#mitzvots

[jewish-culture-is]

jewish culture is (I think) taking on tiny mitzvots that nobody else really notices/connects to the judaism. Not eating that one specific food even if you don't keep kosher or carrying hairpins for who needs them if you're going to schul or wearing kinda nice headdresses that cover the back of your head all the time, even if you don't panic when you nearly lose one.

.

[spoondrifts]

i hate when i'm reading an otherwise well-crafted academic article and then the author drops "judeo-christian". okay well thank you for letting me know that you understand nothing about judaism and all the points you're about to make have no foundation in jewish values

[bitegore]

pomegranate is really such a wonderful fruit. you mean to tell me that if i crack open this beautiful round pink thing i'll find hundreds and hundreds of rich faceted little jewels that look like garnets, and that each one is a single morsel of delicious tart sweetness AND it's like juice in there, AND furthermore getting each one out is like a puzzle box to make the entire experience more rich and engaging? really? and this just grows on trees?

not even getting into the fact that in my religion the pips symbolize various good deeds you can undertake which is like a whole extra layer LOL

[shalom-iamcominghome]

There’s pros and cons of being a trans man but one huge pro is that we don’t have to do the traditional Brit which I’m so thankful for cause idk if I could do that at 22 if I had the cis male *parts* 💀

It feels like one big cheat code, in all honesty 😂

[zebratoys]

מוֹעֲדִים לְשִׂמְחָה חַגִּים וּזְמַנִּים לְשָׂשׂוֹן

וּלְקַחְתֶּם לָכֶם בַּיּוֹם הָרִאשׁוֹן, פְּרִי עֵץ הָדָר כַּפֹּת תְּמָרִים, וַעֲנַף עֵץ-עָבֹת, וְעַרְבֵי-נָחַל; וּשְׂמַחְתֶּם, לִפְנֵי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם–שִׁבְעַת יָמִים.

[rotzaprachim]

a minyan of favourite characters who i know, deeply and truly, are jews 

[todaysjewishholiday]

7 Sivan 5784 (12-13 June 2024)

Chag Shavuot Sameach! Today is the second and final day of the festival. In the diaspora a communal reading of Megillat Ruth is often held on the second day of Shavuot. And the seventh of Sivan is somewhat different than other added festival days for the diaspora because there is a makhlokhet in the Talmud over whether the presence of HaShem descended on the mountain in the sight of the Israelite camp on the sixth of Sivan or the seventh, when our progenitors left behind bondage in Egypt and found a covenant in the wilderness. So Shavuot is in some ways Schrödinger’s Chag. The correct observance is either the sixth of Sivan or the seventh so we might as well enjoy both!

It is a common Jewish belief (and even for those for whom it is not an literal belief, a potent communal metaphor) that the souls of all Jews who have ever lived and will ever live were present at Har Sinai when HaShem and the house of Israel swore their great covenant to one another there. We were there and accepted it as well. And it is said that all converts to Judaism have Jewish souls, and were also there. Judaism is ethnic and can be received as an inheritance but it can also be joined by all who are drawn to it, because at its heart Judaism is this great promise to HaShem and one another. We argue about how to understand it and we often fall short of applying even the knowledge we have of how to keep it but being Jewish is to admit that we are bound to each other and to the whole world. And a convert has every bit as much a claim to this covenant as any other Jew.

We read the Book of Ruth at Shavuot partly to carry this truth home. Ruth is from Moab— a people the ancient Israelites had repeated conflicts with and entrenched prejudices against— but she tells her Jewish mother-in-law “where you go I go, where you live I live, your people are my people, and your g-d my g-d” and from that moment forward Ruth is understood as a full member of the community. She is one of the direct lineal ancestors of Dovid HaMelekh. Rather than attempt to create a spotless noble pedigree for our most famous king ancient Jewish writers emphasized multiple women from marginalized backgrounds in his ancestry. We are a people shaped from the start by a mixed multitude and by welcoming fully those who are willing to join in Jewish life. It is worth remembering that always.

The book of Ruth’s emphasis on tzedekah and compassion and not only meeting but eagerly fulfilling mitzvot of care for the poor and for marginalized community members also encapsulates Shavuot’s reminder to recommit ourselves to the Torah and to the pursuit of justice that HaShem enjoins upon us.

[slyandthefamilybook]

I know we don't proselytize but. Jenny Nicholson you would be so good at Judaism

[bfpnola]

just a snapshot of the list of Jewish laws, mitzvot, israel is breaking while weaponizing Judaism to kill Palestinians en masse

[jewish-culture-is]

Jewish culture is donating to causes in multiples of 18

.

[strangewonderful]

˗ˏˋ⭒✧ﾟ SYBIL + JUDAISM ﾟ✧⭒´ˎ˗

CORA IS RAISED JEWISH FROM BOTH HER MOTHER AND HER FATHER. the united states in the 1870s sees increasing rights and equality for jews as prejudice declines across political scales, but this does not mean antisemitism is nonexistent in the united states or across the world.

cora does not convert away from judaism when she marries robert, but moving to london and into higher society, her religion takes a backseat. jewish communities in england are swelling as jews flee other parts of the world, but europe as a whole doesn't feel safe like home did. and nowhere are jews accepted the same way that non-jews are.

still, it's important to her to raise her daughters to be at least familiar with the customs, practices, and beliefs that she was raised on. sybil grows up half-jewish, at least in the home. christmas and other such christian holidays were always the most prominent at downton, like their annual christmas party and giving the staff time off on that day, while jewish holidays would consist more simply of just cora and the girls telling stories from the torah and celebrating together. there are times spent in america visiting cora's family where holidays are celebrated much more fully.

sybil doesn't care much about what religion she is, or what religion her daughter will be raised as, so long as her daughter gets to partake in at least some of the traditions and lessons that sybil was raised on, and she's not quite sure what god she believes in. but the jewish practices and lessons that she's learned have greatly shaped her life—ideas of healing the world, tzedakah, mitzvot, even her political ambition, are all grounded in the fact that she is jewish.

[reachingrachnius]

how do we feel about my rough translation ?

[shalom-iamcominghome]

Becoming jewish because being a lawyer is too much work

[torais-life]

Shabbat Shalom ✨

With my cat Salomón who comes every morning to caress me when I want to start birkot hashajar and prayers 😁🇮🇱❤️ 🇦🇷😽

[rotzaprachim]

can’t even say the things going through my mind rn but fuuuuuck. There are so few young people in my area and the Guy is wearing glasses

[todaysjewishholiday]

13 Menachem Av 5784 (16-17 August 2024)

Shabbat shalom! Gutt shabbes! Sabado bueno!

Shabbat is the most significant and joyful Jewish holiday, and this Shabbat is the most joyful of them all, because it is the consolation after our deepest collective grief. The Hebrew year has a few special shabbatot, associated with specific anniversaries, Torah portions, or haftarah of special significance. This Shabbat, the one which follows Tisha b’Av, our day of mourning for the destruction of both Batei HaMikdash and for all that is broken in the world we inhabit, is called Shabbat Nachamu, the Shabbat of Comfort, and has been celebrated by generations of Jews as the combination of all that is most enjoyable about Shabbat and Yom Tov. Truly, this is a day that we accept in all its splendor as an everlasting reminder of HaShem’s loving promises to us. The contrast with the deep heartwrenching grief of Tisha b’Av can allow us to see in this Shabbat in particular all that Shabbat is meant to be for us each and every week. Contrast can teach us many wonderful things.

The parashat hashavua of Shabbat Nachamu is Vaetchanan, “I Pleaded”, the second portion in Devarim, Moshe’s final address to the Israelite people. This parsha includes three of the most important texts of Judaism: the Shma, our most foundational prayer, the v’Ahavta which we repeat alongside it, and the Asheret haDevarim, or Ten Commandments, the first mitzvot given to the Israelite people at Mount Sinai, which are repeated here by Moshe as a reminder of the vows binding the Israelite people and our God. Taken together these three are a powerful reminder of truths that no catastrophe can alter.

The haftarah is from Sefer Yeshayahu, Chapter 40, and its opening words “Nachamu Nachamu Ammi” (Comfort, o comfort my people) give the Shabbat its special name. It was deliberately chosen to follow Tisha b’Av, and is the first of seven passages of comfort from Yeshayahu read between Tisha b’Av and Rosh HaShana. Please accept the comfort and consolation of this particular Shabbat. We live in a difficult world, and we need the peace and rest and joy and change of perspective that Shabbat offers. As the saying goes “the Jews observe Shabbat and Shabbat preserves the Jews”— this Shabbat is a testament to how true that is, even in the face of all the calamities of our community’s history. We can face the challenges of our times, so long as we willingly accept the comfort HaShem offers us in the way of Torah.