Is it allowed?

[dani13]

I was just wondering if other religions are allowed to read in from the Torah in the synagogue? Are they allowed to wear a talit or a kippah?

If a man from another religion did this, would this offend Jewish onlookers? Would they view this as being disrespectful towards their religion?



Thanx Dani

[dauer]

Dani,

Originally Posted by dani13

I was just wondering if other religions are allowed to read in from the Torah in the synagogue? Are they allowed to wear a talit or a kippah?

Reading from the Torah in the synagogue is a task specifically for Jews, as well as wearing a talis. But the kippah is worn in the same way that hats are taken off in a church and it would be expected that any men present wear one. At Bar Mitzvahs there are often booklets to explain to non-Jewish guests the importance of different objects and parts of the service, that would encourage those individuals to wear a yarmulke.

In more liberal movements this may not be the case. In all of the liberal movements a woman can wear a kippah and depending on the shul, though unlikely, may be expected to. But I'm not sure that in any of the movements it would be okay for a non-Jew to wear a Talis or read from the Torah. This is because a Talis is a ritual object. The knots in the fringes are said to remind of the 613 mitzvot(commandments.) And reading from the Torah in shul is a specifically Jewish obligation, is restricted to Jews above Bar Mitzvah, and only men in Orthodoxy, although I think this may be different in a women's prayer group but am not sure.

If a man from another religion did this, would this offend Jewish onlookers? Would they view this as being disrespectful towards their religion?

It would be taken differently by different people. A non-Jew would not be given the opportunity to read from the Torah unless they were not honest about who they were. Wearing a Talis would possibly lead to some confusion and, if it did become understood that you are not Jewish, probably at least to an awkward situation. However, in some Reform synagogues they may have no problem with you wearing a Talis. But imnsho those are probably the types of synagogues that are more like a church than a synagogue.

Dauer

edit: slipped my mind but laws as far as when a person wears a talis vary based on minhag, or custom. Some don't wear a talis until they are married. Some wear when they turn 13. There may be more minhagim I am unaware of.

[dani13]

Dauer,

Thank you for your reply.
Would you know if this happend and a non Jew read from the Torah because he was not honest, how would his religion respond? Example: an Muslim man,
Would his community find this offensive towards their beliefs?

[bananabrain]

like dauer says, wearing a tallit is a jewish obligation. non-jews only have seven obligations according to jewish law, which are called the noahide laws (see http://www.jewfaq.org/index.htm for details and more information) so, therefore they are not obliged to wear a kippah or a tallit. whether they are prohibited from doing so is another matter and, i think, a complicated one. as a general thing, if someone is wearing a tallit you are likely to assume they are jewish and therefore mistakes and misunderstandings are likely to arise, so as a consequence it is best to avoid doing so - although as dauer points out, most synagogues expect visitors to cover their heads.

as to reading a Torah scroll, that is another complicated issue. it is difficult to imagine a circumstance where a non-jew would be invited to participate in a jewish service, let alone to read from the Torah during it, even in the most liberal environments. the only one i can think of would be if there wasn't a jew there capable of reading the Torah and the non-jew did it therefore on the communty's behalf. as far as i am aware such a community is unlikely, if not impossible. so the question is not really offensiveness, it's more about embarrassment that such a community could exist. in such a situation, it would have to be an emergency. as to whether such a person would then wear a tallit, i really don't know - it is normally the case that anyone who reads from the scroll itself must wear a tallit (man or woman, although wearing of a tallit is not an obligation for a woman either in traditional thought) - therefore it is likely that in such a situation, rather than reading from the scroll itself, the scroll would probably be brought out, but the actual reading would probably be done from a book instead, thus avoiding the problem.

as for what other religions might think of such a thing, i think you'd better ask them - but i don't understand why of all the questions you might ask, this is the one that is uppermost in your mind. either way i'd start with the basics first - see the site i recommended above.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[brucegdc]

Another thing to think about is that reading from the Torah is not something you can just walk up and do, like reading a book (no verse markings, no vowel markings). Most bar/bat mitzvah celebrants take several months to learn their passage alone, so a non-jew *able* to read from a Torah scroll implies a great deal of study ahead of time, far beyond what it would take to learn the Hebrew from a book version (with the divisions and markings).

[bananabrain]

good point!

b'shalom

bananabrain

[Chavak]

Originally Posted by dani13

I was just wondering if other religions are allowed to read in from the Torah in the synagogue? Are they allowed to wear a talit or a kippah?

I am not sure I understand your question. Are you speaking about a non-Jewish visitor to a synagogue? In this case, they would not be
called up to read to the Torah, nor should they wear a tallis. They should
wear a yarmulke or other head covering.

If you are speaking of people like gentile Messianics, they can do what
they wish in their own churches, but they should not wear a tallis.
this is a mitzvah given to Jews.

If a man from another religion did this, would this offend Jewish onlookers? Would they view this as being disrespectful towards their religion?

I find non-Jewish who attempt to copy Jewish customs and observances
-such as Messianic gentiles-extremely offensive. It is both improper and
disrepectful....

[bananabrain]

generally, we don't get much in the way of "jews for jesus" here and, for obvious reasons, they don't tend to last long. there's no need to assume you have to do a disclaimer.

b'shalom

bananabrain

[bob x]

When I've been to synagogue, I've never been told that I "had to" put on the skullcap, but I always have, since it seemed the expected and polite thing to do.

[Chavak]

Originally Posted by bob x

When I've been to synagogue, I've never been told that I "had to" put on the skullcap, but I always have, since it seemed the expected and polite thing to do.

Correct, it is the expected and polite thing to do. A Jew should always
wear one when in shul. Non-Jewish visitors usually do, but I don't think
anyone is going to mention it to them if they do not...

[17th Angel]

Originally Posted by dani13

I was just wondering if other religions are allowed to read in from the Torah in the synagogue? Are they allowed to wear a talit or a kippah?

If a man from another religion did this, would this offend Jewish onlookers? Would they view this as being disrespectful towards their religion?



Thanx Dani

I've worn a Kippah and it wasn't frowned upon I think it is actually expected.

[bob x]

Yes, wearing the "kippah" (skullcap) is expected for a visitor. Barging up to the lectern to take over the scripture reading would of course be very rude (even if you knew Hebrew and had a beautiful singing voice).

[lunamoth]

Originally Posted by bob x

Yes, wearing the "kippah" (skullcap) is expected for a visitor.

Is this true for men and women? (Or maybe women have a separate worship? If so, do they wear caps too?)

[Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine]

Originally Posted by lunamoth

Is this true for men and women? (Or maybe women have a separate worship? If so, do they wear caps too?)

Depends. Some wear a kippah, some wear a lace "doily", some wear scarfs, some wear wigs while some (like me) don't wear any head covering at all (and this is inside an orthodox-leaning synagogue.)

Women are allowed to go to services with the men if they want (in the orthodox tradition, the girls sit separate from the men after they hit puberty, in the conservative and reform traditions, they are mixed) but "a woman's place is in the home" tends to hold true (as in men are "required" to go while women are to make sure the domicile is ready for whatever holiday/festival/*shrug* it happens to be.) There was a debate in one of my classes about whether it is because females are metaphysically "closer" to G!d/dess than males, but that's a whole different topic. *flutters off to find class notes*

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine

[lunamoth]

Originally Posted by Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine

Depends. Some wear a kippah, some wear a lace "doily", some wear scarfs, some wear wigs while some (like me) don't wear any head covering at all (and this is inside an orthodox-leaning synagogue.)

Women are allowed to go to services with the men if they want (in the orthodox tradition, the girls sit separate from the men after they hit puberty, in the conservative and reform traditions, they are mixed) but "a woman's place is in the home" tends to hold true (as in men are "required" to go while women are to make sure the domicile is ready for whatever holiday/festival/*shrug* it happens to be.) There was a debate in one of my classes about whether it is because females are metaphysically "closer" to G!d/dess than males, but that's a whole different topic. *flutters off to find class notes*

Phyllis Sidhe_Uaine

Thank you Phyllis! If you find your notes I'd be happy to read more about it.

<off topic> BTW, you should see the material I just bought for my tote bags I've been making (never did yet get to quilting, but I have a lot of fun making totes! ) Anyway, if I can make an image of it I will post it in the 'what color is...' thread. <end off topic>