Basic Judaism For Jewish Survivors of Sex Crimes

Basic Judaism For Jewish Survivors of Sex Crimes

 

(Incest, Childhood Sexual Abuse, Sexual Assault

Clergy Sexual Abuse, Professional Sexual Misconduct)

 

"There are only two ways to live your life.

One is as though nothing is a miracle.

The other is as though everything is a miracle."

-- Albert Einstein

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Disclaimer: Inclusion in this website does not constitute a recommendation or endorsement. Individuals must decide for themselves if the resources meet their own personal needs. 

 

If you are an survivor of sexual violence (as an child or an adult) and know of a resource not listed here that you found helpful, please forward it to: VickiPolin at aol.com

 

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Table of Contents:

1. Resources
   1. Judaism 101
   2. Being Jewish
   3. Find a Synagogue Worldwide
   4. J Site - Jewish Education and Entertainment
   5. Kosher Resturant Database
   6. Maven - More than 7,500 Jewish/Israel Links!
   7. The Worldwide Orthodox Minyan Database
   8. I am a Jew - Important song for everyone to hear 

      
      

2. Basic Judaism
   • Articles
   • Egroups
   • Basic Judaism Resources on the Web
   • Organizations

     
     

3. Other Resources
   • Aliyah Information
   • Jewish Genealogy
   • Jewish Multi Cultural Resources
   • Music For Your Soul (Neshema)
   • Yiddish Web Sites

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Articles

The Big Bang and the Big Question: A Universe Without God? Until the early twentieth century, astronomers entertained three possible models of the universe:  
1. The universe could be static.  
2. The universe could be oscillating. 
3. Finally, the universe could be open.

Are Non-Orthodox Jews Still Jews? The first four articles in this section are written in the form of questions people sent me, with each question followed by my answer.

'Kosher seating': The faith, history, and philosophy behind partition in prayer  Mechitzah: Partition. Separation of sexes during prayer by partition. What is the reasoning behind this (pardon the pun) sometimes divisive aspect of kashrus -- "kosher seating"?  On one level there is no reasoning. A faith commitment is a faith commitment. A tautology: without reasoning, without need of reasoning. A faith commitment to the divinity of the Torah.

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Classes Online (Sensitive to Victimization Issues)

Rabbi Ze'ev Smason lives in St. Louis Missouri, and serves as the rabbi of CongregationNusach Hari B'Nai Zion . Raised in Los Angeles and a graduate of UCLA, Rabbi Smason lived and studied in Israel for 8 years, where he received his smicha. With extensive experience in "Kiruv Rechokim" (Jewish Outreach), Rabbi Smason enjoys speaking on topics of interest to Jews of all educational and observant backgrounds.

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Aliyah Information  

1. Nefesh B' Nefesh The mission of Nefesh B'Nefesh is to revitalize North American Aliyah and to expand it for generations to come by removing the financial, professional, and logistical obstacles that are preventing many "would-be" Olim from fulfilling their dream. In the process, we hope to send an unmistakable signal of North American-Israeli Jewish Solidarity and joint determination to strengthen the State of Israel

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  Jewish Genealogy

1. JewishGen: The Official Home of Jewish Genealogy  Information on researching your roots.

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Jewish MultiCultural Resources

1. Yachad b'Shalom First Magazine Dedicated to Jewish Multicultural Families/Organizations/Groups & Individuals of all cultural backgrounds.

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Music For Your Soul (Neshema)

 

Day of Rest by Rahel Jaskow  There are hundreds of songs devoted to the Sabbath, or more specifically the times of day within it - songs for the evening, the morning, and the following afternoon as the sun sets and we prepare to return to the weekday world. It is always wondeful to sing with people, to learn new songs and to return to the more familiar ones, or"old friends" as I call them. That's how I learned all the songs on this recording, and I thank everyone who taught them to me. Here is a small sampling of some "old friends".  
 
Peter Himmelman  Peter has several CD's out there. But on his CD called "From Strength to Strength" There are two MUST hear songs. They are: "This too shall Pass" and "Impermenent Things"
 
Meditationsof the Heart  1 The Breslav Tradition.  Hassidic Aspirations For Voice and Piano. Meditations of the Heart, P.O Box 32285, Jerusalem, 91322, Israel
 
ShlockRock  Every Shlock Rock song teaches something about being Jewish. It's a fun way to introduce and strengthen Jewish concepts to people of all ages - a way to make you feel good about being Jewish. 

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Yiddish Web Sites

 

A Glossary of Yiddish Expressions Glossary of Yiddish Expressions
 

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FAIR USE NOTICE

Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. 

 

We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. 

 

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/us code/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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'Kosher seating': The faith, history, and philosophy behind partition in prayer

'Kosher seating': The faith, history, and philosophy behind partition in prayer

by Hillel Goldberg, IJM Senior Editor

Intermountain Jewish News (Page 14, Sec. B) - March 31, 1989

 

Mechitzah: Partition. Separation of sexes during prayer by partition.

 

What is the reasoning behind this (pardon the pun) sometimes divisive aspect of kashrus -- "kosher seating"?

 

On one level there is no reasoning. A faith commitment is a faith commitment. A tautology: without reasoning, without need of reasoning.

 

A faith commitment to the divinity of the Torah.

 

Jewish thinkers throughout the ages have perceived two categories of commandments in the Torah: rational commandments, whose reasoning is readily grasped -- not to murder, not to steal -- and a-rational commandments whose reasoning is not readily grasped -- not to eat pork, not to mix meat and milk.

 

Not to sit, male and female together during prayer.

 

On one level, kosher seating is faith in G-d's will.

 

But there are other levels: historically and philosophical.

 

History says that in the Holy Temples which stood in Jerusalem roughly the first 1,000 years of Jewish national existence, men and women observed the sacrificial order from separate precincts. With the destruction of the second Holy Temple and consequent shift from national center to local community -- from Temple to synagogue -- the Temple pattern was retained as extensively as possible.

 

It was retained, for example, in the prayers.

 

To this day, the timing and wording of Jewish prayers parallel the timing and themes of the sacrifices. There is immense difference between prayer and animal sacrifice -- obviously. Prayer: words and self-generated emotion. Sacrifice: blood and externally generated emotion. A difference! But the post-Temple Jewish sages wished the difference never to sever the link to the Jewish past. Babylonians and Romans could sever the physical link -- the Temple -- but the sages made certain they could never sever the historical link.

 

And so, the morning and afternoon prayers (shacharis and minchah) are timed to correspond to the hours when the morning and afternoon sacrifices were offered in the Temple. The prayers added to Sabbath and holiday services correspond not only to the timing of the sacrifices, but to their themes -- reflected in the prayers' wording.

 

In sum: services. The word automatically used to connote prayer in a direct translation of the word used to connote the sacrificial order, avodah. Prayer corresponds to avodah, "services"; and since men and women observed the services in the Temple from different precincts so too they pray in different precincts in the synagogue. 

 

That's history.

 

Now there's philosophy. Even though faith is self-validating -- beyond reason --Jewish faith has always sought philosophical profundity in reason, not as a justification of faith, nor as a substitute for it, but as a complement. Accordingly, there is a philosophy of kosher seating.

Separation of sexes during prayer, some say, connotes a philosophy of sexism. It can seem that way in a social climate intolerant of subtleties, especially when prayer's purpose is seen as human-centered -- as community building, or communal communing, or socialization.

 

But prayer, at least Jewish prayer, is in essence not human-directed. Prayer's purpose is not to get closer to people, but closer to G-d.

 

Not to keep the family together, but to keep the soul together. 

 

Not to live horizontally, but vertically.

There is of course, a communal ("horizontal") component to Jewish prayer -- a very important communal component: minyan.

 

Prayer, arguably, is the most difficult act of human existence. People are not born with the skill. It must be learned. It takes years to perfect -- and It's never really perfected.

 

It takes practice.

 

Separation of sexes is good for that.

 

Kosher seating, then is being alone with G-d and together with the Jewish people in microcosm. In minyan: the holiness of the Jewish people before the holiness of G-d.

 

With (as the Greek philosopher Plotinus put it) "the fight of the alone to the Alone."

 

In other religions, especially Christianity, the real action is up front and in these religions the sexes are not separated during prayer. To locate meaning in other religious settings and then to impose it onto the synagogue is, besides aping others, mistaking Jewish prayer: essentially a G-d-centered enterprise, not a human-centered one, not even a clergy-centered one. Rather: The flight of the alone to the Alone.

 

Real meaning is to have the sense of humanity created under the one sovereign almighty G-d, connected to him in prayer.

 

To facilitate that awesome feeling, the sexes are separated; the pray-er is tempted to look not at a woman seated net to him nor at a man seated net to her.

 

But upward.

 

Essentially, the male and female are separated not from each other, but for G-d: for the purpose of prayer.

 

That's kosher seating.

 

Minyan represents a microcosm of the Jewish people as a whole, of Knesset Yisrael. Prayer is linked not just to other Jews, but to all other Jews -- the entire Jewish people -- in minyan: prayer in the presence of the entire Jewish community. But as Jews pray with the community, the pray to G-d. They pray not to build Jewish community, but to build from it. To aim beyond it. To stretch above it. To reach the one Reality Who created it. 

 

To reach G-d.

 

Jewish community does not give a human direction to prayer; It gives a launching pad to prayer.

 

And to be launched to G-d, sexuality is distracting. The relation of sanctity and sex per se is a separate discussion, but sexes -- male and female -- attract each other and distract each other when the activity at hand is prayer.

 

And the point of prayer is prayer.

 

This isn't a tautology.

 

To pray is more than pray -- more than to recite words, to assume an attitude of devotion, to think about really important things of life.

 

These alone are not prayer. Prayer is to do all these in the felt presence of the Life-Giver and Life-Taker -- the Source of Sanctity. Prayer is to reach beyond oneself to the Master of the World.

ALSO SEE:

• Basic Judaism

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FAIR USE NOTICE 

 

Some of the information on The Awareness Center's web pages may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. The Awareness Center is making such material available in my efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. 

 

The Awareness Center believes this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. 

 

For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/us code/17/107.shtml . If you wish to use copyrighted material from this update for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.

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