A Dream of a nice Jewish girl, shared for the benefit of my dear pb but not for j

[plural]

I was
with bicycle
in hand fitting
it onto the rack
of a sea blue
Porsche boxter
my brother assists me
a vibrant green voyager
is parked behind the Porsche
somehow I am responsible
for getting both vehicles
downtown

my brother and I discuss
this and he
offers to help
at the last minute
he decides
he doesn't wish to
deal with traffic
and will just ride his
bicycle downtown
on his own
leaving me
with quite a
dilemma

the dream fades out
and back

and I am in
a mcdonalds
with my brother
and my nephew
my brother offers me fries
they are of the steak cut variety
I accept a few and munch away
at which point it hits me

what the hell
is my brother
doing eating
in a mcdonalds

for those who don't know
my brother is a very orthodox Jew
and would never even stop
in a mcdonalds to get a drink
for fear that he might give
someone else the impression
that it is kosher
and that they make the mistake of
eating traife (not-kosher) food
because of that

then I notice
the mcdonalds
is full of black hat wearing
orthodox Jews

at this point
I must inquire
and am informed
that the mcdonalds
is owned by a Jew
and is certified kosher

if wonders will never cease
among these
black hatters
a young woman
of surpassing beauty
with braids in her hair
not little girl braids
more like flower-child braids
honey blonde hair
and blue-grey eyes like the rain

we speak briefly
and blissfully

my brother introduces
me to several of the
other men around
including her brother
whom she is sitting next to.
her brother does me
the kindness of a formal
introduction.

a weird note
perhaps I was struck by her
beauty, but I could not
remember a thing
we had talked about
upon meeting her
when we were re-introduced

his family
extended as most
very orthodox families are
had an entire corner area
of the restaurant (as much as I hate to call it so)
divided off for themselves
with wives, husbands and babes

I spent some time
talking with her
and her brother
mostly to be polite
it was her I was fascinated with
when I felt
this strange
magnetism
slowly but surely
pulling me towards her
at first I though it
was just my waxing heart
but surely no
I felt it in my feet
and it grew in strength

I commented upon it
as it was becoming obvious
that I was leaning back to
counter act it pull
and she laughed
thinking me all the fool
I am sure

I wiggled my feet
and moved my legs
to examine the effect
of this strange pull

and as it grew stronger
and her look grew
even more curious
I simply smiled
and said
watch
leaning back
and bring my feet to a plane
I skidded rapidly
past (nearly missing) her
towards the corner of the room
in a way that could not be
self propelled.

I almost fell
so sharp was the
release of this mysterious force

I set to investigate
and immediately
noticed the familiar
wires and boxes
of a tinkerer

I cataloged the components
made a smiling remark
in approval of
the redundant power arrays

her brother smiled
and explained the
rest of the system to me

she laughed
as she had been
in on the joke
but not at me

we spoke for a few
minutes more
before she
excused herself
and left

I hesitated
not being recently familiar
with the courting rituals
of the orthodox and
not wishing to start off
on the wrong foot

so I asked my new friend
(her brother)
what protocol would be?
he said
well generally
one would determine
if the lady is interested first,
do you know if she is interested?
(being coy)
well I must admit
I replied I do not
but I could ask her brother
and gain his valuable insight
(right back atcha)

smiling he replied
well I would say
she is at least curious
for she made herself
at least 10 minutes late
staying to talk with you.

so then my new found friend
what is the next step

well he replied
getting permission
to marry her
would be most difficult
and would require
much to satisfy her
father.


I wish I could relay
what I did next
and what steps I took
but in truth I woke up
perhaps
as not to waste
any
time

I find it particularly interesting
perhaps it relates to my complete ignorance of courting rituals
among the orthodox that my mind would
make the jump from interest to marriage

ah well, I thought it peculiar in any regards

Comments

[plural.livejournal.com]

hmm
I wouldnt say I have tried
the other variants, but I have
explored their belief structures.

why would I not consider
becoming one?

because while I may not
choose to follow a particular
law for one reason or another

I do not believe any less
that it was god's command.

To say that the will of god
is outdated and call yourself
a jew, that I find hard to swallow.

If we are speaking of an aspect or extrapolation of a commandment, for example, in the torah, it forbids the cooking of a kid in its mothers milk, now orthodox rabbis have extrapolated this to say, that you should not only not eat milk and meat together, but you should not eat milk and fowl together. God did not say dont eat cheese on your chicken and you can freely eat eggs with chicken. so to say that you feel differently and will eat a chicken sandwich with cheese is not saying that god was wrong but that a man was.
and I can accept that easily.

but I have heard the arguement, (not that I am assigning it to your lips) that pork was forbidden because for health reason, as pork like chicken or turkey must be cooked to 165 degrees as opposed to 150 for beef and lamb, in order to ensure that any harmfull bacteria have been killed, and since we can now properly prepare it that it is no longer necessary to follow that commandment.

to this I call bullshit. In the torah it says specifically, in fact swine is the only animal forbidden by name to be eaten. (all the rest are excluded by lack of required characteristics)

so those who eat swine, primarily reform, are saying, yes I am jew, and I believe in the torah, but god was wrong here, so I have decided to correct it in my life.

it is simply a bullshit justification of their sin, and that quite frankly disturbs me more, than the fact that they eat swine.

[mnemosyne.livejournal.com]

>To say that the will of god
>is outdated and call yourself
>a jew, that I find hard to swallow.

in what way? i guess, i don't want to get into the whole "who is a jew" schpeel..as that discussion may be endless pages long. i'm trying to understand what you are really saying... why are you disturbed that conservatives, reforms, etc. still consider themselves jews if they say some rules are outdated? no...nevermind... i guess i understand what you are saying. live thoughts here... unfiltered. unplugged. heh.

rabbis have extrapolated many many things. what i don't get is that some would follow the rabbis interpretation as if it were god's actual command. i feel that each person should question what they have doubts on. when god said don't work on the sabbath, some people have taken that as far as to mean integral of pdv...or any type of work...be it turning on a light switch or driving a car. there is a thick line between pickiness and god's intentions. and it seems like people just erase that line sometimes.

as for the whole swine issue, i think people were trying to explain why god gave that command. and who knows what it is... i understand it was god's command but i think it's ok to question it...and ask why. and i understand that... because i know i can't just blindly follow things without any reason to...

i fancy you will post up a comment on how wrong i am to do some of the things i do as others have done. that or you will post nothing at all. in your eyes and many others', i have sinned. if i speak to god tomorrow face to face, and he says that i have sinned, then by all means, i will deem myself a sinner. it's not that i can't admit that i have sinned, just that i can't see how something so wonderful can be bad.

To question god, is to know him

[plural.livejournal.com]

In my yeshiva
we were taught to question
everything.

But if you remember
when god asked the jews at har sinai
if they would accept his laws
we replied, we will obey and we will hear
in that order

We promised to obey his laws before we knew what his laws were.

We obey his laws, and then we learn the why so that we may be closer to god.

Now all of this may sound, peculiar coming from an admitted sinner like myself.

but I have a great belief in god, and out of respect, for myself and for god, I make no excuses for my sins.

In jewish law, we are not allowed to judge another's sins, what sins are between man and god, are gods alone to judge.

beside who the hell am I to judge you?

I will not say you are a bad person, in fact, I regard you rather highly, and no matter how much bacon you eat, wont change that opinion.

have you ever done cocaine?
it is fucking amazing a great rush
but it is a simple fact
that it is very bad for you.

I think with the commandments it is the same.
that you like it, that you enjoy it, does not
affect its qualitative existence.

One day we will all face our maker, and he will probably clear the whole mess up rather nicely.

but until then
we are on our own
*grin*

Re: To question god, is to know him

[mnemosyne.livejournal.com]

i've been saving this email for a long time now in my inbox...
i am sure now that it is well hidden from your posts by now.
and perhaps no one will see this....
in light of this thread,
i wanted to tell you where i was coming from.
and perhaps you already knew.
it was about interfaith marriages...
my bf is jewish and i am
not.
and my orthodox jewish friends have been
nothing close to a friend like they used to be
when they found out.
anyways... that what this was all about i guess.
and that why i feel attacked sometimes...

anyways... i wish you and amber luck!
i used to live around where amber lives...
my undergrad was in nyc
and nowadays i'm in jersey...
and live near that mahwah she talked of the other day in her journal.

l8r....