Jewish Student Weekly

The nature and reason behind some of the festivals celebrated by Jews are different and hence they may be referred to as good day or fast or festival.

The Jewish New Year is called Rosh-ha-Shanah in which God sees the deeds of a person through the past year and gives a judgement for the coming year. According to Judaism the world was finally created on this day and two days together form Rosh-ha-Shanah. It is considered by Jews to be one long day

There is a festival called Yom Kippur where all Jews pray to God to atone for the sins they have committed. It is a day of fasting where people fast from sundown until night falls on the next day. Bathing, drinking, eating and conjugal relations are not allowed on this day and it ends with the breaking of the fast in the night.

The time between the two above days are the ten days during which a person is supposed to review his acts over the past year, atone for them. Fasting and praying is also done and people confess before God to repent for their sins.

One of the most important Jewish festivals is Hanukkah which is also knows as the festival of lights. It is the most well known festival among non-Jews and is celebrated to mark the defeat of the Seleuicid Empire who had come in the way of the people of Israel practicing Judaism.  Only the non-orthodox Jews celebrate this festival as the orthodox believe that it is insignificant.

A very important day for all Jews is Shabbat or Sabbath. Every week one day is taken as a day of rest and treated as a holiday. This Friday night to Saturday night is the Jewish Shabbat which is the most important holy day for Jews the world over.

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Although most food that are thought of as being Jewish food are not unique to Jews but the combinations and innovations brought to them by the Jewish community make them special to the Jews. I shall now guide you through the basic and most popular Jewish dished.

A lot of Jewish cooking revolves around the Shabbat (Sabbath) and thus special attention is paid to food cooked on this day.

One of the most basic of all Jewish foods is Challah. The Challah is a sweet bread traditionally used on festival and other special days. The bread is sweet and tastes a bit of egg. On most occasions the bread is braided but the shape may vary according to the occasion.

Another favourite is the Matzah Ball soup. It consists of chicken dumplings in soup.  It consists of thin chicken broth with a few large balls and in some cases carrots or celery or other variations may also be added to the broth.

Knishes are also extremely popular and served on most occasions. The word ‘knish’ stems from the Ukrainian word which means dumpling. Knishes are basically dumplings made out of potato and flour and stuffed with an assortment of things. The dumplings are baked not fried until they are nicely browned on the outside. They could be filled with potato and onion, beans, cheese or anything that catches the cook’s fancy.  They can be served as an appetizer or also as a side dish.

Many of the very common American food items including bagels are Jewish, though the ones available in most bakeries and stores are very different from the authentic Jewish bagel. Jewish food is symbolic to the occasion and different food items are served on different festivals. The food is also an amalgamation of food that is made in different countries of the world which the Jews have added their own touch to in order to make it their own.

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The issue of abortion is another much debated and controversial issue among communities today. Even among the same community, views are divided on the topic. The Roman Catholic Church has taken the view that abortion is a sin and has condemned it strongly.

Many people however have different views on the topic. Most people do not take a stand and maintain that the circumstances have to be looked into and understood before a opinion can be formed, because the various circumstances in which abortion is resorted to can be very different. In some cases it is a necessity while in others a way to escape responsibility. 

In my opinion, whether abortion is ethical or not depends on the situation. There can never be a straitjacket answer to social issues such as this. Now take the example of a young girl who has been raped and finds that she has conceived. Take another situation where there is a girl who is less choosy about whom she is seen with and thinks nothing of having different sexual partners. She also finds that she is pregnant by one of them. Are these two situations the same? There is not even a slight similarity between the two where one is a victim of rape and finds that she pregnant out of no fault of hers and another where a girl is careless and gets pregnant. There cannot be a uniform answer to both the situations and the many hundreds of such situations.

The rape victim must be allowed to abort the fetus as it could put an end to her future when she had not done anything to warrant such a thing. But as far as the second girl is concerned, to let her abort the fetus would be to let her get away with her carelessness and instead make an innocent life pay for it. You probably have a different view of the second situation. Thus there can be no one answer to such social issues. They have to be examined with an unbiased view and some compassion.

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The world is still divided on opinion regarding homosexuality. Orthodox Jews still view it as perverse while the Roman Catholic Church has condemned it. More and more people however are beginning to recognize the rights of homosexuals and accept it.

The whole debate begs the question, what is wrong with homosexuality? Many argue that homosexual relations cannot result in procreation and thus it is immoral and against the laws of nature. But if the only purpose of sexual contact is to procreate, the world would be sagging under the combined weight of us all. This is an issue which needs to be addressed with logical thought and compassion.

People do not choose to be homosexual, for no one would wish to face the kind of discrimination homosexuals face. Recent scientific studies have shown that sexual orientation is genetically determined and some experts say sexual tendencies are also heavily influenced by the environment of a child in the first few years of his life. So really, what choice does a person have? Is it up to you and me to choose whether we are to be attracted to men or women? Or both, for that matter?

Every country gives its citizens the right to life including the right to live with dignity. If such a right applies to black, whites and Asians, men and women, they why not to homosexuals uniformly? Taking away the right of a person to govern his sexual orientation and the relations he enters is equivalent to seizing a person’s right to worship. What good can possible come out of forcing a homosexual to be straight. Or “normal”. Who governs what is right and what is wrong? As long as a person does not harm anyone else and two adults consent to be intimate with each other, it is their prerogative and no one else’s and society should learn to accept an individual’s rights.

We are an intolerant society. Being in the majority makes us confident of our convictions and we think we can force people who are different from us into submission. This attitude needs to change and although in some parts of the world homosexuals are accepted into mainstreams society, there are many where they are shunned and homosexuality is taboo, even illegal and punishable with death or imprisonment.

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