[Red Sea Swimmer]

Thou shalt not sing bad songs in the shower...

[Nachum]

Notice that he said in Hebrew-

But in Arabic is another thing entirely!

[cripplecreek]

Did he mention fiddles and roofs?

[Maceman]

If God didn't want us to sing in the shower, He wouldn't have made the accoustics so good.

"To hum without a word in Hebrew crossing your mind is acceptable," he said.

So I guess that means its OK to sing "Born to be Wild" in English, then. Works for me.

[FoxInSocks]

"To hum without a word in Hebrew crossing your mind is acceptable," he said.

Don't think of an elephant!

[MistrX]

Singing in the bathtub
Singing all alone
Tearing out a tonsil
Just like a baritone
Never take a shower
It's an awful pain
Singing in the shower's
Like singing in the rain

[Mr. Mojo]

How about singing on the can?

[clee1]

Just damn!

This is almost as bad as "Ask the Immam".

[FreeKeys]

None of the Jews I know give a damn what their OWN rabbi says, let alone this goofball.

When so many in your culture teach your kids to think for themselves, wuddya expect anyway?

[k2blader]

Good grief. This is definitely extreme.

[Rennes Templar]

My wife will support this 100%.

[SWAMPSNIPER]

What if You sing in French?

[Wilhelm Tell]

The good Rabbi might be a little strict, but that is better than some pro-gay churches that give their blessing to certain extreme behavior in public restrooms.

[OhioAttorney]

Rabbi Eliahu explained that the Hebrew language, holy to the Jewish religion, was not to be sullied by use in a bathroom[.]

Bizarre! Wouldn't the same logic apply to speaking Hebrew in the shower? (What does "singing" have to do with it?) Shouldn't this mean that observant Jews can't say "How are you?" or "Please hand me that towel" in Hebrew while they're in the shower room -- they have to speak some other language (English or Yiddish or something; maybe Ladino, since this guy is Sephardic) the whole time they're in there?

What is it about a shower that's supposed to be so sullying, anyway? I go there to get clean, not to get dirty.

[Mr Ramsbotham]

One of the main reasons I've never tried to convert to Judaism. Lots of truth there, but lots of mindless, irrational dogma too.

[Jim_Curtis]

I remember hearing a Dennis Prager show once where he explained the concept of some old testament religious instructions.

Many of these things seem silly on the surface but they have a purpose, such as: Not wearing linen with animal skin. I believe that was one thing. That reinforces a "non-mixer" standard within the follower so that if the follower is instructed to obey this, he/she surely won't stray and mix other things that might be worse.

This new order actually makes sense in that perspective. Wouldn't Hebrew text instruct followers to sing unto God? If you are in the shower, naked, cleaning dirt off yourself, it seems to me that that wouldn't be appropriate considering that Jews wear those yamulkes on their heads to not show a naked head to God.

I think a Christian would most likely believe that if Jesus was asked about this that he would approve of singing in the shower and the louder and more joyous, the better.

[ccmay]

"To hum without a word in Hebrew crossing your mind is acceptable," he said.

That would exclude a lot of English words of Hebrew origin, then.

• abacus
  probably from ??? abaq (="dust")
• amen 
  from ??? amen (="so be it; truly")
• Ashkenazi 
  from ?????? ashkenazi (="German")
• bar mitzvah
  from ?? ????? bar mitzvah (="son of (the) commandment")
• behemoth 
  from ????? behemot (="beasts")
• Bethlehem, bedlam 
  from ??? ??? bet lehem (="house of bread")
• bris 
  from ???? brit via Yiddish (="covenant (of circumcision)")
• cherub, cherubim 
  from ???? kherub, ?????? kherubim
• golem 
  from ???? golem (="unformed, incomplete")
• Hallelujah 
  from ?????? haleluyah (="(let us) praise God")
• Israel 
  from ????? yisrael
• Jerusalem 
  
• from ??????? yerushalayim
• jubilee 
  from ???? yovel (="ram's horn")
• kibbutz 
  from ????? kibutz (="gathering")
• kippah 
  from ???? kippah
• kosher 
  from ??? kasher (="right")
• leviathan 
  from ????? livyatan (="sea monster")
• Messiah 
  from ???? mashiah (="anointed")
• mohel 
  from ???? mohel via Yiddish
• rabbi 
  from ??? ravi (="my master")
• Satan 
  from ??? satan (="adversary")
• schwa 
  from ???? sheva "?"
• Sephardi 
  from ????? sefardi (="Spaniard")
• seraph, seraphim 
  from ??? seraf, ????? serafim
• shibboleth 
  from ?????? shibolet (="ear of wheat")
• cider 
  akin to ??? shekar (="intoxicating liquor")
• cinnamon 
  akin to ?????? kinamon
• camel 
  akin to ??? gamal
• sapphire 
  akin to ???? sapir

-ccm