#but i'm trying to at least learn to read hebrew as well so i don't need a transliteration for prayers

[jinxpologist]

mending the heartbreak by listening to random pop songs in hebrew and attempting to pick out one of the three words i know

[fdelopera]

reading your response to the ask about Elohim, i found it so fascinating and really wanted to learn more about jewish history. but im kinda scared to try and dive into googling it because like, for obvious reasons there is a lot of antisemitic misinformation out there. where's a good place to start learning about it all from a historical standpoint, aside from taking a college course? i hope this is okay to ask, i really don't want to stumble upon/consume revisionist history out of ignorance

Hi Anon. Thank you for your kind message. I really appreciate it.

I'm glad that you enjoyed my post about the origin of Elohim as one of the names of G-d in Judaism. Studying Jewish history and Jewish religious practice gives profound understanding and context to Abrahamic religions, as well as to the last 3500+ years of history, since at least the Late Bronze Age.

And thank you for wanting to learn more about Jewish history, and for reaching out to a Jewish person to ask about it.

My answer to your Ask is based on this answer about Jewish history, which I posted a few days ago. Not a lot of people saw it, so I feel okay about posting these links here again.

This past month especially has made me realize just how little most gentiles (non-Jews) know about Jewish history. It's been eye-opening, for sure.

And ... you're right, unfortunately. I've seen a metric shit ton of Jew-hatred going around. And so many antisemitic conspiracy theories that originated with the Neo-Nazis and the KKK.

Some people have been spreading this Neo-Nazi rhetoric intentionally, but many others have been spreading it because they don't have the context to understand that they are repeating Nazi dogwhistles.

In talking to gentiles, I often find that their knowledge of Jewish history extends to a few facts about the Holocaust. Some gentiles who have studied European history and political science may also have a general understanding of Hitler’s rise to power.

But that’s only the past several decades of Jewish history! And it's limited almost entirely to Europe!

Jews are a Levantine people. We are indigenous to Judea (the area currently called Israel/Palestine), and our history goes back thousands of years to the Late Bronze Age.

For a good overview of Jewish history, from the Late Bronze Age to the present, I would recommend two YouTube channels. That’s a good place to start. There are many history books on the subject, but a lot of them are quite dense, and the videos from these two historians will give you a good general overview if you want to learn more.

Sam Aronow:

Sam Aronow covers the span of Jewish history, from the Late Bronze Age to modern times. It is an ongoing Jewish history project that he’s been producing for the past three years, and it is in chronological order. He is currently in the early 1900s, and he comes out with a new video every month or so (he's just released a new video this month).

Click here to go to Sam’s YouTube channel, and then you can scroll back to watch his videos from the beginning, or you can decide what time period of Jewish history you’re most interested in learning about first.

Useful Charts:

Matt Baker, PhD runs the YouTube channel "Useful Charts," and he often works with Sam Aronow's channel. He has a PhD in education and religion. Matt has a very interesting story. He converted to Judaism as an adult; when he was a young man, he escaped a Christian doomsday cult, which he was born into. This gives him a unique understanding of Jewish history, especially how the "Old Testament" is often weaponized by Evangelical Christians to advance specific right-wing agendas. (As I explain below, the Old Testament is NOT the Hebrew bible. It is a chopped up, reordered, edited, and mistranslated version of the Hebrew bible.) Matt's videos on the history of Judaism are well-researched, and he breaks down different aspects of Jewish history into easy-to-follow segments.

I) Jewish History series:

Which Bible Characters are Historical.

Kings of Israel & Judah Family Tree.

Maccabees & King Herod Family Tree. (by Sam Aronow)

Classical Rabbis Family Tree.

Judaism and Jewish Denominations Explained.

Jewish Streams (Denominations) Re-Explained. (by Sam Aronow)

II) Who Wrote the Tanakh and the New Testament series:

NOTE: The Tanakh (the Hebrew bible) is an acronym that stands for Torah (Instruction), Nevi'im (Prophets), Ketuvim (Writings). It is NOT the same as the "Old Testament" in the Christian bible. The Christian editors of the "Old Testament" cut up the Tanakh and reordered it in a way that doesn't make any sense for Jewish practice. Many Christian bibles (such as the King James Version) also intentionally mistranslate the Old Testament to advance specific religious, political, and social ideologies of their time.

Who Wrote the Torah.

Who Wrote the Prophets.

Who Wrote the Writings.

I am including links to Matt's series on who wrote the New Testament, because many people who were raised Christian were never given a historical context for the people who wrote the books of the New Testament.

Who Wrote the Apocrypha. (The Apocrypha are later-written Jewish books that are not included in the Tanakh, but do appear in some Christian bibles, like the Catholic bible)

Who Wrote the Epistles. (Paul's Epistles were written before the Gospels, which is why the Epistles are linked first.)

Who Wrote the Gospels and Acts. (The Gospels were all written long AFTER Jesus' lifetime, and AFTER the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. They were NOT written by the people they are attributed to.)

Who Wrote Daniel, and Who Wrote Revelation. (Matt includes Daniel from the Nevi'im [Prophets] as well as Revelation from the New Testament in this video to discuss apocalypticism in Jewish and early Christian tradition.)

[frogofalltime]

cool facts about my name because i'm still getting used to it but it makes me so happy every time i use it or even just think of it in my head <3

it's really similar to my birth name, i wanted to keep the ee because i've always been fighting to make people spell my name right (it's an arabic name so in england people tend to get it wrong). and people used to call me meena in the past and you can still do that with binyameen !

binyameen means "son of the right hand side". in my faith the right side is seen as the good side and the right hand is the one you use to do good things (obviously it's just a metaphor, because left handed people and people with missing hands etc are absolutely valid and important and able to do good !)

it can also mean "son of the south" which is funny because my friends often laugh at me for having a southern (british) accent even though i live in the north

it is the name of the youngest brother of yusuf (joseph) in the qur'an story. binyameen is the brother that yusuf is closest to and he's a pretty important character. i always loved the name ever since i first learned that story in religion class, partly because of the similarities to my birth name and partly because it's just really nice

it's a pretty common and timeless name, in arabic and hebrew and english forms, due to it coming from religious scripture. there are old men and newborn babies and people of every age in between with this name; it doesn't feel dated or anything like that

Ben by michael jackson was my favourite song as a kid, and the first song i ever learned all the words to. it's about his pet rat who was misunderstood by everyone. "ben, you're always running here and there, you feel you're not wanted anywhere"; "ben, most people would turn you away"; "they don't see you as i do, i wish they would try to, i'm sure they'd think again if they had a friend like ben"; etc. the lyrics were so relatable to me as a queer autistic poc kid who very much stood out as Different and was bullied at school for almost my entire childhood. also i love rats

when we were really little kids my brother used to tell everyone at school he had an older brother called ben and the reason nobody had met him yet was because he always hid at home. this is is so funny to me now because, well, as it turns out, that was Major Foreshadowing

beatrix potter stories (peter rabbit etc) were my first special interest as a kid. and when i came out to one of my internet friends she immediately sent me a picture of benjamin bunny and said it's you !! which made me smile so wide !! he was always my favourite !!

the beginning of binyameen overlaps with the end of my partner's name which was Not intentional but that is so incredibly cute of us :D

benji woodside (the main character in Hell Followed With Us) is a really relatable and loveable character (he's trans !!) and when i first read that book and saw he picked the same name as the one i was considering it made me feel this Connection idk how to explain it

people can call me bin for short which is funny in english but in arabic it means son which is So gender affirming. i really don't think my parents will ever accept me as trans or use my chosen name and pronouns or call me their son but at least i can get a little bit of that feeling from my name

my friends are still getting used to it which i completely understand, so am i, but they're trying, for example yesterday they were coming up with new nicknames for me, and i really appreciate that !! it feels so good to have such loving people supporting me through this

[thebookoffrank]

Day 1/100: Nova Vulgata ❤️‍🔥

So I did not as much forget about this account as I found myself overwhelmed by the most meaningless occurrences and activities and neglected this... that being said, hello again. I have not forgotten you!

I decided to start the '100 days of productivity' posting challenge with the high hopes it will give me both motivation and accountability in my studies, especially as I am now more determined than ever before to really, really succeed. Here's how my first day went:

I am reading the Nova Vulgata or the Latin Bible used by the Catholic Church and academics alike. The edition I'm currently perusing is the Nestle-Aland Novum Testamentum Latine, which I found in my university's library. The issue with my Latin is that I get the gist of what I read, but am completely lost when it comes to individual words and their variations, or, worse even, verb tenses! Which means I'm terrible at direct translation! This really does not help me with my bible polyglottism skills... So my idea is that I will learn words I don't yet know by reading the (New Testament) Bible (a collection of texts I am familiar with) in Latin and checking words and passages I cannot crack in my English translation! That will not teach me grammar or sentence structures, but I can at least be more familiar with the language as it stands in the biblical context. (Do not ask me about my Hebrew or Greek skills, I refuse to answer...)

Decided on a question I will answer for my final theology essay of the year. So exciting! I do hope I answer it competently, as I both want my fix of academic validation as well as to surpass my current essay writing and, more importantly, research abilities.

Overall, not a bad day, but not my most productive by far. Just glad I am finally interacting with biblical languages again (modern language slumber moment)! I do hope to get stuff done this week, as the academic year is coming to a close, and I have so much to do still! I love how enjoyable life is these days (and every day, really. I'm an extraordinarily content individual).

Today's stats:

🎧 - Mozart: Requiem in D Minor, K.626 - 3a. Sequientia: Dies irae

📖 - Viktor E. Frankl: Man's Search For Meaning

Daily weather: ☀️Sunny and warm! (although it did rain a teensy bit in the morning).

(PS: the list of tags is gigantic and absurd but I am trying so hard to find like-minded individuals on the hellsite so bear with me!)

[keshetchai]

Some things I think people will find helpful as I put together my notes:

Siddurim aimed at teenagers tend to be the best for educational purposes for adults less familiar with the siddur. Ymmv, but books aimed at teens:

are still genuinely and actively teaching things to a "student" reader,

are no longer assuming the parent is there to guide the process (where kids books rely on an invisible "parent" mentor often), and

are trying to treat the readers like the adults they want to be

There's a desire to educate AND the expectation of intellectual independence. General "adult" siddurim are usually not going to make the "teaching" part as obvious.

While some people might find it helpful to buy the siddur their synagogue uses, I actually don't own either the siddur or the HHD machzor my synagogue uses, even though I own like...6-7 siddurim, some of which are decades old and probably no longer published. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I've also used (in a service of some kind) at least 3-4 different siddurim, and to be frank, I've never really been impressed with any of them as a learner.

Ironically, I think this is a big problem with liberal siddurim, in terms of usability. Most liberal siddurim I've seen inside a synagogue aren't very intuitive to use, and I find many of them frustratingly lacking in bridging knowledge gaps. You would assume this wouldn't be the case, but actually I find most Orthodox siddurim often assume less knowledge, and therefore explain more. Of the modern "general audience" liberal siddurim, I think the best one is the conservative movement's Siddur Lev Shalem (which I bought when it first came out in 2016).

The reform Mishkan T'filah is...okay. I mean it's not horrible, but I wouldn't say it's amazing either. It's fine. I've seen worse liberal siddurim (the previous Gates of Prayer, some of the older Recon siddurim...), but there's also better out there. It's great for having consistent transliteration to use, which I think is the selling point for people who can't yet read Hebrew. (I can sight read prayers, but mostly because I recognize the prayer by the alef bet used. I don't think I'm very...literate?)

Actually if you are a liberal leaning Jew, then I have to admit: you will be well served by buying at least one Orthodox published siddur of some kind to supplement your learning. If you can afford it, you may want to buy more than one.

If your goal is to learn to read the Hebrew and how to read prayers in general, then I recommend Chayim Alevsky's My Siddur (I use the sephardic pronunciation version.)

I think it also has an app now? It looks like this more or less:

You can see the transliteration is directly above the Hebrew and read like Hebrew (right to left). There's icons indicating when to bow. The book will define words, explain certain things, etc. Excellent for learning the Hebrew itself.

The other siddur I would recommend is a Koren (or Koren Sacks) Siddur aimed at teenagers or adult learners. They have a few: the NCSY siddur, the Ani Tefilla, and the Koren Aviv options.

Now, they typically don't use any transliteration at all

HOWEVER, if you want to actually learn about prayer, the siddur structure, and so on, I think these are the most successful books out there.

Example: part one of a two page spread explaining the structure of Saharit and Mincha services. Sensible diagram!

And this page instructing how to wear a tallit:

With an illustration of the steps! Plus additionally a picture of tzitzit and an explainer on the mitzvah in question — all on the page including the blessing for wearing a tallit!

Hey what do y'all think would be helpful in a simple guide to the Friday evening shabbat service, to help people understand it and what's going on in a siddur?

[katacala]

6.2.19 • Two weeks ago I started using Duolingo! In that time, this is how much progress I have made. (I have also come #1 each time in their little competitive leaderboard thing so far.)

Some thoughts on all of this:

- I have taken obscene amounts of Mandarin Chinese and French in school (and one year of Spanish), so of course those are the languages I've spent the most time on and gotten farthest with. It's ridiculous how bad my reading comprehension has gotten in Chinese (not in pinyin as badly, of course, but Duolingo is not heavy-handed with the use of pinyin. Which is good, of course, but it means I suck way harder than I should, haha. I just got out of the habit of having to write in Chinese rather than type, and one types Chinese in pinyin on a Chinese mobile keyboard.)

- I'm really enjoying Hawaiian. Dutch is surprisingly easy and fun. I definitely want to practice German a lot more often, I'd love to be able to at least read German fairly well.

- Norwegian, Russian, and Italian are of lowest priority to me at this time, but I'm intrigued by all 3. Buuuut there are so many other languages I want to try...

- My Chinese skills (and lifelong anime/vidya addiction) are helping me somewhat with Japanese. I at least have a familiarity with radicals and the sounds of the language.

- Korean is not coming very easily to me at all, but I haven't given it enough of a try, really.

- And last but not least, Esperanto is just awesome, and it's always been a dream of mine to learn it!

- I haven't decided to try any other languages yet but I'm sure I ultimately will. Hebrew, Navajo, and Turkish are ones I have my eye on...

Anyway, I intend to blog about my language studies (both with Duolingo and otherwise) under the tag #aspiring polyglot from now on. I have only ever reblogged language study references before, so from now on those will also get tagged under the same thing.

If you have Duolingo, add me as a friend, my username is kata.cala! (Let me know so I can add you too, if I need to, and it doesn't just show up as, "add back?" when someone else adds you. I don't actually know yet, haha, I have no Duolingo friends so far!) And if you want to download Duolingo and help give me some free unlimited usage days, here's my invite link:

[mysticdrabbles]

hi, could i get RFA/V/Saeran when they find out MC is jewish? maybe they come home and she's preparing for shabbat (sabbath) or something? recent antisemitism (*cough cough* the "are jews people" segment from CNN) has been really getting me down and making me nervous and i'm just so tired lol i'm sorry if you want me to elaborate on shabbat i totally can, i don't mind

Eyyyy guess who’s a year late to this T_T I hope every Jewish person reading this is having a wonderful day. (Also, I learned all I know about this stuff via Google so if I got anything wrong please, please feel free to correct me!)

Happy Hanukkah! ^^ 

Zen: 

The first time it comes up is about a month into your relationship.

Once you reach the point where you’re spending practically every day together because his day isn’t complete unless he gets to see your beautiful face~

(insert Zen wink emoji)

You’re a little nervous the first time he comes over on a Friday evening

Not that you’re ashamed of your religion, of course! It’s just that the news lately has you kind of worried that he might be… you don’t know, but you’re worried.

When he gets to your place after his rehearsal is over he finds you cooking.

“What’s the occasion, babe?”

“Just preparing for shabbat.”

The word sounds kind of  familiar but he can’t quite place what it is please don’t be offended by his ignorance.

You explain to him that it’s the Jewish day of rest.

He’s basically kicking himself now, because he knew that. 

(He played a Jewish character once, he can’t believe he forgot!)

He listens respectfully to the rest of your explanation 

And he’ll be as involved with this and other traditions as you feel comfortable with. 

He personally isn’t religious but he has nothing but respect for you and your religion.

His own ignorance has also made him realize that he doesn’t really see much of the Jewish faith in films and musicals?

Congrats, Zen is now an official advocate for proper Jewish representation in media!

If ever he’s in a play or film where a character is Jewish, he’ll run everything by you to make sure it’s both accurate and non-offensive.

And when a director refuses to change something after you explain that it’s a not only a false stereotype but a harmful one 

He quits the play on the spot.

His agent warns him that it’s not a good idea to get publicly involved in any kind of political argument, but he doesn’t care

“There’s nothing political about whether or not to be a decent human being and respect others.”

Yoosung:

When he cooks a meal for you, he doesn’t think to ask if you have any dietary restrictions, religious or otherwise.

And of course, tonight he decided to try a pork bulgogi recipe he found online.

Which is… sweet and all. 

But unfortunately, you have to explain to him that you’re Jewish, and you don’t eat pork.

He immediately regrets the oversight, 

He’s sorry he didn’t ask first.

Honestly, he didn’t even think to ask you about your religion.

He isn’t really religious himself and he just doesn’t think of this stuff most of the time?

Now that he knows he asks you a bunch of questions to make sure he doesn’t do or say anything wrong.

(boy’s sitting on his computer googling “how to not offend my Jewish s/o”)

He looks up Jewish recipes and practices them until they come out perfect.

He also makes a list of the foods that you don’t eat.

He’s sitting at his computer taking notes as though there’s gonna be a test or something.

It’s not just fear that makes him want to learn about your faith though. He also actually likes the religion?

Jewish religion and traditions all sound lovely? You sound like such great people? And he already knows you specifically are a great person, so that’s one point in their favour.

He’s absolutely terrified to meet your family.

Are they going to hate him because he’s not Jewish?

Should he convert? 

(You assure him that he doesn’t need to do that.)

He’s also super fast to jump on anyone who makes anti-semitic comments, both online and in real life.

Someone on LOLOL makes a gross, offensive comment and he gets his guild to literally destroy the guy

The jerk can’t go anywhere without Yoosung’s guildmates immediately killing him

Yoosung and his guild are savage and they do not tolerate this kind of hatred and disrespect.

Jaehee:

Jaehee has come in contact with all kinds of people from various parts of the world during her time working for Jumin.

So she respects all faiths and all cultures.

Your faith in particular  comes up one morning, when she hears you praying.

She asks what it is you were just reciting

(She waits until after you’re finished, of course. She would never interrupt you.)

You tell her that it’s a Jewish morning prayer.

Unlike the last two guys, Jaehee doesn’t need to ask many questions. As mentioned before, she’s met with other Jewish people before.

She doesn’t know everything, of course.

Just the basics.

And she’s more than willing to ask you about the details and things she’s not sure about. 

Not because she’s worried about messing up or getting anything wrong

She just wants to know more because your faith is a part of you, and she takes interest in every part of you and your life.

And despite her being Catholic and you being Jewish, there won’t be any conflict. She has nothing but respect for your religion.

She finds devotion to faith admirable regardless of what faith it is. 

Each of you follows your own traditions and beliefs and you respectfully support each other.

She’ll accompany you to the synagogue if you’d like, and she’ll invite you to her church as well though it’s certainly neither an expectation nor a requirement for you to go.

Basically she just… understands 

And engages in healthy communication whenever possible.

Because Jaehee is like a pro girlfriend.

Jumin:

Like Jaehee, Jumin has come across people of all cultures thanks to his work. 

He’s even been to Israel on a business trip before, so he knows a bit about what Judaism is.

Actually, Jumin finds it quite fascinating to learn about other cultures and beliefs. He loves meeting different kinds of people with different ways of life.

He honestly finds everything about your faith interesting

And you can bet he’s going to ask tons of questions.

He wants to know everything.

He wants to know about all of your traditions and ceremonies and symbols…

Everything.

He’s not trying to interrogate you, or be intrusive. 

He just wants to know, both because of his personal interest in other cultures and his personal interest in all things related to you.

He offers to hire you the best cooks he can find to prepare you meals for shabbat

But you tell him that you’d rather do it yourself because it’s more meaningful to you.

He nods thoughtfully

“I see.”

He then calls Jaehee to clear his schedule for the day so he can stay home and help you personally

He’s not the greatest help

Read: he can’t cook for shit and he somehow set the deep fryer on fire

But he can do menial tasks and keep you company while you work.

He just wants to be with you and be part of your life.

Of course, he can’t take a day off every week.

(Jaehee would die of stress)

But he tries to at least come home early enough to help if you need him.

He doesn’t interfere or anything, especially if you don’t want him to.

Mostly he just sits with Elizabeth the 3rd and watches you.

He also likes being present during the Kiddish, when you say prayers over wine.

(He likes anything that involves wine.)

His father might be a little concerned at first about him being in a serious relationship with you.

(He has nothing against Jewish people. He’s just worried there will be conflict since you’re Jewish and the Hans are Christians.)

But you win him over with your respectful attitude and your love for Jumin.

And if anyone else comments on Jumin Han having a Jewish significant other, Jumin is cold and savage.

(“How can you be dating someone who believes that?”

“You shouldn’t speak about others beliefs as absurd when you’re the one who has the ridiculous belief that I care at all what you think.”)

No one messes with his love and gets away unscathed.

Seven:

Literally the first thing he says to you when you tell him you’re Jewish is “that makes sense, I always thought you Israeli great.”

(*finger guns*)

There will be cheesy jokes whenever he can fit them in 

(When he finds you cooking in preparation for shabbat he comes up and kisses you. You ask why. He grins. “Just wanted you to know that I like you a latke!”)

And then there’s the sweater he buys for the holidays that features a menorah and the words “It’s Lit”.

But in all seriousness, he absolutely respects you and your beliefs.

I know it might not seem like it, since he’s so nonchalant and joke-y about his own religion sometimes

But he actually has a huge amount of respect for all religions.

Well, all religions that aren’t cults.

After all, he lived a pretty miserable, hopeless life before he found his religion. In a way, that church saved his life.

So he definitely understands how important religion can be to people.

And honestly, Saeyoung loves hearing about other religions and beliefs?

He thinks that every religion has valuable teachings. 

He’s not the type of person who’s going to argue the details of which religion got everything right. 

For him personally, identifying as Catholic is more a show of loyalty to the church that saved him as a kid. 

Not that he doesn’t believe in Catholic beliefs! He does, for sure. 

He just personally believes that it’s unlikely any one religion got every detail right.

(But he respects people who do believe in their religion 100% too! Again, his beliefs aren’t law. Maybe he’s right, maybe you’re right. He’s not going to argue about it.)

Also, can you speak any Hebrew? He’s not perfectly fluent but he’s decent and he always loves finding foreign language buddies. 

(And let’s be real he could become a master at it if he wanted to just give him like a week or so he really likes languages)

If you can’t speak much, maybe he could teach you if you want?

He’s also pretty excited to celebrate Hanukkah with you.

(He’s super excited because he was planning on building you something for Christmas but since Hanukkah has eight days that means that he can build you eight things!)

“Saeyoung, no.” “SAEYOUNG, YES!”

This is after checking with you that you wouldn’t be offended or uncomfortable if he does, of course.

If you don’t want him to participate at all he will politely and quietly sit on the sidelines until you’re finished with your prayers and ceremonies. He’ll follow whatever rules you chose to impose on him.

And as for antisemitic news stories…

Whenever a headline like that appears he hacks the tv station to change the words to say things like “New Study Finds that Jewish People Are 70.7% Cooler Than News Anchors”

Saeran:

Saeran walks in one day to see you putting out candles around the room.

“What are you doing?”

If it comes off as a bit snappy, it’s just because not knowing things makes him nervous sometimes. He’s not annoyed, he’s just confused and curious.

You explain to him that it’s shabbat tomorrow and you have to prepare.

He’s heard you say that you’re Jewish before but he doesn’t really know what it means other than the general fact that it’s a religion?

It’s never really come up in his incredibly sheltered life

And he hasn’t gotten an opportunity to ask you yet, until now.

You explain the concept of shabbat to him, and answer his occasional questions

(Things like ”What are the candles for?” and “Why Saturday?”)

Saeran is…

Wary about religion, to say the least.

Unlike his brother, he has no positive associations with religion. Definitely not enough positive associations to outweigh the negative ones he had with Mint Eye.

Don’t get me wrong, he heard nothing but nice things about it from Saeyoung when they were younger

But even that might have also caused a bit of jealousy-based resentment?

So organized gatherings of religion are a pretty hard no for him. The very idea of churches (or synagogues) scares him.

He’s sorry…

And… he’s not sure about big family get-togethers either. He doesn’t know if he’s ready for something like that yet. Or if he’ll ever be.

He’s sorry he’s sorry he’s sorry

He won’t stop you from doing anything, of course.

And he’ll help out around the house as much as he can with any cleaning and cooking.

And once he stops panicking at the thought of being surrounded by people considered “believers” again

(He knows it’s different, he’s sorry again)

He finds the whole thing… calming?

He sits quietly while you light candles and pray and just… soaks up the positive atmosphere.

As long as he’s not expected to participate in everything and you respect that he might not always be up for joining you for things

Then he’s perfectly fine with it.

V:

V has mostly positive memories of the holiday season.

And the negative ones he as are mostly only negative because they were the years he spent alone. 

The years that everyone he loved was too busy working to celebrate with him.

But for the most part, he associates Christmastime with good memories

Having a rare sit down dinner with his father

Sneaking out to exchange gifts with his mother (she would usually buy him art supplies, of course)

Attending mass with Jumin and his family

Exchanging gifts with Rika…

So of course he wants to share those positive memories and make new ones with you as well, no matter how new your relationship may be.

So he asks you what you usually do for Christmas

(Jihyun it’s October.)

(Yeah, but he has to start planning now if he wants to find you the best gift possible ^^;)

And he asks if you would be interested in celebrating it with him, maybe going to mass together?

(He’s slightly ignorant, yes, he grew up in a Christian neighborhood, he’s used to just being right with this assumption.)

You take this as a perfect opportunity to tell him that you’re Jewish

…oh. Oops.

He feels like he’s messed up or offended you.

That was never his intention, he swears.

Has Luciel invented a time machine yet because he could use one right now

The invitation to go to mass with him is still open, of course, and in return he could join you in attending your synagogue if you’d like. 

But if you’re not comfortable with that, that’s fine too! He can go to church with Jumin and meet up with you after.

He offers provide you with anything you need.

Ingredients for food, the nicest wines he has, the most ornate and beautiful menorah money can buy, literally name anything you want and it’s yours.

He’ll also buy you small gifts for each day of Hanukkah. 

A book he thinks you’ll like, a puzzle with a picture that reminded you him of you…

Nothing too big.

Until the last day of Hanukkah, when he hands you a large frame-shaped gift

As you’re opening it, he tells you that it’s the first major painting project he’s completed since becoming a professional photographer and trading his paints for a camera. 

“So bear in mind that I may be a little out of practice.”

(He’s nervous)

“Not to mention I technically specialize in landscapes and scenic paintings. I haven’t drawn something like this in a while, let alone painted one.”

(He’s so worried it’s not good enough, you want to open it faster just so you can assure him that it’s great, whatever it is.)

And boy is it great.

It’s a portrait of you lighting a candle on the menorah

And it is beautiful

The expression of pure peace on your face, your slight smile softened further by the gentle glow of the candlelight

The warmth that both your skin and your expression radiate

The reflection of the flame dancing in your eyes and making them sparkle

It’s incredible. 

He calls it “Faith”

Aside from the obvious reason, he says it’s because you restored his faith in both love and himself.

He’s actually debating making it his first public painted work, if that’s something you’d be comfortable with.

If not, then you can keep it and do what you like with it.

He just wanted to capture the feeling of happiness and… well, faith, that he sees in you when you practice any of your religious traditions. 

Because it’s beautiful.

And so are you.

Vanderwood:

Vanderwood isn’t really religious

But they also couldn’t care less about what other people believe 

(As long as it doesn’t hurt or otherwise negatively affect those around them, of course.)

So when they come home to find you lighting candles and praying they’re not really all that concerned?

(Well, their first thought is “where do we keep the fire extinguisher again?” but that’s mostly just an instinctive reaction to seeing fire after working with 707 for so long)

They listen to your explanation about shabbat because they respect you and therefore respect your beliefs

And they will absolutely make sure they don’t do anything that could offend you

(Not that they would say offensive things in the first place.

Mostly they’re worried they might misunderstand something or read false information.)

They actually kinda like the whole shabbat thing?

It’s nice to have something that’s a guaranteed fixed schedule. 

It makes them feel… stable.

In their old life patterns like that could be a weakness, since they make you predictable.

But now it comforts them to know that every Friday night and every Saturday they know  where to find you and what you’ll be doing

Oh, but there is one thing that they definitely need to discuss

They read that you’re not supposed to do certain chores on the day of shabbat.

Does that apply to them too? Is it rude if they do those things? What if they only do it when you’re not in the room?

They absolutely will refrain from all cleaning if you would find it disrespectful in any way

They’ll sit down with you and make a list of the things they are and aren’t supposed to do.

Even if you say you don’t mind if they do it as long as you don’t do them yourself, they’ll still try to get most of the cleaning out of the way on Friday night

And it becomes a weekly tradition for them to come over and help you by cleaning up while you’re preparing and cooking

(They’ll help with cooking too, especially if you’re not good at it. They’re not a chef or anything but they do know the basics.)

Want to see more? 

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[neubauje]

Ancient jewish puns

[3:59:44 AM] neubauje: lol you should have seen me today

[4:00:07 AM] neubauje: I went on a mini-rant about my "own" religion to my innocent bystander friends

[4:00:17 AM] neubauje: they didn't say a WORD

[4:00:32 AM] Spazfox: Fun times.

(this is where I would insert a line break if I knew how)

Nie, [25.04.17 13:56][throws cold ham at]

Randy Skayvage, [25.04.17 13:56]um

Nie, [25.04.17 13:57]Thats what im eating

Randy Skayvage, [25.04.17 13:57]what's ham made out of dumbass

Nie, [25.04.17 13:57]Pork, but last i checked you didnt eat kosher

Randy Skayvage, [25.04.17 13:57]bruh I haven't eaten pork in 10+ years

Nie, [25.04.17 13:58]Bruh you never told me that

Nie, [25.04.17 13:58]Just that you hated bacon

Randy Skayvage, [25.04.17 13:58]and what is bacon made of

Nie, [25.04.17 13:58]You can hate bacon without hating pork dumbass

Nie, [25.04.17 13:58]Dont try to guilt trip me for you not tellin me shit lol

Randy Skayvage, [25.04.17 13:59][ 😟 Sticker ]

Doom, [25.04.17 13:59]Funny story that shows my Spanish has clearly deteriorated. So I'm at a cafe and they have 'pata' for sale and I'm like 'ah, a duck sandwich. I fucking love duck I'll have it'. So there I am happily eating my sandwich and my mum pops back from some sort of appointment and she's like 'you know that's pig's foot right?'. Pata means foot. Pato is duck.

Nie, [25.04.17 14:00]LOL

Doom, [25.04.17 14:00]I was wondering why it was so fatty and stringy

Nie, [25.04.17 14:01]well now you know you like the taste of pata

Nie, [25.04.17 14:01]Maybe not the texture though

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:23]I don't prefer most pork things, but I'll eat it if that's what's for lunch iykwim

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:23]Keeping kosher is waaay too much trouble in america

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:24]And I do like a good cheeseburger

Randy Skayvage, [25.04.17 14:24]pork is the easiest to avoid so that's what I cut out

Randy Skayvage, [25.04.17 14:24]but you'll pry my cheese and meat tacos from my cold dead hands

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:24]What about shrimp and catfish

Randy Skayvage, [25.04.17 14:24]never been a fan of seafood

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:25]Well there you go

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:25]What I always found ridiculous about keeping kosher is the "building a wall around the torah" aspect... When they build a wall around the wall and then a wall around that wall

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:27]Like they take the line "don't boil a calf in its mother's milk" and instead of taking away "hey maybe we shouldn't be unnecessarily cruel and thoughtless to animals" they ended up with "don't mix milk with meat"

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:27]Including chicken meat, which doesn't even lactate??

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:27]Noooo problem mixing chicken meat with eggs though

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:28]As for which animals are/are not kosher? Totally arbitrary. They were based on classifications at a time when bats were still considered birds

Randy Skayvage, [25.04.17 14:29]Not necessarily. If you consider it in terms of which foods would/wouldn't spoil quickly or have the potential to be dangerous health-wise.

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:29]At the time? Maybe. These days, no longer relevant

neubauje, [25.04.17 14:30]But that's all the ranting about my own religion that I have time for right now I got to be going to work

[4:04:25 AM] neubauje: do NOT feel obligated to read all that

[4:04:31 AM] neubauje: the top bit is mostly for context

[4:04:55 AM] neubauje: as it turns out, I still silently hold a grudge against my more conservative family members

[4:06:39 AM] neubauje: the reasonings they give for still being as observant as they are have always seemed like indoctrinated bullshit based mostly in faith and tradition

[4:07:03 AM] neubauje: like, I GET tradition? as in, a way to spiritually connect with your ancestors? but like... there's a line, yo.

[4:07:16 AM] neubauje: and faith, I just have zero patience for

[4:07:33 AM] Spazfox: It's almost like rules dreamed up in the bronze age and sold as being holy are kinda dumb. :P

[4:07:45 AM] neubauje: almost!!

[4:07:56 AM] Spazfox: Bats are birds, ya know.

[4:08:02 AM] neubauje: -_-

[4:10:37 AM] neubauje: so do I consider myself jewish? kinda. if one can be a secular jew, that's what I am. in the spirit of understanding and acknowledging my ancestry, I learn the history, I learn the rules and the reasons, I learn the Hebrew. but I make my own decisions and lifestyle from there thank you very much.

[4:10:51 AM] neubauje: and honestly, if you ask me, the best parts of Judaism are all about that kind of mindset anyway

[4:31:28 AM] neubauje: aha, after doing some more research on the passage in question, I see now that there are TWO words in the "birds not to eat" section which both have very little context elsewhere in the torah... so scholars are pretty much guessing that at least one of them means "bat" but they aren't sure which one, and what the other one would be

[4:31:53 AM] neubauje: that's the trouble with dead languages :/

[4:32:28 AM] neubauje: I wanna know how they managed to figure out what the Hebrew word for "hyrax" was... I don't recall there ever being any other context for a hyrax

[4:32:57 AM] Spazfox: You know, somebody should come up with a method for working out how the world actually functions instead of just using guesswork and folk wisdom.

[4:33:07 AM] neubauje: you mean science?

[4:33:16 AM] Spazfox: Something like that.

[4:35:53 AM] neubauje: yeah basically this whole chapter reads like a beginner's guide to virology

[4:36:08 AM] neubauje: they even mention carcasses falling into earthenware which must then be shattered

[4:36:20 AM] neubauje: because it won't air out like clothing or wooden vessels will

[4:36:36 AM] neubauje: they were TRYING to science, they just weren't very good at it yet

[4:37:51 AM] Spazfox: Yeah, it kinda took people a while.

[4:38:11 AM] Spazfox: And, like, books and stuff.

[4:39:01 AM] neubauje: yeeeahhhh about four or five thousand years, give or take

[4:48:09 AM] neubauje: oh my god are you kidding me

http://thetorah.com/meat-and-milk-origins-in-the-text/

[4:48:24 AM] neubauje: okay so the milk and meat thing? turns out it has nothing to do with cooking at all

[4:48:34 AM] neubauje: it's just a turn of phrase for "hey don't procrastinate"

[4:48:42 AM] Spazfox: HA!

[4:49:17 AM] neubauje: even the guys looking at it in the second context have completely missed that it STILL works as "hey don't procrastinate" just a little more of a pun based on what they were saying not to procrastinate about

[4:50:00 AM] neubauje: (which was don't WAIT until the animal has already died before you eat it, make sure it dies by your hand... because illness is a thing that might have killed it)

[4:50:27 AM] neubauje: omfg

[4:50:32 AM] neubauje: I just... I can't anymore

[4:50:44 AM] neubauje: the ancient jews made a fucking pun

[4:50:55 AM] neubauje: and people are like "hurr durr no more cheeseburgers"