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Path: utzoo!utcsrgv!dave
From: dave@utcsrgv.UUCP (Dave Sherman)
Newsgroups: net.religion.jewish
Subject: Re: A small request
Message-ID: <4967@utcsrgv.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 27-Jul-84 15:30:59 EDT
Article-I.D.: utcsrgv.4967
Posted: Fri Jul 27 15:30:59 1984
Date-Received: Fri, 27-Jul-84 16:59:12 EDT
References: <234@siemens.UUCP>
Organization: The Law Society of Upper Canada, Toronto
Lines: 66

In article <234@siemens.UUCP> wws@siemens.UUCP (William W Smith) writes:
~| 
~| I have been attempting to read net.religion.jewish for the past few weeks.
~| I find it very hard not to be discouraged that it is hopeless reading this
~| group.  I was raised a Methodist and have not had the ambition to follow up
~| on an impulse to learn Hebrew.  As a result, articles that contain Hebrew
~| untranslated are very mysterious to me.  When reading the article about a 
~| strange occurance at a ceremony which was posted several weeks ago weeks ago I 
~| wasn't sure the author was serious.   Every fourth word was Hebrew and was 
~| nonsense to me.  It seemed to be a satire on the other articles in the group.
~| 
The "strange occurrence at a ceremony" was not a joke or satire.
Here is pegasus!naiman's article, with translations of the relevant words.


~When I was 16 and going to yeshiva in Rochester, I was asked one Friday night
***  yeshiva = Jewish religious school (usually high school)
~to "lain" at a "shul" about 4 miles away, the next day.  So, I stayed up

***  lain = read publicly from the Torah, without the benefit of vowels or
	musical markings; requires substantial advance preparation
***  shul = synagogue
~all night and learned the "parsha".  Little did I know that this "shul" had a
***  parsha = portion of the Torah read in shul for that week
~lot of problems getting a "minyan".  Well, I trudged the four miles in the snow
***  minyan = quorum of 10 men needed for public prayer
~and got there, only to find out that they indeed did not have a "minyan"
~that "Shabbos".  We started davening anyway and when "Borchu" came around
***  Shabbos = Sabbath (Saturday)
***  Borchu = point in the middle of the service which requires a minyan
	if this piece is to be said
~and there were only 9 people I began to despair.
~
~Being that I was a yeshive boy, everybody looked at me as though I was the
~Rabbi, and asked me what to do.  I was no specialist in the laws of
~"davening" without a "minyan", the whole idea of someone asking me the
***  davening = praying
~law for anything threw me.  To make a long story short, I told them we'll
~just have to go on without "Borchu".  In the meantime I was trying to
~figure out what the "halacha" is if we still didn't have a "minyan" by
***  halacha = Jewish law
~"laining".  I was still reciting the "Shemona Esrai" when the "Chazon" started
***  laining = public reading of the Torah
***  Shemona Esrai = silent prayer which is the centrepiece of the service; it
	is repeated by the Chazon if there's a minyan
***  Chazon = "cantor", or leader of the service. Whoever happens to
	be leading that service is the chazon
~repeating it,  he evidently didn't know that you need a "minyan" for
~"Chazoras Hashatz" and "Kedusha".  I was trying to figure out what to do
***  Chazoras Hashatz = repetition of the Shemonah Esrai by the Chazon, for
	which a minyan is required.
***  Kedusha = part of the repetition in which the congregation participates,
	which also requires a minyan.
~when Lo and Behold !!! As the "Chazon" was saying "Mechayai Hamaisim"
~(He who returns the living from the dead) this guy with stringy, dirty hair,
~disgusting looking jeans, a guy I could barely see the features of his
~face through the dirt, walked in.  The only thing I cared about though
~was that he had a "Kippah" on.  After "shul", I asked around and nobody
***  Kippah = skullcap
~had ever seen him before.


Dave Sherman
Toronto
-- 
 {allegra,cornell,decvax,ihnp4,linus,utzoo}!utcsrgv!dave