Interview

My partner and I were researching Orthodox Judaism. We met with a man named Rabbi Silverman at the Chabad of the River Town. He allowed us to interview him about his religion, were we learned a lot of interesting information. We asked him a series of twenty questions, and he went in-depth with many of his answers.



1. How long have you been a Rabbi?
-- He has been a practicing Rabbi for 6-7 years

2. How long does it take to become a Rabbi?
-- He said that a Rabbi has to be ordained by another rabbi
-- Its not something you can study rather it’s a way of life
-- It took him 18 months to become a Rabbi but that can change from person to person

3. Are there different levels of being a Rabbi? For example in the catholic religion there are priest, bishops, etc.
--There are three classification: Kohein, Levi, and Israeli

--Its not that there are different levels so much, rather there’s different responsibilities each classification has

4. Can women become Rabbis? If not why?
-- Women can not become practicing Rabbis
-- He said that men and women are made differently making God give them different jobs
-- Not saying that they wouldn’t be good at it, its just never been done

5. What is the most important Holiday?
-- He said all the holidays are important or they wouldn’t be holidays however the most important is the “weekdays”
-- The holiest holiday is the day after Yom Kippur

6. What are the different types of Judaism?
-- He said there are three different types of Judaism and each group believes in basically the same thing. For example the Torah, holidays etc, but it depends on the law that each group follows.
-- He said that Orthodox Judaism follows both the written laws and Oral laws

7. Why is it important for children to attend Hebrew school?
-- He went back to talking about Judaism being a way of live and that Hebrew school will lead the children in the right direction

8. Is it mandatory for everyone to eat Kosher and why?
-- He said its considered on of there commandments and that all animals need to be killed mercifully
-- He said that everyone tries their best but it is a big sacrifice and not all can do it

9. We’ve heard that your not supposed to eat pork and shellfish, why is that?
-- He said that they are not considered kosher therefore they should not be eating it.

10. Why does Judaism have its own calendar?
-- They follow the lunar calendar
-- He said that the moon is symbolic in Judaism
-- When the moon is out it can reflect the beauty that the sun reveals during the day
-- The light brings Gods beauty into the world (its symbolic)

11. Why do men and women sit separately?
-- They sit separate because synagogue is a time to pray not a time for family
-- If the sit together they might get distracted and not give all their time to praying and God
-- Prayer time is NOT FAMILY TIME

12. What happens at a Jewish wedding?
-- At a wedding there needs to be two kosher witnesses
-- A Chupa
-- The people need to make sure that they are allowed to get married
-- Papers need to be singed
-- Rituals need to be completed (Mikveh)
-- Exchanging of the ring

13. We’ve heard that women are supposed to shave their heads after their wedding if this is true why?
-- He wasn’t sure if the had to shave their heads. (He told us we would be able to talk to his wife if we wanted to)
-- He did however say that they had to cover their hair with either a wig or something else that wouldn’t show their real hair

14. Why is the Sabbath important?
-- He said that Sabbath is important because it’s a day of complete rest
-- During the week people lose focus of their goals and the Sabbath makes them regain their focus
-- If they didn’t have the Sabbath there would be a lot of people that were walking around meaningless

15. We know what a Bris and baby naming but why is it so important?
-- Its important because it brings the baby into the religion
-- Its it needs to be done on the eighth day because God created the world in seven day so on the eighth day of the babies life its as if its above the seventh day
-- Again seven is a symbolic number in this religion

16. IS it correct to say that in your religion you are waiting for the messiah to come?
-- Yes, we are still waiting for the Messiah to come

17. I used to work in a funeral home and when ever we received a Jewish call they always had to be buried the dame day before sundown, why is that?
-- This is important because after death the body is on a journey, and its not fair to hold the journey back
-- They have something similar to checkpoints
-- After the burial the family cannot visit the gravesite for a month
-- After the first year they an unveiling

18. Is there a particular dress code? For example do women have to wear dresses and do men have to wear black suits with a white shirt?
-- He said that they don’t have a dress code however every army as a uniform (he compared their religion to an army)
-- Women dress as modestly as possible, they are not to show their true beauty to just anyone
-- He said that a woman’s beauty is supposed to be special and for select people only (like a husband)
-- In this religion we have an obligation to dress modestly and we try to do that as much as possible

19.Is there anything you disagree with in your religion?
-- He said that he doesn’t disagree with anything
-- However there is a lot that he doesn’t understand about his religion

20. Is there anything else you would like to add that wasn’t already mentioned?
-- He said that we asked in-depth questions and gave us some advice but altogether he said that he enjoyed helping us on our project and that he was happy to see that other people are interesting in his religion.