HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: A Byte Of Torah - The Survey
From: ToraByte <CFRQC@CUNYVM.BITNET>
Date: Sunday, 13 Sep 1992 21:07:23 EDT
Organization: City University of New York/ University Computer Center

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  ////               I   N   T   E   R   N   A   T   I   O   N   A   L

 Shalom Rav L'Ohavei Torasecha! I am planning on making some changes to the
format of A Byte Of Torah. Please respond to this survey so that I can 1) find
out a bit about you (all confidential), and 2) give you the oppourtunity to
suggest some ideas for improvement. If possible, please use the following
format :
1) Name
2) Age Category, Gender, Marital Status, Occupation
3) Background - Religious, Affiliation, etc.
4) When do you read A Byte Of Torah?
5) Best/Worst thing about A Byte Of Torah?
6) Suggestions for the future.
7) Do you pass it on to somebody else? If yes, then to whom?
Thanx y'all. I look forward to hearing from you! Kol Tuv. L'hit.
                                           Zev Itzkowitz
P.S. All personal friends can participate as well.
P.P.S. I've already received some suggestions which I am planning to
      implement for the forthcoming volume. Every suggestion DOES count.
P.P.P.S. Please send your reply to bytetorah@israel.nysernet.org
From: faigin@aero.org (Daniel P. Faigin)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Re: Synagogue Financing
Date: 15 Sep 92 15:24:55
Organization: The Aerospace Corporation, El Segundo, CA
	<1992Sep15.214611.15921@sarah.albany.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: soldan.aero.org
In-reply-to: mark@fenris.albany.edu's message of Tue, 15 Sep 92 21:46:11 GMT

On Tue, 15 Sep 92 21:46:11 GMT, mark@fenris.albany.edu (Mark Steinberger) said:

> And what is the justification for these fees? Surely not so that the
> UAHC can deliberate over halachic issues.

> Why do congregations maintain membership in such an organization if
> the fees are so steep?

Being a member of UAHC, from my understanding, provides quite a few support
services, as well as involvement with and a voice in the larger Reform Jewish
community. For example (and this is just a small one), if your congregation is
a UAHC member, and you are out-of-town on the high-holidays, you may attend
high-holiday services at any other UAHC congregration for free. Just show your
home congregation's tickets. UAHC also provides educational support (important
for the schools), rabbinic support, etc. Part of the fee goes to support the
HUC-JIR, the Reform Rabbinic Universities in Cincinatti, Los Angeles, and
Jerusalem. UAHC/CCAR also provide rabbinic/cantorial search services for
congregations. 

There are quite a few Reform congregations, however, that choose not to be
UAHC member congregations.

Daniel
--
[W]:The Aerospace Corp. M1/055 * POB 92957 * LA, CA 90009-2957 * 310/336-8228
[Email]:faigin@aerospace.aero.org              [Vmail]:310/336-5454 Box#13149
   "You can't be a rationalist in an irrational world. It isn't rational!"
	       Dr. Rance, in Joe Orton's "What the Butler Saw"
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
From: strnlght@netcom.com (David Sternlight)
Subject: Re: Letter to rabbis on Somalia
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 92 01:17:45 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)


Seth Grimes, with the best of motives, posts a letter urging aid to
Somalia.  There is no shortage of official and unofficial aid to
Somalia--the problem is that most food aid is being stolen at
gunpoint by rival gangs, and a good deal is then showing up
for sale on the black market. The U. N. is now considering direct
air drops to affected areas.

The laudable motives of Seth and his wife are probably better
directed to areas where there are shortages of food, a deficiency
of international aid, and the possiblity of getting most, if not
all of the food to those affected.
From: tichauer@valpso.hanse.de (Manfredo Tichauer)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Re: A few questions
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 92 18:41:21 +0200
Organization: "The Private site of Manfredo Tichauer"

ehrlich@bimacs.BITNET (Gideon Ehrlich) writes:

> >There is not a similar circumcision ceremony for girls.
> All those operations done to baby girls are forbidden.
> ( The Falasha - now known as "Ethiopian Jews" - did it up to ~100
> years ago, Africans do a very cruel version of that , If you don't
> know what they actually do than you should know it is much cruel then
> the most you may imagine, Moslims in Israel do a very mild version of
> that, Beduins do some more , but not very, drastic version of that).

  In plain words, the clitoris is extirpated (without anesthesia) as
  soon as the girls get in age to marry (~12 years old)

> As to jesus, Some christians believed he has no sexual organs at all,
> since they were useless for him. There was even a long bloody war
> about this theological question. So I don't think all christians agree
> that jesus was circumcised.

  Christian religions (at least Catholics and Protestants) recognize that
  Jesus was circumsized ( although almost no christians know it): for the
  catholic world the official name of the   1st.January   is
                                            ^^^^^^^^^^^

                THE DAY OF THE CIRCUMCISION OF THE LORD

  You can read it in ANY south american calendar or agenda where the names 
  of the saints that correspond to a specific date are written. 
  
  Jesus official birth date is the night of 24/25.December) and 1st.January
  (christian new year) is 8 days later (a Jewish born male should be cir-
  cumcised at the 8th day). Ask any of your christians friends and you'll
  be astonished to see how few (if any) know it.
   

  
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Manfredo Tichauer M.                       EMAIL : tichauer@valpso.hanse.de
  Opitzstrasse 14                            VOICE :     (++ 49 40)  27.42.27
  2000 Hamburg 60 - GERMANY                  FAX   :     (++ 49 40) 270.53.09
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
From: ben@ccvs1.technion.ac.il (Ben Pashkoff)
Subject: Jewish Awareness Test
Reply-To: ben@ccvs1.technion.ac.il (Ben Pashkoff)
Organization: Technion IIT, Haifa Israel
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 06:57:13 GMT


Some months ago, some kind soul posted to these parts a Jewish Awareness Test.
If someone could kindly forward a copy to me, I would be most grateful. I
intend to produce a similar test in Hebrew for the Israel audiences.


Thanks
--
________________________________________________________________________
|            Ben Pashkoff                 BEN@VMSA.TECHNION.AC.IL      |
|                                                                      |
| "There is nothing better for the body than silence." Pirke Avot 1:17 |
|______________________________________________________________________|

Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
From: dfs@doe.carleton.ca (David F. Skoll)
Subject: Hi, again!  Rejecting tradition? (was On the SUPERIOR Role of Women)
Organization: Dept. of Electronics, Carleton University
Date: Tue, 8 Sep 1992 19:36:05 GMT

In <1992Sep08.173448.614955@locus.com> hayim@locus.com (Hayim Hendeles) writes:

>Either you reject tradition or you don't. If you accept 99% -
>then you have rejected the other 1%, and you have rejected tradition.
>It's as simple as that. Anything else is simple rationalization.

Very, very few people indeed accept tradition by that standard.

Are you saying that someone who goes to shul, keeps kosher, obeys as
many mitzvot as he/she can, but maybe decides not to wear a kippah all
the time (a part of "tradition") is no different from someone who
completely rejects tradition?

When someone paints something in black and white like this, it's very
difficult to have a meaningful discussion.

--
                     |         | "Step up and shake the hand
David F. Skoll       | ||||||| |  Of someone you can't stand,
|_ _ _  __   __ _ __ |  \\V//  |  You can tolerate him if you try..."
 / |  | |_|   | |  | |  __|__  |  -- Tom Lehrer, "National Brotherhood Week"
_____|________________________________________________________________________

Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
From: dfs@doe.carleton.ca (David F. Skoll)
Subject: Re: Hi, again! Rejecting tradition? (was On the SUPERIOR Role of Women)
Organization: Dept. of Electronics, Carleton University
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 18:19:32 GMT

In <1992Sep09.175119.618824@locus.com> hayim@locus.com (Hayim Hendeles) writes:

>In article <dfs.715980965@wesley> dfs@doe.carleton.ca (David F. Skoll) writes:
>>In <1992Sep08.173448.614955@locus.com> hayim@locus.com (Hayim Hendeles) writes:
>>
>>>Either you reject tradition or you don't. If you accept 99% -
>>>then you have rejected the other 1%, and you have rejected tradition.
>>>It's as simple as that. Anything else is simple rationalization.
>>
>>Very, very few people indeed accept tradition by that standard.
>>

>I don't understand your point. Why is that relevent?

It's relevant because then very, very few people have the moral right to
chastise others for not following tradition.  Unfortunately, on scj, many
people feel they have that moral right.

>Besides the fact, that I disagree with your assertion. I happen
>to accept tradition by that standard. Unfortunately, I may not
>live up to it 100% as I should, but that's my shortcoming.

By your own words, then, you do not live up to it.  Either you do or you
don't, remember?  No excuses accepted!  :-)

>>Are you saying that someone who goes to shul, keeps kosher, obeys as
>>many mitzvot as he/she can, but maybe decides not to wear a kippah all
>>the time (a part of "tradition") is no different from someone who
>>completely rejects tradition?

>Two points: 
>One - is the person not wearing a Kippah because they reject
>tradition, or because it is too difficult (but they accept the
>fact that they should)? I have no problems with the latter 
>but significant problems with the former. The latter at least,
>is honest and willing to acknowledge his own shortcomings. So he
>is not perfect, but neither is anyone else.

I don't see how wearing a kippah can be "too difficult."  It seems to me
that it's a lot less difficult than keeping kosher or attending services
regularly.

>Two:
>A person can be sick with the flu, or with a fatal illness (G-d forbid).
>Both parties are sick, yet noone claims they are no different.

I don't see your point, I'm afraid.

>>When someone paints something in black and white like this, it's very
>>difficult to have a meaningful discussion.

>You don't have to be a mathematician to realize accepting 99% of
>tradition implies rejection of 1% of tradition. Erego, he has
>rejected tradition.

So what?  We've just determined above that almost no-one fully lives
by tradition.  So what right is it of someone to accuse another person
of rejecting tradition?  And what does that accusation prove?

> Is this point so obscure that it needs to be
>discussed?

Apparently.

--
David F. Skoll
From: ted@dgbt.doc.ca (Ted Grusec)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Re: Auschvitz and $$$ & The Ontario Press Council
Date: 6 Sep 92 03:38:20 GMT
Organization: The Communications Research Centre

In article <36957@uflorida.cis.ufl.edu> lbs@madeira.phys.ufl.edu (Lech Borkowski) writes:
>In article <1992Aug31.114421.12990@cbnewsl.cb.att.com> saal@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (samuel.saal) writes:
>>In article <87231@netnews.upenn.edu> kkniaz@eniac.seas.upenn.edu
>>(Krzysztof W. Kniaz) writes:
>>



>
>>I don't have his name handy.  You can look it up as easily as I can.  Will
>>you?  I have my doubts as it would mean reading the history of the
>>uprising and seeing just how antisemitic the Polish underground was.
>
> If the Polish underground was so antisemitic then why would they send their
>secret couriers who were putting their lives on the line to deliver
>to the British and American administrations a detailed description
>of the situtation of Jews in Poland including documentation
>on the concentration camps?
> One of those couriers was Jan Karski. He appears briefly in Lanzman's
>Shoah. 
>

My understanding is that there were several quite different
underground organizations operating simultaneously and idependently of
each other.  They differed in their political and idealogical
orientations, etc.  And so, it may not be correct to speak of "THE
Polish underground".  Can someone tell me more about this?  For
example, would these different groups have had differing orientations
toward Jews?
-- 
==========================================================================
Ted Grusec    Communications Research Centre    (Govt. of Canada, DOC)
 3701 Carling Ave., Ottawa, Ont.K2H 8S2, CANADA  Internet: ted@dgbt.doc.ca
  Compuserve: 73607,1576  (613) 998 2762   Fax (613) 993 8657
From: tichauer@valpso.hanse.de (Manfredo Tichauer)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
Subject: Re: Path for U. of HAIFA 
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 02:24:35 +0200
Organization: "The Private site of Manfredo Tichauer"

oyalcin@IASTATE.EDU (Onur Yalcin) writes:

> I need to trace the E-Mail address of my former instructor, Dr.Frostig, who n
> is in the University of Haifa. I would appreciate it very much if someone wou
> be able to provide me with the path (the part of the address that comes after
> "@") for this university.
> 
> Thanx,
> Onur Yalcin
> oyalcin@iastate.edu


                              @haifa.ac.il



 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  Manfredo Tichauer M.                       EMAIL : tichauer@valpso.hanse.de
  Opitzstrasse 14                            VOICE :     (++ 49 40)  27.42.27
  2000 Hamburg 60 - GERMANY                  FAX   :     (++ 49 40) 270.53.09
 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
From: lms@TorreyPinesCA.ncr.com (Max Stern 310-524-6152)
Subject: Re: MOVIE:  School Ties
Organization: NCR (Torrey Pines Development Center)
Disclaimer: This posting does not neccessarily reflect the opinions of NCR.
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 92 20:39:24 GMT

In article <1992Sep10.150126.5395@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu> friedenb@ruby.egr.msu.edu (Gedaliah Friedenberg) writes:
>
>Last night I saw a promotional advertisement for a new movie to be released
>soon in the US. It is called 'School Ties.'  
>
>This is what I learned from the promo:  A University (or High School Prep)
>student is an outstanding athlete, student leader, good student, 
>and good looking.  He is "found out" to be Jewish, and is deluged by
>anti-Semitism.  The commercial shows him being beaten-up, and another
>scene shows graffitti in his dorm room with a swastika and the words 
>'Damn Jew, Go Home' (or something close to that).
>
>Anyone heard anything of this movie?
>
>

Shouldn't we cross.post this discussion to rec.arts.movies?

I'm not sure of the netiquette, so I'll leave it to the posters to
consider and/or act on this.

I'm not reading r.a.m lately (I read far too many newsgroups as it is),
but I'll bet there's a discussion of 'School Ties' going on there
already.
-- 

 |\/|  /_\  \/
 |  | /   \ /\                      Max.Stern@TorreyPinesCA.ncr.com
Xref: sparky soc.culture.jewish:15715 soc.culture.polish:2527
From: roman@sparc17.hri.com (Roman Budzianowski)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish,soc.culture.polish
Subject: Re: Document that! (was Re: Violent antisemitism?)
Date: 10 Sep 92 19:24:33 GMT
Reply-To: roman@sparc17.hri.com (Roman Budzianowski)
Followup-To: soc.culture.jewish
Organization: Horizon Research

In article <1992Sep10.182216.8607@cbnewsl.cb.att.com>,
stank@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Stan Krieger) writes:

> What are you talking about?  I'm sticking to facts, and is the best
> you can do is to post some stupid accusation about me?

> The ONLY thing that I'm responding to is the DENIAL that Poles helped
> the Germans murder Jews. 

What is your estimate - how many Poles helped the Germans murder Jews ?
Give a number between 0 and the number of all ethnic Poles minus 3.5milion dead.
Xref: sparky soc.culture.jewish:15946 soc.culture.polish:2648
From: murray@cybernet.cse.fau.edu (murray kahl)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish,soc.culture.polish
Subject: Re: Document that! (was Re: Violent antisemitism?)
Date: 15 Sep 92 14:09:52 GMT
Organization: Cybernet BBS, Boca Raton, Florida

> The is logically correct, but if you think about it carefully
> then you realize that you have no right whatsoever to say
> the murdered one is then the victim of polish antisemitism.  
> 
> Notice, I don't deny antisemitism. Since when, however,
> killing a Jew = antisemitism. If a Nazi puts a club in
> Jewish hand to kill another Jew in Nazi run Ghetto or 
> camp is the latter one the victim of Jewish antisemitism?

We are not speaking of actions done under coercion, but rather voluntary 
actions on thepart of anti-semites. There is a difference!
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish,soc.culture.polish
From: stank@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Stan Krieger)
Subject: Re: Document that! (was Re: Violent antisemitism?)
Organization: Summit NJ
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 18:22:16 GMT

Michal Szleper writes:
>Stan Krieger writes:
>
>>...  ANYONE in an occupied country who assisted the Germans is in
>>fact MORE guilty than the average German.  The German could at least
>>claim "following orders"; what excuse did the Poles, etc., have? ...
>
>Stan Krieger, it looks like your hate to the Poles has shadowed
>your brain.

What are you talking about?  I'm sticking to facts, and is the best
you can do is to post some stupid accusation about me?

The ONLY thing that I'm responding to is the DENIAL that Poles helped
the Germans murder Jews.  Another FACT is that it weren't for the
anti-Semitism among the Poles, my parents probably would've been
Holocaust victims, and you wouldn't have to bother with answering my
postings (it was because of the anti-Semitism that surfaced in the
1920's, after Poles no longer had to answer to the Russians, that my
grandparents emigrated to the U.S.).

The only reason that Polish anti-Semitism shouldn't be singled out is
that, as confirmed by modern events in Yugoslavia and some of the
former Soviet Union states, such behavior is apparently the norm
among European ethnic groups.  But it shouldn't be denied that it did
occur.
-- 
Stan Krieger                     All opinions, advice, or suggestions, even
AT&T UNIX System Laboratories    if related to my employment, are my own.
Summit, NJ
smk@usl.com
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish
From: baker@ROBOCOP.NYU.EDU (Jonathan Baker)
Subject: Re: Orthodox monopoly
Reply-To: mannj@cims.nyu.edu
Organization: New York University
Date: Tue, 15 Sep 1992 20:05:51 GMT


Oh no!  I've been cut off from news reading for the past few days because
of system upgrades here at NYU.  I don't know what all the responses were
to my last post, and the latest posts with this subject header seem to go off
in slightly different directions.

I am aware of Michael Shimshoni's response to my last post, however, because
he was kind enough to mail it to me.  As I vaguely recall, I had wondered 
whether Conservative rabbis observe the laws of niddah, and if not, why not,
as the prohibition against intercourse with a niddah is clearly stated in the
Written Law.  Michael countered by pointing out that there are quite a few 
laws clearly stated in the Written Law which the Orthodox don't observe 
any more - sacrifices, for example.

In case anyone still remembers this thread, and still cares, my answer to that
is that  the Oral Law states that many of these laws
no longer apply today not because they are no longer necessary, or no longer
meaningful or relevant, but because there is some technical problem that
prevents their fulfillment, and that it was part of the original formulation
of the law that the law not apply in this case.  The Oral Law states, for
example, that sacrifices are not to be brought once the Temple is destroyed,
and that the Temple is not to be rebuilt until the Messiah comes.  And as I
have said, even if one regards the entire Oral Law as a human fabrication
that was not the intent of the author of the Written Law (as Michael does),
one must admit that it is faithful to the Written Law in the sense that 
the Oral Law truly believes that this is the intent of the Written Law, and
the Oral Law strives to fulfill the Written Law to the final detail, and not,
God forbid, to declare any part of it irrelevant.

Now, if the Conservative have some halahkic-style argument why it was never
intended that the laws of Niddah apply in this day and age, I doubt highly
that I will agree to the argument, but I would have to admit that they are
not simply "rejecting" part of the Written Law.
-- 

Jordan Mann at NYU      (mannj@cims.nyu.edu)

Xref: sparky soc.culture.jewish:15948 soc.culture.polish:2649
From: roman@sparc17.hri.com (Roman Budzianowski)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.jewish,soc.culture.polish
Subject: Re: Document that! (was Re: Violent antisemitism?)
Date: 15 Sep 92 15:09:06 GMT
Reply-To: roman@sparc17.hri.com (Roman Budzianowski)
Followup-To: soc.culture.jewish
Organization: Horizon Research

In article <1992Sep14.022604.2297@cbnewsl.cb.att.com>,
stank@cbnewsl.cb.att.com (Stan Krieger) writes:

> This nit-picking can go on ad infinitum, but the bottom line
> is something like this-
> 
>     My parents were born in Poland, and based on Jewish migration
>     in Europe, my ancestors probably lived in Poland for about 800
>     years, but they, even today, do not consider themselves Poles.
> 
>     On the other hand, I have no doubt that I am an American.
> 
> The reason is simple.  In America, I'm just another "minority-group"
> person; in Poland, my parents and grand-parents were outsiders,
> despite the 800 year roots in the area.
> -- 
> Stan Krieger                     All opinions, advice, or suggestions, even
> AT&T UNIX System Laboratories    if related to my employment, are my own.

This is a good point, but the reasons go well beyond polish
anti-semitism (which I don't deny - do I have to always write a
disclaimer stating it to avoid accusations of denial ?).
Pre-wwii America was probably no-less anti-semitic than Poland. I would
think that the reason for your "americanization" is the melting-pot
character of this country. If I emigrated to Germany or France, I would
never feel like German or French. On the other hand, despite my accent
and name I can feel American. Being different, in some way, is an
accepted norm in this country - even though it may not always be easy.

Roman B.