molly.com
Tuesday 19 August 2008
Jewish Milestones Along my Way
So in the basement of the Ala Moana hotel, owned by Outrigger, there is a storefront where each morning 3 Jewish men daven.
It was a completely unexpected view of Orthodox Judaism in practice. I asked a hotel staff member and she told me that the Outrigger chain is owned, at least in significant part, by Jews. I’ve been to Honolulu SEVEN times and this is the first time I saw religious Judaism in Hawaii.
Then, on a shuttle bus at LAX from overseas back to mainland I met a young woman with a Hebrew saying and a star of David tattooed on her arm. Of course I had to ask. She was with her Mother and half sister, and said it was in honor and remembrance of her Jewish father, passed.
She told me she works at Trader Joe’s and gets asked the same question a lot. Many older women tell her, apparently, “your grandmother is rolling in her grave!” (That was my first thought, To Be Honest. 
)
I wonder sometimes what truth the “faith” I was born into holds for me. I know this: I love that Judaism has no mediator between the self and G-D. I also love the idea that G-D does indeed watch my every step.
Travel. Live. Talk to people. It doesn’t make you smarter, just more aware of milestones along the wayl
Filed under: faith(less), conferences, creativity, family, community, cults of personality
Posted by: Molly | 1:45 am |
August 19th, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Bah, “faith” doesn’t need to hold any truth.
The distance between you and your god does is not related to your religion.
I am a Jew, and as I see it, I am watching god, not the other way around.
And as a Jew I have a problem with tattoos. Wish I didn’t, really would love to have a barcode with my SSN somewhere. Can’t bring myself doing it.
August 19th, 2008 at 5:56 pm
I think people would live different if they realized they live for higher purpose, and that God does indeed watch their every step. I find it curious, with the (Historical) Jewish systems, priests and high-priests, that you say there is no mediator between yourself and God. The Jewish people are still watching and waiting for their Messiah to come to save them. Until then, however, don’t they still have to go through many rituals to free them from their sin?
I need to study current Judaism more.
Excuse my ignorance if my understanding is incorrect.
August 19th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Don’t know about the “God watching every step” thing. God and honorable people have left certain pockets of humanity a long time ago. Where is God for that little girl who, at this very moment, is getting brutally raped and butchered while crying out for her dad. In her final moment of terror before her death, the realization hits that he is not coming. God and humanity sort of failed her, huh.
August 20th, 2008 at 1:19 am
In Judaism, a sin is an ACT of disobeying divine commandments. It is not a STATE of being, as it is in Christianity.
Each year at Yom Kippur (the day of atonement) is one day a year set aside for contemplating our bad behaviors accepting responsibility for them, and cleansing the body and soul through a full no food/no water 25 hour fast.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:27 am
As a Christian, I tend to agree with Molly… except that as a christian, I would also concede that “A sin” is an act of disobeying, and “sin” as a concept is a state of being, specifically, being seperated from God by Adam’s orginal sin as well as our personal disobedience.
And thacker, once the girl’s final moment of terror is over and she has crossed over from this world to the next, she realizes that her DAD (ie Father God) is there waiting to comfort her. God is not the author of evil or of sin - unfortunately, his creation has been marred by disobedience, and the act of this rapist/murderer is the extension of that disobedience.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:28 am
Oh, i forgot to ask. What did the tattoo mean? The phrase…
August 20th, 2008 at 2:02 pm
something along the lines of “To my father may he rest in peace”
Interesting to point out that the person with this tattoo would not technically be considered Jewish. Her mother is not, and Judaism passes through the maternal lineage.
August 20th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
You know, this really isn’t a thread about the existence of god. Note that it is tagged “faith(less)”
I may be returning slowly to my Jewish faith again because I lack structure. I miss the rituals of my formative years, and most especially the beautiful and mysterious harmonies of davening.
August 21st, 2008 at 2:14 am
Faith? Sound more like a lot of smoke and mirrors to me. I guess we know what Sheppards are for…, like some cult of personally.
August 22nd, 2008 at 12:50 pm
Re Ala Moana Hotel: The storefront you saw is a leftover from when Crescent Heights, a condo developer, bought the hotel and turned it into a condo-tel. The hotel is now owned by about a 1,000 individuals or companies. Outrigger, a Hawaii hotel company, only manages the hotel, as they do with many other properties.
No comment on faith or religion. Just wanted to get the story straight.
September 7th, 2008 at 2:42 am
thanks
September 28th, 2008 at 7:20 am
your own “faith” modifies who you are now. only time can tell what you beholds.
October 13th, 2008 at 9:16 am
@Raanan, in my eyes it a religion shouldn´t forbid things that are not bad and you like, regardless of the religion. In my eyes it should make you happy, keep you satisfied and give you a guideline to be a better human, instead of give you restrictions and avoiding you living your life the way you want to or force you to do things you don´t like or you think they are not right.
October 30th, 2008 at 2:35 am
ty