Comments on: How Jews celebrate Christmas

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 15:49:26 +0000

interesting post on Aish , but I never heard a Jew refer to Eretz Israel as the Holy Land

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 01:12:36 +0000

Harold Berman there needs to be 3 rabbis

By: Audrey Bellis

Audrey Bellis — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 01:36:39 +0000

Sharon Aminoff Puritz , perhaps volunteering might not seem Christmas like, but it certainly is in holiday spirit and a beautiful & kind thing to do so that others might be with their families

By: Harold Berman

Harold Berman — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 00:27:42 +0000

"Ours is eternal." Before I even started looking at the Torah, the first thing that drew me to Judaism was that I was (and still am) an avid reader of history. When I started reading Jewish history, it very quickly became clear that none of it made sense without some larger purpose and a Guiding Hand, that attribiting our being here through the millenia to mere chance just made no sense.

By: Harold Berman

Harold Berman — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 00:24:07 +0000

Gee, should I post the conversion document online (I'm assuming the rabbi's signature with smicha from the Mir would meet a high enough standard?). I would suggest you read our book, not simply to promote our book, because it's well worth the insight into what it means to go through a halachic conversion. In the meantime, if you want the short story, see: http://www.aish.com/jw/s/100466579.html)

By: Dov Blair Epstein

Dov Blair Epstein — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 00:02:16 +0000

What do jews believe in? The Journey. Ours is eternal.

By: Dov Blair Epstein

Dov Blair Epstein — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 23:59:51 +0000

For some reason, Kosher -chinese restaurants never get it right, here. and i doubt a chinese restauranter could get chopped liver correctly.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 23:00:32 +0000

did your wife and children have a halchic conversion?

By: Harold Berman

Harold Berman — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 21:46:43 +0000

I'm not sure why you're making the assumptions you're making. My post was about how we go about define ourselves as Jews; it had nothing to do with my wife's conversion (if you look at my post just from last week, you'd be able to figure this one out). I would suggest you read our book which describes our journey – if you did, rather than making assumptions based on not having any information, I rather suspect you would eat your words (or at least you should).

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 20:15:13 +0000

If your wife never converted, and I didn't see anywhere where she did convert, then your children are Christian and not Jewish. Rendering you and all your information to be useless.

By: Toby Klein Greenwald

Toby Klein Greenwald — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 18:12:48 +0000

Well Harold, there use to be a kosher Chinese restaurant at the Malha mall. I know because ten years ago we catered our son's bar mitzva from there — take-out. Yeah, it was cool, but hey, he's a drummer. Well, actually, he's an officer in the army now but you get my drift.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 17:19:25 +0000

committed Jews don't eat pork fried rice-ever.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 17:19:25 +0000

committed Jews don't eat pork fried rice-ever.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 07:57:23 +0000

Gr8 article! except the "And it need not happen in a Chinese restaurant." ;0) Looking forward to reading more of your blogs and your new book!

By: Audrey Bellis

Audrey Bellis — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 07:56:45 +0000

I really enjoyed this Harold! I think whether one celebrates Christmas or not (just as with most other holidays) the underlying point is to find the good in it. Most holidays are about finding the light (literal or figurative), illumination, compassion for others, spreading of good deeds, and to bring festive cheer. One does not have to celebrate a particular holiday to do those things and can still bring kindness in the spirit of it to others around them. Besides, its not really the traditions anyways that make the holidays special- its the people with whom we make a point to do them.