Chava Stavitsky

Patrilineal Jew, artist, devoted to Torah study. 33 they/she

[chavastavitsky]

Shabbat shalom! 🕯️🕯️

Hi jumblr! I'm new here so I wanted to introduce myself :)

I'm Chava (they/she), a patrilineal Jew who's been working with a Conservative rabbi to get to a beit din/mikvah. I'm extremely passionate about Torah and text study, I'm an artist, and a writer.

I'll probably share little drashot here, Jewish art and crafts, and maybe some kosher recipes I make (definitely photogenic challah at least). Nice to meet all of you!

[chavastavitsky]

1) Metamour is recovering from surgery, so I made her some matzah ball soup

2) PBJ matzah meal prep for the rest of the chag lol

Hope everyone having a good Pesach!

[chavastavitsky]

The one pre-prepared food we got was this matzah apple kugel and it goes really well with vanilla Greek yogurt (like apple pie and ice cream, but KIND OF healthier).

Hope everyone is having a good chag so far!

[chavastavitsky]

Girl dinner

[chavastavitsky]

I got myself out to make Birkat HaIlanot on a 5 minute walk and welcome in Spring with the budding trees ❤️🌳

(It literally was flurrying out... But it always snows one or two last times in April in New England, and complaining about it is part of the season.)

[chavastavitsky]

My rabbi and I settled fully on my Hebrew name yesterday in a meeting, including deciding that I'd be "bat [Dad's Hebrew name]" -- I can't express how much that means to me.

[chavastavitsky]

I got started on the Pesach todo list

[chavastavitsky]

Mishnah Study Reflections

I'm feeling really grateful to have made it to a Mishnah study series for the first time. We just finished up tractate Rosh Hashanah over the course of the class and it wasn't my first encounter with rabbinical text but it was really my first in-depth study of it.

Our teacher asked if we had any reflections at the last class, and for me, I got very used to studying Torah and forming a relationship with that text. And I wasn't sure what Mishnah and Talmud would really be like to try to connect to, or if I really could in a similarly meaningful way.

But I feel like I discovered the humanness in Mishnah that makes it feel incredibly personal. It gave me the best connection I've ever had to that period of Jewish history. We learned the Hadran prayer at the end and I was so struck by the way it opens, talking to the text: "...Our mind is on you, and your mind is on us; We will not forget you, and you will not forget us."

For me that felt like a reminder that the rabbis of these texts were really thinking forward to generations to come, they had us in mind when they were making this transition out of Temple-based Judaism. They were thinking about the future of Judaism, even though they couldn't possibly know what it was going to look like.

It is so personal and special, and radical! Sometimes it's difficult to feel like we are being thought of or that we really belong, but for me this was a really good reminder.

The class I took was through @torahstudio, a virtual, accessible, queer-friendly beit midrash that I can't recommend enough. Spring quarter classes are just starting if you want to check them out :)

[chavastavitsky]

So the bulk boxes of Streits Pesach matzah come with a Pesach cootie catcher lol

[chavastavitsky]

Sefaria's email unsubscribe footer is actually insane hahahah

[chavastavitsky]

Chag sameach, my partner (right) and I (left) were Elphaba and Glinda for my synagogue's Wicked-themed Purim :) It was her first time going to a synagogue ever, great first night to go and glad she came!

[chavastavitsky]

Embarrassing to admit but I'm terribly terribly TERRIBLY addicted/attached to my phone. I literally quit cigarettes/nicotine after a decade smoking to be able to observe shabbos and it felt easier than putting my phone down. I'm rereading LOTR and it's like the Ring -- I try to cast it aside and it just ends up in my hand again.

That said, I did 2 hours with it out of sight on Saturday, and it felt pretty lovely. This is really the last piece of shabbat observance for me, and I want it badly.

[everflint]

jumblr, I ask with love, is anyone doing a Purim spiel that is Not wicked themed?

[chavastavitsky]

...OK, fair, but me and my partner get to go to shul doing Glinda/Elphie couple's costume so I just have to be grateful y'know?

[failedaugment]

I’m sick of the Hamantaschen debate!

“It’s Haman’s hat!”

“No it’s his ears!”

“Actually it’s his pockets”🤓

WRONG! It’s his pussy you cowards!!

[chavastavitsky]

Yes, There's a Reason Hamantaschen Look Like Vaginas

When you think about it, it's kind of weird that us Jews celebrate the defeat of the Purim story’s enemy by eating a cookie named after said

Relevant article

[chavastavitsky]

This is my first attempt at a vegan challah, replacing the egg with pumpkin!

I took my usual recipe and replaced 1:1. I want to make more adjustments but it's really very tasty for a first try. The crumb is a little more moist, sort of texturally like a cross between challah and banana bread. But it's still pretty fluffy! And the pumpkin adds an extra funky sweetness that's very nice. I'm most disappointed with the vegan "egg wash" -- will experiment more. :)

[chavastavitsky]

🕯️🕯️

[chavastavitsky]

Looking feminine and wearing a kippah is a special kind of spiritual gender affirmation to me