Chabad Rabbi

Chabad Rabbi Represents Judaism at Singapore's IROSINGAPORE, SINGAPORE --

(December 17, 2007)M. Phillips

(Lubavitch.com) When 10,000 individuals from different religious groups, including Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsein Loong, convened at the Singapore Expo last Sunday for a celebration sponsored jointly by the Lorong Koo chye Sheng Hong Temple and the Inter Religious Organization(IRO), they enjoyed unusual exposure to Judaism.

Representatives of the world’s religious faiths joined in a universal prayer for world peace formulated specifically for this event.

Representing Judaism was Chabad’s Rabbi Mordechai Aberjel of Singapore. Following the joint prayer, each representative was invited to offer his/her own faith-specific prayer for peace.

In his traditional dark hat and suit, Rabbi Aberjel recited a Jewish prayer dedicated to the well-being of Singapore’s government, and then in Hebrew, he blessed the entire conference with the traditional birkhat cohanim, the priestly blessings, followed by an English translation.

The IRO is dedicated to “religious harmony through mutual tolerance, confidence, respect and understanding,” says its website. Every year, it selects a representative of a different religion to serve as its honorary president.

This year, the honor went to Mr. Joey Benjamin, president of Singapore’s Jewish community, a privilege that gave him the podium, which he used to speak about the Jewish perspective on unity and peace.

At the close of the dinner, two Chabad-Lubavitch rabbinical students, Chaim Immanuel and Chananya Steinmentz, were invited with two members of the Jewish community to the podium, for a traditional rendition of “Maoz Tzur” in honor of Chanukah.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong presented checks to various charitable organizations, among them the National Kidney Foundation-Hougang-Punggol Dialysis Centre which received half a million dollars and $100,000 to the President's Challenge.

“This was quite an intriguing event,” Rabbi Aberjel told Lubavitch.com. “But more interesting is the fact that here in Singapore, talk about peace and tolerance and mutual respect are not theoretical notions.

"Singapore’s government actually works hard to foster real peace and tolerance—and it should stand as an example to the rest of the world.”

http://lubavitch.com/article/2021434/Chabad-Rabbi-Represents-Judaism-at-Singapores-IRO.html

I posted this article for many different reasons. For starters it’s nice to see that different religions are being recognized in a public manner. It’s good that all types of religions can be in the same building and not have any religious conflicts. It’s been a long time since people were able to respect other religions besides their own enough for them to be recognized publicly. Another reason I choose this article is because as everyone already knows I did my report on Judaism and I was able to learn a lot about the religion. It allowed me to open my eyes and realize that no one religion is superior to another.

Forms of Judaism

Of all the religions that we learned about Judaism is the religion that has several different branches. There are three branches that consist of Orthodox, Conservative, and Reformed Judaism. All three branches believe in one God; monotheism, they follow the Torah, and more.

Orthodox Judaism is the highest and strictest form of Judaism. There are three groups within this form: Haredi, Mitnaggid, and Hasidism. The Mitnaggid and the Hasidism groups don’t get along. Orthodox Judaism follows very strict laws both in the Torah and Oral laws. They eat kosher (no pork), follow the Sabbath, and have extremely strict rules when it comes to men and women. For example the men and women worship separately. At one point in history the marriages used to be arranged, in some parts of the world it is still like that today. Married couples are only supposed to have sex for reproductive purposes only. After the wedding the women are supposed to shave their head, or wear a wig. Women have a tendency to dress extremely modestly. They also need to visit the Mikvah before the wedding and periodically after it.

Reform Judaism is the largest in the United States but the smallest elsewhere. In this from the men and women are not separated, in other words they are allowed to sit together. Also they are allowed to wear what they want, meaning the women are not forced to dress modestly. There are many similarities in the all the forms and a few differences.

In the last form of Judaism called Conservative Judaism, which is also known as traditional. This form is a mix between Orthodox and Reform Judaism. In this form they keep all the traditions like the Sabbath however they modify it. For example they do the work that would normally not be done on the Sabbath before the Sabbath comes. And example of this is turning the light on before the Sabbath comes.

All three forms follow the laws of Judaism. They all worship at a synagogue and do no work on the Sabbath. Judaism has several holidays that all forms celebrate. Some of these holidays consist of Passover, Shevuot, Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Chanukah, Purim, Sukkot and more. This religion has a lot of laws and rules to follow, but like every religion there are people that dedicated their life to it.

Jewish Pictures

This is a picture of a synagogue. Although not all look like this, it gives you an idea of how nice the can look inside.

This is a headstone that you’ll find at any given Jewish cemetery. It normally has the persons regular name and their Jewish name. Very often there will be Hebrew lettering on it. Like I said in my other post, you’ll typically find rock on it instead of flowers.

This is a kippah also named Yarmelka (Yiddish) or a skullcap. On occation you might see a person walking around wearing one. Usually men wear it. They start wearing this after their bat mitzvah. They can come in all colors and styles.

And lastly this is a typical casket that a Jewish person will be buried in. although it’s not a great picture you get the idea that it is extremely simple. There are wooden pins that will hold the top down. These also can come in various shapes and sizes depending on the person.

Religious Ritual

For everyone that you meet you learn something new about the person; so today your all going to learn something about me. For about I year I have been working at a funeral home and I have observed many different funerals. But more recently I’ve seen a Jewish funeral. This was interesting to me because they are so different than other funerals. So I am going to tell you what the funeral is like from the family perspective or a friends perceptive and the funeral home perspective. First is going to be the families perspective.
When a family member passes away, depending where the deceased is the first phone call the family makes is to the funeral home. Shortly after the funeral home will arrive and pick up the body and the family will not see the deceased until the funeral later that day. The rabbi is the next person called because he will normally be the person to schedule the funeral. A Jewish funeral is completed in the same day without a wake or viewing of the body. The family will be contacted by the funeral home so that the funeral home can obtain the necessary information needed, either for the rabbi or paper work. Hours later the family will arrive at the synagogue for the prayer ceremony. This ceremony itself will be conducted by the rabbi. At this ceremony there is a eulogy give normally by the rabbi. However, this will some times be done by a family member but never with an Orthodox family. The family will be the pallbearers during this time. Also a Jewish casket is just a plain pine box with no nails, but wooden pins it is made to be as simple as possible. After the ceremony in the synagogue the funeral procession will proceed to the Jewish Cemetery. It is extremely important for Jewish people to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. When the family and the body are outside, the family will walk behind the hearse for a short distance, showing that they are in no rush to finish this journey.
When they arrive at the cemetery the men will carry the casket to the grave site and lower it by hand into the grave. During this time prayers are being said throughout the entire time. The family and other people that attended the funeral will bury the casket by hand. What I mean by this is they physically cover the casket with a shovel and dirt that is besides the grave. The family may not leave until the top of the casket is completely covered with dirt.
At the end of this part after the final prayers are said there are two parallel lines formed for the family to walk through. The family is urged not to look back or return to this location for at least thirty days. This completes the funeral process, however the family is to return home and sit Shiva. Shiva last for a period of seven days. Usually but not all the time the family will sit on Shiva benches. This is a bench that allows the family to be lower than any one that will join the family in sitting Shiva. The family will also leave a candle burning continuously. They will end Shiva on the Sabbath and continuing it after Sabbath is over.
More often than not the family will wait one full year be for they put a headstone on the grave site. However, when the family is ready for the headstone they will have an unveiling. It will be the first time the see the monument. They will also leave rocks instead of flowers at the headstone.

On the other hand, for the funeral home it’s a little more complicated. When we receive the call that someone of the Jewish faith passed away, we have to kick it in to overdrive. The funeral director will go and remove the body and bring it back to the funeral home. Shortly after the rabbi will be called in order to set up the time of the funeral service that will take place that same day. The funeral home will than call upon there Chevera Kadisha, (Holy Society) to come and perform a Tahara (the religious washing and shrouding of the deceased). When this is needed by the funeral home, men will come for men and women come for women. At the same time when the funeral home calls for the Chevera Kadisha they will also call for a shomal (watcher) he/she will sit with the body and pray until the time of the funeral.
The family will provide the funeral director with all information need for him to complete all paper work. One very important piece of information is the Hebrew name which will differ from there regular name. A Hebrew name is the Yiddish name of the deceased; father and mother combined with their name.
Back to the precession of the deceased, part of this ceremony is placing the deceased into a coffin usually a plain pine wood box made with no nails or other metal it is made to be as simple as possible. The funeral service itself is conducted by the rabbi, it will be prayers and some type of eulogy given by the rabbi, in some cases it will be given by a family member; usually not with an orthodox family. Following the service internment will take place at a orthodox cemetery the family does precipitate at this part in time.
The family will carry the casket out of the hearse and than they will follow the hearse by foot for a short distance (to show that they are in no rush to do this task and go on this journey). At the cemetery the men will carry the coffin to the grave site and where the coffin is lowered by hand into the ground. Some prayers are said and all members are expected to help in the task of filling in the grave. (if there are non Jews at this service they will normally not participate in it).
At the very conclusion a final prayer is recited.Than there are two parallel lines formed for the family to walk through and they are told to not look back or come back to this place for at least 30 days. They are than to go home and sit Shiva for seven days ending on the Sabbath and continuing after.

Now that everyone knows about the funeral process, I going to give you one of my personal experiences. Every time I work or attend a funeral I learn something new. The last Jewish funeral I attended a was about a month ago. I realized awhile ago that Jewish families don’t use prayer cards or any type of programs, which at first was really strange to me but I got used to it. I also noticed that in order for men to walk into a synagogue they have to be wearing a kippah, and some but not all women wear a black sheer cloth over their face. They will also rip a piece of ribbon at one point in time. However when I went to this funeral about a month ago I observed that some headstones were really nice compared to others, and I thought nothing of it at first. But than I realized that the not so nice ones were along fence. My boss had told me that the people buried around the outer lining to the cemetery were people that were never bar mitzvah, or bat mitzvah. I never thought there could be such a difference between religious funerals, but there’s always something new to learn about other religions.

I choose to observe a funeral for various reasons. But for the most part I thought that you guys would find it a little interesting. If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them and if I cant I’ll ask someone that does.

The Good Role of the Other Religion

The Good Role of the Other Religion
4 Nov 2007, 0310 hrs IST,Jyoti Punwani,TNN

Can Muslims be mobilised only on religious slogans? Does the implementation of the Srikrishna Commission Report concern Muslims alone? These questions refused to go away as maulana after maulana, Muslim after Muslim, took the mike at the rally convened by Muslim organisations last week at Azad Maidan. The religious slogan "Nara-e-Takbeer, Allah-o-Akbar" rent the air as Islamic history was used to remind the 8000-odd Muslims present that the followers of Islam had always had to fight injustice and had always emerged victorious. Some speakers limited the history of this struggle to post-1947 India; and a few really provincial ones narrowed down the enemy to the Congress. "Allah-o-Akbar" was again heard when more than one speaker declared what a joyous sight it was to see Shia, Sunni, Bareilvi, Deobandi and even Ahle-Hadees followers—all believers in Allah—come together to fight for their rights and make their oppressors tremble.

Was this rally about the same Commission headed by a judge who quoted profusely from the Gita in the courtroom, and who ended his Report with a Sanskrit shloka? Only the Jamaat-e-Islami president, while thanking Justice B N Srikrishna, inadvertently reminded the Muslim audience that it was a devout Hindu who had written the Report they were suddenly willing to give their lives for.

Ever since the Srikrishna Report was submitted in 1998, a small group, comprising mostly Muslims but also some non-Muslims, have been agitating to get it implemented. Throughout their campaign, the effort has been to get the message across to as many Mumbaiites as possible, that those responsible for the death of 900 citizens, 575 Muslim, 275 Hindu and 50 'unknown and others', should be punished. Indeed, it was a matter of pride to these activists that a majority of the 18,000 signatures collected on this issue were those of Hindus. Every time the media highlighted a burqa-clad woman signing a petition, or a bearded topiwala holding up a placard, they would see it as a setback, this making of a human rights issue into a 'Muslim issue'.

At the same time, there's no denying that Justice Srikrishna's inquiry into the 1992-93 riots is very much an expose of the denial of equal rights to Muslims as to the citizens of Mumbai by the State's most powerful arm, the police; and by the government, which refused to take steps that would have put a stop to the violence. The malafide acts of the 31 policemen indicted by the Commission were all directed against Muslims. Activists have often wondered despairingly why even in Muslim areas, the response to their campaign has often been lukewarm; why the city's Muslim leaders have not created hell for the government over its total inaction on the Report. Muslim leaders could fill Azad Maidan over an anti-Bush rally, organize a successful boycott of US goods over the invasion of Afghanistan, but over the Srikrishna Commission Report, which documents how, in area after area in this city, the police allowed Muslims to be killed, looted and driven away from their homes, no community leader lost his sleep. So when these leaders remembered this denial of justice after 14 years, the feeling was, 'Der aaye, durust aaye', never mind that this recollection had come only after their own community members were convicted for having killed innocent Hindus to avenge the riots.

But the rally confirmed all one's misgivings about this kind of community mobilisation. To start with, the Commission was referred to as the 'Krishna Commission' (as it always is by Muslim leaders). The Commission's findings were mentioned by barely four of the 20-odd speakers, and some of them got that wrong too. More seriously, the emphasis was all wrong. To expect the speakers, who wore their faith on their sleeve, to mention the burning alive of six innocent Hindus, five of them women, in the Radhabai chawl incident, or the attacks on 57 city temples after the demolition of the Babri Masjid, was unrealistic. As one speaker said, this was a religious, not a political rally. What made the screams for justice hollow, was the knowledge that few of the 60-odd persons on the dais had ever helped their own community victims, though they lived among them.

By the time the rally ended with Samajwadi chief Abu Asim Azmi's piece de resistance, you were thankful for the low turnout and the people leaving even as he spoke. Azmi's open instigation to his community to avenge the riots ('Make me proud of you like Sarpotdar was proud of Radhabai Chawl'); his threat that driven to the wall, Muslims could hit back; his promise to honour Bilkis Bano's husband if he took up a gun and shot "anyone"; and his blasphemous comparison of such acts with Udham Singh's shooting of Gen Dyer—nothing could have been more insulting to the belief in justice and the rule of law that permeates the Srikrishna Commission Report.


http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Review/The_good_role_of_the_other_religion/articleshow/2515895.cms


I choose this article because I thought it was really interesting. When I saw that 900 citizens were killed both Muslim and Hindu I was extremely shocked and immediately saddened by how many people gave their lives for this matter. I also remember trying to get signatures for my fathers election and were we only had to get about 150, where as
18, 000 is a huge number. I thought it was interesting that just over ten years ago they were stilling trying to get equality when we have had equality for so long already. I’m glad that they were fighting for their rights but at the same time I’m saddened by the number of people that had to die in these riots in order for something to be done. What are your thoughts on these rallies and what are other strategies do you think they could have used to achieve their goal in equality?

My Kami

My Kimi would have all objects that have a special meaning to me. It would be located in the corner of my kitchen. It would be there because the kitchen is the place where most of my company stays and everyone will be able to see it, in other words it will get a lot of attention. On my shrine I would have candles most likely the Sacred Heart of Jesus Candle in memory of all the people that I’ve lost throughout my life. I’d also have a crucifix on it to represent what religion I worship, along with rosary beads that I got from the Vatican. On each side of the shrine there will be pictures of both of my great grandmothers, in addition to their pictures I would put their prayer cards from their funeral. When I was a senior in high school I had a friend named Jasmine that passed away in a car accident and on my shrine I would put a stuffed animal that she gave me on it along with a red ribbon that all the seniors wore for respect. I would put flowers on it to represent life and all the living things. My dog Sammy is a big part of my life so on my shrine there would be a dog bone to keep him safe and healthy. I would put drawing that my niece and nephew made for me along with a bracelet that Kayle my niece told me never to lose. She gave it to me the day I moved out to go to college. I’d put a little statue of an angel so that it can watch over and protect all the people that I love. In the middle of my kami I would put this old glass perfume/makeup thing my great grandmother, Granny, gave to me before she passed away. I would put some kind of food on it so that my family and I would have food that will last a lifetime. And lastly I would put Holy water to fight away all bad sprits or anything that could cause harm or sadness to anyone I know and love. My shrine would be the most meaningful thing I had in my entire house.

Wu-Wei and Tao

For me to apply Wu-Wei and Tao ideas to my everyday life would be extremely hard. They are very similar when it comes to what they mean. They both pretty much mean that you can’t let anything annoy, upset or bother you. It means to do everything that is natural, non-aggressive or violence. To do something but nothing at all. If something like my house was to catch on fire I know I wouldn’t be able to stay inside and do nothing. I’d either try to put it out, call for help, or get out as soon as possible. This is also similar to if I saw someone get beat up by someone else, I couldn’t just stand there and watch or keep walking without doing something. With these examples it proves that I definitely WOULD NOT be able to live by these ideas.