optimistpest

[optimistpest]

some guy has set himself on fire outside the Trump trial, further proving that willingness to die to “bring attention” to a cause doesn’t make that cause noble. we have to stop glorifying this or it will continue to be a regular occurrence.

[optimistpest]

so this article about polish catholic photographer agnieszka traczewska, who's become close with several hasidic communities in israel, is fascinating—and these are literally the most humanizing photos i've ever seen of hasidim:

a hasidic bride walks through a narrow alleyway with her family, in jerusalem

children in costume celebrate purim in jerusalem's mea she'arim neighborhood

hasidim celebrate lag ba'omer on har meron

a street in bnei brak before the start of shabbat

riki's father washes her in the kitchen sink, safed (my favorite)

[optimistpest]

"lol jews find so many loopholes in their own religion they must hate being jewish" damn just say you're uncreative and have never examined your own religious texts further than the exact words written down on the paper. just say you take everything at face value and you never enjoy reading between the lines to gain a new understanding of something. it's ok, we all see it already

[optimistpest]

Compliment someone on one of their personality traits 

Write a handwritten card to someone to say thanks

Text a friend to share your gratitude for something they did for you

Leave a positive review online of a restaurant you like

Tell a friend what you love about their children

Compliment a photo someone posts on social media

Let someone cut in front of you in line

Introduce two people who you think would get along

Pick up trash on the ground and put it in the garbage

Compliment someone on their clothing or hair

Use old grocery bags to pick up dog poop you see on your neighbor's lawn

Shovel snow off the sidewalk in your neighborhood

Offer to mow the lawn for an elderly neighbor

Give up your seat on the plane to let a couple sit together

Talk to someone at a party that doesn’t seem to know anyone

Invite someone new in your town to a social event and introduce them to everyone

Invite a friend that you haven’t seen in a while out to lunch

Offer to pick up a friend at the airport

Reach out to an old friend to let them know of an experience you had with them that you value

Spend time with the elderly at a local retirement home

Offer to bring someone else's grocery cart back to the store

Keep an extra pen in your purse to give people when they need one

Put a positive note in a library book

Attend events that support your friends’ passions (like an art show, musical performance, etc…)

Donate unused items to charity

Bring snacks to the local fire station

Keep packs of toothpaste or packs of socks in your bag to give to homeless people

Post an uplifting photo on a friend’s social media

Compliment someone on something they’ve done or accomplished

Tell a parent that they’re doing a great job raising their kids

Bring or send your mother flowers

Bring a friend a small gift next time you see them

Buy a warm meal to give to a homeless person

Share an article, event, or other information with someone who might be interested

Help to connect a friend seeking a job to someone who has a job to offer

Help a neighbor bring in their groceries

Make dinner for your friend group

Compliment a neighbor on how nice their yard looks

Bring in the trash bins for your neighbor after trash has been picked up

Send an email to a former teacher to let them know how they impacted your life

Leave a thank you note in your mailbox for your mail carrier

Give a flower to a stranger

Buy a gift card to give to a stranger

Ofter to be there for a friend when they are struggling with something

Give bottles of water to people working outside on a hot day

Buy a sandwich for the next person in the lunch line

Leave a sticky note with a positive note somewhere public, like at a bus stop

Bring brownies to your next neighborhood association meeting

Scrape the ice off the car windshield of the car next to yours

Leave a positive comment on someone else's social media post, #ProsocialPost

Put coins in someone’s parking meter that is about to run out

Slow down to let someone merge in front of you in traffic

Be on time (don’t waste others’ time)

Hold the door open for the person walking behind you

Make a double batch of dinner so that you can give a meal to someone in need

Give directions to someone who is lost

Give an extra big tip when eating out

Practice compassion when someone else is struggling

Be self-compassionate when you’re struggling with something

Share veggies you grow in your garden with friends, neighbors, and family

Become an organ donor

Volunteer at the local animal shelter

Bring dinner to a friend who's just had a baby

Build a “little free library” box in your yard with books for everyone to read

[optimistpest]

OK Tumblr Geriatric Ward, let’s talk about your posture-

there are things you should be doing now to prevent yourself from starting to look like 🥀

Why does it matter? Future you would like to avoid the pain, limited motion, and fall risk that goes along with worsening posture.

What’s the focus?

1. Keep the flexibility in your spine

2. Stretch the muscles in the front

3. Strengthen the muscle in the back

Here are some simple things you can do daily while sitting and when you get up to go into the bathroom or the kitchen

Keep the flexibility by doing these repeated movements: 10 repetitions several times a day

The goal is to give yourself a double or triple chin. Keep your nose pointing forward, don’t let it tip up or down

Thoracic extension- use a chair with a seat back that comes up to the level of your shoulder blades. Try to bend back over the top of the chair without arching away from the seat back and without extending your neck. If the pressure from the top of the chair is uncomfortable you can place a towel there

Stretch the muscles in the front by using a door frame. This one will feel good afterwards

If this isn’t enough of a stretch you can do one side at a time. If you have the right arm up step forward with the right foot and turn slightly to the left. Then do it on the other side.

Strengthen the muscles in the back by squeezing your shoulder blades together for a count of 10 and then repeating 10 times. You can do this several times a day Hint: Don’t lift your shoulder blades up

There are lots more exercises for strengthening your back muscles but this is a good starting point and easy to do. I like doing it while driving

Tips:

Do the best you can

If it hurts stop

Envision future you saying thank you each time you do one of the exercises

[optimistpest]

sorry i cant hang out i forgot how to mimic human like behaviour

[optimistpest]

As a disabled and chronically ill person "Thank You G-d, who has made me in Your image." is infinitely more affirming and comforting for me than the variation that goes, "...who has made me according to Your will."

It's not that G-d intentionally gave me a body that causes me to suffer because They will it to fulfil some greater purpose.

It's that my body, even as sick and weathered as it is, is a living breathing reflection of the Divine.

Reminding me that my disabled and chronically ill body is sacred too.

[optimistpest]

life hack: imagine your ocd intrusive thoughts are anon hate so you can reply "the reading comprehension on this site"

[optimistpest]

Where my freaks at?

[optimistpest]

If you are a proponent of the land back movement, but you are opposed to any and all solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that involve Jewish people living in the Levant (even 100% peacefully alongside other indigenous peoples), then you are an antisemite.

Why? Because you’re either denying Jewish indigeneity or you’re making an exception to your beliefs in order to deprive Jews of a right you willingly grant to others.

If you’re opposed to the land back movement at large, but have made an exception specifically for Jews returning to the Levant, then you presumably only support our right to return as a means to some other end, not on principle. If that other end is removing us from your country or using us as pawns to fulfill some kind of messianic prophecy, then you’re an antisemite.

Advocating for the creation of a Palestinian state does not require you to be antisemitic. Wanting Palestinian civilians to be safe does not require you to be antisemitic. You are choosing to be antisemitic when you could, instead, simply choose not to be.

I don’t know how to make this any simpler.

[optimistpest]

Scene from the most famous Yiddish play The Dybbuk by the Vilner Trupe. 1910s.

[optimistpest]

Three cercolons. Literally translates to "big circles", cercolons are decorative wall plates and a specialty of Andalusia. These are ceramic and hand-painted. The first two depict the Temple menorah (with seven branches), one in various shades of blue and one in a variety of colors. The other depicts a Magen David lined with leaves and flowers.

All of the golden-colored edging and accents are 24-carat gold. The flowers and decorative edgework are examples of cuerda seca (dry cord), a technique for painting tiles and ceramics which dates to the period of Arabic colonization of Spain.

[optimistpest]

booping 9 other jewish adults for the purpose of gathering people for a minyan

[optimistpest]

Happy TDoV to all Trans Jews!

HaShem loves you and made you in Their image, so you might share in the act of creation 🏳️‍⚧️✡️

[optimistpest]

[optimistpest]

Sephardi & Romaniote Jewish Women's Clothing in the Byzantine and Ottoman Periods, illustrated by Nikos Stavroulakis

[optimistpest]

To me, being trans is one of the most incredible blessings a human can receive from HaShem. From the moment we take our first breath, we are given the wondrous opportunity to mould ourselves b'tzelem Elohim–in the image of G-d. Every day we get to decide what b'tzelem Elohim means for us; we get to lovingly form ourselves like clay, every iteration a reflection of the Divine all on its own, into the image… the person that HaShem always knew we could become.

—G-J-B (Queer & Jewish Musings)