#about me and my judaism

[wonderlandleighleigh]

Like you start to look at like all the super positive people on social media who talk about taking deep breaths and unclenching your jaw, or that you're going to do amazing things this week.

And you wonder if there is a silent addendum of "but not you, Jew."

Because that seems to be a pretty popular sentiment right now.

So you just stop trusting people, because like

What if that's the truth? It's happened before.

A lot of people been showing their antisemite ass these last few weeks. But I think there's a disconnect.

I think when a lot of Jewish people hear "free palestine" they also hear an unspoken addition of "and kill all Jews."

And you have to remember that paranoia has a basis in lived experience. That fear has been made real before.

"Free Palestine" is not antisemitic. But we are afraid that that unspoken bit is implied. Fear makes for an aggressive bedfellow.

I really struggle, personally, knowing that I support a free and just and safe palestine, but my support is unwanted by a lot of people. Cuz they'd rather I was dead.

And I've been thinking about that Golda Meir quote: "our secret weapon is we have nowhere else to go."

And that is

Well

True. Not that I think Israel was ever the best option. Or should have been an option the way the UN made it an option back in '48, but other Jewish people can yell at me for that another time.

You have to remember that when ww2 ended, there were these Holocaust survivors.

And no one wanted them.

No one wanted to take them in. No one really knew wtf to do with these haunted ghost people.

In a lot of ways we've generationally inherited that feeling, I think, and it's informed our lives in ways I'm not even sure any of us fully get.

[veryintricaterituals]

When I was in school I went to a friend's house to work on a project on a Friday afternoon. At about 6 or 6:30 when the sun was about to set her mom called us over to the livingroom. She lit two candles with my friend and then they proceeded to put the lit candles inside of a little cupboard so no one could see them. Me, a young jewish teenager asked her, my catholic friend, why they did that and she shrugged, said it was a family tradition to bring peace and prosperity, that the women of the family did it every friday evening and then hid the candles. They were very catholic, so I bit my tongue and we went back to her room to study.

This is just one of many, many, crypto jewish traditions that still exist in my hometown of Medellín, Colombia and I want to share a little bit about them with you.

Medellín is the capital city of a region called Antioquia and it is currently the second biggest city in my country. Now the weird thing about my region and my city more specifically is that it is in the middle of fucking nowhere, like we are in a valley in the middle of the andean mountains and it would take over two weeks by river, horse and river, and dunkey and mule to even get here before the invention of cars or trains.

Now Medellín was founded over 400 years ago, and families had been coming to the region for way before then, so that means that for centuries getting to my city from the sea or from the other big cities in the country was incredibly hard. This was by design, because Medellín itself was founded by about 28 families and we know for a fact that alteast half of them were crypto jews hidding from the Spanish Inquisition, and both before and the foundation more and more jewish families arrived to the region.

This is a known fact, the DNA of the people from the region has a lot of sepharadic jewish mixed in there. Early Colombian literature dating up to the 1845 would call the people of my region the Neogranadine Jews or the Colombian Jews. But because they were crypto jews the religion and most of the traditions were lost during the 400 years that have passed, now over 90% of the population is catholic and don't really know about their origins.

But some things stuck. And I want to tell you about them.

On the 7th night of December there is this pre-christmas festival called "El día de las velitas" or the little candle night that started and was unique to Antioquia. It's supposed to commemorate the candles that people had in the streets and the windows on the night Jesus was born and that helped Mary and Joseph to find their way. Do you know how this unique festival is celebrated in my city? People take to the streets to light candles, small colorful candles that they put in wooden planks or directly on the streets, it's the night that people decorate and turn on the christmas lights and it is so important and popular that we have an actual day off on the 8th of december.

Let me show you a few pictures

I don't think I need to explain this one. Even most goyim will know about Hannukah. But it is the weirdest thing when the dates coincide and we are all lighting candles together.

My dad was in the Jewish community board and we needed to rent a place to put our jewish daycare. They found this beautiful old house that had belonged to a family in colonial times but needed a little TLC. We had them remove some wooden floors because they were too old and rotting and found a huge Magen David made out stones in the center of the floor. The house also happened to have two separate kitchens and a mikveh or immersion bath in one of the rooms. These a very traditional things that colonial houses have in my region.

My grandmother converted to Judaism so I have a side from my family that is 100% from here and didn't arrive during the 20th century. I had the pleasure to meet both of my great grandparents from that side though they died when I was young. My grandma tells me that my greatgrandmother used to have one of these immersion baths in her house when she was growing up. Women were supposed to bathe in them after their periods had ended, my catholic great grandmother respected the mikveh traddition more than I ever have.

(I wish I had photos from that specific house but this happened over ten years ago, I'll show you some immersion baths from a different colonial houses that are also in my city)

Now how about we talk about traditional clothes. I'm sure most of you have heard of Ponchos, which are traditional in the Andean region, well the one from Antioquia is a little different and it's always supposed to be worn with a hat. Let's see if you can spot what I mean.

A few years ago Spain decided to grant citizenship to the descendants of the Jewish people that they had exiled in 1492. To get it you had to prove through family trees that your family had been Jewish. My city got the most ammount of passports out of everyone in the world, more than Israel. I could have applied from both my family that came from Egypt in the 20th century (we still have the keys to our house in Spain) or through my catholic side, as both of my grandmother's last names applied. I didn't but I could have.

I don't really know why I decided to finally write this post. I have so many more stories. I just think it's both incredibly sad that so much Jewish culture and people were lost but also it's a little heartwarming to see what survived even centuries down the line.

[jewish-joy]

I love being involved with Jewish life on campus because I got to miss class once for “religious reasons” and the religious reason was that I went to this sick Purim drag show.

[shalom-iamcominghome]

[skullsontess07]

It’s a bittersweet feeling that I have very few generational Jewish items. No mezuzahs, Shabbat candle holders, Hanukkiahs, or sedar plates. The only items I have are a beautiful magnifying glass with a Star of David on it, a pottery sign that spells ‘shalom’ made by my grandma, and a blessing sign that was gifted to her by her grandma. All three I deeply cherish.

However, I love that the responsibility lies on me. I have a small dreidel and menorah collection now. I have two mezuzahs. Shabbat and yahrzeit holders. Several books. Little tchotchke bowls. Jewelry and artwork. An assortment of every holiday card I come across at the store. I kept it going when it could have been forgotten with my grandma’s passing. My family may not be with me physically anymore, but spiritually I always have my minyan

[hindahoney]

Wild and revolutionary concept: maybe don't treat converts like trash just because they're converts? And also don't ask someone if they're a convert in a public setting?

[is-the-fire-real]

"El dolor es permanente," the Rabbi said before we started a subdued Kabbalat Shabbat service.

The pain is permanent, I tell myself when I wake up and check the news on Shiri.

The pain is permanent, and so it is to be acknowledged and lived with and sometimes it'll rise up high enough in my throat to choke me, but it will never go away.

The pain is permanent and so it must be lived in because there's no sense in escaping what cannot be escaped.

The pain is permanent but so is deciding that my Hebrew name will be Ariel, because I also love Batman and because I will not run from the pain of their names, I will wear them and make them a part of me, just like the pain is now part of me, forever.

The pain is permanent but it isn't the only thing.

[blastlight]

do the anti-shabbos-lamp people know about selling chametz yet

[pomegranateandhoney]

Just wanted to share a little resource today: Shabbat cards from Recustom, a platform with  tools and resources to help shape rituals that work for each of us. I like this very simple set of Shabbat cards, with the blessings in Hebrew, English, and transliterated.

Sometimes it can be really difficult, trying to figure out what we think makes our life Jewish -- what's important to us, what rituals are prayers feel necessary to us, which mitzvot feel most important to keep. It's a deeply personal journey.

For me, Shabbat feels immensely important and is the cornerstone of what having a Jewish home means to me. Keeping Shabbat started very small -- just remembering to light two tealights, as on time as possible, every Friday with my partner. Now we've added wine/juice, and rarely I remember to have bread. It's a work in progress. Little tools like these cards, which are easy to read and have on hand, can help make keeping this ritual possible.

I wish I were a more adept woman that was used to managing a million things, but I'm not -- I am forgetful, I can be a little lazy after a long work day, and I struggle with the balance between my spiritual and modern lives. And that's okay.

[pacing-er]

I'm looking through different prayer shawls bc I'm planning to have a late bat mitzvah sometime within the next year or so and this one made me think of my special fictional guy...

I know mixing fandom and religion makes some ppl uncomfortable but my family circumstances did not allow me to have a typical Jewish upbringing and this is all very exciting for me. So consider it a harmless way to vent that excitement by giving Magneto back some of his Jewish identity as well ✡️ I always love seeing all the beautiful and unique yarmulkes and prayer shawls at Shabbat services, and the part during bar/bat mitzvah services where the parents give their child their special personalized shawl always makes me so so happy.

[cartoonghosts]

I keep getting reminded of how fucking antisemitic ive seen people be online and its just Jesus christ i am killing everyone. You dont see a cross necklace in someones video about how to make pasta and bombard them with that type of bullshit why do you do it when someones making a video abt how to mend a hole with a star of david pattern. You dont hear me mentioning being pagan and go 'oh but youre not one of the bad ones right'. Killing everyone actually. I spent years in elementary wchooö having units on historical racism and not once did this come up it is so deeply institutional i am going to stab everyone to death actuaööy bye. Fuck this

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I usually say that my judaism looks like conservative judaism since that's what is closest to what I do (and want to do), and also about my general beliefs... but if I'm honest, my judaism is just a tapestry filled with every little thing I adore about judaism. My rabbi described it as a smorgasbord, and that's true, as well, but in reality, I see my judaism as nothing but love

[todd-machine]

why is this website becoming relaxed about Jews all of a sudden. Like thank you but also I'm highkey baffled and grossed out by the switch up?

I only say this because the amount of genuinely anti-semetic SHIT that I've seen on this website be posted and reblogged under pro-Palestine posts over the last couple of years has been so vile I'm still thinking about it months later.

To be crystal clear this isn't trying to say that criticism of Israel or zionism is anti-semetic in itself, because there's plenty to discuss, criticise and oppose there as far as I'm concerned. All I wish is people were actually more critical of what they posted and actually focussed on that criticism, rather than making it about Jews as an ethnic group (or whatever you choose to label us that day, to suit your convenience). I know it's a big thing to ask of the "piss on the floor" website crowd but I believe in you.

It's all fine and well that you make a singular post about how you "condemn" anti-semitism in your space while ignoring Jews when they speak up about how they're being legitimately discriminated against during this whole period, posting stuff that literally reads like nazi propaganda with a different face and erasing our own VERY real victimisation and trauma over the course of history to fit your worldview. I'm sorry that it's uncomfortable for you to confront, and I'm sorry that you want to create an oppressor figure you can justify bullying on the internet, and I'm sorry that speaking up about this makes you feel like you're siding with zionism and betraying the cause. I'm sorry that you need tangible "proof" for each individual Jew being "good," rather than just treating us with basic respect for just being human. I'm sorry that it's so hard for leftists on the internet to weed this issue out of their space (don't think the right has any kind of freedom from guilt for this, either, but this post is not about them).

If you actually gave a shit you'd look at the ugly parts of what Jews experience on the internet and in real life in the eye, rather than only acknowledging what you consider to be cute and inoffensive to you. Self advocacy like this should not label me as a zionist and neither should it do to you if you find yourself agreeing with any of this. I hate to break it to you but what you stand for doesn't come at the convenience of erasing the people that give you the ick from it.

The above I'd normally put in tags but I'm sorry y'all are not getting the pleasure of erasing this. Apologise to Jews right now and learn to be normal about us or so help me. I wasn't even gonna type this post out but I got rubbed the wrong way that badly.

I grew up in a zionist household and over the years there was a lot of unlearning and perspective shifting I had to do to get here. The dehumanisation that Arabs/Muslims suffer from zionists at large is very real, and you do get labelled as "lost" or as a "traitor" if you acknowledge how wrong it is. That shouldn't be happening but the opposite is happening on the left atm. We shouldn't be in an environment where one group comes at the cost of the other, but this is what's being encouraged here and I'm sorry but I don't fuck with that.

[spoondrifts]

in an ideal world i would be spending xmas writing fic and getting chinese takeout with my jewish friends, but here i am instead, going to be lighting my hanukkiyah for the first time with my non-jewish family that barely understands me and will probably crack some stupid jokes at my expense while insisting that xmas is secular and actually pagan in origin so it's fine for me to celebrate

[is-the-fire-real]

This year I came prepared for Purim.

I brought a plastic multivitamin jar filled with old keys.

Turns out this is VERY useful for drowning out Haman's name, cost me nothing, and didn't leave me with damaged hands/wrists from drumming on the table.

[ljbrary]

So my town always puts up a Christmas tree and menorah in the center of downtown every year.

I just walked downtown after coming back for Thanksgiving, and they have the tree up, but there is no menorah to be found.

And I think we all know why.