#Reconstructing Judaism

[comfortcomfortdeercat]

Blessings I say over coffee

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ/רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם בּוֹרֵא פְּרִי הָעֵץ

בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּּ, מֶלֶך/רוּחַ הָעוֹלָם שְהוֹלֵד עַזִים מִמצָא קַפֶה

Blessed are You, Adonoy, king/spirit of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree

Blessed are you, Adonoy, king/spirit of the universe, who created the goats who discovered coffee

[jewsreconstructingjudaism]

“The interpretation of Pesach in the Mishnah, offered by the early rabbis following the destruction of the Temple, was not only an effort to establish a practice of Judaism that was not based on animal sacrifice at a centralized shrine. It was at the same time an effort to assert a Jewish interpretation of the Pesach symbols in the face of emerging Christianity, which had its own understandings of the holiday, its symbols, and, indeed, the significance of the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple. The Haggadah asserts a new, limited and polemical meaning for the paschal lamb.”

- Rabbi Deborah Waxman, A Guide to Jewish Practice Volume 2, pg 532

[rw7771]

Watch "5 Surprising Differences Between Ashkenazi & Sephardic Jews | Big Jewish Ideas | Unpacked" on YouTube

[apas-95]

As it apparently needs to be restated - race, ethnicity, and nationality are not themselves the basic drivers of history. Political-economic class is.

The European practice of placing African people into chattel slavery was not carried out on the basis of any innate characteristics of 'blackness' or 'whiteness' - those categories did not exist before the slave trade, they were created in support of it. Europe at the time found it would be beneficial to have a class of slave workers for its colonial projects, and it had the military, political, and economic might to subjugate Africa and African people to that end. Had you asked a Prussian and a Scotsman prior to the institution of African slavery if they were both members of a common 'race', they would have found the idea ridiculous - and yet, transport those two ahead in time, and perhaps to settlements in the Americas, and suddenly they were both Whites. Whiteness (and its necessary counterpart, blackness), then, is not some intrinsic quality based on the tone of someone's skin, but a political and economic category constructed to differentiate between those people that could be oppressed and made chattel by the slave trade, and those that could not.

This is true for all these systems of oppression - though they may be divided on supposed lines of biology or locality, they are not inherently based on biological factors, those are functionally coincidental, and are constructed as justifications for a system necessitated by purely political and economic reasons. Nazi oppression of Jewish, and Roma, and Slavic [and etc.] people was not fundamentally based on any inherent quality of e.g. Judaism, but on the economic needs of German capital under the burden of postwar reconstruction and 'war reparations' paid to the victorious powers. It was not blind hatred, but the inevitable result of a society built in pursuit of profit - one whose ruling class held a cold, calculated need to expropriate wealth, weaken worker organisation, and seize and depopulate land to strengthen the composition of capital. It was still necessary for this system to split the population into one group of 'legitimate targets' for victimisation, and one of reassured, protected accomplices, though there were no obvious physical, 'biological' features to base these on - so they were constructed, both through propaganda that exaggerated physiology, and through the appending of obvious badges and marks onto those targeted. Again, these were sets of features, and categories, created to support a system of oppression and exploitation, not the reasons it came into being in the first place.

Again, these are fundamentally political and economic categories, and can only be properly understood as such. If not properly understood as being based, first and foremost, on material interests of classes, then any analysis of them is unstable. For example: appeals to the supposed ancestral claim of zionists to the land of Palestine, and thereby to indigineity, can only be refuted with an understanding that indigeneity is a political and economic characteristic, of relation towards the oppression of a settler state, and not some characteristic of where one's ancestors were born. None of this is to say that race, nationality, etc don't function as axes of oppression - but that they must be understood as manifestations of the existing political and economic material interests of classes that drive the development of history, if they are to be fought against.

[sefarad-haami]

重建清真寺记

🇪🇸 La inscripción de piedra de 1489, conocida como "Registro de la Reconstrucción del Templo Puro y Verdadero" (重建清真寺记), se erigió en julio de 1489 en Kaifeng, China. Es una de las primeras inscripciones de la comunidad judía de Kaifeng y conmemora la reconstrucción de la sinagoga después de ser destruida por una inundación del Río Amarillo en 1461. Esta inscripción fue escrita por Jin Zhong, un judío de Kaifeng, y mide 60 x 30 x 5 pulgadas, hecha de piedra caliza gris oscuro. La inscripción describe tres temas principales: el origen e historia del judaísmo, las prácticas de oración y arrepentimiento, y la trayectoria del judaísmo en China y su relación con el confucianismo. Destaca cómo los judíos de Kaifeng se adaptaron a las costumbres chinas y cómo las similitudes culturales con la comunidad musulmana Hui a menudo llevaron a confusiones entre las dos. La inscripción también menciona figuras históricas clave, como el rabino Levy y los hermanos Jin, y detalla la integración de conceptos chinos y judíos, fusionando figuras como Pangu y Adán. La estela aún existe y fue trasladada a la Catedral de la Trinidad por la Misión Anglicana Canadiense en 1912.

🇺🇸 The 1489 stone inscription, known as the "Record of the Rebuilding of the Pure and Truth Temple" (重建清真寺记), was erected in July 1489 in Kaifeng, China. It is one of the earliest inscriptions from the Kaifeng Jewish community and commemorates the reconstruction of the synagogue after its destruction by a Yellow River flood in 1461. This inscription was written by Jin Zhong, a Kaifeng Jew, and measures 60 x 30 x 5 inches, made of dark gray limestone. The inscription covers three main themes: the origin and history of Judaism, practices of prayer and repentance, and the trajectory of Judaism in China and its relationship with Confucianism. It highlights how Kaifeng Jews adapted to Chinese customs and how cultural similarities with the Hui Muslim community often led to confusion between the two. The inscription also mentions key historical figures, such as Rabbi Levy and the Jin brothers, and details the integration of Chinese and Jewish concepts, merging figures like Pangu and Adam. The stele still exists and was moved to Trinity Cathedral by the Canadian Anglican Mission in 1912.

[meirmakesstuff]

If you're thinking of attending a synagogue service as a way to support your local Jewish community but don't know how:

I'm writing this on 10/13/23, but this applies to any occasion when the Jewish community might be in a state of fear or sadness, or when you might be moved to show support for your local Jewish community by showing up. The main comment I've gotten from people who want to do this is that they don't know how to begin, so here's a quick guide for how to actually do that if you've never been to or interacted with a synagogue before.

How to choose a synagogue

How to ask first

What to wear and bring

When you get there

Additional notes

How to choose a synagogue

Depending on where you live, googling "synagogue [zip code]" may get you a lot or very few hits. Look at the synagogue's website for hints.

If you see the words "messianic" or "yeshua" that's not a real synagogue, that's predatory Christians hoping to be mistaken for Jews. Supporting them does not support your local Jewish community.

Check for the words "Orthodox," "Conservative," "Reconstructing Judaism," or "Reform" to help know what to expect. If you would be distressed to encounter segregated seating by binary gender, that's a reason you might avoid an Orthodox synagogue. The word "Conservative" in this context does not refer to political opinions, it's the name of a denomination just like Orthodox, Reconstructing, and Reform--what's being conserved in Conservative Judaism is liturgical traditions and religious observances. In fact, in most of these settings, to a lesser or greater extent depending on your specific location, you are likely to find the majority of people leaning generally to the left of your local average, politically. Which isn't to say there won't be outliers, that's just the typical makeup. In terms of service length, a Reform synagogue service is likely the shortest. It will also likely contain the most English during the service. No mainstream denomination of Judaism practices proselytizing. You should not fear that anyone will actively try to convert you.

On the synagogue website they should list start times for Friday night and Saturday morning services. That will help you choose a service you might be able to attend. I'll add notes on the differences and what to expect from either later on.

How to ask first

Not all communities will find an unexpected visitor to be a safe situation, no matter how good your intentions may be. Before you show up at a synagogue, check the website for the email addresses for the rabbi and either the president or "info" or something similar. Here's a model script for you to use:

Hi Rabbi [Lastname], I'm not Jewish but was looking for ways to show support to our local Jewish community and wondered if it would be appropriate to attend a service this coming [Friday/Saturday] as a way of showing my local Jewish community that you are not alone. If that would not be appreciated, is there another gesture an individual could make that would help this community feel supported? Otherwise, what do I need to know in order to be respectful to your community while attending a service? Sincerely, [your name]

You can also ask about accessibility questions you might have in the same email.

In a larger city or a place that has recieved threats of violence recently, they may be more cautious, but a synagogue in a small city or suburban area may simply say that anyone is welcome to show up to any service.

What to wear and bring

If the rabbi or synagogue office emails back with clothing guidelines, follow them. If not, bet on business casual as a dress code: for a masculine presentation, slacks, a button-down shirt with or without a tie, and a blazer or sweater, and for a feminine presentation slacks or a skirt knee length or longer, with a top that covers the shoulders. for Orthodox and some Conservative synagogues, wear long or three-quarter sleeves. In an Orthodox synagogue, women typically wear dresses and skirts rather than pants. I would advise avoiding wearing a visible cross while attending a service of any Jewish denomination.

You don't need to bring anything in particular with you. Be sure to place your cell phone on silent and double-check that any alarms are turned off. In Orthodox and many other synagogues, people may avoid carrying wallets with them, but no one should be offended that you have yours with you as a visitor.

This should go without saying but do not bring any kind of weapon with you. In a large city with high security needs your bag may be searched or you may be asked to show ID before entering. It is very likely that you will see a uniformed police officer or armed security guard. Synagogues in large cities might have dramatically increased their security presence this week. A visitor who is being respectful to the community is not what they're looking for.

Jewish people attending the service may bring prayer shawls or kippot (singular: kipa, also called yarmulkes) to wear. A visitor is not expected to have these. Most synagogues have baskets of kippot available at the entrance for guests. In Orthodox communities, men should wear one while in the building and women should not. In Conservative communities men should wear one and others may decide to wear one or not. In any other community you may but are not expected to wear a kipa. There will likely also be a rack of prayer shawls at the door, but non-Jews are not expected to wear these.

When you get there

Someone may make a point of approaching you early on. Please don't be embarrassed to tell them that you're not Jewish. Some synagogues will make a point on Saturday morning of assigning an "honor," that is, a role in the service, to Jewish newcomers. If someone approaches you to offer you an honor or asks you a question you don't understand, you can say "Thank you, I'm not Jewish, I'm visiting to show support for the community." Alternately, someone may simply approach you to welcome you and help you get situated.

If not, feel free to find yourself a seat.

In an Orthodox synagogue, in which the seating will be segregated by gender, there will be a curtain or screen between the men's and women's sections. The women's section may be side-by-side with the men's, behind it, or above it in a balcony. A synagogue with a balcony should either have an elevator or a small section of the lower level set apart from the men's section for Disabled women's seating.

In any other denomination, seating is not segregated by gender. In that case there is no wrong part of the general seating area that is wrong to sit in.

There are differing norms in different communities about how much talking is appropriate during services, so go along with what you see around you. Since you will likely not know the songs and much of what happens will be in Hebrew, you may lose your place in the book. If you're not able to find the page, feel free to read something that interests you in the book or look around the room. No one would judge you as a guest for not already knowing the service. Feel free to chime in if you hear everyone saying "amen" in unison or if you catch on to a song, but don't feel pressured to do anything but be present.

There will be times during the service where people will sit, stand, bow, or make other motions. If you are not able to stand, or if you are able to stand but not safely or comfortably or for a long time, please know that it's perfectly okay to remain seated for your own safety. Otherwise, sit and stand when the people around you sit and stand, and don't feel that you have to bow or keep up with other motions.

The service will likely end with blessings over wine and bread. This is not like the Christian eucharist, it's just food, with blessings of gratitude. These blessings may be recited as the last part of the service or in a room where snacks will be laid out. Again follow people's lead on when it's the right time to start taking snacks.

During the snack period people may approach you and introduce themselves. Now is a good time to tell them that you're here to show support to the community, but don't directly mention any specific occurrence unless someone brings it up first. If people are talking about Israel or current events, listen without contributing opinions unless they ask directly. Don't try to be funny or clever about it: this is not the time to tell everyone your super great idea for how to fix everything in the Middle East by putting the pope in charge or launching it to the moon or having it annexed by Aotearoa. The Jews are tired. You're here to listen. People may say things you disagree with. It's okay. You don't have to fix anyone's opinion right now. You don't even have to come back. If someone is making you uncomfortable, excuse yourself, get a second helping of cake, and say hi to someone different. This is a good time to say hello to the service leaders if you haven't met them before the service began. You can compliment the sermon or singing, or just say "I'm glad I came, I hope I was able to help this community feel supported."

Additional notes

Almost every synagogue occasionally has non-members and non-Jewish guests take part in community activities. An exception is very small communities in places where outsiders are generally hostile. It's not weird to be present in Jewish spaces as a non-Jew unless the people in that community make it weird. If so, you don't owe them anything and you don't have to come back. Every community is different, and I've been to synagogues I wouldn't choose to return to. As a general rule though, you will almost certainly be welcomed and asked about yourself. Feel free to share a little about the conversations that led to you wanting to show up for your local Jewish community, since people will likely be curious, but also remember to ask lots of questions yourself. As a general rule, Jews love to explain ourselves, so please do ask questions about the things you see and experience in the synagogue.

Topics to avoid unless someone directly asks you:

What you personally believe about God

Your personal feelings about Israel

How you would solve the situation if you were in charge

your past experience of Christianity

Jesus, in any context

Violence of any kind

What you think this community, its rabbi, Jews in general, or the Israeli government could be doing better.

Most of these are simply a matter of that there's a time and place for everything, and a Jewish service at a time of stress and sadness is not the time for these particular topics. If you feel a strong urge to talk about these topics without being asked, find a different location and group of people to do that with. The best way to be successful at showing support is to genuinely listen.

If you are a non-Jew interested in doing this and have follow-up questions, or if you are Jewish and feel I left out important details, please go ahead. I'm also happy to talk by PM if you need help figuring out a specific synagogue website. I'm not interested in doxxing anyone.

[gryficowa]

Boycott!

Tia… Supposedly "God's Gang" has a second episode (Strange after a specific reception…), although what offends me more is that "Christians" (Whose name I don't remember… Because Ninjew took all the memory with his name …) didn't know that pork (With cheese, but well, that's less important… Unless we consider Ninjew and his reaction as cheese important… In the sense that as I understand it, in Judaism you shouldn't mix milk with her baby… Wait, what, tia… I still don't understand anything, but yes, I'll skip this reaction to cheese because I don't understand it, ok?) is not allowed in a different religion… Ok, in a different context it makes sense, BUT I REMEMBER, THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN EACH OTHER SINCE YESTERDAY, BUT PROBABLY LONGER, IT HURTS ME, BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE AN ATTEMPT TO TRANSFER KNOWLEDGE TO THE VIEWER, BUT IT WAS DONE SO INAPPARENTLY THAT THIS CHARACTER SHOULD FUCKING KNOW IT

Now that I have your attention:

---------------------------------------------

Yes, it pisses me off, I've been struggling for years to write the best script (that I can) and then you see this hole in the plot and it gives you a headache

And when I understood it, the Muslim character said "Hala"… I mean, I don't understand the context anymore, but "Haram" (Because it's a sin) would rather fit here, but that's carpentry on my part… The mistake I mentioned earlier is more irritated, if it weren't for him, I would have cared more about it, but it was so big that it reminds me of that atrocity from 2010… And yes, I watched a live video on YouTube with commentary (without it, I wouldn't have known that this thing had released a second episode)

You can simply see the typical problems of a novice creator (if there is a novice author), in short, illogicality, so that the viewer gets the key information, it would work better if someone from outside the gang created this burger, then it would make sense that the characters would talk that they can't eat it because it doesn't make sense, the characters have probably known each other long enough, so you understand… It's just a mistake of novice creators (and cartoons from 2010 and years before)

Remember to collect at the top!

[talonabraxas]

Kabbalah - Tree of Life

Kabbalah (Hebrew קַבָּלָה “reception”, Standard Hebrew Qabbala, Tiberian Hebrew Qabbālāh; also written variously as Cabala, Cabalah, Cabbala, Cabbalah, Kabala, Kabalah, Kabbala, Qabala, Qabalah, Kaballah) is an interpretation (exegesis, hermeneutic) key, “soul” of the Torah (Hebrew Bible), or the religious mystical system of Judaism claiming an insight into divine nature.

Kabbalah became a reference to doctrines of esoteric knowledge concerning God, God’s creation of the universe and the laws of nature, and the path by which adult religious Jews can learn these secrets. Originally, however, the term Kabbalah was used in Talmudic texts, among the Geonim, and by early Rishonim as a reference to the full body of publicly available Jewish teaching. In this sense Kabbalah was used in referring to all of known Oral Law.

Kabbalah, according to the more recent use of the word, stresses the reasons and understanding of the commandments in the Torah, and the cause of events described in the Torah. Kabbalah includes the understanding of the spiritual spheres of creation, and the ways by which God administers the existence of the universe.

According to Jewish tradition dating from the 13th century, this knowledge has come down as a revelation to elect saints from a remote past, and preserved only by a privileged few. It is considered part of the Jewish Oral Law by the majority of religious Jews in modern times, although this was not agreed upon by many medieval Talmudic scholars, as well as a minority of current Orthodox rabbis.

Origin of Jewish Mysticism

According to adherents of Kabbalah, the origin of Kabbalah begins with the Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible). According to Midrash, God created the universe with “Ten utterances” or “Ten qualities.” When read by later generations of Kabbalists, the Torah’s description of the creation in the Book of Genesis reveals mysteries about the godhead itself, the true nature of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life, as well as the interaction of these supernal entities with the Serpent which leads to disaster when they eat the forbidden fruit, as recorded in Genesis 2.

The Bible provides ample additional material for mythic and mystical speculation. The prophet Ezekiel’s visions in particular attracted much speculation, as did Isaiah’s Temple vision (Chapter 6). Jacob’s vision of the ladder to heaven is another text providing an example of a mystical experience. Moses’ experience with the Burning bush and his encounters with God on Mount Sinai, are all evidence of mystical events in the Tanakh, and form the origin of Jewish mystical beliefs.

Jewish mystical traditions always appeal to an argument of authority based on antiquity. As a result, virtually all works claim or are ascribed ancient authorship. For example, Sefer Raziel HaMalach, an astro-magical text partly based on a magical manual of late antiquity, Sefer ha-Razim, was, according to the kabbalists, transmitted to Adam (after being evicted) by the angel Raziel. Another famous work, the Sefer Yetzirah, supposedly dates back to the patriarch Abraham. According to Apocalyptic literature, esoteric knowledge, such as magic, divination, and astrology, was transmitted to humans in the mythic past by the two angels, Aza and Azaz’el (in other places, Azaz’el and Uzaz’el) who ‘fell’ from heaven (see Genesis 6:4).

This appeal to antiquity has also shaped modern theories of influence in reconstructing the history of Jewish mysticism. The oldest versions of the Jewish mysticism have been theorized to extend from Assyrian theology and mysticism. Dr. Simo Parpola, a researcher at the University of Helsinki, has made some suggestive findings on the matter, particularly concerning an analysis of the Sefirot. Noting the general similarity between the Sefirot of the Kabbalah and the Tree of Life of Assyria, he reconstructed what an Assyrian antecendent to the Sepiroth would look like.[2] He matched the characteristics of En Sof on the nodes of the Sepiroth to the gods of Assyria, and was able to even find textual parallels between these Assyrian gods and the characteristics of god. The Assyrians assigned specific numbers to their gods, similar to how the Sepiroth assigns numbers to its nodes. However, the Assyrians use a sexagesimal number system, whereas the Sepiroth is decimal. With the Assyrian numbers, additional layers of meaning and mystical relevance appear in the Sepiroth. Normally, floating above the Assyrian Tree of Life was the god Assur, this corresponds to En Sof, which is also, via a series of transformations, derived from the Assyrian word Assur.

Furthermore, Dr. Paropla re-interpreted various Assyrian tablets in the terms of this primitive Sefirot, such as the Epic Of Gilgamesh, and in doing so was able to reveal that the scribes themselves had been writing philosophical-mystical tracts, rather than mere adventure stories. Traces of this Assyrian mode of thought and philosophy eventually makes reappearances in Greek Philosophy and the Kabbalah.

Skeptics would point out that the doctrine of the Sefirot only saw serious development starting in the 12th Century CE with the publication of the Bahir. To argue that the concept of the sefirot existed in an occult and undocumented form within Judaism from the time of the Assyrian empire (which fell from cultural hegemony in the 7th Cent. BCE) until it “surfaced” 17-18 centuries later strikes some scholars as far-fetched. A plausible alternative, based in the research of Gershom Scholem, the pre-eminent scholar of Kabbalah in the 20th Century, is to see the sefirot as a theosophical doctrine that emerges out of Jewish late antiquity word-mythology (as exemplified in Sefer Yetzirah) and the angelic-palace mysticism found in Hekalot literature being fused to the Neo-Platonic notion of creation through progressive divine emanations.

[nebylitsa]

Prayer is a practice, a spiritual practice. The objective of prayer practice is to increase one’s awareness of God, to use tradition language. The medieval teacher Rambam (Maimonides) explained that in prayer, we pour out our hearts like water before the Holy One of Blessing. Not only when we are in pain or in need. He recommends that we pour out our hearts every day, even when there is nothing bothering us.

In English, the word “pray” connotes asking for something—praying for good health, for example, or praying to win the lottery. While there are certainly petitionary prayers in our prayer books, most of our great teachers did not encourage the expectation that if you pray for something, you will be given what you are praying for.

Hasidic teachers like the Slonimer Rebbe teach instead that in matters of the spirit, all of our prayers are answered immediately if we offer them sincerely, with an open heart. “Please help me to be better at loving and receiving love that is offered to me.” “Please help me to heal from my psychic wounds that I have been carrying all these years.” “Please help me to become patient and compassionate.” If we open up our hearts, the Slonimer Rebbe teaches, our prayers will be effective.

Many of us, however, can’t imagine praying because we don’t believe in a God to whom we can direct our prayers. The good news is that lack of belief in God is not such an obstacle to developing a prayer practice.

The Bratslaver Hasidim have a practice called Hitbodedut. You walk out in the field and you talk to…God? The Universe? The Ground of Being? The Void? You talk as if there is someone listening. “I’m really stuck in my job. I need to get up the courage to change. I need help.” “My life partner and I aren’t communicating anymore. We’re like strangers sharing a house.” “I’m still angry at my father, and he’s been dead for years. I need to try to let go. I don’t know how.” “I’m so overcommitted. I don’t know how I’m going to make it through the week.”

This is pouring your heart out. You dig a bit and notice what you are feeling and you offer it up. Not because you believe anyone is listening. But because when you pour out your heart, all that stuff is no longer tied up tight and pressing against your chest from within. And when you let it go, you are no longer all alone in your predicament. You are reaching out to the world around you.

So if you find yourself in synagogue not know what to do, don’t worry about finding the place in your prayer book. Close your eyes. Breathe deeply a few times. Get in touch with what you are feeling. Reflect on what you need help with, what you can’t cope with all by yourself. Ask for what you need to make yourself more at ease, more at peace, more joyous. Ask whether or not you know whom you are asking.

Pour out your heart like water. Take a prayerful leap, and see what happens.

-- Rabbi Jacob Staub

[thrashkink-coven]

Hey it's foolish to believe lilith is a goddess? Like there's no evidence to support that she Indeed a goddess

There is no evidence to suggest that Lucifer is a God, although he represented the astrological aspects of Venus in Rome and Greece as Eosphoros, he had no established cults or centres of worship. In fact he never even has a spoken line, nor any myths where he is a “character”.

There is no evidence to suggest that Hekate was an important deity, she was not revered nearly as highly as the Olympians and her cults are extremely difficult to find. While Hekate is an ancient Greek deity, the way she is conceptualized and worshipped in modern Wicca and Neopagan practices often diverges significantly from historical practices. Some aspects and rituals are entirely modern creations.

There is no evidence to suggest that Santa Muerte is a divinity, there are no myths or legends about her. She is a syncretic deity with roots in Mexican folk Catholicism, there is no historical evidence that she was worshipped as a deity in ancient times.

Many deities worshipped in modern Druidry or Celtic-inspired Paganism are reconstructed or entirely new interpretations based on fragmentary historical sources. Deities like Cernunnos and Brigid are often worshipped in ways that lack clear historical continuity with ancient practices. Various New Age movements have introduced new deities or greatly transformed ancient ones. For example, Sanat Kumara is a figure in Theosophy, considered a great spiritual being but has no historical precedent in ancient worship.

And Lilith, of course, is mentioned briefly in multiple different mythologies but had no established places of worship or known cults. The truth is a combination of a couple things:

1. Recorded history is extremely scarce. We hardly know anything about the divinities that were genuinely worshipped as major Gods, the lesser fringe deities are even more difficult to find information on. Consider that Ancient Egypt was so old that the hieroglyphs copied from different eras were mistranslated by their own people. The cannon surrounding deities like Anubis, Thoth and Set are so variable because even they weren’t entirely sure. That’s how incredibly OLD these deities are, and how incredibly clumsy language and writing are.

2. Syncretism is a hell of a drug. Deities and the relationships they have with their devotees evolve throughout time.

3. A lack of pre established cannon does not mean that cannon cannot be established right now. We are a part of history. We write myths and create legends just as our ancestors did. We are not removed from this process of theological evolution. Lilith’s associations as a Mesopotamian night demon are no more legitimate or important than her associations in Judaism as the wife of Adam, or modern wicca and paganism as the mother of demons, the feminine archetype of divine rebellion. Likewise her status as a God does not remove her from her Mesopotamian roots. All parts of this equation are necessary to create a Lilith. We are no less capable of expanding on the lore of a deity than those people who lived 10,000 years ago. We as the collective humanity will always continue to explore what these deities represent as time reveals them to us.

Is it foolish to worship Lilith, Lucifer or Santa Muerte as divinities? Well, that’s a matter of opinion. Most polytheists and pagans are not subscribed to an organized religion, which means we don’t practice in adherence to those standards. We don’t take the myths as literal facts of history, we use them as interpretations and moral lessons. So, the lack of these myths for entities like Lucifer doesn’t really pose much of a problem for most of us in our worship. My personal relationship with my deities is far more important to me than what Homer wrote in the Odyssey. A lack of recorded information does not equate to a lack of existence (Hekate isn’t even in the Odyssey, there are only like 3 or 4 myths were Anubis makes an appearance and he was one of the most important Gods to the ancient Egyptians) As important as it is to be well versed on the established lore of your deities, we can’t pretend that the ancient Greeks and Nordics didn’t have fun with their deities and myths just like we do now.

How did Dionysus go from a ruthless death God to the party loving God of wine? How did Aphrodite go from a ruthless war deity to a lovey dovey girl boss of romance? How did Hekate go from one of the most obscure Goddesses to one of the most popular and well revered patron of witches? How did Inanna turn into Astarte and so on and so on? For the exact same reasons that Lilith is now a Goddess.

Humanity.

[comfortcomfortdeercat]

A terrible cocktail idea that is actually tasty:

The Lubavitch LMAOnade

1 part slivovitz

3 parts MTN DEW

Pour ingredients over ice, garnish with a brachah

[jewsreconstructingjudaism]

“In The Meaning of God in Modern Jewish Religion, Rabbi Mordechai Kaplan applied the term "revaluation" to this method of interpreting rituals. We consciously look at the traditional poetic formulations of a ritual or payer, determine the values underlying it, and then express those values in a contemporary idiom. To those of us who believe, with Kaplan, that Judaism is the evolving religious civilization of the Jewish people, it is clear that every generation of Jews has engaged in this process of reinterpretation. The difference is that prior generations did this largely unconsciously, believing that their new interpretations were what was originally intended. One potential benefit, then, of revaluation (conscious reinterpretation) is that we remain connected to the sacred milieu of our ancestors, thereby allowing ourselves to be acculturated into and influenced by their values and perspectives--that is, we acknowledge that we do not know everything and that we have much to learn from the treasures of our traditions. In this way, we avoid distancing ourselves unnecessarily from the sacred experiences of prior generations.” - Rabbi Jacob J. Staub, A Guide to Jewish Practice Volume 2, pg 6-8

[sillysybilsden]

Ehilà, viaggiatore

Hey there, traveller

Dedicated to my twin Lares.

Foreword

Hello there! It's me, the Silly Sybil (fka Clever Crow). I've been wanting to do this post for months, but life got in the way and I eventually forgot about it. But hey: better late than never, right?

Now, to the post.

In this foreword, I do want to address the nature of my resources. In fact, I am not writing all of this off of articles or academic works, but off of a questionnaire I had published back in July 2023. The answers given by fellow pagans are the main resources for this blog, whose objective is that of determining the main characteristics of two different approaches to lost practices: reconstructionism and revivalism.

Why choose such a peculiar approach to resources? Reconstructionism and revivalism are part of a spectrum, which can be intended and defined differently by different practitioners. Every pagan will have a slightly different idea of these terms. That means that these labels do not have a universal meaning - there is no institution recognised worldwide that gives us the requirements to be a revivalist or a reconstructionist: it is up to the practitioner and their understanding of the term. This is the reason why I've decided to opt for a form rather than articles as a resource. After all, who, better than a pagan who lives and practices paganism daily, can instruct us about paganism-related terms?

One last important thing I want to do is introduce you to our “cast”* - the wonderful pagans who took the time to compile the form, that is:

➳ anonymous contibutor (revivalist)

➳ Dead (revivalist)

➳ Guenevere (reconstructionist)

➳ Magpie (reconstructionist)

I do feel like thanking the people above is the least I can do. For this reason, I thank all of those who participated from the bottom of my heart: this post wouldn't exist without you.

*The "cast" is formed by aquaintances from a closed Amino community.

On paganism

In order to understand the definition of paganism-related labels, we must first define paganism. My personal research led me to two definitions I will provide you with:

An umbrella-term that indicates non-Abrahamic religions*;

An umbrella-term that indicates religions that are not main world religions**.

The options above might seem similar - if not identical. However, the subtle difference between them is extremely important.

According to Dr. Angela Puca¹, pagan beliefs/religions show the following characteristics:

A polytheistic and animistic approach to spirituality;

A direct relationship with the divine - which sometimes translates with little interest to scriptures and interactions in a non-institutionalised way;

The belief of immanence - the belief that the divine is everywhere and, thus, is not external to the natural world but within the same;

As a consequence of (3.), the reverence for everything as everything holds divine power.

For the reasons above, pagans are very likely to believe in magick - if not practice it. Quoting Dr. Puca, one could say that some of the most popular beliefs that fall under paganism are “Wicca/Witchcraft, Druidry, Heathernry, Asatrù, Goddess worship, ethnic reconstructions and other animist earth-based traditions”.

Now that we have defined, very broadly, what paganism is, let us get to reconstructionism and revivalism.

*Abrahamic religions include Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

**Main world religions include, among the others, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism.

On reconstructionism

“Reconstructionism is about recreating an ancient or dead religion as closely as possible to the original source. This means learning about, understanding, and incorporating historical traditions. Being a Reconstructionist involves a lot of time and research.” - Magpie

“A reconstructionist seeks to find the historic pieces of practice and remain true to that as best they can.” - Guevevere

As the two members of the cast above already said ever-so-clearly, reconstructionism puts a lot of emphasis on historical accuracy - which revivalism also does but to a lesser extent, as we will see later on. The key characteristic of this approach to pagan traditions is the will to practice a dead religion as it was by ancient peoples.

For example: a modern Hellenic polytheist who considers themselves a reconstructionist will do a ritual as a 3rd century BCE Hellenic polytheist would have - if that is indeed the era they mean to reconstruct: the same pagan religion can show different characteristics depending on the century.

The modern reconstructionist practitioner will not alter the rituals and, sometimes, nor will they attempt to fill the gaps with their own UPG*². For this reason, many reconstructionists affirm that it takes a lot of time and research for them to add new practices to their own, as they must research thoroughly the subject and reconstruct it exclusively thanks to historical accounts - for this reason, they rely on academical and primary resources**. Sometimes, if gaps make it impossible to reconstruct a, say, ritual, reconstructionists might decide not to include it in its entirety - in place of, as said before, use any UPG to fill said gaps.

*Unverified Personal Gnosis: a belief that is not backed up by mythos and is exclusively theorized/recognised by the single practitioner.

**Primary resources: texts that were written in the historical period that one is researching. Eg: Saint Augustine of Hippo's texts are a primary resource to those who are researching 4th/5th century Christianity.

On revivalism

“Revivalism is a sort of subcategory of Reconstruction. It has the same goals and also has an emphasis on historical accuracy but tends to be on the less strict side and not as culturally focused*. While Recon. as a whole would include people that expect near-total adherence to historically or culturally attested practices, Revivalism is more theologically focused and has more room for adaptation to one's existing culture and environment. *cultural context is still important, revivalism just doesn't expect participation/membership to a specific culture.” - Dead

“Revivalists keep a sense of tradition within their practice but still allow room for UPG/SPG* and modern practices while still keeping it within the religion.” - anonymous contributor

As we anticipated before, revivalism, too, heavily focuses on historical accuracy. However, there is more room to add one's personal beliefs and/or alter some parts of the practice. This is the very big - and very important - difference between the two approaches: while reconstructionism hardly accepts UPG or SPG to fill the gaps - and, so, adjust part of a practice to one's needs/beliefs -, revivalism is much more flexible on that bit.

For example: a modern Gaulish polytheist who considers themselves a revivalist might decide to fill the gaps given by the little - and biased - resources on their practice by adding their own UPG to what is already historically attested.

Just because revivalism accepts UPG and SPG, it doesn't mean that it is a less-demanding approach than reconstructionism. In fact, it does require the same amount of research and of digging into academic and primary texts. Revivalism is about *adapting* an historical practice; it is not about eradicating it from its original historical and/or cultural context, which has to be researched nonetheless. One could say that revivalists want to reconstruct ancient practices as if they were never destroyed in the first place, taking into account the evolutions such practices would have gone through in the contemporary world. Thus, using one of the examples above, if I am a revivalist I am not practicing Hellenic polytheism as a 3rd century BCE polytheist would have, but I am practicing it as a potential 2024 Hellenic polytheist would have after all of the probable changes religion could have gone through.

To better explain the difference between reconstructionism and revivalism: Roman deities used to be offered incense and wine. If I were to use a reconstructionist approach, I might want to stick to these offerings as they are two of the few offerings that are historically attested. If I were to use a revivalist approach, I might prefer using incense or wine, but I could opt for a strawberry beverage from time to time.

*Shared Personal Gnosis: a belief that is not backed up by mythos and is exclusively theorized/recognised by a group of practitioners.

Conclusion

I personally, to this day, do not know whether to consider myself a reconstructionist or a revivalist. That is because, depending on the pagan community you're interacting with, the "requirements" to label yourself as reconstructionist or revivalist might change - and this is something I already mentioned in the foreword. What I - and the other contributors - tried to do is give you some very broad guidelines in order to let you establish whether you fall under one or the other category.

If you do not find any of these two approaches fitting for you, there is no need to worry: as I stated in the foreword, we are talking about a spectrum. Some people lean towards one of the two extremes of this spectrum and there might be people who find themselves outside of it, which is valid nonetheless.

This being said, I thank you all for reading this blog. Let me know in the comments whether you describe yourself as a reconstructionist, a revivalist or something else entirely!

Wish you a pleasant day/evening/night.

The Silly Sybil

Resources

Informative

¹ Dr. Angela Puca's video on paganism

² Dead's post on UPG and SPG

Paintings

¹ "Priestess of Delphi" by John Collier

² "Magic Circle" by John William Waterhouse

³ "Roman Woman Lighing a Lamp at the Home Altar" by Stephan Wladilawowitsch Bakalowicz

[rw7771]

Watch "When Your FRIEND Is KOSHER | Smile Squad Comedy" on YouTube

[therehavebeenstranger]

when i say that superman is jewish, one of the things i mean is that superman is about diaspora. and he's about diaspora in a way that feels (to me, somebody who only has the subjective lived experience of american ashkenazi judaism), in a way that feels particularly jewish.

i mean. superman. it's about feeling like an alien in the only home you've ever known. it's about having to learn your own mother tongue. it's about not having as many cousins as you know you ought to have, and it's about having a name that sounds so different from the names your ancestors had. it's about having two names and neither of them being the whole truth. it's about fighting to be as american as baseball and apple pie, because you feel you have to in order to stay alive, and knowing that you'll always be other regardless. it's about having to reconstruct the old ways in order to preserve them. the need to have children and pass your ways to them--the fear that they could die with you if you don't. it's about blending in. it's about being so alone and going on anyway. superman, you know?

[finelythreadedsky]

Hey! I just saw one of your qrts of a poem on censorship and I’m really curious about one of the tags you added that said there is a connection between the Jewish sense of identity and the ancient Carthaginians/Phoenicians and I’m super interested, could you please elaborate?

um so the genesis of those tags is actually in two conference talks i heard in december that discussed dido in the civilization video games, which i have never played and know nothing about, but i found it really interesting that the creators of that game give dido an in-game affinity with judaism (that's the religion she's inclined to 'found' if you play as her? or something) and reconstructed the phoenician dialogue her voice actor delivers based on modern hebrew pronunciation. i think it was maureen attali who went into more detail about various jewish approaches to/reception of dido, but i don't remember specifics. i believe the conference proceedings will eventually be published as a book about the reception of the women of the aeneid-- edith hall and magdalena zira are the people behind that.

in an even broader context, i just think it's fascinating that a sense of affinity with the ancient phoenicians and carthaginians seems to develop so easily among modern jews. like the way sonya taaffe's poetry frames both carthage and judea as victims of roman imperialism. and it's sort of baked in on a linguistic level too: it's really easy to learn phoenician/punic if you already know hebrew, and the older convention was even to print phoenician and punic with hebrew letters. if you're familiar with hebrew or even just anything jewish, there are a lot of moments of recognition when you start to look at phoenician and punic history and material culture! like oh wait the suffete? same word as the hebrew name for the book of judges, shoftim. and that's the baal that the bible is always going off about.

like a friend of mine recently joked that the movie frozen is an aeneid 4 retelling bc the sisters elsa and anna map onto elissa (dido) and anna, but the names aren't a coincidence! elsa derives ultimately from the hebrew elisheva, which uses the same root el- as the phoenician name elishat which became elissa in greek/latin! and the name anna became common in europe because hannah (anna in greek) was a common jewish name around the turn of the millennium, cognate with the phoenician name based on the same root that was also latinized as anna!

and also the phoenicians were characterized (both in texts and in reality) by their involvement with trade, which rings with more modern characterizations of jews, and there's also often a degree of untrustworthiness attributed to them because of that association with trading that feels weirdly akin to the last millennium of antisemitism. like i'm thinking of dougherty 2001, the raft of odysseus ch 5-- the picture of the phoenicians suggested in the odyssey looks very much like portrayals of jews, with varying degrees of antisemitism. so i do think there's a sense of (sometimes defensive) identification that easily arises there.

and all that is particularly interesting bc within the bible the phoenicians/canaanites are presented as the enemies of the israelites against whom they're trying to define themselves! and that israelite hostility toward the canaanites is perhaps precisely because they are so similar and so closely related.

anyway reception of the phoenicians is so cool