#judaism — Public Fediverse posts

Former spy chief says media failed to report widely on antisemitism
By Erin Handley

Former spy boss Dennis Richardson has criticised the media's handling of "blatant antisemitism" in Australia after the October 7 Hamas attacks and has called for an "open discussion" about extremist Islamists without targeting the broader Australian Muslim community.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-09-16/former-asio-boss-says-media-dropped-ball-antisemitism-post-oct-7/107159668

#Extremism #Judaism #Islam #GovernmentandPolitics #FederalGovernment #FederalParliament #CommunityandSociety #Journalism #ErinHandley

"Fear narrows the field of vision. One of the spiritual tasks of these days is to notice when that is happening — and to lift our eyes farther." #RabbiAlanaAlpert #Tchiyah #RoshHashanah #Judaism #Religion #Spirituality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx4SA358r8Y

"Fear narrows the field of vision. One of the spiritual tasks of these days is to notice when that is happening — and to lift our eyes farther." #RabbiAlanaAlpert #Tchiyah #RoshHashanah #Judaism #Religion #Spirituality https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx4SA358r8Y

I was very young when he passed away, but I knew him and I remember him. He arrived in the US in 1913. I have his fancy kippah (probably bought in the States not all that long ago, but it was his) and a matzoh cloth his wife Bessie, my great-grandmother, embroidered. I knew her too.

I also have a pair of decorated book covers for siddurim that supposedly belonged to *his* grandfather. I can't verify that - he didn't tell me that, I heard that later - but I'm glad to have those, too.

#Judaism

My great-grandfather left his shtetl in the Pale and came to America for three reasons.

1) to avoid the pogroms.

2) to avoid impressment and involuntary service in the Czar's army.

(I thought that was a hell of a thing. Either the cossacks come and try to kill you, or you could be forced into the military to serve involuntarily for twenty years. Or both!)

3) To get away from the Rabbi. He was sick of it. Sick of the stifling traditional life.

#Judaism

Wild thing about cantorial school: learning that SO many prayer melodies are built on bad Hebrew. I used to think this was, like, an ashkenaz vs. sefardi thing, but it's all based in biblical, and the ta'amim are written right there, telling you where the accent falls.

So why is it lehadlik ner shel SHAbbat and not shabbAT? Yiddish accents preferring penultimate stress! I've been singing with an accent for a language I've never spoken, lol.

1/2

#mazeldon #judaism #reformjudaism

Islamophobia is rising – and Britain’s politicians have been dangerously complacent in tackling it | Arun Kundnani https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/14/britain-politicians-complacent-islamophobia-rising-hard-right-politics #Islamophobia #Islam #Religion #Judaism #Race #UkNews

Islamophobia is rising – and Britain’s politicians have been dangerously complacent in tackling it | Arun Kundnani https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/14/britain-politicians-complacent-islamophobia-rising-hard-right-politics #Islamophobia #Islam #Religion #Judaism #Race #UkNews

Islamophobia is rising – and Britain’s politicians have been dangerously complacent in tackling it | Arun Kundnani https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/14/britain-politicians-complacent-islamophobia-rising-hard-right-politics #Islamophobia #Islam #Religion #Judaism #Race #UkNews

Islamophobia is rising – and Britain’s politicians have been dangerously complacent in tackling it | Arun Kundnani https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/14/britain-politicians-complacent-islamophobia-rising-hard-right-politics #Islamophobia #Islam #Religion #Judaism #Race #UkNews

Islamophobia is rising – and Britain’s politicians have been dangerously complacent in tackling it | Arun Kundnani
By Arun Kundnani

Mainstream figures have been enabling anti-Muslim racism, creating the ideal conditions for the rise of hard-right political parties

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/14/britain-politicians-complacent-islamophobia-rising-hard-right-politics

#Islamophobia #Islam #Religion #Judaism #Race #UKnews #TheGuardian #ArunKundnani

Islamophobia is rising – and Britain’s politicians have been dangerously complacent in tackling it | Arun Kundnani
By Arun Kundnani

Mainstream figures have been enabling anti-Muslim racism, creating the ideal conditions for the rise of hard-right political parties

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/14/britain-politicians-complacent-islamophobia-rising-hard-right-politics

#Islamophobia #Islam #Religion #Judaism #Race #UKnews #TheGuardian #ArunKundnani

Islamophobia is rising – and Britain’s politicians have been dangerously complacent in tackling it | Arun Kundnani
By Arun Kundnani

Mainstream figures have been enabling anti-Muslim racism, creating the ideal conditions for the rise of hard-right political parties

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/14/britain-politicians-complacent-islamophobia-rising-hard-right-politics

#Islamophobia #Islam #Religion #Judaism #Race #UKnews #TheGuardian #ArunKundnani

Islamophobia is rising – and Britain’s politicians have been dangerously complacent in tackling it | Arun Kundnani
By Arun Kundnani

Mainstream figures have been enabling anti-Muslim racism, creating the ideal conditions for the rise of hard-right political parties

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/sep/14/britain-politicians-complacent-islamophobia-rising-hard-right-politics

#Islamophobia #Islam #Religion #Judaism #Race #UKnews #TheGuardian #ArunKundnani

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

"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/

https://forward.com/opinion/848057/haiti-world-war-2-saved-jewish-lives/?utm_source=Mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=afternoonedition_20260902&utm_source=The+Forward+Association&utm_campaign=100275c044-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2025_07_23_02_11_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-8233cb7494-273147045

#Haiti #Refugees #Judaism #JewishSocialJustice #Mazeldon #Trump #ResistFascism

From Zamość Museum and machine-translated from Polish: We have completed the project of digitizing the collections of the Zamość Museum in cooperation with the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews. “Recently, the Zamość Museum hosted specialists from the POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews – Monika Bondarew and Iwo Książek – who supported the digitization of the […]

Symbolism

How important is it??

Until recently I did not thing too much about Symbolism. My only reference to this was the symbols my father and his Religion told me were evil, then the Mark of the Beast was a big thing with the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Then after the Epstein files I saw that, perhaps, just perhaps this symbolism thing is very important. Started checking on what symbols the Epstein people are using. The REAL Satanists. That was interesting indeed. By some chance this research led back to my other research, the Scots and further back, the Pics. Now they tell me the Pics have THE oldest Rock Carvings in the world, by bloody far, make out Bushman Rock Art look almost brand new! And. In there I found a few symbols used by the Christian Church.

Then, today I see on the big screen in the NG Church, a logo that interested me no end. I even went to the Sound Engineer lady and asked who made that logo!??? Head Office in Pretoria. I took a shot of the big screen and the logo.

This is a version of the Celtic Knotted Tree, modified only slightly. Ja. And. If you click on the church link, you will see the design of their official logo. Don’t tell me yo cannot see the Knotted Tree’s basic design.

Well, that is my quick look at this, I am sure I will come back to it.

Big Five Wars is my main mission for now and they also get updated regularly.

Facebook:

The Mexican Horse Thief

Section Eight Solutions

THE FERDIVERSE!

Rate this:

!Electronical-Computer-Mechanical
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/373

!COmputer & Programming
#компьютер, #компьютеры, #ЭВМ, ремонт компьютеров, компьютерная техника, железо, #программы, #настройка, #диагностика, операционные системы, игровые приставки, аппаратные средства, computer, #computers, computers, computer repair, computer equipment, #hardware, #programs, #setup, #diagnostics, operating systems, game consoles, #hardware, #комп'ютер, #комп'ютери, #ЕОМ, ремонт комп'ютерів, комп'ютерна техніка, #залізо, #програми, #налаштування, діагностика, операційні системи, ігрові приставки, апаратні засоби ремонт телевизоров, #мониторы
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/372

_Фонд редких книг
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/371

Энергетика и целительство
Energy and healing, Енергетика та цілительство
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/370

Эзотерическая рунология
Esoteric runology, Езотерична рунологія
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/369

Шаманизм, Шаманізм, shamanism
#Шаманизм, #Шаманізм, #shamanism
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/368

Фэн - шуй
Фен Шуй, Feng Shui
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/367

Тантрическая традиция, Tantric tradition
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/365

Медитации и транс, Meditation and trance
#Медитации и #транс, #Meditation and #trance
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/364

Магия, Magic
#Магия, #Magic
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/363

Каббала и Тора, Kabbalah and Torah
#Каббала и #Тора, #Kabbalah and #Torah
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/362

Йога, Yoga
#Йога, #Yoga
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/361

Иудаизм, Judaism
#Иудаизм, #Judaism
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/360

Индуизм, Hinduism
#Индуизм, #Hinduism
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/358

веды, Veda
#веды, #Veda
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/356

suteres, koans
#suteres, #koans
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/355

esoteric эзотерика мистика мистицизм оккультизм
#esoteric #эзотерика #мистика #мистицизм #оккультизм
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/353

RELIGION
религия секты учения
#RELIGION
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/352

_Цигун, qigong Qi Books
#Цигун, #qigong #Qi Books
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/351

_буддизм, Buddhism
#буддизм, #Buddhism
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/349

_Дзен, zen
#Дзен, #zen
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/348

_Даосизм
Taoism
#Даосизм
#Taoism
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/347

!Electronical-Computer-Mechanical
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/373

!COmputer & Programming
#компьютер, #компьютеры, #ЭВМ, ремонт компьютеров, компьютерная техника, железо, #программы, #настройка, #диагностика, операционные системы, игровые приставки, аппаратные средства, computer, #computers, computers, computer repair, computer equipment, #hardware, #programs, #setup, #diagnostics, operating systems, game consoles, #hardware, #комп'ютер, #комп'ютери, #ЕОМ, ремонт комп'ютерів, комп'ютерна техніка, #залізо, #програми, #налаштування, діагностика, операційні системи, ігрові приставки, апаратні засоби ремонт телевизоров, #мониторы
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/372

_Фонд редких книг
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/371

Энергетика и целительство
Energy and healing, Енергетика та цілительство
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/370

Эзотерическая рунология
Esoteric runology, Езотерична рунологія
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/369

Шаманизм, Шаманізм, shamanism
#Шаманизм, #Шаманізм, #shamanism
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/368

Фэн - шуй
Фен Шуй, Feng Shui
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/367

Тантрическая традиция, Tantric tradition
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/365

Медитации и транс, Meditation and trance
#Медитации и #транс, #Meditation and #trance
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/364

Магия, Magic
#Магия, #Magic
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/363

Каббала и Тора, Kabbalah and Torah
#Каббала и #Тора, #Kabbalah and #Torah
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/362

Йога, Yoga
#Йога, #Yoga
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/361

Иудаизм, Judaism
#Иудаизм, #Judaism
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/360

Индуизм, Hinduism
#Индуизм, #Hinduism
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/358

веды, Veda
#веды, #Veda
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/356

suteres, koans
#suteres, #koans
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/355

esoteric эзотерика мистика мистицизм оккультизм
#esoteric #эзотерика #мистика #мистицизм #оккультизм
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/353

RELIGION
религия секты учения
#RELIGION
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/352

_Цигун, qigong Qi Books
#Цигун, #qigong #Qi Books
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/351

_буддизм, Buddhism
#буддизм, #Buddhism
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/349

_Дзен, zen
#Дзен, #zen
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/348

_Даосизм
Taoism
#Даосизм
#Taoism
t.me/scilib_yura15cbx/347

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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Shabbat Shalom Friends. Read my Shabbat reflection here: https://open.substack.com/pub/hebrewbyinbal/p/the-art-is-in-the-interesting-what?r=2at7n8&utm_medium=ios

#artislife #shabbatshalom #judaism

Apocalypticism

This is the religious belief that the end of the world is imminent, even within one’s own lifetime. This belief is usually accompanied by the idea that civilization will soon come to a tumultuous end due to some sort of catastrophic global event.

Apocalypticism is 1 aspect of eschatology in certain religions, the part of theology concerned with the final events of human history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity (societal collapse, human extinction, & so on). Religious views & movements often focus on cryptic revelations about a sudden, dramatic, & cataclysmic intervention of a god in human history; the judgment of humankind; the salvation of the faithful elect; & the eventual rule of the elect with the god in a heaven &/or upon a renewed Earth.

Arising originally in Zoroastrianism, apocalypticism was developed more fully in the eschatological speculations of Judaism, Christianity, & Islam (Abrahamic religions). Religious apocalypticism often involves themes such as God’s judgment, salvation of the faithful, & the eventual establishment of a renewed world.

Apocalypticism is often combined with the belief that esoteric knowledge will likely be revealed in a major confrontation between good & evil forces, destined to change the course of history. Apocalypse can be seen as good, bad, ambiguous, or neutral. This is highly dependent on the particular religion/belief system promoting them. It’s not exclusively a religious idea.

It’s not exclusively a religious idea. There are end times/transitional scenarios based on modern science, technology, political discourse, & conspiracy theories.

Various Christian eschatological systems have developed among different Christian denominations throughout the history of Christianity. Providing different frameworks for understanding the timing & nature of apocalypse vision. While others like postmillennialism & amillennialism.

While teaching that the end of the world could come at any moment tends to focus on the present life & contend that 1 shouldn’t attempt to predict when the end will come. Though there have been exceptions, such as postmillennialist Jonathan Edwards, who estimated that the end times would occur around the year 2000.

In Western Europe, during the year 1,000, Christian philosophers held many debates on when Jesus was actually born & the debates continue to today. This caused confusion among the common people about whether or not the apocalypse would occur at a certain time. Because both literate & illiterate people commonly accepted this idea of the apocalypse, they could only accept what they heard from religious leaders on when the disastrous event would occur.

Religious leader Abbo of Fleury believed that Jesus was born 21 years after the year 1, which was commonly accepted by close circles of his followers. Abbot Heriger of Lobbes argued that the birth of Jesus occurred not during the year 1 but rather during the 42nd year of the common era.

Many scholars came to accept that the apocalypse would occur sometime between 979 & 1042. Under the influence of the Sibylline Oracles & figures such as Otto III & Abbot Adso of Montier-en-Der, many believed that the apocalypse would soon occur.

Some historians think there were ample apocalyptic expectations at the approach of the year 1000 & again at the approach of 1000 anno passionis (1033). Other historians claim that the fear of the year 1000 is a myth & there was no widespread apocalypse sentiment.

As evidence, on December 31, 999, Pope Sylvester II granted certain privileges & guarantees to the Abbey of Fulda, without any indication that either the Pope or the abbot believed that the world was soon to end. There’s also a document from October 3, 999, in which Otto III grants future concessions to Farfa Abbey.

Another document in 999 shows 2 brothers taking a 29-year loan on lands of the abbey of San Marciano in Tortona, suggesting that even common people didn’t believe the world was ending. On the other hand, the fact that Otto III visited the tomb of Charlemagne, the emperor of the year 6,000 (Annus Mundi) on Pentecost of the year 1,000, suggests that even the man who appointed Sylvester pope had his own views on the matter.

The Crusades were filled with apocalyptic expectation & prophecy, beginning with the preaching of figures like Peter the Hermit to inspire knights, nobles, & commorers to March to the Holy Land, & take Jerusalem. Count Emicho, a leading figure of the People’s Crusade, claimed that Christ appeared & ordered him to fulfill apocalyptic prophecy by marching on Constantinople, seizing Jerusalem, triggering the Second Coming, & beginning the end times struggle against the Antichrist.

Leaders of the following Prince’s Crusade, such as Raymond of Aguilers (he was a participant & chronicler of the 1st Crusade & became the chaplain of Count Raymond IV of Toulouse, the leader of the Provençal army of crusaders), understood their conquest of Jerusalem as being a victory of Christendom over the Saracen “pagans” & as a sign of the oncoming Apocalypse & Second Coming.

Christian chronicles (like Matthew of Edessa) illustrated the Crusades in an apocalyptic framework, connecting the Frankish rule with the 4th kingdom in Daniel’s prophecy. Many other European writers emphasized the bloodlines during the massacre of Jerusalem as fulfilling the violent prophecies of Revelation.

Joachim of Fiore & other millenarian thinkers perceived the Crusades as temporary, foreseeing the voluntary conversion of the Islamic world over time.

The Fifth Monarchists/Fifth Monarchy Men were an extreme Puritan sect active for 11 years (1649-1660) during the Interregnum, following the English Civil Wars of the 17th century. They took their name from a prophecy in the Book of Daniel (which we, personally, can’t wait to get into!! Well, our founder, anyway. They adore apocalyptic prophecies! They’ll probably end up writing the whole Book of Daniel. With a TON of commentary.), that 4 ancient monarchies (Babylonian, Persian, Macedonian, & Roman) would precede the kingdom of Christ.

The Great Disappointment in the Millerite Movement was the reaction that followed Baptist preacher William Miller’s predictions that Jesus Christ would return to the Earth by 1844, which he called the Second Advent. His study of the Daniel 8 prophecy during the Second Great Awakening led him to the conclusion that Daniel’s “cleansing of the sanctuary” was cleansing of the world from sin when Christ would come, & he & many others prepared. But October 22, 1844, came & they were disappointed.

These events paved the way for the Adventists who created the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They contended that what had happened on October 22 wasn’t Jesus’ return, as Miller had thought, but the start of Jesus’ final work of atonement, the cleansing in the heavenly sanctuary, leading up to the Second Coming of Christ.

The Mormon tradition teaches that followers are living shortly before the Second Coming of Christ. The term “latter days” is used in the official names of several Mormon churches, including the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints. LDS president Wilford Woodruff (1889-1898) preached multiple times that many then-living followers “wouldn’t taste death” before witnessing the return of Christ.

According to LDS Church teachings, the true Gospel will be taught in all parts of the world before the Second Coming. Church members believe that there’ll be increasingly severe wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, & other man-made & natural disasters before the Second Coming.

The eschatology of Jehovah’s Witnesses is central to their faith & religious beliefs. They believe that Jesus Christ has been ruling in Heaven as king since 1914. This was a date they believed was prophesied in Scripture. After that time, a period of cleansing occurred, resulting in Charles Taze Russell being his people in 1919.

They also believe the destruction of those who reject their message & thus willfully refuse to obey God will shortly take place at Armageddon, ensuring that the beginning of the new earthly society will be composed of willing subjects of that kingdom.

The Watch Tower Society has stated that its early leaders promoted “incomplete, even inaccurate concepts.” The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses says that, unlike Old Testament prophets, its interpretations of the Bible aren’t inspired or infallible.

Witness publications say that Bible prophecies can be fully understood only after their fulfillment, citing examples of biblical figures who didn’t understand the meaning of prophecies they received. Watch Tower publications often cite Proverbs 4:18, “The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter & lighter until the day is firmly established,” to support their view that there would be an increase in knowledge during “the time of the end,” as mentioned in Daniel 12:4.

Jehovah’s Witnesses state that this increase in knowledge needs adjustments. Watch Tower publications also say that unfulfilled expectations are partly due to eagerness for God’s Kingdom & they don’t call their core beliefs into question.

For Christadelphians, Armageddon marks the “great climax of history when the nations would be gathered together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon,” & “the judgment of them would herald the setting up of the kingdom of God.”

After this, Christadelphians believe that Jesus will return to the earth in person to set up the kingdom of God in fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham & David. This includes the belief that the coming kingdom will be the restoration of God’s First Kingdom of Israel, which was David & Solomon. For Christadelphians, this is the focal point of the Gospel taught by Jesus & the apostles.

Realized eschatology is a Christian eschatology theory popularized by J.A.T Robinson, Joachim Jeremias, Ethelbert Stauffer, & C.H. Dodd that holds the eschatological passages in the New Testament do not refer to the future. But instead refers to the ministry of Jesus & his lasting legacy.

Eschatology is therefore not the end of the world, but its rebirth instituted by Jesus & continued by his disciples, a historical (rather than transhistorical) phenomenon. Those holding this view generally dismiss end-times theories, believing them to be irrelevant. They hold that what Jesus said & did, & told his disciples to do likewise, are of greater significance than any Messianic expectations.

David Meade is the pen name of an American end-times conspiracy theories & book author who has yet to disclose his real name. He’s best known for making numerous predictions, which have passed, regarding the end times, including that a hidden planet named Nibiru (a.k.a. Planet X) would destroy the Earth.

Meade predicted that planet Nibiru would collide with Earth on September 23, 2017, destroying it. After his prediction failed, he revised the apocalypse to October, where he stated that the 7-year tribulation would possibly start, followed by a millennium of peace.

In 2008, Meade again made several predictions for that year. For example, North Korea would become a superpower in March 2018, & that Nibiru would destroy the Earth in spring. But didn’t predict the exact date this time. After March 2018 passed, he moved the apocalypse to April 23, 2018, in which he also predicted the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, & Virgo would signal the Rapture, & that Nibiru would destroy the Earth that day.

However, before that date, he said that reports that he predicted at the end of April 23 were “fake news.” But that the Rapture – but not the end of the world – would take place on an unspecified date between May & December 2018.

UFO religions (think Heaven’s Gate, but without the unaliving) sometimes feature an anticipated end-time scenario in which extraterrestrial beings will bring about a radical change on Earth &/or “lift” the religious believers to a higher plane of existence.

Some followers of UFO religions believe that the arrival or rediscovery of alien civilizations, technologies, & spirituality will enable human beings to overcome current ecological, spiritual, political, & social problems on planet Earth.

Issues such as hatred, war, bigotry, poverty, & so on are said to be resolvable through the use of superior alien technology & spiritual abilities. Such belief systems are also described as millennial in their outlook.

The Zoroastrian eschatological ideas are only alluded to in the surviving texts of the Avesta, in particular in the 9th-century text Bundahishn. The accompanying story, as it shows up in the Bundahishn, says: At the end of the “3rd time” (the 1st being the age of creation, the 2nd of mixture, & the 3rd of separation), there will be a great battle between the forces of good (yazata) & those of evil (daeva), in which the good will triumph.

On Earth, the Saoshyant will bring about a resurrection of the dead in the bodies they had before they died. This is followed by a Last Judgment through an ordeal. The yazata Airyaman & Atar will melt in the hills & mountains, & the molten metal will then flow across the earth like a river.

But for the righteous (ashavan), it will seem to be a river of warm milk, while the wicked will be burned. The river will then flow down to Hell, where it will annihilate Angra Mainyu & the last vestiges of wickedness in the universe. The narrative continues with a projection of Ahura Mazda & the 6 Amesha Spentas solemnizing a final act of worship (Yasna), & the preparation of parahaoma from “white haoma.” The righteous will partake of the parahaoma, which will confer immortality upon them.

Therefore, humankind will become like the Amesha Spentas, living without food, without hunger or thirst, without weapons or possibility of bodily injury. The material substance of the bodies will be sol ight as to cast no shadow. All humanity will speak a single purpose & goal, joining with the divine for a perpetual exaltation of God’s glory.

Although Frashokereti is a restoration of the time of creation, there’s no return to the uniqueness of the primordial plant, animal, & human. While in the beginning there was 1 plant, 1 animal, & 1 human, the variety that had since been issued would remain forever.

Similarly, the host of divinities brought into existence by Ahura Mazda continue to have distinct existences, “& there is no prophecy of their reabsorption into the Godhead.”

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Your contribution is appreciated.

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Apocalypticism

This is the religious belief that the end of the world is imminent, even within one’s own lifetime. This belief is usually accompanied by the idea that civilization will soon come to a tumultuous end due to some sort of catastrophic global event.

Apocalypticism is 1 aspect of eschatology in certain religions, the part of theology concerned with the final events of human history, or the ultimate destiny of humanity (societal collapse, human extinction, & so on). Religious views & movements often focus on cryptic revelations about a sudden, dramatic, & cataclysmic intervention of a god in human history; the judgment of humankind; the salvation of the faithful elect; & the eventual rule of the elect with the god in a heaven &/or upon a renewed Earth.

Arising originally in Zoroastrianism, apocalypticism was developed more fully in the eschatological speculations of Judaism, Christianity, & Islam (Abrahamic religions). Religious apocalypticism often involves themes such as God’s judgment, salvation of the faithful, & the eventual establishment of a renewed world.

Apocalypticism is often combined with the belief that esoteric knowledge will likely be revealed in a major confrontation between good & evil forces, destined to change the course of history. Apocalypse can be seen as good, bad, ambiguous, or neutral. This is highly dependent on the particular religion/belief system promoting them. It’s not exclusively a religious idea.

It’s not exclusively a religious idea. There are end times/transitional scenarios based on modern science, technology, political discourse, & conspiracy theories.

Various Christian eschatological systems have developed among different Christian denominations throughout the history of Christianity. Providing different frameworks for understanding the timing & nature of apocalypse vision. While others like postmillennialism & amillennialism.

While teaching that the end of the world could come at any moment tends to focus on the present life & contend that 1 shouldn’t attempt to predict when the end will come. Though there have been exceptions, such as postmillennialist Jonathan Edwards, who estimated that the end times would occur around the year 2000.

In Western Europe, during the year 1,000, Christian philosophers held many debates on when Jesus was actually born & the debates continue to today. This caused confusion among the common people about whether or not the apocalypse would occur at a certain time. Because both literate & illiterate people commonly accepted this idea of the apocalypse, they could only accept what they heard from religious leaders on when the disastrous event would occur.

Religious leader Abbo of Fleury believed that Jesus was born 21 years after the year 1, which was commonly accepted by close circles of his followers. Abbot Heriger of Lobbes argued that the birth of Jesus occurred not during the year 1 but rather during the 42nd year of the common era.

Many scholars came to accept that the apocalypse would occur sometime between 979 & 1042. Under the influence of the Sibylline Oracles & figures such as Otto III & Abbot Adso of Montier-en-Der, many believed that the apocalypse would soon occur.

Some historians think there were ample apocalyptic expectations at the approach of the year 1000 & again at the approach of 1000 anno passionis (1033). Other historians claim that the fear of the year 1000 is a myth & there was no widespread apocalypse sentiment.

As evidence, on December 31, 999, Pope Sylvester II granted certain privileges & guarantees to the Abbey of Fulda, without any indication that either the Pope or the abbot believed that the world was soon to end. There’s also a document from October 3, 999, in which Otto III grants future concessions to Farfa Abbey.

Another document in 999 shows 2 brothers taking a 29-year loan on lands of the abbey of San Marciano in Tortona, suggesting that even common people didn’t believe the world was ending. On the other hand, the fact that Otto III visited the tomb of Charlemagne, the emperor of the year 6,000 (Annus Mundi) on Pentecost of the year 1,000, suggests that even the man who appointed Sylvester pope had his own views on the matter.

The Crusades were filled with apocalyptic expectation & prophecy, beginning with the preaching of figures like Peter the Hermit to inspire knights, nobles, & commorers to March to the Holy Land, & take Jerusalem. Count Emicho, a leading figure of the People’s Crusade, claimed that Christ appeared & ordered him to fulfill apocalyptic prophecy by marching on Constantinople, seizing Jerusalem, triggering the Second Coming, & beginning the end times struggle against the Antichrist.

Leaders of the following Prince’s Crusade, such as Raymond of Aguilers (he was a participant & chronicler of the 1st Crusade & became the chaplain of Count Raymond IV of Toulouse, the leader of the Provençal army of crusaders), understood their conquest of Jerusalem as being a victory of Christendom over the Saracen “pagans” & as a sign of the oncoming Apocalypse & Second Coming.

Christian chronicles (like Matthew of Edessa) illustrated the Crusades in an apocalyptic framework, connecting the Frankish rule with the 4th kingdom in Daniel’s prophecy. Many other European writers emphasized the bloodlines during the massacre of Jerusalem as fulfilling the violent prophecies of Revelation.

Joachim of Fiore & other millenarian thinkers perceived the Crusades as temporary, foreseeing the voluntary conversion of the Islamic world over time.

The Fifth Monarchists/Fifth Monarchy Men were an extreme Puritan sect active for 11 years (1649-1660) during the Interregnum, following the English Civil Wars of the 17th century. They took their name from a prophecy in the Book of Daniel (which we, personally, can’t wait to get into!! Well, our founder, anyway. They adore apocalyptic prophecies! They’ll probably end up writing the whole Book of Daniel. With a TON of commentary.), that 4 ancient monarchies (Babylonian, Persian, Macedonian, & Roman) would precede the kingdom of Christ.

The Great Disappointment in the Millerite Movement was the reaction that followed Baptist preacher William Miller’s predictions that Jesus Christ would return to the Earth by 1844, which he called the Second Advent. His study of the Daniel 8 prophecy during the Second Great Awakening led him to the conclusion that Daniel’s “cleansing of the sanctuary” was cleansing of the world from sin when Christ would come, & he & many others prepared. But October 22, 1844, came & they were disappointed.

These events paved the way for the Adventists who created the Seventh-day Adventist Church. They contended that what had happened on October 22 wasn’t Jesus’ return, as Miller had thought, but the start of Jesus’ final work of atonement, the cleansing in the heavenly sanctuary, leading up to the Second Coming of Christ.

The Mormon tradition teaches that followers are living shortly before the Second Coming of Christ. The term “latter days” is used in the official names of several Mormon churches, including the Church of Jesus of Latter-day Saints. LDS president Wilford Woodruff (1889-1898) preached multiple times that many then-living followers “wouldn’t taste death” before witnessing the return of Christ.

According to LDS Church teachings, the true Gospel will be taught in all parts of the world before the Second Coming. Church members believe that there’ll be increasingly severe wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, & other man-made & natural disasters before the Second Coming.

The eschatology of Jehovah’s Witnesses is central to their faith & religious beliefs. They believe that Jesus Christ has been ruling in Heaven as king since 1914. This was a date they believed was prophesied in Scripture. After that time, a period of cleansing occurred, resulting in Charles Taze Russell being his people in 1919.

They also believe the destruction of those who reject their message & thus willfully refuse to obey God will shortly take place at Armageddon, ensuring that the beginning of the new earthly society will be composed of willing subjects of that kingdom.

The Watch Tower Society has stated that its early leaders promoted “incomplete, even inaccurate concepts.” The Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses says that, unlike Old Testament prophets, its interpretations of the Bible aren’t inspired or infallible.

Witness publications say that Bible prophecies can be fully understood only after their fulfillment, citing examples of biblical figures who didn’t understand the meaning of prophecies they received. Watch Tower publications often cite Proverbs 4:18, “The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter & lighter until the day is firmly established,” to support their view that there would be an increase in knowledge during “the time of the end,” as mentioned in Daniel 12:4.

Jehovah’s Witnesses state that this increase in knowledge needs adjustments. Watch Tower publications also say that unfulfilled expectations are partly due to eagerness for God’s Kingdom & they don’t call their core beliefs into question.

For Christadelphians, Armageddon marks the “great climax of history when the nations would be gathered together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon,” & “the judgment of them would herald the setting up of the kingdom of God.”

After this, Christadelphians believe that Jesus will return to the earth in person to set up the kingdom of God in fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham & David. This includes the belief that the coming kingdom will be the restoration of God’s First Kingdom of Israel, which was David & Solomon. For Christadelphians, this is the focal point of the Gospel taught by Jesus & the apostles.

Realized eschatology is a Christian eschatology theory popularized by J.A.T Robinson, Joachim Jeremias, Ethelbert Stauffer, & C.H. Dodd that holds the eschatological passages in the New Testament do not refer to the future. But instead refers to the ministry of Jesus & his lasting legacy.

Eschatology is therefore not the end of the world, but its rebirth instituted by Jesus & continued by his disciples, a historical (rather than transhistorical) phenomenon. Those holding this view generally dismiss end-times theories, believing them to be irrelevant. They hold that what Jesus said & did, & told his disciples to do likewise, are of greater significance than any Messianic expectations.

David Meade is the pen name of an American end-times conspiracy theories & book author who has yet to disclose his real name. He’s best known for making numerous predictions, which have passed, regarding the end times, including that a hidden planet named Nibiru (a.k.a. Planet X) would destroy the Earth.

Meade predicted that planet Nibiru would collide with Earth on September 23, 2017, destroying it. After his prediction failed, he revised the apocalypse to October, where he stated that the 7-year tribulation would possibly start, followed by a millennium of peace.

In 2008, Meade again made several predictions for that year. For example, North Korea would become a superpower in March 2018, & that Nibiru would destroy the Earth in spring. But didn’t predict the exact date this time. After March 2018 passed, he moved the apocalypse to April 23, 2018, in which he also predicted the Sun, Moon, Jupiter, & Virgo would signal the Rapture, & that Nibiru would destroy the Earth that day.

However, before that date, he said that reports that he predicted at the end of April 23 were “fake news.” But that the Rapture – but not the end of the world – would take place on an unspecified date between May & December 2018.

UFO religions (think Heaven’s Gate, but without the unaliving) sometimes feature an anticipated end-time scenario in which extraterrestrial beings will bring about a radical change on Earth &/or “lift” the religious believers to a higher plane of existence.

Some followers of UFO religions believe that the arrival or rediscovery of alien civilizations, technologies, & spirituality will enable human beings to overcome current ecological, spiritual, political, & social problems on planet Earth.

Issues such as hatred, war, bigotry, poverty, & so on are said to be resolvable through the use of superior alien technology & spiritual abilities. Such belief systems are also described as millennial in their outlook.

The Zoroastrian eschatological ideas are only alluded to in the surviving texts of the Avesta, in particular in the 9th-century text Bundahishn. The accompanying story, as it shows up in the Bundahishn, says: At the end of the “3rd time” (the 1st being the age of creation, the 2nd of mixture, & the 3rd of separation), there will be a great battle between the forces of good (yazata) & those of evil (daeva), in which the good will triumph.

On Earth, the Saoshyant will bring about a resurrection of the dead in the bodies they had before they died. This is followed by a Last Judgment through an ordeal. The yazata Airyaman & Atar will melt in the hills & mountains, & the molten metal will then flow across the earth like a river.

But for the righteous (ashavan), it will seem to be a river of warm milk, while the wicked will be burned. The river will then flow down to Hell, where it will annihilate Angra Mainyu & the last vestiges of wickedness in the universe. The narrative continues with a projection of Ahura Mazda & the 6 Amesha Spentas solemnizing a final act of worship (Yasna), & the preparation of parahaoma from “white haoma.” The righteous will partake of the parahaoma, which will confer immortality upon them.

Therefore, humankind will become like the Amesha Spentas, living without food, without hunger or thirst, without weapons or possibility of bodily injury. The material substance of the bodies will be sol ight as to cast no shadow. All humanity will speak a single purpose & goal, joining with the divine for a perpetual exaltation of God’s glory.

Although Frashokereti is a restoration of the time of creation, there’s no return to the uniqueness of the primordial plant, animal, & human. While in the beginning there was 1 plant, 1 animal, & 1 human, the variety that had since been issued would remain forever.

Similarly, the host of divinities brought into existence by Ahura Mazda continue to have distinct existences, “& there is no prophecy of their reabsorption into the Godhead.”

Make a one-time donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a monthly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Make a yearly donation

Your contribution is appreciated.

Rate this:

"When a study released last year showed enrollment at major seminaries in a decade-long decline, it fueled concerns about a crisis in the #American #rabbinate. As the old guard of #Conservative and #Reform #Judaism aged out of the workforce, who would replace them?

But the #rabbinical #schools affiliated with those movements say reports of their demise were greatly exaggerated — and they have the numbers to prove it.

The #JewishTheologicalSeminary and #HebrewUnionCollege, seminaries of the Conservative and Reform movements respectively, say they have enrolled their largest fall classes in 15 years. Enrollment at #Reconstructionist #RabbinicalCollege holds steady with nine students."

https://forward.com/news/834980/jts-huc-rabbinical-school-enrollment-rises/

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/

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

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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The Fundamentals of Tawheed (Islamic Monotheism) by Dr. Bilal Philips Foreword | #Audiobook Preview

#islam #audiobooks #theology #religion #spirituality #monotheism #tawheed #tauheed #tawhid #tauhid #aqeedah #sunnah #internationalopenuniversity #bilalphilips #islamicstudies #christianity #judaism #hinduism #astrology #witchcraft #blackmagic #magic #sorcery #jinn #devils #demons #superstition #sufism #unitarian #trinity #god #faith

#التوحيد #العقيدة #كتاب_صوتي #الإسلام #القرآن #القرآن_الكريم

Visiting The #ArkEncounter In Northern #Kentucky | Real Life #NoahsArk!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VuF4vppNk9k&list=WL

#judaism #christianity #religion #mythology #gods #noah #ark #atheist

Today is season "boundary" day. It marks the end & beginning of seasons. This keeps everyone synchronous with nature & the Feasts of YHWH.

#Torah #Zadokite #DeadSeaScrolls #HaDerech #Messianic #Christianity #Judaism #Zadok #Scripture

"What can new technology reveal about the ancient Dead Sea Scrolls? Join scientists as they investigate suspicious, newly surfaced fragments to see if they're forfeited, and use imaging techniques to digitally unravel the charred remains of a scroll." https://youtu.be/INV9eLQa7Jc #Youtube #Video #Documentary #DeadSeaScrolls #Ancient #Hebrew #Bible #Judaism #Christianity #Religion #Tech #Technology #Science #STEM #Archaeology @science @religion @christianity @archaeodons

timesofisrael.com/haredi-parties-pledge-loyalty-to-netanyahu-refuse-to-join-any-other-coalition/

Haredi parties pledge loyalty to #Netanyahu, #UTJ, #Shas and Likud reconstitute right-wing bloc that prevented a #Gantz-led government: #ultraOrthodox Shas and United Torah #Judaism parties signed on to Netanyahu’s loyalty pledge on Tuesday, agreeing that they will not independently join a government led by any party other than #Likud

https://www.timesofisrael.com/haredi-parties-pledge-loyalty-to-netanyahu-refuse-to-join-any-other-coalition/

Haredi parties pledge loyalty to #Netanyahu, #UTJ, #Shas and Likud reconstitute right-wing bloc that prevented a #Gantz-led government: #ultraOrthodox Shas and United Torah #Judaism parties signed on to Netanyahu’s loyalty pledge on Tuesday, agreeing that they will not independently join a government led by any party other than #Likud

Midwives, doulas, birth attendants:
join the Safe Birth in Palestine Coalition.

https://bit.ly/sbpcoa

#safeguardingchildren #birth #midwifery #maternitycare #Midwives #doula #parenting #Palestine #Gaza #Judaism #pregnant #israel #GenocideInGaza #Zionism #finaldays

#Religion overpowers #logic, again 😞:

“The World Very Nearly Adopted A Calendar With 13 Months Of 28 Days”, The Washington Post (https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2023/11/04/battle-sabbath-13-month-calendar/).

Via HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38147981

#TheLeagueOfNations #Judaism #InternationalFixedCalendar #GregorianCalendar #Calendar

-- Scholar FLIPS Dead Sea Scroll JESUS CLAIM on its Head (feat Dr James Tabor) --
(from Paulogia)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5fwT8FtmTE

#DeadSeaScrolls #Qumran #Judaism #Christianity #Jesus #apologetics #history #prophecy

-- Apologist crushed by expert on The Dead Sea Scrolls | Eric Metaxas vs. James D. Tabor --
(from Rationality Rules)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3bbdA93wJzY

#Judaism #Christianity #DeadSeaScrolls #scripture #Bible #history

TFW some #atheists don’t realize that many #RELIGIOUS #Jews are also atheists. These are not incompatible things in #Judaism. Me myself I’m a pantheist #Reconstructionist Jew. #Mazeldon