thekabalist

Yes a woman is considered unclean due to this. But the whole logic behind uncleanness is not a typical Western logic. In Judaism the holiest thing there is is life. Therefore life is the purest thing of all. Uncleanness is simply the lack of purity like darkness is the lack of light. When a great sage dies we believe that his graveyard is greatly unclean given the amount of purity that once was on earth and now is not. So when a woman is ovulating she is focusing all of her life in her womb to generate new life. The woman's womb is therefore the purest part of human body at that moment. When she has her period then all that life is lost. And with the loss of such life comes the loss of purity and she becomes unclean. The same happens when she gives birth because she has given from her life into the life of another human being. She becomes twice as unclean when it's a girl because it takes a lot more life to generate another womb. The same happens when a man emits his seed. He also becomes unclean for similar reasons. As you can see it's a totally different way of thinking. Without the proper explanation it may shock outsiders. Sadly we have been accused by Evangelicals of discrimination on such grounds.

It's meant to signify that we should focus completely on Hashem and nothing else. :)

While there are other commentaries of great importance I believe Rashi is Rashi. We believe that Rashi's commentaries were inspired by the Holy Spirit which is something people can't claim for every commentary. There are some pretty good ones out there. I'm particularly fond of the Baal HaTurim. :)

Ah yes in Judaism we have immersions but they're not quite the same as a Christian baptism. One immerses himself on a regular basis as a rite of ritual purity. What you are referring to is the fact that the Bible in Leviticus 15 says that a Jewish woman should immerse after having her period. Some Reform synagogues interpret this as a equivalent to taking a shower but more religious women will do a ceremonial immersion before being reunited physically to their husbands.

Yes. But you will also find degrees of observance within Jews regardless of affiliation. Some people are quite observant and go to Reform synagogues while others are the farthest from being religious but go to Orthodox synagogue. Yes. But then again most Orthodox wear hats and beards. What you are referring to as "curls" are called peyot. Jews are forbidden to shave their heads in an oval format and thus they let grow enough hair on the sideburns to achieve a certain length. Some chassids usually will refrain from even trimming such hair resulting in long locks.

That's a pretty cool thing. I didn't know about the Star Trek connection. Jews in space. Cool! As for other gestures unfortunately I don't know any others because I'm not of a priestly family. Even if I were I probably wouldn't be able to discuss them. We do have the habit of covering our faces with our hands when we recite the Shema which is a prayer we recite very day morning and evening. About Madonna that's not real Kabbalah. It makes me want to vomit what these New Age gurus are doing.

Aramaic has been found to have influenced Hebrew speaking communities for a long time. In Northern Israel where Jesus was established Hebrew and Aramaic were spoken side-by-side with influences to both sides. Almah was quite a common Aramaic (male) name back then.

I am a rabbi at present. But then again so are a good deal of the religious Jews because a rabbi is not clergy contrary to popular belief. Judaism has a complex law system and a rabbi is like a lawyer. Someone who specializes in Jewish law. Now in many countries such a person will also become sort of a clergy but it's not supposed to be that way. Especially because any Jew can conduct our rites and religious practices as long as they are properly done. We don't have clergy as in the Christian sense in the more religious communities. Only in Reform and Conservative where the laymen prefer to see the rabbis in such a way.

Hi Vort, In answer to your questions: ##1## Yes, I am. However, the mystic explanations are only a portion of the Jewish faith. Kabbalah gets a bad reputation because of Maddonna and the likes. But most of it comes from New-Agey gurus that sugar-coat their cultish practices with Kabbalistic language. Most Chassidic Jews are Kabbalists and yet you would not be able to tell the difference between us and other Orthodox groups in most practices. The difference being that where there is a Biblical event, we study the mystical explanations of it from chassidic sources. ##2## Yes, I am a Jew. Not a convert but one born to a Jewish mother. I originally subscribed to Christianforums.com where there was a great deal of other Jewish posters. We once had our own subforum back in the times that CF.com was hinting at being more open to other faiths. The reason I came in contact with the LDS forum was because I had a dream with a Mormon Temple and went there to seek for information. I then found out about some of your beliefs by reading up several of the topics. I was curious to get an explanation for my dreams. Then I saw how many things that Evangelicals were accusing you of being strange had parallels in Judaism. After making friends with some of the LDS that helped me with my dream in return I offered them to help with understanding the Jewish culture that could underlie some of your practices. I've always enjoyed comparative religions as Judaism actually encourages us to study other faiths because. I hope I haven't offended you in my doing so. If I have accept my deepest and most sincere apologies. When I have some more time I'll post about my dream. Right now I have to leave in five minutes. ##3## I have never been LDS in my entire life. I know the anonymous aspect of the Internet makes everyone suspicious about who's behind a username. But I give you my word I mean no deception or harm. Especially because I would doubt that an LDS would be able to offer you so much information on Hebrew and on Judaism unless he were indeed Jewish in which case I would have no reason to hide it from you. Once again if my posts have been offensive in any way please accept my apologies. b'shalom!

I'm not very proficient in it. I know a thing or two from what I've read on the other forum. Since they used random information here and there mostly to attack LDS posters I may know more than the average outsider in some things but don't trust my sources. I'm hoping to learn more from you. :) I hope in my ignorance I haven't offended you with this post about hand gestures. I had heard in the other forum that LDS had them and immediately thought of our own priestly hand gestures in Judaism. b'shalom

I would be glad to help. I've enjoyed our exchange immensely this far. Yes, I can help with Hebrew if necessary. :) b'shalom

They are also Hebrew names Laban means "white" in Hebrew and Lemuel is one of the names of King Solomon and means "belonging to G-d". I would respectfully disagree with him. It's highly unusual for Israelites to give foreign names to their sons and daughters. Double names yes but exclusively foreign names I doubt. And besides they seem to be very Hebrew in origin. Nephil would mean "tall one" in Hebrew and "Sam" could very well be "שם" which could mean "this pace" or even "name/reputation" or even "סם" and mean "perfume". :) Very true. As I indicated this would be the Aramaic form which would mean "world" or "universe" and would be a man's name. I don't know Egyptian but I am impressed at how many Semitic names I can find. Amazing indeed. b'shalom

Hi forum, Unknown to most Christians is the fact that in Judaism the priestly family is given a combination of hand gestures with which they not only identify each other but also with which they are to bless Israel. Here's an example of one of such gestures. This is forming the Hebrew letter ש which is the first letter of the word "Shaddai" (Almighty) http://1heckofaguy.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/bircatCohanim.gif http://www.shaareitorah.com/images/cohanim.jpg I had a friend who was from the Kehat family - an ark-carrying priest - and his family had some specific hand gestures he would not show me because they were sacred and to be used among themselves. b'shalom

Here's another one: Gadianton - גדי-נתון - Gadi-n'ton - Given unto the goat or "a goat is given". I hear this name represented a group of evil people right? So "given unto the goat" could be a plausible translation.

Hi Traveler, Couldn't help noticing you write "G-d". Are you Jewish as well? :)

Yes, it is. It works like this: We believe that all Jewish souls pre-exist since Creation. The means through which they come into the world is through the womb of a Jewish woman. Sometimes however these souls end up in non-Jewish bodies and seek conversion. So whereas Judaism is a religion it is also in a way a lineage. We believe that once one converts to Judaism their bloodline becomes 100% Jewish so it's not exactly a racial issue. We are one complicated religion.

That would only be the level of religious observance. But do notice that Mr. Seinfield would be welcomed anywhere he went and would be treated just like an Orthodox Jew because a Jew is a Jew. :) We do have ramifications within Judaism but always with the feeling that it's all one big family. There are those who are less observant simply because they are more secular and there are those who, while still religious, believe they needn't be Orthodox. Those would be the Reform and Conservative movements. b'shalom

I would suggest the following compound name for Zeezrom: Ez - עז (strong) Ezram - עזרם (their help/aid) So Ez'ezram would mean "strong is their aid". I'm betting this is the root for Zeezrom.

Hi forum, Someone on the other forum asked me about Judaism and undergarments. Do religious Jews wear them? Absolutely! I'm wearing one at this moment. :) The garment you are referring to is called the Tallit Katan or simply "small prayer shawl". It's a white piece of garment that usually someone wears under their shirt. http://www.jewishbazaar.com/images_products/prayer-wear-tallit-katan-tzitzit-blue-thread-meyuchad-tallit-katan-cotton-arba-confes-mesh-kjakm-4932big.jpg The garment itself has a kabbalistic concept of surrounding us with the clouds of the glory of the Holy One Blessed be He. It also contains the tzitziyot which are 4 sets of braided fringes that have been commanded upon us in Nm 15:38-39. Now the white threads represent the commandments of G-d and the blue cord represents king Messiah the son of David. There are also some who wear entirely white garments. This practice comes from the priestly sect of the Temple and is spoken of for example by Flavius Josephus in connection to the exiled priests. They would never wear anything other than such white garments. I think the Samaritan priesthood still does. If there's anything else I can help with please say so! :) b'shalom

Not really. I'd bet it's either the same or some minor variation on the word "nidah" which would account for a similar meaning. The "i" in the end could also indicate something like "my father has cast me off", alternatively. It's always good to remember there is a degree of speculation here. But clearly a Semitic name nonetheless.

Hi there! Nauvoo sounds a lot like the Hebrew word "nevua" which is the word for "prophecy". In fact, depending on the Hebrew dialect it'd sound nearly identical to that. You would write it like this: נבואה Perhaps this is what he meant? The Hebrew for beautiful would be "yafah" (יפה)

Abinidai - אבינידה - Abi/Avi-Nidah - quite literally, my father has been banished/secluded. (Note that in Hebrew the letter ב can sound like a "b" or like a "v".) Someone named like that is bound to suffer persecution. Does history confirm this?

Pam, It is a very Jewish belief that we are influenced by our spiritual names. Every Jew has a spiritual name aside from their secular one. When someone is very ill it is often common to give them a second name. I believe it happens in the Bible too: Names changed often change the fortune of the Bible characters. b'shalom!

Hi forum, As a Jew I was asked by my friend Vanhin to investigate the possible Hebrew roots of the names in the BoM. We have found some exciting things! If there are any names you would like us to check please send us your requests. Do note that this is highly speculative because some names have been anglicized and it makes it hard to find the roots behind them. Take for example the biblical name "James". How many people know that "James" and "Jacob" are the same name? And how many people know that they come from the Hebrew "Ya'akov"? That being said, our research has showed some promising potential that I'd like to share here. * (For clarity I will transliterate as capital "H" for the gutural sounds of the letters ח and in some cases כ or its ending form ך though in Jewish literature it is common to find them transliterated as "ch" or "kh") Mormon - מרמן or מורמן – literally "from/of the master" (from - man // master - mar/mor)" Almah - עלמה – as the Hebrew would mean maiden I assume it's Aramaic. It'd mean literally "world" or "universe" in Aramaic. Moroni - מרני or מורני - the last yud would adjectify the word "maran" (our master) so this would mean something like "belonging to our master" (this is a rough translation) Moronihah - מרניה or מורניה – literally means "Yah is our master" Ammonihah - אמניה – literally "Yah is truthful" ZaraHemlah - זרחמלה or זרה-חמלה– This is most interesting: I'm betting it's a compound name of Zarah (stranger/foreign) + Hemlah (compassion) - ie. compassion unto a foreign people? Korihor - קריאה-אור - another possible compound name: kariah-or - which would mean "called unto light" Moriantom - מרי–אמתם or מורי–אמתם - one more compound name: mori-amtem - which would mean "my master is their truth" Zenock - זנוק – literally "start" Ripliancum - "[He] has caused me to rise" הפיל (hepil - has caused) אני (ani - me) קום (kum - to rise) Coriantumr - חורין-תומר - chorin-tumr (the free - the palm) - I would suppose it means "the free people from the palm region" Shiz looks like "She-oz" (עזש) which could mean "that is strong" or "that is goat-like" Lib - לב - (Lev/Leb) it literally means "heart". In hebrew the letter ב can be pronounced as a "b" or as a "v". This word is also used to mean "center" or "core" much like in English. So I assume this was a very loved baby or came to become the center of the family. Ether sounds more israelite. There are three possibilities for Ether: עטר - (Eter) - literally means "adorned" or "crowned" אטר - (Eter) - means "left handed". As a humorous side-note it could also mean "weird" though I would pity a baby that is called "weird" by his own parents. Highly unlikely. Left-handed is possible though. אתר - (Eter) - means "location", "site" or possibly "place of digging" Lehi - לחי - (Lehi) means "jaw" or "jawbone" Nephi - Could it come from נפיל "Nephil"? It means giant or very tall in Hebrew. About the currency I'll take it slow as there are many. Here are a few: senine - סנן - (senen) means "pure" or "filtered". Could it be purified silver? amnor - I don't know but it makes me think of "am'n or" (אמן אור)which would be literally "true light" or "truly shiny". ezrom - עזרם - (ezram) means "their aid". onti - חנוטי - chanoti - ripened (not so sure about this one though) senom - This is interesting. Considering its relationship with the senine, I would say it probably originally meant סננים (s'nenim) which would be the plural form of senine. I can see how s'nenim easily would become s'nem as a slang form which is pretty close to senom.

Hi Vanhin, I am of the school of Safed which focuses on Kabbalah. :) I am looking forward to restoring our studies on the Hebrew roots of the names in the BoM that was deleted from the other forum. Should I start a topic with it?