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leroibobo · 1 year ago

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a super abridged sequel about european jews (mostly ashkenazim)

to preface: the only reason i mention dna is because the origins of european jews is a /lot/ less straightforward and easy to explain than mena jewish history is. and also because z-onists mention it a lot. i think z-onists use dna as an argument that -srael isn't a settler-colonial project because:

they think dna is a valid "claim" to a piece of land, which misunderstands both the concept of indigeneity and that anyone can do/benefit from settler-colonialism despite their actual origins (see: latin american countries generally not having great relationship to indigenous communities, also see this article from decolonize palestine), and also that not everyone who's a victim of -sraeli settler-colonialism is "ethnically palestinian" (see: jerusalemite armenians)

influence from ethnic nationalism in europe which, despite what the most "enlightened europeans" will tell you, still heavily depends on how someone looks/ethnicity, and neither the grisly outcome of wwii nor anything any european countries did after ever really "solved" it (literally just ask any north caucasian their experience being a russian citizen. not to mention the treatment of romani)

there is a completely-unrelated-to-z-onism history of people denying that jewish people are the "real jews" (remember, judaism isn't a "universal religion" like christianity or islam) because the "real jews" would've converted to (insert relevant abrahamic religion here), which to z-onists ties back to their z-onism in that they see mentions of the very real settler-colonialism as this sort of thing (even if they don't tie it to religion), see point 1

most jews (overwhelmingly ashkenazi) nowadays who aren't in palestine live in america or other european settler-colonies that aren't occupied palestine where the general attitude was "judaism is a religion, not an ethnicity" because particularly ashkenazi jews in europe were very much seen as a different "race"/"ethnicity" and discriminated against for it. (europeans can tell different types of white people apart by the distance between their eyesockets.) it being seen as "just a religion" in the us was more or less a way to be safe. z-onists today don't like this because of reason 1, and to a more subconscious extent reason 3.

people who come from cultures based in "universal" religions/beliefs where anyone can convert and be a true believer (christianity and islam, for example) generally approach the topic of judaism from their own pov.

genetics can very easily slip into eugenics if you approach it from a political point of view. z-onists ultimately misuse facts for nationalist purposes, which causes people to be reactionary and use facts against them, and it becomes a whole mess of bullshit. both ashkenazi jewish and romani genetics have a history of being used, abused, and put under a microscope by europeans for a bunch of bullshit purposes (and z-onists continue this longstanding tradition today by doing it to palestinians) and i don't intend to do that here, only to clear things up.

so with that out of the way: the story in the torah of jewish origins is as much of an origin story as any other ethnic groups' at the end of the day, but that doesn't change that there is actual evidence that all "ethnic" european jews (ashkenazim, sephardim, italkim, and romaniote) descend from people who came from the middle east and converted/intermarried with locals in greek colonies/roman italy. the oldest jewish groups in europe are romaniotes (greek) and italkim (italian) - they largely stayed in the general area, though romaniotes also expanded to to the balkans and even up to what's today poland, ukraine, and western russia.

from there it gets murky. a ton of jews moved west into areas of former andalusia and the frankish empire. from there we get the "separation" between ashkenazi (german) jews and sephardic (spanish) jews. both of them eventually became "centers" of judaism on their own right and many jewish people moved back-and-forth between the middle east and europe, and between "ashkenaz" and "sepharad", and this movement between jewish populations would continue up to the 19th century. (for example: a lot of sephardim have the surname "ashkenazi" because their ancestors moved to andalusia from germany.) there were most likely other, much smaller jewish populations who moved to other parts of the continent not mentioned and eventually became ashkenazified or sephardicized (like the ones who might've spoken knaanic).

and yes, there were absolutely converts, even if eventually not that many later on (who would wanna willingly become a member of a persecuted group). according to dna testing, most of these converts were back in antiquity in italy, greece, and even north africa (see study i linked previously) with only a minimal amount were outside of that. jewish communities in both places were endogamous and - in the case of ashkenazis - eventually bottlenecked to a point where they became more or less not very genetically diverse. they sort of became their own ethnicity in a way. this phenomenon follows a common pattern of history - pretty much everyone in the world is "mixed", some more recently than others.

like every jewish diaspora, european jews assimilated to a good degree and spoke ethnolects (ladino, yevanic, etc) of the regions they stayed in, and their "ethnic" stuff was very much also tied to religion (considering how most of their european neighbors saw them, more on that later) with a "local" twist. yiddish kind of an exception to the ethnolects in a way - for one, it only developed around 1300 ce, it has a romance substrate, and it eventually gained a lot of eastern european influences as it went further east (ashkenazi culture is similarly mixed, remember, it's sort of a fusion between two jewish groups, like many mena jews becoming "sephardicized" those jews became "ashkenazified" eventually.) it was easier to keep one language and not continuously change it if you had to move from place to place.

eventually stuff like the expulsions from spain pushed sephardim out of the iberian peninsula and to other places, and the first crusades pushed ashkenazim further east. sephardim for the most part managed to stay comparatively stable in their new places of residence (not that discrimination didn't happen, or that it never happened that they had to leave for somewhere else bc of antisemitism. i detail this more in the op).

ashkenazim, on the other hand, followed a historical pattern of exiled from place > go to place that offered refuge > new antisemitic leader rose up > exiled from place. (sephardim were also in spain a lot longer than ashkenazim were in germany - large-scale jewish settlement on the rhine only began in about 800, from then to the crusades is a meager 200 years.) yes, there were times of prosperity, but there were also a lot of bad times - and ashkenazi jews had it a lot worse - probably the worst - for most of history. many of those countries didn't really see them as much citizens as the other residents, or didn't see them as citizens at all. (immigrants in europe are still a lot of the time not seen as "real" citizens even if they've been there for generations, for example turks in germany.) most were made to live separately, forced into certain jobs (jews were mostly relegated to jobs regarding money, which was seen as jobs not befitting christians, hence the merchant/greed/rich stereotype), severely restricted in movement, and forced to assimilate until and even after the jewish emancipation. (sound familiar?) antisemitism was still very much continuing after that though, at this point (since we're past the enlightenment and religion isn't as big of a thing as it once was) because of "race science".

(a good example of the forcible assimilation is ashkenazi last names - ashkenazim were some of the last europeans to get them, before which they largely used the "x, son/daughter of y" format. the germanic/slavic last names were for the most part given out by governments because a. austria-hungarian empire imposed german names bc they were german elitists and b. russian empire gave out german names just bc they were easier to give out, but also slavic bc of the assimilation, different areas generally had different attitudes about which last names they gave. this isn't unique to ashkenazim, some other jewish populations have similar last names without the ties - for example some "kurdish" jews have last names relating to kurdish tribes because they were literally from the town the tribe's name originated from, not because they were a part of the tribe.)

as a consequence, most ashkenazim did not have as much of a "tie" to their "home countries", because most not only deeply antisemitic ("semitic" to refer to jewish people originates with 18th century german "race scientists" btw), but didn't consider them citizens for a very long time. "ties" were by an large seen as a way to keep themselves safe, even if they were "genuine" ties. a good overview of this phenomenon can be seen in hannah arendt's (an antizionist in her own right) essay we refugees. this is why a vast majority also moved to the us (and other european colonies, like south africa) when they had the opportunity, and where the assimilation with whiteness/"just a religion" attitude came from. not that there wasn't antisemitism over there, but they had an opportunity to "start over" in a place where antisemitism wasn't systemic there like it more or less was/is in europe. (and, ofc, "white" ultimately ended up applying to them.)

this is also why z-onism is super duper ashkenazi. because of [ashkenazi] history, they saw any attempt at "assimilation" as futile because it'd just happen again, and being a "jew" and another "nationality" were mutually exclusive because they were always just jews at the end of the day according to european governments throughout history. the diaspora/diasporic cultures were also something they saw as inherently tied to oppression. (and not palestinian/sephardic/mizrahi ones, which combined with orientalism led to appropriation. nothing wrong with wanting to abandon elements of your culture, or maybe your culture altogether - i think we all do to different points - but the contradictions and power here are pretty obvious.) the initial z-onists likely saw colonialism as a way to "liberate" themselves, and thought the problem was having "left" in the first place, similar to what happened with liberia.

ofc though, like liberia, they'd been living in europe for 1,000 years and were approaching it from a very eurocentric/essentialist and eventually "terra nullis" pov. (and the contemporaneous, reactionary yiddishist movements were largely the same (except without the third one) and never (and still don't, sorry to any yiddishists reading this) addressed the real problem.) many european jews initially disagreed with z-onism (it was europe who was wrong after all, as arendt stated in we refugees) but eventually because of a bunch of historical circumstances, here we are today.

so, ironically, the very thing that managed to keep ashkenazim safe in european colonies (and white-er sephardim too, ftr, the first jews in the americas were sephardic and there was even a few in the confederate government) ended up oppressing palestinians. from a jewish (as in generally jewish, this spread to jews of all stripes nowadays) z-onist's pov, "indigenous people" were who considered their ancestors alien and exiled them over and over, so why should they care about another "indigenous people" saying the same? or, more recently (and in a huge bout of cognitive dissonance), they're also "indigenous" to palestine, and rulers of other places throughout history didn't think they were "indigenous" to whatever countries they ended up in, see the list of reasons i gave at the beginning of this post...

of course, this is combined with the whole colonizer-fear-of-retribution thing and can't be seen standing on its own. (not so much for people repeating this rhetoric from, like, the us but that's another thing.) but liberating palestine and fighting against antisemitism are not mutually exclusive. we can't go back to the social relations of the past at this point, which is why imo we need one democratic state.

some notes on specifically "middle eastern" (mashriqi + iran, caucuses, and turkey) jewish communities/history:

something to keep in mind: judaism isn't "universalist" like christianity or islam - it's easier to marry into it than to convert on your own. conversions historically happened, but not in the same way they did for european and caucasian christians/non-arab muslims.

that being said, a majority of middle eastern jews descend from jewish population who remained in palestine or immigrated/were forced (as is the case with "kurdish" jews) from palestine to other areas and mixed with locals/others who came later (which at some point stopped). pretty much everywhere in the middle east and north africa (me/na) has/had a jewish population like this.

with european jews (as in all of them), the "mixing" was almost entirely during roman times with romans/greeks, and much less later if they left modern-day greece/italy.

(none of this means jewish people are or aren't "indigenous" to palestine, because that's not what that word means.)

like with every other jewish diaspora, middle eastern jewish cultures were heavily influenced by wherever they ended up. on a surface level you can see this in things like food and music.

after the expulsion of jews from spain and portugal, sephardim moved to several places around the world; many across me/na, mostly to the latter. most of the ones who ended up in the former went to present-day egypt, palestine, lebanon, syria, and turkey. a minority ended up in iraq (such as the sassoons' ancestors). like with all formerly-ottoman territories, there was some degree of back and forth between countries and continents.

some sephardim intermarried with local communities, some didn't. some still spoke ladino, some didn't. there was sometimes a wealth gap between musta'arabim and sephardim, and/or they mostly didn't even live in the same places, like in palestine and tunisia. it really depends on the area you're looking at.

regardless, almost all the jewish populations in the area went through "sephardic blending" - a blending of local and sephardic customs - to varying degrees. it's sort of like the cultural blending that came with spanish/portugese colonization in central and south america (except without the colonization).

how they were treated also really depends where/when you're looking. some were consistently dealt a raw hand (like "kurdish" and yemenite jews) while some managed to do fairly well, all things considered (like baghdadi and georgian jews). most where somewhere in between. the big difference between me/na + some balkan and non-byzantine european treatment of jews is due to geography - attitudes in law regarding jews in those areas tended to fall into different patterns.

long story short: most european governments didn't consider anyone who wasn't "christian" a citizen (sometimes even if they'd converted, like roma; it was a cultural/ethnic thing as well), and persecuted them accordingly; justifying this using "race science" when religion became less important there after the enlightenment.

most me/na and the byzantine governments considered jews (and later, christians) citizens, but allowed them certain legal/social opportunities while limiting/banning/imposing others. the extent of both depend on where/when you're looking but it was never universally "equal".

in specifically turkey, egypt, palestine, and the caucuses, there were also ashkenazi communities, who came mainly because living as a jew in non-ottoman europe at the time sucked more than in those places. ottoman territories in the balkans were also a common destination for this sort of migration.

in the case of palestine, there were often religious motivations to go as well, as there were for some other jews who immigrated. several hasidic dynasites more or less came in their entirety, such as the lithuanian/polish/hungarian ones which precede today's neutrei karta.

ashkenazi migration didn't really happen until jewish emancipation in europe for obvious reasons. it also predates zionism - an initially secular movement based on contemporaneous european nationalist ideologies - by some centuries.

most ashkenazi jews today reside in the us, while most sephardic or "mizrahi" jews are in occupied palestine. there, the latter outnumber the former. you're more likely to find certain groups (like "kurds" and yemenites) in occupied palestine than others (like persians and algerians) - usually ones without a western power that backed them from reactionary antisemitic persecution and/or who came from poorer communities. (and no, this doesn't "justify" the occupation).

(not to say there were none who immigrated willingly/"wanted" to go, or that none/all are zionist/anti-zionist. (ben-gvir is of "kuridsh" descent, for example.) i'm not here to parse motivations.)

this, along with a history of racism/chauvinism from the largely-ashkenazi "left", are why many mizrahim vote farther "right".

(in some places, significant numbers of the jewish community stayed, like turkey, tunisia, and iran. in some others, there's evidence of double/single-digit and sometimes crypto-jewish communities.)

worldwide, the former outnumber the latter. this is thought to be because of either a medieval ashkenazi population boom due to decreased population density (not talking about the "khazar theory", which has been proven to be bullshit, btw) or a later, general european one in the 18th/19th centuries due to increased quality of life.

the term "mizrahi" ("oriental", though it doesn't have the same connotation as in english) in its current form comes from the zionist movement in the 1940s/50s to describe me/na jewish settlers/refugees.

(i personally don't find it useful outside of israeli jewish socio-politics and use it on my blog only because it's a term everyone's familiar with.)

about specifically palestinian jews:

the israeli term for palestinian jews is "old yishuv". yishuv means settlement. this is in contrast to the "new yishuv", or settlers from the initial zionist settlement period in 1881-1948. these terms are usually used in the sense of describing historical groups of people (similar to how you would describe "south yemenis" or "czechoslovaks").

palestinian jews were absorbed into the israeli jewish population and have "settler privilege" on account of their being jewish.

they usually got to keep their property unless it was in an "arab area". there's none living in gaza/the west bank right now unless they're settlers.

their individual views on zionism vary as much as any general population's views vary on anything.

(my "palestinian jews" series isn't intended to posit that they all think the same way i do, but to show a side of history not many people know about. any "bias" only comes from the fact that i have a "bias" too. this is a tumblr blog, not an encyclopedia.)

during the initial zionist settlement period, there were palestinian/"old yishuv" jews who were both for zionism and against it. the former have been a part of the occupation and its government for pretty much its entire history.

some immigrated abroad before 1948 and may refer to themselves as "syrian jews". ("syria" was the name given to syria/lebanon/palestine/some parts of iraq during ottoman times.)

ones who stayed or immigrated after for whatever reason mostly refer to themselves as "israeli".

in israeli jewish society, "palestinian" usually implies muslims and christians who are considered "arab" under israeli law. you may get differing degrees of revulsion/understanding of what exactly "palestine"/"palestinians" means but the apartheid means that palestinian =/= jewish.

because of this, usage of "palestinian" as a self-descriptor varies. your likelihood of finding someone descendent from/with ancestry from the "old yishuv" calling themselves a "palestinian jew" in the same way an israeli jew with ancestry in morocco would call themselves a "moroccan jew" is low.

(i use it on here because i'm assuming everyone knows what i mean.)

samaritans aren't 'jewish', they're their own thing, though they count as jewish under israeli law.

#jewish #info

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cottoncandytrafficcones · 4 months ago

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People like to portray Judaism as a "European" religion so here's all the love to the non-European Sephardic (Turkish, Latin American, North African, Middle Eastern, Hong Kong, Singapore, etc.), Mizrahim (Egyptian, Lebanese, Syrian, etc.), Teimanim, Maghrebim (Moroccan, Tunisian, Libyan, etc.), Beta Israel, Indian Jews (Cochin, Bene Menashe, Bene Israel, Paradesi, etc.), Jews of China (Kaifeng, Ningbo), Latino Jews, converts, Persians, Bukharians, Mountain Jews, and more.

Also f u you here's love to the Ashkenazim and the Krymchaks and the Georgian Jews and the Sephardim who settled in European lands after the expulsion and Italkim and more.

#jewish #jews are diverse. we're all over the world #and if you don't realize that well. here you go #judaism #jumblr

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ask-jumblr · 5 years ago

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Hello! My family just found out, through some genealogical research, that we are significantly of Jewish background on my father’s side from Calabria, Italy (specifically Catanzaro region from the towns of Albi and Fossatto). I believe we are of Sephardic descent, but possibly of Italkim descent as well, based on the multiple settlements in that region. Anything you can tell me about Italian Jewish traditions?

Mod here. Just to make it clear for respondents, @realbipolarmood is looking to learn about her ancestor’s traditions, not to take on Jewish practices.

Much thanks! (Todah rabah!) !תּוֹדָה רַבָּה

#Italkim #Italian Jews #Calabria Italy #Calabria #Italy #Cantazaro Italy #Cantazaro #Albi Italy #Fossatto Italy #Albi #Fossattoo #Jewish ancestry #realbipolarmood

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herrosesneverfall · 7 years ago

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I made Hanukkah Precipizi! My first attempt at making them. I'm not sure if I made my ancestors proud but I tried.

Hanukkah Sameach!

#judaism #jumblr #happy hanukkah #hanukkah #hanukkah sameach #italian jews #Italkim

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bonyassfish · 2 years ago

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#jumblr #Jewish #judaism #jewish posting #polls #Jewish poll #ashkenazi jew #sephardi jewish #mizrahi jews #jewish people #jewish tumblr #jews of tumblr

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matzmerkelroleplay · 2 years ago

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Jacopo Levi (20 aprile 2005) è un soldato dell'unità Oketz nell'IDF (Israel Defense Force) e di origini italkim.

È attualmente single

Breve biografia

Jacopo Levi nasce il 20 aprile 2005 a Tel Aviv in Israele da una famiglia ebraica italiana sfuggita dall'evento dell'olocausto e collaborato temporaneamente con l'Italia di Mussolini e la Germania di Hitler tramite l'accordo Haavara e la milizia Irgun ostile alla Gran Bretagna pur di ottenere uno stato ebraico fuori dai territori europei.

Nel 2022, Jacopo viene reclutato nell'esercito dell'IDF (Israel Defense Force) nell'unità Oketz iniziando l'addestramento anche con il suo cane Marco.

Nel 2023, Jacopo fece una breve visita a New York e fece amicizia con Felix Foster con il quale condivide l'idea che gli ebrei che vivono all'estero odiano Israele e che i palestinesi non sono affidabili per la pace in Medioriente.

Il 27 gennaio, Jacopo chiude l'amicizia con Felix Foster perché quest'ultimo si è alleato con un musulmano antisionista, Marwan Ibn Youssef che guarda negativamente il sionismo e i sionisti in generale e questo contraddice quello che aveva concordato in precedenza Felix Foster nei giorni passati notando che quest'ultimo è disonesto.

Il 29 gennaio, Jacopo rimane sconvolto nel sapere non solo che sua cugina Margherita Sforno era ossessionata con Felix Foster al tal punto che non voleva accettare che la loro relazione era finita da molto tempo e che quest'ultimo ha voluto segretare in Tunisia sua cugina e il figlio avuto da lei in modo illegittimo e comprende che Felix Foster ora è diventato più violento del solito e che il partito GOP è sempre stato antisemita e fascista nei suoi atteggiamenti al tal punto di supportare gli ebrei sionisti più estremisti con le retoriche che lo terrorrizzano.

Nonostante la retorica del partito repubblicano del GOP oppure l'evento che sua cugina Margherita Sforno è stata messa in segretazione in un edificio in Tunisia con suo figlio Felix Sforno, Jacopo scelse di votare il partito Likud lasciando vincere un partito di destra e fece inviare una lettera a Felix Foster per fare una riconciliazione sul sionismo,supportare i discedenti degli ebrei che supportavano Irgun e organizzazioni simili e ostilità verso Iran.

Il 30 gennaio, Jacopo ottiene una risposta positiva da Felix Foster che tuttavia cerca di non farsi notare dal suo alleato Marwan Ibn Youssef o dal presidente libico Fayez el-Badri sulle intenzioni sioniste di ala destra e anti palestinese.

Il 9 febbraio, Jacopo continua a offendere e discriminare il suo collega Amir Menashe per il suo colore della pelle, perché sembra fisicamente un arabo e perché vota per il partito arabo israeliano The Joint List.

Il 14 febbraio, Jacopo rimane sconvolto dopo aver saputo in seguito la morte del suo alleato neo fascista Felix Foster per mano dei ribelli libici di Muhammad al-Husseini tuttavia continuò a sfrattare i palestinesi dalle loro case e trattarli con razzismo e xenofobia essendo un ebreo bianco supremacista che supporta il Likud ed è l'opposto del suo collega Amir Menashe di origini libiche.

Personalità:

La risolutezza e l’impulsività dell’Ariete sono addolcite dal tatto della diplomazia e da un maggiore rispetto per la sensibilità altrui, tipici della Bilancia. Può manifestare sensibilità estetica e inclinazioni creative e artistiche che vanno assolutamente incoraggiate.

Informazioni:

Luogo di nascita: Tel Aviv, Israele

Luogo di residenza: Tel Aviv, Israele

Etnia: Italkim

Nazionalità: Israeliano

Professione: Soldato

Animali: Marco (cane)

Segno zodiacale: Ariete ascendente bilancia

Partito politico che vota: Likud (origini fasciste e terroristiche attraverso il suo antenato Irgun)

Orientamento sessuale: Eterosessuale

Religione: Ebraismo ortodosso

Lingue: Italiano,Inglese,Ebraico e Yiddish

Parenti:

Fabio Levi (padre,deceduto)

Clara Sforno (madre)

Paola Levi (sorella)

Fabio Levi Jr (fratellastro da parte del padre)

Angela Levi (sorella)

Omar Levi (fratello,deceduto)

Edoardo Levi (fratello,deceduto)

Augusto Levi (fratello,deceduto)

Ida Levi (sorella)

Margherita Sforno (cugina materna,deceduta)

Felix Sforno (cugino di II grado, figlio di Margherita,deceduto)

Prestavolto:

Golan Rom

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emrysmerlinambrose · 2 months ago

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I'm gonna add a term explanation for some things for this post rq

"off the derech" literally means "off the path". It's someone who was Orthodox but isn't anymore

Masorti is also known as conservative is a denomination that believes the mitzvot (laws) are binding but not that you have to follow all of them. They aren't as strict as Orthodox but not as loose as Reform

Reconstructionist views the Talmud as binding but also sees Jewish life as an ever evolving thing. They believe that you should keep tradition but modernize some aspects.

Tefillin are 2 long leather straps that have boxes with scrolls where some psalms are written, one that you wrap along your arm and one that you tie on your head, adult Rabbinic Jewish men pray with them during morning prayer at least once a week but it's suggested to be every day. Only Orthodox men really do it anymore however. (Women can pray tefillin but it's not super common)

Magen David is a star of David but it literally translates to "Shield of David"

A mezuzah is a scroll that you put on a door frame for protection. Some people also wear the scroll on a pendant for the same protection. This isn't technically kosher but no one wearing one gives a shit (me included).

Peyot are the 2 little side curls that you will see on a lot of very Orthodox (Haredi) men. It comes from a law about not rounding the corners of your head when you cut your hair. Less Orthodox men (like modern Orthodox and some Chabadniks) will just not shave their sideburns.

Karaites are a diaspora that does not believe that the Talmud (the oral law) is the word of God and don't see it as binding. There are 2 main groups within this and that is Crimean (Ukraine) and Egyptian. Crimeans speak a different language which is why I specified which he is.

Karaites are extremely different from rabbinates and especially ashkis. We have very different liturgy, minhag (traditions), physical way that we pray, and set up for services. While we physically are doing mostly the same prayers (we don't have some newer prayers like Lecha Dodi [the bride of shabbat] which was added by Italkim [Italian Jews]) it doesn't feel even remotely similar.

Hanukkah is one of 2 Rabbinic holidays (the other being Lag BaOmer) so any non Rabbinic Jews, like Karaites, largely don't do them

Karaites still do the full posteration when we pray. It looks very similar to Muslim prayer with some notable differences but at first glance it would very much look Muslim prayer especially without a tallit or prayer book.

Oseh Shalom is a prayer for peace "one who creates peace in heaven bring peace to all people and to all Jews"

Inspired by @goatgoesmbe 's Muslim Gaz as well as them encouraging me on my other account so I'm gonna write some Jewish Ghost head cannons. I'm gonna write some Jewish Ghost x Jewish Reader later but I have class in the morning so later.

Since he's a brit he's almost definitely Ashkenazi but honestly I'm probably gonna mix and match some stuff cause I like having other diaspora rep.

Ashkenazi

His mother is Jewish and his dad is an Anti-theist

Raised general Orthodox but went off the derech as he got older

Still holds a special place in his heart for aspects of orthodoxy because he always associated it with his mom and the soft kindness of his community

First language is Yiddish (yes I know it's not common anymore shush)

Had a really thick Yiddish accent as a kid but it's become much more of a mix of Yiddish and Manc the less he's spoken it. He's somehow becomes less understandable because of that though.

Sits somewhere between Masorti and Reconstructionist but likes going to Masorti services cause they are long and slow

Prays every single day. You bet he's getting up even before the ass crack of dawn to make sure he can pray in the morning. A rookie caught him praying the tefillin once and no one would believe them.

Doesn't consistently wear a magen David but always has a mezuzah necklace that he refuses to take off

Had a fully shaved head minus his peyot for a while but no one would have ever known cause it was under his mask

Sleeps in a kippah cause he got so used to doing it as a kid he can't sleep without it now

Karaite (because I am)

His mom very heavily infused him with pride in his identity and to never confirm no matter how many people told him he should

His mom is an Egyptian Karaite and immigrated from Egypt

Because of his mom he speaks Judeo-arabic fluently (which no one ever expects cause he got his dad's translucent skin)

Felt super out of place with the other Jews in the military since he was the only Karaite

Didn't know how to tell people when he was earlier into his service that he didn't celebrate Hanukkah cause it's a Rabbinic holiday (especially since it was the only one people ever bring up and/or know). As he got more confident he just very bluntly tells people and has to hold in his laughter when it makes them extremely uncomfortable.

Loves to talk shit in Arabic with Muslim Gaz even though neither of them are supposed to.

Confused the ever loving fuck out of the rest of the 141 when they say him praying for the first time. "I thought you were Jewish?" "I am" "then what the hell was that?". (Karaites pray very similarly to Muslims).

Wears his mom's very feminine magen David that she gave him before he was shipped off for the first time and refuses to take it off. He truly believes it's the only thing keeping him alive through it all.

Is extremely superstitious. He has multiple amulets and prayers tattooed because he never wants to even possibly lose one and be left bare.

Gives various curses out as he's doing jobs that work surprisingly well. Wishing every evil eye upon someone or for their name to be erased from life and memory tends to strike a certain message.

He also has Oseh Shalom tattooed cause even though he is a soldier all he truly wants is peace

#jewish ghost #jewish!ghost #Jewish! Simon #jewish simin riley #jewish headcanons #cod ghost #cod simon ghost riley #simon ghost riley #simon riley #ghost call of duty

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