Friday, July 13, 2007

The Amen Phenomenon in Jewish Action - A Disgraceful Trojan Horse!

The last issue of Jewish Action has an article by Gael Hammer – The Amen Phenomenon. My first reaction was oh no! Even the Jewish Action is in on the superstitious bandwagon. The last bastion of semi normal rationality has fallen!

I told myself that I was just as bigoted as any fundamentalist was and that I am jumping to conclusions before giving the article the benefit of the doubt. I then started reading and though I do not agree with several ideas in it, I had the pleasant feeling that the author was trying to explain in a rational fashion a practice that started off as a superstition. After all if, God could allow Korbanot as a way of redirecting a practice from idolatry to Avodat Hashem, why not Berachot. The Amen clubs are a real disgrace and take a Mitzvah and make out of it a superstition, an amulet, and here this author is suggesting how to change the mindset and bring it back to its original intent – praising God.

The author explains how this creates a community, allows women to make the minimum of 100 blessings Halacha requires of us and expanding into Tefilah as a group. It also sounded like the Berachot we are talking about are the Birchot hashachar which women have to say anyway. So why not say it in public and have one answer Amen to her colleagues’ Bracha?

Then, to my great chagrin, I get to the end of the article and the postscript. “Rosh Chodesh Me-Ga-Esh suppers have now been celebrated in Sydney Australia and may soon be held in Melbourne”. Me-Ga-Esh suppers? From prayer to parties!? What is going on here?

Now I read a little note: “When bread is not served at a meal, certain foods and their blessings are given precedence”. Nu – We want to have wives who know the Halachot so why not? I imagined a Rav would be using the opportunity to go over the Halachot of precedence- which are quite complicated and I usually get very confused. (They say that in Hungary Rabbanim used to test prospective bridegrooms for their daughters if they were erudite enough by offering a combination of different foods and watching how they navigated the treacherous shoals of precedence in Berachot. I would never have made it!).

That would be great. The infamous note however continues: “Traditionally [whose tradition Bila’am Harasha who Balak believed that Asher tevarech Mevorach?] each blessing also represents a particular request or prayer. ME – Mezonot represent the prayer for parnassah or adequate income; G-Geffen represents the prayer for Shidduchim, or those needing to find spouses;” I stop here as the note continues with this blasphemy. I thought the subject was Birchot Hanehenin where one must ask permission of God who owns everything before partaking in His world. Where does Segulot and superstition come in?

This article is a Trojan horse. Instead of trying to purify an unclean practice, it is trying to subvert and profane a beautiful Mitzvah and obligation.

Hashem Yerachem. What happened to the Jewish Action? I already cancelled my subscription to the Jewish Observer for its intolerance and stupidity; do I have to do the same for the Jewish Action? My wife loves the recipes! Please tell me it was just a mistake and retract.

14 comments:

  1. Yasher Koach!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOL. I actually liked the article. Basically the groups give these women something to do, they feel good, and they like the companionship. SO what's the problem? It's better than the alternative (gossip and bittul zman watching TV and reading romance novels).

    ReplyDelete
  3. GH, that is what I was saying the article is fine but when it tells me in the notes that it is a segulah it becomes blasphemy. In fact maybe they are better off schmuzing and wasting time than doing that. Avodah Zara which is what this falls under supercedes everything else.

    I am surprised at the condescending tone. Why should women not learn and do avodat hashem too. After all there is no differentiation in olam Haba between male and female.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sadly, I highly doubt a retraction will be forthcoming. Such an inclination towards a superstitious mindset seems to have permeated the fabric of Jewish life. The rational approach has seemingly been abandoned by all but a few.

    PS: You’ve been tagged

    ReplyDelete
  5. # Please tell me it was just a mistake and retract. Please tell me it was just a mistake and retract. What is going on here?
    # Now I read a little note: “When bread is not served at a meal, certain foods and their blessings are given precedence”.
    # Nu – We want to have wives who know the Halachot so why not?
    # I imagined a Rav would be great.
    # The infamous note however continues: “Traditionally [whose tradition Bila’am Harasha who Balak believed that Asher tevarech Mevorach?] each blessing also represents a particular request or prayer.
    # ME – Mezonot represent the prayer for parnassah or adequate income; G-Geffen represents the prayer for parnassah or adequate income; G-Geffen represents the prayer for Shidduchim, or those needing to find spouses;” I stop here as the note continues with this blasphemy.
    # I thought the subject was Birchot Hanehenin where one must ask permission of God who owns everything before partaking in His world.
    # Where does Segulot and superstition come in?
    # This article is a Trojan horse.
    # Instead of trying to purify an unclean practice, it is trying to explain in a rational fashion a practice that started off as a group.

    ReplyDelete
  6. It seems that JA was trying to kasher women prayer groups by calling them Amen groups - and with the haskamah of Rebbitzen Kanyevsky.

    ReplyDelete
  7. >It seems that JA was trying to kasher women prayer groups

    LOL -

    ReplyDelete
  8. http://kallahmagazine.com/WordPress/?p=498

    Indeed, for some reason if you call it an amein group it is kosher, but call it a tefilah group and it is not. Why???

    ReplyDelete
  9. write a letter to the editor

    ReplyDelete
  10. Although what you say makes sense, especially after I read the original, but it's become such a phenomenon that I thought maybe there is more to it than meets the eye, so I went searching. What do you think about this book regarding responding with Amen which also seems to attribute a great deal of reward and punishment to answering Amen, and Amen Yehay Sh'may Raba?

    http://www.israel613.com/books/AMEN_RESPONSE-E.pdf

    It has an approbation from Rav Moshe among others, having been printed in 5741.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Caryn,

    If you got the impression that I criticize saying Amen, I am sorry for not being clearer. It is a Halacha and logically a most importnat thing especially when one is challenged, like in kaddish. It demonstrates acquiescense to praise of God, makes the listener pay attention and thus think of God and His actions. see my post http://yediah.blogspot.com/2007/06/what-makes-answering-amen-yehei-shmei.html

    What I object to is the segulah part. Mitzvot are not to heal our bodies and to miraculously protect our physical wellbeing. They are to teach us to behave in God's ways , serve Him and grow in our understanding. Making them into a magical potion is Avodah Zara.

    I skimmed at the article and it seems he is using the usual scare tactics and exhortation to get people to do things hoping they learn and get smarter as they go along and do it out of love. It is the customary approach and if it works for someone go ahead. I have apparently a different personality and I tend to rebel against these type of tactics.

    Re R. Moshe, read his approbation carefully and you will see how smart he was!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Indeed, for some reason if you call it an amein group it is kosher, but call it a tefilah group and it is not. Why???

    Beged Ish.

    ReplyDelete
  13. There was something about Cuba on the TV... wasn't focusing on it that much but at some point they talk about a group of 75 Christian women and their Christian Amen group. It showed them praying to some Christian saint.

    It was part of a program called Dateline and was on SBS.

    You might be able to find it online.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I imagined a Rav would be using the opportunity to go over the Halachot of precedence- which are quite complicated and I usually get very confused.

    If you go by the Rambam it gets a lot easier...

    ReplyDelete