Elijah's Cup and Elijah in a Box

The story of Elijah is important to the Passover holiday in many ways. First, because the story of Elijah's coming is the first signal to the Messiah's coming. Second, Elijah's cup of wine provides another important ritual aspect to the Passover ceremony. Finally, it is a way for children to be involved with the holiday. Elijah is a prophet of the Torah and is thought to be the first sign of the Messiah's arrival. This biblical tale is said to have become part of the Passover ceremony because of a disagreement of how many glasses of wine should be drunk during the Seder. "As a compromise, they [the rabbis] put an empty glass on the table...they decided, since the prophet Elijah will solve all problems when he comes, to leave the final decision up to him. Soon, they began to fill the empty glass with wine, hoping to lure Elijah and thus hasten the arrival of the Messiah" (Chaikin, 40). Thus is the legend of how Elijah's cup came to be. Children are involved in this ceremony because they open the door in hopes of letting Elijah in; "there is a legend that Elijah appears at every Seder and sips some wine from the cup reserved for him. If the children are very observant they may notice that after the door is closed, there is a little less wine in Elijah's cup" (ed. David Schwartz, 27). This ritual is a fun thing for Jewish children to participate in and it is way for them to be taught the stories of the bible.  

While scrolling through Facebook, I saw this picture and immediately thought it was hysterical. My non- religious studies major/ non-Jewish friends did not see the humor in this. The Elijah in a Box is a perfect example of someone turning ritual in to something that could be considered sacrilegious. It is also a great example of ritual being taken to the mainstream. I found this fake advertisement to be extremely clever. First, because the person who made it clearly knew and understood the legend of Elijah. Second, the fact that it is $18 is also significant. In Hebrew every letter as a numerical value associated with it. The Hebrew word Chai  means life, and its numeric value is 18. Elijah is supposed to bring about a better life for everyone on Earth. I think the Elijah in a Box advertisement is an extremely clever way of taking an older tradition and putting it into a modern context.






Sources:
Chaikin, Miriam. The Story and Meaning of Passover: Ask Another Question. New York: Clarion Books, 1985.
Schwartz, David (ed). Haggadah for Passover. Chicago: Nisan 5776, 2016

Jesus t-shirt

What you are wearing says a lot about you. Wearing a crucifix or Star of David necklace signifies that you are Christian or Jewish. When one attends an academic conference one must wear business or business casual type clothing. Unbeknownst to me it is appropriate to change into casual clothes for drinks at a reception. While wandering around said reception I saw the distinguished religious studies scholar who happened to be the chair of the undergraduate section, and he was wearing this t-shirt. At first I could not make out what was on the shirt and then I was shocked and confused to see nothing else but a picture of Jesus riding a dinosaur on this gentleman's shirt. Aside from the image itself being striking this scholar was wearing at a religious studies conference.

I asked him if the shirt was a logo for a band or something of that nature and he said something along the lines of nope, just Jesus riding a dinosaur. I do not think that the professor wearing this shirt was necessarily trying to make a religious or political statement. I think he found humor in the image (academics, myself included, tend to have very interesting senses of humor).

But t-shirts can and have been used to spread messages or make a social commentary. Think of the current election and people wearing shirts supporting Bernie Sanders or Trump. These shirts often have witty catch phrases or striking images on them and they are clearly worn to make a statement. Religious groups also produce t-shirts that followers can wear. I have seen shirts that say Jesus saves on them. If you see someone in this type of shirt you are very aware that they are trying to spread some sort of religious message.

I am also sure that shirts can offend people. It would not shock me if someone somewhere was offended by the Jesus riding a dinosaur t-shirt. T-shirts with faith proclamations on them can make people not of that faith tradition very uncomfortable. People judge others based on what they are wearing. A Trump supporter will judge a Sanders supporter if they are wearing a shirt with Sanders face on it. The clothing we wear sends a message to those around us. Some times that message is as simple as someone finding humor in an image of Jesus riding a dinosaur.  

   

Ephrata Cloister Cemetery

Cemeteries are considered to be hallowed and sacred ground. They are often owned or run by a church or religious group. The Ephrata Cloister is no different. The Ephrata cloister was once a religious compound under the guidance of Conrad Beissel. Now it is a museum and historical site because the religious group has long since died out. Among original buildings and recreations there is a small cemetery. In the cemetery there are graves of important leaders from the religious community and followers of Conrad Beissel. There are also graves of revolutionary war soldiers. These graves are important to a myth that was told during the tour from the 1970s to the 1990s. Thankfully this myth has been corrected in the tour that was revamped in the 2000s.

In the early version of the tour the story was told that there were hundreds of soldiers from Washington’s army who were brought to the hospital at the Cloister. The tour guide made it seem like these men were taken out of the heat of battle to the hospital. The legend then concludes with over 250 of the men dying while at the Cloister hospital.  

Fast forward to the current tour. Through a large amount of research it became clear that the story told on the older version of the tour was highly exaggerated. It is true that the Cloister did have a hospital during the Revolutionary War. It is also true that some soldiers were taken to this hospital. But they were taken there because the field hospitals were too full to hold soldiers who were sick. There were probably around 200 men in total taken to this hospital but only 60 died at the Cloister. These men did not die from battle wounds but from infection, most likely typhus.

The grave markers of these soldiers can still be seen at the Ephrata Cloister. These headstones are more than just a memorial to the dead; they are a connection to an interesting urban legend which has been passed down and correct throughout the tours of the Cloister.       

Endless Knots

Endless knots, like the one pictured above, are something we automatically link to the People’s Republic of China. After visiting China I can attest to the link of this symbol with China. I noticed them everywhere. They are traditionally a Buddhist symbol. The knot (not the tassel) has no beginning or end it shows the endless compassion of the Buddhists and the wisdom of Buddha.  It can also show the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth or the cycle of suffering. It might depend on what culture or demographic you are looking at or even the individualistic perspective on it.

  I saw these knots all over China not just in Buddhist temples. I saw them in Methodist churches, catholic churches, the YMCA, and even a local McDonalds. This brings up the question if they are strictly Buddhist. I asked a friend whom I met in China that was going to school at a Methodist Seminary in China. She said that her seminary in particular displays the endless knot for other reasons. They love the idea of the endlessness that the knot has and they adopted it into their own “doctrine”. They, as seminary students, see it as an endless connection with God and an endless life of serving him. This shows that a material object in one religion can be taken and used in many different ways. It reminds me of the chapter on the office as a religious space in Sensational Religion. It is a non-traditional religious space but to some people they might have time to pray, read scripture, or mediate in their office, which can make it religious. This also makes me think about all the families that have pictures of Jesus on their wall at home but are not religious. My roommate has a picture of Jesus in her house but neither her nor her parents are religious. I asked her mom why they display such a religious picture so proudly if they are not religious. She said even though they do not fully believe in a religion they can see how some people may and they want to foster the same values that religion does in their family so it is s gentle reminder to be living up to their family values. 

The story of my roommates mom and the endless knot shows how material religion is individualistic and doesn’t always have to be rooted in distinct religion. It can just be a moral compass to a family. It also shows how material religious objects can over lap into different religions.

This knot in particular I saw in my friend’s car while we were driving to a local market in Wyomissing. I also have one of these knots in my car. But to see my friend have one I was very curious. To me it has significant meaning. It reminds me of the time where I fully felt like I was independent. I was newly 16 and I was traveling out of the country for the first time. My parents did not come with me and I didn’t know any of the people I was going with until I met them at the Philadelphia airport. To me my endless knots are sacred but to my friend they are an interesting work of art. She told me that she got hers in Chinatown in Philadelphia. Most things in Chinatown are authentic but she did not having an emotional connection to her endless knot like I did.

Praying Bunny

Easter is an inherently religious holiday, however, it has become increasingly celebrated in secular ways in America. In America (whether known to most or not) Protestant tradition and morality organize society to its core. The Americanization and in turn the secularization of religious holidays and traditions can be seen during many holidays; Easter being one of the main ones. Bunnies, chocolate, and jellybeans have nothing to do with the religious Easter. The legend of the Easter bunny has no connection to the resurrection of Jesus, which is what the religious holiday is

 

celebrating. Yet objects like this praying bunny are produced and marketed during the Easter season.

            This bunny causes me to ask many questions such as: Is this bunny an attempt to make the secular Easter bunny religious? Is it sold at a Christian bookstore? If it is sold in mainstream stores such as Hallmark is the object secular or religious? This bunny is an anomaly to me. It is a strange mix of secular and religious.

            I am not sure exactly where this bunny was bought. I am assuming it was put in an Easter basket for me from my childhood. I assume it is from a mainstream store because my family never shopped at a Christian bookstore. I also assume it was bought for me because it is cute, not because it perpetuates a religious message. Object like these are secular objects but try to create a religious message or connection.  

Ephrata Cloister Gift Shop

This is the gift shop for the Historic site of the Ephrata Cloister. The gift shop contains many things that are associated with the community. The community was a very different environment, and not easily explained. Much of the stuff in the gift store reflects the old fashioned nature of the community, but it goes much deeper than that.  The story behind this unique site is a complicated mixture of religion and history, which is reflected by the products of the gift shop. There are the more practical items that would have been found in the village such as plates, wooden bowls, and other small kitchen tools.

 There are also embroidered cards and woven items, along with homemade soap and natural honey. It has a very quaint feel to it. There is little on the religious part of the village, except traces of it an be seen through various objects that do not come off as openly religious. One of the only items I found distinctly associated with faith was the certificate of Baptism. 

These figures show what the brothers and sisters of the cloister used to wear, as they are in white, hooded robes. These look like homemade figures in odd clothing, but the reason behind them is that the congregates wore the robes in order to cover/hide their figures, as they were celibate, and did not want to draw attention to their bodies. Everything they did was for modesty and humility. They wanted the focus to be on the eternal, not the present, so they tried to focus on God and not the needs of the human body. Out of this desire for a different way of life, they did not sleep or eat much either. 

They had one meal a day, and about six hour of sleep.  The wooden pillow was used as a way of not letting the brothers and sisters get into too deep of a sleep. That way they could get up easier for the late night prayer and worship, and the early morning work. They also believed deep sleep left them more vulnerable to the devil, so they wanted to be somewhat alert, even in their sleep. They also believed Jesus might come back for them in the middle of the night, and did not want to miss His arrival.

Here are the ordinary looking, locally influenced books, since Ephrata is near Lancaster. There are books on the Amish, and the local attractions, along with kids books and other tourist looking items. There are even stuffed animals for children, but this can be explained by the fact that this reserve is one of the largest preservations of natural land and wildlife in the area.  

                                                                                                 

Another very interesting item sold in the shop is the German calligraphy inspired by the unique art the cloister made and produced. This specific kind of German calligraphy was named frakturschriften.  The cloister produced beautiful art, and music, as one of their main activities and jobs. They then published it using their publishing house, which was equipped with a paper mill, printing press, and book binding area. They used this area to publish the music written and produced by the brothers and sisters in the community as well. Though their music is religious, the art is historical and not religiously based, yet the music can still be appreciated for its unique use of a four part harmony, and boycott on formal instruments.   

Most of the things found in the store are not blatantly religious, due to the fact that it is looked at more as a historic site, and not for its religious history. The religious side is incorporated more so in recent years, because it explains the story much better, but an area as mundane as the gift shop holds more common items for sale rather than sacred. The unique aspect of the gift shop is that it carries many locally made items, rather than mass produced trinkets. Even the atmosphere is noticeably different in the gift shop; it gives an instant feel of small and quaint. After all, what a shop contains makes up the character and feel of the shop.  Ironically, in comparison to the items in a church gift shop being associated immediately with religion, the items in this gift shop I assocaiteed automatically with the historical background of the site. Even if not everything in the store is historical, it seems to get associated because of the environment, just as a church gift shop may not have all religious items, but it is assumed by association. 

Palm Sunday

Palm Sunday is the Sunday before Easter, and is celebrated in Catholic and Protestant churches. Palm Sunday is the start of Holy week and is followed by Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday. It is celebrated due to it being the day Jesus is said to have come into Jerusalem. He was received happily by the crowds as they waved palm braches at Him, then just a week later, a similar crowd was there for His crucifixion. This leads to the three days He was said to be in the tomb, and on the third (Easter) rose from the dead. Easter also marks the ending of the lent season.  

The palms from Palm Sunday are what gets burned and used for the following year's Ash Wednesday, upon which people get ashes in the shapes of crosses on their foreheads as seen in a previous blog post. Depending on the church and denomination, there are different songs, objects, and symbols used to commemorate palm Sunday. In protestant churches, less ritual objects and songs are used. Some denominations that are more closely structured to Catholicism, such as Lutheran, incorporate much of the same hymns, robes, and other religious reminders of the day and its history. A protestant service, like the one I attended and received this palm at, are not traditional or identical. The services are different every year, and things are done in remembrance, but not ritual. I do not feel either is better or worse, just different. Both hold significance, purpose, and meaning to those attending for their own personal reason. 

Though the palm is said to be used centuries ago, now the palm is given as a reminder to those that attend church on Palm Sunday. It is not used during the service or in any particular way; it is just a physical thing to hold and think of what it symbolizes. Having an object, even though it is not the exact object used centuries ago, still provides a sort of connection to that time, place, and emotion. Another interesting thing about the palm as a religious object is that it is not something you buy to have, use, or display, but rather is purchased in bulk by the church, and given away at no cost. Though it is disposable, and virtually worthless, it still individually can hold much meaning to the person receiving it, even though it is exactly like the hundreds or thousands the church gave out that day. It is an example of the value not being in the monetary worth, but rather in the sentiment and what is being commemorated.  

Hamantashen

Hamantashen is a type of cookie made for the Jewish Holiday Purim. Purim is the Holiday related to the story of Esther, and the cookies are seemingly named and symbolically based off of the character, Haman, from the story.  Some say they are shaped like his hat, which seems odd that there would be cookies symbolizing the bad guy in the story, but this was something that progressed over time, and was not the original symbolism. According to Chabad.org, a site all about different Jewish holidays, where recipes and other helpful things can be found, the cookies were originally called mohntashen, meaning poppy seed pockets. Somehow through the generations this turned into hamantashen, because it seemed to make more sense with the story. The meaning the site gives to the cookie's shape and design is that the outside of the cookie seems ordinary, while the inside holds something sweet and delightful. This is compared to the story in the way that Esther was an ordinary girl on the outside, and through different ordinary things, came an extraordinary result for many Jews. The three outside corners look ordinary, but connect and hold inside something great, which is much like the different happenings that make up Esther's story, and the meaning of the Purim holiday.  

 The cookies are made and put into Purim baskets, which are sent around for the Holiday. The baskets can also be called Mishbach Manos, meaning sending of portions. This holiday is very festive with costumes, plays, food, drink,  and all kinds of celebrations in honor of Esther's story of triumph for the Jews. Shortly after Purim, comes Passover, which is somber, and requires fasting and other disciplines. It seems similar to Mardi Gras, being a huge celebration right before the Lent season starts.  

The cookie is usually filled with fruit, or something else sweet, depending on what is the preference of the baker. Jam or preserves are the traditional thing to put in the cookie, but if you are Doctor Mehta, you prefer another type of filling, other than the fruity kind.  The cookie I got to try was given to me by her, and filled with peanut butter since the friend that made her them knew she does not like preserves. The cookie was really tasty, having a chocolate type of cookie with peanut butter in the pocket as the filling. The cookie was also vegan, since her friend is a vegan. She received this in a Purim basket, which is common for friends and family to send around. It reminds me of how people make Christmas cookies and send them around at Christmas time. As with Christmas cookies, there are different kinds and flavors depending on your personal preference. Hamantashen all have the same shape in common though the fillings and flavors vary. Purim is like most religious and non religious holidays in the way that people celebrate with food, baking treats, and sending those treats to others. 

Work Cited: Moss, Aron. "The Secret of the Hamantash." - Purim. Chabad.org. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.