Update on the famous photo:

This is not about pronunciation of letters or words or trope, but of sentences.

When someone asks a question in English, their pitch goes up at the end. When someone makes a statement in English, their pitch goes down. This is not universal: In German, only some questions are intoned like that. In Chinese, questions have a gently rising tone throughout, and sentences go gently down.

Is there any evidence of the intonation patterns for Biblical (or Mishnaic or Talmudic) Hebrew?

EDIT: I've been doing research and it seems, according to Semitic Languages: Outline of a Comparative Grammar, by Edward Lipiński, (c) 2001, pg. 191, Semitic languages dating way back tend to follow a pattern that's much like English - Rising tone at the end of a question, falling tone at the end of a declaration (with some weird phonetic shifts in the last and penultimate syllables like eretz -> aretz). But there hasn't been much serious investigation into this, so it's not certain.

Could anyone recommend some resources on halacha to do with Shabbat observance, in particular prohibitions?

I'd prefer books, but websites are good. I'd like resources from a Conservative/liberaller-wing of Orthodox perspective. I'd like something which explains the halachic reasoning behind the opinions rather than just a list of dos and don't and even better would be something that gave more than one opinion on an issue and why they differed. I'm afraid it's got to be in English as my Hebrew just isn't up to it yet.

I've realised that the main problem with my Shabbat observance is that I'm unclear about a lot of the halacha and therefore end up doing stuff that even (small l) liberal opinions would prohibit but following other prohibitions which only a minority of frummers follow because I heard of it somewhere and didn't know enough to realise that it was a minority opinion.

Thanks

Tags: halacha, halacha (jewish law), shabbat / shabbos

Two gentile friends are in the process of choosing an egg donor. After much searching, they've found a woman who seems to be an excellent candidate. She's Jewish, is nonpracticing and atheist.

My friends, being considerate folks, are looking for a Jewish point of view as to whether there are ethical considerations in accepting an egg from a Jewish woman if they're not planning on raising the kid Jewish, since Judaism as a religion places emphasis on genetics.

My impulse was that it wasn't much of an ethical issue since the woman isn't religious, so it's not exactly as if they're depriving the world of a child that would otherwise have been raised Jewish. (Unless a Jewish couple were to take the egg.)

But I'm also pretty nonpracticing, and unaware of whether there are official (or unofficial) Jewish schools of thought on this sort of thing. Any input at all is welcome, thank you!

It's my un-scientific experience that Jews in America tend to favor Baseball as their favorite spectator sport.

Does this ring true with you?

This feels like an odd question, because I've picked up most of my knowledge of Judaism from growing up Jewish in a very mixed congregation ("piss anyone off and we lose a minyan" small, so there was a lot of bumping elbows/beliefs), asking questions and not being afraid to get some information wrong. Still, a friend's asked me out of curiosity and here's where the whole "get some information wrong" thing rears its ugly head. He's interested in religions, particularly the various sects and how they came about. Does anyone know any books that are good information sources about things like the Reform/Conservative movements or similar/smaller groupings? I think he'd prefer something aimed toward readability rather than a textbook, but anything's better than nothing.

The other topic I told him I'd ask about is Marannos. Again all I have is a few stories and a half-remembered talk on Mexican gravestones, but it's a fascinating subject that we'd both like to learn more about. Any help is greatly appreciated.

As a Jew who grew up in Chicago, safe and distant from the Europe of the 1940's, I tended to see Germany from the lens of wartime propaganda, and the childhood enthusiasms of patriotism, adventure, and the world as black and white, have given way to the complexity of an appreciation of the unthinkable, the Holocaust, as a historical event that still causes me to pause and try to understand a residual disgust that logically should not color my vacation in today's Germany.

My first stop, after Stuttgart is Lindau, and checking its history, out comes the slaughter of 15 Jews for an alleged crime in the late middle ages, and a notation that Lindau's last 100 Jews were deported to France in October 1940. A postcard of a synagogue, long gone, from the early 20th century or late 19th.

Is there a Jewish community, I wonder, and is there a sensitivity amongst the people of how a Jewish tourist might feel? How many Jews have passed through post World War 2 Germany and thought how they might have fared in earlier days? Will there even be some preserved reminder of the past?

In 2019 Passover will fall on 4-20. Can pot be considered a bitter herb?

How many kippahs (yarmulkes) do you own?

The wife of one of the Israeli athletes killed at the 1972 Munich Olympics is continuing an effort to get the International Olympic Committee to observe a moment of silence at the Opening Ceremony. She is asking people to sign a petition.

I'm not asking for halakha, but I'd like to know.
How hard is it to kasher a stovetop griddle (not a pan, but an actual component to the range)? Has anyone done it before?
Thanks,
leftyjew

Ten Internet Plagues :-> Moadim l'simchah!

Poll #1832308
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 59

How do you prefer matzo brei?

Hello!

Does anyone know any good vegetarian faux-gefilte fish recipes? Also, any good vegetarian Passover main dishes that don't require an oven? I'm making matzoh ball soup, haroset, Israeli salad, and latkes so far.

Also, I'm curious about the kitniyot minhag. I was wondering how and why different people observe it. I've seen a lot of articles talking about the debate and historical context, but was wondering about it in a more modern setting.

Thanks, and chag Pesach sameach!

Tags: passover, personal practice, vegetarianism

For those of us living in less-Jewish areas, is there any sort of database for stores that still have Passover stuff on-hand? I went to three stores today before I found some matzah and it'd be nice to use what I learned to save other locals some time. Folks stock up in advance because it disappears quickly, and it disappears quickly because folks stock up in advance...

EDIT: a related question, why do the same companies that make KP matzah for Passover make non-KP ones for the rest of the year? I assume there must be some extra production cost. Fred Meyers had plenty of those on the shelf.

I'm in Australia so Pesach starts tonight - thought I'd share these New Questions for the Seder by Paul Rudnick and wish everyone a Pesach kasher v'sameach!

This video does a nice job parodying Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" (although the puppetry is so-so). Chag kasher v'sameach to everyone!

I've heard that the Israelis were nagging Americans for decades before 9/11 about reinforcing cockpit doors to prevent hijackings. Anyone know whether this is true?

I just got off the phone with my niece. She is five and a half. She told me that she had three new questions that she wanted to ask about Passover.

I was kind of floored by them and told her that I was very proud of her and that I would try to think of answers. I also said I'd ask my friends.

I will take any kindly worded answers to her when we have our Seder later this week.

1) How did the Jews become slaves in Egypt? They didn't do anything to the Egyptians.
2) Why did Pharaoh think there were so many Jews? There were obviously so many more Egyptians.
3) Why did the plagues harden Pharaoh's heart?

I'd appreciate any ideas you might have on these.

Tags: passover, pesach, questions