whatisachallah

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"Everything we do can be transformed into a Sinai experience, an encounter with the sacred. The goal of Judaism is not to teach us how to escape from the profane world to cleansing presence of God, but to teach us how to bring God into the world, how to take the ordinary and make it holy."

-Harold Kushner, To Life!

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"A young man studying for conversion turned to his teacher and said, 'But Rabbi Kushner, Fitzpatrick isn't a Jewish name.' To which Kushner replied, 'It will be.'"

— Choosing a Jewish Life, by Anita Diamant

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hi! i'm back. because i'm neurodivergent my special interests/hyperfixations wax and wane. going back to shul for the first time in months soon :)

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People Of The Book

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Apples have a huge place within Jewish herbalism and plant knowledge. Within Judaism, the separation of spiritual, ritualistic, and medicinal is nearly impossible to separate, existing within a holistic ecosystem that exists between Heaven and Earth. Apples are joyous and magical, tended to and cared for by humanity, and so much more.

To learn more about plants and Judaism, read this.

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In Judaism, faith is not acceptance but protest, against the world that is, in the name of the world that is not yet but ought to be. Faith lies not in the answer but the question – and the greater the human being, the more intense the question.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt"l, To Heal a Fractured World p.27

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my family and friends are generally very supportive of me no matter what but my dad and partner both lean toward the “organized religion is bad” variant of atheism because of their prior experiences (my dad grew up mormon so...lol) 

so i’m making a slideshow called Why I’m Converting To Judaism, complete with graphics and fun transitions

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It’s always impressed me that Judaism mandates that goodbyes be said with a certain amount of hope. We end Shabbat with havdalah, a beautiful ceremony concluded by extinguishing a twisted candle in sweet wine and singing a song asking for a week of peace and a time of redemption for humankind. Seders end with the promise ‘Next year in Jerusalem’. On Simchat Torah, we conclude the reading of the Torah by rolling back to its beginning. Funerals end with Kaddish, a prayer not about death but about the generous gift of life and God’s goodness. At the completion of shiva, the rabbi often takes the mourners out of their homes for a brief stroll that enacts literally what is meant symbolically – walking them back into life. 

Somehow Jews trust that every ending is also a beginning, that the broken hearted will again feel loved, and the sun will rise no matter how long or dark the night.

— Rabbi Steven Z Leder

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Prayer shawl (tallit) from Ruzhin, Ukrainian Bukovina. Early 20th century

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Jakob Steinhardt, In the Sukkah, 1923, Etching, the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

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In Judaism joy is the supreme religious emotion. Here we are, in a world filled with beauty. Every breath we breathe is the spirit of God within us. Around us is the love that moves the sun and all the stars. We are here because someone wanted us to be. The soul that celebrates, sings.

Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Studies in Spirituality, p. 258

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19th century Purim pastry stamps from Odessa, Ukraine. Pisces and Fish symbols are associated with the Jewish calendar month of Adar in which Purim occurs.

The Jewish Museum, New York City

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Jewish amulet from Galicia, western Ukraine, circa 1750

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Erech ha-Tefilot (Prieres de Soukoth), Imprimerie de Schiller, Paris 1854, Gross Family Collection // Erech ha-Tefilot (Prieres de Soukoth - Deuxieme Partie), Imprimerie de Schiller, Paris 1855, Gross Family Collection.

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i like that all it took was going to one (1) in person shabbat service at this one synagogue to solidify my intent to convert after several years of considering it

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Tefillin bag from Bessarabia, 1910

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update!! went to shabbat services for the first time and everyone was so friendly and welcoming. a bunch of older ladies wanted me to join their groups and complimented my tattoos lmao. and the rabbi was really cool. i was scared for nothing! and intro to judaism starts next sunday. my heart is full.