A rather startling conversation for an Am Haaretz
See the comments.
posted by Shira Salamone at 12:26 AM
Sunday, January 02, 2011
About Me
- Name: Shira Salamone
Once upon a time, I belonged to a left-wing egalitarian Conservative synagogue, where I was one of a number of women who wore a tallit—and one of the few members who used an Orthodox prayer book (adding the Mothers, of course). Having moved since then, I now belong to a right-wing traditional Conservative synagogue, where I’m almost always the only woman wearing a tallit—and one of the few members who adds the Mothers. I seem destined to be forever . . . on the fringe.
PUBLIC SERVICE POSTS
- Park your ego at the door: Links to my series "On raising a child with disabilities"
- Parenting 101
- Febrile seizures: Life-saving information
Previous Posts
- Techelet's take on Parshat Vaera
- DovBear re "Jewish Superstars"
- Parsha catch-up: Vayechi and Sh’mot
- "Dashing through the snow"--or not :(, #2
- Rashanim (or 2/3 thereof--drummer missing)
- Sheleg al iri (snow on my city)
- Metal n'tilat yadayim cup becomes medical alert
- Needed: Droid for Dummies, iTunes for Idiots
- Peer pressure
- Christmas invades our local synagogue :(
MY BLOGROLL
Archives
- August 2004
- September 2004
- October 2004
- November 2004
- December 2004
- January 2005
- February 2005
- March 2005
- April 2005
- May 2005
- June 2005
- July 2005
- August 2005
- September 2005
- October 2005
- November 2005
- December 2005
- January 2006
- February 2006
- March 2006
- April 2006
- May 2006
- June 2006
- July 2006
- August 2006
- September 2006
- October 2006
- November 2006
- December 2006
- January 2007
- February 2007
- March 2007
- April 2007
- May 2007
- June 2007
- July 2007
- August 2007
- September 2007
- October 2007
- November 2007
- December 2007
- January 2008
- February 2008
- March 2008
- April 2008
- May 2008
- June 2008
- July 2008
- August 2008
- September 2008
- October 2008
- November 2008
- December 2008
- January 2009
- February 2009
- March 2009
- April 2009
- May 2009
- June 2009
- July 2009
- August 2009
- September 2009
- October 2009
- November 2009
- December 2009
- January 2010
- February 2010
- March 2010
- April 2010
- May 2010
- June 2010
- July 2010
- August 2010
- September 2010
- October 2010
- November 2010
- December 2010
- January 2011
- February 2011
- March 2011
- April 2011
- May 2011
- June 2011
- July 2011
- August 2011
- September 2011
- October 2011
- November 2011
- December 2011
- January 2012
- February 2012
- March 2012
- April 2012
- May 2012
- June 2012
- July 2012
- August 2012
- September 2012
- October 2012
- November 2012
- December 2012
- January 2013
- February 2013
- March 2013
- April 2013
- May 2013
- June 2013
- July 2013
- August 2013
- September 2013
- October 2013
- November 2013
- December 2013
- January 2014
- February 2014
- March 2014
- April 2014
- May 2014
- June 2014
- July 2014
- August 2014
- September 2014
- October 2014
- November 2014
- December 2014
- January 2015
- February 2015
- March 2015
- April 2015
- May 2015
- June 2015
- July 2015
- August 2015
- September 2015
- October 2015
- November 2015
- December 2015
- January 2016
- February 2016
- March 2016
- April 2016
- May 2016
- June 2016
- July 2016
- August 2016
- September 2016
- October 2016
- November 2016
- December 2016
- January 2017
- February 2017
- March 2017
- April 2017
- May 2017
- June 2017
- July 2017
- August 2017
- September 2017
- October 2017
- November 2017
- December 2017
- January 2018
- February 2018
- March 2018
- April 2018
- May 2018
- July 2018
- August 2018
- September 2018
- October 2018
- November 2018
- December 2018
- January 2019
- February 2019
- March 2019
- April 2019
- May 2019
- June 2019
- July 2019
- August 2019
- September 2019
- October 2019
- November 2019
- December 2019
- January 2020
- February 2020
- March 2020
- April 2020
- May 2020
- June 2020
- July 2020
- August 2020
- September 2020
- October 2020
- November 2020
- December 2020
- January 2021
- February 2021
- March 2021
- April 2021
- May 2021
- June 2021
- July 2021
- August 2021
- September 2021
- October 2021
- November 2021
- December 2021
- January 2022
- February 2022
- March 2022
- April 2022
- May 2022
- June 2022
- July 2022
- August 2022
- September 2022
- October 2022
- November 2022
- December 2022
- January 2023
- February 2023
- March 2023
- April 2023
- May 2023
- June 2023
- July 2023
- August 2023
- September 2023
- October 2023
- November 2023
- December 2023
- January 2024
- February 2024
- March 2024
- April 2024
- May 2024
- June 2024
- July 2024
- August 2024
- September 2024
- October 2024
- November 2024
- December 2024
- January 2025
- February 2025
- March 2025
- April 2025
10 Comments:
See the next comment, please.
Kindly see the next comment.
Just one or two more.
Please be patient.
Good stuff next up.
This is yet another one of my (in)famous "hidden" posts, hidden in the comments so that my colleagues would have to actually click to read them. I don't know how much of a secret it is to my office-mates that I blog, but I can't afford to be too obvious, especially when writing about the office, since I like my job and intend to keep it.
The other day, I told one of my co-workers that my husband and I were going to a Seder at the Carlebach Shul. (Unfortunately, the website didn't say anything about reservations. Oh, well.) The colleague expressed confusion about a seder on a day other than Pesach/Passover, so I asked whether s/he had ever heard of a Tu BiSh'vat Seder. The answer was "No." So I explained that the Kabbalists (mystics) of Tzfat (Safed) of a few centuries ago had developed a ritual for Tu BiSh'vat, the Jewish New Year of the Trees, involving eating the fruits of the Land of Israel. To say that I was quite taken aback that an "am ha-aretz" (a Jewishly-undereducated Jew) like me had to explain a several-centuries-old ritual to an Orthodox Jew with a yeshiva education and several years of post-yeshiva Jewish studies is an understatement. Do non-Zionists and/or anti-Zionists simply not teach about the Tu BiSh'vat Seder in their yeshivot?
Well, as someone who was educated in Orthodox schools and did a couple of post-high-school years in Israel...
I'd hardly heard of a Tu B'Shvat seder until I got to Israel, when one of my teachers held one. Almost none of my peers had, either.
We kind of knew that it was something the Kabbalists of Tzfat did around the sixteenth century, but... they also went out into the mountains to greet the Shabbat, and we don't do that either. I've still never attended a Tu B'Shvat seder, and except for the aforementioned teacher, I don't know anyone who has/goes to one every year.
(Note that I am definitely zionistic, and went to an extremely tzioni Orthodox high school which didn't have a Tu B'shvat seder. Is there some reason this should be connected to zionism? Most non-zionist jews that I know don't dispute the holiness and value of the Land of Israel.)
it's kind of a renewed custom. Fell out of practice in part because it was linked to the Sabbateans (whether accurately or not is a subject of a different discussion). Doesn't surprise me they didn't know about it. You're coming it at from the New Agey angle (esp at a Carlebach shul). This is not so widespread and it's not really tied to Zionism other than that Zionist orthodox jews tend to be Modern Orthodox jews.
Okay, so, per Anecdotal Evidence and JDub, the Tu BiSh'vat Seder is not so well known even among Zionists and is a bit "New-Agey." I stand corrected, and am probably being too judgmental, which seems to be a problem for me, lately.
I forgot to mention that this post was actually published in the early hours of Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 (under the title "I don't get it").
Post a Comment
<< Home