#judaism — Public Fediverse posts

Some Chabad People Are Coming for Ramat Aviv’s Children

When adults with an agenda approach your children when you aren’t around, look for us somewhere between the…
#Israel #News #Chabad #Judaism #telaviv #Ultra-Orthodox
https://www.europesays.com/3237015/

My dad’s determination to choose life despite his cruel illness has taught me gratitude | Nomi Kaltmann
By Nomi Kaltmann

We can’t control what happens to us – only how we react to it. And when we help others we are reminded that we are more than our suffering

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/07/making-sense-dads-parkinsons-disease-taught-me-gratitude

#Parkinsonsdisease #Judaism #Religion #Health #Health #Australianews #TheGuardian #NomiKaltmann

My dad’s determination to choose life despite his cruel illness has taught me gratitude | Nomi Kaltmann
By Nomi Kaltmann

We can’t control what happens to us – only how we react to it. And when we help others we are reminded that we are more than our suffering

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/07/making-sense-dads-parkinsons-disease-taught-me-gratitude

#Parkinsonsdisease #Judaism #Religion #Health #Health #Australianews #TheGuardian #NomiKaltmann

My dad’s determination to choose life despite his cruel illness has taught me gratitude | Nomi Kaltmann
By Nomi Kaltmann

We can’t control what happens to us – only how we react to it. And when we help others we are reminded that we are more than our suffering

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/07/making-sense-dads-parkinsons-disease-taught-me-gratitude

#Parkinsonsdisease #Judaism #Religion #Health #Health #Australianews #TheGuardian #NomiKaltmann

‘Pod Save America’ hosts botch blood libel definition while mocking Vance

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! “Pod Save America” co-hosts Jon Favreau and Jon Lovett mocked…
#UnitedStates #US #USA #anti-Semitism #controversies #hatecrime #JamesDavidVance #jdvance #Judaism #media #vance #vicepresident #VP
https://www.europesays.com/3234824/

https://www.europesays.com/people/216459/ ‘Pod Save America’ hosts botch blood libel definition while mocking Vance #AntiSemitism #controversies #HateCrime #JamesDavidVance #JDVance #Judaism #Media

Israel must give Ethiopian Israelis a bigger role in politics and at the UN

For generations, in the highlands of East Africa between the Blue Nile basin and the Red Sea world,…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #breakingnews #christians #EthiopianJews #ethiopianjewsinisrael #famousjewishpeople #generalassembly #Israel #israelipolitics #Judaism #muslims #Opinion #Sigd #UnitedNations #UNSC #USPolitics #zionism
https://www.newsbeep.com/712314/

" #Rabbi #ChaimSteinmetz of #CongregationKehilath on the #UpperEastSide has #published “A Proud #Jew,” drawing on his weekly #Torah #essays.

The essays collected in the new volume, his third #book, reference weekly Torah portions, the holidays, Jewish life and contemporary events. Together, they explore what it means to live as a Jew in a complicated world and why #Jewish identity should be a source of strength rather than something to conceal.

The book’s title comes from one of its essays, but as #RabbiSteinmetz writes in the preface, it reflects the message of the entire collection: “Our mission is to carry with pride #Judaism’s message to humanity.”

That message has taken on particular urgency in Rabbi Steinmetz’s work in #NewYork."

https://www.thejewishstar.com/stories/rabbi-steinmetz-book-presents-a-proud-jew,26755?

JIMENA convened a coalition of 14 leading Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewish organizations to challenge New York Magazine’s Habibi City feature and its exclusionary framing of Middle Eastern, North African, and SWANA identity.

“We are not asking to be tolerated as exceptions to an ideological rule. We are asking to be recognized as what we are: peoples of the region.”

Read the full letter: https://www.jimena.org/habibi-city/

Read the Forward coverage: https://forward.com/news/846803/sephardic-mizrahi-new-york-magazine-habibi-city/

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Mizrahi #Sephardi #MENA

From Harif:
The ‘Arab world’ is a misnomer for a region comprising a rich mosaic of non-Arab and non-Muslim  peoples, sects and religions,  many of whom predate the Arab conquest and Islam in the Middle East.

However, Middle Eastern minorities have suffered a decline due to conflict and persecution. Many have been forced to flee. Demands for autonomy and self-determination have been frustrated.

What is the future for Middle Eastern minorities? To discuss this pressing question, Middle East specialist Jonathan Spyer will chair a distinguished  90-minute panel comprising Kurdish spokesman Veysi Dag,   Juliana Taimoorazy, representing Assyrian Christians,  and Yusri Khaizran from the Druze community.

Join Zoom meeting:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85975251365?pwd=kvm3FsjSKb0ZzVL6mqchd1OeS3dt7J.1
Webinar ID: 859 7525 1365
Passcode: 948345

#Mazeldon #Jewish #Judaism #MENA #Mizrahi #Sephardi

Voices of Distinctions:
A Library of Sages with Tamar Zaken

Join JIMENA for the second session of our Voices of Distinctions virtual conversation series, featuring contributors to Distinctions: A Sephardi and Mizrahi Journal, on Wednesday, August 26, 2026, at 11:00 AM PT / 2:00 PM ET.

Drawing on a rich library of Sephardi wisdom, Tamar will share practical ways educators can bring Sephardi perspectives into their classrooms and communities.

Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/YOFYS-ZDTHa2WUWWr6sEuQ#/registration

Read Tamar's Article: https://www.distinctionsjournal.org/a-library-of-sages-bringing-sephardi-wisdom-to-jewish-day-schools-2/

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Sephardi #Mizrahi #MENA

@aartaka

According to man's understanding, what you say could introduce doubt about the Christ, who gave us the new testament, which is his blood, a sacrifice he made available also to you.

Before #Judaism, there was Abraham. He was never called a #Jew, but he was a friend of #God. And #Jesus said, "Before Abraham was, I am."

Nothing predates God, who is the Eternal Truth. This planet was created by Jesus, who is the Word of God made flesh, who existed before the world was.

"The story of the #Soviet #Jewish #refusenik movement is often told through the courageous men who challenged the #Communist regime, taught #Torah in secret, and fought for the right to leave for #Israel. Less often told is the story of the Jewish women who bravely sustained their families and communities. Their resistance was often a private matter, but without them, the movement could never have survived.

Among those remarkable women was #IraDashevsky. Born in #Odessa in 1958 and raised near #Moscow before moving to Moscow, Ira grew up in a society where #Judaism was suppressed, religion was mocked, and #antisemitism was part of everyday life. As a child, she watched peers ridicule #Jews and destroy letters her parents had sent her at summer camp.

Yet rather than diminish her identity, those experiences strengthened her determination to understand what it truly meant to be Jewish."

https://aish.com/the-strength-of-jewish-women-behind-the-iron-curtain/

Join JIMENA for the first session of our Voices of Distinctions virtual conversation series featuring contributors to Distinctions: A Sephardi and Mizrahi Journal.

Whether you're an educator, student, or lifelong learner, this conversation will offer meaningful insights and practical tools for bringing Sephardi stories into classrooms and communities.

Read Denise's article: We Belong Here, Too: Cultivating Sephardi Presence in Jewish Education
https://www.distinctionsjournal.org/we-belong-here-too-cultivating-sephardi-presence-in-jewish-education/

Register for the Webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/j2Rk8eFlQlu0cZ1QYQ6zIQ

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Sephardi #Mizrahi #MENA #JewishHistory

There's actually a very active frum fitness scene.

"It may be one of the most overlooked #religious obligations of our time.

Not #prayer. Not #charity. Not even #Torahstudy. But #exercise.

That may sound odd, because #Judaism is not a culture of physical vanity. We do not worship the body, glorify muscle, or measure human worth by outward appearance. The #Torah’s ideal is not the #athlete in the stadium, but the #Jew who lives with #faith, discipline, humility, and a sense of higher purpose.

And yet, somewhere along the way, many of us seem to have confused rejecting vanity with neglecting #health.

When it comes to sleep, diet, movement, and basic physical care, too many people treat the body as if it were religiously irrelevant."

#Jewish tradition says otherwise."

https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-904096

Ashkenazi Jews

Author’s Note: This post has mentions of Nazis, the Holocaust, & Nazi Germany. We completely understand if you wish to skip over this post. We’ll catch you in the next one!

Also known as Ashkenazic Jews, Ashkenazis, or Ashkenazim.

This is a form of distinct ethnic subdivision of the Jewish Diaspora. Emerging from the Jewish communities that consolidated during the 10th century in the Rhineland (Western Germany) & northern France. They migrated there from centers such as the Italian peninsula & the Southern Levant. This includes present-day Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, & Jordan.

After numerous massacres of Jews during the Crusades (11th-13th centuries), they began a gradual eastward migration due to mounting restrictions within the Holy Roman Empire & the favorable policies of Casimir the Great & others.

This diaspora ramped up after the persecution during the Black Death of the 14th century. The bulk of the Ashkenazi Jews had migrated to the Kingdom of Poland (which includes modern-day Poland, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine, & parts of Russia). This area became the main center of Ashkenazi Jewry until the Holocaust.

Ashkenazim adapted their traditions, rites, & customs to Europe. They traditionally followed the German rite synagogue ritual & until the Holocaust primarily spoke Yiddish, an offshoot of Middle High German written in a variety of the Hebrew script, with significant Hebrew, Aramaic, & Slavic influences.

The Yiddish language progressively declined in prestige, in favor of national languages & Hebrew, being stigmatized by assimilationists & later also Zionists. Though it was spoken by over 11 million people worldwide before the Holocaust. The Yiddishist movement, which sought to preserve & revive the language, faded through the 20th century. Including Duolingo adding Yiddish as a language.

As a proportion of the world Jewish population, Ashkenazim were estimated to be 3% in the 11th century, rising to 92% in 1930, near the population’s peak. The Ashkenazi population was significantly diminished by the Holocaust carried out by Nazi Germany during WWII, which killed around 6 million Jews. Before WWII, the estimated worldwide Jewish population was 15.3-16.7 million, with 92% being Ashkenazi. As of 2023, the population of Ashkenazim was estimated to be around 10-13 million out of 15.8 million total Jews.

The name Ashkenazi comes from the biblical figure of Ashkenaz. He’s the 1st son of Gomer, grandson of Japhet, great-grandson of Noah, & a Japhetic patriarch in the Table of Nations. The name for Gomer has often been linked to the Cimmerians.

The Biblical Ashkenazis are usually derived from Assyrian Askuza, a people who expelled the Cimmerians from the Armenian area of the Upper Euphrates. The name Askuza is identified with the Scythians.

In Jeremiah 51:27, Ashkenaz figures as 1 of 3 kingdoms in the far north, the others being Minni (or Mannaea), an ancient kingdom that flourished in northwestern Iran, & Arrat (corresponding to Urartu), called on by God to resist Babylon.

Ashkenaz is linked to Scandza/Scanzia (usually identified with Scandinavia), viewed as the cradle of Germanic tribes, in the 6th-century gloss to the Historia Ecclesiastica of Eusebius. In the 10th century, in the History of Armenia of Yovhannes Drasxanakertci, Ashkenaz was associated with Armenia.

As it was occasionally in Jewish usage, where its denotation extended at times to Adiabene, Khazaria, Chimea, & areas to the east. They’re also identified with the Slavim or Slavs. In keeping with the custom of designating areas of Jewish settlement with biblical names, Spain was called Sefarad (Obadiah 20), France was called Tsarefat (I Kings 17:9), & Bohemia was called the Land of Canaan.

Given the close links between the Jewish communities of France & Germany following the Carolingian unification, the term Ashkenazi came to refer to the Jews of both medieval Germany & France.

In later times, the word Ashkenaz is used to designate southern & western Germany, the ritual of which sections differs somewhat from that of eastern Germany & Poland. Thus, the prayer book of Isaiah Horowitz (a prominent rabbi & mystic), & many others, give the piyyutim (a Jewish liturgical poem), according to the Minhag of Ashkenaz & Poland. A Minhag is an accepted tradition or group of traditions in Judaism.

In a religious sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is any Jew whose family tradition & synagogue ritual follow Ashkenazi practices (German rite). Until the Ashkenazi community 1st began to develop in the Early Middle Ages, the centers of Jewish religious authority were in the Islamic world, at Baghdad & Islamic Spain. German Ashkenaz was so geographically distant that it developed a minhag of its own.

The counterpart of Ashkenazi is Sephardic. Since most non-Ashkenazi Orthodox Jews follow Sephardic rabbinical authorities, whether or not they’re ethnically Sephardic. By tradition, a Sephardic or Mizrahi (a.k.a. Oriental Jews; Jews who lived in the Muslim world) who married into an Orthodox or Haredi (a.k.a. ultra-Orthodox) Ashkenazi Jewish family raises her kids to be Ashkenazi Jews.

On the other hand, an Ashkenazi woman who married a Sephardi or Mizrahi is expected to take on Sephardic practices & the kids will “inherit” a Sephardic identity. Though in practice, many families do compromise. A “convert” usually follows the practice of the rabbinical court (beth din) that converted them.

Culturally, an Ashkenazi Jew can be identified by the concept of Yiddishkeit, which means “Jewishness” in the Yiddish language. Before the Haskalah (a.k.a. the Jewish Enlightenment) & the emancipation of Jews in Europe, this meant the study of the Torah & the Talmud for men, & communal life governed by the observance of Jewish Law for men & women.

From the Rhineland to Riga (the largest city in Latvia) to Romania, most Jews prayed in liturgical Ashkenazi Hebrew, & spoke Yiddish in their secular (worldly) lives. But with modernization, Yiddishkeit now includes not just Orthodoxy & Hasidism, but a broader range of movements, ideologies, practices, & traditions in which Ashkenazi have participated & somehow kept a sense of Jewishness. Although pockets of Jews still speak Yiddish, Yiddishkeit can be identified in manners of speech, styles of humor, & in patterns of association.

As Ashkenazi Jews moved away from Europe, mostly in the form of aliyah to Israel. Or immigration to North America, South Africa, Europe (particularly France), & Latin America, the geographic isolation has given way to mixing with other cultures, & with non-Ashkenazi Jews who, similarly, are no longer isolated in distinct geographic locales.

Hebrew has replaced Yiddish as the primary Jewish language for many Ashkenazi Jews. Although many Hasidic & Hareidi groups still use Yiddish in daily life. Aliyah is the immigration of Jews from the diaspora to, historically, the geographic Land of Israel or the Palestine region, where the State of Israel was established.

France’s blended Jewish community is typical of the cultural recombination that’s going on among Jews throughout the world. Although France expelled its original Jewish population in the Middle Ages, by the time of the French Revolution, there were 2 distinct Jewish populations.

One consisted of Sephardic Jews, originally refugees from the Inquisition (which no one expects! Sorry, we’re Monty Python fans here.) & concentrated in the southwest. While the other community was Ashkenazi, concentrated in formerly German Alsace, & mainly speaking a German dialect similar to Yiddish.

The 3rd community of Provencal Jews living in Comtat Venaissin was technically outside France, & was later absorbed into the Sephardim. Comtat Venaissin (called Comtat, for short) was a part of the Papal States from 1274 to 1791.

But after emancipation, a sense of a unified French Jewry emerged, especially when France was wracked by the Dreyfus Affair in the 1890s. (We’ll be doing a post about the Dreyfus Affair.) In the 1920s & 30s, Ashkenazi Jews from Europe arrived in large numbers as refugees from antisemitism, the Russian Revolution, & the economic turmoil of the Great Depression.

By the 1930s, Paris had a vibrant Yiddish culture, & many Jews were involved in diverse political movements. After the Vichy years & the Holocaust, the French Jewish population was augmented once again, 1st by Ashkenazi refugees from Central Europe, & later by Sephardi immigrants & refugees from North Africa, many of them francophone. Francophone refers to people/organizations who use French (language) regularly.

Ashkenazi Jews didn’t transmit their traditions or achievements by text. Instead, these traditions were passed down orally from one generation to the next. The desire to maintain pre-Holocaust traditions relating to Ashkenazi culture has often been met with criticism by Jews in Eastern Europe.

In an ethnic sense, an Ashkenazi Jew is a descendant of the Jews who settled in the Central European region of “Ashkenaz.” For roughly 1,000 years, the Ashkenazim were a reproductively isolated population in Europe.

Despite living in many countries, with little inflow or outflow of countries from migration, conversion, or intermarriage with other groups, including other Jews. Since the mid-20th century, many Ashkenazi Jews have intermarried, both with members of other Jewish communities & non-Jews.

Religious persecution of the Jews in Western & Central Europe led to a significant migration of the Ashkenazi Jews into Eastern Europe. This resulted in a major cultural divide between Western/Central & Eastern Ashkenazi communities. In particular, this was reflected in the division of Yiddish into Western & Eastern Yiddish dialects. As well as in other cultural distinctions: traditions, food, dress, etc.

Initially, the Jews of Eastern Europe enjoyed relative freedom in terms of movement, being invited by the kings of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Over time, the situation was reversed. By the 19th century, the Jews in the West had gradually been integrated into the general society.

While the Eastern Ashkenazi maintained their strict Jewish traditions & were mostly confined to ghettos, especially in the Pale of Settlement of the Russian Empire, which incorporated a considerable amount of land where the Eastern Ashkenazi lived: Poland & Lithuania.

Well-known differences in practices include:

• Observance of Passover (Pesach)
  • Ashkenazi Jews traditionally refrain from eating legumes, grain, millet, & rice. Quinoa has become accepted as a food grain in North American communities. Sephardi Jews typically don’t prohibit these foods.
• Notwithstanding stricter requirements for the ACTUAL slaughter, Sephardi Jews permit the rear portions of an animal after proper Halakhic removal of the sciatic nerve. While many Ashkenazi Jews don’t.
• Ashkenazi Jews often name newborns after deceased family members, not after living relatives. Sephardi Jews often name their kids after their grandparents, even if those grandparents are still living. An exception to this is among Dutch Jews, where Ashkenazi for centuries used naming conventions otherwise attributed exclusively to Sephardim, such as Chuts. Chuts is the name given to Jews who immigrated to London from the Netherlands in the 1850s-1860s.
• Ashkenazi tefillins are wound toward the body, not away from it. Ashkenazim put on the tefillin while standing up. Other Jews generally do so while sitting down. A tefillin(s) is/are sets of small black leather boxes with leather straps having scrolls of parchment written with verses of the Torah inside.
• The prayer shawl (tallit/tallis) is worn by all Ashkenazi men AFTER marriage. Except for Western European Ashkenazi men who wear it from the bar mitzvah. In Sephardi or Mizrahi Judaism, the prayer shawl is commonly worn from early childhood.

The term Ashkenazi also refers to the Nusach Ashkenaz, the liturgical tradition used by Ashkenazi Jews in their siddur (prayer book). A nusach is defined by a liturgical tradition’s choice of prayers, the text of prayers & melodies used in the singing of prayers. 2 other major forms of nusach among Ashkenazi Jews are Nusach Sefard (not to be confused with the Sephardic ritual), which is the general Polish Hasidic nusach, and Nusach Ari, used by those in Chabad.

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JIMENA Featured Educational Resources

Florida Sephardi Demographic Study:
https://sephardicstudy.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/11.-Demographic-study_Latin-Sephardic-Jews-in-S.Florida.pdf

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #MENA #Sephardi #Mizrahi #JewishHistory

JIMENA Featured Educational Resources

Lesson Plans, including Cuisine: https://www.jimena.org/sephardic-and-mizrahi-lesson-plans/

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #MENA #Sephardi #Mizrahi #JewishHistory

JIMENA Featured Educational Resources

Bring Sephardi Wisdom to Dayschool Article: https://www.distinctionsjournal.org/a-library-of-sages-bringing-sephardi-wisdom-to-jewish-day-schools-2/

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #MENA #Sephardi #Mizrahi #JewishHistory

JIMENA Featured Educational Resources

Tunisia Archive Link: http://jimenaexperience.org/tunisia/

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #MENA #Sephardi #Mizrahi #JewishHistory

JIMENA Featured Educational Resources

Holocaust Studies Link: https://www.sepharditoolkit.org/recommendation/holocaust/

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #MENA #Sephardi #Mizrahi #JewishHistory

From Harif UK:
For all the attention the Middle East conflict attracts, the expulsion of nearly a million Jews from Arab countries is rarely acknowledged. This is why Lyn Julius has written ‘Cast Out’, a long-form essay published by the Jewish Quarterly.

For thousands of years, Jewish communities lived across the Middle East and North Africa, forming significant parts of the populations of cities such as Baghdad, Tunis, Cairo and Casablanca. Today, those communities have almost entirely disappeared.

More Info: https://www.harif.org/event/cast-out-the-untold-refugee-story/

#Mazeldon #Jewish #Judaism #JewishHistory #MENA #Sephardi #Mizrahi

From Harif UK:
Baghdadi Jews have shaped Singapore’s history since 1819, yet their stories often go untold. This talk highlights the lives of David Marshall, Singapore’s first Chief Minister and a champion of inclusive citizenship, and Felice Isaacs, a leading figure in Jewish communal life—both of whom survived Japanese internment and helped rebuild the city. Their resilience and leadership in politics, law, and communal work helped forge Singapore’s multicultural identity—a legacy that still resonates today.

More Info: https://www.harif.org/event/the-baghdadi-builders-of-singapore/

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #JewishHistory #MENA #Sephardi #Mizrahi

This fall, JIMENA invites you to join Voices of Distinctions, a six-part virtual conversation series that brings the pages of our latest Distinctions Journal education issue to life.

Through live conversations with the journal's contributors, we'll explore the ideas, research, and personal experiences shaping Sephardi and Mizrahi education today. 

Register Here: https://linktr.ee/VoicesOfDistinctions

Whether you're an educator, student, community leader, or lifelong learner, these discussions offer an opportunity to engage directly with the authors and continue the conversation beyond the written page.

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Sephardi #Mizrahi #MENA #JewishEducation #JewishHistory

Judeo-Christian :fozzie_wocka_wocka:

"Among the many #faiths practiced by millions of #Texas #students, a new statewide required #reading list that includes #biblical passages draws from just two traditions: #Protestant #Christianity and #Judaism.

Yet Texas #rabbis say #Jews had no role in shaping how #Judaism appears in the #curriculum, and they disagree with how the lone #Jewish text is presented. Rather than teaching about Judaism on its own terms, they argue, the lessons filter Jewish texts through a #Christian perspective.

The #readinglist, which is expected to go into effect in 2030, will have #publicschool students across the state reading passages from the #NewTestament and mostly Christian #translations of the #Hebrew Bible alongside #literary classics. Of the curriculum’s six #HebrewBible readings, just one uses a Jewish #translation."

https://forward.com/news/834539/texas-bible-curriculum/

"Many of us probably don’t imagine the #UnitedStates as a nation in which a tradition of #antisemitism reaches back to the original 13 colonies and has emerged in every generation. In her new #book, #historian #PamelaNadell carefully documents the #history of #discrimination, #conspiracytheories, and #violence against #Jews in our republic, as well as the resilience of #Jewish #Americans in resisting and organizing against antisemitism, both at home and abroad. This highly readable book offers an excellent introductory text for undergraduates, theological students, clergy, and adult study groups.

#Nadell defines antisemitism largely with #historical and contemporary examples rather than abstract theories. The term was coined by #WilhelmMarr in 1879 to distinguish the “modern #racial basis of #Jewhatred” from traditional Christian anti-#Judaism. The #author defines it as “#Jew hatred” and cites “many episodes of anti-Jewish animus” in #US history."

https://www.christiancentury.org/books/antisemitism-more-american-we-want-admit

For our Friends in LA:
Holocaust Museum LA has expanded its educational exhibits to include the experiences of Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa during the Holocaust era, helping bring greater attention to histories that have often been overlooked in mainstream Holocaust education.

More Info: https://www.holocaustmuseumla.org

Among the featured stories is that of Joseph Samuels, a cherished member of the JIMENA community and survivor of the 1941 Farhud in Baghdad.

Holocaust Museum LA's digital guide now includes educational content on Jewish experiences in the Middle East and North Africa during the Holocaust era, including testimony from Joseph Samuels.
Jews of the Middle East: https://guides.bloombergconnects.org/en-GB/guide/holocaustMuseumLa/item/df1a085e-92eb-4ecc-b388-c81e4528c48f

Jews of North Africa: https://guides.bloombergconnects.org/en-GB/guide/holocaustMuseumLa/item/5f81b709-7ca3-48f9-bcc9-ceb61aa639b4

Joe Samuels Story: https://guides.bloombergconnects.org/en-GB/guide/holocaustMuseumLa/item/216eb006-3bb6-4095-b5ea-bd028633bda3

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #MENA #Sephardi #Mizrahi #JewishHistory

From JIMENA:
Ghosts of a Holy War

Zoom Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/4K6lu7ouRke71ehmJUHU9Q#/registration

Date & Time
Jul 15, 2026 02:00 PM in
Eastern Time (US and Canada)

#Mazeldon #Jewish #Judaism #Sephardi #Mizrahi #MENA #JewishHistory

From Hadassah:
Executive Editor Lisa Hostein hosts a discussion with three women shining a light on the Sephardic & Mizrahi experience in the United States. Syrian Jewish writer Esther Chehebar, author of the best-selling novel Sisters of Fortune & a co-host of the new podcast GOLDA Girls; Sarah Levin, executive director of JIMENA, a San Francisco-based nonprofit that advocates for Jews from the Middle East and North Africa, who has Turkish Jewish roots; and Rozeeta Mavashev, North America executive director of Masa Israel, who is of Bukharian Jewish descent, will share their perspectives as well as stories of how their experiences have evolved in an America—now celebrating its 250th birthday—where Sephardic Jews were the first to settle but where Ashkenazi Jews have long comprised the overwhelming majority of the Jewish population.

More info: https://your.hadassah.org/event/sephardic-and-mizrahi-perspectives-on-the-american-jewish-experience/e803491

#Mazeldon #Jewish #Judaism #Sephardi #Mizrahi #JewishHistory #MENA #JewishWomen

The Blogs: The Israel I Heard on a Mountaintop | Reuven H. Taff

In June 1967, a high school friend and I spent six consecutive n…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #'ChangeGovernment' #AmericanJewry #Anti-Zionism #antisemitism #BenjaminNetanyahu #breakingnews #DemocracyinIsrael #ElectionsinIsrael #emotion #Iran #Israel #IsraelatWar #Israel:JewishandDemocratic #israelipolitics #jewishidentity #Judaism #leadership #Lebanon #Reflection #SixDayWar #theodorherzl #zionism
https://www.newsbeep.com/583773/

https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/distinctly-catholic/mark-silk-history-term-judeo-christian

Excellent article telling how the term "Judeo-Christian" migrated from liberal inclusiveness to right wing bigotry.

Image: Social Welfare History Archives, University of Minnesota Libraries

#JudeoChristian #Religion #USHistory #USCulture #Christianity #Judaism #Islam #USPolitics #Politics #RightWing #NCCJ #NationalConferenceOfChristainsAndJews

JIMENA
Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa presents

The Iranian Experience Webpage: http://jimenaexperience.org/iran/

Personal Stories of Jewish Refugees
Jewish History in Persia & Iran
Culture of Jewish Persia & Iran

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Mizrahi #Sephardi #MENA #JewishHistory

"As headlines bombard our feeds and the world watches events in Iran, Israel and the larger Middle East unfold with speed, educators - both Jewish and non-Jewish - are facing urgent and complex questions from their students. What is happening? Why does it matter? How does it connect to the Jewish people and to the United States?

Moments like this are not only international ruptures to be viewed passively. They are teachable moments."

Get the PDF: https://www.sepharditoolkit.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/JIMENAs-Jewish-Iranian-Resource-Guide.pdf

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #Mizrahi #Sephardi #MENA #JewishHistory

Religious extremism is a global problem. Like Muslim fanatics, Jewish and Christian fanatics also condemn, assault and even murder queers. #australia #hatecrime #LGBTQIA+ #queerlove #islam #judaism #christianity #religiousextremism #farright #fanaticism https://jtak.scholasticahq.com/article/70212-a-clash-of-creed-the-paradox-of-lgbtq-pride-within-orthodox-judaism

#LínguaInglesa #AdamandEve #Bible #Christianity #Creationofman #Genesis2 #Genesis21 #God #Judaism #Religion #TheFallofMan #TheGardenofEden #TheTreeofLife #TheTreeoftheKnowledgeofGoodandEvil Jeferson Santos https://canaldefrasesbiblicas.com.br/the-second-chapter-of-genesis/ The Second Chapter of Genesis
https://canaldefrasesbiblicas.com.br/the-second-chapter-of-genesis/?fsp_sid=7096

From Reboot:
This season, bring a vibrant new tradition to your Hanukkah or winter gatherings with Erev Yalda: A Celebration of Persian-Jewish Winter Traditions, a short film and beautifully designed digital resource guide from Reboot Studios.

Resources: https://rebooting.com/article/erevyalda/

#Mazeldon #Jewish #Judaism #Sephardi #Mizrahi #MENA #Persia #WinterSolstice #Hanukkah

10 Reasons #Judaism Doesn’t Make Sense

#GodlessAndGrounded #JudaismDebunked #Atheism

In this video, we break down ten core #beliefs and doctrines of Judaism that simply don’t hold up under logic, history, or reason. This is not an attack on #Jewish people — this is a critique of #religious ideas, #scriptures, and #theological claims that shape the world even today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4kp_-jUv-g

Mizrahi Heritage Month from JIMENA

Click here for more info:
https://www.jimena.org/mizrahi-heritage-month/

#Mazeldon #Jewniverse #Jewdiverse #Jewish #Judaism #Sephardi #Mizrahi #MENA #JewishHistory

Today I'm going to talk about the Hebrew calendars. Yes, that's calendars, plural. Jews aren't the only Hebrews; Samaritans are also still around and they have their own traditions, including their own calendar.

1/?

#Calendar #Calendars #Judaism #Samaritanism #TimeKeeping

Apotheosis

This is also called divinization or deification. It’s from the Latin deificato, meaning “making divine.” This is the glorification of a subject to divine levels & commonly, the treatment of a human being, any other living thing, or an abstract idea in the likeness of a deity.

The original sense of apotheosis relates to religion & is the subject of many works of art. Figuratively “apotheosis” may be used in almost any context for “the deification, glorification, or exaltation of a principle, practice, etc.” So normally attached to an abstraction of some sort.

In religion, apotheosis was a feature of many religions in the ancient world. Some that are active today. It requires a belief that there’s a possibility of newly created God’s, so a polytheistic belief system.

The Abrahamic religions of Christianity, Islam, & Judaism don’t allow this. Though many recognize minor sacred categories such as saints. They’re created by a process called canonization. In Christian theology, there’s a concept of the faithful becoming god-like, called divinization or in Eastern Christianity theosis.

In Hinduism, there’s some range for new deities. A human may be deified by becoming regarded as an avatar of an established deity, usually a major one, or by being regarded as a new, independent deity (usually a minor one), or a mix of the 2.

In art, an apotheosis scene usually shows the subject in the Heavens or rising towards them. They’re often partnered by a number of angels, putti, personifications of virtues, or similar figures.

Especially from Baroque art onwards apotheosis scenes may show rulers, generals, or artists purely as an honorific symbol. In many cases, the “religious” context is classical Greco-Roman pagan religion, like The Apotheosis of Voltaire, which features Apollo. The Apotheosis of Washington (1865) sits high in the dome of the United States of America Capitol Building is another example. Personification of places or abstractions are also shown receiving an apotheosis. The classic composition was suited for artistic placement on ceilings or inside domes.

Before the Hellenistic period, imperial cults were known in ancient Egypt (pharaohs) & Mesopotamia (from Naran-Sin through Hammurabi). In the New Kingdom of Egypt, all deceased pharaohs were deified as the god Osiris, having been identified as Horus while on the throne. They were sometimes referred to as the “son” of other various deities.

The architect Imhotep was defied after his passing away. Though the process seems to have been gradual. This took over 1,000 years, by which time he had become associated with medicine. About a dozen non-royal ancient Egyptians became regarded as deities.

Ancient Greek & Roman religions have many characters who were born as humans but became gods. Like Disney’s Hercules. They’re usually made divine by 1 of the main deities, the 12 Olympians. In the Roman story of Cupid & Psyche, Zeus gave the ambrosia of the gods to the mortal Psyche. This transformed her into a goddess herself.

In the case of the Hellenistic queen Berenice II of Egypt was deified like other rulers of the Ptolemaic dynasty. The court dispersed a myth that her hair, that was cut off to fulfill a vow, had its own apotheosis before becoming the Coma Berenices, a group of stars that still bear her name.

In the Greek world, the 1st leader who granted himself diving honors was Philip II of Macedon. At the wedding to his 6th wife, Philip’s enthroned image was carried in procession among the Olympian gods. Such Hellenistic state leaders might be raised to a status equal to the gods before death, like Alexander the Great, or afterwards, like members of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

A heroic cult status that’s similar to apotheosis was also an honor given to a few reversed artists of the distant past, such as Homer.

Up to the end of the Roman Republic, the god Quirinus was the only 1 the Romans accepted as having undergone apotheosis, for his identification/syncretism with Romulus. Syncretism is the practice of meshing together different beliefs & various schools of thought. Eventually apotheosis in Ancient Rome was a process whereby a deceased ruler was recognized as divine by their successors. This was usually done by a decree of the Senate & popular consent.

The 1st of these cases was the posthumous deification of the last Roman dictator Julius Caesar in 42 BC by his adopted son, the triumvir Caesar Octavian. In addition to showing respect, the present ruler often deified a popular predecessor to legitimize himself & gain popularity himself & gain popularity with the people.

A vote in the Roman Senate, in the later Empire confirming an imperial decree, was the normal official process. But this sometimes followed a period with the unofficial use of deific language or imagery for the individual. This was often done rather discreetly within the imperial circle.

There was then a public ceremony, called a consecratio, including the release of an eagle which flew high. This represents the ascent of the deified person’s soul to Heaven. Imagery featuring the ascent, sometimes using a chariot, was common on coins & in other art.

The largest & most famous example in art in a relief on the base of the Column of Antoninus Pius, showing the emperor & his wife, Faustina the Elder, being carried up by a much larger winged figure, described as representing “Eternity,” as the personifications of “Roma” & the Campus Martius sit below, & eagles fly above. The imperial couple are represented as Jupiter & Juno (or Zeus & Hera).

The historian Dio Cassius, who said he was present, gives a detailed description of the large, & lavish, public consecratio of Perinax, emperor for 3 months in 193, ordered by Septimius Severus.

At the height of the imperial cult during the Roman Empire, sometimes the emperor’s deceased loved ones (heirs, empresses, or lovers) like Hadrian’s Antinous were deified as well.

Deified people were posthumously given the title ‘Divus’ for men & ‘Diva’ for women to their names to signify their divinity. Traditional Roman religion distinguished between a deus (god) & divus (a mortal who became divine or deified), though not consistently. Temple & columns were erected to provide a space for worship.

The imperial cult was mainly popular in the provinces. Especially in the Eastern Empire, where many cultures were well used to deified rulers, & less popular in Rome itself, & among traditionalists & intellectuals.

Some privately, & cautiously, ridiculed the apotheosis of inept & feeble emperors, as in the satire The Pumkinification of (the Divine) Claudius. This is usually attributed to Seneca.

Numerous mortals have been deified into the Taoist pantheon. Examples are Guan Yi, Iron-crutch Li, & Fan Kuai. Song dynasty general Yue Fei was deified during the Ming dynasty. He’s considered by some practitioners to be 1 of the 3 highest-ranking heavenly generals. The Ming dynasty epic Investiture of the Gods deals heavily with deification legends.

In the complicated, & variable, conceptions of deity in Buddhism, the achievement of Buddhahood may be regarded as an achievable goal for the faithful. Many significant deities are considered to have begun as normal people, from Gautama Buddha (the original Buddha & the creator of Buddhism) downwards. Most of these are seen as avatars or re-births of earlier figures.

Some significant Hindu deities, in particular Rama, were also born as humans. He’s seen as an avatar of Vishnu. In more modern times, Swaminarayan is an undoubted & well-documented historical figure, who’s regarded by some Hindus as an avatar of Vishnu, or as being a still more elevated deity. Bharat Mata (Mother India) began as a national personification devised by a group of Bengali intellectuals in the late 19th century. But now it receives some worship.

Various Hindu & Buddhist rulers in the past have been represented as deities, especially after death, from India to Indonesia. Jayavarman VII, King of the Khmer Empire the 1st Buddhist king of Cambodia, had his own features used for the many statues of Buddha/Avalokitevara he erected.

The extreme personality cult instituted by the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-Sung, has been to represent a deification. And continues to this day with the current leader. Even the nation is admittedly atheist.

In Christian theology, instead of the word “apotheosis,” they use the words “deification” or “divinization” or the Greek word “theosis.” Pre-Reformation, & mainstream theology, in both East & West, views Jesus Christ as the preexisting God who undertook mortal existence. Not as a mortal being who attained divinity. A view known as adoptionism. Adoptionism is an early Christian non-Trinitarian doctrine that holds that Jesus was born a mere human being. But Jesus was later adopted by God as His son, usually at Jesus’ baptism or resurrection, rather than being divine from eternity.

It holds that he has made it possible for human beings to be raised to the level of sharing the divine nature as II Peter 1:4 states that he became human to make humans “partakers of the divine nature.”

In John 10:34, Jesus referenced Psalm 82:6 when he stated: “Is it not written in your Law, I have said you are gods?” Other authors stated: “For this is why the Word became man, & the Son of God became the Son of man: so that Man, by entering into communion with the Word & thus receiving divine sonship, might be made God.” Accusations of self deification to some degree may have been placed on heretical such as the Waldensians.

The language of II Peter is taken up by St. Irenaeus, in his famous phrase, “if the Word has been made man, it is so that men may be made gods.” It becomes the standard in Greek theology. In the 14th century, St. Athanasius repeats Irenaeus almost word for word. In the 5th century, St. Cyril of Alexandria says that we shall become sons “by participation” (Greek methexis). Methexis is “group sharing,” where the audience actively participates in the performance.

Deification is the central idea in the spirituality of St. Maximus the Confessor. For whom the doctrine is the result of the Incarnation: “Deification, briefly, is the encompassion & fulfillment of all times and ages.”

The Roman Catholic Church doesn’t use the term “apotheosis” in its theology. This is equivalent to the Greek word theosis are Latin-derived words “divinization” & deification” used in the Latin tradition of the Catholic Church.

The concept has been given less prominence in Western theology than in that of the Eastern Catholic Churches. But is present in the Latin Church’s liturgical prayer.

Despite the theological differences, in the Catholic church art depictions of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary in art & the Ascension of Jesus in Christian art do share many similarities in composition to apotheosis subjects. As there are many images of saints being raised into Heaven.

Anthropolatry is the deification & worship of humans. It was practiced in ancient Japan towards their emperors. Followers of Socinianism were later accused of practicing anthropolatry.

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#1865 #193 #42BC #4thCentury #5thCentury #AbrahamicReligions #Adoptionism #AlexanderTheGreat #Ambrosia #AncientRome #Angels #Anthropolatry #Antinous #Apollo #Apotheosis #AscensionOfJesus #AssumptionOfTheVirginMary #Atheist #Avalokiteshvara #Avatar #Avatars #BaroqueArt #bengali #BereniceIIOfEgypt #BharatMata #Buddha #BuddhaGautama #Buddhahood #Buddhism #CaesarOctavian #Cambodia #CampusMartius #canonization #CatholicChurch #Christianity #ColumnOfAntoninusPius #ComaBerenices #Consecratio #Cupid #Deification #Deity #Deus #DioCassius #Disney #DIva #Divinization #Divus #EasternCatholicChurch #EasternChristianity #EasternEmpire #Egypt #Egyptians #Emperors #FanKuai #FaustinaTheElder #GrecoRoman #Greek #GuanYi #Hadrian #Hammurabi #Heaven #Hellenistic #Hera #Hercules #Hindu #Hinduism #Homer #Horus #IIPeter14 #Imhotep #ImperialCults #India #Indonesia #InvestitureOfTheGods #IronCrutchLi #Islam #Japan #JayavarmanVII #Jesus #John1034 #Judaism #JuliusCaesar #Juno #Jupiter #KhmerEmpire #KimIlSung #Krishna #Late19thCentury #Latin #LatinChurch #Mesopotamia #Methexis #MingDynasty #NaramSin #NewKingdom #NorthKorea #Olympians #Osiris #pagan #Pertinax #Pharaohs #PhilipIIOfMacedon #polytheistic #Psalm826 #Psyche #PtolemaicDynasty #Putti #Rama #Reformation #Roman #RomanCatholicChurch #RomanRepublic #RomanSenate #Romans #Romulus #Saints #Senate #Seneca #SeptimiusSeverus #Socinianism #StAthanasius #StCyrilOfAlexandria #StIrenaeus #StMaximusTheConfessor #Swaminarayan #Syncretism #Taoist #TaoistPantheon #Temple #ThePumpkinificationOfTheDivineClaudius #Theosis #Triumvir #USCapitolBuilding #Vishnu #Waldensians #YueFei #Zeus

"We are proud to launch JIMENA’s Jewish-Iranian Resource Guide—a living resource created to help educators, community leaders, and individuals better understand the history, heritage, and contemporary realities of Iran’s Jewish community."

By utilizing and sharing this guide, you help preserve the history and amplify the voices of Iranian Jews—past and present.

Link: https://www.sepharditoolkit.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Jimenas-Jewish-Iranian-Resource-Guide-Edited-15-July.pdf-1.pdf

#Mazeldon #Jewish #Judaism #Sephardi #Mizrahi #MENA #JewishHistory

From JIMENA:
Sontinuity: The Tree and the Web

The scientific study of sound explains how Sephardic Jews have been able to transmit tradition and culture over time despite a history of traumatic rupture.
By Vanessa Paloma Elbaz

More than just a written reflection, this piece includes audio recordings that allow readers to experience the musical traditions discussed — a rare opportunity to not only read about heritage, but to hear it come alive.

Click below to read and listen to this unique exploration of Sephardic memory through sound:
https://www.distinctionsjournal.org/the-tree-and-the-web/

#Mazeldon #Jewish #Judaism #Sephardi #Mizrahi #MENA #JewishMusic

"As JIMENA prepares to release three landmark studies — including a national demographic study of Sephardi Jewish Americans and two assessments of Jewish day schools and summer camps in Los Angeles and New York — we are not focused on a headline number.

Yes, our study will show that roughly 10% of American Jews identify as Sephardi, according to Brandeis University’s Cohen Center for Modern Jewish Studies, but the real power lies in the recommendations, not the numbers: the action steps, the language changes, the cultural shifts and interventions these studies propose."

Read the [subscription required] original article: https://ejewishphilanthropy.com/jewish-demographic-research-must-be-followed-by-meaningful-action/

[Sorry, there doesn't seem to be a copy of the newsletter on the JIMENA site.]

#Mazeldon #jewish #Judaism #Sephardi #Mizrahi #MENA #JewishHistory

From Jimena, for those still on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/jimena_voice/?hl=en

Click on the icon that looks like this photo:

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #YomHaShoah #JIMENA #MENA #Sephardi #Mizrahi

I'm working on an original translation of the Bible. My goal is to let the words of scripture guide my translation rather than reading a favored theology into the text. As the saying goes, "Where the Bible speaks, we speak, where it is silent, we are silent." In addition to being a formal equivalence, I try to preserve original idioms (with clarification in the footnotes), poetic and metaphorical language, and distinct synonyms (ie. land/ground/dust) where possible.

The text is available under a Creative Commons license. And it is available at a website, and as an ebook, though it is still incomplete.

Please support my translation work:
☕ https://ko-fi.com/wltbible
📖 https://wlt.ct.ws

#Bible #Tanakh #Torah #Religion #Christianity #Christian #Church #ChurchOfChrist #Judaism #Jewish #MessianicJudaism #LGBTQIA2S #LGBTQIA #LGBTQ #LGBT #Transgender #Nonbinary #Agender #CreativeCommons #CCBY #FOSS #Translation #Language #Literature #Books #English #Hebrew #Aramaic #Greek

Discover Bsisa: A Pre-Passover
Tradition from Libya

Bsisa is a cherished Libyan-Jewish tradition observed in the days leading up to Passover—a symbolic ritual of abundance, renewal, and preparation.

It’s a beautiful example of the unique ways Jewish communities across the Middle East and North Africa mark this sacred time.

Click to view the full post on Instagram and learn more: https://www.instagram.com/jimena_voice/p/DH_76fqzARA/?hl=en

#Mazeldon #Jewniverse #Jewdiverse #Jewish #Judaism #Pesach #Passover #Sephardi #Mizrahi #MENA

Does this include #AntiZionists? You know that #Zionism and #Judaism are different things, right?

You also know #Zionists will call anyone they see as a threat to the #Isreali state #antisemite, right?

Doesn't matter if they're wrong, you're now giving a #judicial weapon to a bunch of #theocratic #nationalist #fascists who pine for their own "final solution" against all #Palestinians.

#Germany could withdraw #citizenship due to '#antisemitism' – DW – 04/01/2025
https://www.dw.com/en/germany-could-withdraw-citizenship-due-to-antisemitism/a-72104457?tg_rhash=08a3949f8533ef

This 500th anniversary of the founding of the #Anabaptist movement (from which the Mennonites, Brethern, Amish, and realted traditions sprung forth --- and that were theological cousins of the early Baptists) is all the more important to me this year, because of what happened yesterday in this nation. I'm grateful that the Anabaptist tradition is very clear that we do not kiss the ring, we do not bow the knee to the empire, ever.

This is one of the reasons I treasure my connections to this tradition.

One detail of my religious journey that many do not know, is that I chose to become Jewish through the Humanistic movement primarily because it was (and as far as I know still is), the only Jewish movement that is open to biereligous converts (those who are seeking to become Jewish, while still maintaining connections to another tradition). I had fallen in love with #Judaism (thankfully a passion that still is with me 10 years later), but I also loved the Mennonites, particularly its strong belief in the moral imperative of peace (or rather the Hebrew concept of Shalom which is far more than the cessation of hostility but also has the connotations of harmony, equity, and wholeness), a belief that #nationalism is just another form of idolatry, and the power of simple living (even though I do a lousy job of living this out). In other words, at its best moments, the #Mennonite / Anabaptist tradition provides a critical witness against the values of the American Empire through its focus on the ethical earthly teachings of Jesus.

I am grateful that I was able to find a path to embracing Judaism that did not require me to leave my Mennonite values out.

And so I say, Happy 500th birthday to the Anabaptist movement! And thank you to #HumanisticJudaism for giving me a way to be true to my #bireligoius values.

(graphic from Druhart on FB)

#Anabaptism500 #Theology #AntiNationalism