ashmorris613

Also, I have not heard exercise mentioned. That’s a real key in losing weight. Regular exercise increases your metabolism. Plus, if you have more muscle, you will burn more calories when you are active.

1. To love and serve Hashem with joy.

2. V’ahavta l’reicha chamocha, and respect for all of Hashem’s creation

3. A good work ethic (not wasting time, persevering to achieve goals)

There is only one Judaism, just different approaches to it. Reform, Reconstructionist, Conservative –all are attempts to change Judaism in order to try to assimilate into modern, Western society. Where there is a conflict between Judaism and modern society’s values, they go against Judaism. Conservative tries to be a watered-down version of Judaism. Reconstructionist tries to observe traditions without spirituality. Reform tries to assimilate on all fronts while keeping the semblance of Judaism. Orthodox–all fully observe Judaism. Modern orthodox–tries to observe Judaism while being open to aspects of modern society that do not conflict with it. Charedi/so-called “Ultra Orthodox” –tries to observe and preserve Judaism by shunning most of modern society’s influence. Chassidic- more emotional, esoteric spiritual approach, Litvish –more reserved, serious spiritual approach. Sephardi/Ashkenazi–Different customs based on where the population lived. Ashkenazi- North, Central, East Europe Sephardi-Southern Europe, Middle East, North Africa

I agree that Jewish children should not wear costumes with crosses or other goyish religious images. (That includes the yin/yang on the ninja costumes)

However, I think that some misconceptions about history are fueling some of the feelings expressed here.

First of all, most of the Crusader massacres were not carried out by knights. They were carried out by ignorant peasants who were in a religious frenzy. Many knights (who were also noblemen) and Church officials tried to stop them. They were so zealous and undisciplined that they wouldn’t listen to anyone.

Secondly, most medieval soldiers were not knights. Knights were all noblemen. They were educated, well-trained and disciplined. In other words, they were unlikely to go off and massacre a lot of people who had nothing to do with their military objectives. You can tell this by the fact that there were a lot of massacres during the First Crusade (when the common people went) and hardly any during the subsequent ones (when the armies consisted of mostly knights and professional soldiers).

Thirdly, most knights were not in the service of the Church. Most weren’t. I think that some of you are referring to Templars. They wore the white tunics with the big red crosses and are what comes to a lot of people’s minds when they think of knighs. They were one of just a couple of monastic orders of knights (they were fighting monks). Most knights were loyal to a nobeman who outranked them. Whether or not a knight was good or bad largely depended upon under which nobleman he served. Some nobelmen were more tolerant than others of Jews and some had different standards of behavior than others for their knights.

Also, if we want to avoid the cosumes of people who have persecuted us, we won’t have many to choose from. People from all walks of life from many different cultures have persecuted us.

To the person who said that potching and yelling are never chinuch: common sense and halacha disagree with you. If a child is doing something dangerous, yelling may in fact be proper so that the child is startled enough to immediately listen. Yelling doesn’t work when the parent does it all the time. I quote Halichos Bas Yisroel. “A mother must be prepared to reprimand her children strongly to guide them along the proper path so that they will refrain from wrongdoing. Occasionally it may be neccesary to use physical punishment. It is considered cruel to act leniently at such times.” Also, usually young children have to be reprimanded on the spot. They quickly forget and if you wait until you are out of the store, they’ve forgotten about what they’ve done, so it has no impact on them. Older children will be embarrassed if yelled at in public, so just don’t yell unless someone’s in danger. A soft, yet stern voice can do just as much as yelling. every parent needs a tone of voice that says “I mean business”.

Someone wanted to know how my parents reacted to my conversion and how it feels to be a Black and Jewish.

My parents at first believed that I was joining some kind of cult. They were angry and thought that I was being brainwashed. They had had the exact same response a few years earlier when I had become a more religious Christian as a teenager.This time, however I was an adult so they were mean and and hurtful, but couldn’t do anything about it. My father is the racist, anti semitic , blame everything on “the man” type which compounded the issue. Things really came to a head when I became engaged and was about to make aliyah. They were upset about “losing me” and had a fit at my vort. Things settled down a bit after I began to have children and they realized that it’s not a faze, that this is my life and that they have to work with me if they want a relationship. Things are better now, my mother has taken it upon herself to learn a bit about Yiddishkeit so that she can relate to us a little better. My father is being civil but there is still a lot of tension. Both are very resentful, but have toned it down a lot. Being Black really hasn’t been an issue. I see myself as a Jewish person who just happens to have dark skin. I haven’t really run into problems because of it. A couple of times I’ve heard kids say something, but that’s how kids are. Since I live in Israel a lot of people at first think I’m Ethiopian and are shocked when hear me speak English. Ethiopians don’t understand why I draw a blank when they speak to me in Amharic.

Well, I did it.I grew up in a Black, Baptist home in the inner city. I always felt that I didn’t quite “fit in” with either in my culture or my religion. I began learning about Judaism in public libraries in order to work out my issues with Christianity. I found that everything that I found wrong in my culture and religion was done the right way in Judaism. My neshama had found its home. I think that a neshama knows where it’s supposed to be. If a person is meant to be a part of the Jewish people, they will never be satisfied anywhere else. It will bother them until they have no choice but to search for their true home. When a person searches for the path of truth, Hashem meets them more than halfway.