#sephardi characters

[rotzaprachim]

Nombres/שְׁמוֹת

Cassian Andor Kenari backstory, 721 words, read here

Asa’s sister was still a baby the year everyone died. She crawled and then toddled after his mother and preferred to stick her pudgy baby fingers into the the arroz kon leche than eat it, and she couldn’t say all her sounds yet.

The Kenari language in this is a mix of Ladino and modern Mexican Spanish. I am a native speaker of neither, nor I am Latine or Sephardi; any linguistic and cultural mistakes are entirely my own.

Trigger warnings for implications of the mass killing implied in Andor, colonial and antisemitic violence.

Asa’s sister was still a baby the year everyone died. She crawled and then toddled after his mother and preferred to stick her pudgy baby fingers into the the arroz kon leche than eat it, and she couldn’t say all her sounds yet.

“Ka’a!” She babbled happily. She knocked down one of Asa’s block towers and he grumbled. He didn’t like having to play with her when that play was work, a way of distracting the baby from sticking her hands on the stove or putting chemicals in her mouth or falling into one of the gaping ditches that kept appearing without prior notice in the woods around the village.

“No, kerida, no. Vivimos en una kasa, pero su hermano es Asa.” His mother said, flipping another tortilla off the comal.

“Ka’a!” She said, and poked him.

“¡Me yamo Asa!” he said. “I am not a house!”

On the day that everyone died the children did not, and they crawled out of the river, water-cold and scratched by the reeds. They walked back into what was had been their village but was their village no longer, the roofs burned and the walls smashed open and the windows in shards under their feet, and it was in those shards that Asa y Yojeved who was to become Keri y todos de los ninyos de Kenari saw for the last time their reflection, before the glass was fogged with the mildew and warm wet life of Kenari and ground into the soil. Todos de los espejos were gone, y todos los comales - all of the metal cooking-pots, all the mezuzot from the doorframes that no longer stood, all the forks and knives and serving-platters, anything, he later supposed, that might be melted down for use and value. One day he’ll know who built the machines of their desctruction, one day he’ll wonder where metal to build a planet came from. For now, the silver finials de la tora en el Kal are missing, but not the torn scraps of the scroll, fluttering in the breeze.

His sister cried. She was so heavy in his arms. He set her down, carefully, where there were neither shards nor cinders.

“Ka’a!” She said, confused but not yet sad. She didn’t know how to be sad yet, not really. “Ka’a!”

“No tenemos una kasa!” he said.

But she was little, and did not understand.

“Ka’a!” She said, and poked him.

“Si,” he said, finally. “Me yamo Kasa.”

There were no houses. There was no food. There were no parents to cook their dinner and wash their faces and make them go to bed on time. There was no one. Kassa saw a boy, he saw the boy try to jump into a river. Kassa saw a girl who was one of the biggest, the oldest of the children who were not yet big enough to be made to go to work in the mines, grab the boy by the collar of his shirt and refuse to let him go.

“No,” she said, “No. Si morimos, ellos ganan.”

She told them what her mother had told her, that the guards had regular shipments of supplies they hid from the workers, because they liked to be rich and fat while their people laboured. She told them they had to find them, and steal them. And the children of Kenari found them, and stole the proteinmeal and heatlamps and lights, the blankets and tents, and they made a new village under the domes of trees that could not be found by heat-lasers. And the food was not enough, but someone’s father had grown manioc, secretly, beyond the eyes of the guard, and someone’s mother had a tangle had a massive tangle of bean plants deep in the forest, and someone remembered how to fish from the river, for they, too, had been taught by their parents. And there were mango and cherimoya on the trees that were sweet on their tongues, that the children could reach for and eat and know were good.

And so the children of Kenari lived.

- o0o -

1 Estos son los nombres de los hijos de Israel que entraron en Egipto con Jacob; cada uno entró con su familia: 2 Rubén, Simeón, Leví, Judá, 3 Isacar, Zabulón, Benjamín, 4 Dan, Neftalí, Gad y Aser.

[doyouknowthisjewishcharacter]

Do you know this Jewish character?

[hinotorihime]

a) to what extent should i worry about which minhag a character would logically follow b) are there any reliable sources for decent summaries of "this minhag does this thing in this way" that don't necessarily require you to already know that there is a specific difference to look up (e.g.: apparently sephardim position a mezuzah at a different angle than ashkenazim. i would NOT have thought to specifically look up whether that was a thing if it hadn't been casually mentioned in a different article)

[doctorcrabby]

AAAAAHHHH MY PEOPLE ARE HERE (well one of them anyway)

Beni (B’nai) in Hebrew means “son of” or “children of” so this must be a specific subgroup of Jewish people. Jewish liturgy often refers to Jews as “B’Nai Yisrael” for example.

[iliothermia]

Where do you find references or research to create all the unique patterns in your compositions and the outfits of your characters?

When I do reference, mainly books on Greek/Jewish textiles, architecture and illuminations. Books are expensive though 💀 I'll add some online resources!!

Skies of Parchment, Seas of Ink (link to scanned version)

Ceremonial Synagogue Textiles: From Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Italian Communities

The Jewish virtual museum has some resources

This folk costume blog is a great resource for Greek regional clothing, but also folk clothing and embroidery in general. I love this blog

I do end up making a lot of patterns based on my own memories of everything I've seen, too though. Hopefully some of those resources will be helpful!

[fromchaostocosmos]

Excuse me, but who thought this was okay to do.

To take Magneto you the Jewish Holocaust Survivor and make him a leader of the Spanish Inquisition is just repugnant. It is a disgusting thing to do Jews everywhere and it removes who is truly culpable of who the horrors of the Spanish (and Portuguese) Inquisition and instead puts on the very victims of said Inquisition, Sephardi Jews.

Like Marvel 1602 really said lets take this Jewish character and put him in this role, but it is okay because it is going to be about mutants not Jews and he'll try his best to save some of them.

What the fuck.

[a-little-revolution]

hey, i know you've said previously that in order to write a Little character, you have to know the stereotypes of Little people. however, my internet delves have been so far fruitless. would you be able to tell me what some Little stereotypes are?

i ask because i'm writing a novel, and one of my main characters is a Little person with achondroplasia. I know the medical part of it just fine, but I am having less success for the other aspects.

His name's Mordechai Fernandez-Chavez, he plays soccer, is good at arguing, loves archaeology/anthropology, and he's learned to be loud and take up space because one thing I (think) I know is that Little people tend to be ignored (please tell me if that's wrong!), he's a Sephardi Orthodox Jew, he's Mexican-Argentinian-American, he collects rocks, and overall I've tried to put a lot of work into making him a person, not just a Little person. But I'm still afraid I haven't done enough.

help? :O

Hello! Some common stereotypes for little people to avoid are;

that we're overly angry or grumpy - which accumulates in the real world by dismissing the emotions of real LP

LPs are often used for physical comedy, particualrly in scenarios where our short stature is seen as cute or the butt of the joke

hypersexualization is a big one, that we're inherently promiscuous or kinky. On the other end of the coin, sex with little people is often seen as taboo.

that we're all miners, black smiths, etc. as seen in fantasy

that we have good luck or are somehow lucky - this one is less common, but some cultures still believe that touching little people will bring you good luck, which is something I've encountered

[spottheantisemitism]

name a fictional character OFF THE TOP OF YOUR HEAD that you know that is explicitly Sephardi or Mizhari?

I know no Mizhari ones and TWO Sephardi ones Moon Knight and Svengali’s foil whose name I keep forgetting

[jewish-sideblog]

Mini rant bc why is it that every jewish character in media is the same ashkenazi assimilated jew? First off, where are all the sephardi jews? Would love more rep of that pls. But also, why can jews in media never just.... be religious? even a side character, let them where a kippa or have a married woman cover her hair. Why is the only way for a jewish character to be in mainstream media for them to 'fit in' with the goyim

People really think we control Hollywood meanwhile I'm begging for an ounce of genuine and accurate representation of Jews in mainstream media

[littlestpersimmon]

May i ask what cultures inspire the clothing you draw on your characters? They're beautiful.

Mainly all sorts of asian cultures- mostly southeast asian. My partner is Palestinian so I try to incorporate tatreez occasionally. Also include various sephardi jewish cultural motifs into my clothes- but really, mostly southeast asian, as philippine cultures is closest to my heart. I love balinese clothes as well, and clothes from Kelantan, and clothes from Tamil Nadu and Thailand, and Visayan clothes, and Manchuria and Hmong and etc and then I also add stuff from my own imagination. It's really hot in Manila, so all clothes I draw are really airy and light fabric for my own autistic self that I wish I could possess irl !!

[cuntdestroyer3000]

Notice how they cast a Jewish actress in the last of us but it wasn’t to play the only Jewish character who’s Jewishness is a major part of her character?

Ariela Barer would have been perfect for Dina but they cast her as Mel?? I’m pretty sure Dina is supposed to be a sephardi or mizrahi Jew and Ariela is literally Jewish and Mexican. Like bro💀

It’s weird to me how there IS a Jew on the cast but she’s not playing the Jewish character? Once again Dina’s Jewishness is SO important, her name is literally Dina bruh.

It’s weird to me and I’ve kind of seen a pattern where Jewish actors will get casted but most often not for a Jewish role, meanwhile the Jewish roles are given to non Jewish actors and they legit cosplay as us. (Don’t even get me started on Bradley cooper playing Leonard Bernstein bc wtf)

Like we’re allowed to play roles but we can’t play Jewish ones? It’s fucking weird. Like we can only have so much representation. Is a Jew playing a Jewish role just too much for them?

It bothers me bc I feel like if it were any other minority the fandom would be outraged but since Dina’s Jewish it isn’t really a big deal. The game was made by a Jew and that in my opinion is what really made the game great. It has so much Jewish thought and philosophy and it’s weird that they couldn’t have just cast a Jew to play Dina. Barer was right there💀

[benevolentbirdgal]

Hey, I hope you’re having a good day! I had a very specific question regarding some Jewish characters - feel free to ignore this if you aren’t feeling up to a question like this lol, I just figured I ought to field this idea as a goy.

I’m writing fanfiction, and while the family in question is canonically very fair skinned and fair haired American Jews (presumably ashkenazi) they DO name two of their children after living relatives. For my fic, I am planning on explaining this by making them Shepardic, with the patriarch taking after a non shepardic parent, his wife a convert, and leaving their adopted daughter as ethnically Ashkenazi but raised in their traditions. In this explanation, is there anything potentially offensive I should beware of?

Thank you!

Greetings and salutations! Thank you for reaching out and thinking about how to be sensitive when writing Jewish communities and characters. I hope you have a lovely Whatever You Celebrate!

I'm the daughter of a matrilineal Ashkenazi Jewish woman and a goyish man, so while I will answer as best I can, I encourage you to read Sephardi-specific blogs or resources as well / reach out to folks who have their askboxes open to questions.

A few thoughts come to mind:

Quick note: it's Sephardi or Sephardic (you misplaced the h).

Danger Will Robinson: not all fair-skinned Jews are Ashkenazi and not all Ashkenazi Jews are fair-skinned and/or fair-haired. Around 90% of American Jews do ID as Ashkie or Ashkie + another minhag (so they probably are Ashkenazi in canon, esp if the original creator isn't Jewish), but be careful not to associate particular skin tones with different subcommunities in the Jewish community.

I honestly think you're overthinking this, about Ashkenazi Jews with inherited names. It's really okay (especially if it's canon) to have an Ashkenazi family that occasionally names their kiddos after living people (especially if the living relatives or friends are not themselves Ashkie Jews).

You could also explain it was a snipe at the relatives being named in honor of / some backhanded compliment thing. Or maybe the relatives were supposed to be dead because Whatever and it was an oopsie that way.

An adopted Ashkie child raised by Sephardi parents typically would have the Sephardic minhag [traditions] and - children follow their parents minhag. The convert wife would be whatever minhag she converted into. *Traditionally* family's follow the father's minhag, in practice (especially in the US and pending community availability) it's often more complicated than that.

If the daughter is adopted, maybe she came with the names? Some families change names when they adopt kiddos, some don't.

I would encourage you think more specifically about what kind of Jewish family you're writing and what their practice looks like. It's cool that you're considering the name stuff, but how else do their practices, beliefs, and community membership impact their role in the story? Feel free to DM me or ask again if you'd like some help with that (also would be helpful you include the fandom). Hope this is helpful - feel free to send follow-up or clarifying questions. As always, inviting other Jews (in this case, especially folks from inter-minhag families)

[bluejay-07]

books ask 11, 12, 17, 20!!

11. What was your favourite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read?

I keep saying this, but Crime and Punishment and The Charioteer. Crime and Punishment deals very openly with themes that are very close to home, and I thought The Charioteer was a beautiful exploration of the queer community in WWII--although I do feel like I need to read Phaedrus now lol

12. Any books that disappointed you?

Didn't love The Familiar by Leigh Bargduo--DNFed it, actually. I adored Six of Crows, and was completely on board for a historical fantasy about Sephardi Judaism under Inquisitorial Spain--and then it just kind of fell flat! It was hard to see some of the characters as people rather than vague sketches.

17. Did any books surprise you with how good they were?

In Memoriam, by Alice Winn! Fully went into it expecting it to be Song of Achilles but WWI-themed, and was pleasantly surprised! I thought the love story was beautiful and realistic, and it didn't shy away from the reality of war.

20. What was you most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations?

The Mars House, which I enjoyed a completely normal amount and have proceeded to be entirely normal about. Don't look at my AO3.

Thank you for the ask!!

[to-know-how-it-ends]

Hey everybody. I haven't posted on tumblr for quite some time. I have reasons, among them being Passover and the antisemitism that seems to have grown tenfold since I came back.

Nevertheless. Many of you may not know this, but in addition to being a humongous musical fan, I really love to write plays. Currently, I am in the process of developing a play-in-a-play centered around the Purim story.

Unfortunately, I really only have mine, my family's, and my own perception of the Purim story and holiday to base my play off of, which limits my story, my characters, and the inclusiveness of this play. So I wanted to ask my fellow tumblr Jews of all backgrounds (I am looking for everything under the sun, Ashkenazi, Sephardi, Mizrahi, Orthodox, Reform, Conservative, etc., so I would really love a lot of perspectives)

what does the Purim story mean to you?

What are the themes you find most important?

The characters?

Are there any variations that you know of from other tellings of the story?

And for Purim, the holiday, how do you celebrate it?

I also want to open this up to any non-Jewish tumblr people -- what do you know about Purim? What is your perception of it from an outsiders perspective?

Thanks so much and hope everybody had a Pesach Sameach!

[papihomo]

Hi, since I am currently hyperfixated on Omori! I thought I'd spill some of my character headcanons!

Sunny/Omori - Full Name: Sunny Seraphim Liao - Ethnicity: Chinese-Coptic Canadian - he enjoys the literary works of William Blake & other romantic period poets - involuntarily mute.

Mari - Full Name: Mari Iris Liao - Ethnicity: Chinese-Coptic Canadian - favorite musical artist is probably Erik Satie - she is an avid enjoyer of obscure artforms - absolute theater kid lets be honest - embraced both of her cultures with pride.

Basil - Full Name: Basil Ivan Kaminski - Ethnicity: Polish-Canadian - brought up in a heavily Polish Catholic household - closeted baby gay - obsessively plays mario on the gameboy advance - total hypochondriac.

Hero - Full Name: Enrique "Hero" Almanzar - Ethnicity: Mexican-Guatemalan Canadian of Mayan descent - can probably cook better than Gordon Ramsay lets be real - probably worked at a blockbuster video rental store as a part time to get by during high school - one of the best people you can hang out with lets be real.

Kel - Full Name: Kelsey "Kel" Cristobal Almanzar - Ethnicity: Mexican-Guatemalan Canadian of Mayan Descent - has a goofy little obsession with terrible low budget films such as "Attack of the Killer Tomatoes" - idolizes Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul Jabbar - has one of those basketball hoops near the driveway - ultimate gremlin.

Aubrey - Full Name: Aubergine "Aubrey" Hadassah Bernstein - Ethnicity: Israeli-Canadian of mixed Ashkenazi & Balkan Sephardi descent - raging lesbian - probably the Captain of her school's Baseball Team - Polyglot - can & will cuss you out in English, Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Yiddish & Ladino - absolutely ruthless when it comes to being honest about shit - usually listens to grunge music - her favorite song is "Stacy's Mom" - neurodivergent af.

[princessg3rard]

wanna infodump at me?<3

🚬🍓

SURE !! <3

this is going to be basically an “how to make ur jewish character a normal person with a cohesive background” bc I’m doing it rn and have noticed that a lot of gentile writers don’t really pay attention to the details and differences between communities :3

so I’m writing series of jewish!mcr fics now, right ?? so the first order of business was to figure out what kind of jew they’ll each be, which was actually kinda hard - like I need to make sure I make them part of communities I know well enough to represent well, right ?? anyways it ended up being not that bad, since I know plenty of Italian/greek jews and South American jews to represent at least half well (btw that would make them all sephardi, despite the majority of east coast jews being ashkenazi).

then, it’s to time to decide where they fall on the religious spectrum !! contrary to popular belief, u can be jewish and an atheist at the same time, bc judaism is an ethnoreligion - but u can obvi be super devout and religious, so what kind of beliefs can ur jewish character possess ??

the spectrum is as follows:

atheist — secular — traditional — religious — ultra orthodox (haredi)

for the purpose of my fic, and in light of the members’ actual upbringing, they all fall within the “traditional” category, with a quite religious upbringing (so for example, bc frank went to catholic school his jewish version went to little yeshiva (but didn’t go to the big yeshiva, he’s too cool for that)). pay attention to the way ur jew interacts with tradition and scripture - most jews celebrate every holiday and observe Yom Kippur, but only from traditional and futher on the religious side keep the shabbat and strict kashrut laws.

up next, how do they interact with their community ?? do they go to their synagogue ?? do they participate in purim parties ?? do they have an elaborate or small Seder ?? do they eat cheese on Hanukkah ?? do they avoid kitniyot on Passover ?? etc. etc.

these questions can be helped by the prior aspects of their jewish identity - community, denomination, level of religious devotion :) it helps guide u in what they can and can’t eat, when they dress up, when they invite all their friends and family over to show them their culture - and develop story beats accordingly !!

make sure that ur jew dresses up for holidays (chag/chagim) and shabbat !! it’s quite important to most jews to wear their “Sunday best” in holy days like that :3

k I’m done yapping thanks for coming to my ted talk :)