🕍

✡️ finding my way back to the tribe ✡️

[yerushe-blog]

from “The Sabbath” by Abraham Joshua Heschel שבת שלום 💜

[torahfeminist]

Shabbat Shalom!

[greenandhazy]

gentiles on this website: “The Old Testament God is cruel and vengeful!” actual Jews in my synagogue yesterday: “My favorite part of the reading is when it says the Torah is not in heaven so it’s too far to reach, it’s not across the sea so we can’t get it, but that it’s in our hearts… the idea of having that be so close, of being so close to something divine, that thrills me.” “And here, where it says ‘the Lord will delight in you as he did in your fathers’, that’s such a beautiful thing. You know, God is this all-powering being, and God delights in us.”

gentiles on this website: “You can’t be an atheist and religious!” actual Jews in my synagogue yesterday: “I’m just not buying any of this. I was born during the Holocaust and I could never wrap my mind around this omnipotent all-seeing God, and usually I’m a little moved by this, I try to be hopeful, but when I look around the world now, I just don’t buy it! If I really believed there was a God, I would resent him.” [still wears a prayer shawl and attends synagogue regularly]

gentiles on this website: “Religious people never question what they’re told, they just followed blindly!” my actual rabbi: “Sometimes the Torah can be like an older relative whom we love dearly, and who has a lot of wisdom to give, but who also says things that cause us pain, that we find offensive or wrong. And I think the wrong instinct would be to pretend we don’t hear what they’re saying, or to cut them out entirely, or to be guided by them into thinking and behaving in offensive ways. What we need to do is engage the Torah. We need to wrestle with it, and try to understand it, to figure out where it’s coming from and learn how we can progress from it, because the Torah is not unchanging. It belongs in each of our hearts, and it changes for us as we study it, as each generation challenges its old assumptions.”

[jossujb]

[supppe]

[systlin]

Also, the cemetery I just spoke about is a Jewish one, we dont embalm our loved ones. The body is cleaned and wrapped in a simple cloth and placed into a simple box asap. Like really asap. Like within 24hours. In some Jewish communities sometimes the same day. Maybe that's the reason trees and bushes flourish there. Less chemicals.

See this? This sounds lovely.

[terulakimban]

If I could add a bit of clarity on Jewish burial customs?  The body is prepared for burial: they are uncovered (having been first covered by a sheet until the purifiers get there), their clothes and jewelry are removed, any open wounds are dressed, and then the body washed and dressed in their burial garments (almost invariably undyed linen; must be natural fibers, should be as plain as possible, can’t by dyed). They are wrapped in a sheet, and a tallit, if they wore one in life. (Tallitot have to be made entirely of natural fibers). There is no viewing, but the body is not left unattended between death and burial; at least one person sits with them reading psalms. The final act of preparation is for the people who prepared the body (this should not be the family, as they are in mourning) to formally apologize to the body for any inadvertent disrespect they have shown them in the process.  Caskets: Embalming is forbidden. In the diaspora, caskets are only used where they are required by law and where it is so culturally ubiquitous that they might as well be. Caskets are plain wooden boxes. Pine is the default in the US; I can’t speak for other countries. They might have some minor carving on them like a star to mark them as Jewish, but they are not ornate affairs. If a plain coffin cannot be found, part of the process of the burial included preparing the coffin by removing any lining or cushioning or anything else fancy. When possible, plain wood also means “made with no metal bits”; ie: wooden dowels or pegs instead of nails. The wood must also be unfinished, although it can be, and usually is, sanded. Burial: Burial takes place as soon as possible after death, is done by the mourners and the community, and is typically preceded by a short graveside ceremony and eulogy, which are in turn preceded by the procession to the gravesite. Delays can be permitted to allow family to gather or to transport the deceased to the cemetery of their choice or to hire mourners, but a delay is only permissible if it is for the honor of the deceased; you can’t just forget someone or leave their body lying around. Physically-and-emotionally-capable close relatives, if there are any, put in the first shovelfuls of dirt (it is permissible to help someone if they want to do this but can’t on their own), and then everyone else present puts in a shovelful or two before the collected assembly finishes filling the grave while anyone who’s not doing that gathers around the mourners. Dirt from Israel is always included in the process: it might be sprinkled in the casket, and throwing a few handfuls in at the start of filling the grave is pretty ubiquitous as well. There’s a lot of other customs around this, and a good bit of regional variation, but the core essentials: 1) treat the body with respect 2) the purpose is to return the body to the earth and so they shouldn’t be buried with anything that didn’t come directly from it 3) the ceremonial aspect is for the comfort and closure of the living 4) make life as easy as possible for the bereaved. 

[nerdyqueerandjewish]

Jewish burial is the most comforting thing to me.

Something that I also think is very sweet is that those who wash, prepare, and watch over the body are almost always anonymous community memebers and many people consider it one of the greatest mitzvahs because the person you are taking care of will never have the opportunity to pay back your kindness.

[realsadjewishhours]

Brenda Howard, a was the first ever to make “Pride” a thing. In reality what she made happen was the a March to commentate Stonewall, the riot that spearheaded our fight for rights. Howard originated the idea of a week long celebration for the LGBT community, the precursor TO pride month.

And you know what? She was Jewish

And a mere few decades later we Jewish people are being harassed in Pride Parades and kicked out of LGBT-related marches. She a Jew made our marches a reality. A month she helped creat the idea for, has become a month and parade us LGBT+ Jewish people have to fear.

This is unfortunate. We have contributed too much in LGBT community with the likes of Harvey Milk from Judith Butler to Magnus Hirschfield to Leslie Feinberg to Renée Richards to Dean Spade to Raffi Freedman-Gurspan and so, so many more.

We are and have always been an integral part of the LGBT commmunity. It’s time for the LGBT community to start respecting that.

[yekkes]

She was also proudly bisexual

[jewish-kulindadromeus]

So You Want To Celebrate Shavuot

The Instructions in this post are for people who are Jewish (including those who are ancestrally so, but not raised Jewishly), converting to Judaism, seriously interested in Jewish conversion, or are Jewish-Adjacent (part of an interfaith family, etc.) It is NOT for gentiles who wish to “be closer to Jesus” or any similar reason uninvolved with genuine interest in becoming a part of the tribe or participating with loved ones, as this is a form of cultural appropriation.

Thank you for your understanding. Gentlies CAN, however, LEARN and REBLOG! 

Past Posts: Fighting Antisemitism / Jewish Conversion / Branches of Judaism / Second Temple Judaism / Religious Fasting / Rosh Chodesh / Rosh Hashanah / Days of Awe / Yom Kippur / Sukkot / Sh’mini Atzeret & Simchat Torah / Chanukah / Tu B’Shevat / Purim / Pesach / Counting the Omer / Modern Holidays / Lag B’Omer

Learn what Shavuot IS! 

Shavuot is the last of our Shalosh Regalim - the three pilgrimage festivals! 

It is also the shortest - instead of being about a week as per Pesach and Sukkot, it’s just one (or two) days (this depends on whether or not you add an extra day to the holiday on the calendar; a major debate revolving around the importance of keeping to traditions we no longer have a real use for) 

It is also the only one without a “set date” - instead, we determine the date of Shavuot based on the date of Pesach (ie, seven “complete weeks” after Pesach. This means for Rabbinic Jews that it falls on the 6th of Sivan, though this varies in other communities) 

And also some other controversies you can read about in more detail in the Counting the Omer post 

Shavuot has many names! 

Shavuot, meaning literally, Weeks 

So it’s often called the Feast of Weeks in English - Chag HaShavuot

It is also called the Festival of Reaping, or Chag HaKatsir 

And the Festival of First Fruits, Chag HaBikkurim 

This ties back into the fact that Shavuot is an Agricultural Festival, first and foremost! 

Shavuot marks the end of the period of the Omer, in which days were counted between the start of the Barley Harvest and the start of the Wheat Harvest

Thus, the Day of First Fruits served as the official time to bring an offering of wheat to the Temple in Jerusalem; offerings of the other seven species of Israel (which are wheat, barley, grapes, figs, pomegranates, olives, and dates) were also accepted 

These offerings were placed in neatly woven baskets, and sent off to Jerusalem in large carts!

This concludes the season of the Omer and, thus, the Season of Passover 

So, if we started wandering the desert after we were freed from Egypt at Pesach, this is when we reached the mountain - and stopped wandering for a hot second. This is the end of the journey of the Omer - the journey towards Revelation

It also, as with all the Shalosh Regalim, a Historic Holiday 

It has the additional name of the Season of the Giving of the Torah, and that is because Shavuot is now associated with when the People of Israel accepted the Torah on Mount Sinai 

This was a Very Big Deal, as the Torah has guided the Jewish way of life (and the Jewish way of Arguing) for thousands and thousands of years 

We were free with Pesach, but without the Torah we weren’t really a People yet 

In short, if you want to think of this season as like the marriage between the Jewish People and Gd, then Passover is the Betrothal (Kiddushin) and Shavuot is the Marriage (Nissuin) 

So on Shavuot, we celebrate the Torah, and our receiving of the Torah, and the commitment we make as Jews to honoring the Torah (aka, the covenant between Gd and the Jewish People) 

This means we renew our Jewishness and our acceptance of Torah Every. Single. Year. 

This is connected to Jewish conversion 

The rabbis say that Every Jewish Soul - including those of Converts - was present at Sinai 

Which means that we are all equals within the covenant - every Jew is a Convert 

So, Shavuot is not only the holiday of the Torah - it is also the holiday of the Converts! 

So what are the big observances of Shavuot, if we don’t bring sacrifices of fruit to the Temple anymore? 

Mainly, EATING the fruit, and - 

In the theme of this being the anniversary of the receiving of the Torah - 

Education! 

And the Study of Torah 

Since this is a major holiday, the proper greeting is Chag Shavuot Sameach - Happy Shavuot! - and the best way to open the holiday is by lighting Holiday candles - with the blessing “Baruch atah adonai eloheinu melech haolam asher kideshanu b’mitzvotav vetzivanu l’hadlik ner Shel Yom Tov” 

STUDY. YOUR. TORAH. STUDYYYYYY. 

The most universal Shavuot custom is Studying Torah! Both specifically the Five Books of Moses (Genesis/Bereshit, Exodus/Shemot, Leviticus/Vayikra, Numbers/Bamidbar, and Deuteronomy/Devarim) and the entire Body of Jewish Learning, aka the “torah” 

There are some more fancy ways to do this - specifically studying the Book of Ruth, for example, or going to a Tikkun Leil Shavuot - but honestly any Torah study is fair game 

Studying the Torah - ie first five books of the Tanakh - is by far the most popular one. You can take the time to study the weekly parsha more in depth than usual, or study portions that you feel compelled to, or follow an online study regimen 

Sefaria, as always, has excellent source sheets for Shavuot 

I’ll get more into Tikkun Leil and Ruth later, but you can also study non-Tanakh related texts, especially the Pirkei Avot - a text on Jewish ethics that is traditionally studied on Shavuot 

This text isn’t very long, so it is frequently studied in its entirety overnight on Shavuot (or in the weeks leading up to Shavuot - it is often incorporated into the Counting of the Omer!) 

In truth, I encourage following your dreams here - study something you want to study! Just engage with words of Torah 

Eat some Dairy!!! 

Traditionally, Shavuot features at least one dairy meal (and many refrain from any meat all together) 

The reasons for this are somewhat murky, but at least some accounts are because - like all the Shalosh Regalim (agricultural festivals) - this holiday is associated with the land of Israel, aka a land flowing with “Milk and Honey” 

Except that honey is apparently date honey and that milk is Goat’s milk but here we are 

Another idea is that because the Jewish people had just received the law on Shavuot, then they didn’t have proper meat dishes ready and kashered (made kosher), and went with dairy on that first night 

Yet another idea is that the Torah Itself is like Milk and Honey (taken from the Song of Songs) 

The Zohar also assigns each day of the year to one of the negative commandments of the Torah, and according to this system Shavuot *happens* to be the day of “don’t boil a kid in your mother’s milk” - aka, don’t mix meat and milk, aka, when you eat dairy eat it alone 

Whatever the reason, there are a LOT of traditional Shavuot dairy foods! 

MANY people eat cheesecake as desert! 

Ice Cream is also a popular Shavuot treat! 

As are Cheese Blintzes, a sort of savory pancake - a similar food, called an atayef, is the Syrian Jewish version 

Cheese dumplings of a variety of kinds are also popular, such as kelsonnes, sambusak, and cheese kreplach 

Iraqi Jews eat Kahees, a buttered and sugared dough 

And Tunisian and Moroccan Jews eat a seven-layer dairy cake! 

Weirdly enough, yemenite Jews don’t eat dairy foods on Shavuot 

And I, personally, am starting a new campaign: EAT CHEESE FONDU ON SHAVUOT YOU C O W A R D S

In all seriousness it *is* a dairy-heavy meal that tastes amazing and yes, you can do it with kosher cheese, it’s complicated but you can 

Feel free to ask me for my Non-Kosher or Kosher recipes but the Kosher one is largely untested just a fair warning 

The irony of a holiday revolving around dairy food in a group of people who are mainly lactose-intolerant is not lost on anyone. I, as a Lactose Tolerant Jew, shall howl with joy in a corner that all the traditional food is stuff I can eat (I’m a vegetarian) 

Seriously I’m a huge cheese aficionado seek my guidance and wisdom I can and will lead you to the promised land (of cheese) 

Follow your dreams! My plans this year are Fondu the first night and Cheese Ravioli in Alfredo sauce the second night. FOLLOW THE DREAMS. ALL OF THEM. 

Man, we Jews are obsessed with eating Fruit 

So like I go into the Seven Species a lot for Tu B’Shevat but since this is the holiday where we harvest them, I suggest eating them for Shavuot too 

And they are traditional for the holiday! 

So, once again, the Seven Species for Israel are Wheat, Barley, Dates, Figs, Pomegranates, Olives, and Grapes 

Fruit in general are a great Shavuot food if you don’t want to overdo your lactose-eating pills, including things that are in season where you live! 

Googling “Fruit in season now in [your home]” can work, especially if you use a major city 

So right now in the Midwest (where I live, just as an example), Cherries Raspberries and Strawberries are just coming into season, and some types of vegetables are becoming a little less seasonal 

It all depends on where you live, really, so this is just my advice for you to go out and find what is available in your area! 

Just enjoy fruit and other produce in addition to your alarming quantities of dairy :D 

Attend (or host) a Tikkun Leil Shavuot! 

One of the biggest traditions surrounding Jewish study on Shavuot is to host or attend a Tikkun Leil Shavuot - ie, a studying of Jewish texts all night 

Why a religiously-sanctioned all nighter? A few reasons have been given 

Honestly the biggest reason is probably just “we need a ritual for Shavuot and this is the best idea we’ve got” 

But, the official story is that because the Jews fell asleep the night before receiving the Torah, this is our way of proving to Gd that we are Ready and Willing and Eager to learn and receive the Torah 

Also there’s a more mystical thought that at midnight heaven opens and receives the thoughts and studies of those who remain awake on this anniversary of Revelation, and that wishes are fulfilled - kind of like on Hoshanah Rabbah, if you remember that bit from my Sukkot post 

There is a traditional Tikkun text, but honestly I’m having trouble finding it - this might be my closest bet but it also looks homegrown - basically the traditional text is a body of work with excerpts from all the books of the Tanakh and all the tractates of the Talmud, and some other Rabbinic works 

Talmud study is also traditional during the Tikkun, in addition to studying the whole Tanach (especially Ruth and the Torah) and the Pirkei Avot 

People usually list these study sessions online as events, or they’re held through synagogues! 

Look into ones in your area - they’re especially common amongst more traditionally-minded movement but they can be found through any branch of Judaism 

They sometimes go the whole night, other times just through midnight, and still yet other times until a late hour of the morning but not all the way till daybreak. Go for as long as you want, and what is healthy for you! 

Also drink coffee. Delicious coffee with dairy creamer is Very Shavuot 

Study the Book of Ruth! 

The Book of Ruth is one of the Five Megillot - the Five Scrolls - a body of short works in the Tanach each lined up with a Jewish holiday

These scrolls are considered parallel to the Torah, which is also composed of five books 

The Book of Ruth is associated with Shavuot because of the story within it! 

In this book, Ruth marries one of the sons of Naomi, a Jewish woman 

But then, Naomi’s sons die

Rather than leave and go back to her own people (like her sister-in-law does), Ruth vows to be Jewish with Naomi 

She accepts the Torah onto herself, making her a Model for the Jewish Convert 

She then goes back with Naomi to Israel, gets married to a distant relative of Naomi, and gives birth - to the ancestor of the future King David 

Thus, Ruth is the perfect Shavuot text - it celebrates converts AND the acceptance of Torah 

Also apparently David - Ruth’s descendant - died around Shavuot, which is another reason for it being read 

It is also a Very Gay Book - I mean, for better or worse, wlw tend to identify with Ruth and Naomi (even if it’s a little creepy since Naomi is Ruth’s mother in law) - because they have a very romantic dialogue exchange 

I choose to see this as a positive but I understand not doing so 

And I mean, Shavuot usually is In or Near Pride Month, so… like… it makes sense 

Plus it’s one of the few good examples of a Sapphic (ie, woman and woman) queer relationship in the Tanakh soooooOOOOOOO 

Since this is such a short book of the Tanakh, it’s easy to read in the one night of Shavuot - and is inspiring for all Jews, but especially Converts 

Go to service, and hear the Akdamut! 

Attending Shavuot service is pretty much the only “official” Shavuot thing to do, weirdly enough, since the other Shalosh Regalim have oodles and oodles of observances of all kinds 

This service usually has the Book of Ruth read aloud, but also poems from Medieval writings, as well as the Hallel prayer of praise, Psalms of praise, and the memorial Yizkor service

In particular prominence is the Akdamut, a poem of praise written by Ashkenazi Jews around a thousand years ago and read every Shavuot - it is a 90 verse poem with multiple acrostics for the letters of the Aramaic/Hebrew alphabet 

Not all synagogues have this service, so you have to look pretty thoroughly for it, but at least more traditionally minded shuls will have a morning Shavuot service including all these elements

In fact, many will stay up all night for the Tikkun Leil Shavuot, before immediately going to Shavuot morning service 

Since you can only hear the Akdamut this one day a year at shul, it’s well worth a trip! 

The Akdamut is an Ashkenazi custom only - being written by Ashkenazim - but Sephardim do sing a poem called the Azharot, which describes all six hundred and thirteen mitzvot (commandments) as set out by the Torah - with the positive mitzvot sung about the first day of Shavuot, and the negative mitzvot the second day 

The poem Yatziv Pitgam is also recited in some synagogues on the second day of Shavuot 

Basically just go to a shul and listen - there will be a lot to hear! 

Enjoy the beginning of summer plants! 

Shavuot coincides with the ending of spring, and the opening of summer! 

Which means everything is becoming Extra Green - the grass is growing, the leaves are full, the pollen is finally calming the heck down - 

Traditionally, it is said that Mount Sinai blossomed with greenery in anticipation of the giving of the Torah; and greenery figures heavily into the Shalosh Regalim in general, being agricultural festivals

As such, many Jewish people will decorate their homes - or the synagogue - with plants, flowers, and leafy branches, even canopies of flowers and plants in the style of a chuppah (remember, this is the second half of the wedding ceremony between the jewish people and Gd) 

Some even would decorate trees, but since this is so similar to Xmas, that tradition has largely Died 

So, while in general Jewish people don’t do a whole heck of a lot of holiday decorating, go wild! Fill your home with plants dude! 

Spring is ending and summer is here! Bring that into your home! 

You are not alone! 

Judaism is ALWAYS and FOREVER about community! 

Community events are everywhere for this holiday - look into all the local synagogues, Jewish Community Centers, and more for ideas and places to go! 

Reach out to friends in the area and come up with a plan yourselves! 

Shavuot is a beautiful holiday with infinite potential - you just gotta go for it! 

Never just listen to me

I am a potential future rabbi excitedly preparing for Alarming Amounts of Cheese 

I have only my experiences and opinions to offer - and there are so many experiences out there! 

Talk to everyone, hear what they have to say, and form your own opinions! 

You won’t regret it, and you’ll be able to create your own version of Shavuot! 

GOOD LUCK, and CHAG SHAVUOT SAMEACH! חג שבועות שמח!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buy the author a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/kulindadromeus

[starlightomatic]

Btw my partner’s friend made this zine for if you wanna do the staying-up-late-studying-Torah thing! But it’s not all intense study stuff; it’s got stories, comics, and a farmer’s cheese recipe too, among other stuff!! You can also just read it during the day Shavuot or whenever else you want. :)

[uwumars]

[idkinsertfanreferencehere]

Converting to Judaism and Transness

So as a yeshiva student, we learned a bit about how one is supposed to act towards converts/gerim, and those were, among others

1. Don’t ask what their name was before they converted

2. Don’t ask them about what their life was like before they converted, and don’t talk about it unless they bring it up

3. Don’t single them out/out them as converts

4. That converts have a Jewish soul and are drawn to Judaism by a sort of need, a homesickness, if you will

And I feel like this is also a really good way to look at/interact with trans ppl? 

Any trans Jews (convert in-progress or no) have anything to say on this?

@jewishconvertthings ?

[meirlev]

https://daggadol.org/2012/08/08/ten-reasons-why-being-trans-is-like-being-a-ger-tzedek/

Ten reasons why being trans is like being a ger tzedek

AUGUST 8, 2012 / LEIAH MOSER (she has since been ordained as a rabbi by the reconstructionist movement!)

Why being trans is an awful lot like being a convert to Judaism:

“I feel like this is what I’ve always been, even if I’ve only discovered it now.” Many people who convert to Judaism do so out of a sense that they were born with a Jewish soul and that only now are they finally coming home. Being trans is also all about that uncomfortable separation between your truest soul and the outward circumstances of your birth.

Enculturation: Needing to work your butt off to pick up the incredibly basic social and cultural cues of your new peer group, things that seem to “come naturally” to most because of how thoroughly they’ve been socialized from an early age. That nagging sense of regret for your “lost” childhood. Feeling secretly jealous of people who were “born that way” because of how easy they make it look.

It’s really impolite to ask: Once someone has gone through the conversion process, they are considered totally Jewish in all respects and it is a mitzvah not to refer to their “convert” status unless they bring it up for some reason. It should really be the same way with trans folk.

Body modification as a way of bringing your outward form into harmony with your identity: Brit Milah, ’nuff said.

Your parents’ utter shock and disbelief when you come out to them.

The difficulty of getting people who’ve known you a long time to recognize and accept your new identity: Whether it’s going by a different set of pronouns or getting it through peoples’ heads that you just don’t celebrate Christmas or eat pork chops any more, it’s always an uphill struggle.

The weird looks you get from your friends when you take such unabashed delight in things they tend to see as a hassle. “I just don’t understand why anyone would enjoyshaving their legs!” “What do you mean you had funkashering your kitchen!?”

Designated Ambassador Status. As a convert to Judaism, chances are you’re the only Jew your old friends or family know, and it is therefore your job to speak for all Jews, everywhere. As a trans person, chances are you’re the only trans person your old friends or family know, and it is therefore your job to speak for all trans folk, everywhere. Oi.

The lack of comprehension from a lot of people who assumed the only way to have an identity is to have it assigned to you at birth. “I didn’t even know it was possible to convert to Judaism, I thought you had to be born into it!”

The immense and indescribable sense of relief you feel when you realize you are finally home and at peace with yourself.

[torahfeminist]

Queer Theory and the Jewish Question (2003) by Daniel Boyarin, Daniel Itzkovitz, Ann Pellegrini.

The essays in this volume boldly map the historically resonant intersections between Jewishness and queerness, between homophobia and anti-Semitism, and between queer theory and theorizations of Jewishness. With important essays by such well-known figures in queer and gender studies as Judith Butler, Daniel Boyarin, Marjorie Garber, Michael Moon, and Eve Sedgwick, this book is not so much interested in revealing – outing – “queer Jews” as it is in exploring the complex social arrangements and processes through which modern Jewish and homosexual identities emerged as traces of each other during the last two hundred years.

Order a copy here.

[libhobn]

Nitl Nakht

Christmas Eve in Jewish Eastern Europe had its own traditions. 

Historically, this was not the safest time for European Jews, and we were often subject to pogroms (the Christians having been whipped up into a fervour by passion plays and often alcohol). This danger led to the saying nitl iz a beyzer layd - Christmas is a heavy burden. In some places, Christian laws forbade Jews from entering public places or even leaving their homes at all on Christmas Eve or day, so Jewish institutions (stores, yeshivas, kheydorim) all had to stay closed.

Above: a woodcut of Jews being burned to death, Germany, 1493

As such, traditions for Nitl Nakht had to be more or less irreligious- no Torah learning in the study house or primary school. There was even a tradition of not studying Torah on the day at all lest it be perceived to be “likhvod yeshu” (in the honour of Jesus), who had been a Torah scholar himself.

Instead, there was the tradition in some communities of playing card games or chess- usually frowned upon by community leaders, on Nitl Nakht they were encouraged.

In some communities in the Middle Ages, the controversial practice of reading a text called Ma’asei Talui (Tales of the Crucifix), which were insulting versions of the birth story of Jesus, was a tradition.

Nitl Nakht (ניטל נאַכט, also translated “nittel nacht” or “nittle nahcht”) has an unclear etymology. Nakht means night in Yiddish, but nitl could derive from the Latin natalis (birth, as in birth of Christ), or the Hebrew nitleh (נתלה) meaning “hanged” (as in the death of Christ). The Latin origin is considered more plausible by etymologists.

Some other names for Nitl Nakht are:

Moyredike Nakht (fearful night) in Galicia

Vaynakht (woe night) in Alsace and Western Poland

Goyimnakht (gentiles’ night)

Yoyzlsnakht (Jesus’ night, but using a colloquial corruption of the name)

In some places, Christmas Eve was derived from the non-Jewish word for the holiday: 

Kaleyd (Lithuania, from kaledos)

Vigilye (Poland, from wigilye)

Rozhestvo (Bulgaria, from rozhdestvo khristovo)

Korachon (Hungary, from karácsony)

Today Christmas Eve doesn’t pose any more of a risk to Jews than any other day, at least in most places. (Though given recent increases in antisemitic rhetoric and violence, who even knows.) Still, since the majority of Jews today still live in Christian countries, many of us often feel, at the least, othered on Christmas- Christmas is omnipresent, inescapable. In North America, at least, you can’t walk two feet without being assaulted by some horrible Christmas muzak, or being exhorted by some ad campaign to BUY BUY BUY, or the assumption by every single person you encounter that you’re celebrating Christmas. (How many of us grin and bear being asked, a hundred times before breakfast between Halloween and Christmas, how we’re celebrating?)

Above: a viral image from the Chinese Restaurant Association thanking Jews for eating Chinese food on Christmas

In North America (and possibly the UK?) one tradition is to spend Christmas Day at the movies and eating Chinese food. This tradition started in New York City in the late 1800s, when Jewish and Chinese immigrants lived in close proximity. The tradition of seeing movies started around the same time- only the cheap movie houses and the Yiddish theatre would be open, so Jews took the opportunity of having the day off work to eat a nice meal and get some entertainment. Newer traditions have sprung up, including a yearly comedy show called Kung Pao Kosher Comedy (a direct take on the Chinese food tradition).

Above: a Yiddish-language advertisement in the Forverts for a NYC Chinese restaurant dating to 1936. The Yiddish reads, “we wish all Jews a joyous New Year”.

Some Jews (mostly Chasidim) still keep the older traditions of Nitl Nakht, namely the abstention from Torah study and the playing of games. 

Above: Chabadniks play chess during Nitl Nakht at 770 Eastern Parkway in 2015

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Sources:

What Eastern European Jews Did on Christmas

Christmas

The history of Jews, Chinese food, and Christmas, explained by a rabbi

Nitl Nacht - the origins

He’s Vietnamese, Jewish, and performing Christmas Eve at a Chinese restaurant

Further reading:

Hasidic ‘Silent Night’: No Torah and No Sex

Why Some Jews Don’t Study Torah on Christmas Eve

What Hasidic Jews Do — and Don’t Do — on Christmas Eve

Nittel Nacht

If you found this post interesting or helpful, please consider buying me a Ko-Fi!

[myjewishaesthetic]

Some Readings from the UC eScholarship Website

 1.  Identity, Assimilation, and Representations of American Judaism in Philip Roth’s American Trilogy

2. Moses and Multiculturalism

3.  Good Jews Don’t: Historical and Philosophical Constructions of Idolatry

4.  Freud and Monotheism: Moses and the Violent Origins of Relligion

5.  Lusting for Death: Some Unconscious Fantasies in an Ancient Jewish Martrydom Text

6.  Rethinking Jewish Identity in Late Antiquity

7.  Law as Faith, Faith as Law: The Legalization of Theology in Islam and Judaism in the Thought of Al-Ghazali and Maimonides

8.  Joseph ben Samuel Sarfati’s ‘Tratado de Melibea y Calisto’: A Sephardic Jew’s reading of La ‘Celestina’ in light of the medieval Judeo-Spanish “go-between” tradition

9.  Excerpt from Judah L. Magnes: An American Jewish Nonconformist

10.  Arbiters of the Afterlife: Olam Haba, Torah and Rabbinic Authority

11.  I am Black AND Jewish: Black Jewish Women’s Experiences in “White” Jewish Communities in Brazil

12.  From the Gay Synagogue to the Queer Shtetl: Normativity, Innovation, and Utopian Imagining in the Lived Religion of Queer and Transgender Jews

13.  Secret lives, public lies : the conversos and socio-religious non-conformism in the Spanish Golden Age

14. Jews, Ethnicity and Identity in Early Modern Hamburg 

15.  Mordechai Langer (1894-1943) and the Birth of the Modern Jewish Homosexual

16.  A Prophet and His People: Israel Zangwill and His American Public, 1892-1926 and Beyond

17.  Beyond the Saharan Cloak: Uncovering Jewish Identity from Southern Morocco and throughout the Sahara

18.  A well in search of an owner : using novel assertions to assess Miriam’s disproportionate elaboration among women in the Midrashim of late antiquity

19.  Rootless Cosmopolitans : : Literature of the Soviet-Jewish Diaspora

20.  The Problem of Pleasure: Disciplining the German Jewish Reading Revolution, 1770-1870

21.  Rabbis on the Road: Exposition En Route in Classical Rabbinic Texts

22.  Muslims and Jews, Moving with God: Re-thinking the Relationship between Immigration, Religion and Theory

23.  Cultural Translation and the Problem of Language: Yiddish in Joseph Roth’s Juden auf Wanderschaft

24.  Making America / Makhn Amerike / Haciendo la América Jewish Immigrants Write the Americas (1880-1990)

25.  Becoming Hungarian: Jewish Culture in Budapest, 1867-1914

26.  La colpa di essere nati: Exile Through the Eyes of Italian Jews

[abandonedandurbex]

The Great Synagogue of Constanța is a disused former Jewish synagogue in the city of Constanța, Romania. [750x907]

[yidquotes]

“Serving God requires rejecting idolatry, embracing a Torah of ethical conviction requires rejecting harmful sexual relationships, and embracing the mandate to act kindly requires one to reject all forms of oppression.”

— Rabbi Dr. Shmuly Yanklowitz

[gerloveaffair]

i took out some books on Jewish art from my uni library and im really glad i did. i'll be posting a few things on them later :)

[chiribomb-deactivated20220820]

I keep trying to not worry about rising antisemitism. Antisemitism is nothing new and if we up and left every time someone made a Jew joke, we’d never be still. And since I don’t have the means to leave the country, I can’t spend my emotional spoons worrying myself sick. But I also know that a lot of people who have tried to convince themselves of the same thing ended up murdered, and every community today exists because someone knew when it was time to get out.

I just got an email from my synagogue updating the congregants about new security efforts. We’re a small synagogue. Friday night services usually get around 15 people. We’re out in the boonies. We’re not fancy or rich. We don’t even usually do Saturday services because we’re too small. But the board unanimously decided to have armed guards at every service and event. Someone had already sponsored 6 months’ armed security for our Hebrew school, in case someone wants to come in and murder our children in cold blood. They’re talking of steel doors and a safe room, and self-defense classes for congregants.

Do you non-Jews understand? Do you understand the heartbreak and anxiety that we feel because we KNOW that these are practical steps for a non-zero possibility that someone will want to vandalize us, or set us on fire, or murder us and our children for no reason other than that we are Jews? Do you understand that this is happening in 2018 and it never went away? That your silence is complicit? That every equivocating tweet about “Zionists” and a philosophy you don’t understand, every time you defend kicking Jews out of your so-called progressive movements, every time you tell Jews that they’re basically white and privileged so stop complaining, it is another bullet in the chamber?

Goyim reblog.

[19870827626281]

talk to me when your “Zionism” disallows mass genocide and displacement of Palestinian children

[chiribomb-deactivated20220820]

So here we have Exhibit A: people who have no idea what Zionism actually means or the huge spectrum of political beliefs it encompasses except the false talking points they’ve been fed, using it as an excuse to justify their staggering antisemitism

Here’s a post made in response to a mass shooting of American Jews, about how alarmed diaspora Jews are about antisemitism in their countries and how unsettling it is to know that people want to murder them and their children (the Pittsburgh shooting was at a baby naming), and how disconcerting it is to see fake progressives make excuses as to why they are secretly glad. And then this dildo comes along and does exactly that. Thanks for playing along, shmuck!

You have no idea what “my” Zionism is. You have no idea what the victims may or may not have thought about Israeli politics. And frankly since it didn’t happen in Israel and these aren’t Israelis there’s no reason to bring it up at all (and even if it did happen there, an act of terror is still an act of terror). You don’t give a shit about hypothetical Palestinians who have exactly zero to do with this situation. You don’t give a shit about harm done to children because this was a BABY NAMING but I guess Jewish infants are also part of the shadowy Jew cabal that controls the world and makes every individual Jewish person in Pennsylvania or California or London or Paris intimately involved in the affairs of a country the size of New Jersey on the other side of the planet.

So you’re not only a racist piece of shit, you’re a dishonest one as well who tries pathetically to convince people that you actually aren’t an ignorant, obnoxious antisemite whose insensitivity borders on sociopathy.

[progressivejudaism]

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