JewHub.com <-- need a starting point for a negotiation

[Banned: dn-101]

Acro - I have an issue with your 99%. Greece & Θεσσαλονίκη used to boast a large and lively Jewish community. But, unfortunately, Greece became Judenfrei (German: free of Jews)

[sitemaker]

As a youth born and raised in a nation that to this date boasts 99% Christianity, I was taught the Old Testament as both a historical sequence and as part of the school subject of religion. Bear in mind that religion and state are not segregated in Greece; the Old Testament (Genesis onwards) is taught in the 2nd grade.

The Christian theological term "Old Testament" is alien to us. From our perspective it is inaccurate at best, and perjorative at worst.

Secular academic scholars sometimes attempt theological neutrality by referring to our Scriptures as "The Hebrew Bible". However, to me that seems redundant, as if professors of literature called Shakespeare "The English Shakespeare".

Our own name for our Scriptures is the Tanakh*, which is an acronym for
Torah** (books of direct divine Instructions received via Moshe (Moses)),
Naviim (Books written by our Prophets), and
Ketuvim (our national wisdom and historical literature).
These are the three collections of books that make up our Scriptures. There are 22 books in all. All of them are in the Christian Bible somewhere, though not in the same order or groupings (and you parse and number our Psalms slightly differently); but the Christian Bible includes additional books that are not part of our canon.

Perhaps the most neutral terms in English would be 'Jewish Scriptures' and 'Christian Scriptures', but this is not commonly done.

Peace.

--- J.

* I have available for sale to a good home: Tanakh.us

** I have available for sale to a good home: TorahTutor.org/net, TorahScholar.net, TorahTeacher.net/us, and Torah.mobi

P.S. -- I think this thread has digressed to the point where another venue would be better if continued dialog is of interest. For those who may have been following along and are curious, all these things and more are explained in a very friendly way in The Synagogue Survival Kit, published by Rowman & Littlefield ( http://SynagogueSurvivalKit.com/reviews.htm ) and additional information, in Q&A format, is available at http://LearnersMinyan.org .

[Acro]

Acro - I have an issue with your 99%. Greece & Θεσσαλονίκη used to boast a large and lively Jewish community. But, unfortunately, Greece became Judenfrei (German: free of Jews)

The Greek-Jewish community in Thessaloniki was indeed 50,000-strong before WW2 and despite the gallant efforts of others to stop it, thousands were taken by the nazis to concentration camps. I was referring to the percentage based on the total population, roughly 8 million in the 1940s, 11 million now.

Enough of the history lesson. If you remember that we were a nation before we ever got our religion, all the words might make more sense... or less... who knows?

Indeed, the theological and historical records are intermingled and since Christianity is based on the Jewish religion there are certain things that although common, they have a different name or meaning. I am always curious about other cultures and religions.

[DomainMagnate]

thanks for the history lesson, Jordan

I still prefer to call a person of the faith as "Jewish" and not a Jew. I appreciate the fact that you explained that to you, being in the Jewish faith "Jew" is actually a preferred word with relation to your faith and background.

In fact Jew/Jewish refers mostly to one's ancestry, rather than religion/faith. A Jew is someone whose mother was Jewish, or someone who converted to Judaism and thus became Jewish. Most Jews in Israel, US and other countries don't actively practice Judaism and would consider themselves secular, but may follow some traditions.

As for the two words I would consider both identical and certainly wouldn't get offended by being called a Jew. However it does seem to get different connotations recently.

[sitemaker]

if they are short on money sell offer to finance it for them...moniker has a payment plan service.

example $100 month for 12 months...they get to use it while paying the low 100/month and you get a decent price.

.

Thanks dentalpro, that's a smart idea. They'd be proving their intent by what they do with it during the lease period, and I'd make the lease terms as good as buying it. I didn't get your post in time to use that idea in this case, but all seems to have turned out OK; and I will remember the idea for the future. Thanks.

(BTW, based on your handle, would you be interested in SuperDDS.com or SuperDMD.com ? If so, PM me.)

--- J.