IFAQs

(aka Infrequently Asked Questions)

(aka questions that no one has asked me that I wanted to answer)

Why does this blog exist?

Because I realized that I saw posts on Tumblr about Jewish things that I didn’t want to reblog on my main blog, but really wanted to reblog. I also had things that I wanted to discuss that didn’t really fit on a fandom blog.

Why don’t you just post this on your main blog?

Because I’m exhausted. I’m having enough problems in real life—I wanted to use a sideblog that I can selectively interact with. Also, my main blog is a fandom blog.

Why are you qualified to talk about _insert thing here_?

This blog exists so I can share my own personal experiences, reblog others’ experiences, and express my opinions. When expressing my opinions, I do my best to back them up with research and sources. When sharing my experiences, I don’t claim to have any sort of qualification other than…actually experiencing that thing. I don’t speak for anyone except myself.

Do you use trigger/content warnings?

I try to. In general, I do my best to tag posts and reblogs about antisemitism so they’re easy to avoid, and tag other common triggers I notice as “tw: ”+ the trigger. However, I’m not the best at remembering/noticing, so be careful. If you see something I didn’t tag, please feel free to send me an ask or message and I’ll add the tag.

Are you…

…Jewish? Ethnically, I am Jewish but was not raised with a huge connection to my Jewish heritage. I celebrated a few holidays with my mom’s parents and read kids’ books, but that was mostly it. In college, I have begun learning more about Jewish culture through Hillel, Chabad, and the Internet. I am certainly no expert, but I enjoy learning and have my own experiences to share. Religiously, I’m somewhere between agnostic and atheist.

…a Zionist? By the definition I use, yes. I don’t know what definition you’ve heard, so here’s a clarification of what I mean:

I believe that there should be a Jewish state somewhere in the region where Israel is located. I also believe that there should be a Palestinian state. I see calls for the dissolution of Israel as overly optimistic at best and antisemitic at worst. While I accept that ideally, everyone in the world would live together in peace and harmony, this is not a feasible short-term goal. No one-state solution under any kind of government would be fair or safe for the inhabitants of the region, and Jews deserve the right to self-determination just like other ethnic groups. Israel exists—I see that as a good thing, but even if you don’t, just getting rid of an entire country is…not gonna work.

…Israeli? No. I live in the United States.

…able to speak Hebrew/Yiddish/insert language here? I can only speak English and (very iffy) French. I know a few Yiddish words from my mom, but I can’t read Hebrew or actually speak Yiddish. You are welcome to interact with this blog in whatever language makes you most comfortable, but I will probably be plugging it into Google Translate if it is not English or French.

…sane/okay/alive? No, definitely not, and barely. Will update if “definitely not” changes. Will not update if “barely” changes, because I’m the only person with access to this blog.

#jumblr #jewish

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penelope-and-the-suitors

So excited to meet with the rabbi tomorrow to ask questions such as:

Are sponges permissible to eat?

Fungi are neither animal nor plant, why are they permissible to eat?

If vampires existed, would you sit shiva after the have been turned and thus killed?

Do angels sleep?

Why aren’t reptiles permissible to eat because birds are technically reptiles? What makes the twenty fours birds acceptable and not others? It can’t be the presence of wings or the presence of feathers.

Following the vampire question, can you touch a vampire, given that the touching of corpses are prohibited?

If dinosaurs were still alive and had feathers, would they be permissible to eat?

lostthenfoundmyself

Post the answers when you get them! I’m super curious what the Rabbi says.

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applesauce42069

okay. does anyone have lived experience with taglit? most sources i can find are either that its the source of all evil or that its perfect.

if you know me i have some opinions that others might consider more "extreme" on the left side, and if i started being fed bullshit i wouldn't be able to stop myself from speaking up. but i don't want to put myself in a position where i become the "problem person" so if dialogue is generally not encouraged i would rather just not go.

lostthenfoundmyself

My understanding is that it exists to promote Israel, but can be worth it if you go in with the right mindset. Like there is definitely some BS involved and it’s biased in what it shows you, but if you go in knowing that, you can just recognize that you’re getting information from a biased source. It also matters who you go with for what the environment will be like and how much debate will be accepted.

I’m personally wary of Birthright (and the name seriously does not help), but again, I think if you go in with an understanding what it is and what it isn’t, you can enjoy it without being manipulated.

lostthenfoundmyself

I haven’t been on Birthright, but have ended up in a Birthright focus group so I know a bit about their inner workings and others’ views of them. So that’s where this is coming from.

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applesauce42069

okay. does anyone have lived experience with taglit? most sources i can find are either that its the source of all evil or that its perfect.

lostthenfoundmyself

#jumblr #debate #birthright

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snissel613

something I wasn’t expecting was the kinds of halakhic questions that get asked here. Stuff like “can you not eat chicken with eggs just like beef and milk” and “can you have nondairy cheese with meat” are both so obvious to me that I never even thought of them. Makes you realize how differently some people think of these things

lostthenfoundmyself

This is so interesting.

From my very un knowledgeable perspective, I’d think nondairy cheese with meat is fine *if* you’re not visibly eating cheese with meat in public. Because in public you’d appear to be violating kosher and that could confuse or mislead others.

I don’t think there’s any rule against chicken with eggs, but depending on how you view the eggs in general…I think of eggs as an extension of the chicken instead of the beginnings of a new chicken. So I wouldn’t say there’s any “calf” involved. And eggs feel more like meat than dairy to me honestly, even though I’m vegetarian and eat eggs. But if you think of eggs as potential baby chickens, then it does get kind of close to cooking the baby and the adult together, which could easily violate the message of the Torah.

#not frum #and also missed the original debate #but this type of thing is why I think I would love law school #halacha

lostthenfoundmyself

I decided to stop being a wimp and start actually learning Hebrew instead of just picking up a couple words through osmosis.

So today I sat down and did my best to learn the aleph bet. My vowel reading still needs a lot of work, but I can now very slowly read Hebrew out loud with some degree of accuracy. I just need to make sure I practice daily so I don’t lose today’s progress and work on systematically learning vowels.

After I’m better at reading the letters, I’ll move on to trying to learn more words and grammar.

I know this is like, way less than what an orthodox five year old knows, but I’m proud of this progress.

#jewish #jumblr #hebrew

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we-left-egypt-for-this

Man i'm too much of a coward to post about Amsterdam on my main blog and it just. Makes me sick. I participated in Maccabi usa and maccabi canada events all summer and? I'm afraid of losing friends I shouldn't keep?

lostthenfoundmyself

“I’m afraid of losing friends I shouldn’t keep.”

I feel you.

#antisemitism #pogrom #I don’t even know what to say at this point

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mossadspypigeon

the footage coming out of amsterdam is terrifying and horrible. this is a pogrom. this is what “globalize the intifada” means.

#antisemitism #pogrom

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jewish-mccoy

btw if anyone wants to blame Jews for trump winning, approximately 80% of us (and we’re a tiny majority) voted for Harris. blame yourselves.

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hermthejewishwyrm

A couple years ago I was joking around and said something along the lines of "oh I don't hold by the geneva convention" and one of my friends swiveled around, pointed at me, and said "FRUM JEW" like he had just spotted a witch.

He than proceeded to explain that the term "hold by" isn't used by goyim (which i didn't know) apparently my lexicon is even jewier than I knew

lostthenfoundmyself

I think “hold by” is used by goyim? I could swear I’ve heard it from non-Jewish sources or in books or something before.

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unsolicited-opinions

Anonymous asked:

Bro no one hates jews for ethnicity, news are hated for faith.

If you are an atheist "jew", no one gives a shit about you.

Stop pretending to be a victim and trying to appropriate antisemitic struggles.

unsolicited-opinions answered:

I'll address these point by point.

Jewish readers, please share your thoughts!

You wrote: "No one hates Jews for ethnicity, [J]ews are hated for faith."

"Hitler...defined the Jews as a race and not a religious community, characterized the effect of a Jewish presence as a “race-tuberculosis of the peoples,” and identified the initial goal of a German government to be discriminatory legislation against Jews."

[Source]

More here

As David Baddiel put it, "I'm an atheist, but that would get me no free passes out of Auschwitz."

The Jews are a people. Judaism is the traditional religion of that people. A Jew who does not engage with that religion does not cease to be a Jew by Jewish definitions OR by antisemtic definitions.

You wrote: "If you are an atheist Jew, nobody gives a shit about you."

First, see above.

Second, you're incorrectly assuming that a Jewish atheist is not engaged with Judaism.

Here's the thing:

Judaism isn't necessarily theistic.

Let's set aside the explicitly non-theistic movement of Humanistic Judaism, for a moment (huge topic for another time) and just talk briefly about theism in Judaism.

Most kinds of Judaism, while certainly encouraging faith, do not require it. There are no thought crimes in Judaism, no crucibles of faith, and no requirements that one announce or perform proof of belief for witnesses. Those things are often parts of Christianity and Islam, but in Judaism...not so much.

In Jewish thought, it is not what you believe about metaphysics which lifts you up, ennobles you, improves you, or makes the world a better place. In Judaism, you pursue those things by how you behave.

Solo fide is a Christian concept which Judaism does not share. Judaism is a profoundly existential religion with ethics which are overwhelmingly humanist.

I was raised in Reform and Conservative congregations...and non-theistic/atheistic/humanistic views were very common there.

When I was studying to become Bar Mitzvah, our congregation's Rabbi made crystal clear to me that there was no contradiction between my identity as a Jew and my inability to swallow the idea of an anthropomorphic, sapient, interventionist God who cared at all about petitionary prayer. He felt that wrestling with God was a very Jewish thing to do. He introduced me to Maimonides' apophatic theology. Decades later, I'm still grateful.

Many Jews pray, I believe, not to be heard by God, but so they can hear their own hearts and minds. This is why kavanah is important and why I disliked (and still dislike) prayer-by-rote and rituals performed for the sake of ritual.

There's a famous Hasidic story, recorded by philosopher Martin Buber in his "Tales of the Hasidim," about how Judaism views atheism:

The Master teaches that God created everything the world to be appreciated, since everything is here to teach us a lesson.

One clever student asks "What lesson can we learn from atheists? Why did God create them?"

The Master responds "God created atheists teach us the most important lesson of them all- the lesson of true compassion. You see, when an atheist performs an act of charity, visits someone who is sick, helps someone in need, and cares for the world, he is not doing so because of some religious teaching. He does not believe that God commanded him to perform this act. In fact, he does not believe in Goda at all, so his acts are based on an inner sense of morality. And look at the kindness he can bestow upon others simply because he feels it to be right."

"This means," the Master continued "that when someone reaches out to you for help, you should never say 'I pray that God will help you.' Instead for the moment, you should become an atheist, imagine that there is no God who can help, and say 'I will help you."

You wrote: "Stop pretending to be a victim and trying to appropriate antisemtic struggles."

I invite other Jews to advise if I have appropriated anything which is not mine.

Your opinion, though? Your view, as a non-Jew, about what is or isn't Jewish? On what is or is not mine in my heritage? Your claim in utter ignorance of what I or my family have experienced that I have not experienced antisemitism?

I don't have a single fuck to give about any of that, and neither does any other Jew. Your opinions on these things have no relevance.

Though I'd welcome the opinions of other Jews.

Still, I thank you for the writing prompt. It helps to crystalize my own thinking and provides an opportunity to educate.

#antisemitism under the guise of being concerned that someone is ‘appropriating’ antisemitism #this is ridiculous #I mean this is part of what I love about Judaism #it’s practice-based #it doesn’t have the same faith obsession as Christianity #so yeah #atheist Jews absolutely experience antisemitism #antisemitism

lostthenfoundmyself

Apparently the Hillel and Chabad sukkot are too zionist for whatever the As a Jew Club is currently calling itself (it’s changed its name and created shell organizations too many times for me to keep track). Fine. The Hillel and Chabad sukkot are literally just normal sukkot, but whatever. I do want all Jews to have a sukkah they can be comfortable in. But:

They chose the most publicly visible space possible, whereas Hillel has to have their sukkah out of the way for privacy. And of course, they “decorated” it with poorly-painted slogans.
The entire process for getting their sukkah approved was expedited by the administration.
Their “sukkah” isn’t. even. a sukkah.

We’re supposed to see them as a viable alternative for Hillel and they can’t even manage to make a kosher sukkah.

#jewish #jumblr

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mossadspypigeon

the second i see a fellow jew describe themselves as white, i know their takes are going to be rancid and i am going to sigh deeply.

newsflash: none of us are white and we never were white, even if we had pale skin due to adaptation to climate and genetic levantine diversity.

the whole point is jews are not part of whiteness and never have been part of it. stop it.

lostthenfoundmyself

Honestly, I do consider myself white. I don’t think you’d consider my takes rancid though.

I think Jews who consider themselves PoC are completely valid—even if they “pass” as white. However, I still personally consider myself white. I considered myself as white growing up, I’m not visibly Jewish (either from my physical appearance or my clothes—although I have had a Jew randomly ask me if I was Jewish), I wasn’t super connected to Jewish culture growing up, and I genuinely don’t think calling myself a person of color is accurate to my experience. I asked my mom if she considers herself white, and she said “I don’t know.” And if my mom doesn’t know and my dad is definitely white, I don’t feel comfortable saying I’m not white.

I don’t make huge posts about this, because I don’t want it to be used by leftist antisemites who go on “Jews are white Europeans” tirades. I agree that light skin doesn’t necessarily make you white—there is a lot of cultural complexity and nuance there. But I think it really depends on how individual Jews identify, and there are multiple valid Jewish identities here.

#feel free to debate politely #there might be other arguments I haven’t considered #but I know I consider myself white #and I don’t think that’s incorrect

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fromgoy2joy

So, as a Jewish Club board member at my college , I was tasked with making a sukkot meal flyer but the details kept on changing.

At first we were getting bagels catered, then it was pizza, and now it’s completely unknown. Then the dates kept changing - from the 19th to the 20th to the 18th ETC .

So this is what I have so far.

I really don’t know how we made it out of the desert.

#sukkot

lostthenfoundmyself

Fasted for the first time this year!

It was surprisingly doable. I felt a bit thirsty from the start, mostly a psychosomatic thing that came from knowing I couldn’t have water. Always want what you can’t have and all that. My stomach started growling a bit in the early afternoon, but it wasn’t that bad and it went mostly away. By the end of the fast, I felt a little bit woozy, but I’ve felt worse on normal days. And I didn’t feel particularly hungry or thirsty. (Thirsty would mean feeling a specific pain/need for water, whereas woozy is just something that happens to me periodically.)

There was a gap between services, so I went back to my dorm, read a bit, and took a 2.5 hour nap. That probably helped a lot, because I only had to last until what would otherwise be a very late lunch, then I slept, then it was only a few more hours.

I also avoided using electronics for the most part. Not to the level of people who keep Shabbat—I still used the elevator, the light in my dorm, and set an alarm on my phone. But I didn’t check use my phone or computer for any non-timekeeping functions (I would’ve avoided them entirely but unfortunately, in a true gen Z moment, I don’t have a clock). It did feel like I could concentrate more on the day without them.

Being at the services felt very fulfilling, but I’m not really sure fasting helped anything for me. Maybe that’s because I cheated by napping. I don’t know. But the concept of self-affliction as purification doesn’t fully sit right with me. If I was giving the food and water to someone else maybe it would resonate more, but I’m not sure. So I guess I’ll decide next year if I want to fast it again. Mostly avoiding electronics and going to services though—I will definitely repeat those if I can.

#jewish #jumblr #yom kippur #fasting

lostthenfoundmyself reblogged

boreal-sea

I mean how can I say no

lostthenfoundmyself

I will be attempting to fast for Yom Kippur for the first time this year. I’m not optimistic, but I’ll try. I get dehydrated very easily and have my normal October sickness, so if I feel very dizzy/faint, I’m going to start drinking water. I don’t feel like passing out is worth it. But I do want to see if fasting feels fulfilling to me. Does anyone have any last-minute tips? I’ve been drinking extra water the past few days and will have Gatorade right before.

#jewish #jumblr #yom kippur #fasting