Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

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Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 5:59pm

There are many things regarding this hoiday that I don't understand. First...why wasn't Mary called Miriam? They were Jews and that is the Hebrew equivilent. Jesus is actually trnaslates as Joshua or Yehoshua in Hebrew. What does the name Christ mean? When did Christmas turn into a time of massive gift giving and parties? It doesn't seem very spiritual. Getting back to the Jewish aspect of it.......I understand that Jesus was a Rabbi. When was the changeover from Judaism to Christianity?. Did it happen after his death? I have always been curious about this.

"Friends are the people you chose as family."....Me.

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:01pm

*shrug*

I barely know anything about Hanukkah, so I guess this makes us even.

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:02pm

Christ means Our Savior. I learned that from my Jewish History teacher last year.

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:03pm

In what language is Christ in? Greek? Latin?

"Friends are the people you chose as family."....Me.

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:03pm

I don't know how to answer most of your questions, but I'll give one a shot. Christianity began after Jesus was crucified. The disciples became the first Christians.

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:04pm

Yenta,

In partial answer to your questions, there were a sect of Jews at that time who believed Jesus was the Messiah.

I believe "Christ" is Greek for "Messiah."

I'm not sure Jesus was a Rabbi--I believe he was just a respected teacher of Spiritual Ways in his community--which I guess, can equate to being a Rabbi.

"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:07pm

I don't think Jesus was a rabbi, but I'm not sure. Anyway, even today you can see tons of Hasidic sects who think their Rebbe is the Messiah. They just don't go spinning off into their own religions, is all. I think that Christianity as a separate religion started getting emphasized more a while after Jesus' death, but I'm not sure. Not an expert in that department.

Hey, who just took their Christian history final?

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:07pm

The gift exchange aspect has little to do with the holiday other than it is an unwritten tradition that was created over time. It's not spriritual at all but it does have something to do with an ancient pagan holiday.
[smart person fill in gap here]
The Christmas Tree was a tradition that started in Germany that Queen Vitctoria brought to England and everyone basically figured, "Hey, if the Queen's doing it, then it must be cool."

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:08pm

He wasn't a Rabbi because the majority of Jews hated him too much.

#10

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:10pm

He wasn't a Rabbi because the majority of Jews hated him too much.

Huh? Since when does popularity have anything to do with being a rabbi?

#11

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:11pm

Uh-oh...

MFL, please LET'S NOT GO THERE.

If we read our Ancient History, Jesus was condemned to Death by the ROMANS who governed Israel at the time.

But, I, for one, am not comfortable with the direction this thread is taking. . .

"I say YOU'RE the CUTEST one. No, I say YOU'RE the CUTEST One. And we go on like that from dawn to three."

#12

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:13pm

Jesus was never an official Rabbi
He was a carpenter, for a while, and a teacher

#13

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:15pm

I didn't study this, but I'm sure it's perfectly possible Jesus wasn't terribly popular. What that has to do with whether he was a rabbi is beyond me. You become a rabbi by studying, not by winning a popularity contest.

#14

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:21pm

I just asked some questions and didn't intend for this thread to become a sounding board for hate. Thank you to those answered my questions.

"Friends are the people you chose as family."....Me.

#15

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:26pm

Yenta- I also think that part of the reason Christmas became such a massive gift-giving frenzy is the tendency of advertisers to make it so. Christmas isn't as bad as something like Grandparent's Day, which was probably completely created by greeting card companies to get you to buy cards, but commercialization occurs because of pushes by those who stand to benefit the most from it- corporations.

#16

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 6:58pm

Sorry. i learned everythign from my slightly biased Jewish History teacher....she called Jesus "That Man" or "Oto HaIsh"

#17

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 7:03pm

I try to stay out of religious discussions, but I feel compelled to add this.

While you learned what you do know from your 'slightly biased Jewish history teacher' please remember that there are people who WILL be offended and you should be very careful about what you say.

"You're every gay man's wet dream!" ~ MA

If in Heaven you don't excel, you can always party down in hell...

#18

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 7:15pm

*facepalm*

You know when my parents were kids in Israel, they didn't write "+" in math because it was like making a cross? There's some serious Jesus issues in the Jewish community, for obvious reasons. Always consider the source of your information. Always.

#19

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 8:03pm

The gift giving at Christmas dates back to 4th century Europe, where Saint Nicholas was known for his generosity. The story goes, three young girls did not have dowries, and so no one would marry them. Saint Nicholas gave them the money for their dowries, and they were able to marry.
Saint Nicholas Day, December 6, soon became an important part of European tradition. Men would dress in Bishop's robes, posing as Saint Nicholas, and give out gifts.
The Dutch gave Saint Nicholas the name Sinterklaas, which was Anglicised to Santa Claus. Santa Claus was adopted by the English, and the tradition spread throughout the world. However, this was without any of the meaning that it initially held in Europe (and still does) and soon became just another meaningless part of a capitalised holiday.

#20

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 9:16pm

I think the tradition of gift-giving on Christmas originated before the time of Nicholas.

The Magi (Wise Men or Kings) brought the Christ Child gifts of gold, frankincense and myhrr (sp?). That began the tradition that Nicholas popularized. Incidentally, we don't know if there were really THREE Wise Men. There could have been more or less.
It's just that the Gospel tells of three gifts so the tradtion of THREE Magi developed. Also, the Magi arrived some time after Jesus was born. It took quite a while for them to follow that star. Matthew's gospel indicates that Mary and Joseph were not living in a stable when the kings arrived, but had settled into a "house".

No, Jesus was never a formal rabbi. He was a teacher, but doesn't "rabbi" mean "teacher" in Hebrew?

"Long live God!" (GODSPELL)

#21

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 9:34pm

I thought the Hebrew word for teacher was "moreh" or "morah," but it might be "rabbi," too.

#22

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 9:50pm

Well of course the Magi gave the gifts to the Babe, but do you think that is what started the tradition?
The tradition of giving gifts to each other on Saint Nicholas Day, and receiving gifts from a certain Santa Claus figure, most definately started after Saint Nicholas.
Before that, I cannot know. Perhaps the early Christians gave each other gifts to commemorate Christ's birth. I don't know about that.
Well, whether or not the earlier Christians gave each other gifts, Sinterklaas is most defiantely the origins of Santa Claus.

#23

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 9:55pm

Rabbi comnes from the Hebrew word Rav..........which means master or learned person. In the time of Jesus, rabbis weren't ordained as they are today. It was merely a term for learned person.

"Friends are the people you chose as family."....Me.

#24

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 9:59pm

Moreh is the modern term for teacher in Hebrew. It is separate from the title of Rav or Rabbi.

"Friends are the people you chose as family."....Me.

#25

re: Explain Christmas to a Jewish woman

Posted: 12/18/04 at 10:28pm

Christmas is the celebration when God sent His Son Jesus into the world. Christ means Anointed One. The New Testament was written in Aramaic and so that is likely why the difference in the names.

The official start of Christianity was after the resurrection of Jesus. His followers were meeting together and the Holy Spirit came to them. That is considered the birth of the Church and Christianity grew from there. The Christian New Testament teaches that God recognizes three groups of people: the Jews, all the other nations, and the Church.

If anyone ever tells you that you put too much Parmesan cheese on your pasta, stop talking to them. You don't need that kind of negativity in your life.

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