Jewish Orthodox mum AMA

[jewishorthomum]

I'm a 29 yr old Jewish Orthodox religious mum of 2 little boys. Is there anything you'd like to ask about Orthodox Jewish life?
Kill my time whilst I'm waiting to be called in for an appointment.
(When I get called in for my app I'll have to run but will try respond later if there are questions.)

How far back can you trace your ancestry?

Did any of your older relatives arrive here from mainland Europe in the 1940s?

Great thread!

Likely different rabbis have different explanations, but the way meat and dairy was explained to me is that a mother’s milk is meant to be nourishing and it would be horrific for a mother cow or goat to see their dead baby cooked in its mother’s milk: it’s an empathy thing.

OP this is such an interesting thread Have always been interested in orthodox Jews.
Can you explain to me about the dress code for the men and the long side ringlets they have .
Sorry if my question is too nosey but am so fascinated.

@JustFuckingTired To elaborate more on wigs and hair coverings. Traditionally Jewish women did only use headscarfs. Today many women use wigs.

I'll list the reasons for hair covering and wigs below. There are varying opinions within Judaism about this but I'll try explain.

The primary reason is to show others that a women is married.

A Jewish women reserves her beauty for her marriage, so hair is covered as hair represents feminine beauty. The hair covering was never intended to make a married woman look ugly. Jewish tradition encourages both men and women to care for their appearance and always look presentable. In this vain you won't find an orthodox religious women dressing provocatively and we try dress modestly.

A wig allows a woman to cover all her hair, while maintaining her attractive appearance.

Does this answer the question?

Ok, I'm dealing with the kids now, so will be back this evening. X

It absolutely does, thank you.

Would you be 'allowed' to experiment with wigs? Like to have lots of different ones and have a different hairstyle each day? Or go for a pink wig or similar?

Sorry to be fixated on the wig thing but I had no idea Jewish women wore wigs until a lady (Jewish decent) told me about it at work. I didn't know her too well so I didn't feel I could ask. But its always intrigued me. I'm obsessed with hair anyway!

Hi
As a Muslim woman we have to bathe (ghusl) after we finish our period or after sexual intercourse
Do orthodox Jewish ladies have anything similar?

Really interesting to read.
I’ve spent a decade living near Stanford hill and the orthodox community generally operate as quite a separate entity to the surrounding community, is this preferable to you?

Also would be really interested to know what orthodox Jews believe about the prophet Muhammad peace be upon him. We believe in all the Jewish and biblical prophets and many are also mentioned in the Quran
We believe jesus was the messenger of God not the son of God

Did you ever at any point when you were growing up or as a young adult before marriage, consider not believing in your taught religion and/or not living by the rules of that religion? Do you think you would have chosen this religion and associated lifestyle if you had been brought up in a completely non-religious household? (This may be an impossible question to consider, given that your whole life has been within this specific religion and culture).

Where do the outwardly religious shop? I lived in Stamford Hill for a while and never saw a shop that stocked the wigs or outfits. Most of the women looked the same, with the same wigs and clothes.

For anyone local, the egg stores always fascinated me, last time I went through there it was open as a supermarket but for years I'd never seen it open and always wondered what it was. There was another shop too, at a bus stop in SH, I went in there with my mum once and it was stacked floor to ceiling with boxes of all sorts, an item unboxed on display at the front of the pile. I think they must have sold everything you could ever think of. It was there for years and years, and again I rarely saw it open, but I was sad to see it gone last time I passed.

How do Orthodox Jews view reformed jews?

(thank you for a fascinating thread).

Do you work in jobs outside of the Jewish community?

Hello @jewishorthomum I’m also an orthodox Jewish mum :) are you happy for me to answer questions too?

Moses and Zippora on Instagram are fascinating. They are modern Orthodox Jews and I love them!

They will answer any questions you have.

Not a question, but a thank you.

I have met a few Jewish men and women, and they have all become very good friends of mine.

The antisemitism they encounter is truly awful, as is the general lack of knowledge and respect around Judaism and Jewish people in general.

The more we (non-jews) know about Jews the better imo, so we can see that we're all human, with our own unique personalities, interests, and culture.

Thanks for the replies OP.

How do you light your home on the Shabbos if electric lights are not permitted? Are candles allowed? What about a torch?

If you had an emergency on the Shabbos (heart attack/burglary etc) what would you do if not allowed to ring 999 on a phone? Are there special exemptions?

And yes, sorry to add to my probably highly insensitive questions earlier, but I’d like to thank you, and others on this thread, for helping us better understand. This is the very best way for everyone to be better together. Thank you.

@RoseslnTheHospital i was raised frum (religious orthodox) and yes I went through a period of introspection and questioning as a teenager
I wasn’t rebellious and outwardly followed the rules but did have some questions and doubts
Eventually over time I studied more and became confident in my religious beliefs

@Blondey2023 I don’t feel miserable with my life personally. I don’t think rules and boundaries make for a miserable existence. I don’t know what you mean by no affection? No physical touch when I am nida, but we are encouraged to develop our relationship with our spouses in non physical ways during the nida period.

Sorry if this question has been answered but how does a very natural and realistic looking wig that we wouldn’t notice was a wig, count as covering your hair and signal to other men that you’re taken? Or do you wear a headscarf etc as well?

My mum wants a wig as has alopecia. Would it be inappropriate to go to a Jewish wig maker (as it sounds like they’re brilliant!)?

Is Shabbos short for Sabbath?

Like Wilkos instead of Wilkinson, or Woolies instead if Woolworths?

(this is a genuine question, apologies if it doesn’t sound like one!)

@CC4712 we have a law that says saving a life comes before all us
so in a medical emergency you would override the rules of shabbos and do what ever is needed to save a life .
we set lights on a time switch or in my old house I just left on the ones I needed.you would not be allowed to light a candle or turn on a torch.

And what is the difference between Hasidic Jews and Orthodox Jews? Is Ashkenazi a place your ancestors came from? (Sorry yes I can Google but this is AMA!)

Shabbos is the way an Ashkenazi Jew would say it. Sabbath is the English translation. Shabbat would the sefardi/Israeli pronunciation

I also did genetic screening (dor yeshorim) before dating. This has massively reduced the incidence of diseases like tay Sachs in the community

Yes you can experiment with wigs, but a pink one in a very conservative community would be quite ‘out there’. So not against halacha (the laws) but socially odd. Although to be fair I am talking about the community I grew up in and there are definitely communities (including religious) where socially that would be fine.
you can get curly wigs but really good ones are hard to get and high maintenance