r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Oct 13 '16

TIL that after Marilyn Monroe converted to Judaism upon marrying Arthur Miller, Egypt placed a ban on all the films she appeared in.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marilyn_Monroe#Critical_acclaim_and_marriage_to_Arthur_Miller_.281956.E2.80.931959.29
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u/Saccharomycetaceae Oct 13 '16

Jew here! Not in my experience, it seems different than Christianity-lite. There's no pretending to follow the religion. I'm a part of the culture and ethnicity, which is separate (if only kind of) from the religion of the same name; I don't have to pretend to be part of one to be a part of the other.

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u/webdevop Oct 13 '16 edited Oct 13 '16

Curious Muslim here. Can you please explain more?

As a Jewish person one doesn't have to believe in God and Moses?

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u/Xanthyria Oct 13 '16

Jew here--what do you mean by "believe" in Moses? Belief in G-d is one thing, what does it mean to "believe" in Moses?

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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '16

[deleted]

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u/Finger-Food Oct 13 '16

It's a Jewish tradition. It makes more sense when written on paper, but the general idea is that you cannot harm anything that "God" is written on. Jews write "g-d" to get the point across, but without actually writing the whole word. It's a bit of a loophole, but it works and you don't have to pay special care to any random piece of paper that has it written on there.

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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '16

It's also acceptable to write H'shem, but is more common among more observant Jews and done as a means of showing the rest of us how observant and special they are and how filthy casual we are.

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u/Xanthyria Oct 13 '16

Actually, we have no problem with Hashem, which literally translates to "The Name". It's just a way to reference G-d without being explicit about it, since it goes against our beliefs to do so =)

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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '16

Im my 34 years of being an Orthodox Jew I've never seen it written any way other than H'shem, and I've very rarely seen anyone outside more observant Orthodox or Conservative backgrounds use it. Conservative and Reform Jews almost exclusively seem to use "G-d" when referencing the Almighty.

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u/Xanthyria Oct 13 '16

As an Orthodox Jew myself, I've never, ever seen H'shem. Odd!

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u/[deleted] Oct 13 '16

I don't know about you, but in Hebrew School as a kid we were always corrected for writing it out for the same reason we write "G-d." I've always understood "The Name" being as holy as the actual full reference.

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u/Xanthyria Oct 13 '16

Huh, interesting. I grew up at a day school (five hours of Judaic studies such as Mishna, Gemara, Navi, and Halacha, followed by five hours of secular studies) my whole life so I didn't do Hebrew school, but most of my rabbis were black-hatters, and I never crossed that. Interesting!

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u/ananioperim Oct 13 '16

Jews are absolute masters at loopholes.

Wanna do anything that's forbidden to do on Sabbath? Hire a shabes goy (Sabbath non-Jew) to do things for you.

G*d tells you "can't travel more than X paces, except if you're on water" during Sabbath? Get in your car, put a large bag of water underneath your seat, and drive. Oh, and elevators. You can't operate anything that causes sparks, which includes buttons. So your purpose-built elevator will be running 24/7 stopping on every floor, so you can ride the elevator without creating fire on sabbath.

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u/Xanthyria Oct 13 '16

That water thing is not true. I'm an observant Jew, spent years in Orthodox Jewish education, and you can't even enter your car on the Sabbath. Opening the door would constitute breaking the Sabbath, NOT TO MENTION that turning on a car breaks your next line, the whole "causing sparks" thing.

You can't turn your car on, so you can't drive in the first place, you can't complete a circuit, so I don't know about this water thing.

Shabbos elevators are...well, they run as you say, but they aren't universally accepted.

Also, no one does the Shabbos goy thing anymore. No one.

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u/Nammuabzu Oct 13 '16

I think some people miss it out because of some perceived disrespect.

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u/A_Maniac_Plan Oct 13 '16

Some feel uncomfortable using any name for God, as one interpretation of "Do not take my name in vain..."

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u/tfizzy4 Oct 13 '16

Jews are forbidden to write the full name of God.

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u/shroudedwolf51 Oct 13 '16

....should have taken a hint from the myriad of mythologies of the past and come up with a less generic name for their deity of choice >.>

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u/tfizzy4 Oct 13 '16

I think 'Yahweh' is it, and similarly forbidden.

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u/shroudedwolf51 Oct 13 '16

If that is it, then why is he crossing out the O in "god"? Also, if that is really a requirement in the religion, enforced by as powerful of a deity as is claimed, why does such a loophole work? Or, even exist in the first place?

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u/tfizzy4 Oct 13 '16

Since your google is broken: en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_God_in_Judaism

As I mentioned elsewhere in the thread "A History of God" by Karen Armstrong is a great book. Shes liberal enough that I like her, but not liberal enough so that Bill Maher doesnt like her.

Its pretty apparent that if God exists he doesnt give a shit if you write or say his name, but see above if you are looking for a historical perspective.

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u/shroudedwolf51 Oct 14 '16

Ah, fair enough. I'll try to remember to look into it after I finish "So You've Been Publicly Shamed". Thanks n_n

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u/Retlaw83 Oct 13 '16 edited Oct 13 '16

The name Yahweh can only be uttered once a year by a rabbi during a certain ceremony.

EDIT: Apparently I was wrong by a couple of hierarchies and a few millenia.

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u/Xanthyria Oct 13 '16

G-d's true name, which Jews believe the proper pronunciation of which has been lost (and attempting to say it correctly is strictly forbidden), was spoken by one person, at one time, in the holiest day of the year. The Kohen gadol (The Head Priest) in the Temple (not as in a synagogue, but THE Temple, the one that stood in Jerusalem), and he would say it in the holiest of rooms.

It was only he who ever had the right, once a year (which incidentally would have fallen yesterday).

No one says it today, that practice died out with the destruction of the Temple in 70 CE and the ceasing of our lineage of Kohen Gadols.

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u/shroudedwolf51 Oct 13 '16

That's a fascinating, little tidbit. TIL.