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adelle-ein · 3 months

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god knows there's a lot of antisemitic microaggressions from "friends" that i'm willing to let slide. genuinely my standards aren't that high. which is obvious based on the people i was friends with pre-oct 7th lol. but like i do have limits and those limits have been crossed by

expressing a desire to join hamas/the houthis

expressing open support for hamas and oct 7th

referring to oct 7th as "legitimate resistance/oppressed rising up/revolution/freedom fighting"

denying oct 7th happened at all

insisting shani louk is alive (she is not, while her family had hope at first they have since found pieces of her she could not have survived losing)

joking about october 7th

joking about the holocaust

saying jews didn't "learn their lesson" from the holocaust

denying the holocaust

denying other jewish genocides

mocking the hostages and their families

wishing death on the hostages

using "zio"

saying israelis need to go back to brooklyn/florida/poland/etc

saying jews were and have always been well-treated in MENA regions

openly fetishizing and lying about mizrahi/sephardic jews

saying antisemitism doesn't exist/is over

saying ashkenazism don't face antisemitism

saying judaism is a dominant world religion

saying zionists/AIPAC/israel are controlling companies/the government/biden/trump/US military/US police/hollywood

mocking hebrew and jewish culture

mocking jewish holidays

treating jewish holidays as inherently evil

saying that israeli government crimes are being done in "our [jews'] names" and we bear the guilt for it

saying "happy [jewish holiday/memorial day] now stop doing genocide!!!"

saying diaspora jews are okay but not israeli ones

saying all israelis need to die/deserve to die/are settlers who therefore deserve to die

saying jews have no culture/stole all culture from muslims/arabs/christians

open insane blood libel conspiracies about (for example) israelis kidnapping blonde palestinian children or digging up graves for organ/skin theft

referring to israeli "blood money"

spreading and endorsing neo-nazis

spreading and endorsing holocaust deniers and other bigots ie norman finkelstein

spreading and endorsing avowed tankies, NK/russia supporters, and deniers of the ukrainian/uyghur/armenian/syrian/etc genocides

spreading rhetoric from other hate groups ie neturei karta

sharing cartoons of octopi, big-nosed evil men, netanyahu and co eating babies, etc

spreading conspiracy theories about spotify or tumblr or what the fuck ever being controlled by """zionist""" CEOs (and even explicitly stating they're jewish when they often aren't)

belittling ANY anti-antisemitism movement as anti-palestinian

using terms like "zionist rats/pigs/filth"

"all zionists should die/kill themselves/aren't human/should be gassed"

"the zionist entity/zionist state"

"hitler loved israel/was a zionist"

"[x] is worse than the holocaust"/"the holocaust is the only genocide that's taken seriously bc it's a genocide of white people"/"get over the holocaust"

being creepy and ogling about the token good jews that meet your insane standards

weighing in on deeply personal intracommunity jewish discussions in horrible ways

telling Good Jews that you’re so sorry about how isolated they’re being by the majority of jews, which are Bad Jews

saying not to donate to palestinian aid groups bc it could make israel money bc israel controls all the aid groups apparently bc they're just so greedy and want so much money

did i mention je-isra-zionists really love money

movements against "zionism in medicine" and other witch hunts against "zionist" (jewish) people in professions

participating in mass harassment movements and callouts against random jews online asking people to stop being antisemitic

openly calling for violence against jews and/or israelis

claims of dual loyalty against diaspora jews

support the american south bc they're victims of their government too (true) but kill all the israelis bc they definitely support every action taken by their government (hm)

jokes and memes. the fucking memes. you're monsters

"but lace, this is hyperbole, surely nobody is actually saying these things " -- these are all literally, exactly, personally things my "friends" and mutuals have said and reblogged/retweeted since october 7th. if you're reading this now there is a 99% chance you are one of them.

and yes i fucking hate the israeli government. what is happening in palestine is evil. i'm a nonzionist jew.

but i know that's not enough. unless you're a token in "jewish" voice for """peace""" willing to say "kill every single israeli and the holocaust wasn't a big deal and 10/7 didn't happen and antisemitism isn't real and i have never been afraid as a jew in my life" you're one of Them. Being pro palestine or even antizionist isn't enough, you have to want your whole family dead and you can't say a fucking word about the way you're treated by your lovely leftist "allies". oh and you better post about it! constantly! 24/7!!!! or you're secretly a zionist who loves dead palestinian babies! probably personally killing them yourself! you filthy ki- er, zionist rat!

so, yeah, if you think i'm one of Them, that's fine. feel free to block me, i'd much prefer if you did. and let me be clear that jews are not exempt from this either. it's reprehensible regardless

i am not your fucking good jew. If you have ever thought of me as one, fuck you. You are not my good goy, either. Fuck your bugs bunny "i wish all my jewish mutuals a happy rosh hashanah." Fuck your "pictures of African Jews worshipping" tokenism and "jews fighting god" memes. Fuck your nazi punches and your Anne Frank headcanons. Fuck all your disgusting pats on the back and keep my fucking name out of your mouth. If you can't stop reblogging blood libel then I don't want to see another goddamn WORD of it.

#txt #lacevent #antisemitism

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aeshnalacrymosa · 7 months

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My inspiration for Aya la bruja (clockwise):

Saint Teresa de Ávila - Spanish mystic and saint, descended from conversos (Sephardic Jews that converted to Catholicism to avoid expulsion from Spain); I got Aya's basic face shape from her.

The Cut-Wife - minor character from the horror series Penny Dreadful; a witch or "daywalker" that uses her magic for good though her definition of good is a little different

Vanessa Ives - main character from the horror series Penny Dreadful; learned magic from the Cut-Wife; a devout Catholic; is being hunted down by demons

Baba Yaga - possibly an inspiration for the Cut-Wife; famous witch from Slavic folklore

Tzipporah - wife of Moses; her depiction in The Prince of Egypt has amber eyes, which I think are very pretty

Saint Hildegard von Bingen - German mystic and saint; besides having written books on theology and music, she also wrote multiple books on health and the human body; having died at age 81 in 1179 gives credence to her health practice

Late entry for Week 1 of @encanto-extended-edition

#encanto oc #encanto original character #encanto oc event #encanto oc appreciation #aeshna's fics #aeshna's art

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gremlinsinthegarden · 2 months

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I just found out there's something in the Harry Potter universe in America called Rappaport's Law. Apparently the MACUSA leader in 1790 was Emily Rappaport and some scandal happened and she made a law separating magical and nonmagical people.

Okay, here's my problem. My father's last name is Rappaport. It's a Jewish surname with a long history and is one of the "priestly"/kohenic names. More importantly, it's an Ashkenazi name. In the 1790, there were between 1000-2000 Jews in the US and the majority of them were Sephardic.

What's the odds that an Orthodox Ashkenazi Jewish woman from a male-priestly background is going to be Head Witch In Charge? Where did JKR even find that name? Did she pick it out of "minority names" hat?

I don't even know what my exact beef here is. I hate the JKR version of the US, and her randomly namedropping my family just pissed me off.

#rappaport #jewish name #actually jewish #harry potter #macusa #jk rowling #historically inaccurate

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soul-ishah · 4 years

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Senyor del Mundo,

Ke vaiga i venga.

Mal ke no tenga.

Kaminos de leche i miel,

Kaminos buenos,

Ke me guadre el dio todo mal.

Lord of the universe ,

May I go and return.

May nothing bad happen to me.

Paths of milk and honey,

Good paths,

May the Lord guide me from all evil.

-A Ladino folk prayer

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secular-jew · 6 years

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Diaspora diatribe

As a diaspora Jew longing for Aliya, I engaged a search for “Diaspora” blogs on tumblr. So much exile angst was not unexpected. However, I found that most blogs had nothing whatsoever to do with the Jewish diaspora. Either the adjective has been completely dumbed-down to the point of nonsensicalness, or everybody’s lost and can’t get home. Such a treasure trove of souls yearning to reclaim their physical or emotional homeland.

There’s: the Ghana Diaspora, Persian Diaspora, Black Diaspora, Anatolian Diaspora, Haiti Diaspora, Appalachian Diaspora, the Tejano Diaspora, Asian Diaspora, Harlem Diaspora, Children of Bangladeshi Diaspora, Diaspora Europe, African Diaspora, The Irish Diaspora, Rural Diaspora, the Japanese Diaspora in Brazil, the Nubian Diaspora, the Iridescent Diaspora, Korean Diaspora, Eusko Diaspora, Queer The Diaspora, the Jamaican Diaspora, the Indian Diaspora Project, Alien Diaspora, Libanus Diaspora, Diaspora’s Daughter, the Basketball Diaspora, Diaspora in Canada, Comedy Diaspora, The Dance Diaspora Collective, The Witches Diaspora, The East Lansing Poetry Diaspora. There’s also a “Thought Diaspora” - Heck, there’s even a Detroit Diaspora.

As it pertains to the Jewish Diaspora - that is Jews living in exile from Judea over the millennia: I did acquire and can recommend a few blogs worth the follow:

decolonizejewish

The Jewish Diaspora

West African Jews of the Diaspora

Reimagining Sephardic Diaspora

Jewish Diaspora Ryan Gosling

witch-of-the-diaspora

Temple Beth Discourse

jewishmagpie

egowave

intergalactic-ashkenazi

returnofthejudai

ENJOY

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will-o-the-witch · 2 years

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I have a question for you that I hope does not come off as disrespectful or offensive, apologies in advance if that is the case.

To my understanding (from what Jewish friends have explained to me) Judaism is an enthoreligion, meaning that it is... Well both an ethnic group and a religious group. Meaning that one is a Jew even when not religious if their parents/the family they were raised in are.

Case in point, a few of the aforementioned friends are atheists, and earnestly they participate in Jewish traditions and cultural practices (religious or otherwise) because it's still their culture, even if they do not believe in the religion in on itself.

But (and here's the part that may be offensive) doesn't "being a witch" actively oppose this? After all, I wouldn't call a man born Christan a Christian if he had converted to Islam and prayed in a mosque, even if he and his family still had a Christian heritage/background. So wouldn't the fact that you ascribe to a new/different set of explicitly religious and cultural practices also "break" this connection?

Howdy! :) I'm going to answer in bullet points for my own ease:

Like you said, there are many many ways to be a Jew! For some people it is more cultural than religious, and if you are part of the Jewish People you don't just Stop Being Jewish based on your behavior.

Judaism and witchcraft aren't inherently opposed, and many Jewish witches are very devout! Even if it's not the most Orthodox interpretation, someone's unique approach to their spirituality is by no means any less valid or any less Jewish. (The one exception being messianics, because that's a branch of Christianity. But even then a Jewish-born messie would still be considered Jewish, just not religiously.)

If one were to decide somehow a practice/behavior is decidedly un-Jewish, it still wouldn't take away someone's Jew Card. Murder is pretty un-Jewish but Jews have still murdered people. Jews can be any religion and still have their ethnicity/heritage/culture.

You literally described your friends as atheist Jews and they're still Jewish so how is this any different?

The comparison you've described doesn't hold up because Christianity and Islam are not ethnoreligions. They're not going to show up on a DNA test nor would you inherently be considered Automatically Christian at birth (you'd be baptized/taught as you grew up.) Religion is the ONLY entryway to membership. Judaism doesn't work like that.

Also, Judaism is already an extremely diverse group with a broad spectrum of traditions and beliefs! What standard are we using to measure what's "in" or "out?" If witchcraft is out, is kohenet? What about Jewish Buddhists? Rabbis that condone entheogens/psychedelics? Or Ashkenazi vs. Sephardic vs. Mizrahi traditions? Or Reform Jews? Or Jews that speak English and play music at synagogue? Or any Jew that isn't strictly Orthodox?

ETA- Also witchcraft is not intrinsically tied to any religion or religious practice.

So tldr; a Jew is a Jew is a Jew is a Jew, whether we fit your image of how a Jew "should" behave or not.

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jackredfieldwasmyjacob · 3 years

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Ideas for films (preferrabily animated movies) set in Spain that doesn't reduct it to flamenco bulls olé olé or colonialism conquistadors bullshit :)

Prerroman Spain has a lot of potential, maybe it could be about a girl from a castro in modern Galicia that has to travel to Tartessos (a bit anachronistic but whatever) or Edeta for something idk

Also Tartessos!!! It's one of the suspected locations for Atlantis and Heracles was there in one of his jobs so that's a goldmine of possibilities

A story about galician Meigas or basque witches with Akelarres and stuff

A movie set in ancient Cádiz (Gadir), maybe it could be about Melqart, or even about its foundation by the Phoenicians

The Punic Wars: The Movie

Roman Iberia!!! Just Roman Iberia!!! It could be a random story set in one of the largest cities, or maybe about the work in the Médulas mines; or about Martial, the poet who was from the city of Clunia; or about one of the Hispanic emperors (Trajan and Hadrian); or about the Numantia siege; or about the Sertorian wars... again, endless possibilities!!!

A story that takes place in medieval Córdoba, which at one point was the largest city in the planet and the capital of a caliphate

A story set in the Alhambra!!!!

A love story set in medieval Toledo in which the lovers are a Christian and a Muslim, maybe the main character's best friend could be Jewish to have the three religions represented

The story of the Sephardic jews and about their expulsion from Spain

El Cid???? Anyone???

A story about St James Way and the pilgrimage (animated film of the book Finis Mundi???? Hello???)

Speaking about book adaptations: El Lazarillo de Tormes, but a film!

Or even El Quijote tbh, that could also be really freaking cool!

A movie about Juana la Loca (Joanna the Mad)!!!!

Movie set during the Independence War against Napoleon, it could tell the story of the 2nd of May, or just a normal story set there, or it could be about the war, the Cádiz Constitution and the asshole king Fernando VII

Speaking of that era, it could just be about Francisco de Goya tbh

The Second Republic!!!! Just The Second Republic!! It could work as a set, a plot, whatever really, whatever

A story about the Generation of 27 and / or Specifically about Federico García Lorca (and Dalí and Buñuel of course)

A story about Miguel Hernández

Civil War time, again, whatever, it could work as the whole plot, or just as the setting for a story

Franco dictatorship, again, same story

In the modern times it could be about a rural town in Spain that refuses to disappear

Or about a roma girl that wants to be the greatest flamenco artist ever (it would be a musical with flamenco songs of course)

Or about a quiet fishing village that gets converted into a tourist resort

If you want to make it really kid-friendly, it could even be about an Iberian Lynx having adventures with their friends in Doñana.

And there's probably more options i'm forgetting, there's really so many possibilities

#spain #spanish history #i guess?#typicalspanish #sure #and like i barely touched folklore #or like stories #there could be a story based in the world of lorca's el romancero gitano #or hijo de la luna by mecano #and festivities and stuff!!!#it could be based around semana santa or fallas or san isidro or whatever

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eroticwound · 2 years

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i unfortunately watched moon knight (i am very not immune to distressed crying oscar isaac) and it’s left such a bad taste in my mouth. like it would be a perfectly serviceable, stupid marvel/disney show, but for the tacked on judaism :\

stupid rant under the cut

like, not gonna lie, i would *love* to see a canon jewish marvel character whose judaism actually plays into their story and character… i’m thinking about matt murdock and how his catholicism enriches that character

instead, what marvel does is erase scarlet witch’s roma and jewish roots. they will not confirm that peter parker is jewish and cast *so* goyische for their mcu (it’s basically canon that peter’s jewish… this is why andrew garfield’s peter feels the most… idk, right?). and no, mcu/disney marvel doesn’t have rights to magneto, my beloved, but even with that canon judaism, it’s defined by the shoah, not by any real positive aspect of the actual *culture*. idk, it just feels like marvel has shunted all of these jewish-made characters into, like, crypto-judaism. they’ve been made to convert to good old fashioned default-cultural christianity.

back to moon knight tho: i’m not mad about oscar isaac’s casting - maybe we coulda had some much needed sephardic representation - but the judaism is just set dressing. the word shiva is thrown around to mean funeral, not the seven day mourning ritual. marc throws his kippah to the ground and grinds it in the dirt. there’s not ladino or yiddish. and i guess there’s struggle: wrestling with himself and what’s right and this moon god’s will, but it’s done through this DID lens, and it doesn’t feel like enough. especially when you have your one jewish superhero in service of a moon god and going to the egyptian afterlife!! like! that’s an idol! there’s no jewish notions of theology or mysticism present!!

i would have preferred the character not be jewish if you’re just gonna spit on judaism like that. let him be kemetic! it’s fine, really, we don’t need this watered down “representation”

… basically makes me want to watch the newest season of russian doll ASAP for a nuanced and deeply jewish show (that is fun and surreal and deep!!!… not that i was looking for deep in this drek. to be clear i literally just came for distressed oscar isaac - which *is* present in spades - but this “jewish” aspect p much ruined it for me :\ )

#this is a stupid rant #about a very stupid show #moonknight #judaism #marc spector #the things i do for whump #:\

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mysticmachmir · 4 years

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Judaism, Circles, and Circle-Casting

What's the Point of a Circle?

Magical Circle Definition: A temporary space with clearly defined energetic boundaries that provides a known space for ritual, magic, or similar controlled change.

"Casting a circle allows us to create an energetic space that supports our work in the physical space we have available. Since we do our ritual in a variety of spaces, many of which spend most of their time being something else (a living room, a public park, a rented room in a friendly business or community building), we need a way to make the space stop being those things, and start being a space where ritual, magic, and transformation can happen more easily."

This is a definition from a religious witch, a priestess of a coven. Obviously, this is not Judaism or a Jewish witch. However, if we want to incorporate some type of this into our practice, we need to understand what is its purpose. Asking why we have a ritual is just as important as how to craft one genuinely. For more information on crafting Jewish ritual and researching into Jewish traditional rituals to serve your purposes, please inquire this series on Tumblr.

Magical and Mystical Circles in Judaism

The Talmud: Honi HaMe'egal

One of the most concrete examples is using a circle to invoke and demand something of G!d. Here is a summary of what he did, but the sources via Sefaria are Taanit 23a:4-Taanit 23a:5-10.

"His surname is derived from an incident in which, according to the Babylonian Talmud, his prayer for rain was miraculously answered. On one occasion, when G!d did not send rain well into the winter (in Israel, it rains mainly in the winter), Honi drew a circle in the dust, stood inside it, and informed G!d that he would not move until it rained. When it began to drizzle, Honi told G!d that he was not satisfied and expected more rain; it then began to pour. He explained that he wanted a calm rain, at which point the rain calmed to a normal rain."

The Bible and Folkloric Uses of Circles

However, there are many times we see circles used in Judaism. In the TaNaKh, magic circles first appear in Jewish tradition in the Bible, when Joshua encircles Jericho seven times in order to collapse its walls. We also have circles during Simchat Torah, weddings, Hoshana Rabbah, and funerals. Circles are used quite a bit in Jewish ritual, whether we realize it or not.

The use of protective circles, so familiar in medieval sorcery, also starts to appear in Jewish practice. Such circles were also used to protect the birthing bed of pregnant women (Sefer ha-Chayyim 2.8). Smaller circles drawn around a wound or area of illness on a Body presumably exorcised the malaise-causing spirit.

The book Zera Kodesh (“Holy Seed”), written in the 16th century, describes making concentric circles on the ground (usually three or seven) with an iron blade, often with an inscription or the names of Angels added. The Baal Shem Tov once defeated a priest-witch by making a protective circle with his staff (Megillat Setarim).

In YIVO's Folklore of Ashkenaz class, by Professor Itzik Gottesman, he discusses the different ways circles were used by Ashkenazi Jews. He discusses that "Circling [was used to] ward the demons off the body. Circling, and circles in general, have found their way into Jewish folklore in a number of ways. Circles are considered perfect shapes and have a magical power to keep away evil. … Round objects also have symbolic value. At the first meal from returning from a burial, the family is given bagels to eat. One interpretation of this is so that we remember the round cycle of life and death, and it reinforces belief in reincarnation, which has been very much part of Jewish belief in the Diaspora. The [Rabbinic] responsa also mentions other circle customs: to circle the graves with thread, which were later used as wicks and candles to be lit for the ill person in the synagogue; in order to stop the spread of swelling on the eyes, it was circled with a ring; and in order to prevent further growth of a hunchback, it was circled with the hand of a dead man."

Noam Sienna, a Jewish scholar, speaks of other minhagim: "Drawing circles is also a common practice in the Mediterranean/Sephardic Jewish world to protect birthing mothers and newborns — it’s often drawn with a special sword or knife, and participants would also themselves walk in a circle around the cradle or around the room while reciting a protective formula like Psalm 91."

In Midrash, it is written: "For the circle has no beginning and end. And regarding this pleasure the scholars of truth hinted in their midrash, "the Holy One Blessed be He will make a circle for the righteous in the World to Come."

Kabbalah

A circle represents infinity because it has no beginning or end. In Kabbalah, the samech (a letter that is an enclosed loop) represents the infinite power of the Ein Sof, G!d’s infinite light.

This video from Chabad is about an hour-long shiur on the concept of the sacred geometry of the circle, but essentially the Rabbi discusses how the circle is the most common and natural shape in Nature that G!d has created. Pebbles, the globe, ripples of water, the cycle of time itself is the most perfect shape and represents the week, 7 days. Seven and the circle are connected, as 7 is a very important number in Judaism connected to time. I do recommend watching if you're interested in numerology, sacred geometry, and math connected to divinity.

Modern Circle-Casting Rituals

Typically, when people think of circle casting, they are called to Wicca's ritual of circle casting, calling on the archangels (which sounds extremely similar to the Jewish krias Shema - and Wicca was invented in the 50s, so you know who took from who there), calling on the watchtowers (Book of Enoch), and etcetera. This is not a process I am necessarily interested in. Here is one take of mixing Wiccan circle-casting with Jewish and Celtic theology/elements (this person is Jewish). Note: If you are a monotheistic Jew, or otherwise don't want to "mix" your practices, I do not suggest using this example of ritual. Also, the Zohar-pentagram connection is… questionable.

There is also the circle-casting suggested from Tehomot: Jewish Witchcraft*, which I'll outline here. I prefer this one because while yes, it is connecting back to the Wiccan tradition, it is not melding much of the religious elements, and only a few ritual pieces. Instead, it incorporates a lot more Jewish ritual and connection to Hashem. If it were me, I would remove the athame aspect of it and it would align more for my needs.

Visualization of the circle as the boundary of Gan Eden:

Athame/tool - shooting out fire like the spinning blade protecting Gan Eden

Gan Eden - orientations to the east, four rivers in the garden

Instead of calling on the watchtowers, call on the names of the rivers as found in Torah

He says that the "casting of the circle brings you from Malkhut - etheric double of the physical world. You are going up the Tree of Life and the Four Worlds in circle work/spirit work - from physical to spiritual (Assiyah to Yetzirah, Malkhut to Yesod)".

The purpose of using a circle is asking for help - from G!d, angels, guardians, to ask help to change Assiyah/Malkhut/physical realm.

How To Cast (According to Tehomot)

1. Be properly prepared. ritual for preparedness - oil/shower/ centering. Once in the circle, anointment w/ oil and/or ring a bell/musical note

2. Draw the circle - saltwater, incense, or candle

3. Corner call - the four rivers and four elements.

4. Summoning entities to hold the corner of the circles - angels, spirits, whomever

5. The evocation of G!d, recite psalms and say for what purpose

6. Calling on ancestors to be present

7. Magical work/ritual

8. Worship element - a prayer to G!d, offerings (kiddush)

9. Closing - release ancestors, release the corners, draw the circle backward and ground the energy

Finally, in the book Magic of the Ordinary, there is another "circle-casting" ritual that he posits is from compiling symbolism from Jewish texts in this new ritual.

Tools: Bird feather and a fallen branch found naturally. This ritual is to be performed outside as it is written in this book. It is asked that you meditation with this stick and infuse your breath into it before using it to draw the circle.

If the ritual for which you are making the circle is to heal something, undo something, process something, make space for newness in some way or another, draw the circle counter-clockwise. Walk around the circle as you are drawing it and chant (I am only writing the English, get the book for the Hebrew): "Here I am Here I am Here I am, G!d Breath, Please support me"

(Take a Breath) "I and the Unnameable, The Infinite One So again-- I and ho, I and ho"

(Take a breath, and then louder): "I and ho I and ho Support me, Please"

Repeat as much as you need until the circle is complete. You need to draw it seven times. Then, step inside the circle and chant into the four directions: "Toward your support do I direct my hope, O G!d I direct my hope, O G!d toward your support O G!d toward your support do I direct my hope"

Take your feather and sweep it across the inside of the circle and chant: "For the sake of the unification of the Holy Blessed One be He and the Shekhinah Through this rite, done in awe and in love to join The name Yah with Wah in a complete union"

Then wave the feather to the sky in circular movements while chanting "Yah" toward the sky and downward again sweeping it across the earth chanting "Wah". Do this three times and leave your tools in the center of the circle before stepping out. The circle is finished, and you can begin any rituals - calling forth spirits, performing ceremonies, or leading gatherings.

(Yah and Wah are two names of G!d, riffing off the Holy Name in an acceptable way as it is not the full name. If you are uncomfortable with this, you can replace it with a name of G!d comfortable for you).

*The person who made this podcast is an apostate and is now a Messianic Baptist. He has a post where he says that Jesus is Torah and to deny Jesus means you are denying G!d. I do not support Messianic Judaism, so I have decided not to link his work. You can still find it online, easily. This podcast is from a time where he identified as a Jewish witch and was becoming a Rabbi.

If you like my work and writings, feel free to tip me here: https://ko-fi.com/ezrasaville!

Sources:

The Jewish Myth, Magic, and Mysticism Encyclopedia by R. Geoffrey Dennis Magic of the Ordinary by R. Gershon Winkler Chabad Gleewood Sefaria Noam Sienna YIVO’s Folklore of Ashkenaz Tehomot: Jewish Witchcraft (Podcast) Liorah HaMasovevet

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magnetothemagnificent · 3 years

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God I hate the term "honorary Jew..."

Rant ahead, so be warned....

It's a common stereotype that Jews are funny. Whether or not it's a harmful stereotype is another discussion, but regardless American Jewish comedy is a popular genre and has arguably made the 20th century, and yes, I am using "genre" for that.

American Jewish humour has become a genre, and other, non-Jewish comedians, either intentionally or not, have adapted this genre in their routine. Now, I'm not saying there's anything wrong a good self-depricating comic, Jewish or not, and quite frankly I find that routine hilarious regardless of the comedian's religious and ethnic identity.

However, there's a certain term that's come to be used for certain comics, or any entertainers at that, who are not Jewish but embody a certain stereotype of American "Jewishness." I'm talking usually middle aged, short, laid-back entertainers who may even have stereotypically "Jewish" ethnic features. These people have been dubbed "honorary Jews," and it's getting out of hand. Is it cultural appropriation to purposely use Yiddish vernacular in comedic routines, or to make "Jewish" jokes. On the surface it may seem harmless, and most times it is. Robin Williams is an example of such entertainers, and many people may be surprised to hear that he isn't a smidge Jewish! And I'm not hating on the man, may he rest in peace, I am a huge fan of his works and of him.

It's when entertainers take their status as an "honorary Jew" too far that becomes a problem. Yes, I'm referring to the Alton Brown tweet. Personally I am a fan of Alton Brown and his many television series, and I genuinely do not think he meant any ill-will in his tweet from a few weeks ago. He's married to a Jewish woman, and out of so many culinary stars, he has been a remarkable ally to Jewish people and culture. His tweet was a slip, a joke gone too far- but it's a sign of a far greater issue.

American Jewish humour is a unique genre that stemmed from the impoverished immigrant mindset combined with classic Jewish traditions of "kvetching," that is, complaining. It's as old as the Jewish people ourselves- we've been complaining to Moses in the desert, and we'll be complaining to this day. I also say "American Jewish humour" because while all Jewish people as a whole have many shared cultural experiences, the specific brand of humour stems from Eastern-European Ashkenazic immigrants, and Sephardic or Yemenite or Mizrachi Jews may not relate to such experiences. Yes, there are many different kinds of Jews, not just the 'lox-and-bagels old New-yorker.' Surprised?

American Jewish humour can be dark sometimes, and can have jokes about 'the old world,' and antisemitism, and oppression, and while in the company of other Jews these jokes land well, when a gentile jokes about pogroms? Not so much.

It's an unwritten rule in comedy that there are certain things on shouldn't joke about in a public audience, including the Holocaust and African chattel slavery. A white comedian can't joke about slavery, so why can that same comedian joke about the Gestapo?

The Nazis weren't some cartoon villains to laugh at- they killed at least six million of my people, not to mention looted and erased my people's literature, art, music, philosophy- and as a people we're still experiencing the generational trauma from that genocide. And the sad truth is, it wasn't our first genocide, and it may not be our last. I'm a Sephardi, which means that my ancestors were tortured and expelled from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition. That's another genocide against my people, one that no one ever talks about. People still think the Spanish Inquisition was just a silly little witch trial, which in itself is problematic because the women tried as witches were people too, but the Spanish Inquisition isn't an aesthetic, and it wasn't romantic. It was a genocide.

But I went off on a tangent, so let's reel it back in.

The point is, as Jewish people we're still working through the trauma that is our existence, and yes, we may joke about it to cope. Most little kids growing up in the 21st century don't know what the Holocaust was, but as a six year old I already was worried if I looked 'Aryan enough' to escape if the Holocaust happened again.

Nazis aren't a punchline, genocide isn't a joke, and performative wokeness like saying "I would punch a Nazi" does nothing.

Uplift Jewish voices and stop appropriating and abusing our culture.

#judaism #tw antisemitism #tw holocaust #tw religion #nazis #cultural appropriation #real talk #actually jewish

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kosher-salt · 4 years

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✡ jumblr ask meme! ✡

🥔 applesauce or sourcream?

📖 favorite parsha?

🐷 do you keep kosher?

🎙 did you have a bar/bat mitzvah?

⏲ do you keep shabbat?

🕍 do you go to shul?

🌍 sephardic ashke beta or mizrahi?

🎙 do you speak jewish?

🇮🇱 are you a zionist?

🎅 dont you know xmas is secular?

😇 why don't you worship jesus?

⛪ have you at least been to church?

😈 where are your horns?

🔪 are you circumcised?

👩‍🏫 will you teach me jewish?

🧙‍♂️ will you teach me quabbalahh?

✡ why do you wear that star/hand?

🌌 is it a magic ward?

🔮 are you a witch?

☕ you do know chai means tea right?

🍞 is there really blood in matzah?

💰 are you rich?

🌐 do you know every Jewish person?

#jumblr #jewish humor #frumblr #jewish

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aeshnalacrymosa · 7 months

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The Encanto's First Massacre

For Week 2: Relationships of @encanto-extended-edition , we cover the relationships of our OCs, and mine starts with her family.

The Lombroso family were descended from conversos, Sephardic Jews from Spain that converted to Catholicism following the Alhambra Decree. Their conversion meant that they were not among the number that were expelled from Spain in 1492. However, persistent antisemitism in Europe and especially in Spain compelled the Lombroso family to sail to the New World in the 1700s. In Colombia, they hope to worship their new God in peace.

In the five years before the Madrigal triplets received their gifts, the Lombroso family were the ones that people went to for medical concerns. But perhaps due to prevailing superstition at the time, there were some that called the family witches for the herbal medicines that they made. Señor and Señora Lombroso had the support of the cura párroco Padre Constantino and Doña Alma to continue their work of treating the sick and injured.

Señor and Señora Lombroso were among the group that were present at the formation of the Encanto. They had with them ten children. Áurea, the tenth child, was an infant at this event. They had two more children that were born in the Encanto.

(Personal note: Them having a huge brood is my reaction to the laughable line in "The Family Madrigal" sequence where one of the kids say, "There's so many people!" Girl, 12 people in three generations is not many. I come from a huge extended family. My father is the second of 10 children, one of whom passed away in childhood. I have 25 first cousins from all those aunts and uncles.)

When he was 15 years old, Bruno Madrigal had a vision that the Lombroso family would be attacked and killed, but Áurea (Aya) would survive and become close with Julieta. The triplets warned their mother about this, but Alma's efforts were not enough to stop the attack. It was the middle of the night that Aya's parents and eleven brothers and sisters were killed in their sleep. Aya narrowly escaped and hid in the forest, where Julieta, Pepa, and Bruno Madrigal cared for her. The triplets became the most important people in Aya's life.

#cw death #cw: death #tw: death #tw: violence #aya la bruja #encanto oc #encanto oc appreciation #encanto oc event #encanto oc art #digital art #bruno madrigal #pepa madrigal #julieta madrigal #madrigal triplets #medibang art #medibangpaint #medibang paint #aeshna's art #aeshna's fics

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