#Maccabee games

[secular-jew]

Ágnes Keleti (née Klein), survived the Holocaust, lived through the overthrow of communism in her native Hungary, and won 10 Olympic medals over the course of her career. At 103, she is the oldest living Olympian medalist alive today.

Born in 1921, Agnes became a star gymnast in her youth, winning national championships and at 15, participated in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. With the outbreak of World War II, Keleti concealed her Jewish identity and survived by finding work as a maid in a small village. Her father and other family members were murdered at Auschwitz.

After the war, Ágnes resumed her career and made her true athletic breakthrough. She missed the 1948 London Olympics due to a torn ankle ligament.

At 31, which is quite an ancient age for a gymnast, she won 4 medals at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, including the gold in the floor exercise.

In 1956, during the Melbourne Olympics, the USSR invaded Hungary, and Ágnes defected along with 4 other Hungarian athletes. The following year, she emigrated to Israel where she became the star of the 5th Maccabiah – מכביה.

Keleti collected more Olympic medals (10, including 5 gold medals) than Usain Bolt (9).

Photo: Agnes Keleti, the Maccabiah Archive

[drewminyart]

and i lay here beside you and i‘m golden now

[a-blade-disguised-as-a-girl]

Imagine you’re Jonas Maccabees. You get an invitation to two meetings at a nightclub with all the other streetlords in the city, the only stipulations being that you can’t bring weapons or guests. You’re curious, so you go.

Your nemesis is there, showing excessive PDA with the nightclub owner. A new streetlord named Séance is there, and you already know her identity. The Dove Lord is there at the second meeting, and so is the leader of the Orphan Guild and his salesman, because apparently they get to break the rules. (For the first meeting, the Doves’ second had been there instead and the Orphan Guild leader’s girlfriend was there, and you suspect she killed your sister and is impersonating the Dove Lord, so this adds up. The second meeting is more important though.)

Séance suggests a stock market for the gangs and starts threatening the most important, dangerous people in the room to take her seriously. She pulls it off, so she has your respect. Everyone likes the idea except for Ivory—who, again, you think is actually Rebecca and murdered your sister. If this theory is correct, then Bryce is her boyfriend, and yet he goes against what Ivory says (not a smart move in any instance) and pledges to join the stock market.

Ivory is furious, and Harvey starts grinning like an idiot, confirming your theories bc if she was just the leader of the Doves, why would he care? Ivory stands up and walks away, and then Séance (in a real power move) just up and leaves, thanking everyone for their time. The audacity. Your nemesis follows, which, good riddance, he’s a mess.

Leaving you—Jonas Maccabees, Scavenger, the Scar Lord—alone with Bryce Balfour and Harvey Gabbiano, who are filled with simmering resentment and wildly inappropriate happiness, respectively. Two people who are almost certainly colleagues with the woman who murdered your sister. Two people who are absolute disasters and also just fucking ridiculous, and you are now stuck in a meeting room in a nightclub with them because everyone else at this Important Gang Meeting just bailed.

Pour one out for Jonas y’all

[theredqueenandthebloodwyrm]

(I voted 4-6 but actually counting my answers it would have been 7 for my first reblog)

Holidays that I should have remembered to put down because I know them and corrections about what I said are in the tags.

So in total after fact-checking and looking up for clarification AFTER THE FIRST POST, I DID NOT CHEAT (promise)-- I know nine holidays in total after checking my initial answers + seeing what I forgot the first time around. Plus Eden provided me that lovely spreadsheet about the list of Jewish Holidays and feasts so I can go memorize that now.

Non-jews of tumblr:

If possible, please write your answers in the tags!

[jewishpositivity18]

Have you heard of major league dreidel? It's a thing. And the arena is called a spinagogue. According to the Wikipedia page for dreidel,

"Dreidel is now a spoof competitive sport in North America. Major League Dreidel (MLD), founded in New York City in 2007, hosts dreidel tournaments during the holiday of Hanukkah. In MLD tournaments the player with the longest time of spin (TOS) is the winner. MLD is played on a Spinagogue, the official spinning stadium of Major League Dreidel. Pamskee was the 2007 MLD Champion. Virtual Dreidel was the 2008 MLD Champion.[26] In 2009, Major League Dreidel launched a game version of the Spinagogue.[27]

In 2009, Good Morning America published a story on Dreidel Renaissance reporting on the rising popularity of the dreidel.[28] Dreidel games that have come out on the market since 2007 include No Limit Texas Dreidel,[29] a cross between traditional dreidel and Texas Hold'em poker, invented by a Judaica company called ModernTribe.[30] Other new dreidel games include Staccabees[31] and Maccabees.[32]"

Also, the game of dreidel is statistically unfair

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreidel

Obviously I need to spread this cursed information to my fellow yidden

[tixdixl]

BEEB!

Holiday ask reciprocation!

What kind of traditions or little fun things tend to go on around your cast of OCs? You have such a wide arrangement of backgrounds, I'd legit love to hear about what you think TWST's different regions do to celebrate winter OvO

HELLO BEEB!!!

Aaaaaaaa thank you so much!! I really appreciate you asking!!

Oisín

So I have a personal headcanon that Briar Valley is more likely to celebrate Yule and the Winter Solstace rather than like... Christmas. While it may be difficult for the average person to see the differences due to real life synchrotism, I like to imagine Briar Valley celebrates a Yule without the influences of colonialism. So we might still see the fir trees and the lights in lanterns on the walkways. Feasts and stories by the fireplace are a must.

I imagine the way it translates in NRC too is that Oisín probably spends time with their Diasomnia family, being deliberate about doing Yuletide activities with them. As for the Ignihyde family, they probably offer for their clutch to join them in activities, with the understanding that no one is pressured to do anything.

Emil

So this is a fun one that I will have to offer a bit of explanation too. When designing Emil as a character, I was very deliberate in removing the anti-semitism from Gothel's depictions, in favor of actually leaning into the Jewishness of her character. When trying to figure out how much of Tangled I actually wanted to incorporate, I had the realization. Tangled has a holiday where they light lanterns... in hopes of bringing their lost princess home. Twisted Wonderland interprets the Disney animated films as mythos and folklore for their world, yeah? So I imagine the story of Rapunzel includes a holiday, where the people light lanterns in celebration of the lights that brought their Lost Princess back home and led her to freedom. The celebrations likely include dancing, singing, crafts and games, just like the festival in the film.

You know what that kind of not exactly sounds like? The Maccabees and the festivities of Chanukah. So I decided to lean into that and synchrotize certain elements, harmless nods of Chanukah into the Festival of Lights. Places that neatly overlap without any disrespect to the holiday that I personally celebrate, I opted to combine ideas. So... Emil and his hometown celebrate the Festival of Lights.

He's actually never heard of Yuletide or Christmas prior to coming to NRC. He tries to learn and be respectful of the traditions of his classmates and loved ones. And I do have a ficlet WIP that I hope to finish where Emil invites the unofficial cooking club to make latkes with him, to light a lantern, and to participate with him when he can't be at home.

René

The Black Swan is used to big holiday parties and social gatherings back home. So I like to imagine that René and the Octavinelle squad probably decorate the Lounge and put on a little celebration of their own.

René also gives gifts to the people they care about. At first, it's likely a superficial thing done for appearances. But as they grow and start actually developing and fostering relationships, they start to actually put effort into it. And sometimes those gifts arent even gifts, its quality time. Its acts of service.

Kingsley

This man is a Grinch LOL. Much like Briar Valley, the Cantrevs celebrate Yuletide and the Winter Solstace. It probably looks different for his home considering traditions tend to vary from region to region. And I tried to do research into Cymru, which is where the Chronicles of Prydain pulls its mythos and inspiration from. Again, keep in mind we have to do some imagining that its not been impacted by colonialism.

But when he's at NRC? He doesn't... get the festivities. If he has to under obligation, he'll participate. But he'll be pissed about it the entire time.

Xiáng

The Lunar New Year is definitely something I headcanon is celebrated in the Land of the Red Dragons. And I would say that all the food, clothing, games, dances, decorations... he actively participates in the festivities as much as he's permitted to.

I also had this fun idea that Xiáng goes to Kalim and asks if they can do a New Year's celebration. And Kalim sort of responds "I don't know anything about your Lunar New Year, but I LOVE a good party!!! Let's do it!!!" And Jamil walks into Scarabia SHOCKED that all the preparations were done behind his back, without his help, and the dorm isnt on fire.

Alphonse

Alphonse is also from Briar Valley. He likely celebrates Yule in a similar fashion to Oisín, but he is more likely to keep it to his close friends and loved ones. He is very intentional in giving Malleus, Xiáng, and Yuu gifts. And since he also spends a lot of his time between both Diasomnia and Ramshackle, he probably offers to help decorate Ramshackle too.... by doing it... without asking lol.

Sefu

So I'll be completely transparent. I know Christmas and Yule aren't really celebrated in many African countries. I know that the Sunset Savannah likely pulls some of its incluence from Kenyan culture, because of the influence on the Lion King. I ALSO know that Cloudcalling has caused people to debate if additional tribal influence can be found in their traditional garb. That said, I will own up in my ignorance that when I had the opportunity to hang out with my Kenyan colleagues, they didn't speak much on December holidays? Moreso focusing on the traditional holidays celebrated in April, May, and August. So outside of Western influence, I don't know if there are traditions that would be celebrated there. I also don't want to be that American who makes false approximations in their fiction and does a massive disrespect to the people who live there. That said, it IS something I want to learn more about, and not from a poluted Western lens.

As far as NRC goes, Sefu... doesn't really care about the school festivities? They kind of keep to themself and roll their eyes at the jolly gayness of it all.

Thanks again for the ask!!! It really means a lot!!

Tag list: @ramshacklerumble @the-trinket-witch @elenauaurs @rainesol @starry-night-rose

@inmateofthemind @cyanide-latte @winterweary @theleechyskrunkly @thehollowwriter

@twstinginthewind @twistedwonderlandshenanigans @lumdays @boopshoops

Lmk if you want added/removed

[simthingwonderful]

Latkes for your sims!

Latkes (or potato pancakes) are usually eaten during Hanukkah because they're fried. Fried foods are intended to commemorate the drop of oil found by the Maccabees that was expected to last for one day, but lasted for eight instead. I may create more Hanukkah foods in the future.

Latkes can be eaten for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner. They require a cooking skill of 6 (because in real life, they're a pain to make), and the recipe can be bought at the bookstore. CCLoader is needed for latkes to appear in your game.

Download from ModTheSims:

[vodrae]

The Endgame series just popped in my head when talking about Hunger Games with my gf, I'm split between read them again (and buy the 3rd) or keeping my memories of them and not reading them with my older eyes

I need to talk to somebody about Endgame you guys have to read that book. It’s been a year but i’m still crying over it. THAT BOOK WAS SO GOOD AND NEEDS A PROPER FANDOM

[chai-af]

chanukah !!

chanukah is coming up! it’s a jewish holiday (can be seen spelled several different ways such as “hanukkah”) that commemorates jewish resistance to assimilation.

in the second century bce, judea, the land where jewish people’s ancestors resided, were subjected to pressure from the greeks to accept their culture and beliefs (during this period, judea was ruled by the seleucids, which are the syrian-greeks).

you may have not heard of antiochus IV, the successor of alexander the great, who conquered judea (along with syria and egypt). while alexander allowed the people under his control to continue observing their religious traditions, antiochus was much more oppressive. he massacred jews and prohibited the practice of judaism, as well as requiring the sacrifice of pigs at the holy temple (pigs aren’t kosher and therefore it is sacrilegious to sacrifice them).

a jewish army led by judah the maccabee revolted against the assimilation of hellenistic jews and the oppression of the seleucid greek government. they miraculously defeated the seleucid army and drove them off the land. jews reclaimed the holy temple in jerusalem and “rededicated” it (as it was desecrated by the seleucids). the word chanukah means “dedication” because of this event.

it is said that when the jewish people went to light the temple’s menorah, they only find one cruse of olive oil that was untouched by the seleucids. thus, they let the menorah with that one-day supply and it lasted for eight days. this story gives reasoning as to why we light our chanukah candle on the chanukiah (a 9-branched menorah)* every night for eight nights. it’s also why chanukah is also known as the festival of lights.

so today, other than lighting the candles, we also eat foods that are fried in oil such as latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly donuts). another popular tradition is to play with the dreidel, which is a (typically wooden) four-sided spinning top, with a hebrew letter on each side (נ‎, ג‎, ה‎, ש‎; nun, gimel, hey, and shin). each letter represents an action that the spinner has to do. it’s sort of a gambling game and typically uses chocolate gelt (those chocolate coins covered in gold foil) as currency.

* why are they 9 branches when we light the candles for eight night? because the ninth candle is in the middle and known as the shamash, or the heper candle. it is the candle that is lit first and used to light the other candle. each night’s new candle is added from right to left, while we light them from left to right.

sources:

https://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/102911/jewish/What-Is-Hanukkah.htm

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/hannukah

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/history-of-hanukkah#:~:text=Hanukkah%2C%20which%20means%20%E2%80%9Cdedication%2C,Temple's%20candelabrum%20for%20one%20day.

hope those who celebrate have a happy chanukah, and happy holidays to the rest of you lovely people <3

[dzamie]

Possibly a weird question, but you might have the answer:

I went online to buy some chocolate coins for a gaming party, and about half the listings indicated that the coins were for Hanukkah (and were therefore on sale, though they were the wrong color for my party). Do you know why that might've been?

Yeah, it's because of ancient (maybe Roman?) persecution of Jews. See, way back when, it really sucked to be Jewish. It still sucks today, but it also sucked back then. It was actually pretty illegal to teach and practice Judaism, which really put a damper on that whole "passing down community traditions" thing.

Luckily, gambling was cool, as was lying to cops. See, if it was around Chanukah time, and you were telling the youths about how the Maccabees pwned the army and were rewarded with a tiny bit of long-lasting oil, and then the cops busted in the door like "oi wot's all this then," being seen talking about the glory days of beating up people who tried to eradicate your religion would be bad for your physical health. However! If the cops instead saw a bunch of these weird Hebrews gambling with spinning tops, well that's just good old-fashioned fun, now innit? Carry on, lads, glad to see there's no monotheism going on around here.

But the joke's on them, of course, because even the tops themselves were a mnemonic for "a great miracle happened there," referring to when God was so pleased with us for continuing to be Jewish that He let us use a lamp for way longer than is usually possible. So the cop turns his back and the ancient Jews go back to religion things.

Anyway, this all becomes a tradition: Chanukah comes 'round, get out the dreidels and gamble (or at least pretend). But naturally, some people want to be involved in the spinning top game, but don't want to wager actual legit money. So: chocolate coins instead!

As far as I'm aware, Chanukah is one of the biggest consistent reasons people buy chocolate coins (we may be 1-2% of the population, but basically everyone who can buy them, buys them. Annually.), so it's not too surprising a lot of the gelt you see is listed as "for Chanukah."

From what I know of Christianity, I think this is like you looking for plastic eggs (for props in a bird-themed game or something) and finding that, for some reason, a lot of plastic eggs are listed as "for Easter."

[gingersnaptaff]

15, 18, and 21 for the spotify wrapped ask game!!

15. Most danceable track

'Hot Stuff' by Donna Summer

18. A song that describes your year so far

'O Nefoedd!' (Oh Heavens!) by Bandicoot

21. The song you think will be in next years top songs again

I sincerely hope that 'Child' by The Maccabees will come back higher up the list because 12th?! Ejdjdj

[jimmycarterghostland]

Does anyone else remember James Frey's Endgame: The Calling book series? I read all of the main books. I used to be obsessed with them. I think they're trash now, but there's still a lot that I like about them. Book three was the last one. Endgame: Rules of the Game. It was a wild read. I remember hating Maccabee, because he was one of the more evil characters, but I was rooting for him in this book. Because I hated An Liu more. Lmao.

I love how diverse the characters were in this series. There were a lot of diverse locations and world-traveling as well. There was some great gray morality, and black morality. The character duos were interesting, especially Maccabee and Baitsakhan's. Did I spell his name right?

The fight scenes were always interesting. They took place in unique locations, and they didn't feel repetitive. Also, I think I remember that this series had a distinct character voice for each narrator, especially An's chapters. Like his "TIC" thing. The main characters all had a different variety of personalities, which was a plus.

I love how dark these books were. There was a lot of brutality in it, which I tend to like in the fiction I consume nowadays. Like, one girl in the first book gets her spine broken during a fight and then one of her attackers sets her on fire. She does get put out of her misery by one of the compassionate main characters before the fire can completely engulf her, though.

Rules of the Game had two main character deaths that I felt ruined the novel. I still see their deaths as bad writing. It wouldn't have been so bad if they had died with dignity or had heroically sacrificed themselves.

Chiyoko was my favorite character. Unfortunately.

The Irish girl, Aisling, was pretty cool too. She was a sniper, which made me even more fond of her. I like how she spent most of the first novel in that cave, while the other main characters were traveling the world, getting shot at, and dying.

The Indian girl, Shari(spelling?), was another great character. It was odd how she was a married mother at 15 years old. But that did make her character more interesting. Big Alice, an Australian Aboriginal, was awesome. I liked her brief bond with Shari.

The girls in this series were more interesting than the boys. But all of the characters were fun to read about, even the ones I despised.

The series had a lot of flaws. But there were so many great moments too. These books were unpredictable and tense, even though I'm sure I spoiled the last book for myself before I read it. I can't remember if I did the same with the second one. I do know that I enjoyed reading it.

[jurakan]

YAY fun facts! I'll take one please

Okay for whatever reason I THINK that I’ve covered the Nine Worthies, but I can’t find any post I’d made about them, though I mentioned it here, so I guess that it’s fair game! Today You Learned about the Nine Worthies.

The idea behind the Nine Worthies was this medieval folkloric ideal of chivalry, and nine men through history, Scripture, and mythology who embody that ideal. If you look at the list and know many of the figures, you may decide that they don’t really seem to fit, but keep in mind that what was in medieval mythology isn’t always accurate to real life. 

It was also weirdly inclusive? The Nine Worthies is divided into three groups: three pagan warriors, three Jewish warriors, and three Christian warriors. Here’s the listing:

-Hector of Troy

-Alexander the Great

-Julius Caesar

-Joshua

-King David

-Judas Maccabee

-King Arthur

-King Charlemagne

-Godfrey de Bouillon

[If you’ve never heard of that last one, don’t feel bad, a lot of people haven’t–he’s the first ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem (the Crusader State set up during the Eastern Crusades). He’s not a king, because he didn’t take that title, though his successors gladly did.]

The list is hardly completely agreed upon by all parties, but that’s the basic list that you see in most places. There’s also the idea of Women Worthies, but that’s less in the “canon” (though I would happily like to see who you would put on that list!).

If you've already received this Fun Fact, let me know and I'll submit a new one.

[marshvlovestv]

I’m making a post in which to compile video game concepts that cater to my specific interests which I will 100% make if I ever magically acquire computer skills.

Don Quixote RPG: Because I love games inspired by classical literature and this is the only piece of literature I really have a deep understanding of. In the tradition of Earthbound-like RPGMaker games like Omori, Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass, and Deltarune where the RPG progression takes place within an imagined world, you play primarily as Sancho Panza, guiding his master through a dull overworld that transforms to match the fantastical imaginings of Don Quixote upon entering a combat encounter. As Sancho, your goal in combat is to lose, but not too badly, so as to avoid injury to both Don Quixote and the unfortunate innocent he’s seeing as a monster.

Jewish roguelike: Inspired by the fact that it’s Rosh Hashanah and I’ve had to bite my gamer tongue so much as people around me discuss the real binding of Isaac. Do you like action roguelikes? Are you Jewish? Do you like The Binding of Isaac for the gameplay but wish it didn’t stink thematically of being made by atheist edgelords who definitely lump Christianity, Judaism and Islam together as “Abrahamic religions?” So far idea goes no further than the words “Jewish roguelike” but that alone seems ripe with potential (maybe you play as a Maccabee? That’s a war story, right? You have to survive through eight levels or something, I don’t know)

[missameliep]

Ten Songs, Ten People

Thanks for tagging me @jerzwriter ☺️

Rules: list ten songs, then tag ten people to pass the game on to! (bonus points if it's from a wip/character playlist!)

The first five are from two different WIP playlists (3 from A Bookshop AU! I don't know if I'll ever finish writing but I love daydreaming about, and 2 from my Second Chances series playlist because I'm trying to edit the next chapters and maybe this will inspire me), and the others are just songs from a playlist I've been listening at work today.

1. Toothpaste kisses - The Maccabees

2. A shop with books in - The Bookshop Band

3. Longing to Belong - Eddie Vedder

4. Ask - The Smiths

The next songs are under the cut

5. Unwritten - Natasha Bedingfield

6. Paint it, black - Rolling Stones

7. Mr. Brightside - The Killers

8. Ghosts - Muse

9. Don't go away - Oasis

10. Stuck in a moment you can't get out of - U2

Tagging a few of you (let's pretend there's ten names there and you guys feel free to ignore it) : @princess-geek @lorirwritesfanfic @noesapphic @aallotarenunelma @lilyoffandoms @peonierose @storyofmychoices and whoever feels like playing the game

[mariacallous]

Hanukkah is a celebration of light, oil-laden delicacies and the gifting of gelt – real or edible coins. Among the many traditional reasons for gifting Hanukkah gelt, one is that we remind ourselves of the Jewish freedom that was gained during the miracle of Hanukkah, as a celebratory coin was minted after the Maccabees won their victory over the Greeks. European Jewish chocolatiers began making chocolate coins for Hanukkah as far back as the 18th century, and in America they became popular in the 20th century. 

While edible gelt is most often found in chocolate form, I was inspired to try a savory route when I stumbled on the “Jewish Holiday Cookbook,” and Gloria Kaufer Greene’s suggestion to make British cheese “coin” crackers for the festival of lights. I am an unabashed cracker enthusiast; and I am always pleasantly surprised by how simple it can be to make them at home. Cheddar cheese coins (also called cheese pennies), have the addictive savory tanginess of a Cheez-It, with the hardiness of a homemade cracker.

This retro snack is made with just a few simple ingredients like good cheddar cheese, flour and butter. They’re quick to whip up, and store well in an airtight container for up to one week. Cheese coins are flavorful enough to be served and eaten all on their own, ideally as a light nibble accompanied by a fizzy beverage before dinner. These crackers are extra delightful topped with a fruity fig or plum preserve, or even a slice of cheese on top – afterall, it is “guild the lily” season. 

Whether you’re enjoying cheese coins over a game of dreidel, or as a pre-dinner cocktail snack, what’s not to love about salty, cheesy, crispy crackers? 

Note: This recipe works best with hand-grated cheese, as opposed to the store-bought pre-shredded variety, which has a powdery coating on the outside.