I love you Jewish geography.

I love you meeting a random person who is Jewish and immidiately having the fun game of how many mutual friends you have because you're both British Jews and there are so few of us 🤣🤣🤣

JEWISH CONVERTS (YES THOSE IN PROGRESS ALSO) AREN'T "racefaking jewish" YOU STUPID FUCKING ASSHOLES

i love you gentiles who post about antisemitism. i love you gentiles who don't make me feel alone. i love you gentiles willing to learn. i love you gentiles who care about the jewish people. i love you gentiles who understand. i love you. i love you gentiles who give me, a jew living in a very scary time, hope.

A high-quality edit of Keshet's Jewish Progress Pride Flag

Converts, please do not sell yourself short or underestimate the position that you hold within Jewish communities. Your love for Judaism, the Jewish people, and the Jewish culture is infectious and can make people realize the value of the culture they've simply grown up in. When people ask you, "Why did you want to convert?" don't take it as them really asking "Are your reasons for converting up to my standards, to which I will thereby judge whether you're worthy or not?" Most of the time, what we're really saying is, "Please tell me why you love the thing I just grew up in. Tell me why someone would choose this."

Many Jews grew up facing antisemitism in school. So it's baffling to think that someone would willingly subject themselves to this, and some of us grew up internalizing this shame and rejecting our Jewish identity in order to fit in. But you, as a convert, spark light within these people. You, as a convert, have boldly gone against the grain because you see the value in our way of life, one that is not easy. You've joined a people, many times at the expense of your friends and family, and your safety. You're something to aspire to. You rekindle the love and connection we have to our nation. If you don't already realize the value in this, you will when you notice those around you being moved by your words.

Being a convert is not a mark of shame because you're "different," it's a badge of honor. In many ways, you are lighting the torch for the next generation of Jews you come in contact with.

funnily enough, most of the mutuals i had on my previous blog all reblogged some variation of a "thinking all israelis should die brutally ISNT antisemitic. we hate israelis, not jews" post. however, absolutely none of them has reblogged something relating to the meteoric rise in antisemitic hate crimes around the world after october 7th. wonder why that is

Growing up, I always thought that the central calling of a Jew was to be good. Even when it was hard, always try to be good, and failing at that, try to be better.

There's a term, אור לגויים, meaning "light unto the nations". It's a weird phrasing, but I always understood it to mean "lead by example". People should see you, a Jewish person, as always choosing the moral, kind path, even at detriment to themselves, in a way that makes people want to emulate them and be better.

I've realized growing up that many Jews, especially those deeply entrenched in the religious or Zionist community, see that responsibility in an inverse way. WE set the standards for morality, so if we say it's ok, it's ok. Jewish people are inherently moral, and therefore all actions taken by Jews, in defense of Jews, must be just. In fact, it's actually anti-Semitic of you to assume there's another way we could be going about this.

This is not what Judaism is, this is not what we're here to do.

We are better than this.

We always have been, and we always will be.

may have experienced a Gender at the renaissance faire

oh yeah, i think it's important to differentiate between the ideas of a "jewish ethnostate" and a "jewish homeland", as a jew myself especially --

of course we deserve a place where we feel safe, a place that puts emphasis on caring for us and not treating us like dirt. but that is not the same as a place that allows ONLY us to be there. (and we are talking about a mass of land, not an affinity club or anything -- we're talking about somewhere people live. who gets to be a part of it is not something you should be policing on lines of race or religion.) we have no right to lay claim to land and force other people out of it. we have no right to a jewish ethnostate.

"oh but if there are any non-jews in our land they'll treat us badly like they always have!!!" no, that's just cynical nonsense. if anything, you're letting the antisemites win by agreeing with the omnipresence of their bigotry. yes, tons of people have been horrible to us. that won't get better by running away from them and hurting other people in the process.

also, it is very worthy of note that jews and their ancestors have lived in palestine, for a great portion of history in fact, but were conquered multiple times by multiple empires and expelled to the diaspora. of course jews want to live in palestine! of course! but palestinians are just as indigenous to the land as we are -- we have absolutely NO right to kill them and kick them out and say it isn't their home (which is exactly what so many empires did to us, in the same land no less).

endorsing zionism and anti-palestinian rhetoric, as a jew, is hypocritical, cruel, and wrong. let palestine be free, as they (and we) deserve to be. they are facing the same terrors we have; let us stand with them.

Wanting to only give back the West Bank and Gaza to Palestinians while continuing to occupy the rest of historic Palestine and not allowing the Palestinian refugees who were ethnically-cleansed from there to return doesn't make a person any less of a Zionist from those who want to continue occupying all of Palestine from the river to the sea, no matter how much they swear they are not a Zionist.

As a follow up to the previous post re: Jews by birth having ugly attitudes towards gerim-

Sometimes it's really hard to love ourselves - especially the parts of ourselves that others hate and have denigrated us for, mocked us, hurt us, or even killed others like us over.

I think the challenge to Jews by birth of gerim, especially Jews by birth who have been deeply wounded over their Jewishness, is that loving us means loving a group of people that chose you, specifically based on those wounded, vulnerable parts. We love you. We love you and the Jewish people enough to risk our lives by joining our fates to yours. We love you enough to leave behind everything we know culturally and religiously to be like you, to daven next to you, to join your family. And that can be really difficult to accept.

"Gerim are as hard for Israel as a scab" says the Gemara. Why? There are many interpretations of this statement, but mine is that we love the Jewish people for their Jewishness, which for many is still as tender as a scab. It can be hard to stomach someone choosing you and your family, especially if they come from outside, especially if they come from the very people who hurt you. And then we are here, in your space, excitedly embracing many of the very things that have gotten you mocked or excluded or hurt.

To fellow gerim, I would say that we need to be mindful of this and let our love include a lot of listening and grace towards those who are healing. To Jews by birth who may struggle with that sort of feeling, I would say that it's a perfectly natural instinct to have. Don't beat yourself up about it, but don't give into it, either. Let us be your salve, even if it hurts at first.

Happy Hanukkah! Thinking about my favorite Jewish boy today

Best Jewish representation I’ve seen in a while

ok ive had enough of queering judaism. can we start judaizing queerness now. or something

i've been getting more into judaism after being raised jewish. i was never bat mitzva'ed, so im wondering if i should do that? also wondering what other steps to take.

Well, I have great news! You don't need to have a bat mitzvah, you are a bat mitzvah! If you would like the celebration, you certainly can have one, but it isn't necessary.

I didn't grow up with really any Jewish observance, so I was essentially a complete beginner when I decided to connect. So, my suggestions come from personal experience and the experiences of some others I know who are baal teshuva.

Some more steps you could take to foster a stronger relationship with your Judaism is first to reach out to your local rabbi, and see what events or classes their shul has going on. Showing up to these opportunities can open doors to figuring out what feels right for you, and I've found that making friends who are at a level of observance that you strive to be at can inspire you to keep learning. If you get in touch with a rabbi beforehand, they could probably arrange to have you meet with someone who can show you around and introduce you to people. While this can be really intimidating at first, believe me when I say that many Jews will be happy to help you and won't pass judgement. Many Jews have been in your shoes, you're not alone.

Or, you can pick a few different shuls and just go to each one until you find one that feels right for you. Don't feel pressured to commit to one over the other. Don't get bogged down by the labels of movements. If you have a personal goal in mind or a certain aspect of observance you want to do, just start doing it, even if it feels awkward at first. Over time, it'll be easier. Find some local study groups, or join one online! During quarantine I joined a Torah study group from a shul hundreds of miles away from me. They didn't care that I'd never step foot in their shul before, they were just happy to have a fresh face who wanted to learn. You could also try Partners In Torah, which is a website that can connect you with a chavruta.

Chabad is always a great option for those who are looking to deepen their relationship with Judaism because they always have resources specifically for people looking to reconnect.

If you live in a place with a significant Jewish population, you could find a Young Jewish Professional's group that can introduce you to more people.

I would recommend getting a siddur with Hebrew and English, if your Hebrew is shaky. I would also recommend starting to read the parsha every week, or starting the Tanach from scratch and reading it like any other book. I suggest The Living Torah and The Living Nach by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan because the translations are in modern terms and easier to read, and they have commentary by Rashi. I also can't recommend enough Joseph Telushkin's books Biblical Literacy and Jewish Literacy, they're incredibly comprehensive guides to living a Jewish life by forming a strong Jewish educational foundation. Seriously, I've mentioned these books a million times on my blog because I love them that much.

Also, you could just start small! Saying modei ani in the morning when you wake up, saying hamotzi or the birkat, or even just saying Shema before bed can be a great way to start the process of opening up.

This last recommendation might be a little out there, but I think that doing some traditional Jewish cooking or baking can help motivate you to keep learning. This is how I started. I bought a few kosher cookbooks and just started making anything I had the ingredients for. It's not necessarily a "standard" way to connect, but my soul felt like it was reaching through time and space and connecting with all the Jews before me who had prepared and eaten the same thing.

As always, if anyone else has suggestions for anon, the more the merrier! I want to express my sincere excitement for you. Enjoy the journey you're on, don't be so caught up on "but I wish I was more observant this way" or "I'm not Jewish enough in this way" because it's all nonsense. Reconnecting is an amazing and life-changing experience, so enjoy the path that you're on, not necessarily the destination. When I first started, I was so insecure about how much I didn't know and worried others would judge me, but I found most people genuinely just want to help. Learning was exciting, and in some ways I'm envious of all the new experiences you're going to have. I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I just relaxed and accepted that it's okay not to know things yet.

Good luck!!

"It is a general rule that when the grain of truth cannot be found, men will swallow great helpings of falsehood. Truth itself is often concealed in such a way that the harder you look for it, the harder it is to find."

-Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy, by Isaac Bashevis Singer