That is an awful and untrue thing to say.
They don’t think it is a problem at all, i’ve no idea what would make you say that?
Bat Mitzvah you mean?
She is a girl after all
Sounds like a nice community you’ve encountered, Broomie.
I wonder if they’d tolerate me, with my newly discovered (and long hoped for) 2.1% Ashkenazi DNA.
[sub]thanks, 23andMe![/sub]
Oh well, I’m probably better off staying among my fellow Unitarians.
“Bas Mitzvah” is an acceptable pronunciation of “Bat Mitzvah.”
(Two point)One(percent) of us!(Two point)One(percent) of us!
This, and you get to meet a lot of hot Jewish guys, right? Or is that me, except Grandpa was attracted to hot shiksas? 
No, you take your gezunts where you find them, and Broomstick, you’ve found a lot. You are blessed. Make new friends! Enjoy! Eat the gefilte fish to be polite, but note that Bubbe/Nana doesn’t really expect you to eat more. And steer clear when she’s making it. :eek:
It’s actually a franchise branch of Kinky Friedman and the Texas Jewboys, I think.
Yeah, one of the reform folks at the Jewish Center said more or less the same thing to me.
My father’s family was the sort of Orthodox that would assign a family member to tear off pieces of toilet paper prior to the Sabbath so as not to violate the prohibition on work while attending to bodily functions. Most of them are still pretty Orthodox. I can’t see living that kind of life any more than I can imagine becoming Amish.
You know, I usually get on pretty well with Catholics. In my experience they’ve never been as pushy as the Protestant evangelicals. Then again, Catholics don’t seem to think that saying a magic phrase makes you instantly Christian, they want you to attend classes and learn about stuff before the who baptism thing, or so it seems. Don’t know if there’s an official doctrine about that or just a custom of some sort.
Probably.
Even if you had none, though, Jews tend to welcome people of good humor who want to learn a bit about their culture and join in some good times. They do get some converts, after all.
Ah, reminds me - recently recontacted the Unitarian minister who married my husband and I. He was one of my first friends in Chicago, we put off the ceremony until he was legally able to marry us, then did the deed the very next day. We had elements of Southern Baptist, Jewish, and Pagan marriage customs incorporated in the ceremony (surprisingly hard to smash that cup… wonder if Jewish folks have a line on easily crushable glasses…?).
Don’t know if either men in my demographic or I still qualify as “hot” anymore. Not really looking for romance… but then, I wasn’t the first time around either. Then again, just looking for good company is actually a pretty good strategy for finding a mate. If it happens again, great, if not, I was fortunate to have such a good marriage.
*::: looks from side to side with slightly ashamed/guilty expression ::: * Actually, I kind of like gefilte fish…
Gotta have the purple horseradish for on top, though.
But yeah, while it’s being made - oy!
Remember that we have met. Hi. I’ve lost weight.
Grandma made some disgusting gefilte fish / lutefisk. I didn’t know which, but it was disgusting.
And, kid, clear out your in-box. Some people here like you.
Yes, that’s why my inbox is full. 
I’ll have to finish cleaning it out tomorrow.
Please do, as there is a reply hanging there. I thought you knew there was no-one worth talking to but me. The rest of the universe knows.
Maybe that explains it – Pittsburgh is a largely Catholic area. At most a priest will be like, “hey, feel free to stop by our services any time!” But that’s it. (You can’t take communion, of course, but they just want you to feel welcome.)
Yeah, pretty much. I mean, even when you grow up Catholic:
and were baptised as a baby, you don’t instantly get to go to communion and stuff – you have to learn about it at CCD*, or in religion class (if you go to Catholic school) before you can receive it. (Usually when you’re 7) And you this big fancy party and all us girls get a fancy white dress and veil.
The Catholic version of a bar/bat mitzvah would probably be confirmation, which is 13. You adopt a “confirmation name” (it has to be a saint’s name, and most add it as an extra middle name) pick a sponsor, and then repeat your baptismal promises.
*The Catholic version of Sunday school. It’s usually held at the parish’s school and the kids usually get accused of vandalism when the schools’ students come in on Monday.
If you become a Catholic as an adult, they kind of condense all that, but you still have to take classes – you can’t just say, “I accept Jesus as my savior” and say the Apostles Creed and all that and BOOM! you’re a Catholic. You have to be committed.
-Guin, lapsed Catholic
I like it, too! I like the homemade, but I even like the stuff that comes in a jar.
And I love the horseradish. The thing is, jalapenos and other hot peppers sear your delicate mouth tissue. The oils get on your lips and burn. And the more you eat, the worse it gets, but you can’t stop yourself.
But horseradish is like a lightning bolt right to the sinuses–Whoa! Did you get the number of that jet plane?? But two seconds later, the pain is gone and you’re ready for more. There’s no cumulative effect like there is with peppers.
They’re all on-line, don’tcha know?
My all-time favorite is one of the oldies that I first saw circa 1970,
“The Mad Machine”.
Evangelical Lutherans, we condense it all. Guilt? Buh-bye. Baptized whatever? Long as it ain’t Mormon, though that may’ve changed, as we are the soul of flexibility (Me to Pastor, at a meeting where local Muslims explained their faith: “Y’gotta admit, they’re closer than Mormons.”) Can you take Communion? When I ushered I saw as part of my job to be to drag, figuratively, the obviously visiting Catholics to take it. I said it was okay, though that was before Pope Frank, who said it totally is. The others? It’s totally kewl. You take your blessings where you find them.
I was a great Catholic. I didn’t know I was a Jew until later, but that’s way cool. I find the ELCA to be welcoming, however I feel that day.
Raw or white horseradish, right? Even wasabi (proper horseradish turned green) is wimpy.
They’re close enough. If it’s served with a side of guilt, it’s…wait. If it’s sitting beside hotdish, it’s…hold on.
Oh, never mind! It’s all masochism food anyway.
Broomstick, ya gotta get ahold of this album, first published in 1965, later re-published on CD: “You Don’t Have To Be Jewish”, a collection of Jewish-themed jokes and skits.
Have you ever been to a Passover Seder? Many synagogues and other Jewish community organizations have one, open to the public community. Passover is traditionally a very family-oriented holiday, specifically defined as a teaching occasion for the parents to teach the children. At least in American culture (I don’t know if it’s more universal than that), there are commonly two Seders: On the first night, a Seder at home for the family (often extended family, a big family get-together just like Thanksgiving), and on the second night, one at the synagogue for the whole congregation and perhaps the whole community. So they’re big social events, always including a banquet afterward.
(ETA: And yes, there’s horseradish.)
I don’t know how this plays elsewhere, but in American English transliterations of Hebrew, words ending with ת are commonly both written and pronounced with either -t or -s at the end, interchangeably. In earlier Hebrew, the letter was pronounced as “s” if it didn’t have a dot inside it, or “t” if it did. In modern Israeli Hebrew, that distinction has been lost and both ת and תּ are pronounced as “t”.
Examples: Sabbath is either Shabat (accent on second syllable) or Shabbas (accent on first syllable); bat or bas for a female Bar Mitzvah. (And BTW, “bar” is Aramaic, not Hebrew.) The usage often comes to English from Hebrew by way of Yiddish.
Sometimes these words are written an pronounced with -th, as in “beth” (a possessive form for “house”), as commonly seen in the names of synagogues, e.g. “Beth Torah”, House [of] Torah, “Beth Shalom”, House [of] Peace, etc.
PURPLE horseradish? That stuff is suitable only for toddlers. Fresh-grated white horseradish is the only way to go. Maximum sinus effect. Excellent stuff.
Why am I suddenly craving a Hillel sandwich?