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6. The word "goy" is a
disparaging term.
The problem lies not hi the translation but in the usage.
In Hebrew, the word goy means "gentile" or "nation" and
nothing more, explains Gene Schramm, a linguistics profes-
sor at the University of Michigan. The famous verse from Isa-
iah, for example, Lo yisa goy el goy charev, translates "Nation
shall not lift up sword against nation," which certainly has no
negative intention.
Goy does contrast with the Hebrew ahm, or people, which
is used to describe Jews, ahm Ytsrael , the people of Israel. But
ahm implies a specific political or theological allegiance, Dr.
Schramm says. This would hardly be appropriate for describing
anyone who isn't Jewish.
The fact that goy has come to have unfavorable connota-
tions is based, instead, on the negative attitude some Jews
have toward gentiles.
7. A person can be
"half Jewish" or
"part Jewish."
"When I hear someone described as `half Jewish,' I always
want to know which half is Jewish: the top half or the bot-
tom half?" says Rabbi Martin Berman of Congregation Beth
Achim. "This assumes that being Jewish is additive: None half
of your genetic material comes from a Jewish parent, you are
`half Jewish.'"
In fact, he says, "either you are Jewish or you are not. Jew-
ish tradition defines Jewish status on the basis of parentage.
If your mother is Jewish, you are Jewish. If your mother is not
Jewish, you are not Jewish." The Reform movement now rec-
ognizes children of Jewish fathers who are raised as Jews.
One also can join the Jewish people through conversion,
Rabbi Berman notes, which renders a person "100 percent
Jewish, even without a drop of Jewish genetic material."
8. Caviar is treife.
Despite its high price and fancy name, caviar is really noth-
ing more than fish eggs (but would you want to eat something
called simply "fish eggs"?), or "roe," in the language of great
chefs.
As long as it comes from a kosher fish and has been pre-
pared under proper supervision, there's no reason caviar can-
not be kosher, says Albert Rosenberg of Rosenberg's Farmington
Meadows Kosher Catering.
The problem probably stems from the fact that most of the
caviar sold today is from sturgeon, which is indeed a treife fish.
But many kosher, and non-kosher, cuisine experts have found
that roe from salmon produces an equally tasty (and almost
as expensive) caviar.
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9. Judaism embraces
the idea of heaven
and hell.
Judaism does believe in an afterlife, olam habah, where the
righteous of all nations will go. And it does support the notion
that those who do not merit a place in olam habah will be pun-
ished.
But there are no pits of hell with little devils running about
and where the wicked suffer eternal damnation; there are
no glorious golden-blue clouds welcoming souls into a heav-
en filled with cherubs wearing robes of dazzling white. Both
Islam and Christianity support such concepts, but classical
rabbinic opinion is divided as to what happens after death and
exactly what olam habah will be like.
In Judaism, Rabbi Shaiall Zachariash of Shomrey Emunah
explains, heaven and hell can loosely be translated as gan eden
and gehennim. Among the 13 principles of faith codified by
Maimonides is that "God rewards with good those who observe
his commandments and punishes those who violate his com-
mandments. The reward or punishment can take place either
here in this world or the hereafter."
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10. Jewish slaves built
the pyramids
of ancient Egypt.
Rabbi Joseph Gutmann, former art history professor at
Wayne State University, explains:
The Exodus occurred around 1260 BCE. The great pyra-
mids were built between 2700 BCE and 2400 BCE, when Jews
were not even in Egypt.
The Torah does say that Jews built the royal cities of Pithom
and Ramses, but makes no mention of the pyramids.
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