Please Witness Its Power

What if I say that the fact people think Jews are white is exactly the proof that the holocaust isn't taken seriously or taught about correctly

I made Gary (my gecko) a tiny Tallis and yarmulke for Rosh Hashanah and he wished u all happy new year

LMAO I just found out that it’s Stress Awareness week.

In the Jewish calendar, the anniversary of the Simchat Torah pogrom hasn't happened yet. Simchat Torah is in a few weeks. But if the rest of the world is going to desecrate the memories of those we lost on this day, we must commemorate the pogrom on the Gregorian calendar as well.

I will never be the same person I was before October 7th. We as a people will never be the same. But that's what has allowed us to survive all these millennia - we don't try to go back to how we were: we rebuild, we move forward. When the first Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, we began to set our calendar. When the second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, we began to record oral Torah. Through thousands of years of successive colonization, genocide, and exile, we have recontextualized and reiterated to ourselves and to the world what it means to be a Jew.

We are Ivrim- people from the "other side", never fully part of the dominant society, but proud of who we are.

עברי אנכי ואת ה' אלוקי השמים אני ירא

"I am an Ivri and I revere YHVH the Lord of the Heavens"

[Yonah 1:9]

We are Yehudim- descendents of the majesty of the united sovereignty of Malchut Yehudah, yearning to return to the time of peace and unity under David and Shlomo.

ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה וששן ויקר

"The Yehudim had light and joy and happiness and esteem"

[Esther 8:16]

We are Bnei Yisrael- all descendants of the man who wrestled an angel and conversed with G-d

ושמרו בני ישראל את השבת לעשות את השבת לדרתם ברית עולם

"And Bnei Yisrael shall observe the Shabbat to establish the Shabbat for their generations as a forever covenant"

[Shemot- Ki Tisa 31:16]

We are a small nation scattered across the globe, united time and time again by immense loss. But there will come a day when we are united with one heart and one soul not by tragedy, but by joy.

We will rebuild. We will survive. We will dance again.

✡️עם ישראל לעולם חי🎗️

We are blamed for the global IT outage.

What a surprise /s.

.

Fighting a new chronic condition during the entire high holiday season has got me feeling real down. I keep having dreams about dwelling in a sukkah because I haven’t felt well enough to do so irl. I’m praying for enough wellness and energy to enjoy Simchat Torah in person, rather than on my synagogue’s livestream.

I know logically that there’s no shame in taking care of my body. But it’s so hard to feel fulfilled this time of year when I’m stuck on my sofa.

Jewishly anthropomorphizing and pitying the final candle on the chanukiah. It's not one of those that goes over and over, that lights up the songs every night, that sees every present and hears every giggle, kids taking turns on alternating nights, its base caked with islands of melted wax. It is left for the very very end and only goes once per year. And maybe by then, people are a bit worn out on dreidels and latkes and gelt and so the last candle never even meets some of its seasonal friends. It's okay, baby, you finally get your turn, we wouldn't forget you. Next year it will be different. Next year you'll meet them too.

It's the exact opposite of Tekiah Gedolah - which also only happens once but is unambiguously the star, the main attraction, all the oodles of Tekiahs seen as warm-ups by comparison for their gigantic grand finale elder brother, everybody's favorite and no one even pretends to hide it. I admire the Tekiahs for sticking to their role without one note of resentment or envy - which they totally absolutely feel, but their devotion to their job is greater.