Glatt

Q: What is “glatt” kosher?

A: Let me start by saying that the USDA demands that animals slaughtered for public consumption not be diseased or grossly contaminated.  Judaism goes much further (to quote the famous commercial, “we have a higher authority”).  Animals must not only be free from obvious disease they must be free from internal and external lesions, their organs cannot be damaged or defective along with a host of other criteria.  If the cost of kosher meat is high it is only because of the strict attention paid to the physical state of the animals, and if found to be defective, the meat is sent to supermarkets.

Now to your question, what is “glatt” kosher?

Kosher is kosher.  Either the meat is acceptable or not.  Right?  Food cannot be “super kosher.”

The term, “glatt,” does not refer to a standard of kashrut but to specifically the lungs of the animal, which were inspected to have no adhesions. This is a step beyond that which is required by halacha, religious law.

There are only a few certain adhesions to the lungs that render an animal unfit, trafe. Jews who wished to be meticulous in their observance decided not only to rely on the standard examination of the ritual slaughter, shochet, to determine the permissibility of the animal. They would accept only if animal's lungs were completely smooth, or glatt.

Havdalah

Q: When is Havdalah supposed to happen?

A:  Havdalah is the ceremony that ends the Shabbat.  It is the counterpoint to candle-lighting which takes place on Friday night.  Just as the kindling of two lights inaugurates the Shabbat before sundown, so Havdalah is the farewell to that day following sunset on Saturday night.

Havadalah is an adjunct, a ceremony that follows Maariv (the evening service), to the Sabbath to give us one final taste of the sublime restfulness of Shabbat before returning to the weekday and its demands.  Havdalah is performed when the sun has completely set and it is dark, three stars visible in the night sky.

Walking Around the Sanctuary

Q: Why do we walk around, through the congregation, on Shabbat morning with the Torah?

A: The tenor of the morning service is one of great seriousness. This day, Shabbat, is the day when the Torah was given.  Our Sages taught us that that on this day God chose to make His Will known to the people. Therefore every time Shabbat comes we will recall the event at Mount Sinai when our ancestors were forged into a chosen nation. We recall this anniversary each week.

During the Shabbat morning service, the davenning gets more and more intense as we advance through the siddur. The words, sounds and ideas comes more engaging as we become more meditative and expansive. The spirituality become stronger as the congregation reaches the Shma and the Amida, which comes at the end of Shacharit. At that point, because of the deliberate structure of the service, the community members reach their highest spiritual level and are receptive to the deep and ethereal message from Above.

Just then we are ready to hear God’s voice through the words of the Torah. The scroll is removed from the ark and brought down to the people where we physically see and feel God's message and Presence. Similar to Moses coming down from Mount Sinai bringing the Holy One’s words we bring those same words to the community of Israel on the anniversary of its giving.

We walk through the congregation so that each person personally witnesses and take part in the ongoing revelation.  It is customary to kiss the Torah as it passes by with our tzitzit or siddur. Traditionally, the siddur or tzitzit lightly touch the Torah before retrieving it to kiss it.   It is as if a holy spark emanating from the Torah is transferred to us.  The reverence for Torah is evident for God’s sacred word as we display our love for it.  

Amida

Q: Why are there so many “Amidas” during a service?

A: There is never more than one Amida in any service.  We have three services each day, Shacharit (morning), Mincha (afternoon) and Maariv (evening).  In each of these tefilot there us a single Amida.

It is possible, however, to have more than one Amida in the morning because on Shabbat and holy days we observe two services rather than the usual one. The extra service is called Musaf. This service is in place of the extra sacrifice that used to be offered up during Temple times. The Musaf service is an entirely separate service, different from Shacharit, and therefore has its own Amida.

When to Pick a Name?

Q: Why do some Jewish folks refuse to discuss names of children before they are born?

A:  There are some who will also not set up a crib, wallpaper the babies room or even buy diapers in advance.

The actual reason why many refuse to make overt preparations for a child’s arrival is not attributable to one single source.

For the superstitious, discussing the child’s name or getting ready for the birth is tantamount to inviting disaster. Any discussion of a positive event might invite the evil eye or spirits, which might bring disaster to the anticipated event. As Joshua Trachtenberg observes, “the essential character things and of man resides in their names. Therefore, to know a name is to be privy to the secret of its owners being and a master of his fate.”

There is another, more rational, explanation for refraining from advanced planning. As one can never know the state of health or life of an unborn child, assuming that all will be well may create an extraordinarily painful time if events do not turn out as expected.  Scientific tests of ultrasound or amniocentesis are liable to be misleading. At best, they cannot foretell what will occur to the child following birth.

To make elaborate preparations for a child’s entry into the world may be creating an atmosphere that can shatter the couple’s life afterward. And empty crib can be devastating.

Bar?

Q: What do the words, bar/bat/bas/ben literally mean?

A: Bat and bas are different pronunciations of the same Hebrew word.  They mean “daughter.”  Bar means “son.”  The word bar is synonymous with the modern Hebrew equivalent “ben.” 

Some familiar terms that employ these words are:

Bar Mitzvah- son of a commandment (mitzvah)

Bar daat- knowledgable man

Ben Torah- student of Torah

Ben brit – a child of the covenant (B’nai Brith is the plural form)

Bat/bas mitzvah- Daughter of commandment