I am converting to Judaism and need to pick my Hebrew name. Any ideas? [more inside]
posted by n'muakolo on Nov 25, 2009 - 26 answers

Kabbalah Obscura: looking for the source of an old Jewish parable where either Moses or Solomon doubt an Archangel's word, and the Angel takes them along to observe what angels do to accomplish the tasks of the divine mission... [more inside]
posted by archae on Nov 17, 2009 - 9 answers

Should I go to a religious weekend retreat w/my wife and kids even though I am very, very lukewarm towards the the idea of attending a religious weekend retreat? [more inside]
posted by plowhand on Sep 29, 2009 - 31 answers

I hate cholent, and most chamin recipes are just slightly-improved versions of cholent. Given that cooking must begin Friday afternoon, and the food has to be under constant heat until until noon-time Saturday, could you recommend any replacements for Shabbes cholent? [more inside]
posted by flibbertigibbet on Aug 11, 2009 - 10 answers

I'm meeting with Mormon missionaries tomorrow for a religious discussion, and they want me to come prepared with questions about Mormon history/ belief/ doctrine, etc. I'm looking for a list of questions that will give me interesting answers and lead to longer discussions about the nature of Mormonism. I'm very interested in their religion, I just don't know enough to know what to ask, and I have three hours with them so I need a good amount of discussion questions. Thanks!
posted by howgenerica on Jun 16, 2009 - 75 answers

Converting to Judaism in Boston - suggestions? [more inside]
posted by semacd on Jun 11, 2009 - 2 answers

Trying to plan a meeting in late September or early October and not inconvenience observant Jewish attendees. Is the week between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur ok? Should I skip the week that is Sukkot? This will be a Thursday/Friday meeting if that makes any difference.
posted by mercredi on May 4, 2009 - 8 answers

How should I handle this? (Father-in-law wants me to take him to Jewish bookstores in NYC without my wife, I have to work, I have never met him, and I know nothing about Judaism.) [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Apr 21, 2009 - 33 answers

I know that some Hebrew and English names are identical (e.g., Maia, Deborah, and Miriam), some English and Hebrew names are similar (e.g., Isaac/Yitzchak, Jonathan/Yonatan, Jonas/Yona), and some are translations (e.g., Eve/Chava). Are there other less obvious correspondences between Hebrew and English names? Specifically, nobody has been named for my late grandfathers, whose Hebrew names are Chaim and Yona. We could use those as Hebrew names for a boy, but what are the options for Hebrew names for a girl and English names for either? My Hebrew name is Chava, so I would not want to use that as a feminine version of Chaim.
posted by anonymous on Apr 7, 2009 - 14 answers

I (think I) want to become Jewish in the California Bay Area, but need some help. [more inside]
posted by hatsforbats on Apr 5, 2009 - 14 answers

Spending the first night of Passover with a newish SO's family... I need suggestions for a gift that makes a dazzling first impression. [more inside]
posted by honeybee413 on Mar 31, 2009 - 12 answers

Any interesting, meaningful readings for a liberal Passover Seder on the theme of hope? [more inside]
posted by aquafortis on Mar 7, 2009 - 2 answers

How do I celebrate my first Messianic Hanukkah? No one else in my family is Jewish, and they're trying to "make me" celebrate Xmas. [more inside]
posted by hasna on Dec 15, 2008 - 46 answers

What is a Confucian Jew? [more inside]
posted by Great Insect Task Force Comet Ranger on Nov 2, 2008 - 12 answers

I've never read the Bible, and I'd like to. Which version should I read and what resources are good ones to help me understand and historically contextualize what I'm reading?
posted by arcticwoman on Oct 16, 2008 - 25 answers

Can you recommend any really good novels (or movies) that portray something in the Old or New Testament in a new way, or which add to the Old/New Testament, such that they could be considered 'modern Biblical apocrypha'? [more inside]
posted by flibbertigibbet on Oct 13, 2008 - 30 answers

Where can I attend free High Holiday services in the SF East Bay? [more inside]
posted by gnutron on Sep 22, 2008 - 2 answers

After living most of my life in a secular bubble, I've been asked to fill in as a producer for a religion-focused public radio show. Religious folk: please help me to do the best job I possibly can. What's going on in your religion or faith community right now? And what should I, as a secular humanist journalist, know in order to broadcast respectfully about your faith? (anonymous because my question relates to my job and employer, which could be identified from my posting history) [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Sep 12, 2008 - 27 answers

How can my synagogue organize a large and developing library of liturgical recordings? I'm interested in (inexpensive or free) specialized software or in suggestions on how to use more commonplace software for this purpose. [more inside]
posted by likedoomsday on Aug 11, 2008 - 7 answers

Converting to Judaism, but secular / atheist? [more inside]
posted by Meatbomb on Jul 25, 2008 - 52 answers

What's your best haroset recipe? Happy Pesach!
posted by pinto on Apr 17, 2008 - 12 answers

My wife (raised Catholic) and I (raised Jewish) were watching The Exorcist the other day, and she turned to me and asked me if there was any movie where Jews were depicted as secretive, mysterious, and spooky. The best I could do was Lenny Meyer and his fellow Hasids in Pi. [more inside]
posted by Plutor on Jan 16, 2008 - 27 answers

Has there been higher criticism (such as the documentary hypothesis) or textual criticism of religions other than Christianity and Judaism?
posted by Pants! on Jan 10, 2008 - 10 answers

Looking for wisdom from Judaism. A while back, someone posted a link to a great essay. It was chock full of Jewish wisdom. I can't remember the context, but I want to say it had to do with success and achievement. As opposed to saying that ego-gratification and success were a bad thing, the essay instead pointed out that there was virtue in doing things for yourself and virtue in aquiring the trappings of success. Anyone want to conjure up a link for me? How about any other essays and articles filled with good Judaic wisdom?
posted by jasondigitized on Oct 1, 2007 - 7 answers

Recent talk on MeFi of religions has me curious: Given that Judaism is said to pass down the matriarchal line, and converts to the faith are said to have always had a Jewish soul, what does that mean for the children of a mother who converts to Judaism? Would it be different if she converted before they were born vs. after? What about pre- or post-conception?
posted by kaseijin on Sep 4, 2007 - 18 answers

I found WW2 "yellow stars," Jewish identity papers and other tragic items at a Hungarian flea market. What to do? [more inside]
posted by Dee Xtrovert on May 19, 2007 - 17 answers

Do you know any site where Jewish history and the Torah are actively debated? Something like a forum? [more inside]
posted by markovich on Mar 26, 2007 - 3 answers

Is there are good recording of the beautiful Carlebach melodies for Kabbalat Shabbat? [more inside]
posted by tabulem on Mar 6, 2007 - 2 answers

Calling all Jews! I need a reading list for my girlfriend. [more inside]
posted by kingjoeshmoe on Jan 10, 2007 - 13 answers

What do Jews think of converts? [more inside]
posted by anonymous on Sep 23, 2006 - 45 answers

First Rosh Hashanah. Tips? [more inside]
posted by n'muakolo on Sep 18, 2006 - 25 answers

Where can I find a line-by-line interpretation/explanation of the biblical Song of Solomon online?
posted by zembla3 on Sep 14, 2006 - 3 answers

Brigitte Gabriel showed up in my inbox today. My links to the evangelical subculture have provided me with many icky moments but none more so than this. An acquaintance forwarded me (and 20 others) a cut and pasted article about a speech she made at Duke University almost two years ago outlining Muslim atrocities in Lebanon during the 70s and I'm curious about the woman. Obviously someone like this is a great spokesperson for those who think Islam is bent on world domination and the destruction of all infidels. And apparently she gets quite a few speaking engagements at universities as an "expert" on the Middle East. But who is she?

After a little googling, I see the same "speech" cut and pasted into dozens of conservative blogs. And her page on Wikipedia dates from just two weeks ago, with a bit of a revert war starting already. What's going on here?
posted by jmcnally on Aug 2, 2006 - 11 answers

Is there some reason that christians support Israel? I was browsing the Rapture Ready message boards, and while I realize they are a bit of a fringe, they seem to be fanatically pro-israel (see this signature), and that sentiment seems to be echoed amongst many other christians I know. I would have figured christians to be mildy anti-israel, as it's inhabitants sort of shunned their prophet/savior. What gives?
posted by phrontist on Jul 20, 2006 - 40 answers

Ok, I'm self-admittedly jumping the shark here. I'd like to get a tattoo. I'd like it to mean 'will'. Like the type of will it takes to pedal one's ass up to the top of a mountain on a 100-degree day. Or the will it takes to climb canyons in 35-degree weather. You know the drill. [more inside]
posted by neilkod on Jun 27, 2006 - 58 answers

What Jewish tradition involves a rabbi killing a chicken? [more inside]
posted by Robot Johnny on Jun 20, 2006 - 7 answers

Where do I look for information on Jewish violence? Does Judaism have much violence in its history? I'm specifically looking for information on pre-Zionist Jewish militance, if such existed. Were there any major battles or wars involving Jews before the twentieth century?
posted by goo on May 12, 2006 - 14 answers

I was raised Christian (Southern Baptist, was baptized). However I feel pulled towards Judaism. There is Jewish ancestry on my mom's side but for whatever reason, someone had to have converted. In a way I want to 'take it back'. How does one begin a conversion process to Judaism? There is a Reform synagogue here but I feel so foreign there since I know so little of Jewish traditions.
posted by miltoncat on Apr 22, 2006 - 38 answers

Michael Wex, in his Born to Kvetch, mentions a book called Toldot Yeshua (or possibly Toldos Yeshua), a medieval Yiddish manuscript that proposes that Jesus was a parlor trick artist, Mary an unclean woman and that Peter was a devout Jew that diverted Christianity out of Judaism (or something along those lines). Now, I'd quite like to learn more, ideally reading the book myself. Do any of you have any more info on it? Does there exist an English translation?
posted by Kattullus on Mar 31, 2006 - 8 answers

In accordance with reform, orthodox, or conservative Judaism, what am I? [more inside]
posted by sequential on Jan 10, 2006 - 25 answers

I was brought up in a non-religious family with a vague Protestant background. I'm currently considering converting to Judaism (not because of a relationship with someone who's Jewish, simply for my own reasons.) I know next to nothing about the organised aspects of the religion - I've never even set foot in a synagogue - but I'm interested in learning more. I'm not really ready to approach a rabbi yet to discuss things, I think I need to explore the whole religion a bit more before I consider starting on any possible path that might later lead to conversion. Where should I start?
posted by different on Dec 19, 2005 - 37 answers

JewishHistoryFilter : Can anybody recommend a good book that dissects the common Jewish conspiracy theories and discusses their history? Extra points for readability. [more inside]
posted by afroblanca on Jul 16, 2005 - 21 answers

Does the deification of a religious authority (such as the pope or in Hasidism, the rebbe) take away from the message of the religion itself? [more inside]
posted by turbanhead on Apr 4, 2005 - 18 answers

Ok, so we all saw the hilarity that ensued the last time someone posted a contemporary religion vs homosexuality thread on the blue. My question is strictly academic. Does christianity truly object or is that a more modern concern based on mistranslation?

Points of discussion say one thing and then the other . I, for one, do not have the linguistic background to isolate the wheat from the chaff, and so I ask metafilter. Queer - damnable sin, or something to cleanse yourself of before you go to temple if you're jewish.
posted by Sparx on Nov 29, 2004 - 20 answers

What's a good traditional gift to give a Jewish father upon the birth of his second child?
posted by falconred on Nov 8, 2004 - 11 answers

Religionfilter: what percentage of Jews in the US observe the Sabbath every week? (or how many out of the total). Thanks!
posted by amberglow on Jun 14, 2004 - 8 answers

So, it's Pesach, and time for me and other jews to engage in a culinary tango dictated by what can often seem like an ever shifting sheaf of talmudic law. I've recently started playing around with almond flour - specifically a wonderful lemon pound cake (I use sugar - I'm a natural man!), and was pondering making it this week. But then it occurred to me - is using almond flour in this way - or almond flour at all - kosher for Pesach? And does anyone know of a good one-stop list of the rules and, to my mind more importantly, the reasons behind each?
posted by jearbear on Apr 5, 2004 - 13 answers

Odd question: In high school, I went to the house of a Jewish friend. The kitchen was completely decked out with pig paraphernalia, which kind of surprised me, given kosher living and whatnot. In the grumble grumble years since then, I've met a couple of other folks that have seen similar motifs in Jewish kitchens. Is there a reason behind this, or is it just random decorating?
posted by Ufez Jones on Feb 2, 2004 - 8 answers

Can anyone enlighten me as to Hannukah rituals? I've googled about, but only find the technicalities of ceremony. I need to know the things that people take for granted - whether presents get wrapped, if they get increasingly expensive across the days, what sort of things are usual to give and do. Everything.
posted by bonaldi on Dec 19, 2003 - 14 answers