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.)

Not going to debate you on this as life's too short. What I will say is that Jews all over the world have the exact same story.

Whether you believe in its origin or not is up to you, but it was certainly preserved well throughout the ages. Despite persecution, exiles, minimal to no communication between communities, we've all got the same Torah.

Isn’t this AMA?

Completely agree.

What religion are you, Chloe?

Yes. I wondered why that is the only question you want to ask, and why you think a British Jewish woman needs to share an opinion on a conflict happening on another continent.

Ask me when I’m doing an AMA.

Do you tell him when you've begun and finished?

It’s not my AMA. If OP doesn’t want to answer, that’s her prerogative.

@JeweyJew thanks for the invite, but nope not in the UK anymore :) I have a relative in Stamford Hill (not chassidish).

So you have no interest at all in any aspect of the OP's life, her experiences, her family, her community, or anything relating to her as a British Jewish woman.

You just want to bash your drum because for some reason (I can't imagine what it could be!) you hold British Jews responsible for what happens in a foreign country.

Pompei This is an AMA thread where people are being kind enough to explain their faith. Your comment is rude and inappropriate. Start your own thread if you want to discuss the rights and wrongs of religion.

What a shame that on a thread with loads of genuinely interesting questions, there's always a handful of people like you.

I do have an interest, I’ve read the whole thread. Others have asked my others questions. Why would I re-ask them?

What a nasty, arrogant way to derail a fascinating thread full of good natured people.

OP, it's been such an antidote to some recent MN threads.

@Chloe84 You know fine well what you're doing. So are you just shit stirring or an antisemite?

It's quite helpful, though, for non-Jewish posters who are genuinely interested to see what it's like. There are some people for whom the words 'Jew' or 'Jewish' are like a red rag to a bull.

They really, really hate us. They see someone mention that they are Jewish and they're foaming at the mouth to blame us for something happening on the other side of the world.

Perhaps you don't realise, @Chloe84 , how very obvious you and the other posters like you (fortunately in the minority here) are. And not just to those of us who've had to deal with this our whole lives.

To be fair op, waiting for ambulances being alone when old etc are UK problems (and some other countries) . There are many communities in the world, who aren't Jewish, but tight knit, helpful, with shared values. I'm from the Mediterranean and walk into villages you'll find the atmosphere you describe. It's a fascinating question. Does one have to be a religion and a tribe to have a tight knit community with thousands of shared rules? personally don't think so, it's cultural.

Palestinian land? You're having a laugh.

Israel (Judea) is the Jewish ancestral homeland, of which we were exiled by Roman colonisers. Jews have always yearned to return and there has always been a Jewish presence in the land.

Israel isn't an occupation, it's a decolonisation.

As to Palestinian identity, that was invented post 1967. In the first 20 years of the state, when Jerusalem and the West Bank was occupied by Jordan, and Gaza by Egypt, there wasn't a peep about a Palestinian state.

Because Palestinians hadn't yet been invented. They were just Arabs, indistinguishable from other Arabs. Hence happy to live under Jordanian rule.

The knowledge is out there, educate yourself.

Do you think you're fooling anyone? I mean, great derail, which was obviously your intent. I'm sorry that you feel such passionate hatred for a minority group.

@JeweyJew Please don't rise to the bait. This poster wants to derail what was a genuine thread. You know it's impossible to say that you're Jewish without attracting people like this. They are so full of hate and you are giving them what they want.

Yes, we had similar on a recent Diane Abbott thread.

I have to say that all the antisemites do is make me more proud to be a Jew, and more vocal about it, particularly with regards to antisemitism.

@Parkingt111 Similar to Jesus, in that we don't accept him as a prophet.

@Nottamug sidelocks (peyos) due to a commandment on men not to shave the hair in that area. Chassidish men leave it long and curl it, but all orthodox men leave it a certain (varying) length.

There are varying garbs that the men wear in the chassidish community and there are a number of different reasons for why they wear their garb, but partly (the shallow reason) is tradition.

Is the pushchair/wheelchair exception (ability to 'ride') the only thing that the Eruv allows?

Thanks @jewishorthomum and others for the information, really interesting.

A conversation I’ve had with my very religious friends (Muslim and Christian, not had the opportunity to have it with someone Jewish) is what do you think of someone who is an atheist? I believe to my core that God does not exist and I’m at peace with this. Do you find it as interesting as I find reading about your religious practices?

Sometimes I wish I was religious as I love the sound of many of the practices, and I can only imagine how these make you feel closer (maybe not the right word) to your faith. I also love the commitment to community life.

I guess one ignorant question (sorry I hope I’m not showing my stereotypical assumptions) is what is your view on same sex marriage and relationships? Is it like in Christianity where it’s accepted and open in some churches and condemned in others?

Sorry one final question would you vote Labour after the horrific antisemitism within the party?

This is one of the best aspects of Judaism - the way we deal with death.

Funerals are very very quick, usually the day after death. EVERYONE comes. All funerals are the same - there is no having to choose hymns, flowers, coffins, etc. It's all very simple and everyone is equal in death.

Then we sit shiva for a week. People come to the house every evening for prayers. They bring food and the mourners sit on low chairs and have company with them all the time for a week.

A year later we have a stone setting, like the funeral but instead of the burial, we say prayers around the grave and the stone. It brings everyone back together to remember the person who has died, a year later.

We have set sayings that we say when people have died, set phrases to say to mourners. Of course you can say other things too, but it means you're not in that awkward position of not knowing what to say/if it's ok to visit/etc.

I married a non-Jewish man and he as well as my previous partner have been full of praise for the Jewish way of death. In contrast, I find the Christian way really really difficult for everyone involved. It seems to make things harder for the mourners, not easier.

One of the Sabbath laws is not carrying anything from the private domain to public, and similarly not carrying more than a couple of metres in public domain.

How to classify private and public can be complex. What an eruv does is convert a street from a public domain to a pseudo-private one, allowing us to carry stuff out of the house into the street.