#and it was taking place at our synagogue

[pinkcarabiner]

Hey goyim!! With Rosh Hashanah (September 15-17) and Yom Kippur (September 24-25) quickly approaching, please do not schedule events, meetings, deadlines, or appointments during these dates. It's also important to note that Jewish holidays begin at sunset. Your Jewish friends are already under stress to make accommodations that allow us to observe these holidays and there's no need to make it any more difficult.

Please don't tell your Jewish coworkers that they're making it difficult for you by missing work. I promise it is out of our control and we are constantly made to feel selfish for doing so. Provide Jewish people the accommodations they may ask for whether that be rescheduling something or helping them to find someone to cover their shift.

Additionally, a Jewish person's level of observance is none of your business. Some may take the day to spend with friends and family and some may spend the day at their synagogue. Some may fast on Yom Kippur and some may not. Some may continue to go about their lives as usual. None of these make a person any more or less Jewish and it's not your place to comment on.

If you want to support the Jewish people in your life, it would mean so much if you told them "Shana Tova" on Rosh Hashanah and "G'mar Chatima Tova" on Yom Kippur. I promise you they would really appreciate it!

[vague-humanoid]

The Palestinian Youth Movement organized the protest to object to a sale of Palestinian land scheduled to take place at the Synagogue. A report from the Times of Israel confirmed the real estate sale was to take place at Adas Torah on Sunday, June 23. Such sales are illegal under international law.  

There is footage at the link.... they describe "violence erupting" but the footage clearly shows its all coming from the zionists

Anyways let's see what our president had to say about the auctioning of stolen land

Thanks, Joe

[fromchaostocosmos]

When we think of pogroms for many they might think of that scene from Fiddler on Roof.

For others they might think of the Night of the Broken Glass.

For others a multitude of different points in Jewish history might come up and come to mind.

After what happened in Amsterdam that might be what comes to thought.

When Charlottesville happened I like many Jews was very scared and worried that there would be an outbreak pogroms following.

Thank G-d there was not.

So imagine to all of our surprise that the modern day pogroms came not from right wing extremists and wannabe nazis and those chanting "Jews will not replace us" but rather from the left.

That isn't to say antisemitism on left came as surprise. No, that is something any Jew who in any left leaning, progressive, or liberal political scene is very familiar with.

I mean with familiar with all they types of antisemitism that run the whole gambit of political spectrum, from one extremism all the way to the other.

It is just that we really didn't expect it to come from the left of all places is all.

The other part is part is that I think we and I know this was the case for me expected the modern day pogrom to look like the pogroms that we saw in past.

And while that has been the case in of what happened in Amsterdam and what happened in Russia which yes I consider to be a pogrom even though there were no Jews there to be attacked. A mob gathered to attack because they thought there were Jews to attack.

But the reality is a modern pogrom is going to look different. A modern pogrom is going to act different.

Because for all that we, Jews, still tend to live grouped together it is not the same like it used to be when we lived in ghettos and shtetls. Where access to a whole lot of Jews was much easier, escape was much harder, and we had no way to warn each other or to get help. Also historically there was no real or actual punishment for pogroms historically.

In pogroms they could and did get away with taking entire Jewish villages, locking them in they synagogue, and setting it on fire.

Pulling that off in a world where there are legal repercussions, where it is much harder to break into homes, where technology exists that allows us to call to warn others and call for help, and where we can run and not be blocked by the walls of the ghetto or forest of the shtetl makes a big difference.

So then question is what does the modern pogrom look like. I think that it is yes physically attacking Jews so like I said what happened in Amsterdam and what happened in Russia.

But I would say that all these firebombings that we have been seeing over the past 19 months is the predominant way that the modern pogroms are being expressed.

We have seen a lot of them happening in Canada and Australia. There were also several in other countries too, but those two it has just been non-stop.

And now in the USA there has been a whole bunch of them with the latest being what has happened in Colorado.

This is just my personal assessment and opinion on what we have been seeing and I think that we are going to see more of them not less.

And with that will come escalation meaning that more and more people are going to hurt because with the escalation the target is going to move from building to people and the goal is going to be seeing who can injure or G-d forbid kill the most Jews.

(While I am aware that both the Russia and Amsterdam attacks were not done by leftists the point is the before either of those attacks happened there were firebombings that were done and those were done by leftists)

[ear-splitting-silence]

She said,

“Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you, and as you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives. The people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings, who labor in poultry farms and meatpacking plants, who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shifts in hospitals, they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues, gurdwara, and temples. I ask you to have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear their parents will be taken away, and that you help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were all once strangers in this land. May God grant us the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, to speak the truth to one another in love, and walk humbly with each other and our God, for the good of all people, the good of all people in this nation and the world. Amen.”

And he replied,

“The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. She brought her church into the World of politics in a very ungracious way. She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA. Apart from her inappropriate statements, the service was a very boring and uninspiring one. She is not very good at her job! She and her church owe the public an apology!"

This was the most childish thing I've ever heard an adult say. Accusations of hatred and stupidity as a response to a peaceful request and gentle criticism?

[vaspider]

First of all, super pro-vaccine. Secondly, I just had the privilege of paying $189 for this years COVID vaccine, so I never want to hear anyone complain about people being unvaccinated again, holy hell. Unmasked, sure, yell at them, but... This pandemic is never going to end.

First of all, that fucking sucks.

Second of all, that sounds like a good thing to bitch at your Congresshuman about.

Third... Nope, I'm still gonna complain, bc most of the people who are so loudly against vaccines have insurance, which will cover it and thus no $$ excuse. And like... if ppl NEVER got vaccinated, even when it was free, I'm gonna complain about them putting us in this position in the first place.

I hear you but also I haven't been to synagogue regularly in almost 4 years, and every time I do an event to keep my business afloat, I'm taking my life in my hands bc ppl won't put a mask over their face holes and get vaccinated. I'm not gonna stop complaining about basically being left behind by the rest of the world. It fucking sucks all around and saying you don't want to hear people complain about vaccination rates is not gonna sit great with those of us who basically can't live our lives bc of risk levels.

I'm sorry it sucks for you. It sucks for me, too, and we both get to bitch about it.

Thanks for shelling out for your booster. I have to physically go into my doctor's office across the damn river to get Medicaid to pay for mine, which fucking blows and is basically going to eat an entire day.

[when-november-ends]

Disclaimer: I'm not telling you how to 'correctly' practice your religion. This post is meant to make you think about whether the way you currently practice is based on a conscious choice or an unconscious bias. You are the only person who gets to decide what you believe in and how you live your life.

I will use norse polytheism as an example in this post, but it applies to other religions as well.

Polytheistic online spaces are becoming more and more monotheistic.

We have many Gods and Goddesses. We have the Landvættir (spirits of the land), Elves and Dwarfs and many more beings in our mythology. Yet, the vast majority of people who have accounts dedicated to norse paganism, mainly post about one, rarely more than 5 of them.

Loki, Odin, Thor, Freyja, Fenrir.

Those are the top contenders.

- Why is that?

I believe it has to do with the fact that most of us grew up in a monotheistic society. Even if your family isn't religious, I'm sure you've learned about christianity/islam/judaism through the people around you. There are churches/mosques/synagogues in your town, created to honor one god.

The holidays the people celebrate are centered around one god.

Politicians, movies, friends and neighbors, they all talk about their relationship with one god.

We simply never learned how polytheism can look in practice.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that monotheism is somehow bad or worse than polytheism. We should all live alongside and learn from each other. What I am saying is, most of us don't have any idea how to focus on all these beings at once. It seems impossible to have a relationship with all of them. How much time would you have to spend on praying and preparing offerings? How long would it take to have a conversation with each of them at least once a week?

The answer is: too long. That's why this is not what you should be doing, if you're not trying to burn yourself out.

A little effort in relevant situations is enough.

- Why should I change anything if it's working for me?

Because each God and Spirit has their place and specialty.

Would you ask your dentist to fix your broken leg? Or a cook if they can remodel your house?

They are very capable at a certain thing, and maybe your house wouldn't look awful after the remodeling, but don't you think a construction worker and an interior decorator would've done a better job?

I think it's important to let each of them do what they're best at.

- How do I do that?

A little goes a long way.

Ask Iðunn for help, if you feel like there's no life left in you.

Thank Njöðr for the warm spring breeze.

Be good to a stray cat in honor of Freyja.

Leave a handmade flower crown or a bit of fruit outside for the spirits of the land.

Give the dwarfs a coin in exchange for some help with a crafting project.

Read stories from mythology or listen to them as an audiobook. Familiarize yourself with what each of those beings stand for, what they are associated with and what they like.

You will never find a perfect balance between all of them, and it's natural to have a closer relationship with some Gods/Spirits than others. But still, it is absolutely worth getting out of your comfort zone.

That is all from me for now. Good luck and happy worshipping! <3

Click here to get to my Etsy Shop!

[a-griffin-in-the-sky]

I don’t like any religion in fact every single one feels like a cult. Not because I hate faith or spirituality per say, but because every religion I’ve seen has one thing in common: they exploit women and pump up male egos

I know some women grew up with religion as comfort, as culture, as identity. You want to believe there's good in it, and sometimes, there is slivers of stories, saintly women, rebel nuns, small lights in dark places.

On a grand scale, religion doesn’t love you. It will uses you and it will praises your submission, your silence, your suffering and call it sacred.

It tells men they’re closer to god, gives them the authority to speak, to lead, to punish. And it gives you guilt and modesty and rules about your skirt length.

You deserve better than a seat at the back of a temple, church, mosque, or synagogue.

You deserve to walk free without having to ask permission from a god that sounds suspiciously like your father.

So what if we pulled those stories out like pressed flowers? What if we said: yeah, let’s read about Lilith, or Mary Magdalene, or Kali, or Inanna but let’s read them like literature.

Like the ancient fanfic it probably always was and let’s talk about what it meant, what it means now, and what we can take from it

I’m not interested in a "goddess-centric temple" or some new ritual that still tells you how to live or what to believe.

I want women to look at these stories, tear them apart, and make meaning on our own terms. Maybe that’s not worship and maybe that’s just a book club.

[matan4il]

a cultural question for you because I’m curious: here in the US, people dress up for funerals, usually in formal black for mourning. of course a lot of that is a holdover thing shared with England, and most Americans’ concept of a funeral would be people in somber, modest but nice attire in pews in a church. it’s true at Jewish funerals too, though. I noticed the funerals in Israel are much more informal, is there a reason for that? or is is just the norm? asking this totally respectfully, there’s nothing wrong with it at all!, but it interested me.

I’m sorry it’s a question brought up because of such unbearable heartbreak.

Hi Nonnie!

You know, I never realized this, but then I've only seen American funerals in movies and TV shows, so I couldn't know how much it reflects reality, or the fact that American characters even wake up in the morning, after a night of casual sex, with perfect hair and make up...

I would think the tendency to wear informal clothes comes from certain Jewish traditions, like how our dead must be buried as quickly as possible, so see sometimes get the news about a funeral being held on the day it's about to take place, which means not a lot of time for dressing up. Another thing is that our funerals are not held in our houses of worship. The living must be separated from the dead in Judaism, so our cemeteries are usually outside our cities and towns, while our synagogues are built within them. Another thing is that a rabbi doesn't have to be there for a funeral. A representative of chevra kadisha is enough. That means that while a funeral is important, it is not exactly a sacred thing. Judaism sanctifies life, not death, so even though death is treated with respect, it's not treated as holy, if that makes sense? It's a very fine difference, but it's there. Also, our shiva is different from a wake, in the sense that people come to comfort the grieving family all week long, so dressing up for it when you come by after work is not required. On American shows and movies, wakes are presented as an event, it's hosted, and the host must provide food to the guests and the right kind of space to gather in, while a shiva is a part of the Jewish muorning customs, where we grieve together, but it's the community that supports the grieving family, bringing them food, checking in on them if they need anything else, and the location is the home of the deceased, so there's something a lot more casual about it. All these things should affect Jewish funerals in the US as well. If it didn't, that might be an influence of non-Jewish customs, I'm not sure. I never attended a Jewish American funeral either.

Then again, the answer might also be way simpler than all of this: Isreal is a very hot country, and funerals are held in cemeteries, not in air conditioned houses of worship. It's hot, which makes formal dress a nightmare, especially for a funeral held in the noon and afternoon hours, as many Jewish funerals are. It's just practical to not come in formal clothes.

As you can see, these are my educated guesses based on what I'm familiar with. Thank you for giving me a moment to reflect on this, it was interesting to consider... I hope my answer sort of helps. If anyone feels like they can shed more light on this, please do! Have a good day. xoxox

[gaelic-symphony]

I'm sure other Jews in this fandom have already discussed this in depth, but it really is so striking to me that it's specifically a mass shooting that sends Robby over the edge. Not just any mass casualty event: a mass shooting. And I don't necessarily think this was intentional on the part of the writers, especially because it is heavily implied that what triggers Robby's panic attack in the wake of losing Leah is specifically his guilt and grief over Dr. Adamson's death, but like...

Robby is a Jew from Pittsburgh. He may very well have some trauma and triggers specifically related to mass shootings. The Pittsburgh Jewish community numbers about 50,000 people over the Greater Pittsburgh area, primarily concentrated in Squirrel Hill (the neighborhood where the Tree of Life shooting took place) and the surrounding neighborhoods, and like most Jewish communities in mid-sized American cities, it tends to be very tight-knit and interconnected. (I can't tell you how many times I've met another Jew from the Greater Baltimore area for the first time and discovered within an hour of talking to them that we have at least one mutual acquaintance.) It's entirely plausible that he'd be at most two or three degrees of separation from one or more of the victims of the Tree of Life shooting. Maybe he'd been to the shul before to attend a family member's wedding or bar mitzvah.

I just think it adds such an important level of depth to that scene that his grief and trauma from the Tree of Life shooting is compounding his grief and guilt over being unable to save Leah, another mass shooting victim he didn't actually know but felt a deep personal connection to. And then there's the fact that when he's at his absolute lowest, he turns to his faith and his heritage, reciting the Shema as he clutches his Magen David, finding comfort in the Jewish declaration of faith in Hashem, a god Robby doesn't really even believe in. It's already such a powerful and profoundly Jewish action and Jewish scene, but it takes on an even deeper and more Jewish meaning against the background of Robby's specific mass shooting-related trauma. It reminds me of how the Shabbat after the shooting, synagogues across the country were absolutely packed with Jews showing up to shul, some of them for the first time in years, because in the face of tragedy, of loss, of antisemitic attacks and attempts to wipe us out, that is what we do as Jews: We turn to each other and to Hashem, uplifting our people and our Jewishness even more fervently, knowing that this is how we have survived every catastrophe our people have endured.

[jewish-vents]

i finally got up the energy to watch the john oliver segment on the west bank (i normally like his stuff/opinions but anything about i/p is such a fucking landmine for me these days) and by the end of it my fiancé who was sitting next to me was like “we can stop. we can turn it off if it’s making you this mad” but i was so rage-invested that i watched until the end.

i HATE that the entire segment is ostensibly about the current status quo in the west bank (judea and samaria for anybody with any historical fucking knowledge of the area) and never mentions the palestinian authority ONCE. he accuses israel of apartheid as if they are the only people with any control over what happens in the west bank and as if the pa is like. a fairytale that doesn’t actually exist and have real sovereign powers over their areas in the west bank. it’s so gross!! it made me feel so gross!! because without discussing the pas role in the current status quo (or even WHY the current status quo is the way that it is) you CANT have a real conversation about the west bank. it’s just so disingenuous. you can criticize what is happening there without presenting a one-sided narrative that only addresses israel’s role and places all the blame on them. he DID mention the 6 day war but FAILED to mention WHY it was fought/who it was actually fought with, making it seem like israel just attacked the poor palestinians and annexed their land for no reason!! not because they were attacked by multiple surrounding countries on the holiest day of our fucking year!! mentioning that or even acknowledging israelis as having any humanity apparently makes you one of (((them)))

there were a lot of moments that were good, and then so many that were thinly veiled condescension towards any jewish audience members—like he DID mention christian zionists and how gross they can be, and then essentially chastised jews for taking support from them?? which. ok buddy that’s not really an issue you’ve demonstrated yourself qualified to speak on. i know my synagogue works with a local christian zionist organization and it’s probably because who the fuck else is willing to help us!!! really!!! you point out that our only allies don’t actually want to help us (like we don’t fucking know that) without an OUNCE of reflection as to WHY jews might be working with people who openly state that they want us to be converted by j. chrizzy during the rapture. you don’t have to tell us why that’s bad we fucking know!! please call me up when you have any other organizations with money and political power in the us who are willing to do even the slightest fucking thing to assist jewish communities!! i’ll die waiting!!

it’s just. the lack of concern for presenting a nuanced depiction of what is happening in the west bank all while pretending to be presenting a nuanced and well-researched (lmao) depiction of the west back. yes they did some things right (citing israeli sources, finding israeli and palestinian people talking about it instead of secondary sources, no al j. in sight) and that actually makes me ANGRIER because it shows that they could have spent the proper time breaking this down! they clearly have the research skill for this over there! there is NO WAY, in all their time spent on b’tselem (source they actually cited which i was impressed by considering i didn’t know non jewish americans knew abt them) that they didn’t run across a single article about the pas role in the current status quo in the west bank. you can’t break down what areas a b and c are without also understanding the pas role in that. there’s just so much that’s not there that should be and it’s so infuriating because you know that it was a choice. they know about the pa. they know why the wall was built and why the checkpoints are in place. they just don’t fucking care. he cites the number of israelis killed in a period of years and then points out that ten times that number of palestinians were killed in the same timeframe. which is so gross!! let’s not compare piles of corpses to determine moral superiority thanks!! and presenting those numbers devoid of any context other than “many of them [palestinians] were killed by israeli security forces” only serves to minimize israeli suffering and concern for their safety while ALSO minimizing legitimate palestinian suffering by lumping in victims of anti-arab hate crimes with terrorists killed by the military. it’s gross and patronizing and for all the jokes he makes about shit he can’t talk about as a british american he is sure running his fucking mouth

i just wish people would stop trying to condense this conflict down into something that’s easily digestible and consumable in less than 30 minutes. there are horrible people on both sides and refusing to acknowledge that stops the conversation before it can start. all this did was further villainize israel in the minds of armchair expert leftists (since john is like a king to them) and contribute absolutely nothing meaningful or interesting to the conversation. it’s just regurgitated uncontextualized pseudo intellectual bullshit. i’m an english teacher i can sniff a pile when i see one. i rlly wish leftists would just. leave us alone already. new year is coming up and i’m trying to find it in my heart to forgive you know? but fuck that. i’m so sick of goyim talking down to us about this issue while simultaneously being the most misinformed fucks (whether by choice or sheer stupidity) to walk g-ds green earth. i guess i’m just tired.

.

[mariacallous]

After trying for five years to dissuade lawmakers in Missouri from enacting laws he believed would endanger his son and other transgender youth in the state, Russel Neiss finally admitted defeat.

The state’s ban in 2023 on transgender medical care for minors devastated Neiss, but it also came with something of an upside for him: no more sacrificing his family’s time to testify at the Missouri statehouse. No more sitting politely with his son while enduring hurtful comments from officials.

The battle was over, and it was time to find somewhere else to live — a state without legislation that could lead to loss of custody over his son, or the denial of medical care. But not just any haven for transgender youth would do. It also had to be a place where the family could continue to live as Orthodox Jews, with a synagogue that wouldn’t shun their child. 

“Trying to figure out where to go, we counted 10 Orthodox communities nationwide that might accept our family,” Neiss said, noting that he consulted a list of LGBTQ-friendly congregations compiled by a group called Eshel. “There are about four places that we can afford, and maybe one place where we actually wanted to live.”

He is married to Rori Picker Neiss, who is a “rabba,” a title for Orthodox women trained in Jewish law, and works as the senior vice president for community relations Jewish Council for Public Affairs.

Their son’s bar mitzvah in April 2024 — which they made sure conformed to Orthodox standards — also served as an occasion to say goodbye to their community in Missouri. A few months later, they relocated to Pennsylvania, joining a congregation called South Philadelphia Shtiebel.

“There’s a reason we drew a mile-radius circle around Shtiebel, and were like, ‘We need a house somewhere in here,’” Neiss said. “They have built the most welcoming space I have ever been a part of. Full stop.”

It was a blissful time for the Neiss family.

“We had a solid six months of not worrying at every moment,” he said. “In Missouri, we were fighting legislation and the stress was hanging over us, day after day after day. So we were enjoying the respite.”

That respite ended in January when Donald Trump was inaugurated as president. He had run on an anti-trans platform targeting health care, athletics and social protections. 

In the 11 days after his swearing-in, Trump has begun to make good on those vows. On his first day in office, he signed an executive order recognizing only two sexes, male and female, and invalidating anyone’s deviation from their sex as a “false claim” spurred by “gender ideology.” Next, he banned transgender troops from serving in the military. Exact numbers are unknown, but several thousand U.S. service members are transgender. In his executive order, Trump suggested that they are mentally or physically sick, dishonorable and selfish. 

On Tuesday, he signed an executive order that aims to outlaw gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth, describing such treatments as a form of child abuse, a view that implicates both medical providers and parents.

Neiss and his family had been expecting this, and preparing for it.

“It was just a question of how much, how fast and what would they get away with?” he said. “And then, well, what do we have to do to keep our family safe and secure?”

For fear of the worst coming to pass, he declined to detail what specific measures the family might be considering.

Caution when discussing contingency plans is not unique to Neiss. One Jewish woman with a transgender child agreed to discuss her family’s preparations on condition of anonymity. Living in Colorado, the family was feeling relatively safe. That changed with the inauguration. 

“We are now very scared to the point that we’re packing go-bags,” she said. “We have mapped a route to drive out of the country if something goes crazy. And we’re buying gold bullion.”

The woman, who comes from Holocaust survivors, continued, “I’m not waiting until they come to round us up. And I know that sounds hysterical, but, listen, my grandparents waited too long.”

Minors who transition can be offered therapy to help process the change, as well as social support in picking a new name and clothing. Some may take puberty blockers and at an older age, receive hormone therapy. In rare cases, doctors may administer mastectomies and genital surgery. 

Gender-affirming interventions have been shown to reduce rates of self-harm and depression among transgender youth. 

The nonprofit organization Keshet and other Jewish LGBTQ advocates were among those who denounced Trump’s executive orders as hateful and dangerous. 

“As people who come from a tradition that sees each one of us as created in the divine image, we recognize these actions as defaming God and betraying the preciousness of life; we see these actions as motivated by people in power seeking to create a world in their narrow image — certaintly not God’s,” Keshet said in a statement following Trump’s latest action. 

In social media and texting groups, LGBTQ Jews and their allies are supporting each other by sharing feelings of dismay, fear and despair. They are also consulting their communities on what measures they can take to safeguard their families. Those who may not be directly or immediately affected are offering material support. 

A Jewish woman in Oregon, for example, posted that her home is available to take in transgender youth who are escaping abusive or unsafe situations. She noted that her home is “moderately kosher.” (The Jewish Telegraphic Agency is not providing her name given the sensitivity of the issue and because she did not respond to an inquiry.)

Rabbi Mike Moskowitz of Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, which bills itself as the world’s largest LGBTQ synagogue, posted a video message for transgender Jews on the synagogue’s Instagram page.  

“For those of you who feel scared or alone, we see you, we love you,” Moskowitz said. “God doesn’t put extra people in this world — we need you.”

In Chicago, where transgender rights are relatively secure, Danielle Solzman, a freelance film critic who is transgender, is considering immigrating to Israel. For her health care, she relies on Medicaid, which is a federal program and therefore run by the Trump administration. Trump has so far not targeted gender-affirming care for those, including Solzman, who are 19 years old and over. 

“If things get worse, as I expect they will. It’s going to give me no choice but to move to Israel, where the treatment I need is accessible,” she said in an interview. 

Solzman was already considering moving there, but for a different reason. 

“Right after Oct. 7, it was going to be antisemitism that would force me into moving, not federally mandated transphobia,” she said. “Trump is not looking at trans people as being human. He’s looking at us as being subhuman. It’s like 1930s Germany all over again.”

Several lawmakers in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government are openly anti-LGBTQ rights, but Netanyahu has vowed to block them from advancing discriminatory legislation. The country scores relatively high on LGBTQ legal rights compared to the rest of the world, according to an index by a group called Equaldex, which says Israel is among 28 countries where gender-affirming care is legal. With the country’s universal healthcare system, Israelis generally have access to many kinds of treatments, including hormone replacement therapy. 

In the United States, the policy effects of Trump’s executive orders are still mostly uncertain, and they have no direct or immediate impact on Neiss’ son. But the message they send is clear to Neiss. 

“The order suggests that living as a trans person — that my son’s entire existence is up for debate, and that is unconscionable,” he said. “When you start talking about people as lesser than or as inhuman, that’s language which puts people at risk.”

Neiss is also disappointed that the historical echo of Nazism he hears in Trump’s rhetoric isn’t spurring more alarm among mainstream Jewish leaders.

“The dominant Jewish community has nothing to say on this particular issue, and it is a huge moral failing,” he said. 

Transgender rights are not at the center of the mainstream Jewish advocacy agenda. Many left-leaning Jewish groups, however, have at minimum criticized efforts to ban transgender women and girls from participating in women’s sports. In January, before the inauguration, more than 100 groups — including the umbrella organization for Reform Judaism, the Conservative Rabbinical Assembly, the leading Reconstructionist Jewish groups and the National Council of Jewish Women — signed a letter opposing a transgender sports ban bill in Congress.

Neiss and his wife don’t immediately update their 13-year-old son with every news headline. As with many parents in difficult circumstances, the Neisses want to deliver the unvarnished truth without sparking panic in their son. 

“We’ve made sure that he’s gotten the love and support that he needs and so we can be truthful with him,” Neiss said “Then we tell him, ‘We got your back.’ And he says, ‘I know it,’ because he believes it.”

[shmuel-ben-sarah-kcd2]

i'd love to hear more of your thoughts about samuel! maybe the scar lore? maybe his and miriam's relationship? 👀

howdy there! So I’m going to start this off with a MASSIVE Trigger Warning for antisemitism, depictions of violence, and spoilers for Exodus onwards. This shit gets pretty heavy chat and we’re having a bad time.

It is stated in the game that Samuel, Sara, and Rabbi Jehuda lived in Prauge for a few years before returning to Kuttenberg. I set the year of his birth to 1379, after Rosh Hashanah, so he’s twenty four in the events of canon, and he’s nine years old on Easter of 1389.

“Easter Sunday that year coincided with the last day of Pesach. A priest who was leading the Easter procession through the ghetto was hit by some pebbles and caught in the cross fire of some Jewish children playing in a sandbox. The priest, who was carrying an eucharistic wafer claimed that pebbles hitting him, made him drop the host.

He insisted that the community purposely plotted against. him. The priest's followers beaup the boys. The parents of the boys came to the defense of thair children. The clergy led byJesek Ctyrhranny riled up the mobs to take vengeance. A mob was then incited to attack the ghetto. Jews were bludgeoned to death with axes and killed with bows and arrows.

The synagogue was destroyed and the Torah scrolls were trampled and stepped on.

The buildings were set ablaze and the homes were pillaged.

According to a Latin parody Christians fell upon all Jews, amputating their limbs one by one....”

five hundred of us were slaughtered, half to two thirds of our population in Prauge.

I count Samuel, his mother, and his Zayde among the survivors. I count his Bubbe Chava, his aunt Esther, and his best friend, Benjamin, among the massacred, the martyred.

Samuel and Benjamin were among the boys playing in the street. And it was Samuel whose aim slipped.

the burn scars, the jagged gash across the back of his head from being slammed into the stones on the street, several of the blows by blade, and the piercing wound of a pitchfork going through his leg, these are all from the pogrom.

by all accounts, he should not have survived. He was knocked unconscious, and as he was not a girl, the mob moved on to slaughter others. His Zayde pulled him, carried him to safety, until the two of them had made it far enough out of the city to see the flames but not hear the screams.

it is there, that Jehuda stops, does what he can to bandage his grandson’s worst injuries, giving the boy a knife to defend himself, telling him that if he didn’t come back, Samuel should run that way to try and get to the next tow over. then rabbi Jehuda hides his grandson, placing his hands on Samuel’s head, and whispering a brucha. And so Samuel became a man. (This is nearly word for word what happened to my Czech Jewish great grandfather when the soldiers came…)

While his Zayde was able to find Sara alive, he was unable to save anyone else. All three will blame themselves.

Now, as for Miriam and Samuel. When Samuel moved back to Kuttenberg he was a lonely boy, still recovering, scared to play lest he begin another pogrom. But Miriam and her older brother Moshe kind of forced their way into his life. He taught them both how to read Czech and German (Moshe learned Hebrew in Cheder, and taught Miriam how to write Hebrew script and Yiddish is phonetic mostly anyway) and they taught him how to read a man (Miriam) and gut an animal the kosher way (Moshe, their father aas a butcher by trade) and to close a wound.

the three were really thick as thieves. Samuel had a little bit of a crush on both of them, to be honest. And of course, with all the fighting, the three organized a self defense milita. It had to be kept hidden from the goyim (we were not allowed to own weapons) but it was the ghetto’s only hope when a pogrom came.

Miriam and Samuel eventually parted ways, Samuel going to yeshiva for a year before returning to Kuttenberg, Miriam getting hired to work for Von Bergow, to keep an ear to the floor so she could warn her people when the next attack was coming.

[butts-bouncing-on-the-beltway]

I feel very weird about that post that's like"with usa food regulations being rolled back just get halal or kosher meats instead!"

And like. I've been trying to figure out why.

Because I wouldn't feel weird if people were suggesting, say, gluten free certified foods. "Just buy GF since [insert macguffin for this point] feels fine. Good even. Generally, the more people buy GF, the more variety and quality of product we start to get, but even without that, I really have no concerns with people who don't "need" the product buying it because they want to for whatever reason.

But halal and kosher foods aren't just about safety inspections or allergies or even personal faith.

Do people know what it takes to make ingredients or food Kosher or Halal? Because it's a lot actually. There are MANY steps and certifications, and then there are blessings and ethical reviews, and a ton of other components.

For one thing, increasing demand on these things will in no way increase the availability of them. There are only so many people who can perform the steps involved, and even if they stepped it up and tried to bring on more, it isn't ALL the do and there is simply no world where a bunch of people who have never set foot in a synagogue or a mosque and aren't Jewish or Muslim start buying our foods to get around regulation recalls without guaranteeing that families like mine will never be able to shop for our groceries properly again.

And like. Yeah. It's not an allergy. It won't kill me to eat non-Kosher, the way eating gluten would. But that doesn't stop this from feeling like I'm being threatened with a new and exciting form of cultural genocide where the systems of MY faith become fodder for the goyische fucks who used to laugh at me for being upset someone fed me pork without asking. A fun and jazzy way to say "maybe we can't kill you outright rn because we have to pretend we give a fuck about Jews so we can keep slaughtering Palestinians en masse, but we can make sure that every meal you eat for the next few years is a violation of your spiritual obligations to your faith, and we can tell you to get over it when you point out that most places that carry kosher/halal stock ALREADY never have enough, and we can tell you that it's not a big deal do you want us to get sick just so you can gatekeep food????"

I dunno man. Something about it feels fucked. I gave up on being able to afford Kosher meat YEARS ago. For a brief while I lived near a wholesale butcher's that worked with the local Imams and Rabbis to ensure a steady supply of Kosher and Halal meats for the bustling Sephardic and Sudanese population in the region, and I gladly paid the few dollars extra per pound to be able to eat Kosher. But since leaving, not ONCE has a local store had more than one or two items in stock. Not ONCE have I been able to find prices less than double the non-Kosher option. I slaughter my own hens now and it isn't the same, but I am able to follow the appropriate steps to the best of my ability and ease the feelings of devastation and alienation from my faith in the process. At least I was able to save up for the occasional cut of lamb or beef from a kosher-affiliated butcher. At least I felt like I could exist.

I'm immuno-compromised. I can't safely eat the meat that is reportedly being contaminated across the country rn either. Hell, I can barely eat at all most days unless I grew it in my own backyard and made it in my own kitchen. If my access to Kosher foods dries up because goyim decided that was an equivalent and appropriate way to manage their own risk, then not only am I wrestling with the lack of access to my faith traditions, but I'm in even MORE health risk than I already am now.

This isn't a morality thing, and I certainly don't think the answer to this is to tell people not to buy Kosher and Halal in order to manage their risk. But would it kill yall to think a little before you speak on the subject? To be considerate or to take the time to learn about the implications of your plan so you can engage with them responsibly? Is it too much to ask yall to understand what it can be like to be a non-christian in this country where everything you are is an excuse to hurt you right up until it becomes useful to the culturally christian hegemonic community to appropriate our systems and survival mechanisms for themselves and knowingly still at our expense? Can I trust you to understand how your turning to our survival systems without being willing to fully engage with and feed back into them means that we, not you, are put in danger?

I don't know that I do trust that. And the sick feeling in my stomach every time I see that post feels like a sucker punch each time.

[the-incorrigible-chaia]

[alt id]Two pages from the pamphlet "The Past Didn't Go Anywhere" by April Rosenblum, that read as follows:

it was a good try, but time to rethink.

on targeting “zionism”

A lot of activists work to avoid anti-Jewish oppression, and to make a distinction between Jewish people and Israeli misdeeds, by targeting their comments at "Zionists," not Jews, and "Zionism," not Judaism or Jewish culture. Unfortunately, this shortcut doesn't work.

First, it backfires because major, organized antisemitic movements also use the term, for the opposite purpose: to spread anti-Jewish ideology without looking so bad. That's why 2005's international conference, "Zionism As the Biggest Threat to Modern Civilization" was co-chaired by neo-nazi politician David Duke. For many antisemitic groups, “Zionists” are the demonic Jews controlling the world, Protocol-style; and “Zionism” is the general body of evildoing by Jews. Because we activists are only suspicious of Jew-bashing, not attacks on “Zionists,” their antisemitic imagery makes its way right into our circles. Second, because it replaces one one-dimensional image of a 'bad guy' with another. It bypasses the actual work of avoiding anti-Jewish oppression: reshaping how we think and talk about Jews and Israelis to see them as 3-dimensional human beings, capable of wrongdoing like any others. Finally, using the term "Zionists" doesn't protect Jews. It just makes people who bomb Jewish schools, synagogues, etc., call the people they're killing Zionists.

Principled anti-Zionism has little to do with the fake "Zionism" that antisemites like Duke attack. There are many rational reasons why some people are opposed to the philosophy that there should be a Jewish state, just as lots of rational reasons motivate others to believe a Jewish state is neccessary.*

There's no shame in thinking critically toward Zionism. But in a world of unresolved antisemitism, there's also no getting out of fighting this oppression head on.

*For instance: An anti-Zionist might rationally oppose Zionists' having consciously established a state where they did, knowing that this would lead to dispossessing the Palestinian people. A Zionist might observe that Jews' vulnerability was linked to being a permanently small minority and support Jews having one place where they are the governing majority.

innoculate your Palestine work against antisemitism

If you're white, understand: When you take no action to stop anti-Jewish patterns in our movements, you set Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims up to take the fall. Though historic Left mistreatment of Jews has largely been a legacy of white, European/American movements, Arabs and Muslims are the ones who today get publicly scapegoated for charges of Left antisemitism. Don't let them pay the price. Take the struggle on.

Beware of saying Israel is the only country doing anything, or the worst case of any given injustice; it’s often not true, and it gets used to justify global violence against Jews. Know and speak about countries guilty of similar offenses. This not only guard against danger to Jews; it brings a global perspective that strengthen the fights of all peoples, even while we focus on Palestinians.

Be specific about the injustice you're talking about. For instance, don’t jump into generalizations like “Israelis are like Nazis.” Focus on the original thought that led there; ie, “Israeli policies like [blank] treat Palestinians as if they’re not human.”

Remember that, as with every oppression, it’s possible to spread antisemitic ideas without necessarily harboring any ill will toward Jews. Stay open to re-evaluating tactics, even though you know your intentions are positive and just.

Don't casually use one-dimensional, charicatured portrayals of cruel Israelis. Rather than sensationalizing Israelis, and compounding anti-Jewish oppression in a world that already paints Jews as evil, help people see Palestinians: real people, suffering daily injustice, both mundane and extreme, and deserving of global attention.

At the center of Palestinians’ struggle for freedom and human dignity is their human and legal Right to Return to their land. But there are real reasons why Jews around the world fear losing majority control of Israel. (See p. 25.) If you fight for the Right to Return, understand the implications it could have for Jews in a world where anti-Jewish oppression has not been solved. Consider what role you can play in bringing about global safety for Jewish people.

If people use opposition to the term 'antisemitism' to shut down discussion, by all means, speak of anti-Jewish oppression. But speak of it. Don't let fellow activists silence conversation about antisemitism by complaining that the word is wrong, and blaming Jews for the problem. (See page 6.)

Above all, remember:

Taking care to resist antisemitism is not about walking on eggshells or acquiescing to pressure. It's about making a greater commitment to refusing to take part in oppression - and building movements that can win.

[end id]

[springstarfangirl]

hi spring! i'm writing an orthodox jewish character and had a few questions for you.

how does a synagogue work? as in. what does a service look like, and is it possible to visit a synagogue outside of set "service" hours? is the rabbi available for discussion etc outside of those hours?

my character's dad died when he was very young, so his (jewish) mother would take him to the synagogue. would he have to sit on the male side of the synagogue as a child? or would that start after his bar mitzvah?

thank you so much!

Thank you for trusting me with these questions!

Now, a large portion of these questions might be highly dependent on where the characters live, since Israeli shuls tend to be rather different than ones in America, but I'll answer what I know and tag some other people here to offer a more diasporic perspective.

So, Orthodox Jewish prayer service happens three times a day. Morning, afternoon, and night. The morning service is the longest of the three in general, and the special additional Shabbat service is generally hooked on to the end of the morning service, making it quite long depending on the length of the Torah portion that week and how fluently the members of the shul speak Hebrew.

A service will generally be entirely in Hebrew with snippets of Aramaic, though there are places in between the prayers (mainly Shabbat night and morning) where people will sometimes stop and give a dvar Torah, which will usually be in the local language. Shabbat morning service in Israel can be as fast as an hour and a half and I've heard tell of diaspora services that take three or four hours. The length also depends on how much singing you do, and this is a different type of singing than you'd see in a Christian house of worship- we prefer to avoid choirs in our worship (I think it stinks too much of Christianity) and so singing is generally all melodic, involving everyone in the shul.

Whether you can visit a shul outside of service hours depends on the shul. Most community shuls will be locked up, but there are shuls meant to service workers in various jobs, and those will often remain open all day. The rabbi should be available outside of prayer hours for questions and advice, since as the Jewish law expert, that's what he's there for.

Specific people acting as a paid cantor isn't something I've experienced in Israel, since most people are somewhat fluent in Hebrew and the position of cantor will get passed around from week to week, but I've heard it's a thing outside of here.

Children do not have to sit on the appropriate side of the mechitza until they come of age (13 for boys, 12 for girls) but most communities will prefer having them start around the age of 10, with exceptions made depending on the situation. Depending on the style of mechitza, your character could still sit next to his mother then- if they're mobile wooden barriers or curtains, then there will be seating either side of them, and your character and his mother could sit next to each other either side of the mechitza. If the women's section is an elevated section accessed separately, then that's rough on the kid, but the mom might ask a friend to help him get used to it.

Tagging @slyandthefamilybook @daughterofstories @resplendent-ragamuffin @theskyvoid for more specific diasporic stuff.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Gideon Taaffe at MMFA:

During the inaugural prayer service, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde urged President Donald Trump to “have mercy” on undocumented migrants and LGBTQ kids, and right-wing media responded by calling her a “fake bishop” with “deranged political beliefs,” saying her sermon was “heretical” and “satanic,” and claiming she was “forcing left-wing platitudes down everyone’s throat.” 

Budde’s comments about mercy provoked Trump

The bishop leading the inaugural prayer service at Washington National Cathedral made a plea to Trump to “have mercy” on behalf of LGBTQ kids and migrants. “In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” said Budde, the Episcopal bishop of Washington, D.C. “There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families. Some who fear for their lives.” She added, “They may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches and mosques, synagogues.” [NBC News, 1/21/25]

Trump attacked Budde the next day and demanded an apology. He wrote on Truth Social: “The so-called Bishop who spoke at the National Prayer Service on Tuesday morning was a Radical Left hard line Trump hater. … She was nasty in tone, and not compelling or smart. She failed to mention the large number of illegal migrants that came into our Country and killed people. Many were deposited from jails and mental institutions. It is a giant crime wave that is taking place in the USA.” [Rolling Stone, 1/22/25]

Appearing on The View, Budde clarified that her responsibility “was to reflect, to pray with the nation for unity” and that her remarks were an attempt to “say we need to treat everyone with dignity, and we need to be merciful.” She stated, “I also realized that unity requires a certain degree of mercy, mercy and compassion and understanding and so knowing that a lot of people, as I said, in our country right now, are really scared, I wanted to take the opportunity in the context of that of service for unity, to say we need to treat everyone with dignity, and we need to be merciful.” She also said she would be open to a one-on-one with Trump, saying, “I could assure him and everyone listening that I would be as respectful as I would with any person, and certainly of his office, for which I have great deal of respect.” [Deadline, 1/22/25]

Faux outrage alert: Right-wing media commentators big angry over Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde asking Trump “have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared” to his face.