Fashion

[yesUR]

I just tried to respond to you but, apparently, QVC decided to close the commenting period on that thread. I have tried to copy our exchange from that thread, but don't know if all this cutting and pasting will work. . . . .

Madisson05/18/2012 at 4:49 PM1110 PostsRegistered 10/13/2011Overlooking the city lights in CA

On 5/18/2012Madissonsaid:

You might call a Hindu temple and ask them yourself what is appropriate.

Judaism is both a religion and an ethnic group,so your cousin is of half Jewish ethnicity, but he has no doubt adopted one or the other belief system by now. Or maybe he is agnostic.

We have similar situations in my family. I honestly see no problem with your wearing a dressy pantsuit, but I have called both Jewish and Buddhist temples in the past and asked questions when I was unsure of how to handle situations. It's a great learning experience.

On 5/18/2012 YesUR said:

Madisson, are you Jewish that you feel you can make a blanket statement that Judaism is an "ethnic group?" In fact, Judaism is comprised of distinct ethnic groups, but that does not make the entire group an ethnicity.

In actuality,Jews are NOT an ethnicity. Jews have been regarded as such as a result of the historical segregation, persecution, and slaughter by those who would consider themselves superior. Unfortunately, this idea that they are an ethnic group carries over into today.

I only bring this up so that people are not offended.

ETA: To respond to the OP's question, I would agree with morning lover that if there wasn't a specific dress code stated, and if your cousin or his bride-to-be have not suggested a particular type of dress, that what you have in mind to wear is lovely for a Sunday morning wedding.

Last edited on 5/18/2012

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On 5/18/2012 Madisson said:

YesUR,

I think you are confusing race and ethnicity. An ethnic group doesn't have to have anything to do with race.Here is a little part of an article that may help:

This is from jewishfaq.org.

It a Culture or Ethnic Group?

Most secular American Jews think of their Jewishness as a matter of culture or ethnicity. When they think of Jewish culture, they think of thefood, of theYiddishlanguage, of some limitedholidayobservances, and of cultural values like the emphasis on education.

Here is another part of the article:

What Is Judaism?

Level: Basic

• Judaism has been described as a religion, a race, a culture, and a nation
• All of these descriptions have some validity
• The Jewish people are best described as an extended family

What is Judaism? What does it mean to be a Jew? Most people, both Jewish and gentile, would instinctively say that Judaism is a religion. And yet, there are militant atheists who insist that they are Jews! Is Judaism a race? If you were to say so, most Jews would think you were an antisemite! So what is Judaism?

Am I Jewish:

No, I am not Jewish, but yes I am qualified to know what I am talking about. I have done research in this area, have written and published professionally in this area (multiculturalism), have spoken professionally at national meetings about this, and have a brother who converted to Judaism.

Last edited on 5/18/2012

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Madisson, here is my response:

No, I am not confusing race with ethnicity, but I am confused by a discrepancy with these two terms in your posts. In your original post, you state, “Judaism is both a religion and an ethnic group", yet in your response to me, you go on to quote a source that says,“Judaism has been described as a religion, a race, a culture, and a nation.”

Nevertheless, I’m not interested in getting into a debate with you about the definition of ethnicity as there happens to be much debate today as to how these terms are defined and relate to each other, and that debate is best left for the social scientists. In fact, many sociologists today have decided to replace the word "race" with the word "ethnicity" to refer to particular groups of people who share culture, ancestry, history, and physical characteristics, all of which significantly differentiate themselves from other groups.

Going back to my remark about being careful not to make the blanket generalization that “Judaism is an ethnic group”, to reiterate and hopefully clarify my point, Judaism includes MANY ethnic groups whose beliefs, practices, and traditions are, in some cases, so different from each other that one of these groups, believe it or not, will not even regard the other as being “legitimately Jewish.”

To give an example, Sephardic Jews and Ashkenazic Jews (both are Jewish groups in the U.S.) illustrate the point of how different two Jewish groups can be in ethnicity. They have different languages (the Yiddish language, which many people erroneously think of as the language of Judaism, is really the language of Ashkenazic Jews. Sephardic Jews have their own language, Ladino, which is based on Spanish and Hebrew in the same way that Yiddish is based on German and Hebrew), different interpretations of Jewish law, different prayer services, different holiday customs, different rituals, and very different traditional foods.

So once again, by virtue of the fact that there are so many different ethnicities within Judaism, some as different as night and day, your statement that “Judaism is an ethnic group” is a blanket generalization that is essentially flawed IMO.

Obviously, our opinions differ, but I thank you for an interesting discussion.