Unveiling thread, "Christian spotting" spinoff

[Sarpedon]

Sometimes I feel a little like an anthropologist. For example, I work as a teaching assistant, and a girl came up to me and said she couldn't take a test because she had to attend an "unveiling." I wanted to say "Wow, is that some kind of puberty ritual?"

[Queen of Swords]

What's an unveiling?

[JohnKin79]

Originally posted by QueenofSwords
What's an unveiling?

When they take off the burkha(sp)?

[Sarpedon]

She was jewish. Orthodox. I assume its the feminine form of a bar-mitzfah, (i doubt it was hers, she was college aged).

[Ignotus]

Originally posted by Sarpedon
Sometimes I feel a little like an anthropologist. For example, I work as a teaching assistant, and a girl came up to me and said she couldn't take a test because she had to attend an "unveiling." I wanted to say "Wow, is that some kind of puberty ritual?"

[...]

She was jewish. Orthodox. I assume its the feminine form of a bar-mitzfah, (i doubt it was hers, she was college aged).

The feminine form of the Bar-Mitzvah is the Bat-Mitzvah.

It is good that you restrained yourself, as the unveiling is the consecration of the tombstone, which usually takes place on the aniversary of a funeral.

[Sarpedon]

Thank you Ignotus, my tact once again served me well. Why do they not erect a tombstone until a year afterwards?

[Ignotus]

Originally posted by Sarpedon
Thank you Ignotus, my tact once again served me well. Why do they not erect a tombstone until a year afterwards?

It's erected immediately, AFAIK, but there's an anniversary ceremony over it.

edit: Omniscient Google grants more detail:

" The unveiling is a ceremony that dedicates a grave monument erected for someone who passed away twelves months earlier.

The service is called "unveiling" because in America the tombstone is covered with a cloth which is removed by the family during the ceremony.

There is no religious obligation to hold an unveiling ceremony, but the ritual became popular toward the end of the 19th century in America and Western Europe and has become an accepted and meaningful practice. In addition to dedicating the grave monument, the unveiling gives those in mourning an opportunity to commemorate the deceased."

-http://judaism.about.com/cs/deathandmourning/f/unveiling_what.htm

[Roland98]

This thread was split from this one (http://www.iidb.org/vbb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78455) in Secular Lifestyle.

Roland98
SL moderator

[rfwu]

Originally posted by Sarpedon
She was jewish. Orthodox. I assume its the feminine form of a bar-mitzfah, (i doubt it was hers, she was college aged).

The feminine form of a bar-mitzvah is a bat-mitzvah. Sorry if I misspelled it.

[Jayjay]

Originally posted by Ignotus
The feminine form of the Bar-Mitzvah is the Bat-Mitzvah.That tidbit of information might come in handy sometime. I'll add it to my utility belt.