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booksandwords · 10 months

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Let There Be Light by R. Cooper

Read time: 2 Days Rating: 4/5 Stars

The Quote: “My father, like many others, had a belief—tikkun olam—contribute to the world. Perfect it. Leave it a better place,” — Karol

Warnings: from R. Cooper herself "References to violence, torture; Onscreen sex; Facial scars/public reaction to them." And I have no notes.

Let There Be Light is a character-driven book with Karol does not pretend to be anything he isn't. Hart is a soldier, a good one and loyal to his men. He has never had an experience quite like the ones he's had in the company of Karol. His extensive and easily recognisable scarring is treated with respect. It is set over 24 hours it is a delicate balance of deception of self and truth. They have a history that much is made obvious from the outset but the truth isn't revealed until later in the piece. It is essentially only the two of them for the entire story and given the exceptionally short time frame that is a good thing but the plot is simple enough so it is more about the characters for me.

I appreciate how the elements come together. There is something appealing about a man written as Karol is, unknowingly in a way user, with an extremely high IQ with an equally low EQ. Hart's nature is more balanced, able to understand people's emotions but still able to nearly keep up with Karol's intelligence. A genius scientist who takes his pleasure where he can find it (he is essentially a manwhore) but never lets his heart get involved. One night and then he never wants to see you again. The refrains that are used multiple times to tie everything together. This is an author who knew her limitations and chose not to exceed them. I feel it shows a remarkable respect for the characters and the reader. When writers attempt to eclipse their writing skill when it comes to intimate scenes I find it can damage a character, or alter their whole character type. I

Some quotes I liked

He was something to see in action, fearless where the pursuit of knowledge was concerned. — This is about Karol. As a librarian and someone with a strong interest in sociology and research, I totally understand this trait. I really like that it is written as a positive trait here. Then again R. Cooper is a strong supporter of libraries. (Hart)

Acts between men had only been officially decriminalized for ten years, but Karol had been taking advantage of the Crown’s willingness to overlook the misbehavior of its top minds—provided they produced results—for years before then. It had been yet another reason his assistants and security details had never lasted. Each man might have been hoping for more, but all they’d gotten was one night. — I don't know why I feel the need to include this but I do. It adds context to the book, but I also really like the phrasing and what it says about Karol. It is a polite way to call him a manwhore. (Hart)

“If you were mine, Hart, and not Victoria’s, I would treat you better. If you were mine, I would not allow this.” — Victoria is Queen Victoria, as is common for a steampunk setting. Hart is in her service. This is something of a refrain for this book. It is because of his duty to Victoria that Hart is covered in scars. Those scars make Karol angry. (Karol)

Karol loved him. Unbelievable. But Karol did not come in pieces. He was wonderful and terrible and Hart wanted all of him. — When Karol is in he's in. It suits his character type, more academic and quite bitter. (Hart)

“Run away? Or to you?” Karol raised his eyebrows. “I can take care of myself. You try to remember that, and watch out for yourself.” He handed the patch back to Hart, smiled slightly as Hart took it and stuffed it into his coat. His smile faded when he met Hart’s eyes. “Don’t hide from me again. Please.” — There is a strong sense of tenderness to this line. Or as tender as I think Karol can get. (Karol)

During the day, during nearly every moment of waking, he was Victoria’s. He was service. — Does anyone know Babylon 5? This reminds me of the line associated with Psycorps. "The corps is Mother, the corps is Father." It was a knee-jerk reaction of a thought. I always associate that line with pure duty, duty to the detriment of the rest of their life. (Hart)

“Fiat lux,” he said, ignoring Isabel’s puzzled exhalation. Let there be light. — Going to be honest these are the best last lines I've read in a while. They are perfect for the story. Though these are only the last lines of the main story, not the last lines of the book. The phrase is Latin a language Karol despises. (Hart)

At the end of the main story, there is a bonus called A Day Like Today. It is a fantastic addition the the original. I'm so glad R. Cooper chose to include it. It is a switch in perspective. It gives the reader an idea of exactly what Karol suffers through as what is essentially a military husband leaves. His near sincere jealousy of the queen and not a little anger and fear. Karol is a jealous, jealous man. The idea of Karol playing with pleasure/pain just works, it suits him. Robert/Hart is so different in this to the original he is still arrogant but we see his loving partner and devoted soldier sides in absolute combat for domination. With the soldier victorious, as Karol expects. But it is the altered perspective that makes this. Seeing the difference between how Hart perceives Karol and how Karol perceives Hart.

Some quotes I liked from the bonus.

But all of that had been before. Before he had Robert in his bed, and Robert’s scars to kiss, and Robert’s mocking little smiles replaced by private, glancing, surprisingly tender touches. — I appreciate the switch in perspective. Though it is difficult to write as a far more analytical mind such as Karol's. There is a beauty is this writing. (Karol)

“I love you,” he said, unoriginal and raw as he was only around Robert. He could not have borne it if Robert had died, could not have borne it no matter what Robert hoped in his brutal yet idealistic mind. — That idea of a brutal, idealistic mind is one that I don't come across often. (Karol)

I adore the cover of this. I likely would have gotten to it eventually given it is Cooper's first published work. But It was the cover that drew me in. I like steampunk and the cover is just fantastic it is one of the few that actually very, very nearly aligns to the characters too.

I really enjoyed this, more than I was concerned about. This was R. Cooper's first piece of professional writing I was concerned about seeing something I didn't want to see. As a first publication, this is nearly exceptional. It is clear to see why R. Cooper has the fanbase she does with this as a launch point. Honestly, a must-read for her fans. Not a bad steampunk the elements aren't overused combined with reasonable romance for those who like character-driven over smex-driven arcs.

#let the be light #r. cooper #book review #steampunk #ktreviews #read 2022 #novella #booklr

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baileye · 1 year

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I tend to go overboard, borrow problems from the future, and get anxious. I should find a middle ground. But my dark worldview does not prevent me from seeing the light. Jews have a word for when something good happens that I have tattooed on my ankle: “diaynu.” It means, “it would have been enough” as in “I already had so many blessings, and now this too.” I say it every time I see a nice ass go by. JK. But really, it’s plenty possible to live with deep gratitude in a world that horrifies you.

A heart broken open is more easily filled up than a closed one. You know, the whole “cracks are where the light gets in” thing. Leonard Cohen was a Jew.

*strains very hard not to add “[butt]” in front of “cracks”*

~Manifesting~ is selfing and selfing doesn’t make people better or happier.

Another central tenet of Jewish culture is a focus on tikkun olam - repairing the world, social justice. I love this about us. (Rebecca Solnit was incorrect when she wrote that pessimists excuse themselves from acting. You do not need hope to be an activist.) And maybe I’m a dinosaur for not wanting to deconstruct my vAlUeS… but I think any system of spirituality should include a moral imperative to be of service or at least to be ethical.

~Manifesting~ lacks both. It’s almost always about self improvement, realizing your own dreams, or getting what you want. This is a flaw in a spiritual system not only on moral grounds but also because helping others makes people happy and self obsession makes people unhappy.

~Manifesting~ may preach against negative thinking, but it implicitly invites people to ruminate on their inadequacies. Doing that makes people …feel inadequate, and, like astrology (not sorry!), often amounts to navel gazing. I call it “selfing.”

Selfing takes us out of the present and blinds us to our surroundings. It makes our hearts dead to the wonders and horrors of the world––to the things that remind us how little we matter, the things that can deliver us from ego. Stop making vision boards, go outside, look at some fucking plants. Everything is waiting for you.

Selfing also weakens social ties, which precludes both collective political action and living in relation to others spiritually. These are the same two reasons you can often catch me talking shit about identity politics and trauma culture, though I’m not actually against either. David Brooks articulated what I’ve been exasperatedly trying to say for years in his (otherwise spectacularly myopic)2 August NYT column, Hey, America, Grow Up!:

“… [People] don’t build secure identities on their own. They weave their stable selves out of their commitments to and attachments with others. Their identities are forged as they fulfill their responsibilities as friends, family members, employees, neighbors and citizens...”

Yes! Connection gives life meaning! I think we are mass forgetting this. Or at least my internet algorithm and IRL social bubbles are.

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bailey-writes · 4 years

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So You Want Your OC to be Jewish

So you’re writing a story and you want to make a Jewish character—great! I’m here to help. I always want more Jewish representation but I want good Jewish representation, so this is my attempt to make a guide to making a Jewish character. What are my credentials? I’m Jewish and have been my whole life. Obligatory disclaimer that this is by no means comprehensive, I don’t know everything, all Jews are different, and this is based on my experiences as an American Jew so I have no idea, what, if any, of this applies to non-American Jews.

If there’s anything you want me to make a post going more into detail about or if there’s anything I didn’t mention but you want to know please ask me! I hope this is helpful :) Warning, this is long.

Jew PSA

If you are Jewish you can use the word Jew(s), e.g. “She’s dating a Jew.” If you are not Jewish you cannot use the word Jew(s). This is not up for debate. Non-Jews calling us Jews has a negative connotation at best. Don’t do it and don’t have your characters do it.

Basics, Plus My Random Thoughts that Didn’t Fit Anywhere Else

A confusing enduring issue is, what is Judaism? It’s a religion, but some Jews aren’t religious; is it a race? A nationality? A culture? A heritage? The only constant is that we are seen as “other.” There’s a lot of debate, which makes it confusing to be Jewish and as such it’s common for Jews to struggle with their Jewish Identity. However many people agree that Jews are an ethnoreligious group, aka Judaism is a religion and an ethnicity.

Temple/Synagogue/Shul = Jewish place of worship. Shul is usually used for Orthodox synagogues.

Keeping kosher = following Jewish dietary rules: meat and dairy can’t be eaten together and you can’t eat pork or shellfish. Fish and eggs are pareve (aka neutral) and can be eaten with meat or dairy (but again not both at the same time.) When eating meat it has to be kosher meat (e.g. kosher Jews are allowed to eat chicken, but not all chicken is kosher. I know it’s kinda confusing I’m sorry.) Kosher products in stores will have symbols on them to identify them as kosher. If someone is kosher they’ll probably have separate sets of utensils/plates/cookware/etc. for meat and dairy

Shabbat/Shabbos/Sabbath = holy day of the week, day of rest, lasts from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Depending on observance Jews might have Shabbat dinner, attend Shabbat services, or observe the day of rest in its entirety (making them shomer Shabbat)

Someone who is shomer Shabbat will refrain from any of the prohibited activities. These can easily be looked up but include: working, writing, handling money, cooking, and using technology.

Bat/Bar/B’nai Mitvzah = tradition where a Jewish boy/girl becomes a man/woman. Celebrated at 13-years-old for boys, 12- or 13-years-old for girls. Girls have Bat Mitzvahs (bat means daughter in Hebrew), boys have Bar Mitzvahs (bar means son in Hebrew) and twins or two or more people having one together have a B’nai Mitzvah. They will study for this for months and then help lead services and, depending on observance level, read from the Torah. The ceremony is often attended by family and friends and followed with a celebration of sorts (in America usually this means a brunch and/or party.)

Goy/gentile = non-Jew. These words are not slurs, they are literally just words. Plural of goy is goyim and is a Yiddish word, plural of gentile is gentiles.

Jewish holidays follow the Hebrew calendar, meaning that according to the current solar/Gregorian calendar the dates of our holidays are different each year.

Jewish law recognizes matrilineal inheritance. This means that Jewish law states your mother has to be Jewish for you to be Jewish. This is because of reasons from biblical times that I can explain if you wanna come ask, but as you can imagine is a bit outdated. While Orthodox Jews might embrace this idea and only consider someone Jewish if their mom is Jewish, many Jews are more flexible on the idea (and yes, this does cause tension between Orthodox Jews and other Jews at times.)

Judaism =/= Christianity

Some people think Judaism is just Christianity without Jesus (some people don’t even realize we don’t believe in/celebrate Jesus so newsflash, we don’t) and that’s just wrong. Yes both religions share the Old Testament, so they also share some history and beliefs, but the entire ideologies of the religions are different. In brief, they are similar in some ways but are not the same.

What seems to me to be the biggest difference is that Christianity (from what I understand) has a heavy focus on sins, more specifically repenting for/gaining forgiveness for your sins. In Christianity you are born tainted by original sin. In Judaism we believe everyone is born pure and free from sin and everyone is made in God’s image. Judaism has some concept of sin, but doesn’t focus on them and instead focuses on performing Mitzvot (plural, singular form is mitzvah. Direct translation is “commandment” but basically means good deed or act of kindness. It also relates to the commandments, so following the commandments is also performing mitzvot.) Examples of mitzvot include anything from saying a prayer or lighting Shabbat candles to helping a stranger or donating to charity (called tzedakah). One of the main tenets of Judaism is tikkun olam, which directly translates to “repair the world” and means exactly what it says on the tin. Instead of focusing on being forgiven for doing bad Judaism focuses on doing good. The only day we focus on past wrongdoings is Yom Kippur, one of our most holy holidays, discussed below.

Holidays

Rosh Hashanah – The Jewish New Year, occurs around September and lasts for two days, though Reform Jews often only celebrate the first day. Day of happiness and joy, celebrated by eating sweet things for a “sweet new year” (often apples dipped in honey) and circular challah to represent the end of one year and beginning of another. Also celebrated with services and blowing the shofar (rams horn.) Some spend the day in prayer and/or silent meditation. Possible greetings: chag sameach (happy holiday; can be said on almost any holiday), Shana Tovah, or happy new year (which is what Shana Tovah means, some people just say it in English.)

Yom Kippur – Day of Atonement. Occurs ten days after the start of Rosh Hashanah. One of if not the most solemn day for Jews, but also the most holy. The day is spent reflecting on yourself and any past wrongdoings and atoning. The day (sundown the night before to sundown the day of) is spent fasting, a physical way of atoning. We do this in hopes of being “written in the Book of Life” and starting the year with a clean slate. The shofar is blown at the end of the holiday. Most Jews will end the fast with a grand meal with family and friends. Most common greeting is “have an easy fast,” but happy new year is still appropriate.

Sukkot – Celebrates the harvest, occurs on the fifth day after Yom Kippur and lasts seven days. Celebrated by building a temporary hut outdoors called a sukkah and having meals inside it, as well as shaking palm fronds tied together (called a lulav) and holding a citrus called an etrog. Very fun and festive holiday. Possible greetings include chag sameach or Happy Sukkot.

Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah – Some Jews (mostly Reform Jews and Jews living in Israel) combine both holidays into one day while some celebrate them as two separate days. Either way they occur immediately after Sukkot. Shemini Atzeret is similar but separate from Sukkot and features a prayer for rain; Sukkot is not mentioned in prayers and the lulav isn’t shaken but you do eat in the sukkah. Simchat Torah celebrates finishing reading the Torah, which we will then begin again the next day. It’s a festive holiday with dancing and fun. Some Temples will roll the entire Torah out and the children will run under it. Appropriate greeting for both would be chag sameach.

Rosh Hashanah through Simchat Torah are referred to as the High Holidays.

Chanukah – We all know about Chanukah, celebrating the reclaiming of the Second Temple and the miracle of the oil lasting eight days. The most represented Jewish Holiday there is. Unfortunately it’s one of the least significant holidays for us. Occurs around November or December and lasts eight days and nights. Celebrated by lighting candles in the Menorah each night with a prayer and kids usually get gifts each night. Also celebrated with spinning tops called dreidels, fried foods like doughnuts (sufganiyot in Hebrew; usually the jelly filled ones) and potato pancakes called latkes. Greetings: happy Chanukah or chag sameach.

Tu B’Shevat – Birthday of the trees, basically Jewish Arbor Day. Minor but fun holiday, sometimes celebrated by planting trees. Occurs around January or February.

Purim – Celebrates how Queen Esther of Persia defeated Haman and saved her people, the Jews. Occurs in Spring. Festive holiday traditionally celebrated by dressing in costumes, eating sweets, and giving tzedakah (it’s also technically commanded you get drunk so woohoo!) Whenever Haman’s name is mentioned you make a lot of noise, booing and using noisemakers called groggers. Greetings: happy Purim, chag Purim, or chag sameach.

Passover/Pesach – Celebrates the Jews being freed from slavery in Egypt. Occurs in Spring and lasts eight days. The first two nights (some only celebrate the first night) are celebrated with seder, a ritual meal with certain foods, practices, prayers, and readings from a book called the Haggadah and often attended by family and friends. Most famous prayer/song of the holiday is the four questions, which ask why that night is different from all other nights and is traditionally sung by the youngest child at the seder. The entire holiday is spent not eating certain foods, mostly grain or flour (the food restrictions are complicated and differ based on denomination so look it up or ask a Jew.) We eat a lot of matzah during Pesach, which is like a cracker kinda. I personally hate it but some people actually like it. Greetings: happy Passover, chag pesach, or chag sameach.

Tisha B’Av – Anniversary of the destruction of the Temple. Occurs in Summer. Very sad, solemn day. Some celebrate by fasting from sunrise to sunset. Not the most widely celebrated holiday. Some also commemorate the Holocaust (also called the Shoah) on this day as it was the destruction of a figurative temple.

Denominations

There are a bunch of denominations in Judaism, we’ll go into it briefly.

Religious denominations:

Reform/Reformed: This is the least religiously observant level. Often Reform Jews don’t keep kosher or observe Shabbat, their services on Shabbat will use instruments. Reform Jews probably attend services for the high holidays at the very least and probably had a Bat/Bar Mitzvah. Might say they consider themselves more culturally Jewish. Their Temple/Synagogue will be the most “liberal”—aka have more female/diverse Rabbis and a more diverse congregation. I’m Reform and my Temple’s lead Rabbi is a woman and we used to have a Rabbi who’s a queer single mother.

Conservative: More religiously observant and more generally traditional. Might keep kosher or observe Shabbat, but not necessarily. Services likely won’t use instruments (not supposed to play instruments on Shabbat). Most likely had a Bat/Bar Mitzvah, but girls might not read from the Torah, though this depends on the congregation. They do allow female Rabbis, but in my experience it’s less common.

Modern Orthodox: Very religiously observant but also embrace modern society. Will keep kosher and observe Shabbat. Men will wear kippot (singular=kippah) and tzitzit under their shirts. Women will cover their hair (if they’re married), most likely with a wig, and wear modest clothing (only wear skirts that are at least past their knees and long sleeves). Emphasis on continued study of Torah/Talmud. Parents will likely have jobs. Might have larger families (aka more children) but might not. Services will be segregated by gender, girls won’t read from the Torah publicly, and female Rabbis are very rare. Children will most likely attend a religious school. Will attend shul services every Shabbat and for holidays.

note: there are some people who fall somewhere between modern Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox, or between any two denominations really. as you can imagine people don’t all practice the exact same way.

Ultra-Orthodox: Very religiously observant and not necessarily modern. Will keep kosher and observe Shabbat. Men will wear kippot or other head coverings and tzitzit under their shirts, and are also often seen wearing suits. Women will cover their hair (if they’re married) with a wig or scarf and wear modest clothing (only wear skirts that are at least past their knees and long sleeves). Emphasis on continued study of Torah/Talmud. Men might have jobs but might instead focus on Jewish studies, while women most often focus on housework and child-rearing. Don’t believe in contraception (but this is kinda nuanced and depends). Will often have very large families because having children is a commandment and helps continue the Jewish people. Might be shomer negiah which means not touching members of the opposite sex aside from their spouse and some close family members. Services will be segregated by gender, girls won’t read from the Torah publicly, and there won’t be female Rabbis. Children will attend a religious school. Will attend shul services every Shabbat and for holidays.

Ethnic denominations (the different denominations do have some differences in practices and such but tbh I don’t know much about that so this is just the basics):

Ashkenazi: Jews that originate from Central/Eastern Europe. Yiddish, a combination of Hebrew and German, originated from and was spoken by Ashkenazim and while it’s a dying language it’s spoken among many Orthodox Jews and many Jews of all levels know/speak some Yiddish words and phrases. Majority of Jews worldwide are Ashkenazi.

Sephardi/Sephardic: Jews that originate from the Iberian Peninsula, North Africa, and southeastern Europe. Ladino, a combination of Old Spanish and Hebrew, originated from and was spoken by Sephardim. It is also a dying language but is still spoken by some Sephardim. After Ashkenazi most of the world’s Jews are Sephardic.

Mizrahi: Jews that originate from the Middle East and North Africa.

Ethiopian Jews: Community of Jews that lived in Ethiopia for over 1,000 years, though most have immigrated to Israel by now.

Stereotypes/Tropes/Controversies/Etc.

There are so many Jewish stereotypes and shit and I ask you to please be mindful of them. Stereotypes do exist for a reason, so some people will fit stereotypes. This means your character might fit one or two; don’t make them fit all of them. Please. Stereotypes to keep in mind (and steer away from) include:

All Jews are rich.

All Jews are greedy.

All Jews are cheap/frugal.

All Jews are [insert job here]. We’ll go into this more below.

All Jews hate Christians/Muslims/etc.

All Jews are white.

First of all Ethiopian and Mizrahi Jews exist, many Sephardi are Hispanic, and today with intermarriage and everything this just isn’t true.

All Jews have the same physical features: large and/or hooked nose, beady eyes, droopy eyelids, red hair (this is an old stereotype I didn’t really know existed), curly hair.

Many Jews do have somewhat large noses and curly hair. I’m not saying you can’t give these features to your characters, but I am saying to be careful and don’t go overboard. And don’t give all of your Jewish characters these features. As a side note, it is common at least among American Jews that girls get nose jobs. Not all, but some.

Jews are secretly world elite/control the world/are lizard people/new world order/ any of this stuff.

STAY AWAY FROM. DO NOT DO THIS OR ANYTHING LIKE THIS. If you have a character that’s part lizard, do not make them Jewish. If you have a character that’s part of a secret group that controls the entire world, do not make them Jewish.

Jews have horns. If you have characters with horns please don’t make them Jewish.

Jews killed Jesus.

The blood libel. Ew. No.

The blood libel is an antisemitic accusation/idea/concept that back in the day Jews would murder Christian children to use their blood in religious rituals and sometimes even for consumption (did I mention gross?) Not only did this just not happen, but it’s actually against Jewish law to murder, sacrifice, or consume blood. Yes these accusations really happened and it became a main reason for persecution of Jews. And some people still believe this shit.

Jews caused The Plague.

The reason this conspiracy exists is because many Jews didn’t get The Plague and the goyim thought that meant it was because the Jews caused it/cursed them. The real reason Jews didn’t get it is because ritual hand-washing and good hygiene kept them from getting it. Sorry that we bathe.

Jewish mother stereotype.

Ok, listen. I know stereotypes are mostly a bad thing but I have to admit the Jewish mother stereotype is not far off. Jewish moms do tend to be chatty and a little nagging, are often very involved in their children’s lives, and they are often trying to feed everyone (although they don’t all cook, my mom hates cooking.) They also tend to be big worriers, mostly worrying about their family/loved ones. They also tend to know everyone somehow. A twenty minute trip to the grocery store can turn into an hour or two long trip because she’ll chat with all the people she runs into.

Jewish-American Princess (JAP) ((I know calling Japanese people Japs is offensive. Jews will call girls JAPs, but with a completely different meaning. If that’s still offensive I am sorry, but just know it happens.))

This is the stereotype that portrays Jewish girls/women as spoiled brats basically. They will be pampered and materialistic. Do these girls exist? Definitely. I still recommend steering away from this stereotype.

Names

Listen. Listen. There are some names that Jews just won’t have. I won’t speak in definites because there are always exceptions but you’ll rarely find a Jew named Trinity or Grace or Faith or any form of Chris/Christopher/Christina etc. Biblical names from the Old Testament? Absolutely Jews will have those names they’re actually very common.

I’m in a Jewish Sorority. My pledge class of ~70 girls had five Rebeccas and four Sarahs. Surprisingly only one Rachel though.

When it comes to last names I have two thoughts that might seem contradictory but hear me out: a) give your Jewish OC’s Jewish surnames, b) don’t give your Jewish OC’s the most Jewish surname to ever exist.

By this I mean I would much rather see a character named Sarah Cohen or Aaron Levine than Rachel Smith. Just that little bit of recognition makes a happy exclamation point appear over my head, plus it can be a good way to hint to readers that your OC is Jewish.

On the other hand, please don’t use the most stereotypical Jewish names you’ve ever heard. If you have five Jewish OCs and one of them is Isaac Goldstein then fine. If Isaac Goldstein is your only Jewish OC I might get a little peeved. There are tons of common Jewish surnames that are recognizable and easy to look up, so don’t revert to the first three that come to mind. Maybe it’s just me, but I find it yucky, for lack of a better word.

Jobs

We all know there are certain jobs that are stereotypical for Jews to have. We’re talking lawyer, dentist, doctor, banker type stuff. To an extent these stereotypes exist for a reason, many Jews go into those careers. Do not make these the only careers your Jewish OCs have. Stereotypes might have reasoning behind them but it doesn’t mean they aren’t harmful. If you have multiple Jewish OCs some of them can have these careers, but not all of them. I do know a lot of Jewish lawyers, dentists, and doctors. I also know accountants, people involved in businesses (“mom, what does Brad do?” “he’s a businessman” sometimes there just aren’t more specific words), people involved in real estate. I don’t actually know any bankers personally, and with money and stuff being one of the most common and harmful Jewish stereotypes I would suggest steering away from that.

These are common fields for Jews, but Jews can have literally any job. Please feel free to get creative. And if you have more than one Jewish OC you can think about making one of them a Rabbi, but DON’T do this if they’re the only Jewish OC. Please.

Yiddish

So I mentioned Yiddish earlier. Like I already said, it’s not a very widely used language anymore but there are some words and phrases that are still used by a lot of Jews (in America at least.) Here’s a list that is absolutely not comprehensive:

Oy vey = oh no

Shvitzing = sweating (but not just a little bit. Shvitzing is like SWEATING)

Kvetch/kvetching = whine/whining or complain/complaining

Mazel tov = congratulations; this is the same in Yiddish and Hebrew

Chutzpah = nerve or gall (e.g. “He’s got a lot of chutzpah for breaking up over text like that”)

Kismet = fate; I just learned this is Yiddish

Bubbe and Zayde = grandma and grandpa

Schelp/schlepping = drag/dragging, can also mean carry or move (e.g. “I had to schlep the bag all around town” doesn’t mean they literally dragged it)

Schmutz = dirt or something dirty (e.g. “you have schmutz on your face”)

Schmatta = literally means rag but can be used to refer to ratty blankets or clothes

Plotz = collapse (usually used in the sense of “I’m so tired I might plotz” or “she’s gonna be so excited she’s gonna plotz”)

Schmuck/shmendrick = both mean more or less the same, a jerk or obnoxious person

Shtick = gimmick, routine, or act (can be used like (“I don’t like that comedian’s shtick” or “he always makes himself the center of attention it’s his shtick”)

Spiel = long speech, story, or rant

There’s so many more so look them up and think about using them, but don’t overdo it. A Jewish person isn’t gonna use a Yiddish word in every sentence (or even every day or every few days.)

Israel

In my community at least it’s very common that by the time your college-aged that you’ll have been to Israel at least once.

Israel is a controversial topic within the Jewish community and in the world. It’s sensitive and complex. I really, really suggest not getting into it. Just don’t bring it up because no matter what you say someone will be unhappy. Just don’t do it.

Ashkenazi Disorders

Ashkenazi Jews have some sucky genes (I’m Ashkenazi so I can say this, you cannot.) These sucky genes cause certain disorders to be more prevalent for us. Children only get the disorder if both parents are carriers of the disorder, so Jews usually get genetic testing done before having children. If both parents are carriers the risk of the child getting the disorder is high, so parents might reconsider or have some indecisiveness/fear. Some of these are:

Tay-Sachs

Cystic Fibrosis

Canavan Disease

Familial Dysautonomia

Gaucher Disease

Spinal Muscular Atrophy

Fanconi Anemia

Mucolipidosis IV

Niemann-Pick Disease

Torsion Dystonia

Bloom Syndrome

Ashkenazi Jews also have a high prevalence of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, which increase the risk of breast and ovarian cancer in women and increase the risk of breast and prostate cancer in men.

Crohn’s Disease, Ulcerative Colitis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, and Lactose Intolerance are also very prevalent

In a dorm of like 40 Jews, six of them had Crohn’s.

Ways to Show Your OC is Jewish

Wears Jewish jewelry, e.g. Star of David (also called Jewish Star and Magen David), Chai symbol (means life), jewelry with Sh’ma prayer, or hamsa (but beware this symbol is used outside of Judaism).

Mentions their temple, their Rabbi, having a Bat/Bar Mitzvah, going to Hebrew School, Shabbat, or a holiday coming up.

Have someone ask them a question about Judaism.

Have someone notice they have a mezuzah on their door.

Most Jews will have a mezuzah on the doorframe of the front door of their house/apartment, but they could even have one for their dorm room or whatever. It’s traditional to kiss your hand then touch the mezuzah when walking through the door, but most Jews don’t do this every time, at least not most Reform or Conservative Jews.

Have them call out antisemitism if you’re feeling spicy

The end! I hope this helped and if you have any questions my ask box is always open!

#writing advice #writing tips #writing help #jewish characters #judaism #writing resources #writeblr community #wtwcommunity #i said i would make this post literally months ago but i finally did it!

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deweybertolini · 4 years

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“This Little Light of Mine…” What a week! Our world is reeling. I rather suspect that some of your lives are as well.

#Christ #dignity #earth #ethical #Gamaliel #gentleness #goodness #Hillel #Holy Spirit #hope #Jesus #Kindness #light #monotheism #Paul #respect #salt #tikkun olam

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girlboss-enthusiast · 2 years

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you call yourself a radfem while worshipping a patriarhal god? handmaiden behavior

For those following along at home, I mentioned in an earlier post that I'm a Jew and it's important to me, although complicated.

I do get your confusion, anon. Judaism is patriarchal and I do think organized religions are inherently oppressive. I'm also an agnostic atheist, so I can't say I'm a Jew because of my devotion to God. It's all cultural. So I'll tell you where I'm coming from.

I have my great-grandmother's Torah on my bookshelf. She brought that book, her family menorah, and the clothes on her back when she immigrated to the US. That's all; she deemed it that significant. My grandmother used it; so did my father. I can't read Hebrew, but when I hold it, I feel the weight of its history. And when we light the menorah, the same one Bubbe carried from Russia over a century ago, I think of my grandmother. Her favorite holiday was Hanukkah; she found it hopeful, it gave her strength. After we say the prayer, my family shares our memories of her and my other grandparents. May their memories be blessings — a Jewish phrase, meant for the living, not for the dead.

There are also a lot of Jewish teachings that resonate with me: tikkun olam, or the seeking of justice; the quest for truth; existing with purpose and honoring one's self; and of course, shalom, a typical greeting, which means peace. Do I live by these ethics because of a covenant with God? Uh, no. Even if I were a theist, I wouldn't perform these teachings for a god's approval; it's because I feel they are right.

Yet, yes, all of that is built on a patriarchal foundation. It has been used as an excuse to enslave women for millennia. But when I think of Judaism and my Jewish identity, I think of my grandmothers, my great-grandmothers, my entire matriarchal line stretching back thousands of years, of whom I'm only the most recent descendent. Being Jewish is inherently entwined with respecting and loving my foremothers. My feminism informs my connection with Judaism.

That connection is very messy and complicated, and maybe I'm a total hypocrite for considering myself a radically-aligned feminist while maintaining that connection. But I accept that contradiction because at this point, I can't untangle the religion from the culture from my need to honor my ancestors.

After typing this all out, I realized that you might be mocking me ("handmaiden behavior") instead of commenting on my identity as a Jew...but I'll post this anyway bc I spent all this time writing it.

#i think i would feel differently if my parents had raised me to be religiously jewish tbh #i might have found it damaging #but i wasn't raised like that so here i am. writing this post. perhaps one (1) person will read it #answers.txt

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mikhalsarah · 3 years

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The Converts Are Tired (well, this one is):

Reasons To Think Twice About Choosing (Liberal) Jewish Life

Most of the time when you read a popular article about a convert complaining about Judaism it will fall squarely into the genre of “Orthodox Judaism Bad”. This is because (as in most small communities) a tiny, elite, group controls the public discourse. In the case of Judaism this is mostly a cadre of wealthy, educated and firmly progressive-bubble ensconced Ashkenazi Jews who are either secular-atheist ethnic Jews of the “Jews are not a race we’re a culture” variety (Bagels and lox and the reading of Vox). This means they don’t like the religious generally and the Orthodox specifically, and love to publish any story that makes the Orthodox look bad.

Or they’re liberal Jews who believe exactly the same things as secular Jews but go to synagogue occasionally to learn how the things liberal Gentiles decided to believe only just last week are actually authentic Torah-approved tikkun olam, straight outta Sinai, so Jews really believed them first.

This last one illustrates the competitive streak in Jews that means that whatever you mention, Jews always believed it first, or had it first, or did it first, and are always much better at it than the Gentiles. In the Orthodox world there are some compensatory attitudes, a sense of awe and humility at having been chosen for the awesome spiritual responsibility of wearing the yoke of heaven, of bringing Light to the Gentiles. There is no such counterweight for the secular and the liberals often end up burying it with the counter-counterweight of pride in their “superior” politics. The result is that a lot of prominent left-leaning Jews today spend most of their time bringing Spite to the Gentiles, instead. (Here’s looking at you, Bette Midler)

That may well be the first thing you get tired of.

That competitive streak also extends to other Jews, like the Sephardim, Mizrahim, Yemeni etc etc. Whatever an Ashkenazi Jew finds to be worthwhile and admirable, you can bet that they will assert that Ashkenazi Jews did it or had it first, or are better at it, or possess that quality in greater amounts than other Jews. Orthodox Ashkenazim value piety, so of course the non-Ashkenazi Jews are never pious enough, their women never cover enough, their halakhahic understanding is deficient. Secular and liberal Jews value progress and modernity and universalism, so the non-Ashkenazi Jews are too religious and superstitious, too backwards, too parochial and clannish.

“Ashkenazi supremacy” might be the second thing you get tired of. There’s so much of it around that perhaps it’s understandable that so many Jews now find it reasonable to assume that “White Supremacy” is lurking about in the Gentile world to the same degree. (White Hegemony perhaps, but having greater numbers and wealth does not equal a widespread attitude that whites are intrinsically superior.)

In a rare instance of agreement, both the frum and frei (religious and liberal/secular) Ashkenazim find non-Ashkenazim to be Not Quite Smart Enough. As you will hear over, and over...and over... in the Ashkenazi-dominated Jewish world, Ashkenazi Jews have an average IQ of 115, the highest of any ethnic group.

That you will not only tire of, but may start to roll your eyes in exasperation at, after the umpteen-millionth time you are informed of the fact.

If, like me, your IQ has been measured quite a bit higher than that, you may even have to bite your tongue not to sarcastically ask when you can be expected to be appointed the local Pooh-Bah of Judaism due to your superior intellect, since, clearly, they’re implying that IQ scores leads to the right to dominate and rule others and tell them how to go about their business. You’ll get tired of hearing about Freud, and Marx, and famous actors, and Nobel-prize winners and when everyone is praying asking for the merit of their ancestors to accrue to them, you will sincerely hope, for the sake of their descendants, that the Jews of yore had some hardcore leanings toward humility.

You will get particularly tired, even in Orthodox synogogues, of having the Jews who left Judaism held up in admiration, even when they stabbed Judaism and Jewry in the back, like Karl Marx did. It will soon become clear that many Jews are so interested in admiring others of their race that they would rather have famous atheists like Sarah Silverman or Seth Rogen in their congregation than the most committed converts.

Now, the liberals aren’t completely wrong about the Orthodox, they can be right schmucks sometimes. One poor man, a friend of a friend, who was halakhically Jewish but not raised with any religion, decided to show up unannounced at my local Orthodox shul on the grounds that if he was going to do Jewish, he wanted to do it “right” ie Orthodox. He was asked if he was Jewish (normal at a shul), to which he answered yes, then he was asked his last name. For those who don’t know this is the butt-sniffing phase of Jewish interactions...an attempt to find out what part of the Jewish world, if any, a person descends from, how illustrious their ancestors might have been, and who they are related to that you know, in order to figure out who is above whom in the unwritten hierarchies of Jewish life. As a product of a mixed marriage, he naturally had his father’s non-Jewish last name and was told by the inquirer that the last thing the congregation needed was another “safek mamzer” (a possible bastard). The man had no idea what a safek mamzer was, thus no idea how to defend himself from such a hot mess of a take on Halakhah, but he knew he was being insulted and never returned...to any shul.

The liberal and secular Jewish conceit is that they don’t do any of those boorish and clannish things, and are “open and accepting”. Well, they do. They cloak it better, but they do. The interrogating of names is the start. Then all the questions about education and occupation. In all but the most competitive elite Gentile circles, you will rarely be asked what you do or what your level of education is, mainly because people don’t feel a driving need to know, and at churches it’s a “worldly concern” which interferes with the fellowship of believers. Even in the elite circles, there’s a sense that it will come up naturally in conversation, and that outright asking, or dropping the info like a bomb, is gauche...like asking new acquaintances about their salaries or tax returns.

Then it’s the attacks on anything that smacks too much of Orthodoxy and too little of being on trend with the elite Gentiles, like wearing kipot outside of shul or wearing tallit katan/tzitzit at all, or dressing too modestly if you’re a woman or, chas v’shalom, valuing marriage....or anything that anybody remotely religious or conservative might value.

Then the politics. Oh, you simply must want to joint my Progressive Jews Facebook group! You really need to come to this left-leaning social justice event. What? You’re not a Progressive? You’re a what? A Communitarian? (puzzlement) A conservative? (disgust) You’re not a liberal? You’re a Zionist? (ugh!) You’re not a Zionist? (horror!) You don’t think all Muslims want to kill us? (Are you insane?!) You think some Muslims do want to kill us? (Are you an Islamophobic bigot?!)

Oh yes, you will get very, very tired of the underlying assumption Jews have their their way of doing Jewish, voting, and thinking, is the only possible correct viewpoint to have.

And the intersection of that with being a convert is a fun game called Schrodinger’s Jew. Whenever you agree with another Jew politically you are, to them, a “real Jew”. Whenever you disagree with another Jew politically you are suddenly “not a real Jew anyway”. So for every Jew you meet, you’re a strange cat in a box with a question mark on it, and they’re waiting until you open your mouth to decide whether you deserve (metaphorical Jewish) death or not.

You will get so tired of this you’d want to puke, if you had the energy.

You will get tired of annoying older Jewish men flirting “harmlessly” with you, if female, or constantly ribbing you if you are male. You will get tired of Jews either completely ignoring you as a dating prospect (with liberal Jews, you’d have stood a better chance of marrying one of them if you’d stayed a Gentile) or foisting every broken misfit Jew or other convert at you, hoping to make a shidduch. I like misfits, I just like to choose the compatible ones myself and not have them awkwardly shoved at me, “This is Aaron, he’s single too. I’ll leave you two to get acquainted”, or more likely stand there red-faced and horrified, before making excuses to escape and never making eye-contact again. Ditto for your natural social contacts with the opposite sex. Some Jew, probably a Boomer man, will spot you and, eyes twinkling, make a beeline right for you to make a Big Deal out of Things and embarrass both participants into avoiding each other like the plague henceforth.

You’ll get tired of sitting alone every Shabbat and holiday, except for some reason Pesach, when everyone suddenly remembers you exist, and that they have unfilled table-places, and invites you to their home. They don’t, of course, remember that you’re trying to be Sabbath-keeping (so quaint!), and that their house is a 3 hour walk away from the synagogue you live 5 minutes from. In fact, it’s actually past city limits in the incorporated adjacent village and there are no sidewalks. Because they don’t keep those mitzvot, they think you shouldn’t bother keeping them either.

So drive on Pesach you will, because persisting stubbornly with the mitzvot makes them accuse you of thinking you’re better than them. I’ve lived long enough to realize that this is an accusation mostly lobbed by people who spend a great deal of time contemplating who is better than whom, and where they stand in a hierarchy, and can’t imagine that anyone has intrinsic reasons for doing anything. Therefore everything you do is unpacked as attempting to signal superiority and how dare you not know your proper place and try to trump me, a born Jew, or usurp my place!

You’ll get tired of envying those older married Jews who keep sabotaging your dating life, who met at a time when Jews still wanted to marry other Jews, and when liberal Judaism still wanted to help them do so. Thanks to the push to be “inclusive” of intermarried couples, you will tire of envying the Gentile spouses, too. They can’t go up on the bimah like you can, but in every other way they are far more accepted and integrated into the community than you will ever be. They will never want for a place at a Shabbat table, even though they don’t actually want it, or else they’d be a convert, wouldn’t they? Now that we all seem to be allowing all sorts of non-Jews to be synagogue members, not just the intermarried spouses, you will also get tired of wondering why the hell you bothered investing so much time, money and energy in the conversion process at all. The non-Jewish members and spouses have the right education, and the right jobs, and the right politics and you have.... a nice certificate that is worth the water you paid good money to be dunked in.

And you’ll get tired of explaining Jewish behaviour to Gentiles.

Yeah, yeah, the weird Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox stuff because all the Gentiles are watching Unorthodox and My Unorthodox Life on Netflix but that’s a curiousity that will be short-lived and they’ll all move on to the Amish, or Mormons, or the Real Housewives of ISIS or something.

It’s the everyday stuff you’ll tire of. Explaining Zionism, and non-Zionism, and anti-Zionism, and BDS, and whether and to what degree it might be Antisemitism and under what circumstances. Explaining the Israeli government’s latest idiocy even though you don’t live there and most likely never will. Explaining why Jews harp on about it being “the Jewish State” and the center of Jewish life and donate loads of money to it, and lobby their Diaspora governments to support it but still get mad when anyone intimates that they could possibly be in any way associated with or responsible for whatever idiot thing the Israeli government has just done. Explaining the never-ending dramas between different Jewish denominations going back to the Victorian Era, if not the Roman Occupation, between secular and religious Jews, between different ethnicities of Jews, and colours of Jews, and economic classes of Jews. and between Israelis and Diaspora Jews.

And explaining the clueless, classless and classist behaviour of various publicly Jewish celebrities and talking-heads. Explaining the subtle anti-Gentilism and elitism of them...sometimes the not-so-subtle kind. It is difficult to explain to Gentiles how it is that someone who hasn’t done a Jewish thing since their bar-mitzvah in 1950 can still believe that “the worst Jew is better than the best Gentile”, an actual quote, aimed at my Gentile sister-in-law, by her ex-boyfriend’s grandfather, which was the first time I heard the phrase...unfortunately not the last.

It’s also difficult to explain to the regular, non-liberal-elite Gentiles among whom I live and work why a Jewish singer born in one of the wealthiest American neighbourhoods who will never need a drop of the Build Back Better money (net worth $250 million) feels so personally betrayed by a politician on her own team, that it justifies mocking all the inhabitants of the poorest state in her country, mocking unemployment, depression and drug addiction, and mocking illiteracy rates that are actually lower than in her own state. And basically blaming them for voting Trump, thereby causing and deserving their situation, as though they haven’t been the poorest state since they joined the Union, and through most of that voted Democrat.

Oh yes, you will get very tired of running interference for the boorish and bigoted atheist Jews, as well, and their smug attacks on Christianity and the Christians who today overwhelming support Jews and Israel. Which extends even to wanting to mock and desecrate and otherwise gleefully ruin Christmas for those who are merely nominally or culturally Christian. And who not only stir up actual pre-existing antisemites, they leave such a bad aftertaste in the mouth of every ordinary Gentile in their orbit, that they overwhelm all the cultural goodwill toward Jews that took decades to build. The privileged secular and atheist and liberal Jews have platforms such that their every flippant temper-tantrum tweets gets far more press than any number of Jews delivering Christmas gifts to first responders or Xmas care packages to poor, sick or elderly Christians .

If you’re working-class yourself you’ll get tired of the subtle awkwardness, exclusion and put-downs that are personal. As in, aimed at you personally. And being treated as much like an exciting curiosity as the ex-ultra-Orthodox are. You are an amusing and flattering but lesser imitation of Jewishness, like the Chimp’s Tea Party at the Zoo. Aren’t you sooo cute all dressed up in your kippah and tallit, tapping away with the yad up on the bimah just like a real Jew!

And the Wokeness... a word which I only use because I am so old and decrepit and out of touch with the youth of today... and also because calling it Critical Social Justice evokes puzzlement from the same people who hate you calling it by the very word they themselves called it until sometime last week, being “Woke”. Even before Wokeness hit, the Conservative Seminary was churning out 20 times as many “activist Rabbis” as ones actually interested in Halakhah and scholarship. Apparently intellectual pursuits just weren’t compelling to the young...yet Orthodox youth who go into the Rabbinate don’t seem to find Talmudic study dry, boring and irrelevant. Hmmm....

Well, maybe I’m wrong about Progressivism and Wokeness, anyway. Maybe if you’re a smugly self-hating elite liberal white person, you will really like joining a synagogue full of smugly self-hating elite liberal Jews who aspire to nothing more than to be smugly self-hating elite white people. Personally I think it’s a lot of work just to come full-circle, but knock yourself out.

You might like being handed a copy of White Fragility on Shabbat. I mean, what convert who has already been treated to the subtle anti-Gentile bigotry, and the anti-convert bigotry, and the classism, already been automatically assumed to be dumber than the average Ashkenazi Jew, worse that the worse Jew, and had a little Rashi quoted at them to remind them that they are a ‘sore’ troubling the pure Jewish people, doesn’t also like to get a little second-hand Black-power bigotry directed at them at shul telling them they’re a “white devil” who needs to be “less white”. If I enjoyed that I’d have tried to join the Nation of Islam or the Black Hebrew Israelites, instead. And how the fuck do I be less of something that is an immutable characteristic involving my dermis? You are conflating race with culture. If being punctual were a racial trait linked to European melanin levels every participant at an Irish or Ashkenazi event would be there on time, which I can tell you as a frequent flyer at shuls and Irish language or music events is laughable, and every Japanese event would start late and UK newspapers would not muse about the excessive Japanese devotion to precise train departure times.

And what convert, sitting amongst Woke Jews, doesn’t feel warmed in the cockles of their heart to hear that “people should stay in their racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic and religious lanes”? I mean, it’s not like conversion is a MASSIVE life-changing lane change involving peoplehood, religion, language and culture or anything, is it? What’s to be offended by?

Who knows, you might kvell with pleasure when your hyper-Zionist straight-pretending-to-be-Queer Rabbi-couple harangue you, a lesbian, gay or bisexual, and the whole congregation about 2SLGBTQQIAA+*$#!!!! issues, or post up on Facebook about your country “sweeping Indigenous genocide under the rug” on Canada Day, incidentally the same day that Israel had planned to annex the West Bank, which said Rabbis didn’t condemn. You know, that Indigenous genocide that was swept so far under the rug that our Prime Minister apologizes for it publicly at least once a month and for which we just had the flag at half-mast for four months, making it rather convenient that Prince Phillip, the husband of our Head of State, opted to kick the bucket several months beforehand or we’d possibly have had to bury the flag in a shallow grave, which I’m sure the Rabbis would have applauded as appropriate, and Trudeau would’ve made a moving speech about. Of course it’s all performative; his government drags out Indigenous land claims through the courts and has done nothing about housing, clean water or the continuing fallout from the Mercury-poisoning at Grassy Narrows, but if you’re Woke yourself you already know that it’s all virtue-signaling bosh and you’re ok with that.

It’s not about doing better, it’s about pointing out how others are doing worse. It’s my Plymouth Brethren auntie hitting someone’s car in a parking lot and slinking away to park elsewhere because nobody saw her, but saying Grace at the top of her lungs in a fish and chips shop and exclaiming, “Praise the Lord” every five minutes, as though the Lord somehow doesn’t have the precise measure of people like her, whose lips praise Him but whose hearts might as well have been shot into space with the Voyager 1 probe.

Speaking of hyposcrisy while circling back to the topic, apparently liberal Judaism is no longer abiding by, “ Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile. Pray to the Lord for it, because if it prospers, you too will prosper. “ Instead they are publicly attacking and condemning the countries they live in, and calling for them to be “dismantled”. And when the citizens who don’t have another country waiting for them with open arms point to this lack of loyalty with disgust, these same Woke Jews will be quick to scream, “Antisemitism! That’s the canard of the rootless cosmopolitan Jew with no loyalty to Diaspore countries!”

No mate, a canard is “an unfounded rumour or story”. When you post it up on your public Facebook feed It’s not a canard, it’s a fact.

You might not even mind when your Rabbi tanks the entire shul and the building goes up for sale and you have nowhere to pray. Because who needs a synagogue? You can recite the collected works of Ibram X. Kendi as a congregation anywhere, if that’s your Torah.

You’ll get tired of hypocrisy. Tired of rising antisemitism at both ends of the political spectrum, and tired of making excuses to rightly-offended white, Christian Gentiles, and rightly-offended Black and Brown Gentiles (and Jews) that white and Jewish Wokism infantilizes and subjects to the soft-bigotry of low expectations, or whose religion we insult in our haste to show the goyishe Elites how cool we are by dissing Christianity and Jesus.

Because guess what? Lots of Black and Brown people in North America, Europe and the Middle-East are Christians. There’s even some in Asia. And a lot of the ones who aren’t are Muslims who consider Jesus an honored Prophet. Christianity is growing rapidly in Africa, and by 2025 there may be some 760 million believers there...and not the wishy-washy liberal sort, either. The great white and Ashkenazi-Jewish Progressive Elite sport of dunking on Jesus and Christianity/Christians, smugly calling them backwards, and superstitious primitives, is going to become racially problematic with astonishing rapidity. One might even say that it will soon be A Very Bad Look.

But indeed, the entire point of conspicuous Wokeness is not to actually be less racist, but to deflect criticism on to others who “aren’t doing the work” (ie saying their approved lines) in the hopes that nobody will notice that you aren’t actually doing any work either. Imagine thinking that when you put up a Black Lives Matter square on your synagogue website people will forget that three years ago the Black French teacher you hired for your day school quit in outrage, after students called him a word which, were I to actually write it out, my writing it even in passing would generate more Jewish outrage than the students who actually wielded it aggressively in the first place. Imagine thinking I will forget you whispering in my ear that the Moroccan Sephardi cantor and the Bene Israel Torah-reader and their families were “taking over the shul my grandfather built”. Nobody will forget the hypocrisy, especially when it goes viral on Twitter. The chickens, and the tweets, will come home to roost eventually.

It’s one thing to be killed for practicing your religion, or because some liberal Jews helped Syrian refugees. I’d be honored to die for a good cause. Not happy about it mind, but honored. Even dying because the Rothschild’s were super rich, and some moron thinks they still rule the world is merely boring. It’s quite another to think you might one day be murdered because Israel decided to annex the West Bank or invade Gaza, again or drop a bomb on Iran because they volunteered to get roped into another religion’s sectarian proxy-war. Or because another Seth Rogen decided to gleefully poke the bear, and attack Christmas, white people and old men (you know, like my Dad, an old, white Christian) with another abysmally unfunny movie in the genre “White People Bad”, something assured to rile up not just actual white supremacists (for god’s sakes let sleeping bears stay sleeping as much as possible until they die off), but also apt to annoy and offend all sorts of ordinary people (even the Muslims were offended) that he can then cite as proof that white supremacy is everywhere and he is some sort of Jewish St George, out bravely slaying it. In short, that you’re now most likely to be murdered as a Jew because some other Jews decided to be drama-stirring douchebags in as public a way as humanly possible. Or because another Rabbi decided that since you can be anything you want online, he should be an Antisemitic Canard.

And it’s no way to behave. Punching down at the lower classes, the rural, the less educated, ingratitude towards those who’ve supported us, and Israel, making classist, racist, sexist anti-immigrant remarks at people who don’t share your politics, including belittling the opioid epidemic, an utter lack of empathy or forgiveness. This is not just elitism, it’s a chillul haShem (a desecration of God’s name). It makes Judaism, Jews and God look bad. I’d try to help God out here, but for some reason God has seen fit to give the Jews making Him look like a schmuck more money and bigger platforms in this world.

So this will be my final post on the blog I originally began to document my Jewish life. And it’s not a critique for the liberal secular Jews, who of course are oh so clever Ashkenazim, and could not possibly be on the wrong side of history here. They are about as likely to learn from a critique as the U.S. Democratic party, which is to say, not until they lose everything. They don’t want to hear a bad word about themselves. They only want to hear all the good things that drew converts in, not about the things that alienated and drove us away. The endless gaping hole in the soul of liberal Ashkenazi Jews that always needs to be filled with praise and adulation and goyishe acceptance. That’s why they love interviewing converts and writing books about us. We exist not to serve God alongside them, but to be served to the gnawing pit of collective bad self-esteem. We’re their narcissistic supply. We’re like an Oscar given to Sally Field, proof that they are loved.

This is a warning for other (potential) converts, because if you’re anything like me, and were drawn in by love of God, you will not be happy in Liberal Judaism long. You will regret other paths you could’ve taken, whether to Orthodoxy, or to other religions that would’ve served you better in serving God.

The thing you will end up most tired of is getting dragged further from God.

Since I’m officially resigning the Jewishness that Jews who disagree with me tell me I never had anyway, Merry Christmas.

Postscript: I decided to add an addendum to this, as I missed a rather crucial point: In this current climate of antagonism from Gentiles on both political sides exacerbated by the big mouths of Jews on each political side who are too busy virtue signaling and scoring political brownie points with “their side” to forget that all Jews are supposed to be ultimately on the same side, you’ll be exhausted worrying about the Jews you care about. Especially the ones who are visibly Jewish.

That might be because they are Orthodox or otherwise intentionally dress Jewishly, wear identifying jewelry, have bumper stickers on their car, or mezuzot on their front doors...or it might be because they are like my best friend, who my Dad referred to as “the single most Jewish-looking person I’ve ever met in my life”....which is neither here nor there for my Dad, who’s merely stating a fact, but is definitely here or there for others who I’d rather didn’t notice. Maybe with the beard we could pass him off as a Syriac Orthodox priest but that’s about it. I don’t think even a kilt, a Guiness t-shirt and a MAGA hat would cut it.

Unfortunately that’s the one worry that I won’t be able to lose along with my religion, because I’m keeping the token Jewish friend.

#Judaism #liberal judaism #conversion #wokeness #seth rogen #santa inc #bette midler #tired of this shit #merry christmas

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bijoumikhawal · 3 years

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I was hoping you might be able to give advice on this? There's this story I've been writing for a while, and I just... decided that the protagonist should be Jewish. Problem is, I'm not. I can't shake the feeling that I'm gonna screw this up no matter how hard I try, and I've been thinking of jettisoning the whole idea and just sticking to what I know. Do I have the right instinct here, or do you think It'd be acceptable if I were to push ahead?

As a general rule, with enough research and respect, anyone can write about anything enough to include it in a story. There are some exceptions (for example, it's weird to write stories that are in depth explorations of a real world culture you aren't apart of, there are communities that don't want to be written about by outsiders, there are experiences that can't be researched and only experienced directly, etc), but there's no reason for gentiles not to write Jewish characters.

There are both writing advice blogs that answer queries for free (@writingwithcolor does this mostly for POC but fields questions about Jewish representation too) and sensitivity readers that can be hired to go over stories and plots. I'm neither, and while I don't want to admonish you, I'm not the best person to go to with a question like this.

You're light on information here but in addition to the pointers on where to ask these questions and get the best guidance, I ask what makes you feel strongly that the character should be Jewish? There's a lot of reasons that can be (including just because), but figuring that out might help you realize wether you're going into writing a Jewish protagonist from a place of good intention or not. Is it their personality? Their morals/ethics? Further, which aspects more specifically are evoking that feeling? Obviously one who feels a character should be Jewish because they possess underhanded traits, a love of money, etc, would usually be coming from a bad place and needs to take a step back. If one on the other hand, feels a character is Jewish because they've read about Jewish concepts like Tikkun Olam or Tzedekah and they align with that characters worldview, they're usually coming from a good place and the main concern I'd have is to not write in depth about aspects of Jewish life that are more strongly closed to outsiders, like Kabbalah.

It's also perfectly fine to have a character to be Jewish just because of vibes, and build Judaism more strongly into the character as one goes. And even with all this said, not every Jewish protagonist is particularly blatant (at least, to many gentile readers) about being Jewish. There are still people who think Spiderman isn't Jewish, because his main expressions of Judaism are through things like sometimes using Yiddish and making references to Jewish holidays. These still make him Obviously Jewish if you have any sense whatsoever (as does his personal idea of responsibility and guilt), but they're not indepth explorations of Jewish culture or religion. You don't have to tread into Serious territory to write a character that's obviously from a specific community.

#cipher talk #i hope this doesnt come off as pissy or w/e #but also going up to random people from a community for writing advice when they dont do writing advice isnt good form #and its better to be specific about why youre worried youll fuck up other than not sharing identity

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handypolymath · 4 years

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Sometimes I think the best thing GenX has to offer GenZ is the perspective that tikkun olam is real thing. Yeah, shit is dark, it's been getting worse our whole lives, but we've also witnessed that kicking against the darkness eventually yields some light.

Weary, cynical as fuck, hope dangling like a latch key from our neck.

#generations are marketing categories #slacker elders #there's your fucking irony kids

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mameleh-life · 5 years

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Girl Power: How my daughter taught me what's important in life

In the light of the recent global crisis I find that the most laughs I get are from watching my Layla and her spunkiness and her ability to just laugh and smile in any situation and fot lack if a better descriptive term 🙈her happiness is contagious.

Her silly expressions, her adorable reactions to things [today she picked up a toy and said "oh my goodness I need this in my life!"] Her ability to smile and laugh and be a source of light no matter what's happening. And her ability to just greet everyone she meets with a warmth and a smile it made me a better mother and a happier person in general.

I've become something of a hippie in mindset I've seen alot in a short time and some of it not so wonderful stuff but I just know its stuff I had to go through to grow as a person and maybe one day help single mothers who went through stuff like I did. And I just want to put good stuff in the world and try to in some small way help with tikkun olam because I really believe it is in our hands to spark kedusha in this world. And every person we make smile and every heart we warm, and every person who's day we turn around with kindness that's us making an effort towards tikkun olam.

Layla taught me this with her carefree spirit and her adorableness and her acceptance of everyone with the same warmth and I hope one day I could take what this little girl teaches me and use it for good us mamas learn from our kids so much and they make us better people and they give us clarity in what's important in life and my little girl taught me #girlpower is probably the most important thing in my life and shes on the top of my long list of girls who inspire me daily. Even in these insane times we can make a difference even in these crazy messed up times we can help give back and spark some kedusha in the world and that's the beauty of sisterhood and girlpower that the power of friendship especially sistas helpin other sistas can help turn someones whole life around and if you save one life you save a world.

#motherhood #momblogger

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joshiesjourney · 5 years

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An Open Letter to God

I was mad at you, you know. I was mad because I was praying to you for answers but you gave me none. They gave me none. None other than that essentially, they think my suffering is not caused by my body. That it’s from my mind. They lie, saying it can be cured, but I know that this kind of illness is not only not curable. Its success of treatment is incredibly slim. If they are even correct in their ideas.

Sadly they think they know the answer. So they stop thinking and looking. They see every new element as just fitting with their diagnosis of insanity. So I am alone now, in a surrounding that won’t believe me, even when things escalate and land me in emergency care. So I will stop caring now, stop hoping for answers. I was mad with you because I was desperate to know if my suffering meant I was in danger. If it was going to keep spreading. If I could loose my life to this suffering. But the doors to the answers have closed for me and I am left with no choice but to hope they are right. If they are right, there is no danger. If they are wrong, I won’t know until it’s too late.

I was mad at you. Not because you inflicted the suffering but childishly because I was hoping that the words we pray could come true. That you can ease the illness of the sick. For me, easing my mind with answers would have been a miracle. But that easement did not come. Things are still getting worse. And I have given up.

I was mad at you for bringing me to the point of giving up. Everyone always asks “why me?” and I try not to ask that question. There is no answer. And even if there were one, it would not change anything, I would not get better from knowing why I was made to suffer. I would not grow closer to you or further, I would stay the same. There is no answer and I do not want one.

I am more curious for how much more I can take. When I think I have reached the limit I always find more strength inside me to push through. To pray when the touch of my clothes on my skin sets me ablaze. To go to class when my hand is locked in spasms. To stubbornly keep walking when my hip is subluxed. I have no other choice. As my body finds new meaning in the number 10 on the scale, as the lanyard gets pushed further and further, I can do nothing other than follow it. And while I didn’t know where I got that strength from, I think now that I get it from you.

I was mad at you because I thought I wasn’t heard. But now I feel like this is how you are replying. Not in easement. But in strength.

You know my heart. You know my wish to be your student, to be part of your people, you know how it encompasses me and frames my decisions. I follow the laws of food that you gave us, as much as I reasonably can afford. I sew and collect the items that form your day to day worship. I hide my eyes in prayer and from the light of the shabbat flames. But these things are only the ritual and visual.

For you I have changed the way I see the world. I have adapted a much kinder take on human kind. I have re-assessed the worth of life. I have a deeper appreciation for the value of existence in and of itself. I have started regular donation to charity and carry change in my pockets. I am zealous to share my knowledge and learn new crafts so I can give back to people and the world. You have made my life richer just be being part of it, by being in my routine. In eternal struggle with your Torah, I am learning your words and binding them to my hand and forehead to fight and question every one of them. You are worth this struggle.

The suffering makes it harder for me to do these things. But I choose to believe that you are letting me feel just a tiny reward by giving me the strength I need. I am going to teach a girl to swim in two weeks, fulfilling her biggest dream. I teach first aid classes for a meager wage, because it might save a life. I thank the bus driver every time I can. I listen when my roommate is upset about school. These things, to me, are deeply religious acts. Even if on the outside they look ordinary. Many people do these things and they need no reason for it. I do not need a reason for it, I do not believe that there is a reward in an afterlife for good deeds in this one.

Tikkun Olam. Bettering the world. That is a reward in itself. God, thank you for giving me just enough strength to do these things.

But where does this leave us?

I was mad at you. I am still a little bit, but less. The realisation of the deep, intense trauma caused by the medical mishandling of my case is helping me to grow closer to you again. My anger is not just for you. It is born out of anxiety from this mishandling. I hope you will understand my feelings. I hope you accept my apologies.

I have given up finding a reason for my suffering. As long as it is not dangerous, I just cannot find it within myself to care. In about a month I pray I will be back on pain medicine, mitigating the suffering just enough to push through. But if I cannot get it, I will continue to push through the suffering until the end.

You know where that end is, God, but I do not.

I am in your hands. I place my trust in you. I fear you as much as I love you.

As long as I am in this strange in between, a place with no proper name. A goyim, a non jew, but also becoming one. Someone who prays to you like a jew, who tries to live like a jew, who is naturalising into the jewish people. I hope that I can endure through this in between and push until that all changing dip. Once, be’ezrat hashem, I emerge from the waters... My suffering won’t be over but the strength you have given me will find a blessed conclusion as a new chapter begins. A new struggle. But not alone. There is no reason why I shouldn’t reach this point, as I have your strength with me and there should be no danger to my life.

This is a letter to you, a prayer. A request for your help and guidance. An apology. The pain I suffer is something I can and will endure. With or without answers, with or without assistance. I will endure it until the end, with your help.

- a conversion student

#jumblr #conversion #chronic pain #prayer #judaism

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dukeofriven · 5 years

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swoodthis replied to your post “Okay, I’ve looked into the Young Wizards series and... I have...”

Something else that concerned me was the overwhelming vibe of hopelessness. Nothing you do matters. All efforts are ultimately in vain. I get the idea of dark themes and never truly being able to rest on your laurels but... yikes. I already have depression and anxiety...

I mean I also have depression and anxiety but I would never say the theme of the work is hopelessness. The universe is running out of energy - that’s not a hopeless position but a statement of fact. Young Wizard takes that as a call to action: if we do not then have infinite time in which to solve all our problems then it is our moral imperative to do everything in our power now to make the world a better place. Young Wizard is not an explicitly religious work - unlike, say, the Chronicles of Narnia - but it is a world with an afterlife, and the knowledge that if you manage to slow down entropy even by a second though the things you do, then that’s one more second that the universe has to continue, one more second in which the chance to slow it down two more seconds might arise - then four, and eight, and sixteen, and on and on. That entropy is running, that the universe has an end-point, is only a certainty in the now - which wizards must never forget - but the fact that that end is a certain now is no guarantee that it will be a certainty tomorrow. There is a concept in Judaism - tikkun olam. There is a flaw in the world, and it is our duty as moral beings to repair it through our words and acts and deeds, and just because we may not live to see the world repaired is no reason to not aid its repair with the time we are given. Young Wizards takes this concept and expounds upon it, giving wizards greater power with their words and deeds and the average mortal, and with greater knowledge too of the good they do. I don’t think you could read the series and walk away thinking that any effort had been wasted. I really don’t know how to be more clear about it: this is not a series about nihilism, it doesn’t not contain nihilism, it has nothing but contempt for nihilism in all its forms. Sure, sad things happen in the series - people die, some battles are lost, not ever day contains a victory - but it makes the triumphs when they do happen all the sweeter (and... y’know... not boring as literature.) Book 2 does contains scenes of hopeless feelings - because a character didn’t read the fine print of a contract before they signed it and now are facing their own mortality rather sooner than they’d ever hoped-to - but it is also a meditation on the nature of sacrifice: what does it mean to give something up to achieve a greater good, are there gradations of sacrifice - to do something begrudgingly, with acceptance, and with joy. Just because our choices are good and virtuous does not make them easy, but that they are hard is equally no reason not to do them. If you’re worried these books are nihilistic or bleak or gloomy or - no. Not, they’re not. They’re just not. Sometimes they’re sad. Sometimes there is grief. Sometimes there is lots of grief. Sometimes you’re on the mountain and the ring in on your next and you fall in the dust knowing that this is it, that you can do no more - but before despair can take you there’s your friend at your site, lifting you onto their back and helping you get the rest of the way, because above the brooding mass of volcanic clouds there is still star light: still good, still friendship, still hope. These books aren’t hopeless. No. They’re not. That’s wrong. That’s a wrong interpretation. Fundamentally incorrect. Not in keeping with the series’ mission statement. Uh-uh. Nope. Nopearino. Nada. Other no words.

#diane duane #young wizard #tikkun olam

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lobashamayimhi · 5 years

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@daddysinc, here are acrostic poems in response to your prompt words! I know there was a slow turnaround, but I hope you like them :) thanks for the prompts.

“tikkun olam”

take my hand and squeeze, ink in promises to knit and mend with loving kindness all the undone places, nations, and hearts on god’s earth, our luscious earth. say amein v’amein and start to mend it now – tomorrow beckons.

“shalom”

should this be the easiest, or the hardest? peace and light, are these all the way down in our bones, or looped in the heavens far out of reach? what we need most can be hardest to grow and accept.

“dayenu”

diaspora voices sing it clearly, still – it was all enough, each miracle was enough. yesterday I cried for am yisrael – it should have been enough, was it not enough? if we had never cried dayenu, would Adonai have given unto us fifteen more miracles, ten more plagues?

#spilled ink #my poetry #my writing #jewish poetry #acrostic poetry

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bearsinpotatosacks · 6 years

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Newsies Ship Headcanons

I’ve decided to try and do at least one headcanon for all of my ships in Newsies- I know I’m doing a lot of Newsies stuff but my mind’s on a roll with this fandom! Yet again check out @crystallizedtwilight as some of these are inspired by her’s and also her account has helped me a lot.

JackCrutchie-

•Jack is surprisingly excellent at ballroom dancing, he especially loves teaching the other Newsies how to dance

•Crutchie often dances with Jack despite his bad leg, he stands on top his (Jack’s) feet as he leads

• They can’t do many of the quicker styles like the Quickstep but they become excellent at the waltz and are starting to get good at the viennese waltz

• They tried to do some quicker styles but this ended with Jack carrying a hovering Crutchie around the room

Sprace-

• After the Strike, Race still sneaks out to see Spot despite everyone knowing about their relationship

• He sneaks out after everyone has gone to sleep and “blending into the wall” whilst singing his theme song like Kronk in The Emperor’s New Groove

• What he doesn’t know is that Jack ALWAYS hears him come back in early in the morning

• This all leads up to one morning when Race comes in and Jack turns on the lamp next to him, revealing him to be sitting in an armchair with his arms crossed- it ends up going like this

Jack (like the angry mother hen he is): Where’ve ya been Racetrack?

Race: Nowhere...

Jack (more impatient): You’ve been gone a long time for bein’ nowhere...

Race: Alright, alright, I was in the Brooklyn Penthouse with Spot

Jack (shuffling in his seat): I’d expect you to lie to me Racetrack Higgins but how could you lie to THEM?!

*Newsies suddenly appear from the darkness lighting their faces with candles*

Race: Wha? Where did they come from?

Race: *collapses from his spot on the wall*

•This teaches Race to not sneak out in later life

Redfinch-

• Cause of Albert’s red hair and the fact that it’s the 19th Century, I like to think that maybe Albert’s parents are Irish Immigrants (cause you know the Irish Potato Famine)

• So his parents brought over some customs such as Catholicism (but he isn’t devoted because it’s not cool), traditional dancing (his family only did this when drunk on special occasions), being told myths and legends etc

• But most importantly his parents bring over Gaelic Football and Normal Football (Soccer) which he is taught by his older brothers, this is especially popular amongst Newsies as a means to relax

• Finch is spectacular at scoring goals (by means of kicking or throwing a ball over the net scoring 3 points or over the crossbar to score 1 point) because of his name- he got his nickname for a reason peoples

• Crutchie acts as referee and they actually buy him a whistle (which he soon abuses his power over having one)

• One day they’re playing (it says there are 15 to a team) with Albert and Finch on a team and Finch scores the winning goal with about a minute left

• Elmer counts up the score inside and Albert gets so happy that he throws his cap in the air and aggressively kisses Finch while lifting him in the air

• This gets a fair few whistles from the crowd watching them and they promptly disappear into the dorm rooms for an hour

Belmerttons-

• Maybe Elmer’s selling spot is Grand Central Station cause it’s a busy spot for people who want something to read on the train or if some people wanna catch up on the news when they arrive

• But because Elmer has a large family, he doesn’t really stay there often- he usually stays at the lodging house or at Buttons’ place in his cupboard room

• However, since Elmer is the youngest of a large family he may feel like he shouldn’t bother the other Newsies with his problems

• This leads to him finding a coping method which, for him, is being a stowaway on Trains in the Station

• For an entire week he isn’t seen at Buttons’ place or at the lodging house, giving the excuse that he’s staying with his family

• But gradually he stops selling his unsold papes and just stops faking where he’s going and stays at Grand Central Station

• This leads Buttons to investigate one morning by going to Elmer’s selling spot only to find him being dragged out by his ear by a guard

• Buttons catches him saying, “And if I catch you on one of these trains again, you better have a ticket or I’ll get you arrested!” And he throws him down the stairs

• Elmer stands up and dusts himself off before noticing him and walking with Buttons

• They stay in silence for a while before Buttons asks what happened, Elmer explains that whenever he’s feeling down he picks a trains and rides it all night, usually without a ticket (he hides in the luggage and goes from carriage to carriage)

• He looks exhausted and hungry from not having a decent kip (sleep) or meal for almost a week

• After selling for the day (7-4/5), Buttons drags Elmer to his place (because he swapped selling spots with another Newsie) where he gives him a hot meal, a wonderful night’s sleep and a non-Newsie family who cares

• It really brings them together as a couple knowing that they get truly worried for each other

Blush-

• I headcanon that they have most Sundays off due to a lot of people being religious (heavily Christian in America at least at that time) and here in Britain literally nothing was open on a Sunday even if you were an Atheist

• So on Sundays Mush and Kid Blink go for a picnic, sometimes at Central Park, other times at the Docks

• They always manage to go even if they’ve had the worst, busiest week, they’ve never missed a Sunday since they got together

• Even though it’s illegal to be gay, both of them see it as a date and try to make it a decent break from the intense week they have

• If they’re available, they make sure to get some strawberries and try to catch them in each other’s mouths

BillDarcy-

• Despite they’re positive, pastel suits, they’re both massive fans of Gothic Fiction books

• Usually they’re are well illustrated and they’re also printed well, and of course the stories are dark and dramatic too

• From Frankenstein to The Picture of Dorian Gray, they’ve read them all and their bookcase is kept with total precision

• It all started when Bill found a copy of Frankenstein on his Dad’s desk, he read it within a week to his parents’ dismay

• That copy now sits front and centre on their spotless bookcase

And Davey for good measure-

• One day when Les and him are selling a stray dog shows up, Davey tries to make it go away but after a while (and plenty of Les’ puppy eyes) he decides to take it to the penthouse after he’s finished selling

• For his Tikkun Olam (repair the world cause he’s Jewish) he feeds up the dog since it was skin and bones, gives it a good wash in the Tub and, with the Newsies help, he gives it a name- Cowboy

• They decided this after it managed to grab the handkerchief that Jack keeps hidden on his at all times

• He becomes a kind of therapy dog for the Newsies and seems to know when one of them is feeling off because he hangs around them all day

• Whoever he hangs around somehow sells more papes that day I wonder why

I think that’s all for now, hope you had fun for now!

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