Have you had to learn a language to participate in a religion?

[Onkara]

Have you (or someone you know) ever had to face a new language in your religion of choice, such as having to learn a whole new language in order to participate?

I am curious of your experiences.

For example, did you have to stop with that religion or did you become more committed to it instead? Did you learn a language or just accept you may not understand?

 

[JacobEzra.]

I had to learn Hebrew to participate in services and read the siddur. Though not fluently as if one would if they lived in Israel. But enough to sit and read outloud.


It was fairly easy

 

[Onkara]

I had to learn Hebrew to participate in services and read the siddur. Though not fluently as if one would if they lived in Israel. But enough to sit and read outloud.


It was fairly easy

Hi Jacob
May I ask, did you change your religion to Catholic (as per your profile) or was the Hebrew and siddur a part of a separate study? I wonder if your change was influenced in any way by language if so?

 

[JacobEzra.]

Hi Jacob
May I ask, did you change your religion to Catholic (as per your profile) or was the Hebrew and siddur a part of a separate study? I wonder if your change was influenced in any way by language if so?

I practiced Judaism. Hebrew and Siddur was a part of everyday. The change had nothing to do with the influence of learning Hebrew.

 

[Onkara]

I practiced Judaism. Hebrew and Siddur was a part of everyday. The change had nothing to do with the influence of learning Hebrew.

Was the effort of learning Hebrew to be able to participate worth it? Would you have done anything differently looking back (regarding language)?

 

[JacobEzra.]

Was the effort of learning Hebrew to be able to participate worth it? Would you have done anything differently looking back (regarding language)?

Oh. Yeah it was worth it. I still love Judaism. I am not sure I would do anything differently though.

 

[Onkara]

Thanks for the helpful answers, Jacob

 

[SageTree]

Other than the ambiguity of 'language' I think I know what you mean


I'd say that 'yes'.

That willingness to engage in learning languages has helped me understand better.

I'm not fluent, but I'm often shocked at how much I've actually picked up, especially in the Sansrit department.

I often LoLz to myself when I read about Zen/In all the countries that 'have' a 'Zen' school...
It's like... WELL! Here we go, reading about the same 'thing' w/ different labels.
The names of Bodhisattvas come to mind mainly, as well as concepts names.

 

[Bob Dixon]

I think that if I've to learn a language to practice a religion, that religion isn't for me.

There are certain useful things learning a language could do, though! It can really help you understand the religion, that's for sure.

 

[Jainarayan]

Have you (or someone you know) ever had to face a new language in your religion of choice, such as having to learn a whole new language in order to participate?

No, learning the language(s) was my choice.

When I was Eastern Orthodox Christian, I picked up some Russian and Greek. But the churches I attended are in the US and use English, with only a few smatterings of Russian and/or Greek.

I'm not fluent, but I'm often shocked at how much I've actually picked up, especially in the Sansrit department.

My Sanskrit sucks, but it's getting better. I'm beginning to get the pronunciation subtleties down better. I just can't read it or speak it. However, I understand how Sanskrit works, and how it inflects; just like Latin, Greek, Russian and other highly inflected languages.

For example, the "ya" ending in Shivaya, Narayanaya, Krishnaya is the dative meaning "to Shiva", to "Narayana", "to Krishna". The feminine adds an /i/... Durgayai, Kalikayai, Saraswatiyai. I'd like to learn it fully, especially to read devanagari.

J. Robert Oppenheimer, of the Mahattan Project and Trinity blast fame, taught himself Sanskrit and read the Bhagavad Gita in the original Sanskrit. After the Trinity test he quoted the Bhagavad Gita 11.32 "...Time I am, the great destroyer of the worlds, and I have come here to destroy all people. ..." but he translated it as "Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds".

Now I'm showing off.

 

[darkstar]

Though not a necessity, it has helped greatly to understand some of the Germanic languages and Gaelic in my religious views. I don't speak any of the languages with any proficiency yet, but I'm learning.

 

[Tarheeler]

Have you (or someone you know) ever had to face a new language in your religion of choice, such as having to learn a whole new language in order to participate?

I am curious of your experiences.

For example, did you have to stop with that religion or did you become more committed to it instead? Did you learn a language or just accept you may not understand?

I'm learning Hebrew, although I wouldn't say it is required; the siddur has both a translation and a transliteration. But it is very helpful, and it helps me to feel connected with both the community and the rituals.

When I come across something I don't understand, I ask either the rabbi (that is part of his job, after all) or someone who is knowledgeable in Hebrew.

I started the conversion process knowing full well that I was going to learn Hebrew. It definitely wasn't a deterrent.

 

[Bob Dixon]

Nowadays, it's great. There are a lot of people to ask and the internet is a brilliant source, too. Language isn't a barrier.

 

[Flankerl]

Normally i should say hebrew but to be honest russian plays a much bigger role in the community since most of the members are from the former soviet union and dont speak any hebrew and well rather bad german.

So you pick up a bit russian just naturally.

 

[Biblestudent_007]

Have you had to learn a language to participate in a religion?

I would have to learn Slavonic,Latin,Greek or Russian to properly understand the Liturgy being offered.

 

[Levite]

Have you (or someone you know) ever had to face a new language in your religion of choice, such as having to learn a whole new language in order to participate?

I am curious of your experiences.

For example, did you have to stop with that religion or did you become more committed to it instead? Did you learn a language or just accept you may not understand?

Well, I grew up with pretty good Hebrew education, so I don't know that I've had to learn a whole new language in that sense to participate. But definitely when I became interested in serious Talmud study and in Kabbalah, I did have to go and learn Aramaic, which was new. Although it's close enough to Hebrew that it wasn't that hard to pick up at all.

But I have certainly known a number of Jews who lacked a good Hebrew education, and they all had in common a feeling of frustration at not being able to engage with Jewish text at the level to which they desired doing so, since it was in a language in which they were far from fluent.

 

[Splarnst]

No. But my knowledge of Latin from college helped when I attended Latin Mass in my early twenties.

 

[Gaura Priya]

Becoming a Hare Krishna meant learning loaded Sanskrit words and terminology, and being able to at least pronounce decent Sanskrit and Bengali. Thank goodness for romanised transliteration though, because I would have been lost, lol.

 

[Quintessence]

A human language? No.

A new set of "linguistic" skills that are more intuitive in nature and used to work with the spirits or otherworlds? Yes.

 

[e2ekiel]

Have you (or someone you know) ever had to face a new language in your religion of choice, such as having to learn a whole new language in order to participate?

I am curious of your experiences.

For example, did you have to stop with that religion or did you become more committed to it instead? Did you learn a language or just accept you may not understand?

thank God, NO. There are many accurate and faithful English translations of the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek.

I am however looking to learn New Testament Greek to better understand the nuances of the Bible