Tag Archives: religious

Parable

Nationality: American
Residence: IL
Performance Date: 11 April 2011
Primary Language: English

“There’s a story about a man who goes into synagogue in a small Ashkenazic town [in Germany, along the Rhine] in the 18th or 19th century.  He’s there for Yom Kippur, which is the most important holy day of the Jewish year. (Well, that’s an oversimplification, but go with it.)  Yom Kippur is a day where we pray to repent of all our sins and have a fresh slate for the New Year, to become better people.  We pray, significantly, for G-d to grant forgiveness, so that we may move on.  This man walks into the synagogue, and he starts saying his alef bet (ABC’s in Hebrew–this would have been before the Reform movement, when you couldn’t go to a synagogue that prayed in the vernacular, it was all in Hebrew or Aramaic).  Some people around him start to complain, to ask what he is doing.  The rabbi comes and asks him what he is doing.  He says, “The only thing I know in Hebrew is the alef bet.  I thought I would offer that to G-d as my sincere prayer of repentance.”  The rabbi told the congregants, “G-d is more likely to hear every letter that sincerely comes out of his mouth than all of the prayers said by people without true intent.”

Leslee grew up in a Jewish community in Kansas, and when talking about her the folklore of her  culture, she said “Most Jewish folklore has been published, largely because, when you’ve never been a majority culture, and the majority cultures have consistently tried to eradicate you, and you base your culture on a notion of being “people of the book”, you write stuff down…ask any Ashkenazi Jew how far they can trace back their family: the people who can do it more than two generations are the super lucky (and rare) ones.”

Accordingly, this story emphasizes the importance, not necessarily of words themselves, but of the intent behind them, and (as Leslee says) the way language is used to preserve culture. The man in the story does not have the words he needs, so he uses the words that he has and that rings truer for the rabbi than any thoughtless recitations from people who had been schooled in the language and customs. It’s a pretty great reminder to people of all religions that their rituals have meaning and purpose that is largely drawn from the faith that drives them.

I found another version of this story which supposedly occurred in a Jewish community in Kiev during perestroika. The setting is Yom Kippur, 1987, and the story explains that it was the first Yom Kippur in decades where Jews have been allowed to practice openly, and that the service was not going well. People were uncertain of how to pray together and were growing bored. Finally, the rabbi tells a version of the parable above (set in Poland) where the protagonist is not an adult man, but is instead a shepherd boy who does not know the prayers and cannot read, but very much wants to pray, so he recites the alef bet to the best of his ability and asks G-d to understand. Moved by this story, the people recited the alef bet as a whole and then exited the synagogue. I find this version very poignant because it demonstrates the effect that folklore can have on a community, helping them to retain their identity in the face of opposition and strife, and serving as a reminder that the universal tie that connects all of them is not necessarily ritual, but faith; and this piece of folklore is indicative of the strength of that faith- a faith which has allowed “a minority culture” to survive and thrive throughout the centuries and on into the future.

The version of the legend that I cited can be found here: http://www.ascentofsafed.com/cgi-bin/ascent.cgi?Name=567-02

Chinese Religious Folk Practice – Calling the Soul

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 54
Occupation: Retired Banker
Residence: DeXing E. Rd. Lane 331 #28 7FL, Taipei, Taiwan
Performance Date: 3/18/2011
Primary Language: Chinese
Language: English

This folk practice was collected from my Father. My father was born as a farmer’s son into a veteran’s family in Taipei, Taiwan. His father and mother ran away from China to Taipei during the Chinese Civil War. Many of his cultural practices and beliefs are taken from mainland Chinese culture. Because of his background, he is considered a “mainlander” in Taiwan (Chinese in Taiwan are divided into Mainland Chinese, Taiwanese or indigenous). My father graduated from Iowa University with an MBA. His B.A was obtained in Taiwan.

When we were having our regular telephone session, he told me the following recollection on the phone in Chinese when we were talking about a few strange police cases in the past:

(This is not a direct transcription or translation. It’s based off what I remember him saying)

” When a man dies or goes missing in the mountains or river, and the police can’t find his corpse, they’ll always resort to calling his spirit as part of the investigation, like a sort of last resort. The police will take a taoist sorcerer and the missing man’s family, along with some of his possessions such as clothes, into the mountains or river; anywhere, closest to where the man went missing. The Taoist sorcerer will then perform a ritual and ask the family to call out the man’s name while holding out his clothes;  this practice is called the “calling of the soul”…. The family usually continues this “calling of the soul” until the body is found. And usually, right after this ritual is performed, the missing man’s corpse will actually appear or the police will find the corpse somewhere in the next few days. You might think I’m joking, but I’m not. Many cases have been solved in this fashion! You see it on the news all the time.”

When I asked my father the significance of this practice, he said:

“There is a traditional Chinese belief that a person’s soul stays on earth for a week before it leaves. The police ask the taoist sorcerer and the family members of the deceased to perform this ritual because the police have faith in this belief.”

I believe my father is quite right in the significance of this practice. The police and the people involved truly believe in this folk practice and they actually perform the “calling of the soul” as a last resort, after all the help that modern science and technology can give, to find the body of the deceased/missing family member. While I am not in any place to judge whether or not the folk practice of calling the soul or this folk belief is true or not, the fact stands that it has worked before, which furthers the belief in this tradition. Moreover, the idea of this practice appearing on the news as something legitimate the police do reveals the deep-set beliefs in the supernatural and the particular idea about the afterlife that Chinese culture have. This item also shows that despite the modernization of China and Taiwan, there still remains a heavy belief in the supernatural superstitions, practices and beliefs that were passed down generation to generation.

Custom – Oregon

Nationality: Colombian
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Portland, OR
Performance Date: April 18, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

The Unspoken Rule: no Hats in Church

It is unacceptable for anyone to wear a hat, or any type of head covering such as a hood or cloak, in church.  Upon entering, all head coverings must be removed.

My friend Alex told me this idea, much to my surprise.  I had been raised in church, attending a Christian preschool, elementary school, middle school, and junior high.  I had gone to church nearly every Sunday since I was born.  And yet, I had never heard of this rule.

Alex, born and raised in Portland, Oregon is Catholic.  She was raised Catholic by her mother, though her father was a staunch atheist.  While she learned this tradition from her mother when she was very young, she is confident that this tradition has much deeper roots, probably related to those of the Catholic church.  She explains how anything that covers the head is a symbol of the individual’s lack of openness with God.  By covering his head, the individual, whether by conscious decision or ignorance, seeks to hide his heart from God.  While God is able to see through all human barriers, He frowns upon those who try to hide their utmost thoughts from them.  For this reason, when one is entering the presence of God by entering His church, one must first remove these symbols of secrecy.

While I can see the symbolism, it also could be related to the odd rules of etiquette concerning hats.  In some circles, hats or other head coverings are frowned upon when eating dinner, conducting business, or during other formal affairs.  The removal of a hat was a gesture of politeness; men were obligated to remove their hats when they saw a woman or other individual of great importance.  This practice is thoroughly documented on page thirty-four of Maija Jansson’s article “The Hat is no Expression of Honor,” published in Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, Vol. 133, No. 1.  Still, this removal of one’s hat as a symbol of politeness is not universally accepted.  In many circles, especially among the younger population, hats are increasingly becoming a standard accessory.  It is for this reason perhaps that my church, a large Foursquare church in Hermosa Beach, made no requests regarding headwear, while Alex’s traditional Catholic church did.