#judaism — Public Fediverse posts

From “The Forbidden Question,” (“De verboden vraag”) De Groene Amsterdammer, September 9, 2026, excerpted from Antizionisme: Een Joodse geschiedenis (Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History):

Benjamin Moser describes unlearning #Zionism as “a process of growth, a deconstruction,” comparing it to unlearning a mother tongue.

He writes that Zionism was a recent and contested project, not an ancient or inevitable expression of #Judaism. Anti-Zionism among Jews was older than Zionism; before Herzl, the idea of Jewish return to Palestine was originally Christian, while many Jews saw Zionist nationalism, separatism, and militarism as a step backward.

Rejecting Zionism was not “amputating” part of himself but entering a hidden Jewish tradition that Zionism had suppressed and that Zionism’s escalating cruelty ultimately vindicated. He’s calling for Jewish self-centeredness to end and for Palestinians, “the real victims of Zionism,” to be placed at the center.

Dutch https://www.groene.nl/artikel/de-verboden-vraag

#zionism #judaism #history #bookstodon #benjaminmoser #palestine #gazagenocide #nakba #antiszionism

From “The Forbidden Question,” (“De verboden vraag”) De Groene Amsterdammer, September 9, 2026, excerpted from Antizionisme: Een Joodse geschiedenis (Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History):

Benjamin Moser describes unlearning #Zionism as “a process of growth, a deconstruction,” comparing it to unlearning a mother tongue.

He writes that Zionism was a recent and contested project, not an ancient or inevitable expression of #Judaism. Anti-Zionism among Jews was older than Zionism; before Herzl, the idea of Jewish return to Palestine was originally Christian, while many Jews saw Zionist nationalism, separatism, and militarism as a step backward.

Rejecting Zionism was not “amputating” part of himself but entering a hidden Jewish tradition that Zionism had suppressed and that Zionism’s escalating cruelty ultimately vindicated. He’s calling for Jewish self-centeredness to end and for Palestinians, “the real victims of Zionism,” to be placed at the center.

Dutch https://www.groene.nl/artikel/de-verboden-vraag

#zionism #judaism #history #bookstodon #benjaminmoser #palestine #gazagenocide #nakba #antiszionism

From “The Forbidden Question,” (“De verboden vraag”) De Groene Amsterdammer, September 9, 2026, excerpted from Antizionisme: Een Joodse geschiedenis (Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History):

Benjamin Moser describes unlearning #Zionism as “a process of growth, a deconstruction,” comparing it to unlearning a mother tongue.

He writes that Zionism was a recent and contested project, not an ancient or inevitable expression of #Judaism. Anti-Zionism among Jews was older than Zionism; before Herzl, the idea of Jewish return to Palestine was originally Christian, while many Jews saw Zionist nationalism, separatism, and militarism as a step backward.

Rejecting Zionism was not “amputating” part of himself but entering a hidden Jewish tradition that Zionism had suppressed and that Zionism’s escalating cruelty ultimately vindicated. He’s calling for Jewish self-centeredness to end and for Palestinians, “the real victims of Zionism,” to be placed at the center.

Dutch https://www.groene.nl/artikel/de-verboden-vraag

#zionism #judaism #history #bookstodon #benjaminmoser #palestine #gazagenocide #nakba #antiszionism

From “The Forbidden Question,” (“De verboden vraag”) De Groene Amsterdammer, September 9, 2026, excerpted from Antizionisme: Een Joodse geschiedenis (Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History):

Benjamin Moser describes unlearning #Zionism as “a process of growth, a deconstruction,” comparing it to unlearning a mother tongue.

He writes that Zionism was a recent and contested project, not an ancient or inevitable expression of #Judaism. Anti-Zionism among Jews was older than Zionism; before Herzl, the idea of Jewish return to Palestine was originally Christian, while many Jews saw Zionist nationalism, separatism, and militarism as a step backward.

Rejecting Zionism was not “amputating” part of himself but entering a hidden Jewish tradition that Zionism had suppressed and that Zionism’s escalating cruelty ultimately vindicated. He’s calling for Jewish self-centeredness to end and for Palestinians, “the real victims of Zionism,” to be placed at the center.

Dutch https://www.groene.nl/artikel/de-verboden-vraag

#zionism #judaism #history #bookstodon #benjaminmoser #palestine #gazagenocide #nakba #antiszionism

From “The Forbidden Question,” (“De verboden vraag”) De Groene Amsterdammer, September 9, 2026, excerpted from Antizionisme: Een Joodse geschiedenis (Anti-Zionism: A Jewish History):

Benjamin Moser describes unlearning #Zionism as “a process of growth, a deconstruction,” comparing it to unlearning a mother tongue.

He writes that Zionism was a recent and contested project, not an ancient or inevitable expression of #Judaism. Anti-Zionism among Jews was older than Zionism; before Herzl, the idea of Jewish return to Palestine was originally Christian, while many Jews saw Zionist nationalism, separatism, and militarism as a step backward.

Rejecting Zionism was not “amputating” part of himself but entering a hidden Jewish tradition that Zionism had suppressed and that Zionism’s escalating cruelty ultimately vindicated. He’s calling for Jewish self-centeredness to end and for Palestinians, “the real victims of Zionism,” to be placed at the center.

Dutch https://www.groene.nl/artikel/de-verboden-vraag

#zionism #judaism #history #bookstodon #benjaminmoser #palestine #gazagenocide #nakba #antiszionism

I had too much time on my hands this morning. I know only 2% of one city will understand but let’s talk about Rosh Hashanah in Pittsburgh https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP83HmtWy/ #pittsburgh #judaism #IfJewKnowJewKnow #yinzer

Sailing the Adriatic Sea on the Celestyal Journey https://www.byteseu.com/2362394/ #Croatia #Greece #Italy #JewishHistory #Judaism #Montenegro #TheBalkans #Travel

Rothschild Out of Control: What Happened to Tel Aviv’s Most Upscale Boulevard?

Thursday evening, Rothschild Boulevard at the corner of Nahalat Binyamin in central Tel Aviv. Crowds of teenagers and…
#Israel #News #Israeliculture #Judaism #mizrahi #popculture #telaviv #TelAvivnightlife #Ultra-Orthodox
https://www.europesays.com/3247540/

https://www.europesays.com/iran/289276/ Dr. Phil and Sylvan Adams get Israel right #Activism #antisemitism #CampusProtests #CollegesAndUniversities #Israel #Judaism #Nonprofits #October7

Rosh Hashanah 2026: After October 7, Jewish unity and connection must endure

Every Rosh Hashanah, Jews stand before the uncertainty of another year, asking: “Who shall live and who shall…
#Israel #News #Gaza #gazahostages #HershGoldberg-Polin #Judaism #RachelGoldberg-Polin #Religión #roshhashana #telaviv #TheOctober7Massacre
https://www.europesays.com/3246783/

Russian drones attack the Ukraine-Moldova border, leaving two dead

The attack on the Starokozache border crossing left two civilians dead and forced a temporary closure of border…
#Moldova #MD #Europe #Europa #EU #Antisemitism #AuroraIsrael #Israel #Israelicurrentevents #israelinews #Israelipolitics #JewishCommunity #Jewishculture #JewishNews #Judaism #middleeast #newsinSpanish #Shoah
https://www.europesays.com/3246432/

I don't practice any abrahamic religion, and I don't support Israel, but Jews have perhaps the most coherent narrative of the 3. I mean, Christians know nothing about their religion. Most of them don't know who Isaac, Moses, Isaiah and others supposedly were. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I have not had to educate a Jew while debating yet.

#religion #christian #bible #culture #judaism #islam #thoughts #opinion #israel

I don't practice any abrahamic religion, and I don't support Israel, but Jews have perhaps the most coherent narrative of the 3. I mean, Christians know nothing about their religion. Most of them don't know who Isaac, Moses, Isaiah and others supposedly were. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I have not had to educate a Jew while debating yet.

#religion #christian #bible #culture #judaism #islam #thoughts #opinion #israel

I don't practice any abrahamic religion, and I don't support Israel, but Jews have perhaps the most coherent narrative of the 3. I mean, Christians know nothing about their religion. Most of them don't know who Isaac, Moses, Isaiah and others supposedly were. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I have not had to educate a Jew while debating yet.

#religion #christian #bible #culture #judaism #islam #thoughts #opinion #israel

I don't practice any abrahamic religion, and I don't support Israel, but Jews have perhaps the most coherent narrative of the 3. I mean, Christians know nothing about their religion. Most of them don't know who Isaac, Moses, Isaiah and others supposedly were. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I have not had to educate a Jew while debating yet.

#religion #christian #bible #culture #judaism #islam #thoughts #opinion #israel

Russian drones attack the Ukraine-Moldova border, leaving two dead https://www.byteseu.com/2358113/ #antisemitism #AuroraIsrael #Israel #IsraeliCurrentEvents #IsraeliNews #IsraeliPolitics #JewishCommunity #JewishCulture #JewishNews #Judaism #MiddleEast #Moldova #NewsInSpanish #Shoah

תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ,
תָּחֵל שָׁנָה וּבִרְכוֹתֶיהָ.
Let a year and its woes end, let a year and its blessings begin.
that's what many Jews sing on Rosh HaShana, which starts tonight.

happy Jewish new year everyone, shana tova. here's to one better than the last.
🍎 🍏 :pomegranate: :shofar:

#Jewish #RoshHaShana #ShanaTova #Jew #Jews #Judaism #NewYear #JewishNewYear #Tishrei

תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ,
תָּחֵל שָׁנָה וּבִרְכוֹתֶיהָ.
Let a year and its woes end, let a year and its blessings begin.
that's what many Jews sing on Rosh HaShana, which starts tonight.

happy Jewish new year everyone, shana tova. here's to one better than the last.
🍎 🍏 :pomegranate: :shofar:

#Jewish #RoshHaShana #ShanaTova #Jew #Jews #Judaism #NewYear #JewishNewYear #Tishrei

תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ,
תָּחֵל שָׁנָה וּבִרְכוֹתֶיהָ.
Let a year and its woes end, let a year and its blessings begin.
that's what many Jews sing on Rosh HaShana, which starts tonight.

happy Jewish new year everyone, shana tova. here's to one better than the last.
🍎 🍏 :pomegranate: :shofar:

#Jewish #RoshHaShana #ShanaTova #Jew #Jews #Judaism #NewYear #JewishNewYear #Tishrei

תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ,
תָּחֵל שָׁנָה וּבִרְכוֹתֶיהָ.
Let a year and its woes end, let a year and its blessings begin.
that's what many Jews sing on Rosh HaShana, which starts tonight.

happy Jewish new year everyone, shana tova. here's to one better than the last.
🍎 🍏 :pomegranate: :shofar:

#Jewish #RoshHaShana #ShanaTova #Jew #Jews #Judaism #NewYear #JewishNewYear #Tishrei

תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ, תִּכְלֶה שָׁנָה וְקִלְלוֹתֶיהָ,
תָּחֵל שָׁנָה וּבִרְכוֹתֶיהָ.
Let a year and its woes end, let a year and its blessings begin.
that's what many Jews sing on Rosh HaShana, which starts tonight.

happy Jewish new year everyone, shana tova. here's to one better than the last.
🍎 🍏 :pomegranate: :shofar:

#Jewish #RoshHaShana #ShanaTova #Jew #Jews #Judaism #NewYear #JewishNewYear #Tishrei

Shabbat candle lighting times for Israel and US

Shabbat candle lighting times for Israel and US | The Jerusalem PostJerusalem Post/JudaismSee Shabbat candle lighting times for…
#NewsBeep #News #BreakingNews #breakingnews #candlelighting #Israel #Judaism #Shabbat #shabbattimes
https://www.newsbeep.com/727411/

"There are numerous renowned #Jewish #children’s and #YA #authors and #illustrators whose identity and affiliation with #Judaism is well-known and often crops up in their work or personal interviews: #MauriceSendak, #JudyBlume and #SydneyTaylor to name but a few. But #bibliophiles may not be aware that there are a number of other famed and talented #kidlit creators over the last few decades who are, in fact, also members of the Tribe. Here’s a list of notable children and #youngadult #authors you may not have known are Jewish!"

https://www.kveller.com/5-kid-and-young-adult-authors-you-may-not-know-are-jewish/

"Over the centuries, #American #Jews have built a vast religious landscape in which no single institution or orthodoxy can reign supreme or dictate how #Judaism should be practised. Such free market Judaism has produced a panoply of diverse religious #Jewish life, but it has also made collective representation more difficult.

Who ends up speaking on behalf of American Jews when #antisemitism spikes? Who testifies on Capitol Hill before Congress? Who can synthesise the concerns of #Orthodox, #Reform, #Conservative and unaffiliated Jews without pretending their differences don’t exist?

Whether #America ever gets a chief #rabbi again or a universally-accepted council of chief #rabbis may be beside the point. What isn't beside the point is that at a time of disturbing levels of antisemitism and a Jewish community fractured by politics, some kind of unity, however America chooses to build it, has never felt more necessary."

https://www.thejc.com/opinion/could-america-ever-have-a-chief-rabbi-rforj7x8

" #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?

Mark is a Holocaust survivor. He is worried about the state of Australia
By Isabella Ross

Current and future generations are learning about antisemitic atrocities through the voices of Holocaust survivors, like Mark Spigelman.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-08-13/holocaust-survivors-jewish-museums-educate-on-antisemitism/106977610

#Education #RoyalCommissions #Judaism #HistoryEducation #History #IsabellaRoss

https://www.europesays.com/iran/235272/ Abdul el Sayed has one answer for every Michigan problem: Israel #2026Elections #AbdulElSayed #AIPAC #antisemitism #DemocraticPrimary #Israel #Judaism #Michigan #Primaries

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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"As #StevenPressman makes clear in his new #documentary #film, Dust Bowls and #Jewish Souls: Another Side of #WoodyGuthrie, there was another side to #Guthrie and his #songs. As his son, #ArloGuthrie, explains in the film: “My father studied #Judaism and he knew something about it. He never exchanged his faith for something else; he added to his faith. And that something else he added … was a Jewish identity. He understood what that meant traditionally, historically, culturally. And he knew more about Judaism than my zeyde. And so, my bubbe was thrilled.”

It just so happens that Arlo’s bubbe — his grandmother — was acclaimed #Yiddish #poet and #lyricist #AlizaGreenblatt. When Guthrie married Aliza’s daughter, #MarjorieMazia (née #Greenblatt), the two chose to raise their children in #ConeyIsland..."

https://forward.com/culture/841190/our-greatest-folksinger-wrote-about-america-dust-bowl-refugees-and-jewish-identity/

…For example, the Book of Genesis likely had four [groups of] authors -- the Yahwist, Elohist, Deuteronomist, and Priestly source -- writing between 900-500 BCE, and none of those is likely to have included Moses or Aaron, who are estimated to have lived around the 1200s BCE, if they existed at all.

#judaism #genesis #bookofgenesis #author #authorship #attribution #identity #moses #context #socialcontext #motive #scripture #history #text #collection #canon #deception #falsehood #faith

Archangel Raphael

The name Raphael comes from the Hebrew Rafa’el, meaning “God has healed” or “Medicine of God.”

He’s not mentioned in the Tanakh/Old Testament or the New Testament; he’s definitely in the Book of Tobit. The Book of Tobit is a deuterocanonical work recognized by Catholic & Orthodox churches. He’s also mentioned in 1 Enoch, both books date from around the 3rd & 2nd centuries BC.

In later Jewish tradition(s), he became identified as 1 of the 3 heavenly visitors entertained by Abraham at the Oak of Mamre. While the Bible doesn’t name him, Midrashic tradition identifies Raphael as 1 sent to heal Abraham’s pain after his circumcision.

Later Christian tradition(s) identified him with healing & as the angel who stirred the waters at the Pool of Bethesda in John 5:2-4. But he isn’t specifically named in this passage.

In Islam, his name is Israfil. He’s understood to be the unnamed angel of Quran 6:73. In this passage, he’s standing with a trumpet to his lips eternally, ready to announce the Day of Judgment.

In Gnostic tradition(s), Raphael is represented on the Ophite Diagram. This diagram is/are a ritual & esoteric diagram used by the Ophite sect of Gnosticism.

In the Book of Tobit, Raphael takes the human form of a man named Azarias. He serves as a protector for young Tobias on a perilous journey to Media. Azarias instructs Tobias on how to use the heart, liver, & gall of a giant fish to create medicinal ointments. These are used to drive away a demon (Asmodeus) & to cure the blindness of Tobias’ dad, Tobit.

Because Raphael safely guided Tobias across vast distances, he became the patron saint of travelers, pilgrims, & even modern-day hitchhikers.

His name comes from the Hebrew meaning “to heal,” & can be translated as “God has healed.” In Tobit, he goes by the name Azariah while in disguise as a man. In the book, he acts like a doctor/physician & expels, uses an extraordinary fish to heal Tobit’s eyes, & binds the demon Asmodeus. While in 1 Enoch, he’s “set over all disease & every wound of the children of the people.” He also binds the armies of Azazel & throws them into the valley of fire.

According to the Babylonian Talmud, Raphael was 1 of 3 angels who appeared to Abraham in the Oak Grove (Oak wood/trees have been used for millennia in spiritual traditions) of Mamre, in the Hebron region.

Michael walked in the middle because he was the “greatest,” with Gabriel on his right & Raphael on his left. Each had a specific mission they were commanded to carry out: Gabriel’s was to destroy Sodom; Michael’s was to tell Sarah that she was going to have Isaac; & Raphael’s was to heal Abraham from his recent circumcision & to save Lot. Now, the healing of the circumcision is HUGE in this context. Because Abraham was the 1st Hebrew/Jew to get a circumcision. AND he was a grown old man when he got it. He wasn’t a baby who’d “forget” the pain & healed up in a couple of days.

In the Midrash Konen, it’s revealed that Raphael was originally named Libbiel (“God is my heart”). In the Midrash, God takes counsel with His angels before He creates Adam, the 1st man. The angels weren’t all of 1 opinion, with differing views & reasons.

The Angel of Love & Angel of Justice both were in favor of Man’s creation as he (humans) would be affectionate & loving, alongside practicing Justice. The Angel of Truth & the Angel of Peace opposed Man’s creation, as he (humans) would be full of lies & be quarrelsome.

To invalidate his protest, God cast the Angel of Truth down from Heaven to Earth. When the others cried out against the treatment of their companion, He said, “Truth will spring back out of the earth.” Before their objections, God had only told the Angels of the good that would be among the humans. But didn’t tell them of the evil, either.

Despite not knowing the whole truth, the angels were nevertheless prompted to cry out: “What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?” God replied: “The fowl of the air & the fish of the sea, what were they created for? Of what avail a larder full of appetizing dainties, & no guest to enjoy them?” The angels couldn’t but exclaim: “O Lord, our Lord, how excellent is Thy name in all the Earth! Do as is pleasing in Thy sight.” For not a few of the angels, their opposition bore fatal consequences.

When God summoned the band under the Archangel Michael & asked their opinion on the creation of man, they answered scornfully: “What in man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visited him?” God stretched out his little finger, & all were consumed by fire except their Chief Michael. And the same fate befell under the leadership of the archangel Gabriel; he alone of all was saved from destruction.

The 3rd band consulted by the Archangel Libbiel. He learned from his predecessors’ horrible fate, so he warned his troops. “You’ve seen what misfortune overtook the angels who said, ‘What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? Let us have care not to do likewise, lest we suffer the same dire punishment. Gor God will not refrain from doing in the end what He has planned. Therefore, we should yield to His wishes.”

Having been warned, the angels spoke: “Lord of the world (Not the universe? Huh.), it’s well that Thou hast thought of creating man. Do Thou create him according to Thy will. And as for us, we’ll be his attendants & his minsters, & reveal unto him all our secrets.”

Thereupon, God changed Archangel Libbiel’s name to Raphael, the Rescuer, because his Host of Angels had been rescued by his sage advice. He was appointed the Angelic Prince of Healing, who has in his safekeeping all the celestial remedies, the types of medical remedies used on Earth.

In the Midrash Tanhuma (a.k.a. Yelammedenu, this is the name given to a homiletic Midrash on the ENTIRE Torah), Satan became envious of the righteous. R. Matthew bar Heresh, after seeing him sitting occupied in Torah study, without looking at anyone’s wife or any other woman.

Believing it to be impossible for a righteous man to exist in the world without sin, Satan asks God how He sees Rabbi Matthew; He sees him as completely righteous. Satan then asks for permission to test Rabbi Matthew (Is this starting to sound like the Job story to anyone else?), which God grants again.

So Satan transforms himself into a beautiful woman upon finding the rabbi studying the Torah. After seeing that Satan would continue to truly & tempt him from all sides. He (the Rabbi) used hot pins to blind himself, so his evil inclination prevailed. Satan trembles in dismay & goes back to report to God.

When God gets the report, He calls Raphael, Prince of the Healing Arts, commanding Raphael to go heal the rabbi’s eyes. When Raphael goes to the rabbi to heal him, Raphael reveals his identity & mission. Rabbi Matthew tells Raphael that he doesn’t want to be healed.

Raphael returns to God & tells God what the rabbi said. When hearing this, God commands Raphael to tell the rabbi not to fear, because his evil inclination will not prevail. When the rabbi heard this from Raphael’s mouth, the rabbi accepted the healing & wasn’t afraid.

In Rabbeinu Bahya, a commentary on the Torah written by Rabbi Bahya ben Asher (1255-1340), the Camp of Ephraim (situated to the west of the Tabernacle (Numbers 2:18)), corresponded to the celestial camp headed by the archangel Raphael, supported by the angels Zavdiel & Achziel.

It’s also said that this is the camp that Moses alluded to when he prayed that Miriam be asked from her tzaraath by saying “please God heal her” (Numbers 12:13). He appealed to the attribute represented by Raphael.

In the Beginning of Wisdom, an introduction to Kabbalistic thought composed by Rabbi Aharon Meir Altshuler (1835-1905) in Warsaw between 1887 and 1893. Raphael is said to be the Sephirah of Tiphereth (Beauty). He’s said to act as an intermediate conduit between Chesed (Kindness) corresponding to Michael, & Din (Judgment) corresponding to Gabriel. Uriel (a.k.a. Nuriel) is also said to act as an intermediate conductor alongside Raphael.

It’s explained that when he inclines to Chesed, he’s called Uriel. But when he inclines Din, he’s called Nuriel. In the same context, the Sefer Ha Bahir calls Raphael, the “Prince of Peace” (“Sar Salom”). The text states that the reconciliation between Michael (the prince of God’s right) & Gabriel (the prince of God’s left) is the meaning of the verse, “He imposes peace in His heights” (Job 23:2). With Raphael being the Archangel of Air that establishes peace between fire & water.

In Kabbalistic astrology, Raphael is most commonly associated with the Sun (alongside Michael) & Mercury (the planet). The Zohar associates him with the image of man in the tetramorph (A symbolic arrangement of 4 differing elements, or the combination of 4 disparate elements in 1 unit) of the Four Holy Living Creatures (these are a class of heavenly beings in Judaism, described in the 1st & 10th chapters of the Book of Ezekiel), alongside the zodiac sign of Aquarius, & in ration to the image of man; the Sephriah of Malkhuth (Kingdom) & the Earth.

As well as Tiphereth & Malkhuth, the Zohar also has Raphael corresponding to the Sephirah of Hod (Majesty), the Euphrates river, the left leg of the body, & the Israelite tribe of Ephraim.

It’s also customary in Judaism to invoke Raphael as 1 of the Four Archangels after 1 recites the Shema (This is a Jewish prayer that serves as a centerpiece of the Jewish morning & evening prayer services.) before going to bed; with Michael by your right side, Gabriel by your left side, Uriel before you, & Raphael behind you.

The New Testament only names 2 archangels (Michael & Gabriel, respectfully). But because of Raphael’s association with healing, he became identified with the unnamed angel of John 5:1-4, who periodically stirred up the Pool of Bethesda.

Because of his actions in the Book of Tobit & the Gospel of John, Raphael is considered a protector & healer. Thus, the patron of travelers, the blind, happy meetings, nurses, physicians, medical workers, matchmakers, Christian marriage, & Catholic studies.

He’s perhaps most seen in depictions of Tobias & the Angel, from the Book of Tobit, showing him walking with Tobias & his dog through a landscape. The subject became very popular in Italy from about 1450 for a century, as devotion to Raphael increased, at least partly through confraternities dedicated to him. A confraternity is generally a Christian voluntary association of laypeople created for the purpose of promoting special works of Christian charity or piety, & approved by the Church hierarchy.

In altarpieces & the like, Tobias, his fish, & his dog may be used as identifying attributes of Raphael.

Raphael is said to guard pilgrims on their journey, & when depicted as a single figure, is often depicted holding a staff. Also, he’s often pictured holding or standing on a fish, which alludes to his healing of Tobit with the fish’s gall. Early mosaics often show him & other archangels in the clothing of a Byzantine courtier.

The feast day of Raphael was included for the 1st time in the General Roman Calendar in 1921, on October 24. With the 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar, the feast was transferred to September 29 for celebration together with the archangels Saints Michael & Gabriel.

Pope Benedict XVI’s Summorum Pontificum permitted, within certain limits for public use, the General Roman Calendar of 1960, which has October 24 as Raphael’s feast day. He’s commemorated in some Spanish dioceses on the old date & with a procession on May 7 in Cordoba, Spain.

In the Diocese of Warsaw-Praga, he’s commemorated on October 3 (with Michael & Gabriel). The feast was transferred from September 29 (Devotion of St. Florian’s Cathedral).

The archangel Raphael is commemorated by the Eastern Orthodox Church on November 8 in the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael & the Other Bodiless Powers.

In the Oriental Orthodox Churches, the dedication of the church of St. Raphael on the back of a whale is commemorated on August 26 (or 3 Pagumen, this is an intercalary month of the ancient Egyptian, Coptic, & Ethiopean calendars are a period of 5 days in common years & 6 days in leap years in addition to those calendars’ 12 standard months, sometimes reconned as their 13th month.).

The Coptic Orthodox Church celebrates Raphael’s feast on Kouji Nabot 3 & Koiak 13.

In the Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate, St. Raphael the Archangel is commemorated on October 24.

The Archangel Raphael is said to have appeared in Cordoba, Spain, during the 16th century. In response to the city’s appeal, Pope Innocent X allowed the local celebration of a feast in the Archangel’s honor on May 7, the date of the principal apparition.

St. John of God (founder of the Hospital order that bears his name) is also said to have received visitations from Saint Raphael, who encouraged & instructed him.

In tribute to this, many of the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God’s facilities are called “Raphael Centers” to this day. The 18th-century Neapolitan nun, St. Maria Francesca of the 5 Wounds, is also said to have seen apparitions of St. Raphael.

In the Mormon tradition, Doctrine & Covenants 128:21 (this is part of a letter dated Sept. 7, 1842) refers to an appearance or manifestation of Raphael to Joseph Smith as 1 of several angels who had appeared to him either together or separately.

Raphael is a venerated archangel, according to Islamic tradition. In Islam, he’s called Israfil. Israfil will blow the trumpet from a holy rock in Jerusalem to announce the Day of Judgment (Yawn al-Qiyamah). The trumpet is constantly poised at his lips, ready to go at Allah’s orders.

Certain Islamic sources indicate that, created at the beginning of time, Israfil has 4 wings, & is so tall as to be able to reach from the earth to the pillars of Heaven. A beautiful angel who is a master of music, Israfil sings praises to God in 1,000 different languages, the breath of which is used to inject life into hosts of angels who add to the songs themselves.

Further, he’s probably the highest angel, since he also mediates between God & other archangels, reading on the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfooz) to transmit the commands of God. Although disputed, some reports assert he visited Muhammad prior to the archangel Gabriel.

According to Sufi traditions reported by Imam Rafa’il, the Ghawth or Qutb (‘perfect human being’) is someone who has a heart that resembles that of the archangel Israfil, signifying the loftiness of this angel. The next in are the saints who are known as the Umdah or Awtad, amongst whom the highest ones have their hearts resembling that of the archangel Mikhail (Michael), & the rest of the lower-ranking saints having the heart of Jibrail (Gabriel), & that of the previous prophets before the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The earth is believed to always have 1 of the Qutb.

In another account, Rafa’il is mentioned by name in the Islamic tradition narrated by Ath-Tha’labi from Ali. He’s said to have met Dhu al-Qarnayn, who’s mentioned in the last part of Sura 18 of the Quran, al-Kahf (“The Cave”). Dhu al-Qarnayn (The 2 Horned One) is believed by some to be Alexander the Great.

The angel told Dhu al-Qarnayn about the Water of Life (Ayn al-Hayat). Hearing that there was such a spring, Dhu al-Qarnayn wanted to drink the Water of Life. But the only 1 who had succeeded in drinking it was his cousin, Khidir. In Islamic tradition, Khidr is the mystical guide popularly quoted, especially in Sufi traditions, who has attained a long life & appears to have selected Islamic saints throughout the times.

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Book of the Way
https://pdfhost.io/v/5mYgXprfPF_Book_of_the_Way
#anarchism #dialectics #mysticism #philosophy #religion #taoism #judaism #christianity #islam #politics #ir #AI #psychology #ontology

We seem to be having a lot of difficulty telling the difference between #religion and #nationality. It's not hard:

#Islam, #Judaism and #Christianity are religions.

#Israeli, British or #Iranian are nationalities.

Don't use "Muslim" as a nationality; it isn't one. Neither is "Jewish".

There, that's much clearer, isn't it? 👍 😀

The #Papeete Synagogue of #Tahiti. From the #PlacesOfWorship series in the #ReviewOfReligions, published by the #Ahmadiyya Muslim Community. #Religion #Judaism #Islam #AhmadiyyaMuslim https://www.reviewofreligions.org/47623/places-of-worship-papeete-synagogue/

'I'm 106 and saw horror of Nazi Holocaust - Mum's decision saved my life'

https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/holocaust-memorial-day-jewish-survivor-36599504

Women's League for Conservative Judaism has a regular online prayer service for saying Kaddish and Mishaberach.

View on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WLCJ1

#Mazeldon #Judaism #Jewish #JewishWomen #Tefilah #Kaddish #Mishaberach

A quotation from Robert Ingersoll

One of these gods, according to the account, drowned an entire world, with the exception of eight persons. The old, the young, the beautiful and the helpless were remorsely devoured by the shoreless sea. This, the most fearful tragedy that the imagination of ignorant priests ever conceived, was the act, not of a devil, but of a god, so-called, whom men ignorantly worship unto this day.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, agnostic, orator
Lecture (1872-01-29), “The Gods,” Fairbury Hall, Fairbury, Illinois

More about this quote: wist.info/ingersoll-robert-gre…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertingersoll #robertgreeningersoll #Christianity #deluge #disaster #divinepurpose #divinewill #divinewrath #flood #God #Judaism #Noah #OldTestament #slaughter #worship

https://youtu.be/EgGfQdv_rPc

#agriculture #animism #apocrypha #astrology #bible #collectivism #civilization #christianity #culture #cosmology #cosmos #earthmother #esotericism #individualism #judaism #knowledge #materialism #monism #monotheism #motherearth #mothergoddess #nephilim #neuroscience #neuropsychology #pantheism #philosophy #poetry #polytheism #psychology #religion #secretsociety #spiritualism #spirituality #symbolism #theism #theology #society

(2/6)

Why Most #Deconversions Happen After 25

#Reason Over #Rituals challenges the foundations of the world’s most powerful #religions — including #Christianity, #Islam, #Judaism, #Hinduism, and more. We challenge #blindfaith with #logic, history, and #criticalthinking. We expose the roots of #religion, dissect #beliefsystems, and explore what happens when reason takes the lead.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFQJGtVQilU

#atheist #atheism #deconstruction #god

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

Interessant gesprek op Amerikaanse tv, Jon Stewart met schrijver @PeterBeinart:

Over joods zijn in relatie met genocide #Gaza #Palestina.🍉 Ook #BTselem wordt genoemd.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=X5kXCdzt_us

Nederlandse ondertiteling: The Daily Show gisteren op Comedy Central NL, kijk terug via Ziggo/KPN/Odido/NLZiet enz.

#OURgenocide #joods #joden #judaisme #judaism #zionisme #zionism #genocide #gaza #Palestine #stopGenocide #freePalestine #jewishvoiceforpeace #eenAnderJoodsGeluid

I saw #Superman yesterday and it prompted this post on the Apocrypha and #religious themes in the film. Yes, it's weird. Also, spoilers ahead!

#Christianity #Judaism #Apocrypha #Bible #comics #dcu #dccomics #JamesGunn #theology

https://catecheticconverter.com/the-inconvenience-of-superman

The Oklahoman newspaper had two powerful op-eds by local religious leaders that attacked the Oklahoma House's "Christ is King" resolution.

I'm hoping you will read them both (links below), but I wanted to highlight a few excepts from each of them.

Excerpt #1 From Rabbi Vered Harris (my rabbi at Temple B'nai Israel of OKC):
As non-Christian clergy, I regularly meet former Christians with painful stories about Christian church upbringings that nearly destroyed them. I know very few Jewish people who have not been told that we will burn in hell because we are not Christian.

I have been dismissed by at least two Oklahoma Christian preachers because my six years of graduate school studying Bible and religion are not "faithful" — in other words: Understanding God is as simple as reading their version of the Bible. They are, as the proclamation says, free to hold and express their deeply held beliefs. However, these same pastors think Christianity and Judaism share "Judeo-Christian" values. From a Jewish perspective, approaching religious leadership without comprehensive learning is a disgrace to the brains God has given us. Unfortunately, it is also an example of the outright dangerous ways Christianity is being taught and practiced in Oklahoma; the same Christianity your proclamation extols as a blessing.

Excerpt #2 (also from Rabbi Harris):
Voting for this resolution was within your legal rights, but good grief: At its most basic level, it is rude and disrespectful to the people in this state whose non-Christian beliefs have shaped our community, society and the state.

I know it is unreasonable to expect an apology for asserting your faith is somehow superior or more noteworthy than minority religions in this state. At the least, I hope for an acknowledgment that the wording of this proclamation fails to be supportive of all Oklahomans, and it disregards the damage done to Oklahomans in the name of Christianity.

Excerpt #3 (from Rev. Adam Young of Sunny Lane UMC in Del City):
Earlier today, the House passed Concurrent Resolution 1013, a proclamation declaring “Christ is King.” As a United Methodist pastor, I believe that phrase deeply — but only within the context of faith, worship and the countercultural way of life Jesus calls us to. When the state takes those sacred words upon its lips, they are transformed into something else entirely. What was once a confession of worship becomes a political power play. What was once a theological truth becomes a civil decree. And in doing so, the government steps into the dangerous territory of Christian nationalism.

Let me be clear: This resolution is unconstitutional, anti-democratic and theologically misguided.

Excerpt #4 (from Rev. Young):
HCR 1013 betrays the Christ who refused power and domination. In Mark 10, Jesus gathers his disciples and says, “You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. But it is not so among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant… For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Jesus never crowned himself king. The title he uses is “servant.” His vision is an upside-down one, where the first are last and the last are first. The only throne Jesus ever sat on was a cross. His kingdom looks less like the Capitol dome and more like foot-washing, shared meals, and solidarity with the poor and oppressed.

Our state, however, often operates in contradiction to this vision. As noted from the House floor today:

* The first bill our state passed established segregation.
* Our history is filled with the mistreatment of Black, Native, Latine, Asian, Pacific Islander and Middle Eastern communities.
* We criminalized “the least of these,” rather than cared for the unhoused.
* We continue to underfund education, and our outcomes lag behind the rest of the nation.

#Oklahoma #FirstAmendment #EstablishmentClause #Judaism #Christianity #ChristianNationalism #OklahomaLegislature #ConLaw #Fascism

The #ChristianNationalist (#Fascists) “#TheoBros” Have, Uh, #Thoughts About #Antisemitism.

“I hate #Judaism but #love #Jews and wish them a very pleasant #conversion to #Christianity.”

— #Rightwing #Christian love isn't love, it's really a form of #hate.

#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Conservatives #Extremism #Fascism #Religion #AntiSemitism #Hate #Bigotry #Discrimination #EmptyThePews

https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/12/the-christian-nationalist-theobros-have-uh-thoughts-about-antisemitism/

Bar & Bat Mitzvah Program | Music and Meditation

WISDOM SCHOOL

If you or anyone you know are looking for a deep, meaningful, spiritual, musical and FUN b'nai mitzvah experience for a child, check out Wisdom School!

https://www.integralrabbi.com/bnai-mitzvah-preparation-ceremony.html

#Mazeldon #Jewniverse #BatMitzvah #BarMitzvah #Judaism #Jewish

Celebrate women leaders and role models with film! We have curated a collection of ten documentaries that present stories from around the globe about inspirational women of Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism.

These are great films for public screenings as well as for teaching global education, world religions, women's studies and more. Most of all, these impressive women of faith are powerful role models for students of all genders and religious or secular backgrounds.

Learn more: https://religionmatters.org/2024/03/14/ten-documentary-films-that-celebrate-women-of-faith/

#Education #Edutooters #MiddleSchool #HighSchool #HigherEducation #Homeschooling #Documentary #ReligiousStudies #Buddhism #Christianity #Hinduism #Islam #Judaism #DorothyDay #HannahArendt #MalalaYousafzai #WomensStudies

@edutooters @film @religion @religiousstudies @buddhism @christianity @islamicstudies @judaism @homeschooling

YIVO exhibit illuminates a diary kept by a 13-year-old boy in the Vilna ghetto

#Holocaust #Shoah #Ghetto #Vilna #Judaism #Jewish #Mazeldon

www.jta.org/2024/07/17/ny/yivo-exhibit-illuminates-a-diary-kept-by-a-13-year-old-boy-in-the-vilna-ghetto

Strongly recommend these classes from the #Unyeshiva (the school from the folks behind the #JudaismUnbound podcast).

Also --- I'm trying to decide what class I'm taking! So hard to decide.

Also one of the teachers is part of the #Fediverse @lexaphus

https://www.judaismunbound.com/classes

#Mazeldon #JewishLearning #Jewish #Judaism #Mishnah #JewishConversion #BiReligious #LGBTQ

#TroyeSivan’s #New #MusicVideo Is #Proudly #Queer and #Jewish

The #Aussie #pop #star isn't just another "#OneofYourGirls" — he's wearing a #StarOfDavid

#Women #Transgender #LGBTQ #LGBTQIA #Australia #Judaism #Entertainment #TheArts #Music #Representation #Culture #RoleModels
https://www.heyalma.com/troye-sivans-new-music-video-is-proudly-queer-and-jewish/