1) I don't know about tattoo removal, but Jews who were tattooed against their will in concentration camps are permitted full Jewish burials.
2) "What does this mean to me?" is the question of the wise child. The wicked child asks, "What does this mean to you?" "Me" is an indication of acceptance and personal growth within the religious community. "You" is an isolation from said community.
No...I'm pretty sure the wise child asked "what is the meaning of the laws that God has given to us" or something like that. a quest to understand the interior of the box, but not the box itself, so to speak.
But, either way, I still feel the resonance with the wicked child. I could never understand why my parents did it either.
Then again, I think I phrased my question more along the lines of "Why the hell should I care?!" So maybe I was a bit wicked after all...
Different interpretations. Meaning is arguably suggestive and it is perfectly legitimate to ask "What does this mean to me?" as a way of getting at the meaning of the laws. Possibly more legitimate as this expresses a personal relationship to said laws.
There's more in here than I personally have time to respond to. However, the whole question of why it matters that we're descended from former slaves is actually mentioned in the Haggadah. If our ancestors had not been freed from slavery, then we ourselves would still be slaves today, and not have the freedoms that we are so accustomed to enjoying.
I find it really hard to believe that, if the Exodus hadn't happened, I in 2007 (or even 1983 when I was born) would have been a slave. Or that anyone I know would be a slave. It could be that I always take things too literally, but that was exactly the kind of reasoning I could never accept. It just seemed too improbable a claim.
You might feel that way because it's so remote historically.
I look at it differently. For example, a few months after my mom died, I went to visit the grave of my great-great grandfather Iudel Sokolovsky, who came to the Boston area from Europe and is buried in Waltham. It was incredible to look at his monument, knowing that he was born in the 1820s and died in 1905, and that I was probably the first descendent of his to visit in decades. I have no doubt that if Iudel had stayed in Europe, his own children probably would have perished in the Holocaust and I would not be here today.
If I assume that my ancestors were actual slaves in Egypt, and that their children and their children's children would also be slaves, then unless something happened to free them, I myself (assuming I was lucky enough to be born) would be a slave today. (Converts don't necessarily assume that their own ancestors were slaves in Egypt, but some do consider their spirits to have been enslaved.) If the Exodus hadn't happened, would some over event have
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I do think there would have been some event to free the Jews from Egypt if the Exodus hadn't happened. They might have called it Exodus as well, unless it didn't involve leaving, but was either the Jews rising up and killing the overlords, or evolving into a new niche in society
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I remember reading an article about the tattoo issue in the Washington Jewish Week a few years ago. Basically tattoos are getting more accepted, and the majority of Jewish cemeteries couldn't care less if you were tattooed or pierced like a punk rocker. I'll see if I can dig the article up for you.
About the wicked child's question, suburbaknght is on the right track. The question was along the lines of "What do your rituals mean to me." He starts by drawing a boundary between himself and the community, instead of asking "What to our rituals mean to me, basically implying that however the question is answered, he still won't be a part of the community
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And to specifically address your question, I'll excerpt a paragraph: "If a nonobservant Jew is permitted to be buried in a Jewish cemetery," he said, "then [a tattooed Jew] is no different. We, of course, would prefer that you not be tattooed, but ... it's not such a fundamental precept that it would make you 'not Jewish.' You're still a Jew."
That's a rabbi from an orthodox sephardic congregation in the DC area.
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2) "What does this mean to me?" is the question of the wise child. The wicked child asks, "What does this mean to you?" "Me" is an indication of acceptance and personal growth within the religious community. "You" is an isolation from said community.
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But, either way, I still feel the resonance with the wicked child. I could never understand why my parents did it either.
Then again, I think I phrased my question more along the lines of "Why the hell should I care?!" So maybe I was a bit wicked after all...
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I look at it differently. For example, a few months after my mom died, I went to visit the grave of my great-great grandfather Iudel Sokolovsky, who came to the Boston area from Europe and is buried in Waltham. It was incredible to look at his monument, knowing that he was born in the 1820s and died in 1905, and that I was probably the first descendent of his to visit in decades. I have no doubt that if Iudel had stayed in Europe, his own children probably would have perished in the Holocaust and I would not be here today.
If I assume that my ancestors were actual slaves in Egypt, and that their children and their children's children would also be slaves, then unless something happened to free them, I myself (assuming I was lucky enough to be born) would be a slave today. (Converts don't necessarily assume that their own ancestors were slaves in Egypt, but some do consider their spirits to have been enslaved.) If the Exodus hadn't happened, would some over event have ( ... )
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About the wicked child's question, suburbaknght is on the right track. The question was along the lines of "What do your rituals mean to me." He starts by drawing a boundary between himself and the community, instead of asking "What to our rituals mean to me, basically implying that however the question is answered, he still won't be a part of the community ( ... )
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http://www.washingtonjewishweek.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=3909&SectionID=4&SubSectionID=4&S=1
And to specifically address your question, I'll excerpt a paragraph:
"If a nonobservant Jew is permitted to be buried in a Jewish cemetery," he said, "then [a tattooed Jew] is no different. We, of course, would prefer that you not be tattooed, but ... it's not such a fundamental precept that it would make you 'not Jewish.' You're still a Jew."
That's a rabbi from an orthodox sephardic congregation in the DC area.
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