So, my wife is Jewish and says the shema daily.   And just from the cognates, I understand the first line as a direct quotation from scripture.   But, I'm trying to understand the second line, and when I've asked her for a translation... she seems to simply have the words memorized, but can't really tell me what they mean.

בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
Baruch Shem K'vod Malchuto L'olam Va'ed.

1- First off, the last two words: both "translate to 'forever'"  But, I have to assume there's unique connotation where both words are used to mean "not just one or the other, but both."

2- בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם, I get.  "Blessed is the name..."  Seems rather simple.  But I've seen a few contradictory explanations for כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ : Usually, it's "of his glorious kingdom" (implication being "all of reality").  But, another explanation was "of his royal majesty."  ... as a layman with a dictionary, both interpretations seem textually valid, but "blessed be the name of his royal majesty" seems to be a more logical response to the strong declaration of the first line than to switch focus from the creator to the creation by blessing "the name of the kingdom."   Clearly, I would agree, his kingdom should be blessed as well, but it seems awkward placing as a response to the first portion.

3- While attempting to look into this myself, one person pointed out a detail about the first line I hadn't seen elsewhere, and I'm curious if it's a common understanding.   He pointed out that the last letters in the first and last words are intentionally written slightly larger.   The ayin in שְׁמַ֖ע and the dalet in אֶחָֽד are intentionally written a bit larger on purpose, but said that was a whole different conversation and didn't go into it.   ... but I like knowing things... so... Would anyone be willing to help me understand a bit better?

thank you for your time. 

The greatest threat to Jewish people in Britain today ....

Moses died but it seemed Deuteronomy can still be written? Was there another writer apart from Moses who recorded the 2nd group of Israelites that entered Canaan? Need some answers on these. Thanks!

hos 9:10
Jer 24:3-5, :8

Can have I some enlightenment thanks

Greetings everyone,

I have already introduced myself in another topic, so I won't go in details, just the facts that will be useful to the post.

I am actually agnostic, or "deist" as some people call me. I believe in G-d (I will use this writing in here), but I don't follow any religion, for now. However, I am looking for guidance on the path to follow a religion.

It's been an inner search for months now, questionning myself what would be the "ideal" religion for me. I interested myself in the theology of the three main monotheists religions to maybe find a path.

First of all, I didn't say one thing : I am not Jewish, and nobody in my family was for generations.

And I do believe that Judaism, as I said in those terms, checked boxes in my search. I'll list them, though it won't be totally exhaustive :

- I do not believe in the Christ, therefore Christianity is... kind of a dead way. I could maybe accept him as a prophet, but I don't know if I could idolize him in any way. On top of that, the New Testament doesn't appeal to me.

- This may sound funny or childish, but if there is one religious "character" (I am sorry if this word is wrong) that I find incredible, and that I could venerate, it's Moses. His story, his relation with G-d, the Exodus... I could go on and on. I admire what he did, and reading his story and Old Testament parts about him deeply moves me. And globally, the Old Testament is a reading that I do find interesting.

- As a soon-to-be historian, the history of Jews do interest me. I come from a region in France, Moselle, where we have a big Jewish diaspora, and we hosted a lot of Jews during the WWII and helped them find home where few would give them one. We globally have a sympathy for them, and globally they thank us for this. And because I am not a closed mind, I also love Middle Eastern history in its globality.

So my questions are, and I would be very grateful for any answer on those :

- From what I said, do you think Judaism could work for me? Or does it need to be even more than that?

- I know there are many branches or "sects" in Judaism. As a newcomer and from what I said, do you know if any could work for me ? To be honest, I just reckon that there must be "Orthodox" and more liberal Judaism, but that's it. If there's different theology in it, I don't know.

I know those are general questions, and again, I deeply thank you for any answer that you would give me.

Josef

Greetings everyone,

I am Josef from France, 24 years old, and I am currently in need of religious guidance.

I think a longer introduction is needed, however I'll do a tl;dr at the end, because my life isn't the most interesting thing in the world.

I was in a dire situation most of my young life, until the age of, say, 20. It basically included health problems, family health problems, ultimately death of a parent, and financial troubles. Let's say it wasn't a good party day everyday. I was atheist back then, and a conviced one. I didn't think I would believe in god even if I lived for a thousand years.

The passing of my mother (which I discovered her religious side the day after her death, and offered her a religious burial even if I was atheist) changed that, or at least shined a spark. My atheism began to be more tolerant over the years, and I opened enough to accept the presence of a god (the formulation is chosen). It's a bit funny, but my view to religion became better and better as my life improved. Today, I am healthy, I can't complain of my life on any part, and life is good.

But six months ago, I began to actually believe. In which god or religion, I couldn't tell. As I said to my longtime girlfriend, "it's like the will to pee". You don't know how it came, but it sure did.

Anyway, I'm basically looking for a religion for some months after accepting my growing faith. However, even if I was raised in a catholic environment, I do not believe in the messianic existence of Jesus. Therefore, bad luck for christianity.

The Jewish checks a lot of boxes for what I'm looking for, but I guess that'd better be discussed in a proper subject.

TL;DR : I was a young angry atheist who clenched first at god(s). I became agnostic when life became better, but my faith is growing and I believe Judaism may be a way for me to grow religiously.

Thank you for reading,

Josef

Hello,
My name is Alejandro, I'm 30 years old and I'm from Guayaquil - Ecuador, i come from a non religious catholic family but since i was 18 i started to look for the truth which has been very difficult for me
becuase in my region there are very small comunities and they are very hard to contact so i think there's no way a can get any chance of access according to what i have experienced.
j honestly wish this text makes any sense for you in any way because all i'm trying to get is a little
guide to get close to the people of Abraham and all the belief, customs and practices that belong
to Judaism itself.

Hi guys! My name is Holly Bress. I have known for years that I come from a Jewish family on both sides. My great grandmother was a Wiseman and on my father's side his father was Polish with the name of Bress. I have been travelling throughout middle and Eastern Europe and have been visiting the synagogues. I have seen many victims with the surname Briess, which I think could have been anglicised. I feel very confused about my heritage. When visiting the synagogue in Budapest the guide told me I was definitely Jewish and welcomed me. I'm not sure if this is the place to post and I am sorry if I'm wrong. Could anybody help me discover my past?

Please help me understand in depth, Abraham's concept of one Creator at his time, and what was believed before. Even a book suggestion would be helpful too. My main confusion would be; I understand the concept of what were considered as distinct tribes with tribal deities. Was Abraham and his people in that situation where they had their own deities? Did Abraham's original concept of a Major God, include acceptance of lower deities? And was the original Abrahamic concept of a Higher God viewed as a personal tribal Deity of and for his tribe. or did he come to the conclusion right away that there was a Primary source of all creation who also created the lower deities or were they independent of the highest Creator?
PS; Since I'm new here; ask me anything. About me; Raised secular, in that no religion was spoken of, no religion was disparaged nor looked to. I'm 65, and later in life (age 31) after a parent died early from cancer. Obviously started wondering about religions. Followed by self study reading Huston Smiths The Worlds Religions, read the Torah as given in a Christian bible as the Old Testament and then the New Testament, Went inside a local Hindu Temple. Read about a third of the Quran, attended a Nine hour study of Judaism at a local liberal Jewish group in Charlotte. NC followed by one attendance at their worship service, attended Unitarian-Universalist for 7 years and was a member of the Baha'i faith which I recently removed myself from. My current and always belief is that there is a source of creation. With a laymen study of quantum physics can began to see what we are composed of and we are all connected. I'm in USA, a white man married to a African-American woman.

~Michael

Hi everyone,
My name is Tim and I am doing conversion to Orthodox Judaism. I live in UK. Anybody convert? Any experiences? Any recommendations?
Greetings.