[zook]

If it really was a 3000 year old tradition *widespread* practice in English, then I would have encountered it sometime during my 50 years on this earth prior to the last couple of years.

[adam_az]

If it really was a 3000 year old tradition *widespread* practice in English, then I would have encountered it sometime during my 50 years on this earth prior to the last couple of years.

Not 3000 years in English, since the language is not that old, but in other languages, yes, and the tradition has been brought forward into use in other languages.

I can't explain why you've only encountered it for the last few years. I can tell you I've seen it since childhood for the last nearly 30 years, but then, I'm Jewish. If you don't spend aany time reading Jewish religious literature (which of course most Goyim do not, much as I don't spend time following Hindu or Catholic literature) then you probably wouldn't encounter it in 50 years or 500 years.

[rwfromkansas]

Are you Jewish or have you read Jewish theology?

If not, there is nothing weird about that.

I only started seeing it online also, but that is because quite frankly, I do not know a single Jew I have met. I wonder if there are any in my town even sometimes.