my gender identity is jew if that makes sense

YES EXACTLY I'VE FELT LIKE THIS FOREVER

Jewish amulet bearing the name of god, Shadai, from Iraq, c. 1935

the center for jewish art, gross family collection (no date) / jewish museum of greece (early 20th century) / jewish museum of greece (19th century) / the israel museum, replica (early 20th century) / the israel museum, replica (19th century)

this niche genre of amulet is very near & dear to my heart (get it?), i just had to add these. apologies for hijacking your post, op.

it's not saturday but i wanted to post this before going offline for shabbat ✡︎⊹ ⋆ﾟ

Before I go offline for Shabbat myself, I will make a Cyanobacterial ruling on the concept!

SHABBAT WOULD EXIST without Cyanobacteria!

The earliest mention of shabbat is in parshat Bereshit (Genesis 2:2), in which it is stated: "וַיְכַ֤ל אֱלֹהִים֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֣ר עָשָׂ֑ה וַיִּשְׁבֹּת֙ בַּיּ֣וֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִ֔י מִכׇּל־מְלַאכְתּ֖וֹ אֲשֶׁ֥ר עָשָֽׂה׃" "On the seventh day Hashem (G-d) finished the work that had been undertaken: Hashem ceased on the seventh day from doing any of the work". This provides the basis for the Jewish (and, more broadly, Israelite) holiday of Shabbat, and is also considered to be the first recorded observance of Shabbat.

Since Shabbat would still exist even if there were no humans (or any other organisms which require the atmospheric O2 produced by Cyanobacteria in order to survive) to observe it, being a creation of Hashem, Cyanobacteria are not required for its existence.

Ah, but didn't G-d rest on the seventh day because G-d had spent several days before Shabbat making all manner of life forms which would not exist without cyanobacteria? Otherwise, G-d would only have worked for three days.

Well, I think it can be inferred that Cyanobacteria were created on day 3, being the origin of planty-things. By day 4, they have already changed the composition of the atmosphere (Great Oxygenation Event) enough that the stars can finally be seen from Earth instead of being blocked by greenhouse gasses like CO2 and Methane. Only after this, on day 4, can the animals and such be created!

Okay, but the point is that without the cyanobacteria, G-d wouldn't have gotten any further. G-d would have stopped on day 4, several days before Shabbat.

i feel like this may imply that shabbat, on its own, prenecessitates 6 days having passed rather than g-d deciding when and what it is. or it implies that 3 days of work is not enough to sufficiently tire him out. but if g-d stopped on day 4, would shabbat not simply be then?

On November 7, 2024, Denmark used a racist, culturally biased "parenting competency" test to remove a 2 hour old baby, Zammi, from her loving indigenous Greenlandic Inuit mother, Keira, because her native language, which uses minute facial expressions to communicate, will not be able to "[prepare] the child for the social expectations and codes that are necessary to navigate in Danish society." This test had been recommended not to be used at the federal level before this happened but certain municipalities, including the one this happened in, chose to continue to use it regardless. Not only is this blatantly racist but also violates multiple declarations and conventions that Denmark has signed that protect the rights of indigenous people.

Please sign this petition to help Keira to get her baby back.

Hey, it's really important for Keira to get 50,000 signatures on this petition before her court date in early April 2025. Please sign if you haven't already to help a mother and a people stand up to colonialism and for indigenous rights.

Controversial opinion but if I can see the hamantasch filling and it's taking up most of the triangle, it's not a hamantasch. The point of hamantaschen is that the filling is *hidden*, it's a pocket not a tart. It's fine if a little filling peeks out in the center but if it's basically just spread on top..... that's not a hamantasch. That's a triangular shortbread cookie.

You're so right though @hermthejewishwyrm. I prefer that cock shame hamantasch, that's the real one for me.

recently asked the jewish community if there was a 'modern translation' of the tanakh.

I compared what I was looking for to Maria Dahvana Headley’s Beowulf, and while the answers haven't come in yet, I think I'm going to be hunted down by every jew in a 50 mile radius.

i assume you are looking for an updated translation rather than one that uses modern slang, so that's how i'll answer (i've included a specific translation that i think you might like best at the end of you want to skip my monologuing). i'll also add that i am studying multiple ancient/dead languages in university and have had to translate many texts myself. something to understand about english-hebrew translation is that it can't work in the way that your beowulf example does. beowulf is in old english, the basis of the modern english it was translated into. those two are almost as close as you can get, in relation to all of language. hebrew and english are extremely far apart. there are countless fundamental concepts that just can't be transferred into english. so if your goal is to understand the text as well as possible, you should devote time to learning at least a little hebrew.

sefaria.org, an online collection of jewish texts, has dozens of different translations to select from and displays the dates of each publication. you can choose to display the hebrew and english at the same time, and clicking on each hebrew word will bring up a definition, etymology, etc.

generally, the jewish publication society's translations are the best (also on sefaria). if what you like about headley's beowulf translation is its feminist perspective, the jps translations are a large collaborative effort between both male & female experts of all jewish denominations. their 2023 publication, jps tanakh: gender-sensitive edition, might be the closest to what you want. they call it the "first substantial revision" of their tanakh. it includes multiple essays from experts on issues like translating gender. i think the title is self-explanatory, but clicking the link will take you to jps' rundown of what is different about it. hope this helps.

Quick Question

uh our girlfriend is Jewish and we were talking about spirituality and religion and stuff and we realized we’re pretty open to converting and honestly we only have one question

Would we still be able to believe in reality shifting and manifestation if we converted?/genq

Obviously no one is forced to answer we just want to know and we haven’t been able to find any answers anywhere else. -🦇💫

every denomination of judaism, including reform, is incredibly clear about the fact that in order to convert you must reject any and all other faiths. not doing so is not an option. idol worship is one of the most serious transgressions. both of the practices you mention are not jewish, they belong to other faiths. if you pursue conversion at all, you cannot hide your intention to practice these things from the rabbi you speak to. these are things you have to share with them. i don't know if i can put enough stress on the fact that it is not a possibility to keep your practice of these things a secret, if you did you would be converting under false pretenses.

"manifesting," depending on what you define it as exactly, can be replaced by simply praying to hashem for help in reaching certain goals.

"reality shifting" is different. i don't want to offend, but no matter how much you believe in the practice, i think you can understand how the average person would react to being told that you regularly jump through different realities. if you explained this to a rabbi (which, again, you absolutely would have to do) then they would most likely be concerned for your mental health. every denomination stresses the importance of ensuring that conversion candidates are of sound mind. the only 'alternative' i can provide is lucid dreaming, which is described in many jewish mystical texts.

jewish folk magic & mysticism do exist, but bear no resemblance to these modern spiritual/neo-pagan ideas.

I understand the impulse behind this rhetoric but please please please stop saying or implying that gay or trans or intersex people were the first or primary targets of the Holocaust or of Nazi Germany. That is actually just antisemitism.

We can talk about persecution of queer / trans / intersex people, both now and under the Nazis, without engaging in historical revisionism or antisemitism.

jumblr what prayers are helpful to say when i need to calm the fuck down. antisemitism on my college campus is infuriating and i don't have the energy to keep up with this anger

Borei pri hagafen