hi my name is Richa and I am BimBam's office studio manager currently I am the
only non Jewish person on staff and boy have I learned a lot in the last 16
months I grew up in a Nepali Hindu family and i wouldn't describe myself as
a religious Hindu, more of a cultural Hindu throughout my time at BimBam, I
have observed so many similarities between Hinduism and Judaism FYI these
are just on the surface level the first thing that stuck out to me was that both
religions have their own calendar and that means that holidays don't always
fall on the same date year to year both calendars are lunar solar, our calendar
the Nepali calendar is nearly 57 years ahead of the Gregorian calendar
can you believe? fifty-seven years
there are a lot of holidays in both religions a
huge perk for working at a Jewish organization means I get a lot of days
off the High Holidays seem to align with Nepal's Dashain and Tihar are which are the
most important holidays in the fall along with these holidays there's so
much food that both of us consume for example in the Dashain
having a goat at dinner is very very important and this is a holiday that
lasts ten days speaking of holidays it seems that fasting is an important
part of both religions there is one holiday which is called Teej and this
is where it married and unmarried women fast in hopes of a happy marriage for me
that doesn't sound fair because the men aren't fasting for a happy marriage
Yom Kippur in Judaism is best known as a fasting holiday but there are also
plenty of small and big fasts in Judaism
oh did I tell you that in both religions
there's a festival of lights? that's Hanukkah and Judaism and Diwali
you may have heard of it coming-of-age ceremonies are also
important to both of us not only is it important to the families but also the
community that surrounds these individuals in Hinduism boys go through
a sacred thread ceremony (bartaman) when they're about to hit puberty this is their entry
to Hinduism a boy who goes through the ceremony is expected to wear thread
across his body for the rest of his life forever in Nepal not all boys go through
the ceremony because it's reserved for the upper castes
girls have their own version of coming age ceremony
but it's not as religious as the boys one girls
for the first time get to wear sari and this means they're finally coming into
womanhood at both of these ceremonies there's so much food presents rituals
and lots of people I remember my own junyo cholo I had already reached
puberty by then and the ceremony took place when I went back to Nepal for the
first time it was really exciting and scary but I was not very graceful and my
sari I still have that sari today my grandmother gave it to me
speaking of puberty purity is a very important thing in Hinduism as it is in
Orthodox Judaism depending on how conservative your family is women who
are on their periods are not allowed to touch anyone or be in the kitchen and
rural Nepal women are sent to the cowshed for a few days as they menstrate
sadly women and girls had both died in
this kind of setup chhaupadi is supposed to be banned in Nepal but it still
exists in communities today luckily for me my parents weren't that strict the
only thing I wasn't allowed to do during my period was go into our puja room
which is like a prayer room and or go to the temple or celebrate any religious
festivities however my grandparents are very strict when I go back to Nepal or
when I see them, I'm not allowed to be in the same room
as them and I have to eat separately there's no touching between you and
someone else no matter their gender if you are on your period when someone you
love dies that means you can't participate in the cremation rituals
speaking of cremation death and mourning are very similar in both religions there
are specific mourning periods right after someone's death the first few days
- and Judaism sitting Shiva takes place the first seven days after someone's
passing in Hinduism it's the first thirteen days the family is separated
from the rest of the community to mourn everyone wears white for the whole time
and men they have to shave their heads when my grandfather died my uncles and
their wives went into mourning at this temple quarters they stayed with other
people who had also lost someone people are allowed to come visit them during
that time and you bring fruit and very simple food for them but you leave when
the day is over it's very similar to the Jewish tradition of bringing food to a
Shiva home there are also certain Hindu dietary restrictions when
someone passes depending on how close you were to the person for example when
my grandfather died I wasn't supposed to eat meat or any sugar or even salt for
the first few days it was much longer for my parents my parents during that
first year of my grandfather's death could not participate in any religious
activities or events that meant that my wedding was canceled very last-minute
but no worries I still got to get married but through a secular officiant
a small ceremony with just our families
the one-year anniversary of someone's
passing is important in both religions
in Judaism the grave marker is unveiled
at yahrzeit while in Hinduism you have this huge puja to remember the ones that
have passed speaking of family I will say that my community you wanted me to
marry a Hindu especially a Brahmin Hindu marrying outside of my caste as I did
means that my offspring and their offspring will never be Brahmin again
and that was a huge disappointment to a lot of my family members there are more
similarities between our two religions but today was a quick snapshot into what
I have noticed so far more to come later if you have any ideas to add please
leave them in the comments namaste