Growing Up Jewish, Cabala

1. In comparison to the stricter branches of Judaism, the conservatives keep the Sabbath but most do actual work on the day, and some don't even go to the synagogue. They keep the holidays, but will go to school/work on them if there is school/work on that day. Most of my conservative friends will wear what they want and say what they want. The strictest types of Jews keep the Sabbath and refuse to do any work specified as something they aren't allowed to do (according to the Torah/Old Testament), some will only read Jewish books or will only study Jewish laws rather than doing normal things (such as playing cards, board games, etc.). In regards to reform, the conservatives are a bit stricter, but not by much. Back to stricter people. Conservatives also have female rabbis (the spiritual leaders, I suppose--they give sermons and you would go to one if you had a question on some Jewish law), and they don't have the idea that boys can't hear girls sing (I'm orthodox and I think that's rather stupid myself, but... I grew up in an orthodox school and that's what they said). There are cultural differences, such as the Sephardic branch (they are usually from Spain, Persia, and plenty of other places), who, in the 1000s, 1200s, etc. were hard to reach, and therefore other laws and establishments of culture didn't get to them. They have other customs, other ways of speech, and plenty of different ideas. I can't really help you out in the "liberal" branch of Judaism, sorry.

2. The High Holy Days are fairly important, and most Jews will come, even if they don't come year-round. As for celebrations, there is something called a "brit milah" (or a "bris milah" if you use the Ashkenazic pronunciation), which is a circumcision of a baby boy when he is eight days old, and also is when the name of the baby is announced. If your MC had any younger brothers, he probably would have attended one, usually just to watch. If he gets married, he'd take part in the actual event (I believe he'd either carry the baby or possibly just watch, but almost never do the actual circumcision). A baby girl gets a naming on the Sabbath after she's born (I was born on a Friday night, so I believe my naming was on the Saturday right after).

3. Kosher depends on the sect of Judaism. For example, I'm modern orthodox and decline from eating pork and other non-kosher foods. I will eat things that have a U with a circle around it on the label, K with a circle, K with a triangle, K with a star, the Hebrew letter "Chaf" with a K, regular K, and a whole lot of others. If it has none of these, then I won't eat it. However, some conservatives only keep kosher at home, but will go to McDonald's and eat a cheeseburger (which, aside from having pig meat, is mixing dairy and meat, which isn't allowed). Some people from my old school would only eat things if they are "Chalav Yisrael", which means that the milk in the food was watched by a rabbi through the entire process; milking the cow, taking the milk and pasteurizing it... Yeah. Others go by "Pas Yisrael", which is when a rabbi watches the baking process of the food. Some people only eat things that are from Israel, etc. Some Jews forget all about kashrut and eat what they want. I'd say that it would be safe to assume that your character, if he is conservative is fairly lenient in kashrut, and if offered something not kosher, would eat it.

I don't know anything about cabala, except that it's supposed to be very dangerous and only for people who really are religious (*cough* the black-hatters *cough*). I hope I helped.

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Screnzy '08:
No ideas, no outlines, no time. Let's see how well I do.
76/100 pages.

If liberal is the opposite of orthodox, Reform would be your most liberal group. This doesn't relate to liberal as a political stance, although, by and large, we do tend to be Democrats.
Probably the biggest difference is that reform synagogues have more English incorporated into the service. The amount varies from synagogue to synagogue, but you can participate in the service without knowing Hebrew. This is also where you will find many of your interfaith marriages and also, converts. It's probably the most accessible to those who were not raised Jewish, a group which includes many Jews.
Some pursue confirmation, a process which begins after the Bar or Bat Mitzvah. The confirmation class is usually high schoolers. It's not required, and is not the big deal that is the B'nai Mitzvah. There is also something called a Bitnah Ben, which a ceremony and a huge party, given for the first born child, male only, in which the baby is "bought" from a descendant of the Levites. This is only still done in communities of middle eastern background, as far as I know. Your character wouldn't remember it, even if he had one. He would probably be about a month old.

Many reform Jews (most, I think), do not keep kosher, but there would be restrictions on foods served at the temple.

The amount of responsibilities he takes on as a Jew would be up to him.

Can't help you any on the Cabala, other than to say it arose from oppressed people, who have a good reason to believe in magic.

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Winner 2005: The Tribe of Palmetto Bay
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If you wanna go super-liberal, try Reconstructionist Judaism. This is more of a political/philosophical movement than a religious sect. Or, since you want to work in New Age stuff, try "Renewal" Judaism. They're into the spiritual mystical thing.

The major religious divisions are, in order from most strict to least strict: Orthodox, Conservative, Reform. Orthodox is old-school (though it isn't the "original" form of Judaism by any means), Reform is a breakaway from tradition, and Conservative is in between.

The Orthodox keep the commandments strictly, pray for the Temple in Jerusalem to be rebuilt, use a traditional prayer service that is all in Hebrew, and do not use musical instruments in their worship services. They also separate men and women during prayer, and they definitely don't ordain women as rabbis. (Orthodox women are free to learn and get jobs, and they can even teach Torah, but the Orthodox consider that a different set of commandments applies to them, so they cannot be rabbis or lead prayers on behalf of men.)

Reform Judaism emerged in the 18th century. Reform Jews call their houses of worship "temples," as a rejection of the ancient Temple in Jerusalem. The Reform feel we don't need that Temple any more, they aren't interested in rebuilding it. They keep the commandments with much less strictness (some Reform don't keep them at all), they use some English songs and poems in their prayer services, and they have no problem ordaining women as rabbis. They may use musical instruments in their services.

Conservative Jews are kind of middle-of-the-road. The Conservative movement started in the 19th century, seeing Reform as too radical and Orthodox as too hidebound. Conservatives do ordain women and they sometimes incorporate an occasional poem in the service, but they mostly stick to the traditional Hebrew prayers and they follow most (not all) of the old commandments. Reconstructionism is an offshoot of the Conservative movement.

The Orthodox will not marry same-sex couples or pairs in which one partner is not officially Jewish (and they only recognize Orthodox conversions as official). Conservative rabbis may do "commitment ceremonies" for same-sex couples and some will do intermarriages. Reform rabbis are left to their own discretion. Some rabbis prefer not to do marriages at all, to avoid controversy.

There are subdivisions in all three categories, and a couple of weird outliers, like the Reconstructionists. Jews come in every color and political stripe. Please check wikipedia and jewfaq.org for lots of handy info.

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I had a soul ... but NaNoWriMo eated it. :(

Breeder of Plot Wolverines

1. conservatives are kind of unsure exactly what they're about. they're meant to be balanced between Orthodox and Reform, but these days they can be harder to pin down - there's a lot of controversy over how traditional or liberal they should be, how strict or not strict regarding Jewish law. you'd have to ask a Conservative Jew to explain what he/she believes in.

2. regarding Orthodox Jews, who try to live a lifestyle pervaded by Torah (laws, customs, attitudes - Torah touches everything in your life), a male could be directly invovled in religious activity in several ways - learning Torah (law, philosophy, Jewish history, ethics, etc), participating in and/or leading prayers, and he could be involved in events and programs in his synagogue or community center (education, holiday services and events). Circumcision is the first religious event he'll encounter, followed by bar mitzva, marriage, and the birth of his kids (there's no confirmation in Orthodoxy- when you're 13, you're an adult w/ regards to Jewish law and that's it). Conservative and Reform Jews might also be involved in Jewish education and what goes on at their synagogue or temple. for all Jews, trying to live an honest, upright lifestyle and doing mitzvot is important. (things like giving charity and acts of kindness and being honest in your business and personal dealings are mitzvot, too - not just ritual-related laws)

3. I am Orthodox and keep kosher - keeping kashrut and Shabbat are considered by many to be hallmarks of an observant Jew, so if someone identifies himself as orthodox, keeping kosher is a given (although as with anything in modern Judaism, there is a huge spectrum in every shade of gray). For Conservatives, they could fall anywhere on the spectrum - kosher at home but not in restaurants, eating only dairy or vegetarian out, etc. for Reform Jews, i don't think keeping kosher is a priority.

as someone who keeps kosher, i can tell you that it's both easier and harder than you think. lots of mainstream, widely available foods are kosher (in AMerica you can tell by symbols on the label), and things like raw fruit and vegetables are. in some cities where there is a big Orthodox population, there will be varying kosher restauranrs, stores, bakeries, etc., so you can eat out with relative ease. where I grew up there is a relatively small Orthodox population, so our options were limited - a bakery, a butcher, a few ice cream or donut places, but no restaurants. im used to that, so not eating out much isn't a hardship. but when i go to a place like new york city, or Israel, its sort of exciting to be able to go to a restaurant.

4. as far as the Orthodox view of cabala, there is no simple way to explain it. it is a serious, deep, complex set of ideas that are only meant to be studied by great Torah scholars with years of experience and knwledge. the kind of stuff madonna is into is considered watered down to the point of meaninglessness. cabala has to do with understanding how the world was created and is run by God, but i can't really explain it to you - I don't know much because I'm not on that level of spirituality and knowledge. but there are loads of books and things out there - theres even a kabbala for dummies book - that will explain the ideas that people like madonna believe, if that's what you're looking for.

if you want information about the Orthodox perspective on all kinds of things, try www.aish.com or www.torah.org

Everyone else has answered the other questions, but I can help you with this one.

"Is it purely religious, or is it also cultural? Is there any particularly 'liberal' branch of Judaism?"

My DH grew up Conservative, but is now an agnostic. He considers himself culturally Jewish, but not religiously so. There are others who are in a similar situation. Since Judaism is a religion that is much more about observances and less about dogma/doctrine/articles of faith, slipping away from Judaism, in a religious sense, is much more about just stopping the observances. Not many will actually convert to another religion, but of those that do, the largest numbers of formal conversions OUT of Judaism are actually to Buddhism. Check out "Jew-Bu" on Google for more info there. May be handy for your plotline, since Buddhism is actually an agnostic religion.

Hope that helps

Q. You're at a Jewish wedding; how do you tell if it's Orthodox, Liberal, or Reform?

A. At an Orthodox wedding, the bride's mother is pregnant. At a Liberal wedding, the bride is pregnant. At a Reform wedding, the rabbi is pregnant.

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NaNo '06 -- 50k
SF '07 -- 20k

[b]outoftowner7[/b]: I'm more likely to believe the cabala set out in the comic book Promethea over the stuff that Madonna believes any day of the week. :-)

Thank you to everyone for their answers, though unfortunately I've thought up tonnes more questions that I'd love to see answers for:

1. Passover is obviously a fairly large celebration. Do all branches of Judaism celebrate it? Is it celebrated in large family groups, with people travelling to be in one place, or is it more of a seperate thing?

2. Likewise Hanukkah?

Thanks again :)

1. Passover is one of the main holidays, and all branches celebrate it in one form or another, obviously to varying degrees of stringency and elaborateness. If you're Orthodox, you celebrate two seders, have a few days of int-between time, and two more days of yom tov (holiday, with laws similar to Shabbat in terms of work you can do) at the end. the sedarim are usually a time for people to get together - family, friends, strangers who might be interested or have no where else to go (inviting strangers and poor people is actually a really good thing to do, with roots in tradition). who exactly gets together depends on wher you live relative to your family and how much you feel like cooking and cleaning (which gets pretty complex), and all the usual things that affect what guests you invite, or invitations you accept. my immediate family always goes to my grandmother's house (a six hour drive away).

depending on their degree of religiosity, people might be more or less careful about eating matza instead of bread and avoiding foods that have come in contact with leavening agents. there is a whole industry of foods made especially for Pesach, and cookbooks with special recipes to get around restrictions (like beating egg whites for cake instead of using baking soda). some people modify the seder to include readings or activities that they find personally inspiring.

2. Hanukkah is actually a relatively minor holiday - it's not a yom tov, like Passover. you light the candles at night, say a few blessings and singa few songs, eat latkes or donuts (anything fried in oil. hurray for trans fats!), play dreidel if you want. the giving presents thing comes more from christmas than anything else. so people are less inclined to travel for it, because there's less invovled. people make a big deal of it partly because its at the same time as christmas and they want to have something fun then too.

but hanukkah is a special time, and everyone loves it, partly because you don't have to work as hard cooking and cleaning to make it nice and inspiring. its a really meaningful time if you do it right. but then, so is any holiday.

I grew up as a Reform Jew in a fairly liberal/progressive D.C. suburb, so that's where I'm coming from with this response.

Reforms are the most "liberal" of the Jewish sects. Within Reform Judaism, there's a lot more room for personal interpretation of what does and what doesn't make sense about the religion. For example, I never felt I was breaking with my faith if I struggled with some canned explanation and decided my own view (e.g. afterlife or particular stories like Eden). While I know my Rabbi always kept kosher, my family did not. However, we did avoid ham. I think a lot of Reform non-kosher families did that (at least in the 70s and 80s), maybe because the parents still had a discomfort with not keeping kosher like their parents.

Culturally, we went to synagogue on Friday nights, we celebrated the major holidays, and my Mom made lots of Jewish meals, particularly for the holidays. I never felt too left out with Christmas songs at school holiday concerts, though I did feel the one Hannukah song included was a bit silly. I loved being able to help trim a Christmas tree at somebody else's house (and still do!).

My family had a desire for kids to marry other Jews, but my brother broke with it. My wife is Jewish, but she's the first Jew I ever dated. My family was fine with my exes (even those whom I was serious with), but are much happier that I married Jewish. While I never noticed different treatment from my father to my wife vs. my brother's non-Jewish wife, a few minor things have come up. My father let me and my wife use my Mother's ring (which my grandmother also used to get married), but didn't make the same offer to my brother when he got married. He cited religion as the reason.

As far as things a male would be involved with, I began Hebrew school (after school I think one day each week) in the third grade. Studied Hebrew and Jewish history. That was preparation for my Bar Mitzvah at 13 - 7th grade. I think I had Confirmation Class around 10th grade, which was just more mature subjects and discussion. After that, nothing further.

Don't remember other specific things that were expected of me.

Important: Reform Jews have Chinese food and go to the movies for Christmas (or Christmas Eve). This is a universal in-joke because it tends to be true (across the U.S. at least).

**** If this is the type of stuff you're looking for, feel free to send me a Nanomail and I can provide more little details like this.

Passover (also called Pesach) is a Big Huge Thing, since it commemorates a defining moment in Jewish history. The only Jews who don't celebrate Passover are completely non-religious Jews. People usually do tend to gather for it, sometimes traveling long distances for family reunions. At my house it's a bit like Thanksgiving.

Hannukah is the best-known Jewish holiday in the United States because it's found its way into pop culture, and many badly informed morons compare it to Christmas simply because it falls around the same time of year. But Hannukah is not mentioned in the Jewish Bible (the books about it didn't get included in the canon), and it occurred a long time after most of the key events in Biblical history. The holiday was started by the rabbis in memory of what was essentially a successful military uprising. Persecution was staved off, but only for a little while. So as holidays go, it is a fairly minor one. It's traditional on most Jewish holidays to give candy and treats to children, but the business of giving presents is more of a reaction to Christmas and not wanting Jewish kids to feel left out. People do sometimes get together on Hannukah for parties and feasts and so on, but again, that's probably largely because all the Christians are doing the same thing at this time of year.

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I had a soul ... but NaNoWriMo eated it. :(

Breeder of Plot Wolverines

Actually, Conservative is a liberal branch of Judaism, followed by (in descending order of adherence to Jewish Law(halachah))Reform, Reconstructionist). Obersvant Jews who adhere to all the laws are Orthodox (The ultra-orthodox are our version of extremists) which is split into three main groupings- Modern orthodox, Hareidi and Hassidi. (The differences are over what we call "chumras", particularly stringencies and customs of a community as well as which Rabbis are authpritative in terms of interpretations of the laws.

If your hero is Orthodox- then there is a lot we do every day, not just milestone events. We pray three times a day, do a specific ritual washing pof the hands as we wake up, put on tzitzit (also known as a talit katan- the fringed undergarment that we wear under our ordinary clothes), put on the talit when we pray, put on tefillin with morning prayers and so on. Most observant men also put aside a specific time or amount of time daily for studying Torah and Talmud- generally with someone else (known as a chavruta).

In terms of milestone events, there aren't many- bris (circumcision), pidyon haben (at 30 days old for a first born male child), upshiernes (at three years old- the first hair cut, we don't cut a boys hair before then), Bar Mitzvah, wedding, funeral. A big celebration is also held if the person finishes studying Shas (the six orders of the Talmud) as this is considered a milestone achievement.

This will vary by denomination. orthodox jews keep to the kosher rules very strictly and will not eat unkosher food at all. In a restaurant they will have a soft drink or coffee but that it.

Conservative keep a form of kosher but it does not adhere to the full rules as listed in the halachah and many Conservative Jews do not keep kosher. The more liberal movements such as reform and Reconstructionist do not keep kosher at all though most will still not eat pork. So, depending on your hero's denomination you can have him associating with people that are fully kosher with no compromise (90+% of Orthodox in the USA) to people who do not obaserve kashrut at all.

http://www.aish.com and httpwww.chabad.org both have simple articles on kaballah. what you might find interesting on the Chabad website is in the library section. There you will find TANYA, which is basically an introductory text on Jewish mysticism written by the Alter Rebbe (the founder of the Lubavitch sect which is a chassidic Orthodox movement.) It is not an easy read, nor does it have an easily referenced index, but skim reading a few chapters of it may help with your unserstanding of it.

Feel free to PM me for additional info.

Cheers
Marc

to answer your first question, there are three main branches of judaism.
*Orthodox judaism is the most religious. they keep just about all the laws in the Torah (old testament to you).

*Conservative judaism is the next religious. The name has NOTHING to do with the political affiliation. NOTHING. It's just a coincidence. Conservative judaism ranges in religiousness. Some are so religious they are almost orthodox. others keep almost no laws and only go to synogauge on rosh hashana and yom kippur.

*Reform judaism is the least religious. They keep almost, if any, of the laws in the Torah.

Orthodox jews, btw, have a barrier in the synogauge called a Mechitza. men sit on one side and women on the other. In orthodox judaism, women cannot lead prayers or read from the Torah in front of men. in conservative and reform synogauges, this is not the case. men and women sit together and women can (and often) lead prayers and read from the Torah.

Inside each branch of judaism there are many branches. there is traditinal judaism, which is a combo of orthodox and conservative, there is modern orthodox, which is less strict than regular orthodox, there is hareidi and hasidic, which is just about as religious as you can get, there is reconstructionist, which i don't get, and many, many more.
Hope this answers your question!

I highly recommend reading (or re-reading) The Chosen by Chaim Potok. It discusses in detail these issues, plus he's an amazing author and story teller and it's a great book (one of my favorites, in fact).

I actually might be helpful in this - I was raised Jewish and last year decided to become agnostic. Although I'm a bit younger than your charcter (still in high school) I'll try to answer your questions.

1. There are obviously different types of Judaism. How conservatives are the conservatives? Are there lots of major differences? Is it purely religious, or is it also cultural? Is there any particularly 'liberal' branch of Judaism?

I grew up conservative, and even within that branch there are many levels. Some people follow all the rules of holidays and daily life, others only a couple, and some only in the home. The Synogauges and youth groups generally do keep everything. However, I and most of my Jewish friends "work" on Shabbat, don't keep kosher, and don't go to services regularly, but that all depends on your family.

2. What things would a male be involved in, religiously and culturally? Obviously there is a bar mitsvah, but what other major events are there? What sort of responsibilities might he have?

Guys and girls are fairly equal in conservative Judaism as far as I've experienced but... boys have bar mitzvahs. After this ceremony that always, always, always where prayer shawls and kippot to services. Synogauges generally keep a good-sized stash of these for anyone who's forgotten and needs to borrow for the service. Kippahs (the small hats) don't have any special rituals but tahlises (the fringed prayer shawl) have a prayer that must be said before putting one on and during the service certain fringes (the corner ones) should be kissed. (another tradition - dropped prayer books most be kissed) A "minyan" (group of 10+ men) are needed for certain prayers. He may be asked to pass out or collect prayer books if there aren't left in chair pockets and sometimes "honors" are given out - closing ark doors, leading particular prayers, that sort of thing.

3. Kashrut. Considering my male character is around 20, 25, and it's set modern-day, is there current predominating attitude towards eating kosher and non-kosher? Does it vary with different types of Judaism? Would it be correct to assume that most people eat only kosher food?

It definitly varies with types of Judaism. Again, my family (conservative) doesn't keep kosher but my synogauge, youth group, and summer camp do. My mom's father was a rabbi, so she did grow up keeping kosher. Just note: there's a differences between keeping kosher and kosher-style. Keeping kosher means seperate dishes and cooking areas for meat and dairy, absoloutly NO chance of them crossing paths. Kosher style means that they can cross paths, they just aren't eaten together.

And in the realms of cabala:

4. Anyone have a nice, simple link that explains cabala in simple, easy-to-understand terms? I won't keep my hopes up. :-)

Sorry, the only thing I know here is that red bracelets are lucky.

Hope this isn't the story you just did and that this info came of some use. If not, well, it kept me busy. I'd be happy to answer other questions if you want. I also knokw someone who's a reform Jew and could also answer questions if you want.

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You know you live in 2008 when every other book/movie/tvshow/newspiece/song is about teenage pregnancy.

1. There are different degrees of conservative Jews. I've never met a VERY conservative Jew, but the basic idea is that the most conservative Jews keep very strict kosher, as in they have different ovens and sets of dishes for meat and dairy products, and they don't allow girls to be Bat Mitzvahed. There is a branch of Liberal Jews. I am one myself. For liberal Jews, we are VERY light about everything. I just went to a friend's Bat Mitzvah and the rabi was talking to us about how you can quit being Jewish whenever you want. My rabi also says that you don't have to believe in God to be Liberal Jewish, and so forth.

2. There is a trend for young Jews to travel to Israel nowadays. My older cousins just got back from Israel not too long ago. There are programs that involve staying in sunday school until a certain age, and they give you a free trip to Israel. There's also something called BirthRIght, which is something else that 18-25 year olds can do. It's a free trip to Israel for Jews in that age group who hadn't gone before.

They might also go to synagauge.

3. If they're a liberal jew, chances are, they're not going to keep very strict kosher. I know plenty of liberal jews who only keep kosher durring passover. What I do is I don't eat meat and dairy products served together, and I don't eat pork or shell fish. That's fairly loose compared to a lot of Jews. Google 'Kosher laws' for more info.

That's all I know right now!

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2006: Dance of the Mamed (about 18000 words)
2007: Project I-12 (WINNER AND FINISHED!)
2008: Melt