#jewish convert resources

[ticktockgoesmyheart]

Hi ! 【 I'll try my best not to overexplain, but I always do. All of the below is context, but anyway, I'm looking for ways to further my knowledge on Judaism & information that would help me, as well on any ways to learn Hebrew or Ladino 】

I'm a teenager who's been wanting to convert to Judaism for a while now. I've been certain for a couple of years now. My parents were converting to Judaism around the time they immigrated to the United States with little me, I only got to go a couple of times [to the synagogue] because we had to move away after less than year because of money. We ended up moving to a rural town 【we live in the south always have】 , and there's no synagogue near us or in town. Well, me and mom can't deal with the town anymore, we've been hatecrimed, and I've dealt with intense bullying since elementary & there's no any disability resources for me here among manyyy other things.

We're poor, but my moms really gonna try her hardest to help us raise money this school year so we can leave next year! To a city, few hours away that is actually somewhat more accepting, has more Latinos & other POC, and there's more disability and medical resources, and even a few synagogues!!!

I know some basics about Judaism, but I wanna learn more because I wanna convert right !!! Any resources, anything at all that you think would help, would be appreciated !!! Immensely !!!! This school year, I wanna dedicate as much time as I possibly can so I can be prepared for the next year 【 I hope all will go well 】 thank you !!!

One day, hopefully, I'll be fully converted and be able to go to the sephardi synagogues in the province where I was born in my home country, :)

[askjumblr]

i'm a minor who can't convert for a few years, but i've been considering it, and i was wondering if anyone has any good resources to begin looking into it!

i know shamefully little about judaism, so even if i don't end up converting, it will still be good to learn ... thank you all in advance :]

.

[hindahoney]

Hey - this is kind of an odd question, but I was wondering if you had any recommendations for books or articles to read to learn more about Judaism for someone who’s kind of Jewish (but not really)?

My mum is Jewish, but stopped practicing when she was a teenager, and I was brought up atheist - my dad’s family are Protestant. I basically don’t know anything about Judaism, which feels particularly weird because I know loads about Christianity, just through osmosis. And I’ve never met a whole branch of my family who are apparently very orthodox and live really near us in London. Anyway, I’d like to learn more, and don’t really know how to start? Or if I should start?

Thank you for your question. First of all, if your mother is Jewish, you are Jewish. You're not "kind of Jewish," you're not "Jew-ish." You're fully Jewish, and every movement of Judaism recognizes you as such.

Second, there are endless amazing resources for people in situations like yours. I wish I could say that it was more rare to have descendants of people who assimilated wanting to reconnect, but sadly it's not. I've known some people have found resources for converts to be helpful in reconnecting, so those are mixed in with my list as well.

MyJewishLearning is a great resource for really anything Jewish. I've found their articles to be pretty diverse in terms of approach, and they give perspectives of different movements on each topic.

Jewish101 Playlist - This is great not just for beginners, but for people familiar with Judaism already. They are talks given by one of my favorite Rabbis, Rabbi Mark Golub, about everything from how Jews view G-d, our relationship & struggles with Him, how sex is treated in Judaism, to Jewish holiday traditions & the meaning behind them.

Jewish Learning Institute - This entire channel is beneficial for learning about really any topic. They have a more frum perspective, but I think that learning the core observant values is really important when deciding which ones speak to you. It's also important for Jews to understand their more observant siblings, as many people don't and that ignorance leads to observant Jews being marginalized by their own family. By having that baseline understanding of the reasons behind why Jews do what they do, so that you can decide for yourself it that matters or can fit in your life. The video I've attached is about the survival of the Jewish people, a brilliant and moving speech given by Rabbi Y.Y Jacobson. I think this speech is sure to give every Jew a sense of pride and connection to their fellow Jew, which is vital when forming a Jewish identity. We're a tribe for a reason.

TY Channel Henry Abramson - Not a Rabbi but many people mistake him for one because he's highly educated (PhD). He gives very educational lectures on all sorts of Jewish topics, usually Jewish history. Peppers in some humor too, so he's entertaining to watch.

Unpacked - Gives crash-course type videos (entertaining, some animation, higher budget, etc) on issues that Jews face today, conversations Jews are having in the community, and Jewish history.

My Jewish Mommy life - Jewish vlogger who makes videos on the basics of Judaism, shabbat, holidays, etc. A good resource for anyone just entering the fold. Comes from a more reform background but does a decent job of explaining different perspectives.

Books

The Torah (Hebrew-English, also has Spanish, French, Portuguese. There are tons of versions online)

The Jewish Book of Why - This book is essentially a compilation of a million different questions commonly asked about Jews/Judaism and the answers given range in the interpretation of various movements.

Choosing A Jewish Life - Kind of a how-to guide in terms of choosing a Rabbi, synagogue, overview of basic Jewish concepts & movements, choosing a Hebrew name for yourself (You can give yourself one if you don't have one!!), and how to discuss with your family your decision to be Jewish, or more observant.

Jewish Literacy - ABSOLUTELY MY FAVORITE JEWISH RESOURCE. Can be read like a novel or an encyclopedia (like for referencing certain topics). I read through this completely and it is an amazing compilation of every topic from important Biblical stories and their Jewish interpretation, Jewish history from its creation to modern times, IP conflict, major Jewish historical figures, modern Jewish thought on certain topics. Genuinely, if you want to know something about Jewish tradition and practice, it's probably in this book.

To Be a Jew - Halachot (Jewish laws) around observance in daily life, their oigins, and why we do them. Guide for major and minor holidays, major life events, and an explanation of rationale for modern Jewish life.

Living a Jewish Life - Another why-to and how-to guide for Judaism in your daily life.

Helpful Apps:

Shabbat Times (Self-explanatory, you put in your city and it tells you what time Shabbat starts)

Jewish Chronicle/Jooish News - News around the world for what's happening to and by Jews

TorahAnytime - Like Youtube but for Jewish learning

Daily Jewish Prayers - Invaluable resource that explains when which prayers are said, provides it in transliteration, English, and Hebrew

CalJ - Jewish calendar. Great for knowing what the Hebrew date is and when/what times Jewish holidays start.

JVL (Jewish Virtual Library) - a bunch of Jewish books

Jewish accounts to follow:

Here's a very short and incomplete list of Jewish accounts I recommend following, because they post about Judaism a lot and give a good idea of what every-day Jews think about a wide range of things. They are really invaluable resources when it comes to learning from real Jews and I trust their judgment:

@shretl

@tikkunolamorgtfo (has been around forever, literally amazing)

@adoratato

@jewish-kermit

@spacelazarwolf

@magnetothemagnificent

@laineystein

@gonnauseanomdeplume

@hiddurmitzvah

@girlactionfigure

@rimonoroni

@anonymousdandelion

@starlightomatic

@unbidden-yidden

[audhd-future-jew]

Also if anyone has recommendations for good resources for converts, I'm more than happy to hear them (especially in audio and visual formats like podcasts or videos, I've been finding a lot of book recommendations, which are great, but I can't always focus enough to read full books).

[media-sickos-international]

Either Jewish people need to stop being so relatable or I need to convert

[sova-dozhd]

But Ruth replied, “Do not urge me to leave you, to turn back and not follow you. For wherever you go, I will go; wherever you lodge, I will lodge; your people shall be my people, and your God my God.

Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus and more may the LORD do to me if anything but death parts me from you.”

---

My first art centered around Judaism since I started my conversion process ahhh fuck I hope I got the Hebrew right, I'm still not too familiar with the alphabet so it moves around on me lmfao

but as a convert ofc Ruth is important and her story is fascinating to me; if anyone has recommendations on JEWISH resources about her would love to read

also ig christians can reblog this but lmfao idk what you could get out of it

Personally I like the interpretations of them being romantic but I tried to leave the art up for interpretation in general however you see them

[unbidden-yidden-deactivated20240]

And just to follow up on that previous reblog without derailing it: a lot of the really weird relationships and discourse that exist out there in the neo-pagan, Satanist, and atheist communities are in fact echoes of the weird relationship that Xtianity has with Judaism.

Xtianity has a weird, tumultuous relationship with Judaism because they must simultaneously validate the Tanakh and the Jews who created it or else their own religion is devoid of context and built on a house of cards. But! If they validate Judaism, then they have to grapple with the fact that the Jews did not accept their interpretation of the Tanakh, that we still, against all odds, exist, and that because we still exist, we are still around to point out the ways in which the New Testament does not fit with the Tanakh and that the Tanakh does not inherently or naturally point to Jesus. And that's to say nothing of the bloody history of Xtianity towards Judaism. Our continued existence is a sore point and a weakness in the Xtian narrative that has been a constant source of irritation, frustration, and violence since the dawn of Xtianity. And, at the same time, there is a certain fascination with Judaism related to things that have been appropriated by Xtians or understood as particularly useful in spreading supercessionist ideas. So what you wind up with is a toxic mix of antisemitism and philosemitism (effectively fetishization and orientalism) that drives too many Xtians to "love" us by attacking our beliefs and way of life, and stealing whatever they think will be most helpful in their mission (especially as it pertains to Jews) in order to try and convert us.**

Many people who have also been hurt from inside of Xtianity or by the broader Xtian culture they live in seek to deconstruct those ideas by creating an inverse of Xtianity in one way or another. Those who turn to Satanism typically do this by worshipping the opposite force of the Xtian god. Those who turn to neo-paganism typically do this by embracing an unambiguously polytheistic religion and/or by turning to the cultural historical enemies of Xtianity. Those who turn to atheism typically do this by rejecting "God," "faith," and "organized religion" (as these concepts are understood by Xtian norms.)

And honestly? That's fine. If it helps, if it brings you meaning and joy, knock yourselves out. I have no problem with people turning to these beliefs for reasons of healing as well as simply being drawn to it. And for what it's worth, I did a similar thing by turning to Judaism. Obviously I had many other reasons for becoming a Jew as well, and I assume that's true for the aforementioned folks, too. Judaism healed a lot of Xtianity-shaped wounds for me, and if your paganism, Satanism, and/or atheism helps you in the same way as well as bringing you meaning, I sincerely wish you the best.

However, the problem is that many times, unless you turn to Judaism and learn our side of the story, it's very difficult to deconstruct the antisemitism of your past entanglement with Xtianity. Xtian antisemitism has permeated western society so thoroughly for so long that it is real *work* to identify and unlearn it. Those converting to Judaism have the benefit of the Jewish community and extensive educational resources to help. Other folks do not.

Here's the problem: if you simply invert Xtian ideas, you are still treating Xtianity as the baseline reality from which your other assumptions and beliefs flow. If you just choose the opposite at every chance, you divorce yourself from Xtianity, but not its prejudices.

Now you might fairly ask, "hey Avital, if we are making the opposite choice at every turn, wouldn't that invert the antisemitism to being at least neutral if not positive towards Judaism?" And that would be perfectly logical! But unfortunately deeply and (for us) dangerously incorrect.

The reason is because (1) antisemitism has never been rational but reactionary instead, (2) philosemitism is also bad, and (3) it is structured in a way that it's pretty much always "heads I win, tails you lose." Have you ever noticed that according to antisemites, Jews are both ultra-white and also dirty foreign middle eastern invaders? That we are supposedly very powerful and run the world, but are also weak and degenerate? That both the Right and the Left have extensive antisemitism problems? Etc.? There's a reason - it's because antisemitism is designed to other us no matter what. So oftentimes I see folks inverting Xtian philosemitism to being "those awful fundamentalist Old Testamenters" or inverting Xtian antisemitism to valorizing Judaism, but only to the extent that they can meme-ify our religion down to fighting God and/or being un-pious godless liberals.

But like other groups, we are a diverse and complicated group with a very long history and a lot of trauma to boot.

If you're trying to unpack your Xtian conditioning, please also unpack your antisemitism and philosemitism. If not for our sake and for it being the right thing to do, at least do it for yourselves, because unless you deconstruct that as well, you will still be operating within a really ugly aspect of a Xtian mindset.

(**Please note that this isn't literally all Xtians everywhere, but it is a lot of Xtians in most places and throughout most of history. There are absolutely Xtians who are good allies to Jews, but they are much smaller in number and are swimming upstream in their relationship to both Jews and Xtianity.)

[dualdeixis]

[Image description: A poem titled "רַבִּי / رَبِّي" written Friday, November 17, 2023: Rabbī, I cannot praise your deeds. / Rabbī, no weeping moves you. / Rabbī, your justice is wedded to perversion. / Rabbī, your love looks much like your hatred. / Rabbī, the patriarchs have been gilt as idols. / Rabbī, the Temple has been built into a prison. / Rabbī, mixed multitudes have been spat on. / Rabbī, all oneness has been sported with. / Rabbī, ministering angels have been consigned to wailing. / Rabbī, nameless infants have been fed the world’s silence. / Rabbī, your reddened sea has been exiled from shore. / Rabbī, your holy city has been split in two. / But by whom? / Rabbī, shall I say “them” or “us”? / Rabbī, which people is solely yours? / Rabbī, what image is divine alone? / Rabbī, when comes the Hour of Unlocking? / Rabbī, where hides the Place of Its Glory? / Rabbī, why? Answer now. Answer. End image description.]

note 1: as the title implies, "rabbī" may be read as the hebrew word for "a jewish cleric" or the arabic word for "my l_rd" (i.e., g_d).

note 2: this poem is written from an anti-zionist jewish perspective. therefore the question "by whom? / shall i say 'them' or 'us'?" is not meant to dispute palestine as the oppressed party. rather, it is meant to be taken extremely literally, because it is situated in my individual experience: should i—a muslim in the process of converting to judaism, who has been estranged from jewish community and had my conversion delayed because of zionism; who has no personal ties to israel but is nevertheless complicit in its genocidal actions by nature of living in the warmongering USA which uses my household's tax dollars to fund it; who believes that "all israel are responsible for one another" (shevuot 39a)—refer to the oppressors as "them" or "us"?

ways to help palestine:

decolonize palestine (patreon)

samidoun (calendar of worldwide protests)

palestine action

palestine legal

bds movement

e-sims for gaza

more resources

ways to help congo:

list of donations

boycott & donate

ways to help sudan:

list of donations

fundraiser for a refugee family

action against hunger

ways to help armenia:

all for armenia

armenian food bank

artsakh housing fund

armenian assembly of america action center

ways to help other indigenous peoples around you:

learn about whose land you may be living on

[thebrightestwitchofherage]

A brief History of Mizrahi Jews in Arabic countries and Their expulsion

A\N: While I am an Ashkenazi Jew, I have done A LOT of research, and have both Iraqi friends and relatives to corroborate this with. Also, I'm petty - an Iraqi user who comments regularly on my posts seems to forget about his own country's Jewish history... Well, I hope he forgot instead of the more likely reality: It seems like Arabic people nowadays aren't aware of Jewish history in their countries since they either killed to expelled them all. Thus is born the constant argument that all Jews originated in Europe and are merely settlers in the Middle East.

I realized that what may be obvious to me won't be obvious to others since I'm a history nerd who grew up in Israel with plenty of rich archeological evidence and resources surrounding me. I'm happy to make these posts in hopes of educating others and contributing my part to ending antisemitism and prejudice. ___________________

You might have seen the following picture in one of my previous posts:

It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words. Unfortunately, in this case, it concludes hundreds of years of discrimination, violence, and exile for Mizrahi Jews. * It is important to note that numbers are slightly varied between sources, but the meaning is clear.

In a nutshell- all throughout history, the fate of Jewish people in countries where they weren't the religious majority was the same:

Discriminatory laws, blood libels, being blamed for disasters > violence & murder > Pogroms * > and eventually- exile or mass murder AKA ethnic cleansing \ genocide.

Pogrom-  the term refers to violent attacks by local non-Jewish populations on Jews in the Russian Empire and in other countries.

Every Jewish community has its own Pogrom. While my side of the family might immediately think of the Kristallnacht or persecution & pogroms in Hungary, it is different for Jews from different backgrounds. You can read about a few cases of forced conversion to Islam here.

A brief History of the land of Israel

The land of Israel has always been considered a strategic passageway, and so many empires throughout history have conquered it:

* I simply cannot accurately write 3000+ years of Jewish history in the land of Israel. I found that this video summarizes it perfectly.

Exile from the land of Israel

Jews were exiled from the land of Israel numerous times since the Assyrian empire conquered Israel in 732 BCE, to what we call "the diaspora" גולה. It was not by choice and we were persecuted everywhere we went.

Jews were not allowed to legally return to Israel until 1948 when the British mandate over the land of Israel ended and Israel was formed. Yes, even during the Holocaust.

The Jewish answer to exile - Aliyah עליה There have been 5 waves of illegal immigration from all over the world to the land of Israel before 1948, recorded in modern times.

Chart taken from Wikipedia (their chart was the best I could find in English)

Forced Conversion

Whether in conquered Israel or in exile, Jews were often forced to convert to either Christianity or Islam. The choice was between conversion or death.

*You can read more about some of the forced conversion of Jews during history here and here.

First Case study- The last jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati

Peki'in is an ancient village in the upper Galilee, Northern Israel. Nowadays, its population is mostly Druze.

Peki'in has had a Jewish presence since the Second Temple period, until Arab riots in the 1930s*. Meet the remaining member of the Zinatis, the only family who returned. (aish.com)

*Read more on the Arab riots of the 1930s here and here. Margalit is currently the last Jew living in the village of Peki'in . She is the last direct descendent of the Zinati Cohen family. The Zinati family's origins are dated back to the Second Temple era. The former Jewish community of Peki'in maintained a presence there since the Second Temple period (516 BCE – 70 CE). That is when the polytheistic Persian Empire conquered the land of Israel. For reference- that was approximately 500 years before Jesus was even born! "During which the Second Temple stood in the city of Jerusalem. It began with the return to Zion and subsequent reconstruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, and ended with the First Jewish–Roman War and the Roman siege of Jerusalem." (Wikipedia)

As an adult, Margalit chose to not marry so she could stay in Peki'in and continue her family's Jewish legacy in Peki'in. She later became in charge of the ancient synagogue in the village and turned her basement into a visiting center \ museum of Jewish history in Peki'in- "House of Zinati". in 2018, she lit up a torch as part of Israel's 70th Independence Day Torch lighting ceremony (which is considered an honor given to influential and trailblazing people).

-Margalit Zinati pictured in the Peki'in Synagogue yard, 2016 Picture taken from Wikipedia, uploaded by Deror Avi.

Second Case study - Iraqi Jews (Babylonian Jews \ יְהוּדִים בָּבְלִים)

Iraqi Jews are one of the oldest documented Jewish communities living in the Middle East. It is estimated that they originated around 600 BC.ת

The Farhud الفرهود הפרהוד

Unfortunately, Iraqi Jewish history ended in the same pattern I've described earlier. The Farhud was the violent mass dispossession against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq between 1-2 June 1941. was the pogrom or the "violent dispossession" that was carried out against the Jewish population of Baghdad, Iraq, on 1–2 June 1941, It immediately followed the British victory in the Anglo-Iraqi War.

Background for the Farhud:

WW2- At the time, many Arabic countries in the Middle East agreed with Nazi ideology.

History of violence towards Jews.

The Anglo-Iraqi War (2–31 May 1941) - caused rising tension, and as usual, it was turned on the Jews.

personal family ties to the Farhud My relative was born in 1939 in Iraq, to a big upper-class Jewish family. Unfortunately, the mass exile of Jews in the 1950s didn't skip her family: she was stripped of her belongings and exiled to Israel along with her family. In the 1950s there were approximately 140,000 Iraqi Jews. As of 2021, there are only 4 left.

----------------- Please feel free to add anything I missed in the notes. And as usual - remember I am a human being. If you cuss or harass me, I will block and report you.

______________

Online Sources: * https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/865383 - Hebrew article, Title means "Sad ending to a magnificent history: Only 4 Jews left in Iraq".

What was the Farhud https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farhud

History of the Jewish community in Baghdad https://cojs.org/the_jewish_community_in_baghdad_in_the_eighteenth_century-_zvi_yehuda-_nehardea-_babylonian_jewry_heritage_center-_2003/

What are Pogroms?https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/pogroms?gclid=Cj0KCQiAkeSsBhDUARIsAK3tiedM7DuwIaSQX-kRxvXTgCDxN6-zqeo_DNNFgyanSYGyGOhwu_0vfrkaAg6REALw_wcB

The last Jew of Peki'in, Margalit Zinati https://aish.com/the-last-jew-of-pekiin/

Arab riots of 1930s- https://www.gov.il/en/Departments/General/ben_zvi_30 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-1936-arab-riots

Israel's history from ancient times & timeline : https://www.travelingisrael.com/timeline-land-israel/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=iiUIWnU-Ofk

Second Temple era - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Temple_period

Forced conversion of Jews across history- https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt18mvnct.7?seq=4

https://academic.oup.com/book/32113/chapter-abstract/268043723?redirectedFrom=fulltext

[spacelazarwolf]

most of the jews who barge into my inbox or onto my posts about jews by choice don't actually seem to know literally anything about how conversion actually works, so let me break it down for you.

conversion takes at the very least one calendar year, but can take upwards of several years or even several decades depending on the individual and when they feel ready.

the process (for people who are converting as adults, not people who were converted as children) usually looks something like this

person starts to question if conversion is right for them. this stage can take anywhere from months to years.

if the person is in a place with a jewish community, they start researching synagogues and eventually reach out to a rabbi or several. if they're not in a place with a jewish community, they'll need to decide if they want to move in order to convert.

some rabbis will be indifferent when contacted about conversion, some will send you away to see if you come back (there's an old tradition of sending prospective converts away three times, but this isn't as common practice now), some will be happy to talk to prospective converts.

the person now has a sponsoring rabbi. they will be signed up for educational classes that will teach them the basics of jewish history, jewish tradition, liturgy, etc. they will also be expected to do a lot of independent reading. most prospective converts meet with their sponsoring rabbi once per month or so.

most sponsoring rabbis want prospective converts to have a certain level of observance in order to practice what it will be like to live as a jew. there are some things they may ask prospective converts to hold off on until after their mikveh, like wearing a tallit and wrapping tefillin or wearing a star of david, some orthodox converts will intentionally break shabbat in order to not 'fully observe' until after their mikveh.

there are usually a lot of costs associated with converting. it's very possible to borrow books from libraries or find them for cheap, but many want to fill their bookshelf with as many resources as possible. there is also the cost of judaica, as most prospective converts do not have jewish family to inherit judaica from. this can get incredibly expensive.

the sponsoring rabbi is the one who decides if the prospective convert is ready for their beit din. once they approach the topic with the prospective convert and the convert agrees they are ready, the beit din is scheduled.

for their beit din, three rabbis (or sometimes non rabbinic scholars) will speak to the prospective convert about what their journey has been like, why they want to convert, what they find meaningful, how they have handled any antisemitism they've faced, if they are ready to align themselves with the jewish people for the rest of their life, etc. it's not just a 'u ready?' it can get very intense.

the beit din decides if the prospective convert is ready to join the jewish people. if they decide they're not ready, the prospective convert can continue to study and schedule another beit din in the future. if they decide they are ready, a mikveh is scheduled and the prospective convert becomes a jew.

after that, they're a jew. that's it. the end.

details can vary from community to community, but this is a general rundown of how it works. no one just randomly decides one day to become jewish. people who go through the conversion process, even through movements that are not as rigorous as orthodox movements, are required to do essentially a mini degree in jewish studies, uproot their whole life, potentially lose family, friends, and community, and align themselves with a marginalized people for the rest of their life. so anyone who tries to trash them can sniff my farts.

[magnetothemagnificent]

i feel like i vaguely remember you saying you were chassidic/grew up chassidic (or maybe i'm just imagining things lmao) and as a queer jew, this is so difficult for me. i'm so conflicted when it comes to chabad. on one hand, the fact that i'm a queer jew who isn't fully observant is hard. i know my rabbi would prefer otherwise even though he doesn't say anything, and the chabad community can be isolating in that aspect. on the other hand, i love the community. i love that my campus rabbi can answer my questions. i love that i know where to go for shabbat dinner. i love that they don't want to strip me of my queerness, even if they don't approve, and all they want is for me to live a fulfilling jewish life and do mitzvot. i hate that chabadniks aren't "accepting" of queer jews, but i love that they're welcoming of all jews, regardless of background. have you ever felt this way or am i alone in this

You are not alone in this.

It's absolutely true that I grew up Chabad. I am adamantly no longer Chabad, but I still engage with the community out of necessity and because, well, my family is still Chabad. And it's very very isolating, especially for me, because I can't even go stealth as a trans guy because other Chabad people know who I am, or at least who my family is. So I am in a constant limbo state of being treated as an outsider not just because of being queer, but not even being able to daven with other people- I'm not allowed on the men's side, and I make the women uncomfortable.

Though, I will counter your statement about Chabad being welcoming of all Jews, regardless of background. Chabad as an institution does not consider patrilineal Jews to be Jewish. It also doesn't consider converts who haven't undergone and *Orthodox* conversion to be Jewish. As an institution, Chabad also doesn't affirm trans people's gender identities, nor does it consider homosexuality to be anything but a test from G-d that one must overcome (sometimes even through conversion therapy). And, unfortunately, the closer you get to Chabad, the more you'll realize that. Campus Chabad is very different from institutional Chabad, it's very much a facade to try and recruit more Jews to become Chabad themselves, and yes that does mean eventually "giving up" their queerness.

So that's my caution to you. I think it's great that you're able to use Chabad as a resource - it's certainly better than not having any Jewish community at all- but it's important to be aware of who they are and what they're intentions are. It's kind of like the Salvation Army in a sense- I would *never* tell someone who is able to benefit from their aid to just not use whatever help they can get, but as an institution the Salvation Army is Not Great and getting too close will only end in getting hurt.

And here's some Jewish youth and/or young adult programming organizations (that aren't institutionally queerphobic) you might want to look into if they exist in your area:

Keshet

JQY

Moishe House

Hillel

It's tough out there, but you're certainly not alone. And the fact that you're seeking out a Jewish community is important and incredible, especially in these times.

[elliescoolerwife]

Nazi dumbfuck

Being against murder and genocide is not a nazi ideology but go off I guess.

If anyone is nazi, it’s zionists.

Lets take a look:

In particular, the Nazis embraced the false idea that Jews were a separate and inferior race. - Israeli politicians have called palestinian children the “children off darkness” and israelis “the children of light”. Also, they’ve called Palestinians animals and not humans and therefore should be treated as such.

the Nazis referred to Jews as a “parasitic race.” - there is posters around Israel and on the internet created by Israelis where they compare palestinians to parasites - saying that they’re parasites to the israeli soil and needs to be removed.

Nazis wanted to separate Jews and Aryan Germans. They tried to force Jews to leave Germany. Not only do Israelis see Palestinians as animals, they’ve displaced 2 million Palestinians. Do you have any idea of what’s going on in Rafah rn?

Those whom the Nazis identified as non-Aryans (including Jews) were persecuted and discriminated against. Israelis have murdered 700.000 palestinians and removed their access to water, food and medical care. Israelis have been protesting by sitting in front of vehicles with medical equipment so gazans don’t get help. Israel have been dropping white phosphorus for 10 years so Palestinians either 1. Get burned. 2. Get killed by the water they drink that contains that white phosphorus. PS! White phosphorus is illegal but not when israelis do it🤡

the Nazis carried out forced sterilizations of certain groups whom they considered inferior.. lets swich our focus from Palestinians and lets take a look at the black people in Israel, lot of them ethiopians, that have been forced to sterilize themselves because israelis don’t want “black” in their jewish line. They want to keep it “clean” and not let black genes, especially not when those black people have converted and aren’t “real” jews. Do you remember who also wanted to keep their race clean? Does it sound familiar?

The Nazis believed that races were destined to wage war against each other. For them, war was a way for the Aryan race to gain land and resources. Specifically, the Nazis wanted to conquer territory in eastern Europe. They planned to remove, dominate, or murder the people who lived there. They believed that Aryan Germans should control this land because they were the supposed master race. Israelis believe that they are Gods chosen people and therefore owns that land. They have removed, dominated and murderer Palestinians who live there to take that land from them, claiming they are the superior race because God chose them. Therefore, they have every right to take that territory from the indigenous people.

Nazis also falsely claimed that all Jews were an existential threat to Germany and that they had to be destroyed. Israelis claim that this “war” will not be over until total victory - meaning until every Palestinian is dead or removed. They celebrated when north gaza looked like a desert, because the “parasites” who was a threath to Israel is now gone. And now Netanyahu is telling these parasites to leave Rafah, the claimed “safe space” or else they get murdered there too. And lets remember that Israelis don’t discriminate. They murder all Palestinians! Muslims, Christians, jews. All of them. And anyone who supports them.

And don’t even dare to say the Hamas because Israel never cared about Hamas nor did Hamas exist when this started. They have claimed that they need to murder children in order to prevent them from growing up and joining hamas. Children. Women. Elderly.

Bold of you to ask this anonymously, though.

[hailruth]

Hello! I came across this blog while looking at menorahs and wanted to ask why Messianic Judaism/Messianic Jews are disliked. I used to be part of the Messianic Jewish circle but escaped as of a couple of months ago as it didn’t seem to correct preserve history and was using the Bible for fetishizing extreme punishment (like the Hebrew Roots/Hebrew Israelite movements). I understand they wanted to preserve historical traditions but something still felt very off and predatory about it. What are the red flags one should look out for when this group tries to indoctrinate someone?

disclaimer: i'm writing this on mobile so there's a high chance of spelling/grammar mistakes. look back for any future edits or comments with resource or corrections. tumblr kept deleting some very important paragraphs and i'm too frustrated to make this a very polished post.

okay, first things first: messianic judaism never has been and never will be jewish. they are not accepted by any jewish denominations and the christian consensus is that they are christian. institutions such as the u.s. military (where messianic "jewish" chaplains have to wear the insignia of the cross meant for christian chaplains and not the ten commandments for jewish chaplains) and the supreme court of israel agree that they are christian. judaism is not just a religion, it is an ethnicity and a tribe. the majority of messianics have no connection to judaism in the slightest. people who have converted to actual judaism have gone through a lengthy process of assimilation into this ethnicity. their language, calendar (and very conception of time), diet, clothing, body, community, family, etc. is changed forever once they convert. you can't just decide to be jewish, as messianics have done. the fact that some messianic "jews" are ethnically jewish is incidental and means nothing for the jewishness of the religion.

i was so thankful when this post came out about a year ago because it condenses the main points i've been making for a while: "messianic christian red flags" (by jewitches on instagram). it has a list of things to look out for which can help you spot messianic "judaism" masquerading as actual judaism. but i will still explain my arguments in this post. i also recommend jews for judaism.

however, there's still some points i want to outline in this post. most importantly: the goal of messianic "judaism" is not to preserve any kind of history, but to target jews for conversion to christianity. there are claims that it grew out of a movement of jews who converted to christianity but kept onto some jewish practices (which would make them apostates). but this is absolutely not what the movement is, it's very clear that it actually came to be in order to eradicate judaism (by converting all jews to christianity). as the post i linked above points out, two good examples are that the board of missions to the jews became chosen people ministries and the hebrew christian alliance of america became the messianic jewish alliance of america. these were christian orgs whose entire purpose was to target jews for christian conversion, who rebranded to messianic orgs because the function of messianic judaism is to convert jews.

the messianic movement and organizations target jews via extremely deceptive and predatory tactics. the biggest issue that every jew faces when trying to google anything about judaism (which is often the case for jews who already don't know much about their religion and don't have a community with a rabbi to go to) is messianic sources doing their absolute best to look jewish. often times, you have to scour a site providing "information" on jewish holidays, traditions, etc. until you finally encounter something about "yeshua." the post linked above is very helpful for avoiding these sites. this isn't just a digital phenomenon. messianic churches are often disguised as synagogues and mark themselves as such on sites like google maps (i know there have been initiatives to get their labeling changed to that of churches on these sites). there are countless examples of these churches pretending to be synagogues in order to lure in and hopefully convert jews who do not know better.

messianics constantly pretend to be real jews in order to infiltrate jewish communities. i don't have to explain how weird it is to pretend to be of a certain ethnicity in order to force your way into their rituals and lives. this ties into the entire fake synagogue issue from the previous paragraph, but extends far further than that. a few years ago, for example, a jewish politician invited who she thought was a rabbi to pray at an event. this "rabbi" ended up being a messianic. jews across the country were, of course, deeply disturbed by this and it was condemned. messianics aren't stupid, they know what we think and what they are doing, this is an intentional action. there are countless examples of this and it is never anything but vile.

if you want to pretend that judaism is this perfect precursor to jesus whose entire function was to predict his arrival, you're going to have to smash it to unrecognizable bits in order to build anything that'll support such a cause. it's never going to work. many core beliefs of christianity are antithetical to judaism, making the two fundamentally incompatible and different religions. saying otherwise is ahistorical and disrespectful to the thousands of years of separate cultural development of these two religions.

i haven't proofread this and refuse to do so at the moment, but i don't want to keep you waiting on a response. i hope this can help you understand why jews are very much not fans of messianics. if you have any further questions/something isn't clear, feel free to ask whenever.

[keshetchai]

Forget my old post this is the resource no one tells you will save ur ass as a convert:

https://jel.jewish-languages.org/

Dictionary for Jewish English

Ur welcome

[vaspider]

Hi Spider, I hope you're well! I had a question about being Jewish and was wondering if you could give me some insight. All good if not!

Forgive me if I use the wrong terms here, I'm still learning and don't have any ill intent.

I'm a weird case, I think? I was raised Catholic, and I found out as an adult that my family past was hidden from me. Both my Babcia (great grandma, from Poland) and my Grandpa are descended from and were practicing Jews.

This information was withheld from me, so my knowledge of it is limited to what I've learned from my parents after they passed. And that's been like pulling teeth in and of itself.

How would I go about reconnecting with this part of my past? Are there resources available for the basics? I tried looking up various things online, but I think I'm looking in the wrong places- it's all super dense to me and I don't know where to start.

If you have any advice on this, or any thoughts of your own, I'd really appreciate it, no pressure. Thank you!!

My cat Princess says hello btw (:

Hello, Princess!

I would recommend finding a rabbi close to you geographically and starting there. Many places have a Judaism 101 class, which is required for conversion but doesn't necessarily lead to it.

Here's the list I gave @oldest-man-alive-blog off the top of my head when he asked for books to read to decide if he wants to convert

Essential Judaism by George Robinson Choosing a Jewish Life by Anita Diamant Here All Along by Sara Hurwitz The Jewish Approach to God, A Brief Introduction for Christians by Rabbi Neil Gillman To Life! A Celebration of Jewish Being and Thinking by Harold Kushner Becoming a Jew by Rabbi Maurice Lamm

And followed with this:

[make-friends-with-the-rats]

Alright y'all, buckle up.

Bad news :( Irving Hall/Irving Place Theatre was not, in fact, the location of the real 1899 newsies rally.

GOOD NEWS! :D I have found that the real location of the rally was the New Irving Hall at Norfolk and Broome Streets.

BAD NEWS!! :( New Irving Hall was not a theater. It appears to have been simply an event hall, meaning that "Medda's Theatre" that we all know and love is not actually historically accurate to the real 1899 strike.

Allow me to explain this revelation.

As far as I'm aware, the stage version of Newsies does not ever provide a name for Medda's theatre other than that it was located vaguely on/in the Bowery. Meanwhile, the 1992 film clearly gives us the name of the theater as 'Irving Hall.'

When you do a google search for Irving Hall or Irving Hall theatre in NYC in the 1890s, the top (and pretty much only) result is Irving Place Theatre which was originally Irving Hall, a venue not a theater, that opened in 1860. Irving Hall/Irving Place Theatre seems to check out as the historical basis for Medda's theatre then. Right? Well...

Irving Place Theatre. Map and photo from my previous post on newsies locations

Over the years, many newsies fans have landed on Irving Place Theatre as being 'Medda's Theatre.' But Irving Place Theatre was located at Irving Place and 15th streets, a far cry from the Bowery as the musical claims. So I did some digging trying to figure out if perhaps the musical had chosen a different theater for Medda, perhaps one that Aida Overton Walker was involved with. But I found something else instead.

Great Meet of Newsboys. The New York Sun, July 25, 1899, page 2.

When you go back and consult primary sources from the real 1899 newsboys' strike, you find that the rally was held not at Irving Place Theatre or Irving Hall on Irving Place and 15th, but that it was held at New Irving Hall at Broome and Norfolk streets.

I went down a rabbit hole trying to find information on New Irving Hall in NYC in the 1890s and came up with almost nothing. But I did go back to my map and found Broome and Norfolk, which I discovered to be much closer to the Bowery (highlighted below in yellow) than Irving Place Theatre was.

Marked in pink, relative location of New Irving Hall in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

At last, I found a single 2019 article with information on New Irving Hall and found out two important details.

First, that New Irving Hall seems to have been built or at least turned into a hall in the late 1890s and then burnt down in 1907. This narrow timeline could explain the lack of historical resources on New Irving Hall and the predominance of Irving Place Theatre in search results.

New Irving Hall, New York, on fire. Fire and Water Engineering, Volume 41, 1907. The only photo or illustration of New Irving Hall I could find.

Second, New Irving Hall was not a theater. New Irving Hall, like Irving Hall before the year 1888, was just a venue hall or dance hall for events. In it's short history, it was used for fundraising concerts, political and cultural events (the hall had many ties to the local Jewish community in particular), weddings, gang activity, and the newsboys' rally in 1899. But never was it a theater.

To circle back to Irving Place Theatre, the theater was originally called Irving Hall when it was built in 1860 and was rebuilt as a theater in 1888. While I can't back this up with any concrete evidence, I think it may be safely inferred that New Irving Hall, which begins to show up in records in the late 1890s, was possibly built because the original or old Irving Hall was converted from venue hall to theater.

In a 1916 Times article, Irving Place Theatre is referred to as "old Irving Hall," implying that New Irving Hall is/was in fact the new location of Irving Hall.

Union Square Loses Its Old Residences. The New York Times, June 18, 1916.

This potential link between the two might also be the reason why the Irving Hall of Newsies seems to take inspiration from both the Irving Place Theatre and New Irving Hall.

Medda's theatre is a mix of fact and fiction. According the the stage musical, Medda's is located in some connection to the Bowery like New Irving Hall. But the very fact that Medda's theatre is a theater means that Irving Place Theatre is just as likely the inspiration.

In conclusion, the real location of the newsies' rally was New Irving Hall, and New Irving Hall was not a theater. However, the theater in Newsies, Medda's theater, blurs the distinction between Irving Place Theatre and New Irving Hall and likely took inspiration from both places.

Top: Irving Place Theatre (highlighted blue). 1897 map. Bottom: Irving Hall (highlighted blue). 1897 map.