The Hoard

pidge/puck - he/they - just random stuff - sideblog of @faerplay

[progressivejudaism]

Hi! I've seen people send asks about Judaism to your blog, and I have a question for you, if you're okay with that: How do you (and the Jewish community in general, if you can answer that) feel about Christians celebrating their own version of passover?

Hi there!

Thank you so much for your thoughtful question.

My name is Josh (he/him/his) and I’m a student rabbi living in NYC.

I and – to the best of my knowledge– most Jews feel that it is abhorrent for Christians to celebrate their own version of Passover.  I firmly believe that it is not only an act of appropriation (Passover is a Jewish holiday developed over the past 3000+ years, the past 2000+ through a rabbinic lens) but it is also an act of antisemitism.  Historically Passover (i.e. Easter time) is a time where Christians created antisemitic lies that sought to hurt Jews.  The blood libel is the particular lie that I am referring to here.  (But there are many others)

I’ve noticed that several well-meaning Christians attempt to Christianize Jewish holidays and traditions and making them all about Jesus.  Sadly, ignorance creates a rather dark shadow in which several people forget history and try to rewrite a tradition that is not their own, in a way that truly scares me and other Jews half to death. 

Passover is a holiday that celebrates Jewish freedom against tyranny, against slavery and persecution.  It celebrates life and light, tradition and bravery, heroism and justice.   Appropriating Passover as a non-Jew not only appropriates someone else’s holiday, but it spits in the face of all of the reasons why we celebrate Passover– especially as a Christian who is a part of a system who has historically oppressed and hurt the Jewish People.

We are living in a time where Jews are being murdered in their synagogues.  We are living in a time where Jews are being hurt in the streets to which they live.  We are living in a time where Jews are being questioned about their politics on Israel to determine if they are a “good Jew” or a “bad Jew.”  We are living in a time where white nationalism is rising in the United States and around the world.  We are living at a time where people are continuing to try and erase the identity of Jews and the Jewish People- and that’s exactly what appropriating Easter does.  This goes for folks who wish to celebrate it without elements of Christian tradition, as well as for folks who wish to celebrate it with elements from Christian tradition.  A non-Jew celebrating a Jewish holiday the ‘right way’ is still appropriation, unless said non-Jew is working to convert to Judaism and join their Jewish family in the celebration of their freedom as well.

So, what do you do if you’re a Christian and you’d like to celebrate Passover?  Unless you are invited to a Passover seder by your Jewish friend, do not celebrate Passover.  Unless you are the spouse, parent, child, best friend, or other close person to a Jew helping to support their Jewish loved one(s)’ celebration of Passover, just don’t do it.    It’s not cool, it’s not appropriate, and will only hurt your Jewish friends (and family).  The same goes for celebrating every other Jewish holiday, festival, or doing Jewish rituals. 

I will be one of the first people to invite non-Jewish friends or family to Jewish events.  On the same token, I love to be invited to Christian, Muslim, and events for other faith traditions.  I think interfaith discussion is one of the most important keys to our futures as human being.  But that said, inviting someone into your home and into your tradition is different than borrowing their home or tradition.

Thank you again for your really thoughtful question.  I hope that you are having a lovely evening!

l’shalom,Josh

[progressivejudaism]

TL;DR- non Jews should not practice Jewish rituals or celebrate Jewish holidays on their own for their benefit. We’d love to invite you to our rituals and celebrations - we’re warm and inclusive. Just do it on our terms.

[popsunner]

okay, i'm chiming in because i couldn't help myself. herbal tea is not even tea. it does not contain tea leaves. therefor, soup is absolutely not tea, unless it contains tea leaves. nor is tea soup. tea COULD however be considered stock, as it is a liquid made by cooking a plant in water and could be used as the base for a sauce or soup. love you! <3

Okay you know what this one is good. This is the only actual tea

[enbyofdionysos]

there are many obscure queer lovers in greek mythology. unfortunately, this quiz doesn't include them all because otherwise you would be reading questions with 50 answers and ain't nobody got time for that. also, because ancient greeks are patriarchal, there are few wlw couples that homer and the boys made note of and so i apologize in advance for the lack of ladies -- if i were homer, i would simply be gayer

my uquiz….. is LIVE

[hidgepidge]

[greek-mythographer]

If you’re a person of colour and are willing to help white people make OCs of poc pls reblog this post and say your ethnicity! At the end of april i’m gonna make a list of URLs and hopefully it’ll help ease some of the fandom racism!

Or if you’re a Pagan, Jew, Muslim, or any other religous minority pls reblog with your religion!

I’d love to ease the tension in fandom spaces and i think this is a good start.

If you’re white please please PLEASE spread this post but don’t say anything!

Like im begging you to reblog this. It would mean the world to me.

[thanatoastie]

I am Asian 🇨🇳

[pelideswhore]

I am brown + muslim

[greekschist]

hello everyone i’m asian american 

[hermesmoly]

Im asian/filipino and a pagan :)

[hidgepidge]

yo i'm jewish!

[popsunner]

Hello! is soup a tea?

I’m quitting this app

[hidgepidge]

arguably, herbal tea isn't even a tea. the better question would be is tea a soup?

[wizardjpeg]

share if you are full of ⚫️ or “hell energy” and if provoked could use it to rip apart an entire sidewalk

[hidgepidge]

today's character: ilikan hornbreaker vuma-kalathi

i don't have much about her yet other than she is a goliath fighter, encountered a very small and fragile kenku necromancer in a bar, swore to protect him, and now they're dating. she's nearly 8 feet tall, stoic, bad at emotions. her kenku boyfriend is named bonerattle, he's my irl girlfriend's character and she wanted a partner for him. hornbreaker finds him fascinating and so delicate that protecting him was sure to be a good challenge. sometimes she will scoop him up and carry him like a baby. she's generally quiet, values actions over words, and is not afraid to get her hands dirty. her main weapon is a battleaxe and her fighting type is protection. her background is a cobbled together combo of folk hero and soldier.

[normal-horoscopes]

is there a term for being on thin fucking ice with a god, ready to start a fist fight but holding onto your thread of restraint

HAVE YOU EVER MET A JEWISH PERSON

[dwarfanonymice]

Israel means “god-wrestler”. That tribe gets the name from a man who almost decked an angel and it was the angel who had to cheat to win.

[cognitiveafflatus]

i need the full story op

[normal-horoscopes]

Well okay might take you a while though

[wutheringhomos-deactivated20220]

I’ll read it all, bet.

[normal-horoscopes]

Got one here:

[general-history-reference]

[normal-horoscopes]

is there a term for being on thin fucking ice with a god, ready to start a fist fight but holding onto your thread of restraint

HAVE YOU EVER MET A JEWISH PERSON

[dwarfanonymice]

Israel means “god-wrestler”. That tribe gets the name from a man who almost decked an angel and it was the angel who had to cheat to win.

[sclera]

ok we're settling this discourse right now

put ur zodiac sign in the tags & if you like or dislike:

- pineapple on pizza - mint ice cream / mint chocolate - ketchup in mac n’ cheese - fries dipped in ice cream

[carpet-snark]

eyo this “super straight” shit is weak sauce

you cishet guys do realize that cishet girls… like men. like, you’re dating a person who likes men. that’s GAY. the only way to be the Ultimate Straight™ is to date another cishet man. all cishets, date cishets of the same gender. now THAT is heterosexual.

^^^/s

(on the real tho my blog is not a safe space for any “super” whatever gtfo)

[hidgepidge]

the Straights are at it again. ya hate to see it.

[aimee-maroux]

Quiz time!

[hermesmoly]

[hidgepidge]

[idkinsertfanreferencehere]

HEY VATICAN GIVE US OUR STUFF BACK

(I’m looking through the archive and I cannot count on my fingers how many of these documents are ones that I learned were “lost to history” and that we “don’t have early manuscripts of” or are “missing the questions to the responsa” and we’re not! They’re not! The Vatican has them!)

[sorekbekarmi-deactivated2022051]

I assumed this was going to be about the Menorah

But it was worse, somehow

[idkinsertfanreferencehere]

Yeah, I mean there are the originals of Gaonic responsa literature, copies of rashi’s commentary dated to the century he lived in, Babylonian Talmud pages from before the 10th century, richly illustrated prayer books and tehillim that are dated and placed to inquisition-era Spain but sure as hell don’t mention the fact that they were looted off of the people the church murdered, a Sefer Torah from the 12TH CENTURY, just. So much. So much and they have no right to any of it.

[idkinsertfanreferencehere]

no you know what I’m not done. We have been begging for hundreds of years, politely, academically, kindly, for the Vatican to return what it stole. Or if not that, to allow for Jewish scholars to have access to their archives (the number of questions and arguments that resulted from divergent manuscripts later in history that these documents could solve!) or if not that then at least acknowledge that fact that these documents were at best stolen, most likely looted, and at worst taken at swordpoint and killed for, and they refuse. They refuse to do even that.

[fromchaostocosmos]

i would also like to point out that any projects funded by the vatican during specific centuries were only possible because the vatican looted and stole from us or by enforcing special taxes that were just for Jewish people only

they did this in the sanctioning of state expulsions which members of the clergy helped the state by over seeing that Jewish people left because you had clergy members all through out the country

and as the oversee this the process they would go through Jewish people’s belonging and steal: what limited amounts money we had (because despite what you think most Jewish people for most of our history in Diaspora lived in poverty), stealing religious items like what is listed above, stealing anything that might could it made out gold, silver, or had value, but could be melted down so if you had silver kiddish cup it was taken and would get melted down to be used for something else that need silver 

all of these stolen items be compiled together with a large cut going of anything of monetary value going to the state which is why they did this a lot and the rest going to the vatican to be used at their desecration

if you look at history often after the expulsions those countries end up doing very financially poorly and if look at what is going on right before the expulsions there is ramping up of antisemitism as well as mismanagement of state funds, the government in need of funds (usually an increase of taxes which makes the people angry) so the government goes for the tried and true method of get rid of the Jewish people who they hate and will get them good PR with the people while also getting free funds by stealing from said Jewish people

the other method it the special tax method: so most countries in Europe (and Russia) when Jewish people were not expelled had essentially a Jew tax which basically was added on tax to any other taxes that were being paid that were for Jewish people only to pay. The amount of money to would vary with no rhyme or reason and it was depend of the mood of who ever was in charge or if they needed more money that month or if they felt like being an asshole

the tax was charged on towns and ghettos not really rather then normal taxes where it goes by person

the government would take most of this money, but it was expected to give a cut of it to the vatican

so when you go to Europe and you see these stunning churches that feats of architect and artworks like say the notre dame (which was funded by the vatican) if it was funded by the vatican it was funded with stolen blood money

(also a huge amount of same churches will also be have built on Jewish bones because they were built using Jewish slaves so another fun fact for and within the design is often lots of very antisemitic imagery to add icing onto the shit cake for us Jewish people)

anyways i’m totally up for showing up to vatican and just taking us stuff back if anyone wants to go (like if you american like me when we can actually travel again) cause fuck the vatican and fuck every single pope ever

[hypatiasblood-deactivated202112]

I went on a European educational tour trip thing last year and I ended up in Spain going to the monastery in Montserrat. Wanting to avoid the seventeen thousandth church I’d been dragged to (seriously so frickin many) I took a tour of their art museum. And in there I found these.

They aren’t even fucking hiding the shit they stole from us. I was so annoyed.

[brunhiddensmusings]

given that was spain it wasnt just stolen, it was stolen AFTER torture

[random2908]

My parents went on a vacation to Spain a few years ago with my middle sister, and they went to a ton of museums. My mom had PTSD for six months just from the museum exhibits. All our stuff on display, captioned with reminders that they eradicated us, all implying that Jews were an extinct people*. Apparently in Spain what they’ve done with stolen Jewish artwork and property is when Jews have asked for any of it back, they nationalized it and put it in museums so that it would be illegal, under Spanish law, to give any of it back. This has been a 20th/21st century tactic, by the way–it was the result of renewed scrutiny because stuff looted from the Holocaust somehow made its way into Spain (because Spain welcomed fleeing Nazi officers), although they applied it to stuff they directly looted in the Inquisition too, of course.

[shofarsogood]

Lemme add that the Vatican stole Jewish children and has never owned up to this.

During the Holocaust, numerous Catholic families, organized by the Church, took Jewish children in (and sometimes the children of other groups, but that was rarer). The families raised these kids as their own. Many children were raised in church convents as orphans– where they were baptized and given Christian names.

After the war was over, survivors would return to the church or the priest and ask for their kids back. They always claimed that the Church never had Jewish children and never placed them with other families. Families were not told where the children were placed or even if the children were alive. Parents who thought their children were being kept safe lost them all over again.

There are thousands of children who were raised not knowing their parentage or religion and have no idea who they really are.

The rescue of Jewish children in convents during the Holocaust is a subject that evokes intense emotions and sensitivities among both Jews a

I will never forgive the Catholic Church for what it did to us.

[normal-horoscopes]

I have a question that I hope you can answer or at least direct me to resources that might.

How does food offerings work??

Do... do you just leave food out until it goes bad? Can you eat food that's been offered? Do you throw it away? I'm confused by this concept and I wish I wasn't. (and yes I realise this is technically more than one question)

IT DEPENDS, BUT USUALLY YOU THROW IT AWAY BEFORE THE FLIES GET IT, YOUR GOD PROBABLY WOULDNT BE A FAN OF FLIES YK?

[hidgepidge]

in my practice, i’ve left it out until for a day or two and then bury it to serve as fertilizer for my garden. it always seemed like the right thing for me to do, though i know everyone practices differently.

[draconym]

Please don't say the word goblin or other creatures that are obsessed with money, they're antisemitic (i know u didn't know don't worry)

I’m not an expert on folklore or Judaica, but I am a Jew who has taken some classes in European folklore, so I have a couple thoughts on this. “Goblin” is a generic term to refer to a lot of different mythical creatures, some of them mischievous, some of them friendly, some of them evil. Some goblins do share traits with antisemitic stereotypes (lookin’ at you, JKR ... and also a lot of modern RPGs), and sometimes that is intentional antisemitism on the part of the people telling the stories.

But the term is still very, very broad, and there are so many different types of creatures that are called “goblins” that they can’t all be said to represent an antisemitic stereotype.

Shakespeare’s Puck is a hobgoblin, for example, and this was a book I read as a kid and enjoyed:

I would agree that we shouldn’t call other human beings “goblins” (because at the very least it seems pretty rude, if not potentially antisemitic?) but calling my mom’s dog a goblin because she reminds me of a funny little creature doesn’t strike me as problematic. I could be wrong here, but as someone who has read a lot of folklore, the term “goblin” could apply to almost as diverse an array of different creatures as the term “dragon,” and I would rather focus on critiquing goblin characters that use antisemitic tropes than removing the word “goblin” from the lexicon.

[hidgepidge]

personal post - my life at present

i am laying on a mattress in my dining room. this is normal, my brother is asleep in the living room in much the same state. he does this in winter as his room is far too cold, i am doing it to not be alone. our dining and living rooms are connected.

i am laying on a mattress in my dining room, staring intently at the dark doorway of the kitchen, painfully aware that the door to the study is slightly open, knowing both rooms are full of pitch black shadows. the light in the dining room is on. my mother has told me not to keep all of the lights on since it runs up our electricity bill.

i am utterly terrified. i have no reason to be, but the shadows are deep and looming and hungry in a way i cannot explain. they shift and move and i cannot leave this room even to use the bathroom without traversing that darkness. i cannot step into those shadows.

something in them is watching me, which i know is not true. i know it’s just my brain being awful, but that does not make it feel any less real. the panic i feel is real. the shapes i see, shifting and reaching, look real. the dull rasping sound they seem to make sounds real.

i am not doing well. my mental health is absolutely trashed and i am currently consumed by fear in a way i have not been in a long time. reality warps and bends around me until i cannot tell what is and what isn’t. i am so so scared.

i wish this was fiction. i wish i could say this is just a spooky story written in the first person, designed to be unnerving, but it’s not. this is what i am living with. this is what i face when my medication stops working. this is my world right now.