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Started by Ed, February 23, 2005, 04:03:59 PM

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Which story shall we have on the front page of the site?

Fear - by LashShlash
1 (20%)
Someone Might See - by Sharon Bell Buchbinder
4 (80%)

Total Members Voted: 5

Voting closed: March 07, 2005, 05:29:23 AM

Ed

Fascinating stuff :afro:

I was watching a TV prog a couple weeks ago - it was all about Jewish families in Britain, and how they live their lives.  It seems very restrictive in a lot of ways, and I think the women appear to get the better part of the deal, but I suppose, if you're brought up with the system, it would probably make you a more disciplined person than I am.  Having to pray three times a day, memorize passages from the Torah, and learn Yiddish :o  I don't think I could handle all that :/  Guess I'm just lazy.

Has converting changed your life much, Sharon?  (if you don't mind me asking)
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

SharonBell

This will sound very strange, but I wanted to be Jewish from the time I was 10 years old. My mother was crazy & abusive, my father out of the picture (an alcoholic) and my world was run by a punishing god who "spoke" to my mother. Yes, religious delusions. Think "Carrie." I met a girl at Girl Scout camp who was Jewish, we became great friends and I spent lots of weekends with her. They were SANE, warm, wonderful, kind people.  I figured it had to be b/c they were Jewish. :D

I met Dale when he was a medical student, I was an IV therapist.  Was introduced to him on an elevator for about 10 seconds. Didn't see him again, but had a dream a month later that I would marry him. Went to work and told all my friends, who laughed uproariously, b/c I was not the "marrying kind." Three months later, he called me. We were engaged 6 months after our first date, married 5 months later. A whirlwind romance, with conversion thrown in (MY choice) along with a new Hebrew name (Sarah) all before the wedding.

I have never reqretted my decision. The rabbi we first went to, gave me such a hard time that I wanted to cry and throw up. Dale wanted to punch him. Then we found out the rule: they are supposed to turn converts away 3 times. It is a non-proselytizing religion. Other than Jews for Jesus (which are not considered "real Jews") you won't find rabbis out on the streets, trolling for converts. It's just not done. So, after that, I had a 6 month crash course in being a Jew. My husband said he learned more from that than he did his Bar Mitzvah.

We don't keep kosher, we're Reform. So, I don't pray 3 times or more a day, and I'm not much of a Talmudic scholar, but I respect those who are. The Reform movement began in Germany as a reaction to ultra-orthodoxy, and my hunch is a desire for assimilation. Our first synagogue (here in US) looked a lot like a big Protestant church (minus the cross) to me, complete with organ and choir, which is not the norm for the more conservative and orthodox. I don't speak for all Jews, but in my experience, I have found Reform Jews to be very big on social activism, justice, equality for women, hunger, etc. Big donors to causes and advocates for tolerance and racial equities.  We were very active in our Reform synagogue here (I was a macher -- a big shot) head of strategic planning, etc. Had a HUGE falling out with the rabbi. Now "un-shuled" but never regret my choice to become a Jew.   

Aren't you sorry you asked?  :shocked:

Shalom and TTFN!

Sharon
"Be good and you'll be lonesome." Mark Twain

www.sharonbuchbinder.com

Ed

No, not at all - I'm very interested in other people's ways of life, and their life stories.  I like reading autobiographies more than novels :smiley:

BTW, Sharon - congrats on grabbing this month's front page :afro:  Good story.  I like it.
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

LashSlash

Double those congrats, Sara the daughter of Sara our Mother,
you deserved to win, despite all those Canadians backing you, and also due to the obvious efforts that you made as opposed to MY pulling out of some nonsense from a file.
Hey... I did come in second though!!!

SharonBell

Thanks Blunt and LS (Landsman!) for you kind words. BTW, I found a typo in the story. Can that be fixed before it goes on the front page? It's in this line:

And she drags me through the bushes...


Thanks, this is very exciting!

Sharon aka Sarah aka Sara
"Be good and you'll be lonesome." Mark Twain

www.sharonbuchbinder.com

Ed

Quote from: SharonBell on March 07, 2005, 08:19:14 AM
Thanks Blunt and LS (Landsman!) for you kind words. BTW, I found a typo in the story. Can that be fixed before it goes on the front page? It's in this line:

And she drags me through the bushes...


Thanks, this is very exciting!

Sharon aka Sarah aka Sara

Yup - it's done now :afro: thanks for the story.
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

SharonBell

Many thanks! Looks great. Love the daffodils. Do you have an archive with permanent links for stories, or are they down at the end of the month?

Sharon
"Be good and you'll be lonesome." Mark Twain

www.sharonbuchbinder.com

Ed

Quote from: SharonBell on March 07, 2005, 02:49:54 PM
Many thanks! Looks great. Love the daffodils. Do you have an archive with permanent links for stories, or are they down at the end of the month?

Sharon

Thanks - glad you like it :afro:

As for the archive - it's in the works... like a lot of things :hidin:  I desperately need to update the authors page, and I'm just wondering what the best layout would be to display a list of stories.  What I'm thinking is that it would be good to have an 'old front pages' section, one for each month, but to archive any other stories under the author's name, rather than doing it in date order.  Reason being, in a large archive, filed in date order, people only tend to read the current month, or the previous one.  If the stories are filed under author names, people might read a story and decide to look up other work by that author.

What would be really good, is if I could take a crash course in PHP and store all the stories in a central database - then I could use 'includes' to display stuff easily and automatically, with a few lines of code, instead of having to make dozens of html pages and keep manually updating them :o  Maybe tomorrow :/
Planning is an unnatural process - it is much more fun to do something.  The nicest thing about not planning is that failure comes as a complete surprise, rather than being preceded by a period of worry and depression. [Sir John Harvey-Jones]

SharonBell

Yeah, just put that on your "List of Things to Do!"  :D
"Be good and you'll be lonesome." Mark Twain

www.sharonbuchbinder.com

LesFloyd

I'm a Jedi. It has it's advantages and disadvantages, but mostly disadvantages. Actually, I can't think of any advantages. Disadvantages are thinking it has advantages, then turning your knee after a slightly higher jump than you'd normally attempt, or being his by a car when trying to engage a 'force stop'.  :/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2757067.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2218456.stm
"Even if it were possible to travel at the speed of light, it would not be desirable, as one's hat would keep flying off!" - H.G. Bells

SharonBell

I am anxious to see how many in the US now decide to convert to Jediism. I hear it's a very rigourous conversion ceremony. You have to lift a spaceship out of mud, using your thoughts alone. The UK and Australia must be having a boom in things lifting up mysteriously! :D

Sharon
"Be good and you'll be lonesome." Mark Twain

www.sharonbuchbinder.com