#torah posting

[geostatonary]

tonight in torah study: we learn about the transitive properties of holiness, sacrifices begin, and we try to solve a piece of clothing

[jewish-sideblog]

When I say Jews feel gaslit since October 7th I mean that these are the most frequent comments I get from “anti-Zionists”:

How dare you say (a thing I never said, that I don’t agree with, and that I actually publicly and explicitly oppose.)

Nobody is saying (a thing that multiple people are absolutely saying with their full chest. It’s on the news. We have people on camera saying that.)

And if you try to correct them you either get blocked immediately, or called an ethnic slur and then blocked. How would you feel in that situation?

[garlic-and-cloves]

How can people look at Hamas and think they are good?

How can they see how Hamas violently raped, murdered, and took hostage Israeli civilians on October 7th and support that?

How can anyone read how Hamas continued sexually assaulting, starving, and torturing those hostages and not say anything?

How can anyone hear how they just murdered 6 hostages 3 days ago so they'd be dead instead of rescued and not hate Hamas and what they've done?

How can anyone know how many ceasefires Hamas has broken, how they've launched rockets from hospitals, how they've prevented aid from getting to their own civilians and still see them as having done no wrong?

[etz-ashashiyot]

Okay so here's my dream, y'all ready?

A trope website that has all the weird trope: all the special munach cases, all the oddly-placed parts of phrases, all the really rare phrases.

This would be accomplished by organizing the site by phrase, and then going phrase by phrase in each pasuk for every parsha, haftarah, and chapter of megillah to pull out every example. Ideally, you could find any individual trope phrase by either name or by location in the text.

Each phrase would have a slow learner's version and a normal reading pace version. Ideally, this would be duplicated across different voices, so you could hear people with different pitches and tones of voice for each. It would also be amazing if it had it in multiple minhagim as well.

Anyway what other traditional egalitarian or otherwise progressive observant Jews want to build this with me?

[homoqueerjewhobbit]

Any other Jews think this ad is like pretty offensive? Like, that is the holiest name of god. If that particular Hebrew name of god is written in a book, that book has to be buried in a special cemetery. We don't even say it out loud. So maybe don't put it on a t-shirt?

Do you really wanna risk spilling turmeric latte on the name of God? Is it really OK to throw the tetragrammaton into the wash with your dirty undies?

Yeah, I'm not OK with this.

[internerdionality]

Rewatching Prince of Egypt as I write my haggadah for this year and pondering the changes they made to the story.

Arguably the biggest one is that in the Torah, Moses doesn't grow up unaware of his heritage. Miriam sees Pharoah's daughter find him and approaches her, suggesting that surely the princess will be in need of a good midwife. Pharoah's daughter agrees, and so Moses spends most of his early life with his *actual* mother. He is raised in two worlds, as both a Hebrew slave and an Egyptian royal, and it is the unbearable friction of these incompatible worlds that eventually forces him into his act of rebellion and leads to his exile in the desert.

I get why they made this change—it makes for a more relatable, easier-to-understand, and more dramatic narrative, with young adult Moses suddenly discovering his heritage and thus "waking up" to realize the injustice and inequality of his world.

But it also creates a (metaphorical) white savior narrative. In the Torah, Moses rises up *because* he is one of us, and becomes the leader because of his connection to God (and, possibly, because his privilege made his rebellion more likely to succeed—how many leaders of unsuccessful rebellions has our history forgotten?)

Moses in the film narrative, however, is very much one of the privileged elite, who rebels against the system only because he discovers his connection to the oppressed and it triggers a sympathy and empathy he had previously not felt at all.

In the Torah, when Moses says "let my people go," it is because he belongs to us.

In the film, it sounds like he thinks we belong to him.

[shalom-iamcominghome]

I'm forever obsessed with the ways in which we interpret g-d and what He's up to. This time, our rabbi was mentioning that we study Torah, but g-d studies the commentaries and what we have to say about it and I'm just thinking...

I'm imagining g-d sat at a desk illuminated by candlelight, and it's the middle of the night, and He gets to one part and He snaps His fingers and goes, "tsk! Why didn't I think of that?!" and keeps murmuring to Himself, "now that was a good one"

[jewish-microwave-laser]

jews who reject the longing for yerushalayim and eretz yisrael and believe there is no need for a jewish community in that land, i have a question—

what is your relationship with davening? what do you think about when you recite the amidah's texts of longing for redemption to the holy land, or when you shift between asking for dew to asking for rain that occurs on the last day of sukkos, or when you debate shmita (the law to stop agriculture in eretz yisrael every seven years to let the land rest), or other similar things? how do you feel about our religious holidays being tied to the climate cycle of eretz yisrael? is there a tension that you feel, and if so, how have you navigated it?

please feel free to respond to this post or send me an ask or a dm, i'm very interested in what you have to say

[turkwriter]

Jews when their friends, both IRL and online, didn't check in on them or express sympathy in any way on 10/07: Huh.

Jews when their friends, both IRL and online, went out and celebrated in the streets on 10/08: Huh!

Jews when their friends, both IRL and online, are now posting stuff from/about INN and JVP, going "Look how good THESE Jews are!": H U H !!!

[aelinfireheartgalathynius]

The discourse about Sarah J Maas being called a Zionist is giving witch hunt vibes at this point. Nothing I've seen has been conclusive at all. Just because she's a Jewish woman who went on birthright doesn't mean you should loudly denounce her as supporting genocide.

I am a Jewish woman who is pro-Palestine — so, not a Zionist — but who loves her Jewish diaspora culture. I have anti-zionist and non-zionist Jewish friends who went on Birthright because it's a free trip abroad. I know Jewish people who are staunch Israel supporters and I have Jewish friends going to pro-Palestine protests. Jews are not all one thing, and in fact it's ingrained in our culture that we have NEVER been one thing. There are Jews of all races, of all levels of religious belief, across the political and socioeconomic spectrum, scattered across the world.

If I were a semi-public figure (I say semi because Sarah has been clear that she is not the one posting on her public accounts and she doesn't have much interaction with fans outside of tours) people would probably have loud assumptions about me being a Zionist because I am publicly Jewish, I was a Jewish Studies minor in college, and I used to work at a synagogue. Guess what? I'm not a Zionist. I donate to UNWRA monthly, I do my clicks for Palestine, and I do my best to support with what I have. As a multi-disabled person that's all I can handle right now. If I were a semi-public figure I don't know if I would feel comfortable posting anything publicly either, because people are vicious and terrifying creatures. Sarah has a husband and child. She had gotten threats about fucking ship wars. This is so much more intense than ship wars.

Making these loud assumptions and calling for boycotting SJM, commenting on her social posts even though she isn't the one reading those comments — this is what antisemitism looks like. I know those of you who are angry at Sarah won't want to hear that, or will say that 'everything is antisemitic now' — which is a refrain that should raise red flags since it's the same argument other people use about transphobia, homophobia, racism, etc. You're the good guys, you support Palestine and you're anti-genocide and so on. But using stereotypes about an ethnic group to make assumptions and harass an individual of that ethnic group is not a good look even if you're convinced you're doing it for a good reason. Take that energy and put it toward spreading awareness, contacting politicians, attending protests, maybe even sharing messages from public figures who have posted publicly.

I understand that a lot of non-Jews (and a small number of Jews) are saying that it "has nothing to do" with Sarah being Jewish, it's just that she hasn't "used her platform." I implore you to consider why you are seeing and sharing such anger toward this one (fairly private) Jewish woman and not toward other prominent authors, especially those who are more active online, who have also not spoken out. Do some soul-searching and many of you may find that because Sarah is Jewish, you feel that she owes you a public stance more than other people. Because she is Jewish you feel confident enough to make an assumption about her views and post publicly about these assumptions. That is antisemitism at work. That is why this feels like a witch hunt to me, and why it is upsetting to watch.

As a reminder, I am pro-Palestine. I am not posting this to defend anyone. I am posting this to remind everyone that Jews are not all Zionists. Jews are not all one thing, ever. And deciding you get to hand down judgement on a Jewish person who has not shared their views publicly is antisemitism. It is deciding that you can assume negative things about Jewish people from afar. It is deciding that some antisemitism is actually okay — good, even, if you think it's warranted. I understand that people have other qualms with her writing, but those are not tied to her Jewishness, they're tied to her doing things like using the name Illyria and Illyrians for her ACOTAR series, etc, which is the kind of thing other fantasy authors have done over the years. Doesn't make it good or right but it certainly doesn't have anything to do with Palestine or Zionism.

If you disagree with me, please do not send hatred into my inbox. I am asking you to interact with this post thoughtfully. If your disagreement is going to be an explanation of how Jewish people owe the world every ounce of our energy, health, safety and lives, please step away and take a breath. I do not share your opinion. I have great admiration for those risking life and limb, risking jobs, risking arrest, to support Palestine. However, not everyone should be *required* to do all of those things, especially if you're disproportionately expecting those larger actions from Jews, thinking we "owe" it to the world.

Also, I want to be clear: This is not really about whether Sarah is a Zionist. It's about the fact that we don't know, and you cannot pretend to know. Most of the arguments I'm seeing are making a lot of assumptions, and that is the part that makes me uncomfortable.

If Sarah ends up being a Zionist, I still stand by this post, because it isn't about defending Sarah, it's about my hurt and disappointment in seeing people make assumptions rooted in antisemitism, assuming someone's views based on Jewishness and little else.

[waitingonavision]

Encantober Day 21: Age

As a child under b. mitzvah age, Antonio receives a special aliyah on the holiday Simchat Torah, which celebrates the "joy of Torah"—and the completion and new beginning of the annual Torah-reading cycle. Antonio not only gets called up to the teva (reading dais) to the recite the blessings over the Torah, but receives an extra blessing for children.

I've drawn him holding a plush Torah, because Simchat Torah also involves dancing with the scrolls. The shape of Antonio's plush resembles a tiq: a metal or wooden case in which a Torah scroll is kept according to Separdic (Spanish Jewish) custom. Mirabel made it with help from Moisés, my original Encanto character.

[geostatonary]

tonight in torah study: sacrifices, ordinations, and the inability of priests to double-dip on meals

[alefelul]

gonna expose myself as a kpoppie for a moment because korean soloist Eric Nam liked this post, and though I cannot emphasize how basic of an opinion this is people are calling to boycott his tour over it

apparently letting jews grieve is too radical and deserves to be punished

[garlic-and-cloves]

There's a specific version of Shalom Aleichem that I've only heard sung on Simchat Torah.

So, while I was listening to music, this started playing. And I just started crying, and haven't stopped since.

Simchat Torah has always been my favorite holiday. I love singing and dancing, I love Jewish joy, and I love that we have a whole holiday for that.

But this year, I was reminded why we need that holiday. And every time I think of Simchat Torah, I am reminded of that day, and all the days that have followed.

But today, hearing that song, I felt that joy again for the first time. I was reminded that being Jewish isn't all suffering, there are many many wonderful and joyous and beautiful parts too. I love being Jewish, and I wouldn't change it for the world.

[menlove]

first two people on this post (not ppl in the screencap) are trad cath & "torah follower (with yeshua) who believes in traditional biblical femininity" who are both extremely transphobic (shocking) and their og points had fatphobia bullshit so I cut off their comments bc these other two additions are really good and important to remember as we age!

practicing balance and mobility as you get older is important. you want to make sure you're able to get up off the floor in case of a fall (which was the og point). REGARDLESS of weight this should be possible, our bodies are really good at handling our weight bc not everyone is supposed to be stick thin. and if you can't, it's not because you're "unhealthy" or "overweight" it's bc your muscles and joints are out of practice w these things and they can build back up with practice

and if you still find that it's not getting easier, it's not because of your weight and you should go to a doctor to see if there's another underlying issue impairing your mobility

[homoqueerjewhobbit]

My sibling, a literal rabbi: can you chant Torah at our cousin's bar mitzvah? I find it very relaxing to learn.

Me: I haven't done this in 20 years and I will have actual nightmares about it, but sure, why not.