Comments on: If you wear good shoes you won’t get glass shards in your feet

By: DN

DN — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 02:55:34 +0000

Andrew, if only I could find a handy link to the Arrested Development scene where George Sr. tries to stop a prison riot…

“guys come on! There are may ways to spell ‘Channukah!’”

By: tavdy79

tavdy79 — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 10:29:16 +0000

That leaves the Orthodox branch as the last remaining major Jewish group that hasn’t accepted marriage equality – but I believe it’s only a matter of time. There are already orthodox rabbis working towards it, and what’s promising is that they tend to be young, so their influence can only grow.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 09:06:43 +0000

I tell people I was lost in the suburbs and raised by Jews – it’s nearly though not entirely true, but where I grew up, it was on the order of 30-50% Jewish. My Italian dad hasn’t set foot in a church in 40 years, but he has a prayer shawl and a yarmulke (and yes, I know how to spell yarmulke).

This removes a great disappointment I have felt for many years. Even though my Jewish friends – including the Conservative Jews – have always been supportive, it’s nice to make it official.

Mazel Tov!

By: Palmer

Palmer — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 08:02:02 +0000

What many non-Jews fail to understand is that the Torah, is only the beginning of Jewish law, that there the Talmud, Halacha and one other part (I can see my rabbi shaking his head, this is the problem with only being part Jewish) and NOTHING is really set in stone, all of the rabbinical schools teach a method called “pilpul” which means pepper. The point of pilpul is to take a single phrase or word and see if you can find a new way of interpreting it. This is how the elaborate Kosher laws came about. Take a few chapters in Leviticus and Numbers, add some Talmud, a few grinds of pepper and you’ve got separate dishes for meat and for dairy.

Some Ultra-Orthiodox Jews go so far as to argue they can engage in anal sex with another man so long as it’s standing up and not lying down.

By: james

james — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 05:17:03 +0000

But, but, but the Leviticus thing about abomination is, is, well, it’s a Jewish law!

What will happen when the Christians find out the Jews are rejecting their own laws?

Although I guess since it’s their law they can do with it as they want.

By: Truthspew

Truthspew — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 02:26:06 +0000

It’s amazing that 73% of religious Jewish bodies believe it’s ok for same sex partners to marry.

If only the Catholic church were to have such an epiphany!

By: MsRowena

MsRowena — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 01:56:35 +0000

Oy gay!

By: DN

DN — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 23:37:09 +0000

I’d never even heard of Reconstructionist Judaism until I went to my first bar’mitzvah at the age of 33 (I grew up in a Jewish neighborhood until I was 12 – guess how PISSED I was to miss all the parties when we moved…)

I was like “OK finally this’ll be interesting”

And then people are wearing tie-dye tallits and they’re talking about all sorts of crazy lib’rul stuff.

Coincidentally, it was the day of the vote on DADT and Carl Levin was related to some of the folks there and the rabbi made a few comments about why he couldn’t be there because he had some VERY important work to do.

For someone who is generally not into religion, I gotta say, the Reconstruction synagogue in Rockville is awesome.

By: Timothy Kincaid

Timothy Kincaid — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 22:19:14 +0000

Zeke,

I kinda was thinking in that direction, but then noticed the differences were not so much exclusions as they were sexist and outdated.

And there’s this:

“The result is still a Jewish marriage,” the legal opinion on gay marriage states.

But (not being Jewish, this is just a guess) I suppose it would have been better without a separate name.

By: TampaZeke

TampaZeke — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 21:49:35 +0000

It’s a huge step in the right direction but it’s a Jewish Covenant of Loving Partners and not a Jewish marriage even if they call it a Jewish wedding. It’s another “separate but equal” offering.

Still, it is a big and much appreciated move in the right direction.