# Does the Israeli Navy christened its ships? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 15, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556 "2003-07-15T03:11:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/1 "2003-07-15T03:11:28Z")
Like the subject says. ---
**Author:** ![Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Satisfying\_Andy\_Licious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satisfying_Andy_Licious)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/2 "2003-07-15T03:12:50Z")
Actually, _not_ like the subject says. It should be: Does the Israeli navy christen its ships? ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/3 "2003-07-15T03:21:49Z")
No, but they do slice off the tip of their propeller shafts. sorry. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/4 "2003-07-15T03:27:29Z")
**Slithy** , I think you’ve earned your JDT Distinguished Service Cross. Hope it heals. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/5 "2003-07-15T03:53:53Z")
**Slithy** , you are going to hell for saying that. I am going to hell for laughing. 😃 Searching for “ship” and “christening” is…uh…difficult. I’m gonna toss out a SWAG, though, and say that mother mother ocean is powerful enough to elicit prayers for safe passage from any human fool enough to ply her waters. I’d think that Jews (never mind Hindus, Muslims, and Zoastrians) have a different name for it than ‘christen’. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/6 "2003-07-15T03:59:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Satisfying Andy Licious \* > \*\*Does the Israeli navy christen its ships? \*\* No, but halfway through their construction, there’s a ceremony. “You are no longer a boat … you are now a ship!” ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/7 "2003-07-15T04:17:16Z")
I don’t believe it has any ships, only boats. Do navies christen boats? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/8 "2003-07-15T05:35:42Z")
[Structure of the Israeli Navy.](http://www.idf.il/english/organization/navy/navy.stm) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/9 "2003-07-15T05:50:18Z")
From the testimony of Monica Lewinsky before the Grand Jury, August 6, 1998: > [@](#): > > MS. IMMERGUT: Okay. And just for the grand jury purposes, I have marked as an exhibit ML-6 and I’ll just read it to the grand jury and place it before you. > > (Grand Jury Exhibit No. ML-6 was marked for identification.) > > MS. IMMERGUT: It states “Definition of Sexual Relations. For the purposes of the grand jury session, a person engages in ‘sexual relations’ when the person knowingly engages or causes contact with the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of any person with an intent to arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person. Contact means intentional touching, either directly or through clothing.” > > BY MS. IMMERGUT: > > Q: Ms. Lewinksy, do you understand that definition? > > A: Yes, I do. > > MS. IMMERGUT: And I do have copies to pass out to the grand jury. > > BY MS. IMMERGUT: When you described that you had other physical intimacy during your contact with the President on November 15, 1995, **did that include sexual relations within the definition of that I’ve just read to you?** > > **A: Yes, it does.** ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/10 "2003-07-15T05:52:27Z")
Oh lord, I just posted to the wrong thread!!! Sorry!!! Ignore this. Moderator, please remove this post. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![netscape\_6](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8c91f0/32.png) [@netscape\_6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/netscape_6)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/11 "2003-07-15T06:47:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*Oh lord, I just posted to the wrong thread!!! Sorry!!! Ignore this. Moderator, please remove this post. Thanks. \*\* you know the worst the part? i spent a good five minutes trying to figure out the joke (including eyeing the bold text) untll i scrolled down to this post. oh well this was funny too just like this joke is funny. I man walks into a bar with a dalmatian. The bartender asks “What’ll it be?” The dog says “we’ll have 2 beers”. The bartender looks surprised for a few seconds then turns around and gets 2 beers. When he returns he puts the beers down in front of the man and his dog. Then he asks timidly, “Did you just say something?” Well the man, assuming the bar tender was talking to him, says “No. No I didn’t”. “No, your dog,” asks the bartender? The dog looks at the man and then at the bartender, almost as if he didn’t know what to do next, then as he drained the beer gave a loud howl. The man and the dog left the bar. The next day the man walks into the bar with a parrot. The bartender says “Two beers, right?” The parrot squaks loudy and says “Awk, no beer. 2 Crackers.” The bartender responds “Crackers?” The parrot goes into great detail about a special recipe involving whiskey and other ingredients to make what he calls “crackers”. At length the bird finished and the bartender rushed off to prepare the crackers, making one for himself. The bartender after tasting the cracker, drank it quickly and said “this is the best drink I have ever had. But did your parrot give me the recipe?” The man says, “no, no he didn’t. he’s a frickin bird for pete’s sake.” The next day the man walks in to that same bar with a flamingo by his side. The flamingo places their order, “3 beers.” The bartender returns with their dranks and looks curiously at the third beer, as the flamingo has placed the drinks as follows… one for the man, the second for himself, and the third at an empty seat next to them. “You gonna drink that beer, asked the bartender?” The man snappily replied, “I already finished, you goof. I’ve been coming here for three years BY MYSELF, and it never fails you make up some animal I bring in. And it always orders for me.” After reporting the bartender to the police he was taken for a psychological evaluation. He failed and was placed into the local mental hospital for the rest of his days. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/12 "2003-07-15T06:50:30Z")
I believe in this context “christening” just means “naming” so I suppose they do have some ceremony to name and launch ships and so does every other navy. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/13 "2003-07-15T07:34:04Z")
Sure they do - the ceremony, the (domestic) sparkling white wine, everything. I attended one about 13 years ago. There’s even a specific Hebrew prayer for the occasion. The Hebrew term for the event roughly translates to “dedication”. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 7:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/14 "2003-07-15T07:55:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > \*\*Sure they do - the ceremony, the (domestic) sparkling white wine, everything. I attended one about 13 years ago. There’s even a specific Hebrew prayer for the occasion. > > The Hebrew term for the event roughly translates to “dedication”. \*\* I hope you are aware that the literal meaning of “christening” is to “make christian”, Babies are given their names in the christening ceremonies and so “christening” has become synonimous with “naming” although they are different things. So one can say the navy of a Jewish or Muslim country “christens” its ships in the sense that they have a ceremony naming them and maybe asking for God’s protection but “dedication” or other words may be more appropriate than “christening”. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/15 "2003-07-15T12:44:46Z")
^^^ Thanks Captain Obvious! ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-the-israeli-navy-christened-its-ships/188556/16 "2003-07-15T12:49:33Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Alessan \* > **Sure they do - the ceremony, the (domestic) sparkling white wine, everything. I attended one about 13 years ago. There’s even a specific Hebrew prayer for the occasion.** Cool! What’s the prayer? > [@](#): > > \*\*The Hebrew term for the event roughly translates to “dedication”. \*\* That would probably be _hanukat_, with a hard h.