Dear
Readers,
These columns began on my area of America Online, called: Judaism
Today: Where Do I Fit? People anonymously
sent me E-Mail, and I began to choose one for a public response
in my Jewish E-Mail of the Week column. The column has become
quite popular and is now syndicated internationally in many
Jewish papers and websites. I hope you find they help you
as you think about the Ethics, Spirituality and Peoplehood
components of the Jewish way of Life. I welcome your
comments... see the end of the column.
Gil
PS
Teachers and others, feel free to copy my columns and forward
them or use them as you see fit. Please see the friendly
copyright notice at the end. |
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Dear
Readers:
The
Millennium is probably the most hyped
subject of the Millennium! For Jews,
the millennium is a classic example of
the challenge of being Jewish in a
modern world that is not Jewish.
After
all, we live by the Christian
calendar, but the year 2000 AD is not
really ours. AD is short for the Latin
anno domini, meaning "in the year
of our Lord." But Jews do not
consider Jesus to be our Lord.
Besides, Jews are now on year 5760. We
are waiting for Y6K!
My
readers on America Online sent me a
fair amount of E-Mail about this
Millennium challenge. Here are edited
samples:
#1
"I feel mixed about the so called
millennium. I can't help but want to
celebrate a thousand years just like I
want to celebrate a century. Does this
make me a bad Jew? The Jewish New Year
is extremely important to me, and I
worship and am always awed by our High
Holy Days, but I am caught up in all
the Y2K excitement. This is definitely
a dilemma."
My
response to #1: Personally, I don't
have a dilemma. I think New Years is a
fun secular night to celebrate and I
accept the Christian calendar as
simply a part of my environment. I
think Friday night Shabbat dinner is
even more fun to celebrate (and I can
do that every 7 days!) So this year I
am going to celebrate both at the same
time. We are getting together with
about 6 families and having Shabbat
dinner together. A little Manischewitz
Kiddush wine at dinner, then at
midnight, a little bubbly.
#2
"The western new year is pagan in
origin celebrating the 2-faced god
Janus, and later was adopted by the
Catholic Church as the feast of the
circumcision (8th day from Dec. 25). I
have no desire to celebrate any
anniversary, let alone a thousand year
mark, of the beginning of an era and a
person that symbolizes and actualizes
the near constant oppression of my
people."
My
response to #2: The month of January
is named after Janus. In Chaucer's
Tales, January 1 is referred to as the
day of our Lord's circumcision. Very
few people realize that this New Years
we will be celebrating the 2000th
anniversary of Jesus' bris! As for
oppression, in recent decades our
relationship with our Christian
neighbors has markedly improved. In a
few months, a Pope will finally visit
Israel. I'd like to believe that this
next century will see the warmest
relations we have ever known.
#3
"This is a millennium of an
arbitrary date commemorating an event
which did not happen in the year
assumed. Jesus was born in 6 BCE
(Before the Common Era.) The bright
stars seen by the wise men was a
supernova dated by historical records
and astronomical calculations to April
of the year 6 BCE. Yeah April. The
feast was moved to December to offer a
counter celebration to the pagan
Saturnalia on December 21. The monk
who figured out the Gregorian calendar
figured wrong. As my broker said to
one of his other clients: "You
know what's going to happen at the
millennium? Do you remember 1994? What
happened then? Nothing!" Actually
1994 was the true millennium from when
Jesus was born. Nothing
happened."
My
response to #3 The date of Jesus birth
is unknown according to the Catholic
Encyclopedia. Some scholars believe
the correct date of Jesus birth was 4
BCE...making the true millennium 1996.
Either way, according to my
calculations the world did not end in
1994 or 1996.
#4
"As a Jew I am not so
"hyped" about the millennium
(even though I follow the common
calendar and not the Jewish Calendar).
It is of course, exciting to see the
numbers change on the calendar and I
am forever hopeful that time will
bring new discoveries and Peace to us
all, but I do not believe that a world
that has already had millions of years
of growth, development and yes,
evolution, is going to disappear at
the stroke of midnight -- this year or
next."
#5
"I suggest any self-identified
practicing Jew only view the secular
year change as a practical way to
function where this calendar is
used-for the mundane. For Jewish life
we use our own wonderful calendar for
all holy and lifecycle events from
births to yahrtzeits! No hype in this
home. Only a few extra batteries and
water for any Y2K inconveniences!
"
My
response to #4 & #5: My 13 year
old made us purchase bottled water and
one of my computers must go to the
junk heap. Beyond that, no hype in my
home either.
#6
"I really don't care...what's the
year for the Chinese? For the
Muslims?, etc...etc? In spite of the
fact that I am of Western European
decent, not everyone's frame of
reference is Christianity. Hence,
"we" have another 240 years
for the "big one" (year
6000.)"
My
response to #6: I saw a cute T-Shirt
that had a Star of David on it and the
words Y2K, Been There, Done That. With
most of the world using the Christian
calendar, we lose track of the fact
that most of the world is NOT
Christian. FYI, not only is this year
5760 for us, it is year 1420 for the 1
billion Muslims of the world, year
1921 for the 750 million Hindus of the
world and year 4697 for the one
billion Chinese. Which reminds me of
the joke: Q. What do you get when you
subtract the Chinese year from the
Jewish year? A. 1063 Years -- the
length of time the Jewish people went
without Chinese food!
May
this next century and 1000 years see
humans treat each other with dignity,
respect and peace -- regardless of how
we mark the passage of time or what
calendar we use! Happy New Year
everyone!
Gil
A FRIENDLY COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© Copyright Gil Mann
These columns can be found at www.beingjewish.org. Not
only do I give you permissions to copy these Jewish Email
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All I ask is that you never charge anyone for them and that you
also include this little copyright notice. Thank You!
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