#off the derech
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Wishing my fellow Jewish people a g'mar chatima tova!
A good year to all. An easy fast, if you choose to keep it. A pleasant day if you don't.
A special shout out to any non religious Jews, especially if you are formally religious. This holiday is yours as well if you want it.
#my first#yom kippur#as an#athiest#I appreciate this day for the cultural value#not for the#religious#aspect#high holidays#ex religious#otd#off the derech#ex religious jew#jewish#jewish holidays#M's post
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Please help Joseph Kraus get the state-mandated secular education he never received at his ultra-Orthodox Jewish school.
We’re raising $5000 or more to pay for special tutors that will help him learn to read and write English and participate in society as an independent adult.
We are documentary filmmakers who have filmed his story and care about him.
Joseph Kraus left his Hasidic Orthodox home in Kiryas Joel, New York, in November 2020 because he wanted to get an education. He was 17 but could barely speak English and certainly couldn’t read or write it.
To educate himself enough to prepare for his move, Joseph managed to buy a smartphone. Hiding in the woods behind his home, he spent hours each day Googling and watching YouTube videos to learn about the outside world. He started blindly calling social service organizations, using his limited English, trying to find somebody who could help him.
The only person who responded was the supervisor of a suicide hotline, who spent hours on the phone with him answering his questions.
When Joseph decided he was ready to leave, the supervisor advised him to go to Old Navy, buy some clothes, cut off his beard and side locks at a barber and check into a youth shelter in nearby Middletown, New York. At Old Navy, he purchased a pair of women’s pants by mistake, because he didn’t know there was a difference.
He spent the next few months in a series of shelters during the height of the pandemic, learning English by watching television. When he tried to attend public high school in upstate New York, he found he couldn’t understand what the teachers said. He told me that he didn’t even know the alphabet.
When he heard that jobs were available in Texas, he went from airline to airline at JFK, asking for the cheapest fare. This looked so suspicious that he was picked up by the police and taken to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation. Somehow, he found his way to Houston, where he hid all his belongings in some bushes and started looking for a job. He came back to find everything stolen.
We caught up with Joseph when he was in a foster care home in Galveston, just before his 18th birthday. When we interviewed Joseph on two occasions, we found him remarkably articulate and insightful about his situation. And yet, his life at this point — the life of a refugee without a safety net — was total chaos.
At one point, somebody gave him a room in an upstate New York hotel under construction. When that ended after just a few weeks, he found himself in a Wal-Mart parking lot at 4 a.m. near his hometown of Kiryas Joel.
Now Joseph is settled in upstate New York but the road ahead is steep. It will likely take him months or years to learn what he needs to get his GED or to read newspapers.
Documentary filmmakers are supposed to be objective observers of their subjects, but we found ourselves trying to help him out. We contacted synagogues, asking for volunteers who might want to serve as this young man’s advocate as he works his way through the social service system — without much luck.
Now we’ve found specialized literacy tutors at a major NYC university who have promised to help him, but we need to raise $5000 or more to fund this literacy project.
Please give what you can!
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Most of my high school friend group still keeps Shabbat, so the group chat is quiet on Friday nights. But the convos the one other non Shabbat observer and I have on the side? Stellar. Unmatched. Second to none. When Carol starts texting me on a Friday night, I know it’s about to pop off.
#sillines#being off the derech is hard#so you gotta find little moments of joy#like when she texts me on Friday nights and I’m like !!!!#only I get to be part of this conversation with her!#rain rambles#Judaism#otd#off the derech
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https://scrawlplace.com/2022/11/08/pastrami/
Excited to share this story in Scrawl Place, a journal that is doing exciting things with literature with a strong sense of place!
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Ugh ugh ugh staying with family friends for shabbos so now I gotta wear a dress and act like I believe in God (٥↼_↼)
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I always hated Purim when I was orthodox. One small blessing of not having a Jewish community right now is not being compelled to celebrate the holiday. I hate alcohol and I hate crowds and I hate noise. People make a huge deal out of giving charity on Purim when they should be giving all year round.
And so on I guess.
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Prime reference photo for the antagonist of lesions of a different kind, Judah the Hammer (AKA yes I turned the real historical guy who caused Hanukkah to be a thing into a vampire and no he is most displeased about the situation) - drawing that fucking bludgeoning implement is going to be the death of me. I based the colors of the rim of his wool coat off of the colors of historical reconstructions of ancient kohen robes, which Judah himself was, over two thousand years ago. Bro's ancient. Pissed off old man with a penchant for death and destruction and yelling at clouds.
#hellsing#hellsing ultimate#hellsing oc#hellsing fanart#hellsing fanfiction#vampire oc#my art#clip studio paint#my ocs#listen fucker i am so proud of how his hair has come out and the hand wrappings were such a fun touch#still kinda wtf on his footwear but c'est la vie#note how he has the same notch in his eyebrow as zemira#maccabee blood or whatever#violent crotchety old orthodox uncle who corners you at the function to tell you how off the derech you are#and doesn't understand why you don't give a fuck#also lowkey based his personality off of dave mustaine???#he's personal as hell
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hm i think ill double major in enviroscience and jewish studies bc the need to write an entire study on my hometown and off the derech culture and modox queer culture/otd queer culture consumes me further each day
#off the derech [town redacted] culture is the only subculture that matters 2 me tbh 🫶🏻#but i also wanna minor in sustainability. or music. waugh. too much to learn! wish i could live forever!#that's a joke god dont pull something on me
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Me, going off the derech
Uses phone on shabbis
Sends kid to public school
Wears trousers in public without a skirt on top
This concluds my current list of changes
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I hate religion so much.
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From Jediism to Judaism: Star Wars as Jewish Allegory, by Daniel Perez
A look at some of the Jewish elements – coincidental or otherwise – of Star Wars.
A long time ago in a place far, far away...
It is a period of civil war. A new government has declared the practice of the old faith a crime punishable by death, disbanding an ancient order of sages and sending many into exile. Rebel fighters, striking from a hidden base, have won their first major victory against the evil Empire, stirring a spirit of defiance among the populace. Outarmed and vastly outnumbered, the ragtag band of rebels – aided by an all-powerful, all-permeating Force that binds together all life in the universe – remain the only hope for restoring peace and freedom to their people.
It's one of the greatest epics known to mankind. No, not Star Wars. The above synopsis is actually the story of Hanukkah, the eight-day Jewish festival that commemorates a miraculous victory of Israelite insurgents against the tyrannical Seleucid Empire roughly 2,200 years ago.
With Star Wars Episode VII set to premiere in just a few short weeks, I got to thinking about how certain aspects of the Star Wars universe are eerily similar to the history, beliefs, and teachings of the Jews. Now George Lucas did not set out to create a fantasy universe full of Jewish references, but the connections are nevertheless there. So let's put the “Han” back in Hanukkah (Harrison Ford, by the way, technically a member of the tribe) and look at some of the Jewish elements – coincidental or otherwise – of Star Wars.
A Galaxy of Hebrew Names
The heroes of the Star Wars series are members of a “rebel alliance,” basically Maccabees in outer space. It's right there in the name: Jedi. The Hebrew letter yud is often anglicized as a “J,” and syllables occasionally get dropped in translation. Hence, a Biblical name like “Yehoshua” makes its way into English as “Joshua.” It's not much of a stretch to see how “Jedi” can be derived the original Hebrew word for Jew, “Yehudi.”
Remember Luke Skywalker's Jedi rebbe, Grand Master Yoda? Is it just me, or is his peculiar syntax reminiscent of someone whose first language is Yiddish (“Yodish”)? More to the point, his name sounds a lot like “yada,” the Hebrew word meaning “to know.”
And how about those Skywalkers? Luke Skywalker might sound like a gentile name, but that name was clearly chosen to alliterate with his twin sister Leia (Leah). Also keep in mind that their parents were an interfaith couple. The father, Anakin Skywalker, played by the unmistakably un-Jewish Hayden Christensen, tried to convert to Jediism, but as we know he ultimately turned to the Dark Side instead. Their mother was Queen Amidala, portrayed by the beautiful and talented Israeli-born actress Natalie Portman. Suffice it to say their marriage did not end well, and it wasn't until much later in life that their children discovered their Jedi-ish identity.
Learning Academy
When an aspiring Jedi Knight goes to the Academy, he or she must complete what is essentially an apprenticeship with one more learned in Jediism than they are. Similarly, a future rabbi's yeshiva experience will consist largely of chavruta learning (studying with a partner – lit. “friendship”). Fun fact: The name for a young, unmarried yeshiva student, “bochur,” actually means “chosen” (as in “The Chosen People”). The idea of a foretold “Chosen One” who would “restore balance to the Force” was a theme running throughout the Star Wars films, wherein Anakin Skywalker was recognized for his extraordinary potential as a Jedi. As mentioned above, he went “off the derech” and became the villainous Darth Vader. In Return of the Jedi, however, Vader/Skywalker fulfills the “prophecy” when he does teshuvah (our term for repentance, which literally means “return.” Whoa. Return of the Jedi!), thwarting Emperor Palpatine to save his son's life, and ultimately, the galaxy.
Of course, if you tell a young rabbi-in-training that he is the “Chosen One,” it sounds cool and dramatic and is technically true, but then, the same can be said of all of his classmates.
While the Star Wars films don't feature Jedi trainees delving into sacred texts (it doesn't make for the most exciting movie montage), some of the greatest rabbinic books of ethics and Jewish philosophy would be right at home in any Jedi library. “Duties of the Heart,” “The Path of the Just”....tell me these don't sound like the reading list for a hero of the Light Side.
The Force
While Jediism isn't a theistic religion per se, its practitioners do teach of a Force that, in the words of Reb Obi-Wan Kenobi "...is what gives a Jedi his power. It's an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us; it binds the galaxy together." That almost sounds like some sort of Chasidic teaching – just replace “energy field” with “entity” or “consciousness,” and “created by,” with “that creates,” and what you have starts to come across less like new age hippie talk and more like an introduction to Kabbalah, Jewish mysticism.
One idea that devout Jews of all stripes share, is that God, the creative “Force” that sustains all, is the source of a Jew's power. “Ein od milvado,” there is none besides Him. The Jew expresses his or her connection to the universe by striving for an ever closer relationship with its Creator.
Another aspect of Jedi belief is the notion of balance, the idea that the Light Side and the Dark Side are both aspects of the same Force seeking equilibrium. The religions that branched off from Judaism tend to show the Creator and Satan, or “The Devil,” in an adversarial relationship, almost a sort of de facto dualistic theology with a God and an anti-God, if you will. Judaism maintains that the Satan (lit. “Accuser”) is the angel associated with temptation, and prosecution in the Heavenly Court. He's basically Slugworth to God's Willy Wonka. He's got a dirty job to do, but in the end, we're both serving the same Boss.
Judaism also teaches that the source of Light and Darkness are One and the same, as it says in the prayer book: “Blessed art Thou, Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who forms light and creates darkness, Who makes peace and creates all things.” The source for this line of liturgy can be found in the Hebrew Bible, Isaiah 45:7: “Who forms light and creates darkness, Who makes peace and creates evil; I am the Lord, Who makes all these.”
Incidentally, one of the traditional names for God – invoked particularly by the Jewish mystics – is HaMakom, literally “The Place.” The deeper idea conveyed by this name is that the Creator does not exist within the universe; the universe exists within Him. It sounds a lot like The Force. The key conceptual difference between the fictitious all-uniting Force of Star Wars and the Shechinah or “Divine Presence” is that the former is impersonal and passive, the latter is an omnipotent consciousness that actively intervenes in human history, speaking with Prophets and working miracles until this very day.
So if you see the new Star Wars movie, directed by Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (who couldn't sound more Jewish if his name was Saul Cohen or Herschel Rosenblatt), perhaps you'll be able to seek out and appreciate the surprisingly Jewish flavor of the Star Wars universe.
Happy Hanukkah, and may the Force be with you!
#wooloo-writes#wooloo writes#star wars#sw#jedi#jedi and judaism#judaism#✡️#article#chanukah#hanukkah#happy hanukkah#happy chanukah
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Jewish and American culture has long benefited from—and been fixated on—the ex-Orthodox. Last century, ex-Orthodox men like Abraham Joshua Heschel and Mordecai Kaplan inspired new spiritual and religious movements, while ex-Orthodox women from Henrietta Szold, the founder of Hadassah, to politico Bella Abzug shaped our communal, and national, politics. In this century, the ex-Orthodox influence is everywhere in culture, as the obsession with “off-the-derech” memoirs and TV series like Unorthodox and My Unorthodox Life make clear. There has never been a time when those who began in the Orthodox world, then took their learning and passion into less strict, even secular, realms, did not inform Jewish destiny.
Given this remarkable history of the people sometimes called “exiters,” it is unfortunate that the mainstream Jewish community is taking them less seriously than ever. While the stories of a small, talented minority—or an exoticized, Orientalized minority—may end up on TV, even on people’s coffee tables, the organized Jewish community largely ignores this growing demographic slice. And this is not accidental. As Jews have become more focused than ever on “continuity,” more resources are poured into making Jews more observant—thus leaving those who would become less observant out in the cold, on the doorstep.
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What is that one song that you hate so much but it’s forever stuck inside your head
Derech HaShalom by Pe'er Tasi
It's such a stupid little song
gimme a moment, imma translate it.
youtube
Tel Aviv before midnight
The wind doesn't want to blow
And the humidity doesn't let go, me, it suffocates
In a café between the neighborhoods
(they) Haven't turned off the lights yet
On an old chair she sits alone
I'm not sure what to say
If it's even worth it to approach?
To retreat?
And a wind comes from the sea
She casts a small glance
Me She invites to sit down with
She orders a cappuccino for both of us, and only complains about the heat!
Oh, how much heat! shall we go another place?, she asks
She lives in a rented apartment
Really close to Derech HaShalom
We'll ask for the bill
Tonight we aren't gonna sleep
Tel Aviv after midnight
Going up a stairwell
Takes out keys, opens a door
A small table, two armchairs
Asking, "what would you like to drink?"
I feel really like a character from a movie
Two glasses on the table
And she is pouring and pouring....
Kills me
Opens another white wine
Throws at me another small smile
And slowly enters my heart
She orders a cappuccino for both of us, and only complains about the heat!
Oh, how much heat! shall we go another place?, she asks
She lives in a rented apartment
Really close to Derech HaShalom
We'll ask for the bill...
Between everything that happens between us, turns on the air conditioner because of the heat!
Oh, how much heat! Maybe we'll go to the room?
If you want, you can stay here to sleep as well
What's she talking about? sleep? tonight we aren't gonna sleep... (this is a rough translation, IDK how to translate איזה and עושה חשבון)
She orders a cappuccino for both of us, and only complains about the heat!
Oh, how much heat! shall we go another place?, she asks
She lives in a rented apartment
Really close to Derech HaShalom
We'll ask for the bill...
Between everything that happens between us, turns on the air conditioner because of the heat!
Oh, how much heat! Maybe we'll go to the room?
If you want, you can stay here to sleep as well
What's she talking about? sleep? tonight we aren't gonna sleep...
#טאמבלר ישראלי#טמבלר ישראלי#ישראל#ישראלבלר#ישראלים#עם ישראל חי#עברית#חרבות ברזל#ישר#ישראבלר#ישרבלר#מזרחית#מוזיקה#musician#acoustic#songs#tunes#musica#music#hebrew#hebrew langblr
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DERECHO: THE MIDWEST’S WALL OF DEATH
A Derecho is a widespread, long-lived storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers and thunderstorms. With its name effectively meaning “straight ahead”, its winds can reach levels of hurricanic, or even tornadic force, all while blowing in a direct line, rather than a rotation.
Of course, there could be a name no more fitting for a Wind of Destruction such as himself. He takes the “Destruction” part of the name quite seriously, charging through an area and leaving little more than smoldering rubble in his wake.
That being said, there is more to him than his frightening and destructive nature. He was not always the pillar of cruelty that PMCs have made him infamous for. That being said, I’m not typing out his entire bio here for...space reasons, mostly. If you’d like to read more about him, I made a doc for public viewing here. It might be changed here and there with time as I flesh out more of his story, but for the most part, all the important info is there.
Under the cut, however, I will include some fun trivia!
- Derecho’s a big nature lover! He has a particular fondness for birds, to a point that he can identify just about any species in an area if he’s had enough time to study them. Something of a hyperfixation of his.
- His voice claim is Larry Foulke/Pixy from Ace Combat Zero. His faceplate has natural filter that even imitates the sound of speaking through a radio (Though it was originally implemented to conceal his identity, he mostly just keeps it on because he’s insecure.)
- Despite his infamous cruelty towards his fellow man, he has a quite soft spot for UGs. Not to a point where it hinders him in combat, but to enough of a point that he might be caught trying to bond with Dwarf Gekkos and Raptors when off duty (with varying levels of success)
- Do not shorten his name to Derech/Derek. Ever.
- Uhhhh that’s it for now I think. If anyone has any questions or whatever about him, feel free to ask. I’ve been writing a fanfic for a while that I feel will flesh him out a lot for those interested, but I’ve been waiting to get this ref sheet done before I posted it. That being said, for those that keep in touch on AO3, stay tuned I guess?
#I was gonna make the ref sheet prettier but I got too impATIENT AUUHGHG#BUT IT'S DONE YAAAAY#my art#mgr#metal gear rising#metal gear oc#self insert#Derecho
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thank you to @standuptragicomedy for recommending Rough Diamonds, featuring this off-the-derech dilf
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i need to stop going on mi yodeya
it is fucking exhausting to see orthodox jews repeatedly and completely unashamedly call all the other denominations of judaism non-jewish and anyone who's part of that denomination "off the derech". masorti and reform judaism have just as valid a claim to the jewish tradition as orthodox judaism, no matter how many black hats smugly insist that they're the only people doing judaism correctly.
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