>students of the Jewish faith and to make their learning experience more
>valuable. What things should I be aware of?

This depends on the child and his/her family.

Today, there is variance on the degree that a child's family is aware and observant of Jewish laws and customs.

The public school system serves families from many lifestyles and Judaism is one of many.

As part of the new school year orientation, I would suggest that each school provide their students with a questionnaire that determines whether they have any special needs, such as dietary, and whether there are days on their family calendar that are of significance to the school program.

The manner that a school celebrates the December holiday period can be a source of discomfort for the Jewish student. Kids don't want to be singled out, they don't want to feel different, and they don't want to compromise their beliefs.

Many Jewish communities host Jewish day schools where a child can receive a fine and solid foundation in Jewish and secular studies within a supportive framework.

You should be aware of this resource within your community. From time to time you may feel a need to recommend this option to a family.

All the best from JewishAmerica.

11/14/98
Colonial American Jews

>Were there ever colonial American Jews?

Yes, absolutely. Haym Salomon was a major backer of the American Revolution.

There is a monument in Chicago which honors three patriots: George Washington, Robert Morris, and Haym Salomon.

Do a search on Amazon.com and you'll find several books:

Haym Salomon, Liberty's Son
Shirley Gorson Milgrim, Richard Fish (Illustrator) / Hardcover / Published
1975

General Washington's son of Israel and other forgotten heroes of history
Charles Spencer Hart

Haym Salomon Son of Liberty
Fast H / Published 1900

Jews and the American Revolution : Haym Salomon and Others
Laurens R. Schwartz / Published 1987

Haym Salomon : A Biography of the Revolutionary War Hero
Vick Knight / Published 1978

All the best from JewishAmerica.

11/14/98
Aryans

>I live not far from the Ayran Nations headquarters.

>Most of our town makes an effort to ignore their ignorant ideas. However,
>they have recently begun to distribute a comic book call "Holo-hoax"
>outside of our junior high and I believe elementary schools.

>This "comic" book is filled with antisemetic propaganda and goes into how the
>holocaust never really happened.

>I would like to distribute something supporting the truth, but am not quite sure
>how to do so.

>If you have any information or ideas I would like to hear them. My idea would be
>to distrubute pamphlets outside of the same schools. However, being I'm not
>Jewish, I don't know if this would be alright.

You certaintly do not have to be Jewish to raise the standards of decency within your environment. G-d bless you for your intentions and feelings of outrage.

These people may very well not share your standards of ethics or conduct. It may therefore be downright hazardous for you to openly confront them.

There is an old saying about it being better to be a live coward instead of a dead hero. My advice is to do things that insure that you remain a live hero.

I would therefore advise you minimize the degree of the role that you personally need to take.

If you can get someone involved who is less in danger of being harmed by these hooligans and who may also have more clout, why should you get directly involved?

Why not obtain a number of copies of the comic and send them to people of authority and to and established organizations who have assumed responsibility? You do not have to reveal your identity, either. Send a copy to the principals and to the mayor. Ask them to look into the matter themselves. Give them a chance to act.

You can also anonymously notify the following organizations:

Anti-Defamation League
http://www.adl.org

The Simon Wiesenthal Center
http://www.wiesenthal.org

All the best from JewishAmerica

11/22/98
Mental Health

>I'm a specialist speaker on mental health/illness..I've been asked to
>speak on judaism and how it has responded to and affected by mental
>illness throughout its long history..Any info would be appreciated, even
>if you would give me some direction.

Let me refer you to the Association Of Orthodox Jewish Scientists.

Their Home Page is at http://www.aojs.org/index.html

All the best from JewishAmerica.

East-West Jews
11/22/98

>As I'm having a project in school about the Jewish immigration from Europe
>to the USA I wonder if there are any differences between the East-European
>Jews and the German Jews in American society today? If so what are they?
>
>Can you briefly tell me about the phenomenon of Jewish mysticism, what is
>it really about?
>Thank You
>
>- From Norway

The Eastern and Western European cultures are different and both Jewish and non-Jewish immigrants will typically reflect the differences, mostly within the first generation.

There is a lot of hype about Jewish mysticism.

We're not into witchcraft.

I discuss mysticism in the Tour of Jewish and World History on http://www.jewishamerica.com/TimeLine/kabala.htm

All the best from JewishAmerica.

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