L'shana tova

Thanks Phyllis !

Perhaps Dauer or Bananabrain will rescue us from our mutual ignorance of patently obvious
things !

Peace....flow....;)
 
Thank you Karimarie and BB. And the happiest of new years to all of you !

BB, perhaps you can clarify for me the distinction between the Shepardim and Ashkenaz. About the only thing I think I know about it is that the Ashkenaz are of European descent, and the Shepardim are of African and mid-east origin if I'm not mistaken.

I know that it is probably an extensive subject to cover, but your viewpoint would be much appreciated here. Are there substantial rifts between the two branches in basic beliefs ? Is so, how far back do you believe they go ?
Karimarie and Dauer, your views would be welcome too.

The distinction between the two branches has always been somewhat hazy for me to understand. Would it to be too broad a statement to say that Shepardim origins stem from nomadic peoples, and Ashkenaz origins from community living in fixed locations?

flow....:)
 
flowperson said:
I know that it is probably an extensive subject to cover, but your viewpoint would be much appreciated here. Are there substantial rifts between the two branches in basic beliefs ? Is so, how far back do you believe they go ?
Karimarie and Dauer, your views would be welcome too.
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Sephardi and Ashkenazi traditions are just that... different. I wouldn't say one is better than the other. They both have their merits.

For example, during Passover, Sephardi tradition allows Jews to eat rice and other grains that are not specified as prohibited while Ashkenazi tradition does not.

The two have also developed different sorts of philosophies during the middle ages and even into more recent history... For example, while Maimonides was a Sephardi Jew and a rationalist, Rashi, the Baal Shem Tov and the Rebbe were both very spiritual Chassidic Ashkenazi Jews.

They're both validly Judaism, they're just different in a number of historical and cultural ways.
 
Karimarie said:
Sephardi and Ashkenazi traditions are just that... different. I wouldn't say one is better than the other. They both have their merits.
Click to expand...

I wrote a response and then accidently erased it .... so I'll try again .... but this time it will be short ....

anyway, it seems to me that although there are some differences between all traditions of Judiasm, they all have the same essence and that is what is important .... the last of the Torah's fifty-three parshas are completed and (according to Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum in his Universal Torah: VE-ZOS HABRACHAH) "thus completes the circle to make the perfect garden: 53 is the gematria of the Hebrew word GAN = "garden"." He also said that "Moses was not allowed to enter the Promised Land. Yet selflessly,he brought the Childrenof Israel - his children - to the borders of the land, and all that was left for them to do was to enter and make their conquest..... the Torah has no end .... when you reach the end of the cycle, the circle is complete and you start again from the beginning.... in His compassion, G-d has given us a way to connect with Him: through cycle after cycle of Torah study. Through each circle and each cycle, we expand the horizons of our knowledge of G-d, drawing down His all-encompassing light around and inside ourselves, becoming steadily more and more suffused with His unity, love and peace. May we have the merit of studying the entire Torah time after time, cycle after cycle, until 'the earth will be full of the knowledge of HaShem as the waters cover the seas" (Isaiah 11:9)

So the essence of all the traditions remains the same, the study of the entire Torah time after time, cycle after cycle, until we get it .... and in every tradition be it Sephardi, Ashkenazi, Reform, etc..... there are those that understand the messages and those that will in time with more cycles of study .... and some that may never get it totally .... so happy new year everyone and I for one look forward to another year of study and learning ....
Shabbat Shalom .... He Havai'i au .... poh
 
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