#jewishness — Public Fediverse posts

“Everyone I know feels lost. The trick is / to feel lost together.…” https://www.davideriknelson.com/sbsb/index.php/2026/09/everyone-i-know-feels-lost-the-trick-is-to-feel-lost-together/ #jewishness #Jews #mazeldon #newsF #poetry

"The #Hellenization of #Judea and the #assimilation of #American #Jews obviously have radically different etiologies. One occurred in the context of #Hellenistic #imperialism; the other largely through voluntary #integration into a liberal #democracy that offered Jews unprecedented security and opportunity. Yet their morphology may contain a recognizable similarity: cultural encounter, selective assimilation, reinterpretation of #Jewish identity, competing visions of #Jewishness, and eventually intra-Jewish conflict.

The point is not that modern anti-#Zionist Jews are simply modern #Hellenists. Rather, the Hellenistic crisis provides a historical model for understanding how assimilation can eventually turn a disagreement about how Jews should relate to the surrounding world into a conflict over what #Judaism itself means."

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/when-jews-assimilate-into-the-world-around-them/

Controversial: we should stop running for office in host countries.

Uncontroversial: Jewish president is a fantasy.

"#MichaelMorris is the publisher of the #Atlanta #JewishTimes, and the scathing letter he just wrote #Georgia #Sen. #JonOssoff signals yet another important shift among prominent #Jewish communal figures since #October7.

First, the background to this incident. In the 2024 campaign, the question was whether #Pennsylvania #Gov. #JoshShapiro’s #Jewishness would hold him back from being embraced as a national figure in the #Democratic Party. The answer was yes: A progressive campaign to cast him as a #dualloyalist was so successful that when he was being vetted as a possible vice-presidential nominee for #KamalaHarris, her team asked him whether he worked on #Israel’s behalf.

Many of us, myself included, wondered if #Shapiro would run for president in 2028 and thus test the party’s voters on this question. But it looks as if #Ossoff may be the one..."

https://www.commentary.org/seth-mandel/jon-ossoff-josh-shapiro-and-the-jewish-presidential-candidacy/

“AA: There is also a way to argue, on the flipside, that the project of Israel is essentially a project of assimilation into the Western world order—that there’s nothing inherently Jewish about what Israel is doing, and that it actually represents assimilation into a colonial framework. But then, of course, there’s a way to read this that’s very direct: This is what Jews are doing in the world. Secular Jews, religious Jews, cultural Jews, all kinds of Jews.

EL: You’re absolutely right. That was the strategy we on the Jewish left used for a long time, to say Judaism was colonized and the Zionists are Jewish antisemites, in that they reject what the antisemites reject—the diasporic, exilic, “parasite” Jew—and want instead to become real Europeans. But when so many people who call themselves Jewish are doing things that we have a problem with and calling it “Jewish,” we cannot just dismiss it, or claim that it’s not real Judaism. If you look at statistics, at least in Israel, the support for Netanyahu and the Gaza war, including the most racist genocidal statements, is correlated to how religious people are—the more religious, the more supportive. There were times when you could expect the Haredi communities not to go to the army, not to celebrate Yom Ha’atzmaut, Independence Day, not even to speak Hebrew. And that’s changed.”

https://jewishcurrents.org/when-jewishness-means-genocide

#jewishness #zionism #israel #genocide #philosophy #EladLapidot #conversation #JewishCurrents

A Childhood in Jewish New Orleans

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/a-childhood-in-jewish-new-orleans

When I was 13, I lost my bat mitzvah photos. This was fine.

https://gender-defiant.ghost.io/two-kinds-of-stealth/

#parents #protecttranskids #allyship #lgbtq #transgender #translaw #transhealthcare #transrights #genderqueer #pride #transjoy #genderdiversity #judaism #jewishness #sheminiatzeret #stealth

Richard Kind Is the Perfect Second Banana

https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-interview/richard-kind-is-the-perfect-second-banana

"Blessings beyond the Binary, ed. by Nora Rubel & Brett Krutzsch, looks at the 🇺🇸 TV show Transparent and analyses in 16 essays how it shows the intersections of #Jewishness, #gender & sexuality

#JAHM #GenderStudies #TVStudies #JewishStudies

https://opac.sub.uni-goettingen.de/DB=1/XMLPRS=N/PPN?PPN=1890631582

Excerpted from Contemporary #Humanistic #Judaism: #Beliefs, #Values, Practices
by Adam Chalom and Jodi Kornfeld

"Sometimes ideological #secularists—particularly early twentieth-century #Zionists working for a #secular, Hebrew-speaking #Jewish state and socialists creating new expressions of secular #Jewishness in #Yiddish—also adapted traditional Jewish forms to their #political agendas."

https://thehumanist.com/magazine/spring-2025/features/excerpted-from-contemporary-humanistic-judaism-beliefs-values-practices

The monotheistic religions made it normal to squash people: "I think there is something really special about the Bible [...] which is precisely this idea that the revelation of truth comes through the suffering of the weak." (Matthieu Poupart)

Then the Renaissance made it easier to blame the victim: With modernity, "it is the person who takes no initiative who is seen as responsible for the emergence of sexual promiscuity." (Matthieu Poupart)

#EstelleSays #longThread 🧶

#truth #revelation #believe #beliefs #empathy #feminism #quotes #blameTheVictim #maleSupremacy #manliness #patriarchy #misogyny #relationships #sociology #religion #catholic #christianity #jewishness #jewish #squash #flatten #crush #agressions #agressive #agressivity #supremacy #rapeCulture #brutalization #modernity #Renaissance #history #intellectualHistory #historyOfHumanThought #historyOfPhilosophy #normal #normality #heteronormativity #weak #weakness #incest #incestCulture

I have a few thoughts on this article that I’ll share at a later date. But one that immediately comes to mind is that authoritarian types LOVE trying to define Jesus away from: His appearance in the #Bible, how He’s been embraced and defined by the ancient traditions of the #Church, and His #Jewishness. Always be wary of people who claim to be Christian but try to wrench Jesus around their agenda rather than conforming their lives around #Jesus.

https://www.salon.com/2025/02/18/his-mission-is-to-eradicate-woke-jesus-how-money-lies-and-religion-are-abused-to-gut-democracy/

September 1st was this year's European Day of Jewish Culture!
Here are 10 books by & on British Jews in #EnglishLiterature & #History, #Jewishness & Englishness, from our collection - find more in our catalogue!

#JewishCulture #EuropäischerTagDerJüdischenKultur #bookstack

Deborah Feldman: “Germans tend to cut off any attempt at constructive conversation with the much-favoured phrase that topic is much too complicated.
[…] Non-affiliated voices are often silenced or discredited, replaced by the louder ones of Germans whose Holocaust-guilt complexes cause them to fetishise Jewishness to the point of obsessive-compulsive embodiment.”

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/nov/13/germany-jewish-criticise-israel-tv-debate @germany

The present toot is a repost from mstdn.social where i published the content in December 2023 and the moderation team chose to erase it in March 2024.

#manipulation #ihra #Kultur #mstdn #moderation #mstdnSocial #Germany #NL #Germany #Europe #philoSemitism #EuropePalestine #coloniality #guilt #proZionism #StandWithIsrael #activism #antiZionism #antiRacism #conflation #DeborahFeldman #Feldman #Jewishness #Jews

@xekola

From reading some "press" articles we can gather that this event seems to promote and engage in further #dehumanization of #Palestinians, #fear-mongering against #Muslims, perpetuation of a sense of sole #victimhood of #Israelis, glorification of "Israeli #democracy" and of course the absolute #conflation of #Zionism and #Jewishness (or even #Judaism) and thus also anti-Zionism and "#antisemitism".

Basically the #goverment-imposed #German "#Staatsräson".

So #disgusting.

#AntiZionism

About a month ago I decided to visit the library on the far side of town just to see what they had. There a rather new-looking book caught my eye: The Jewish American Paradox: Embracing Choice in a Changing World by Robert Mnookin.

In the book, Mnookin argues that the traditional answers to what makes one a Jew no longer serve American Jews today (2018). Most American Jews no longer practice Judaism and freely marry outside the faith. American Jews are deeply integrated into American society and are no longer institutionally persecuted for being Jewish. And Israeli policies arouse anger and bitter conflict instead of unity among American Jews. Can the American Jewish community find common ground on what it means to be Jewish?

Mnookin proposes a radically inclusive American-Jewish community. One that “embraces diversity and debate, and in so doing, preserves and strengthens the Jewish identity into the next generation and beyond”.

As I began to seriously consider conversion, I’ve pondered the question of Jewish identity. What does being Jewish mean to me? Why have I chosen this path? How will being Jewish affect how I live my life? I asked myself these question even before my rabbi asked. Perhaps I’m overprepared for the Beit Din.

This question is only the latest in a lifetime of asking myself who I am and what it means to me. What does it mean to be a first generation American? To be mixed race? To be from a culture your immigrant family tried to forget? To be able to speak the language of your ancestors? Are you less-than for not being able to speak it fluently?

Like my rabbi said to me when I first started seriously considering conversion, being Jewish is about more than mere self-identification. It’s about doing.

But what does it mean to “do Jewish”?

When I was studying Judaism and Jewish history in Intro to Judaism, it was the rabbi’s call for us to “do Jewish” made all this feel more “real” to me.

In a religious context it meant starting a Shabbat ritual, reading Torah portions, and cracking open the Talmud. Saying brachas for neat things when moved to do so. Considering other ritual commitments that fulfill me as I feel out what comes most naturally to me.

In a secular context it meant learning some Hebrew and trying traditionally (Ashkenazi) and Israeli foods like latkes, matzo ball soup, and Bamba. Engaging with the Jewish community more broadly. Studying Jewish history and how rich a story it is. Learning about Jewish scientists and their contributions to their respective fields of study. Delving into philosophy and ethics. Just learning so many things I never thought I’d learn about.

Final thoughts

I think for those who are struggling with their Jewish identity this would be invaluable. I’m certain the stories contained within will resonate with many.

#mazeldon #jewishness #identity #identitypolitics

"Labour has gone to great lengths to make clear that nothing substantial will change."

"Centrist rule, typified by the incapability or unwillingness to take seriously the manifold crises humanity now faces, only increases the political dissatisfaction on which the far-right feeds. The […] Tories – or Reform itself – may well return renewed and worsened in 2029 when public frustration sees Labour’s exercise in political nothingness collapse."

Francesca Newton writes: https://vashtimedia.com/election-labour-victory-keir-starmer-shehecheyanu/ 🧶

#farCenter #conservation #rule #austerity #publicHealth #resentment #cultureWars #antiWoke #lifeConditions #healthCare #hostility #disdain #brutalization #farCentre #LabourParty #Labour #England #Britain #UK #centreLeft #leftOfCentre #takeOver #elections #UKPol #politics #SocialDemocracy #SocDem #triangulation #Starmer #ballot #UKPolitics #parliament #vote #campaign #government #HouseOfCommons #ambivalence #Shehecheyanu #hope #Macron #Jewishness #Judaism #Jews

I can’t shake the feeling that there is something vaguely antisemitic about this situation . . .🪄🐇👿 https://www.davideriknelson.com/sbsb/index.php/2024/07/i-cant-shake-the-feeling-that-there-is-something-vaguely-antisemitic-about-this-situation/ #jewishness #Jews #JewsInMagic #magic #Magicians #mazeldon #newsD #newsF

"For the last 18 years, PJ Library has been inspiring joyful #Jewish experiences by sending free #storybooks and activities to families with children up to age 12.

“PJ Library is designed to be welcoming, inclusive and meaningful to families, regardless of Jewish experience or level of observance,” Alex Zablotsky, executive director of PJ Library, told The Journal. “No matter what #Jewishness looks like in any family, strengthening a child’s connection to Jewish values, traditions and celebrations can be as easy as adding PJ Library storybooks to #reading time.”

https://jewishjournal.com/community/372682/pj-library-turns-18/

Zionism is the idea that Jews can have self-determination and Israel should exist as a place for Jews.

This is the definition. Other definitions made by non-Jews don't matter.

If Jews want to create a new term or re-define the term in some way to make more clarifications on the various issues, I'm happy to listen to that and decide how I want to self-identify within that context.

What I don't accept is any non-Jews defining my identity for me or demanding that I use any specific terms for myself because it pleases them to do so.

I especially resent when a non-Jew takes an existing Jewish identity term and redefines it for their own purpose.

That's antisemitic.

#Jewishness #Zionism #Jewdiverse #Mazeldon

Für Kurzentschlossene:

Heute Abend im Schlachthof #Wiesbaden -
"Punk & Jewishness"
Einlass ab 19 Uhr
Eintritt selbst wählbar!

(Eigentlich habt ihr keine Wahl - ihr müsst hingehen, weil ich nicht kann 🫠)

https://schlachthof-wiesbaden.de/events/punk-jewishness-93829

@punk @punks_against_antisemitism

#Punk #Jewishness #Mazeldon

"Six months of liberal Zionist doublethink"

by Ben Reiff, an editor at #972Mag and #Vashti: https://vashtimedia.com/2024/04/12/formats/the-pickle/six-months-liberal-zionist-doublethink/ @supremacy

#liberals #highGround #righteous #righteousness #moralBeauty #moralGround #Jewishness #judeity #Jews #Judaism #israelism #patriotism #JewishSupremacy #whiteness #coloniality #Zionism #StandWithIsrael #JStreet #Yachad #vertue #justness #morals #morality #SpotAndDiscard #humanRights #humanitarian

Here is a feminist opinion about #safety, #security, #masculinity, #whiteness, #liberals and #progressists.
It notably stated the need for a discourse incorporating sorrow and hope, on 9 November 2023:
(he) https://politicallycorret.co.il/morroco-smol-3/
(en) https://politicallycorret.co.il/morroccan-left-3-en/

#leftWing #militancy #israel #israelPalestine #Mizrahi #Jewishness #theocracy #JewishState #feminisms #patriarchy #liberalism #israelApartheid #JewishSupremacy #brutalization #war #fragility #insecurity #entitlement #grief #grievability

Let's popularise a bit 😋

Because I like to create stories, I'm starting a #series for you: #EstelleInterprets

Episode 1: "Jew or Israelite?"

(The definition of #Israeli is easy: "in the State of Israel". So it doesn't apply before 1948).

#Israelite" may have one of two meanings: ethnic and religious/secular. Neither is linked to citizenship in Israel-Palestine.

#history #fragility #sociology #systemicRacism #raceMaking #Jewishness #judeity #Jews #Judea #Palestine #anthropology #domination #Antiquity

"From a young age, Jewish people in Western countries are lied to by religious leaders, family members and elders about what Israel represents. But many are now learning the truth."

An anti-Zionist, Jewish American woman published on a Turkish media: https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/questioning-israels-party-line-a-jewish-activist-explains-her-awakening-15814522

#diaspora #Jewish #Jewishness #antiWar #conflation #antiZionism #warOnPalestine #israelGaza #israelGazaWar #israelPalestineWar #Jews #zionism #alphabetMafia

"PHOTOS: An eruption of British Jewish solidarity with Palestinians" https://vashtimedia.com/2023/11/23/issues/the-jewish-left/photos-eruption-british-jewish-solidarity-palestinians/

#diaspora #Jewishness #nonViolence #antiWar #demonstrations #London #conflation #confusion #antisemitism #antiZionism #politics #UK #England #Britain #warOnPalestine #israelGaza #israelGazaWar #israelPalestineWar #Jews #2023War #war2023

New Yorker: Where Does Antisemitism Come From? https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/where-does-antisemitism-come-from #NewYorker #Anti-Semitism #News/Q.&A. #Jewishness #HateCrimes #Israelis #Zionism #Israel #Hamas #Gaza

New Yorker: The Long History of Jewface https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-weekend-essay/the-long-history-of-jewface #NewYorker #Culture/TheWeekendEssay #LeonardBernstein #BradleyCooper #Stereotypes #Jewishness #Judaism

Smadar #Lavie: #israel #Mizrahi left "#NGOs are budget dependent. If there are donations, they usually come from progressive Zionist donor organizations of the American-Jewish diaspora, and NGOs need to adapt their activism so that they don’t offend the donors. The image diaspora Jews have of Israel is that all Jews are equal in the homeland of the Jews."

https://www.972mag.com/smadar-lavie-israeli-protests-mizrahi/ #nationalism #whiteSupremacy #Jewishness #Judaism #liberalism #family #motherhood #marriage #theocracy #anthropology

#Jewishness doesn't belong to us. We are simply its caretakers before we hand it over to future generations. Our job is to cultivate, maintain and strengthen the Jewish people so that it can continue in the future. - Ben Freeman

@mazeldon
#Jewdiverse #Judaism

Folge 34 von *Der ComicTalk* ist online! Es hat wie immer großen Spaß gemacht, dabei zu sein! In der Vorstellungsrunde möchte Hella von Sinnen u.a. Details über meine #Forschung zu #Jewishness & #Queerness hören. Den passenden Clip dazu gibt es hier 👇
https://dercomictalk.de/2022/12/16/der-comictalk-34-woher-nehmt-ihr-die-ideen/

It’s also because, as Phil traverses the globe proudly and joyfully displaying his #Jewishness and being embraced in turn I feel, as a fellow member of The Tribe… safer. It helps me believe we *will* get through these dark times if we focus on what unites us - or maybe it reveals that these times aren’t quite as dark as headlines and social media would have us believe.

I’m not just happier watching #SomebodyFeedPhil, I’m more hopeful.

And hungrier. ❤️