#yidposting

[corvidcrybaby]

As a non-Israeli Jew whenever I listen to compilations of Jewish music or Jewish beats, especially in Hebrew, I always get this terrible paranoia that my out-of-the-loop ass is listening to what is considered the worst fucking artists Israel has to offer and if I mention it to someone they'll immediately cringe and go "oh honey lemme help you"

[saltineofswing]

Y’all cannot imagine how thrilled I am to have this bad boy in hand, courtesy @iliothermia, these kippot I bought (I got a real one too because, of course) are so gorgeous and I am so excited to wear them out.

[fulane-de-tal]

poppy seed hamantashen

[fulane-de-tal]

okay!

Ladino21- video resource for learning Ladino, created by members of:

Ladinokomunita- largest international community forum of Ladino speakers and learners. often has music, poetry, stories, and information on various dialects

Françoise Atlan, Aman Aman, Joaquín Díaz - trad sephardi music (tends to fall into the folk category)

Ana Alcaide- also music, more in the folk rock category. makes modern sefardi music. think of… sephardi mecano

hadass pal-yarden, mor karbasi, al andaluz project - again, music, but a different genre

Rosa Nissan- author, writes books on her own experiences growing up

sefardiweb (linked below)- resource of ladino literature

Aki Yerushalayim- newspaper/magazine in Ladino (highly recommend! they’re the people who standardized Ladino transliteration)

claudia roden- food!

it’s a little harder to get such a comprehensive list of resources as the above ashkenazi one, but i tried my best!

being a jew studying preholocaust european jewish history is just *mourns over what could have been, mourns over what could have been, mourns over what could have been, mourns over what could have been, mourns-*

[dikleyt]

I don’t mean to be political but שלום־עליכם, וואָס מאַכט איר?

[fulane-de-tal]

various drawings of judaica from a beautiful museum i went to

[ID: a very crowded drawing. there are items and symbols drawn, with shapes filling in the spaces between the items. vertically down the right edge of the drawing read the words “hold my yod.” next to that, to the left, is the decorative cap for a Torah scroll. it is octagonal with cut details, tassels, and a star of david on top. next to that, to the left, are a pair of hands underneath a crown. The hands are forming the shape of the hebrew letter shin, the hand shape used for priestly blessings in Judaism. Behind the hands and crown is a detail from a menorah. It beard plantlike curled designs. almost directly underneath the hands, but slightly to the left, is the word “pesach” written in a stylized manner. next to that is a floral detail from another menorah. above that is a study of a flower design. it’s a daisy spreading out its leaves. above the daisy is a “house ring,” a ring that bears a small figure of a house in place of a gemstone. it’s inscribed with hebrew letters that i definitely transcribed badly on this drawing because i don’t speak hebrew and i could barely see. Next to the house ring is an oil chanukiah. the top part is triangular and decorated with a design of arches and a rosette- like shape. underneath that is decorative lettering in hebrew, focusing heavily on the letter lamed because it has the best shape ever. under this is yet another menorah. this one is an oil menorah, and decorated with a tiered design. under this is a vaguely solar embroidery detail from a tapestry. next to that, in a small circle, are the priestly blessing hands yet again. the page has a top border of little stars of david. end ID]

[fulane-de-tal]

i need to go to synagogue. i am relying entirely on my homeboy the rabbi for emotional support rn

[saltineofswing]

Maybe Tumblr will like this little thought on the nature of divinity that I have been chewing on for a couple years now. In the interest of preparing expectations, I am Jewish, and I feel like this fundamentally facilitates my outlook, but if you can also derive peace, understanding, enjoyment from this without that viewpoint, great!

I don’t typically like to speculate on what God is. I think it’s a moot point for me, personally, to form a coherent and consistent opinion of… what is God? A dude? A lady? Somewhere between, beyond, or transient? I tend to believe somewhere more in the realm of ‘beyond comprehension of mortal form’. The governing* force of the universe and the entity that forms the backbone of my cultural and religious beliefs simply Is, capital ‘I’. God will be what God will be, as they say, it always kinda struck me as Moses going “What are you?” And the response being simply “Yes”.

Much more interesting for me to explore is what God can do.

What is it about the nature of divinity that makes it different? What makes divinity so special? I think that beyond the typical displays of power that are usually remarked upon, there is an aspect of godliness that I am drawn to think about a lot whenever I am thinking about, and therefore in my own way talking to, God and our relationship to each other and the world. To me, one of the most interesting features of divinity is the ways in which God is defiant. God possesses the power to defy. Not in the sense of resistance or challenge of authority, but in the abstract. For example: consider Moses and the burning bush. As a method of demonstrating to Moses that yes, he is talking to the real deal, God speaks through a bush that is on fire, but the bush is not consumed by the flames. Aflame, but does not burn. In this way God defies… the laws of physics, expectation, common wisdom, ‘the rules’, whatever you want to call it. God in this way performs defiance, fundamentally ignores the way the world works in order to make two things simultaneously true that otherwise could not be. It boils down, roughly, to ‘A thing you do understand’ and ‘A thing you don’t understand’. It is true that you understand what is going on, the bush is burning. It is also true that you do not understand what is going on, because otherwise, you’d know how the bush is burning without being consumed.

How is this applicable to you or me? Well, in very small ways, ways that do not involve the ability to do literal magic (as far as I can tell! Did anybody get the pencil to move and didn’t clue me in?), in intimate ways and unknowable ways, I believe that God is in everything and everyone, oneness, inseverable. We are all some part or connected to some part, however small, of God. We are also always striving to understand God, because God is beyond us, God is inseverable and God is oneness – we are unique individuals, therefore severable and separate, therefore not God. Both can be true. In this way God is defiant. In this way, we can choose to recognize defiance. It’s not necessarily about performing defiance, but I think you could if you wanted to, in a way that matters to yourself and nobody else, which might be the most important way to do anything. Two things are simultaneously true that otherwise could not be – a state of defiance – can be the recognition of simultaneity in a thing which you previously saw from only one side. Sometimes, things can be wide but shallow. Sometimes, things can be narrow but deep. Sometimes, the obvious answer is not the only answer. Sometimes, a question is asking you more than one thing. Once you conceive of two things as simultaneously true**, your perspective is widened, and you become a little closer to God***. How can you become closer to that which you already are, or is already in you? Well, my friend, would you be surprised if I told you that Both Is True?

And, I mean, not to mention – it is, as ever, the responsibility of the individual to utilize this divine gift in ways that don’t suck. Leave things better than you found them, which sometimes does include leaving no footprint at all one way or another. Acknowledgement of a truth and actualization of a truth are two different things, possibilities and options don’t always require implementation. I know what I COULD do, but what am I GOING to do. I know of multiple simultaneously true answers I COULD give, but what/which is/are the answer(s) I am GOING to give. My ma has a Golden Rule that is and always will be relevant to the general Jewish worldview: Don’t be a dick. This is relevant to the discussion because it recognizes the importance of action over thought. Recognizing multiple options is not simultaneity, and it is therefore not defiant – unless, sigh, one of those options was previously something you would have considered impossible but now is within your scope of function, in which case it IS defiant, and this is why there are no absolutes****.

SO, what does this mean for my day-to-day, how do I utilize this theory of ‘Defiance’ practically in my life? I relate it to perspective. If I can wrap my mind around the simultaneity of truths, I can wrap my mind around being OK with not understanding, and then I can try to figure out if I can understand any piece of it. Can I encounter a problem or a situation and ask myself, “What are you?”, and be OK when the first available answer is “Yes?” How many steps of understanding can I achieve? How broad is the scope of my vision? Is my perspective on a thing helpful to a person who sees it differently than me? It’s going to be different every day.

Maybe God doesn’t tie into this at all, and this is just a philosophical concept that I am attaching to a framework of theology in order to conceptualize the unknowable, and that brings me peace, and that is enough. Maybe this idea would never have come about if I hadn’t been questioning the concept of God and trying to figure out how I relate to that concept.

Why not Both?

(*Insofar as I believe God ‘governs’ anything, mind you, which is probably a whole ‘nother post to be made at 3 AM)

(**and here we wink and nod at the concept of ‘truth’ in a philosophical, ethical, moral, or determinable sense so we can go on with our yak yak yak yak yak.)

(***‘closer to God’ herein refers to the concept of emotional closeness and/or understanding and does not refer to distance, how much more divine you are/are not, or that line from the chorus of that one song, you dirty bird.)

(****nyuck nyuck nyuck!)

[fulane-de-tal]

is there anyone in the house who has seen and loved the Ladino Ladies Club?

[fulane-de-tal]

i’m so normal about itzik manger

[fulane-de-tal]

unironically almost used the word “beanersim” in conversation there is something wrong with me

[fulane-de-tal]

✨chag janice sameach✨

[fulane-de-tal]

di tsimbl in a naye shtetl

[ID: a lino print in black and white. in it, a man with a long coat and hat is standing in the middle of a city street, playing a hammered dulcimer, which is the tsimbl in the name. buildings rise around him. in the background, an airplane flies through clouds that are swirling around it in fingerprint patterns. text on the top reads “di tsimbl” in both english and yiddish. text on the bottom reads: in a naye shtetl, 5783/2022. End ID.]

[fulane-de-tal]

[ID: a digital drawing of adam and chava from the bible. They are both androgynous people with long curly hair and peaceful expressions, and are facing each other. they are covered in fig leaves. they are placed in a playing card position, so that one of them is always upside down. two of their hands join together around a large eye in the center. Snakes wind around their heads. They are surrounded with ornamentation, including moons, stars, pomegranates, and eyes. Around the central eye is hebrew writing that reads: אִשָּׁ֔ה אִ֖ישׁ חַוָּ֑ה אָדָ֛ם, or “woman, man, chava, adam.” It is unclear who is who. End ID.]